"No problem. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 Info" To Dovatore's request, Rokossovsky did not hesitate to agree, and he instructed Malinin: "Chief of Staff, you have the cooking squad prepare food for the cavalry soldiers. By the way, we will divide the grain we brought out when we broke through and give them two carts. ”

After Malinin left, Rokossovsky smiled and said to Dovatore: "Okay, comrade general, everything is arranged, and it won't be long before your soldiers will be able to eat a hot meal and drink a hot soup." Now that we have a little time to eat, can you tell me a little bit about your cavalry corps? ”

Dovator picked up a cup of tea handed by Lobachev, drank it all, then wiped his mouth with his sleeve and began to introduce the situation of the Third Cavalry Army: "...... Our army had fought several battles in the area of the Meza River, and having received an order to be incorporated into the reserve of the Front, we advanced to the Osuga station in which Rzhev was in love. In the course of the advance, I was surprised to find that our way forward had been cut off by the enemy's motorized and tank units, and that the cavalry corps under my command was in the enemy's rear. After some hard fighting, I finally broke out of the encirclement and came to the Volokolamsk region. ”

"How many of you still have in your troops?" As soon as Lobachev waited for Dovatol to finish speaking, he immediately asked eagerly. After asking this question, he saw that Rokossovsky and Dovator were looking at him with strange eyes, and hurriedly laughed and said: "I just want to know, how many more troops have we added?" ”

"We consist of two cavalry divisions, one is the 50th Cavalry Division under the command of General Pliev, and the other is the 53rd Cavalry Division, which is currently temporarily under the command of the brigade commander, Colonel Melnik, due to the death of the commander of this division in battle." At this point, Dovator was silent for a moment, and then continued: "At present, there are more than 4,000 people left in the whole division. ”

"Comrade commander," Lobachev said, turning his head at Rokossovsky, "our defensive front is a hundred kilometers wide, and it is simply impossible to hold it with the existing strength of the cavalry corps. ”

Regarding Lobachev's worries, Rokossovsky said with a relaxed expression: "Comrade Military Commissar, you are too worried. I, I heard from Marshal Timoshenko. General Dovator was not only young, but also vigorous and very good at thinking, and the mere fact that he led the whole army to break out of the encirclement is enough to show the general's talent and bravery. I think there is no doubt that the commanders and fighters of the Third Cavalry Corps will be able to satisfactorily accomplish the tasks we have entrusted to them. ”

Seeing that Rokossovsky was saying good things for himself, Dovatol's face showed a grateful expression, and as soon as Rokossovsky finished speaking, he hurriedly added: "Comrade Commander and Comrade Military Commissar, although the number of the Third Cavalry Army is constantly decreasing, on the whole it is still strong. The commanders and fighters of our army have participated in many battles, and the command and political personnel have a certain combat experience, understand the capabilities of cavalry soldiers, and study the strengths and weaknesses of the enemy. At the same time, we all know that the task we have under us is extremely difficult and complex. ”

Rokossovsky remembered that in the movie he watched in later generations, Dovator appeared with General Panfilov, the commander of the 316th Infantry Division, but at this moment they chatted for a long time, and they didn't see Panfilov's shadow. ”

However, after waiting for a long time, no one opened the curtain. Just as he was about to give up, suddenly the curtain was lifted from the outside, and Malinin walked in from the outside. When he came in, he turned to one side, stood at the mouth of the tent, and said to the outside, "Come in!" ”

As soon as he finished speaking, a soldier walked in from outside, holding a tray in his hand, and walked quickly towards the table. Seeing the person who came, Rokossovsky couldn't help but be slightly disappointed, it turned out that it was not Panfilov, but a fighter in the cooking class.

The warrior walked over to the table, carefully placed the plate full of bread, biscuits, cheese and sausages on the table, then turned and walked out with the tray.

"General Dovatore, you must be hungry, please eat." When Lobachev saw that the table was full of food, he immediately greeted Dovator warmly, "We can talk while eating." ”

"Comrade General," Rokossovsky said, moving the plate of bread to the side a little, revealing the map below, pointing his finger, "the task of your army is to organize a defense on a vast frontage from the north of Volokolamsk to the Volga reservoir. ”

"Understood!" Dovator slurred his mouth with food and replied vaguely, "I will order the troops to immediately build fortifications in the new defensive zone." ”

"At present, apart from your army, there is only the 18th Militia Division that rushed out of the German encirclement with our commander," Rokossovsky said with a headache as he stared at the map: "Now we have only more than 10,000 troops in our hands, but the width of the entire defensive front has reached 100 kilometers. ”

"Huh? Our defense is so wide, huh? Although Lobachev had mentioned this earlier, Dovator did not take it to heart, because he believed that Lobachev was in charge of political work and might not know much about the military situation. Hearing Rokossovsky say the same thing again at this moment, he couldn't help but be a little flustered, "Will the superiors still send us troops?" ”

"The superiors will definitely send us troops." Rokossovsky nodded and said: "But how many troops can be sent and when they will arrive, this is unknown." ”

"Report!" There was a shouting of a report at the door.

Ma Linin, who was closest to the tent door, turned his head and shouted outside, "Come in!" ”

After the curtain was opened, a staff officer walked in from outside, he looked left and right, then walked up to Malinin, handed him a telegram in his hand, and whispered: "Chief of staff, this is the telegram I just received." ”

"Got it." After Malinin sent the staff officer away, he buried his head in reading the telegram.

"Chief of Staff, what does the telegram say?" Rokossovsky saw Malinin's face with a surprised expression, and guessed what good news must have been on this telegram, and hurriedly asked: "Did the superiors send us troops?" ”

"That's right, Comrade Commander." Malinin bypassed the table, came to Rokossovsky, put the telegram in front of him, and said excitedly: "I just received a telegram saying that Moscow has sent a mixed cadet regiment to our army group, which was formed on the basis of the military school named after the Supreme Soviet of the Russian Federation and commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Mlakintsev and Political Commissar Slavkin. The troops had just gotten off the train in the Ruza area and were awaiting further orders from us. ”

"What, Chief of Staff, what did you say?" When Lobachev heard this, he suddenly got up from his seat, grabbed Malinin's arm, and asked excitedly: "You are talking about the cadets of the Kremlin Military School, who came to us?" ”

"That's right, that's right, Comrade Military Commissar." Malinin did not seem to be at all surprised by Lobachev's sudden gaffe, but said with a smile: "It is the cadets from the Kremlin Military School who are mixed together. ”

After receiving the confirmation, Lobachev said to Rokossovsky in a difficult mood: "Comrade commander, please let me go to the mixed cadet corps, I want to see them with my own eyes." Do you allow it? ”

Seeing that not only Lobachev, but even Malinin's eyes were on him, Rokossovsky couldn't help but be a little stunned. Seeing that Rokossovsky had not made a decision for a long time, Malinin explained with a smile: "Comrade commander, you may not know that what makes our military commissar most proud is that he spent his combat youth in the Kremlin Military School. Even in 1921, he was a sentry at Sentry No. 27 - right next to the house of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin! ”

Hearing that his military commissar had actually stood guard for Lenin, Rokossovsky's eyes widened in surprise, and he asked in disbelief: "Comrade military commissar, is this all true?" ”

"That's right, Comrade Commander." Lobachev was overjoyed when he talked about standing guard for Lenin, and he said excitedly: "I did stand guard for Comrade Lenin back then, so when I heard that the cadets of the Kremlin Military School were coming, I was so excited that I couldn't control my emotions. ”

Seeing Lobachev's performance at this time, Rokossovsky knew that it would definitely not work if he was not sent to the cadet corps, so he nodded and said to Lobachev: "Okay, Comrade Military Commissar, you go and see the comrades of the cadet corps." By the way, inform them of the location of their stationing, they should be stationed in ......" Rokossovsky, after glancing at the map, pointed to the north of the Third Cavalry Corps, "and let them deploy to the north of the Third Cavalry Army, where they began to organize the defense of the east bank of the Rama River." ”

"Don't worry, Comrade Commander, I will definitely bring your orders." After Lobachev said this, he hurriedly stood on the spot, straightened his waist and asked, "Do you allow me to leave now?" ”

"Go, Comrade Military Commissar." Rokossovsky did not stop him, on the contrary, he also reminded him skillfully, "We do not know where the enemy is at the moment, so you should be extra careful on the road, and take two squads of fighters with you later." ”

After Lobachev and Dovaator left one after another, Rokossovsky asked Malinin with some anxiety: "Chief of Staff, have any other troops arrived?" ”

"Nope." Ma Linin shook his head and said regretfully: "So far, we have not received new instructions from our superiors, so it is not clear whether there will be troops to join our group army." ”

"Volokolamsk City, which unit is currently defending?" Rokossovsky thought that in the defense of Moscow, Volokolamsk would be the focus of contention between the two sides, and if Panfilov's 316th Infantry Division was delayed, he could only consider transferring the 18th Militia Division there.

"A battalion of the 18th Division of the Militia." Ma Linin replied very dryly: "I have arranged an infantry battalion of the 18th Division of the militia in the city, and the number is less than two hundred. With this amount of troops, it is okay to maintain law and order in the city, but I think it is impossible to block the German attack. You see, do we need to draw one or two more regiments from the militia division and put them in the city? ”

"Wait a little longer." Rokossovsky said with some disappointment: "Let's wait another day, and if no new troops arrive tomorrow, we will send the 18th militia division to Volokolamsk." ”

As soon as he finished speaking, the telephone in the room rang. The communications staff officer, who had been sitting next to the telephone and had not spoken, hurriedly grabbed the phone, put it to his ear and asked: "Hey, this is the headquarters of the group army, where are you?" … What the? 316th Infantry Division? … Haven't heard of ......."

Although the communications staff officer was still talking loudly into the microphone, Rokossovsky, who was sharp-eared, heard the number of the 15th Infantry Division, and immediately rushed over with a brisk stride, grabbed the microphone in the staff officer's hand, put it to his ear and said: "Hey, I'm Rokossovsky of Army Group Command, where are you?" ”

"Hello, General Rokossovsky." A slightly hoarse voice came from the earpiece: "I am Major General Panfilov, commander of the 316th Infantry Division, and we are from the front reserves. I would like to ask you, where do you plan to place us when my troops arrive? ”

"How many people are there in your division now?" Rokossovsky did not immediately answer his question, but asked rhetorically.

"Our division was organized according to the old structure, with a total of 15,000 men, and the commanders at all levels were strictly selected, and the political functionaries were selected from among the party and Soviet activists of the Kazakh SSR. In the process of forming this division, the Central Committee of the Party of Kazakhstan provided great help. Panfilov confidently said to Rokossovsky: "Our division is fully manned, fully supported in all aspects, and ready to go into battle at any time." ”

"Very well, General Panfilov, since your troops are eager to fight, then I will divide a defensive zone for you." Rokossovsky said, gesturing his hand on the map: "You are deployed on the left flank of the entire army group, covering Volokolamsk from the west and southwest to the Ruzasa River. Do you understand? ”

"Understood, Comrade Commander." Panfilov replied with a smile: "My troops are unloading their trucks in the Ruzha area, and when they are assembled, they will immediately go to the fortified area that you have designated." (To be continued.) )