In fact, when preparing to merge the two fronts, Stalin was worried about the choice of commander. Speaking of seniority, Yeremenko is definitely better than Rokossovsky, and when the war broke out, when the latter was still the commander of the mechanized army, Yeremenko was the deputy commander of the Western Front. However, when it comes to fighting, Rokossovsky is a victorious general, and he has won countless battles, while Yeremenko is dwarfed.

Yeremenko, who had visited Yeremenko before his troops launched an attack on the Kotenikovo area, did not pay the slightest attention when he noticed that the Germans on the opposite side were moving frequently, and that he had only three infantry divisions, a cavalry corps, and a tank brigade on his side, and that it was 120 kilometers away from the besieged Paulus troops, and that the Germans would not be able to achieve their goal of relieving Paulus from here.

It was only when Vasilevsky reminded him that the 51st Army was deployed in the area to prevent a possible German offensive that he reluctantly transferred the mechanized 4th Army over. It was precisely because of the lack of prior preparation that the troops of the 51st Army, in the face of Khort's powerful offensive, were simply unable to organize a strong resistance, and could only retreat under the blows of the enemy, and finally retreated all the way across the Meshkova River to barely gain a foothold.

It was for this reason that Stalin, after careful consideration, felt that Rokossovsky was still suitable for the post of commander, and in order to avoid being hampered by Yeremenko in the next battle, he did not leave a place for him in the new head of the Front, but transferred both him and Khrushchev back to Moscow.

And all this, as neither Rokossovsky nor Yeremenko at that time knew. While Yeremenko and Khrushchev handed over command and stayed in their command to await further notice from their superiors, Rokossovsky, with the new military commissar of the Front, Terekin, was inspecting the troops that had just taken over.

The first force they went to was Tolbukhin's 57th Army, which was deployed along the south-western frontal of the encirclement and occupied an area of 25 kilometers along the banks of the Chervolennaya River.

When Rokossovsky was chatting with Tolbukhin, the latter told him that although the troops were undermanned after hard fighting, the morale of the commanders and fighters was still high and the fighting spirit was high.

Finally, Tolbukhin half-jokingly said: "Comrade commander, you may not know that I was responsible for the fortifications near Stalingrad that I commanded the construction of them, so that I now do not know how to take them." ”

Tolbukhin's words caused everyone to burst into laughter. When the laughter stopped, Rokossovsky said to him: "Comrade General, you spent a lot of effort in building the fortifications; The enemy also made a lot of effort to consolidate this position. In the face of such a strong position, it is indeed not easy to seize it. ”

Hearing Rokossovsky say this, Tolbukhin's expression became serious, and he asked tentatively: "Comrade commander, are you planning to replenish our troops and technical equipment?" ”

Rokossovsky waved his hand and said: "At present, the units under the Front Army are all understaffed, and it is impossible for the base camp to replenish us with enough troops in a short time, so you can only find a way to make up your mind from the wounded who have recovered and been discharged from the hospital." ”

Seeing Tolbukhin's disappointed expression, he added: "The front command will not sit idly by for such a strong defense of the German army, and we will destroy the German fortifications by means of aircraft bombing." ”

Leaving the 57th Army, Rokossovsky they immediately went to the 64th Army.

Hearing that Rokossovsky was coming, the commander of the 64th Army, Shumilov, with a group of people from the headquarters, braved the bitter cold and waited outside. When Rokossovsky appeared, he hurriedly stepped forward to salute and said respectfully: "Hello, Comrade Commander of the Front, you are welcome to come to us to inspect the work. ”

When Rokossovsky and Shumilov walked into the headquarters together, they found that their subordinates were very enjoyable people, and the headquarters had several rooms with brand new carpets on the floor. There are also beautiful tapestries hanging on the walls.

After Shumilov beckoned Rokossovsky and Terekin to sit down, he smiled and said: "Comrade commander, you must be tired and hungry after running all morning." It's lunch time, so you're going to have some food together. At dinner, I will report to you on the situation of our army group by the way. ”

In this way, a group of people gathered around a long table in a warm room and began to eat a hearty lunch. While eating, Shumilov briefed Rokossovsky about the troops: "...... The troops of the army group occupied a 30-kilometer strip of land on the southern front of the encirclement, facing north. On the right flank the southern section of Stalingrad on the Volga River, on the left flank on the Chelvlennaya River. ”

After Shumilov finished speaking, Rokossovsky said: "Comrade Shumilov, the weather has been very cold recently, how are the warmth measures of the commanders and fighters, don't have non-combat attrition because of the severe cold." ”

"Don't worry, Comrade Commander." Shumilov said confidently: "In the trenches and bunkers of the open meadows, the troops made full use of the terrain such as valleys and ravines, and built a large number of shelters that could be heated, and there would never be combat attrition due to climatic reasons." In addition, our commanders and fighters can also eat canned beef from the United States every day, and they can also get sufficient nutrition guarantees. ”

When Rokossovsky and Terekin left the Shumilov headquarters, Terekin, who had always been silent, suddenly spoke: "Comrade commander, I think Shumilov is a very capable person, even if we don't talk about it, he also knows how to arrange the life of the troops. Under his command, he will fight the most ferocious enemy and achieve the final victory. ”

The last leg of the inspection was Chuikov's 62nd Army. But it wasn't easy to get there, because they were still surrounded by German troops. Therefore, Rokossovsky had to resort to a compromise approach, first to the east bank of the Volga, and then back to the west bank to Stalingrad.

Since the road to Chuikov's headquarters was still within the reach of German artillery fire, Rokossovsky took only Terekin, a few staff officers, a guide and two sappers. But even so, they had just stepped onto the ice not far before they were spotted by German artillery. Fortunately, they were all dressed in white camouflage suits, and the German artillery spotters did not notice their identity, so they only used two guns to bombard them.

Hearing the whistling of shells across the air, Terekin instinctively threw himself on the ice, while Rokossovsky just glanced up, and then said to the military commissar lying on the ground: "It's okay, the enemy's shells are still far away." ”

As soon as the words fell, a shell exploded more than 20 meters away, splashing countless pieces of broken ice, but before it could fly in front of Rokossovsky and them, it crackled on the ice because the strength was exhausted.

Terekin, supported by his staff officer, got up from the ice and said apologetically to Rokossovsky: "Comrade commander, I'm sorry, I'm a little nervous, so as soon as I heard the whistling of shells, I just lay on the ground. ”

"It's okay, Comrade Military Commissar, your behavior is normal." In order to ease Terekin's nervousness, Rokossovsky said to him with a smile: "Don't be afraid of shelling, the shells are not aimed at a person, but at a place. Shells rely on coverage, not hits, so the chances of being hit directly by shells are usually not great. ”

After listening to Rokossovsky's explanation, Terekin's courage suddenly became much greater, so much so that when he heard the sound of cannonballs flying again, he remained calm and continued to walk forward in Rokossovsky's footsteps.

When Rokossovsky arrived at Chuikov's headquarters on the cliffs on the west bank of the Volga River, he saw that Chuikov, military commissar Gurov, and chief of staff Krykov were already standing on the shore waiting.

After a brief conversation and getting to know each other, Rokossovsky looked at the eastern bank of the Volga and said: "It is strange that the headquarters of the Stalingrad Front is actually located on the other side of the river. I have always believed that the position of the commander should be in the place where his troops are fighting, so as to boost morale. ”

He turned his head to look at the three commanders standing in front of him and continued: "But this matter is in the past, from now on, all the troops of the Stalingrad Front will be under my command, understand?" ”

"Great, that's great." Chuikov replied with a smile: "It's great that our 'defense general' handed over command to the 'offensive general'. ”

Everyone entered the headquarters with laughter and laughter, and after they all sat down around the wooden table, Rokossovsky spoke: "Commanders and comrades, after completing the merger of the two fronts, it is time to start the 'Operation Ring' deployed by the superiors to completely destroy the Paulus troops besieged by us. He turned his head and asked Chuikov, "General Chuikov, I want to know, can the troops of your 62nd Army withstand Paulus's attack?" ”

Hearing Rokossovsky's question, Chuikov first looked at his colleague, and then confidently replied: "Of course, Comrade Commander." Our army group had 100,000 men at the beginning of the campaign, and before the start of the major counteroffensive we were left with only 327 men, and even then, Paulus did not drive us into the Volga. Since none of them had the ability to move forward at the time, now that we have been replenished, he can't even think of taking a step forward. ”

At this point, Chuikov stood up and drew a circle with his hand on the map in front of him, and continued: "Now in front of us is no longer a German army group, but a huge prisoner of war camp, but the enemy has not laid down his arms for the time being. ”

"I really didn't expect you to be so confident." Rokossovsky nodded in satisfaction at Chuikov's answer. However, in order to prevent Chuikov from underestimating the enemy, he still reminded: "It is good to have faith, but it is too early to call them prisoner of war camps." The Germans were absolutely not resigned to their defeat, and would certainly have made a frantic resistance, and if we underestimated the enemy, we would suffer a great loss. ”

Seeing that the expressions on Chuikov's faces became solemn, he smiled again and said, "But this is not a big deal, we are going to prepare for the 'Battle of the Ring'." ”

Leaving Chuikov's command, Chief of Staff Krykov offered Rokossovsky to visit the city, to which Rokossovsky readily agreed.

Although Rokossovsky was prepared and knew that Stalingrad had been beaten to pieces during months of brutal fighting, when he really saw the city, he was still shocked by what he saw. The so-called city is only a pile of ruins and a few steel frames of buildings that have not yet completely collapsed. The commanders and fighters of the 62nd Army were stuck in these ruins. The sappers turned the ruins into impregnable fortresses, repelling the enemy's frantic attacks again and again. Although the enemy advanced to the Volga in three places and divided the troops of the 62nd Army into several parts, they were never able to capture all the urban areas.

After Rokossovsky looked at the ruined city, he specially asked Chuikov: "Comrade Chuikov, do you have any difficulties in the upcoming 'Battle of the Ring'?" ”

"The main thing is that there are not enough soldiers." Chuikov did not go around in circles, but said bluntly: "Although there are many numbers of the group army, many of them are empty shelves, and some brigades have only more than 100 people, of which less than half are combatants. I hope that the Front Command will be able to replenish us with some troops before the start of a new offensive. Even if each brigade can maintain the strength of one battalion, we will be content. ”

Hearing Chuikov's request, Rokossovsky was silent for a long time, and finally spoke: "Don't worry, Comrade Chuikov, we will try our best to meet your request." Without your hard work, it would have been almost impossible to hold the city. Since you have established immortal feats when you are defending, I hope that you will be able to establish even more brilliant feats when the offensive begins. ”

When returning to the other side of the river, Terekin asked with some concern: "Comrade commander, we don't have reserves in our hands, where can we replenish them?" ”

"It is possible to transfer some of the troops directly under the Front Command to them," Rokossovsky said decisively: "Only by strengthening the forces of Chuikov's troops, when we conduct the 'Battle of the Ring', the battle will be easy." ”

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