After Rokossovsky said this, he deliberately paused for a moment to see what everyone thought, but there was silence in the headquarters. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 Although the division commander, who advocated retreat, was demoted, the commanders still refused to take the initiative to talk about the attack.

"Comrade commanders, what's wrong with you?" Seeing that everyone was silent, the newly appointed division commander Yershov was a little out of breath, he stood up again, and said unceremoniously to his colleagues: "Are they all frightened by the Germans?" ”

"Comrade division commander," after he finished speaking, the chief of staff of the division said angrily: "We now have limited troops, and the equipment is also very poor, and it is okay to use it for defense, but if we want to use it for attack, I think it is impossible." The enemy only needs a few machine guns to wipe out all our attacking forces. ”

From the grumbling of the chief of staff of the division, Rokossovsky realized that the situation in the troops was worse than he had imagined. If at such a time, the force was forcibly ordered to attack, and some results might be achieved, but the end result was that the army was crippled and had to withdraw to rest. Therefore, he had to reconsider how to assign tasks to the division.

Lobachev saw that the atmosphere on the field was a little wrong, so he approached Rokossovsky and whispered: "Comrade commander, what should we do?" ”

"Don't worry, I know it." After saying this to Lobachev in a low voice, Rokossovsky stood up and said to the commanders gathered around the table: "Comrade commanders, I know that the situation in the troops is difficult. But we were difficult, and the Germans were no better, since their troops lacked sufficient winter clothing, and with the onset of the bitter cold, they had lost almost half of their combat effectiveness, so we were sure of defeating them. ”

Rokossovsky's remarks somewhat increased the confidence of these silent commanders. This time, without waiting for Yershov to speak again, Colonel Ivan, who had been demoted to deputy division commander, spoke: "Comrade commander, what should we do next, please give an order!" ”

Although Ivan is now only the deputy division commander, his prestige in the division is not comparable to that of Yershov. As soon as his words fell, the commanders who had remained silent also echoed: "Comrade commander, please give an order!" ”

Seeing that everyone's enthusiasm for fighting was remobilized, Rokossovsky nodded with satisfaction, and then said: "The task of your division is to immediately move westward, move closer to Sushinich, and prepare to cooperate with friendly forces to liberate the city. Do you have faith? ”

"Yes!" Hearing Rokossovsky's question, the commanders replied in unison: "We are confident that we will cooperate with friendly forces to liberate the city." ”

When leaving the headquarters of the 328th Division, Rokossovsky said to Yershov, who came to see him off, with a serious expression: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, although you are now the commander of the division, it seems that your prestige cannot be compared with Colonel Ivan. ”

"It can't be helped." Yershov shrugged his shoulders and said helplessly: "After all, Colonel Ivan has been the division commander for several years, and I have always been a regiment commander under him, and two months ago, because of the death of the deputy division commander, I temporarily took over the position of deputy division commander. ”

"I see." After Rokossovsky figured out the situation, he thought for a moment, and then said: "Lieutenant Colonel Yershov, don't worry, prestige is slowly cultivated, as long as you command the troops to win a few more battles, the commanders and fighters below will be happy and convinced of you." Do you understand? ”

"Understood, Comrade Commander." When Yershov heard Rokossovsky say this, he immediately said with confidence: "I will definitely establish my prestige among the commanders and fighters in the shortest possible time." ”

"We have to go to other troops, and the matter here will be left to you." Rokossovsky said, extending his hand to Yershov, "Good luck!" ”

On the way to the next unit, Lobachev asked Rokossovsky with a worried face: "Comrade commander, do you really think that Lieutenant Colonel Yershov will be able to control this unit well?" ”

"In my heart, Yershov is not a qualified candidate." Rokossovsky said with a wry smile: "But you have also seen the situation just now, most of the commanders of the division were frightened by the Germans because of the successive defeats in the battle, and they didn't even have the luck to continue fighting. Although Yershov's abilities were limited, he was the only one of the divisional leaders who did not advocate the continued retreat of the troops, so I appointed him as the division commander. ”

"Which troop are we going to next?" Lobachev waited for Rokossovsky to finish speaking, and then asked.

"The 324th Infantry Division," Rokossovsky said confidently after finishing the number of the unit, "the commander of the division, Major General Kiryukhin, is a commander with rich combat experience, and I believe that we will definitely have unexpected gains in his place." ”

When the jeep came to a crossroads, it was stopped by a bunch of barricades in the middle of the road.

"What's going on, why are there so many obstacles on the road?" Lobachev, seeing this, instructed the guide, who was sitting in the co-pilot's seat: "Comrade Captain, you go to the front and see what is going on." ”

The captain agreed, opened the car door and was about to get out of the car, when suddenly a dozen soldiers wearing white camouflage suits and submachine guns rushed out of the woods on the side of the road. One of them, who looked like an officer, walked quickly to Rokossovsky's car and asked the captain who had just gotten out of the car: "What part are you from?" ”

Rokossovsky had already clearly seen that the other party's weapon was a Bobosha submachine gun, and it was also spoken in Russian, so he pushed the car door, leaned out half of his body and said loudly: "I am Rokossovsky, commander of the 16th Army, whose subordinate are you?" ”

Hearing Rokossovsky's identification, the officer hurriedly walked over, raised his hand and saluted, and then reported: "Report to Comrade Commander, we are from the 324th Infantry Division and are on alert duty. ”

Rokossovsky waved his hand at the guards who were coming from behind, motioned for them to stand down, and then continued: "It turns out that it is General Kiryukhin's subordinates, I don't know where your division headquarters is?" ”

"Comrade commander," said the officer, pointing to the road ahead, "follow this road, turn left at a fork in the road, and you will see a village, where the division headquarters is located." After the officer finished speaking, he immediately turned around and ordered his men to remove the barricades blocking the road and let the convoy pass.

Following the path guided by the officers, Rokossovsky and Lobachev successfully arrived at the headquarters of the 324th Infantry Division and met with the division commander, Major General Kiryukhin.

Seeing Rokossovsky's arrival, Kiryukhin was particularly surprised, and after greeting the two, he asked curiously: "Commander, military commissar, why did you come to us?" ”

"Tell me about your situation here." Rokossovsky didn't bother to greet him, so he asked bluntly.

"The situation is not very good, Comrade Commander." Kiryukhin replied with a weeping face: "Since the supply lines to attack us were cut off by the Germans, the troops have been short of ammunition and other military supplies, so they can only stick here, and they are not able to attack the enemy at all. ”

"Yes, General Kiryukhin, the situation is very bad." Rokossovsky agreed with Kiryukhin's statement, but he continued: "So I intend for you to adjust your defense zone and move as far as possible in the direction of Sushinich and build new defensive positions there." ”

"Moving in the direction of Sushinich?" Hearing Rokossovsky's order, Kiryukhin couldn't help but hesitate for a moment, and then asked tentatively: "Are we going to attack the city?" ”

"That's right, you guessed right." Rokossovsky nodded and said affirmatively: "The command of the Front ordered us to seize Sushnych, an important railway junction, in the shortest possible time, to ensure that our troops that broke through the depth of the German defense could continue to advance further into the area." ”

After Kiryukhin waited for Rokossovsky to finish speaking, he asked with a serious expression: "I don't know how many troops can be mobilized to participate in this siege operation?" ”

"Comrade Kiryukhin, as a result of the long fighting, the attrition of the units is very serious." Rokossovsky said with a heavy heart: "We have very few troops in the battle this time, maybe only two or three divisions. ”

"Only two or three divisions?" After listening to Rokossovsky's words, Kiryukhin could not help but gasp, and he muttered: "According to our reconnaissance, it was the German division that occupied Sushnych, commanded by von Giles, who once made us suffer. ”

"Of our existing infantry divisions, there are only your divisions and the 11th Guards Division of General Chernyshov." Rokossovsky pretended not to hear Kiryukhin's concerns, and said to himself: "Of course, there are only two incompletely formed artillery regiments, and it is obviously unrealistic to capture a city like Suchinich. I would ask the commander of the artillery group of the army, General Kazakov, to transfer two more artillery regiments and several rocket artillery battalions to strengthen the firepower of the attacking troops. ”

"I see, Comrade Commander." Kiryukhin replied stubbornly: "I will transfer troops to the Sushinich area in the shortest possible time and make all preparations before the attack." ”

After negotiating the transfer of troops, Rokossovsky and Lobachev left the headquarters of the 324th Infantry Division and hurried to the division headquarters in Chernesov.

Here, Rokossovsky saw Chernyshov convening a meeting of his subordinates, a group of people around a square table, talking nervously about something.

Seeing the arrival of Rokossovsky and Lobachev, Chernyshov hurriedly stopped the meeting and came over to report to the two: "Report to the commander, military commissar, the 11th Guards Division is being deployed for operations, please instruct!" ”

"Please continue." After Rokossovsky finished speaking, he came to the table, and after sitting down in the seat vacated by the commander, he looked at Chernyshov and asked: "Comrade General, what are you discussing?" ”

"That's right, Comrade Commander." Chernyshov hurriedly replied: "Judging from the current situation, our next task is to capture Sushnych and open up the communication line cut off by the Germans. Before you came, we were working on how to recapture Suchinich. ”

After listening to Chernyshov's report, Rokossovsky asked with interest: "Have you come up with any results from your research?" ”

"According to the information we have, the Germans have about a division of defenders in the city, and the strength is about the same as ours." Chernyshov said clearly: "To retake the city, it is not enough for us to have one division, and we also need to be assisted by friendly troops sent to us by our superiors." ”

"Don't worry, Comrade General." Rokossovsky said: "I will never let you fight alone, and in the battle to recapture Suchinich, I will send at least two divisions to fight with you." ”

"Great, that's great." Hearing Rokossovsky say this, Chernyshov excitedly said: "With the cooperation of friendly forces, we will be more confident in capturing Suchinich." ”

"By the way, General Leviakin once sent a reconnaissance detachment in the direction of Sushinich." Rokossovsky reminded Chernyshov: "You should establish contact with them as soon as possible, so that you can get information about the German army in a timely manner." ”

"Comrade Commander, don't worry." Chernyshov replied with a smile: "We established contact with them yesterday, and they reported to me about the situation of the defenders in the city." ”

"Comrade General, you are doing a good job." Rokossovsky, having praised Chernyshov, continued to call the shots: "Immediately assemble the troops and move in the direction of Sushnych." Taking advantage of the cold weather and the infrequent activity of the German scouts, they quickly established offensive starting positions in the area. ”

"Don't worry, Comrade Commander." Chernyshov confidently said: "In the past two days I have ordered the troops, in battalion units, to gradually move towards the Sushnych area. Before the temperature rises, I am confident that my troops will be able to occupy all the starting positions for the offensive. ”

After arranging all the troops involved in the attack on Sushnych, Rokossovsky and Lobachev returned to the headquarters of the army group in Meshchevsk.

Seeing Rokossovsky and them returning, Malinin immediately greeted him and reported to him: "Comrade commander, according to the information we have just received, several infantry divisions where you have been today are slowly moving in the direction of Sushnych, and by the night of the 28th, at the latest, they will all be able to enter the attack position. ”

"yes, I see." After Rokossovsky said this, he looked around, looking for Kazakov's figure. But after watching it for a long time, he didn't see the shadow of Kazakov, so he specially asked Malinin: "Chief of Staff, where has our artillery commander gone?" ”

"General Kazakov went to the troops below." Malinin knew that there must be a reason for Rokossovsky's question, and quickly explained: "But he will be back after dark, and you can assign him a task then." ”

"No, I can't wait that long." After listening to this, Rokossovsky shook his head and instructed Malinin: "Immediately call the artillery regiment and rocket artillery battalion below, see where General Kazakov is, and ask him to return to the command immediately." ”