When he received Rokossovsky's call, Lukin didn't know what was going on, and he thought that the other party would be ready to come to his defense area as usual, so he asked with a smile: "Hello, Comrade Rokossovsky, when are you going to come over today, I will let the kitchen prepare hot beetroot soup for you in advance." Pen %Fun %Pavilion www.biquge.info"

In normal times, maybe Rokossovsky would have joked with Lukin, but today he was not in such a mood, "Comrade Lukin, a special situation has happened, and I can't go over today." ”

When Lukin heard Rokossovsky speak in such a serious tone, he knew that something big must have happened, so he quickly restrained the smile on his face and asked nervously, "What's wrong?" ”

"Based on the reports of the scouts, and the interrogation of captured prisoners, we know that on the west bank of the Wopi River, there are again German tanks and motorized units." Rokossovsky truthfully informed Lukin of what he knew: "If my judgment is not wrong, it should be the armored forces of the German army that went south, and after solving the defenders of Kiev, began to march north, ready to break through our line of defense and continue the march to Moscow." ”

This unexpected intelligence took Lukin by surprise: "Comrade Rokossovsky, is this all true?" Half an hour earlier, my scouts had reported to me that on our front there were only German infantry units. Unexpectedly, the enemy's armored forces have begun to return one after another. I will immediately send out scouts again to reconnoiter the depth of the German army. ”

After Lukin's call, Rokossovsky felt the need to report the situation to Konev immediately, so that he could know what to do. But when he called the command of the Front, found Konev and reported to him what he had detected, he was poured cold water on his head.

Konev said with an indifferent expression: "Comrade Rokossovsky, I have not received any reports about the German armored forces, and they have just been engaged in a half-month and a long battle with our Southwestern Front, and now they need to rest and recuperate first, instead of hastily moving troops north to attack our increasingly strong defensive line." Don't panic, just guard your zone well. ”

Konev's indifferent attitude made Rokossovsky puzzled, and he asked himself that he had always respected Konev as a commander, but why did he treat himself with such an attitude, even if he was on the phone, he could still feel his undisguised disgust for himself.

Although Konev did not pay attention to his report, the presence of German armored units on the west bank of the Wopi River is an indisputable fact that the enemy could attack his own defense zone at any time. The first task now was to prepare the units for battle in the event of a German attack at any time.

Two days later, in the early morning of October 2, Rokossovsky, who was resting on the marching bed of the headquarters, was suddenly woken up. Seeing that he opened his eyes, Malinin, who looked anxious, said urgently: "Comrade commander, I have just received a call from the reconnaissance personnel and the forward observation post, and the sound of tank engines was heard on the west bank of the river, and it seems that the Germans are preparing to attack us. ”

After listening to Malinin's report, Rokossovsky rolled over and got out of bed, walked quickly to the table with maps and telephones, and at the same time asked: "Chief of staff, have you taken any measures?" ”

"The battle alarm has been raised to the two infantry divisions at the front," Malinin, who was following him, hurriedly replied, "and at the same time I ordered the troops on both sides of the Vyazma-Smolensk road to enter positions. ”

"Well done, Comrade Chief of Staff." Rokossovsky looked down at the map in front of him for a moment, then raised his head and said to Kazakov: "Comrade Chief of Artillery, the Germans, before the offensive, will definitely shell our defensive positions. Don't shoot back at such a time, and when the enemy's infantry and tanks attack, you will suddenly open fire and take them by surprise. ”

"Understood, Comrade Commander." The sleepy-eyed Kazakov rubbed his eyes and said a little absent-mindedly: "I immediately called the various artillery regiments below and asked them to do a good job of concealment, and wait for the German attacking troops to enter the range of fire, and then open fire." ”

At 7 a.m., the Germans began their pre-offensive artillery bombardment, and at the same time bombers were dispatched to bombard the defensive positions on the east bank of the Wopi River to cover their sappers for the erection of pontoon bridges over the river.

In the headquarters of the army group in the rear, as soon as Malinin heard the rumbling of artillery in front, he immediately asked Rokossovsky for instructions: "Comrade commander, the enemy has begun artillery preparations before the attack, do we need to immediately report this situation to the front command?" ”

"No hurry, Comrade Chief of Staff, wait a little longer." Rokossovsky explained to a bewildered Malinin: "At the moment the Germans are only bombarding our positions with artillery and planes, and we still don't know how many troops they will send and what kind of troops will attack." So don't report upwards for the time being, wait until the enemy's ground forces launch an offensive. ”

Rokossovsky had expected the German artillery and bombardment, which would last at most an hour, and then a ground offensive would be launched. But after an hour and a half, the German artillery shells were still pouring down on the Soviet positions as if they could not finish it. Seeing this, he couldn't help frowning, called Malinin over and ordered: "Chief of Staff, you call Colonel Orlov and ask him how the situation is there, why did the German shelling and bombardment continue for so long?" ”

Taking advantage of Malinin's efforts to call the frontier, Rokossovsky also picked up the phone in front of him and called Lukin. When he heard Lukin's voice coming out of the microphone, Rokossovsky didn't care about greetings, so he said bluntly: "Comrade Lukin, how is your situation there?" ”

Lukin heard the faint sound of artillery from the earpiece, and couldn't help but ask in surprise: "The Germans have attacked?"

"Yes," Rokossovsky replied with great speed, "the Germans are carrying out artillery shelling and bombardment in our defensive positions on the east bank of the Wopi River. As the bombardment and shelling continue, it is not yet clear what kind of forces the Germans will devote to the attack. I'm calling you to find out if there is any movement of the German army in your direction? ”

"No, Comrade Rokossovsky." Lukin hurriedly replied, "We don't move here at all. But I reckon this is the calm before the storm, and they may continue to attack our defense zone after your attack has been thwarted. ”

"Comrade Lukin, although I cannot give you orders," Rokossovsky said cautiously, "but I nevertheless advise you to immediately send a combat alert to the troops so that the fighters are ready for all battles. In this way, they could be attacked head-on by the Germans in the event of a surprise attack. ”

"That's a lot of what you're proposing." Lukin said kindly: "I will give the troops a battle order, let the commanders and fighters enter the position, and prepare for a surprise attack by the German army." ”

After Rokossovsky had finished talking to Lukin on his side, Malinin also ended the call with Orlov and returned to report to Rokossovsky: "Comrade commander, I have asked Colonel Orlov, and he said that the Germans are erecting a pontoon bridge over the Vopi River in an attempt to transport tanks and armored vehicles on the other side of the river through the pontoon bridge. However, due to the fact that our troops were suppressed by superior firepower, it was not possible to carry out sabotage of the enemy's bridge-building operation. ”

"I see." After listening to Malinin's report, Rokossovsky said disapprerovitically: "Since the Germans are going to build a pontoon bridge over the Vopi River, let them go." Anyway, we've blown up the pontoon bridge they've built several times, so it's a big deal to blow it up again. ”

After waiting for Rokossovsky to finish speaking, Malinin carefully reminded him: "Comrade commander, should you inform the 20th Army on the left about the German attack on us, so that General Yershakov also knows about it?" After all, we are friendly forces, and in the next battle, we will need the cooperation of the two friendly armies on the left and right. ”

Compared with Lukin, Yersakov is a person who is not easy to deal with, and if it were not for the urgency of the matter, Rokossovsky would really not want to take the initiative to contact him. At this moment, he was reminded by Malinin, who immediately dialed the phone of the 20th Army, ready to inform Yershakov about the German offensive.

Who knew that after the call was connected, it was a staff officer who answered the phone. He respectfully told Rokossovsky that the commander, General Yershakov, had inspected the troops below, and before leaving, he did not explain which unit he would go to and when he would return. So when the staff officer took note of what Rokossovsky said, he said politely: "General Rokossovsky, please rest assured, as soon as our commander returns, I will immediately report to him what you said." ”

Rokossovsky was never at ease with the forward positions that had been shelled and bombed by the Germans, so he left Malinin and Kazakov in charge of the command headquarters, and he rushed to the forward observation post with Lobachev.

Due to the fact that in order to avoid unnecessary losses of the troops in the shelling of the Germans, the troops stationed on the river, shortly after the start of the shelling, moved to the second-line positions. Because of this, the Germans inflicted negligible casualties on the Soviets after wasting countless shells and aerial bombs.

Rokossovsky saw in the observation post that the German infantry, who had crossed the Wopi River, under the cover of several tanks, launched an attack on the second line of defense of the Soviet army. Seeing this, he immediately picked up the phone and said to Kazakov, who remained in the command: "Comrade Chief of Artillery, enemy tanks are advancing towards the positions of our troops, and the infantry is following closely. You immediately order the artillery to open fire, intercept the attacking enemy with fire, and reduce the defensive pressure on the infantry. ”

With Rokossovsky's order, the artillery belonging to the army group suddenly opened fire together. Dense shells and rockets smashed into the German attacking ranks, enveloping them in smoke and fire.

The German attack was quickly repulsed, but it didn't take long for them to attack again. This time, in order to prevent them from being hit by Soviet artillery fire again, they also used long-range artillery to counter the Soviet artillery.

The fierce battle lasted until twelve o'clock at noon, when the Germans left more than forty tanks and more than a thousand corpses in front of the positions of the 16th Army. Seeing that the offensive in this area was not effective, the German commander ordered the troops to retreat to the west bank of the Wopi River, readjust their deployment, and prepare for a new attack.

Seeing that the German troops were withdrawing to the west bank of the Wopi River one after another, Lobachev could not help but ask in surprise: "Comrade commander, the Germans retreated like this?" ”

"Comrade Military Commissar," although he saw the Germans withdraw across the Wopi River, Rokossovsky was not optimistic, he felt that the Germans must have some conspiracy in doing so, "The German army has an absolute advantage in technology and equipment, but it still firmly holds air supremacy. After the attack was frustrated, they withdrew to the west bank of the Wopi River, and there must have been some kind of conspiracy hatching. We would like to remind the troops to be vigilant so as not to be caught by surprise by the enemy. ”

Rokossovsky's fears soon became a reality. At one o'clock in the afternoon, the Germans crossed the Wopi River in the section of the 19th Army with two motorized regiments and launched an attack on the defense zone of Lukin's troops.

After an hour of fierce fighting, the defense line of one of the divisions on Lukin's right flank was broken by the Germans, and the connection between the division and the main forces of the army group was forcibly cut off by the Germans.

When Rokossovsky learned of this, he immediately asked with concern: "Comrade Lukin, do you need me to immediately send troops to support you?" ”

"Not for the time being, Comrade Rokossovsky." Lukin tactfully rejected Rokossovsky's kindness, and said: "I believe that with the current strength of our army group, we can restore the lost positions in the shortest possible time. ”

Seeing that Lukin was unwilling to let his troops go to support, and Rokossovsky was not reluctant, he had to politely say: "Okay, General Lukin, then I will not send troops to you for the time being." However, if your zone is in danger, please let me know and I will provide you with the necessary assistance. ”

After the stubborn fighting of the commanders and fighters of the 19th Army, by the evening, the German troops wedged into the defense zone were wiped out, and the lost positions were recaptured one after another.

Throughout the day of 3 October, the enemy did not launch another ground offensive against the defense area of the 16th Army, but bombarded the defensive positions on the east bank with artillery fire. (To be continued.) )