"Two comrades, generals, are you looking for me?" Rokossovsky: They didn't have to wait long, and Borisova, led by the guards, walked towards the two of them. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

"That's right, Comrade Borisova." With a smile on his face, Rokossovsky politely said to Borisova: "General Vinogradov and I have something to ask you, so I sent someone to invite you over." ”

"What's the matter?" Borisova looked at Rokossovsky and asked without humility or arrogance: "As long as I know, I will definitely tell you two truthfully." ”

"Comrade Commissar," since Vinogradov did not call Borisova by her name, but addressed her by her position on an official basis: "Our troops are ready to be deployed here, I wonder what can be done with the fortifications?" ”

Borisova thought for a moment, then stretched out three fingers and said in a firm tone: "Three days, Comrade General, at most three days, we will be able to complete the construction of all the fortifications." ”

"Three days?!" When Vinogradov heard Borisova say this, he turned his head and said teasingly at Rokossovsky: "Comrade commander, I don't know if the Germans will wait for our fortifications to be repaired before breaking here?" ”

"Comrade General." Borisova heard the mockery in Vinogradov's words, and immediately retorted unceremoniously: "The terrain here is too complicated, and if you dig three feet into the ground, it will be full of water, and in order to ensure the quality of the construction, we have to find a way to drain the water inside after digging a trench." Our people are working on the work almost 24 hours a day, and we've done our best. ”

Vinogradov snorted, and then said: "Comrade Commissioner, the Germans don't care about this, if they find that there are no fortifications blocking them in front, the infantry, under the cover of tanks, will rush directly towards our city. ”

Seeing that the two of them continued to talk, there was a possibility of quarreling, Rokossovsky hurriedly raised his hand to stop Vinogradov, and then asked in a friendly tone: "Comrade Borisova, I think your construction intensity must be not small." ”

"Not really," Borisova said with a sense of resentment, "and the initial task we were given was to dig a trench five kilometers wide and build some reinforced concrete firing points in the trench. But when we were working on it, we received a new order to add another trench of the same length a hundred or two hundred meters behind the first line of defense. And the original 7,000 construction workers were only half of us in the end. ”

Rokossovsky looked at the busy crowd in the distance, and then asked: "Comrade Borisova, there must be quite a few students among those who build the fortifications, right?" ”

"That's right, not only did we send out ****** in factories, collective farms, and cities, but we also sent people to the schools to recruit students of ten years, as well as some university students." Borisova spoke very quickly: "Even so, we still have a large shortage of labor, and we need to call in people from other places. ”

"Comrade Borisova," Rokossovsky said unexpectedly, "the students should be allowed to go back, and not let them work here as construction workers." ”

"Why, Comrade General?" Borisova was confused by Rokossovsky's words, and she asked puzzledly: "Why let them go back, you must know that there are 500 of them, and they are not bad at all." ”

"The students should all be allowed to go back," Rokossovsky said as if he was a little careless, after repeating his words again: "They are all builders of the future of the motherland, and in the future, from among them, many talents will come out of the needs of the country!" ”

This sentence made Borisova stunned, when recruiting volunteer laborers, she did not take these into account at all, and only thought that one more person would give her more strength, so among the students who signed up, as long as they were at least eighteen years old, she approved all of them. But Rokossovsky's words made her fall into deep thought, and after an inspiring ideological struggle, she looked up at Rokossovsky and said: "Comrade General, maybe you are right. These students are the future of the motherland, and after we defeat the fascist invaders, they will be the backbone of the reconstruction of the motherland. ”

Rokossovsky was very satisfied with Borisova's answer, he nodded, and said: "Of course, you don't have to let all the students go back, you can leave those students who study architecture, I believe that with their professional skills, the construction time of the fortifications can be greatly shortened." ”

Seeing that Borisova went to arrange for the students to return to the city, Vinogradov asked Rokossovsky with some concern: "Comrade commander, is this appropriate?" You know, these students can be used for a greater purpose, for example, after the fortifications are built, they can be left in the army to strengthen our defenses. ”

"These students have no military training, and if they do fight, they will not be of any use." Rokossovsky did not hesitate to say: "Instead of letting them die in vain, let them move to the rear with the school, and after learning useful knowledge, they will come to participate in the battle to defend the Motherland." ”

The question of sending the students back to the city soon caused an uproar, and many students, who were dirty like mud monkeys, ran up to Rokossovsky, and one of them, who looked like a leader, pleaded with him on behalf of everyone: "Comrade General, I beg you, let us stay." ”

"Kid, no." Rokossovsky put his hand on the shoulder of the young man, who was not a few years older than his daughter, and said earnestly: "You are still young, and you should stay in school at this time to continue your studies, and learn what knowledge can be used to defend and build the Motherland in the future, instead of spending your precious time on building fortifications." ”

"Comrade General," said the young man insistently, "even Comrade Stalin's speech did not mention any age limit, and you have no right to let us out of here." ”

"Young man," Rokossovsky said in a stern tone, "this has nothing to do with the speech of Comrade Stalin, and I thank you on behalf of the army for your participation in the construction of the fortifications." With that, he raised his hand and gave a solemn military salute to the group of students standing in front of him, and then said, "But I beg you now, get out of here, go back to the city, go back to your school." What we need is not only the soldiers who are defending the motherland now, but also the builders after defeating the fascist invaders. Do you know what I mean? ”

Rokossovsky's words silenced the students. They stood there for a moment, then began to turn around and walk towards the car that had been prepared for them in the far zone.

Looking at the backs of the students leaving, Rokossovsky couldn't help but sigh secretly in his heart, because of his appearance, the original history has deviated again. In real history, some of these students should have volunteered to go to the front, while the other part was like them just now, burying their heads and desperately digging trenches with the tools in their hands. Now that these students have been sent back to the city by themselves, many may remain in the city, joining the militia to patrol the city or put out fires caused by the bombing; Many others will follow the evacuated crowds and retreat to cities further east.

Vinogradov, who was standing next to him, watched the students gradually move away, looked up to the sky and sighed, and then said to Rokossovsky: "Comrade commander, although I don't know if you are doing this correctly, as your subordinate, I am willing to be on your side. ”

At this moment, Malinin and Tarasov, who were studying the location of the new command in the cabin, came out. Seeing Tarasov, Rokossovsky immediately called him to the front, pointed to the motorized division, which was marching in the forests on both sides of the road, and said to him: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I now give you a task to assist the commanders and fighters of the motorized division in entering the defensive positions east of Yaltsevo. ”

"Yes!" Tarasov agreed, turned around and prepared to leave. But he didn't take a few steps before he was stopped by Vinogradov.

Vinogradov looked at Rokossovsky with his eyes and said: "Comrade commander, this is not good. Although our troops are under your command, no one knows Lieutenant Colonel Tarasov, and he is going to give orders, and it is estimated that he will not listen to him. I'd better find someone to accompany him. Seeing that Rokossovsky nodded in agreement, he immediately called a fighter and asked him to accompany Tarasov to the commander of the motorized division.

After Tarasov left, Rokossovsky smiled and asked Malinin: "My comrade chief of staff, I don't know if the address of your new command has been chosen?" ”

"Elected, Comrade Commander." Malinin replied very dryly.

"Where?" Rokossovsky asked.

Malinin took out the map and unfolded it, brought it to Rokossovsky, pointed to one of the positions with one hand, and said: "Comrade commander, please see, the location of our new command is located two kilometers behind the second line of defense east of Yaltsevo. ”

Rokossovsky couldn't help frowning when he saw where the new command was located, and he said to Malinin with some dissatisfaction: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I don't think you know that there is a war going on now, and you still think that military exercises are being conducted?" We actually set up our new headquarters ten kilometers away from the first line of defense. In this way, how can we command the troops, and how can we command the troops? ”

Facing the angry Rokossovsky, Malinin stood still expressionlessly. After Rokossovsky finished speaking, he cautiously said: "Comrade commander, I chose the command here for my reasons. ”

"What is the reason, let's hear it." Rokossovsky said impatiently.

Malinin patiently said: "If the position of our headquarters is too close to the front line, once our defense line is broken through by the enemy, their tanks will only take a few minutes to rush outside our headquarters." In this case, we will have to temporarily move to another location to establish a new headquarters. If the troops lose command for such a long time, then it is easy to fall into disarray. ”

After listening to Malinin's explanation, Rokossovsky nodded thoughtfully, and then said: "But, Comrade Chief of Staff, the new command is too far from the front line, in this case, how should we command the troops?" ”

"Don't worry, Comrade Commander." Ma Lining said confidently: "I have already considered these problems. We will set up a number of observation posts close to the front line, through which we will be able to keep abreast of what is happening on the front line. At the same time, I also intend to set up telephone lines with the troops, so that your orders can be transmitted to the troops below in a timely manner. ”

As soon as Rokossovsky waited for Malinin to finish speaking, he immediately realized that he had wrongly blamed the other party, and hurriedly apologized to him and said: "I'm sorry, Comrade Chief of Staff, I blamed you for it, please forgive me!" I now consider you to be an experienced and combative commander. I am confident that with your assistance, we will be able to achieve even greater results. ”

Vinogradov continued: "That's right, Comrade Commander. Colonel Malinin is my most effective assistant, he is not only quick-witted, but also has a wealth of combat experience, and I think this is why his superiors appointed him as your chief of staff. After speaking, he raised his hand and looked at the watch on his wrist, and then said, "It's not too early, let's rush to the location of the new headquarters as soon as possible, and strive to complete the telephone line between the troops and the troops in the shortest possible time." ”

Rokossovsky did not object to Vinogradov's proposal, he nodded and said: "That's right, now that time is pressing, let's rush to the location of the new command immediately, and seize the time to improve the command system so that we can better command the troops to fight." ”

The new headquarters was located in a small village, next to a dense forest and a small river. In the event of bombardment by enemy aircraft, the personnel in the command headquarters can quickly retreat to the forest to hide. At the same time, the existence of the river is also of great benefit to the safety of the command. Even if the enemy wanted to wade through the water and attack, it was estimated that they would not be able to go far before they would be spotted by the sentinels by the river, and then several firing points placed on the river would open fire at the same time, sending these daring Germans to God.

After carefully inspecting the surrounding environment, Rokossovsky once again praised Malinin: "Comrade Chief of Staff, this place you have chosen is really good, and I believe that we will command the battle here for a long time to come." (To be continued.) )