By the time the enemy outside Vvodava had been eliminated, Rokossovsky arrived at Blazevich's headquarters, it was already the middle of the night. He was sitting in the headquarters and catching up with Blazevic when he saw Grissa walk in with a telegram in his hand.

He quickly stopped talking, stood up and asked Grisa, "Where did the telegram come from?" ”

"It's the Front Command." Grissa replied briefly, and handed the telegram into his hand.

After reading the telegram, Rokossovsky casually put it on the table, looked up and asked Blazevic: "Comrade Colonel, can you contact the front army on your phone here?" ”

Hearing his question, Blazevich shook his head like a rattle and said in a loud voice: "No, Comrade General. Our lines of communication to the outside world have been completely cut off from the moment the war broke out, presumably by small German forces. He paused for a moment, then asked cautiously, "Was the telegram just now from the Front Command?" ”

Rokossovsky nodded, and said somewhat helplessly: "The command of the front ordered me to report on the whereabouts of the troops. Since the telephone could not be used, it was only necessary to send them a telegram. After speaking, he took out a pen and paper and wrote down in detail the recent movements of the troops and the current position on the paper. When he had finished writing, he folded up the note, handed it to Grissa, and commanded: "Captain, you immediately have the telegraph operator send this telegram. ”

Grissa took the telegram, said loudly, and was about to go out. As soon as he had taken two steps, Rokossovsky stopped him again and instructed: "Captain, by the way, let the two division commanders come here, I have important matters to discuss with them." ”

Baghramyan, who was waiting in the telecommunications room, did not bother to glue the slender telegram to the paper as soon as he received it, and hurried towards the headquarters with it.

Vashukin, who was waiting at the door, was a little tired from standing, so he sat in the chair by the door, still looking forward to it. Suddenly, he heard the sound of hurried footsteps in the hallway, and immediately stood up from his chair. As soon as he saw Baghramyan, he couldn't wait to ask: "Colonel, is it a telegram from General Rokossovsky?" ”

"Yes, Comrade Military Commissar." Bagramyan handed the telegram in his hand to Vashukin, and at the same time said in his mouth: "Commander Rokossovsky and his main forces have left Lublin and are currently staying in the Vvodava region. ”

Vashukin walked quickly to the conference table while reading the telegram, hesitated for a moment, handed the telegram in his hand to Zhukov, and then faced Kirponos and said: "Comrade commander, Rokossovsky said on the telegram that after leaving Lublin with the main force of the 9th Mechanized Army, he first went north to rescue part of the defenders of the Brest fortress, and then turned south and routed the German troops besieging the 99th Infantry Division, and his troops are currently staying in the Vvodava area. ”

"And what about Lublin?" As soon as Pulkaev waited for Vashukin to finish, he couldn't wait to ask: "Has Rokossovsky already abandoned the region?" ”

Vashukin glanced at Pulkaev and said with some displeasure: "Comrade Chief of Staff, you must know that the order to abandon Lublin was given by you personally. However, even so, Rokossovsky left the 20th Tank Division to defend there, believing that the troops there could effectively contain some of the German follow-up forces. ”

"Pin down the strength of the German army?!" After reading the telegram, Zhukov raised his head and looked at Vashukin and asked: "With just one tank division, how many troops can be contained, and how long can it be contained?" In the end, it was not the end of being annihilated by the German army. No, immediately send a telegram to Rokossovsky and ask him to withdraw this tank division overnight and take part in the offensive in the Dubno area. ”

After listening to what Zhukov said, Bagramian stood still and did not move, but turned his gaze to Kirponos, waiting for his final order. And the latter looked at the colonel with a serious expression and said: "Comrade Chief of Operations, didn't you hear the order of Comrade Chief of the General Staff?" Immediately go and send a telegram to Rokossovsky, asking him to withdraw the tank division that remained in Lublin, rush to Lutsk as soon as possible, and prepare to participate in the battle in the Dubno area. ”

After Bagramian left, Zhukov asked Kirponos with a cold expression: "Comrade commander, have you figured out how many troops will be able to participate in the battle tomorrow?" ”

Hearing Zhukov's question, Pulkaev hurriedly replied: "The only troops that can participate in the counter-assault battle tomorrow are the 8th, 15th, and 22nd mechanized armies, and not all of them. Of these, the 22nd Mechanized Corps was able to participate in the battle only with the 19th Tank Division. In battle, apart from the support of the 135th Infantry Division and the 1st Brigade of the Anti-Tank Corps, they could not count on other units at all. The 4th Mechanized Army has been transferred to counter the enemy's offensive in the Lviv direction, and as for the 19th Mechanized Army, and Rokossovsky's 9th Mechanized Army, it will take at least another day to reach the battlefield. The 31st, 36th, and 37th Infantry Corps were still 150 kilometers away, and it would take at least three days to reach them. ”

After waiting for Pulkaev to finish his report, Kirponos stood up and said to Zhukov: "Comrade Chief of the General Staff, it seems that we have too few troops to carry out a counter-assault. ”

"Comrade commander," Zhukov said with a blank face, "the offensive is the best defense, and as soon as we take the initiative to attack, then the German offensive will slow down." This will allow us to gather our forces and buy us precious time. ”

As soon as Vashukin and Zhukov finished speaking, he immediately added: "That's right, Comrade Chief of the General Staff is right. If we had to wait for the sluggish mechanized corps to be assembled before launching a counterattack against the Germans, we would have exhausted all our forces close to the border. ”

"Since this is so, Comrade Chief of the General Staff." Kirponos smiled stiffly, and said with a hint of helplessness in his voice: "We will draft the order for the attack to the troops. ”

After receiving the offensive order from the command of the Front, Rokossovsky said to the three division commanders standing in front of him: "Comrades division commanders, we have just received an order from the Front to immediately move our army south to participate in the battle in the Dubno area. Do you guys have any thoughts? ”

Blazevic was an outsider and couldn't figure out what's going on outside, so he kept his mouth shut and became a spectator. Scherstyuk, on the other hand, frowned and said: "Comrade General, it is almost two hundred kilometers from us to Dubno, and if you march in broad daylight, it is very likely that you will be attacked by German air strikes, which will lead to the crushing of the troops. ”

"Comrade Commander, I feel that it is not realistic for us to participate in the fighting in the Dubno area. Perhaps by the time we had braved the German bombardment and reached Dubno with heavy losses, the order to attack was cancelled again. Novikov cautiously suggested to Rokossovsky: "I think the first thing we should think about is to withdraw the 20th tank division that remained in the Lublin area." Otherwise, they were in danger of being wiped out by the Germans. ”

Rokossovsky did not refute his words, but, after he finished speaking, said in a calm tone: "Comrade Novikov, an order is always an order, it needs to be carried out. If, after receiving an order from his superiors, a commander does not immediately and unconditionally carry it out, but raises a whole bunch of difficulties, then there is no point in that. But your other suggestion is quite correct, we must first withdraw the Chernyaev Division from the Lublin area, so that our forces will become stronger, so that the possibility of defeating the Germans will be greater. ”