After completing the handover and bidding a warm farewell to Zhukov and his former colleagues, Rokossovsky, escorted by a platoon of guards, drove to the headquarters of the Second Belorussian Front.

The commander of the Second Front, General Zakharov, was both an old friend of Rokossovsky and an old subordinate of his. As early as the Battle of Moscow, he served as deputy commander of the 16th Army, assisting Rokossovsky in resisting the German offensive. When he learned that he had been dismissed from his post as commander of the front army, he was in an extremely bad mood, and he couldn't figure out how the base camp could remove himself from his post without warning when the aspect he was responsible for had been fighting well.

With this question, he asked Antonov, who called him: "Comrade Chief of the General Staff, I would like to ask, why did the base camp remove me from my post, did I make any mistakes?" ”

"Comrade General," Antonov heard the anger in Zakharov's tone, and quickly explained to him: "The reason why the Supreme High Command made such a decision is because the direction of the Second Front is very important, and a more capable commander is needed to take charge, so you will be relieved of your post. ”

"Who is it?" Zakharov asked with a wave of anger: "I wonder who my superiors plan to send to replace me?" ”

"Your old superior, Marshal Rokossovsky." Antonov said slowly: "He has been relieved of the post of commander of the First Front and transferred to the post of commander of the Second Front. ”

Hearing that the person who came to take over his position was actually Rokossovsky, Zakharov's anger suddenly disappeared by half. He must have an opinion on someone else to take over his position, but he knows what his old superior is capable of. He took a deep breath and tried his best to ask in a calm tone: "Comrade Chief of the General Staff, I would like to ask, why did you transfer Marshal Rokossovsky to us?" After he left the First Front, who was under the command of that unit? ”

Considering that the new personnel appointments had already been officially announced and there was no question of leaks, Antonov truthfully told him: "The Supreme Commander himself believes that a thorough introduction to the war in the West requires the close cooperation of the three armies of the 1st and 2nd Belorussian Fronts and the 1st Ukrainian Front. Therefore, it is necessary to equip these fronts with competent commanders, Rokossovsky will go to your front as commander, and the vacated positions will be taken over by Marshal Zhukov. ”

"Comrade Chief of the General Staff," Zakharov asked tentatively after waiting for Antonov to finish, "I wonder how the base camp plans to arrange for me after I am relieved of my duties?" ”

Antonov did not directly answer Zakharov's question, but asked rhetorically: "Comrade General, I would like to hear your thoughts, where are you going to go?" ”

Zakharov knew that after he was dismissed, it would be impossible for him to become the commander of the front again, and his best choice was to stay in the familiar army and work with his familiar old superiors. Thinking of this, he turned into the microphone and said: "Comrade Chief of the General Staff, I would like to remain in the Second Belorussian Front as a deputy to Marshal Rokossovsky, I ask for your approval." ”

For Zakharov's request, Antonov thought about it and felt that it was also a good choice. Now that the positions of commanders and deputy commanders of the front armies on all fronts are full, it is really not easy to arrange a commander of the front armies who has just been dismissed. Therefore, he said cheerfully: "Well, Comrade General, I agree that you will remain in the post of deputy commander of the Second Front. However, I still need to report this matter to the Supreme Commander himself and ask for his consent. Therefore, it may take a few days for your official appointment to be announced. ”

"It's okay, it's okay." Hearing that Antonov agreed to continue to stay in the Second Front, Zakharov's heart suddenly felt much more steady, and he hurriedly said: "As long as I can continue to stay here, it doesn't matter if I wait a few more days." ”

In order to welcome Rokossovsky's arrival, he informed the chiefs of the armies below to immediately rush to the headquarters of the Front to assemble. Since the recent fighting of the Second Front Army has not been fierce, it took less than an hour for these senior commanders to rush to the headquarters of the Front Army after being notified.

The commander of the 33rd Army, Colonel-General Tsvetaev, was the latest, and when he and his deputies arrived, the commanders of the rest of the army were already seated in their rooms. Seeing Tsvetaev coming in, the Chief of Staff of the Front, Bogolyubov, nodded at him, and then said: "General Tsvetaev, find a place to sit down, our meeting will begin soon." ”

Tsvetaev found a vacant seat and sat down, and when he saw the commander of the 3rd Army, General Gorbatov, sitting next to him, he lowered his voice and asked: "Hey, I said man, Comrade Commander summoned us here today, is there anything important?" ”

"I don't know." Gorbatov shrugged his shoulders and said with a blank expression: "I was inspecting the troops, and as soon as I got the order, I rushed over, and I don't know what was going on." ”

When Zakharov saw that all the commanders who had been notified for the meeting had arrived, he stood up, coughed lightly, and then said: "Comrade commanders, there is an important matter to announce to you that you have been summoned here today. Speaking of this, he fell silent, after all, it was not easy to announce the news of his dismissal in front of a group of senior commanders.

Seeing that Zakharov was halfway through his words, he stopped, and the heads of the army groups sitting below looked at each other, wondering in their hearts: what happened to Comrade Commander today, why did he talk so slurred.

Fortunately, Zakharov did not pause for long, and he continued: "According to the order of the base camp, from today I will no longer hold the post of commander of the Second Belorussian Front." ”

There was an uproar in the conference room, and in addition to the several leaders of the front who had long known the situation to remain calm, the leaders of the army groups sitting below began to discuss why the base camp had suddenly dismissed Zakharov from his post. Zakharov stood there with his hands behind his back, not stopping his subordinates, not explaining the reasons to them, and leaving them to discuss.

After everyone's discussion was over, Tsvetaev stood up and asked on behalf of everyone: "Comrade commander, I would like to ask, why did the base camp suddenly remove you from your post?" ”

"It's the base camp arrangement." Zakharov explained what he knew to his subordinates: "In the future, the main forces of the attack on Berlin will consist of the 2nd and 1st Belorussian Fronts and the 1st Ukrainian Front. ”

"Comrade Commander, who will take your place?" Although he heard that it was the arrangement of the base camp, Tsvetaev still said with some unconvincing: "Apart from Marshal Zhukov and Marshal Rokossovsky, I really can't think of anyone else who is more suitable for the post of commander than you." ”

After Zakharov waited for Tsvetaev to finish speaking, he smiled faintly, and then said: "General Tsvetaev, you are right, whether it is Marshal Zhukov or Marshal Rokossovsky, the command skills of the two of them are incomparable to me. Therefore, the higher authorities intended to let Marshal Rokossovsky take my place. ”

Hearing that the person who was about to succeed Zakharov was actually Marshal Rokossovsky, the commanders present suddenly felt that this seemed to be a matter of course, after all, they had all directly or indirectly accepted his leadership, and they still recognized his ability very much.

Before Tsvetaev sat down, he asked the last question: "Comrade commander, I would like to ask, where will you go next?" ”

"I have already made a request to my superiors to stay here as a deputy to Comrade Marshal." Zakharov also thought about it at the moment, and it was completely worth it to be able to follow such an excellent commander as Rokossovsky, even if he was only a deputy for the rest of his life. Therefore, he smiled and said: "Comrade commanders, in the coming days, we will continue to fight side by side until the day when the fascist invaders are completely defeated." ”

…………

When the convoy came to the headquarters of the Second Front, Rokossovsky could not help frowning when he saw the scene in front of him. It was a medium-sized village, littered with large and small craters, and about half of the houses had burned down, leaving only blackened frames.

The guard platoon commander, who was sitting in the co-pilot's seat, originally wanted to get out of the car and ask the fighters about the location of the headquarters, but was stopped by Rokossovsky with a wave: "Comrade second lieutenant, you don't have to inquire. I can know where Zakharov's command is. ”

The second lieutenant asked with some surprise: "Comrade Marshal, have you been here before?" ”

"Nope." Rokossovsky shook his head and pointed to the windshield in front of him: "Look at the vicinity of that big wooden house in the distance, how many cars are parked there. Needless to say, it must have been Zakharov who summoned the commanders below for a meeting. At this, he couldn't help frowning, and carefully looked through the car window at the anti-aircraft gun positions deployed in the village.

Zakharov, who was presiding over the meeting, heard that Rokossovsky's motorcade had arrived, and immediately rushed out with the commanders in the house and stood outside the door to greet Rokossovsky's arrival.

As soon as Rokossovsky's car stopped, Zakharov stepped forward to help him open the car door and said with a smile: "Comrade Marshal, welcome to our Second Front. ”

Looking at the twinkling stars behind Zakharov, Rokossovsky couldn't help frowning slightly, but he did not get angry in public, but shook hands with Zakharov with his usual expression, and greeted the leaders of the front army at all levels one by one under his introduction. After all this, Zakharov faced the crowd and said: "Comrades in command, now I would like to ask the new comrade commander to give us a few words. ”

Seeing that all eyes were on him, Rokossovsky said to them: "Comrade commanders, I think your meeting should have been completed, and if nothing happens, go back to your respective units." If there are any problems, we will talk about them in detail when I visit in a few days. ”

The senior commanders of the various army groups did not expect that Rokossovsky would directly give them an order to expel them, knowing that the new commander did not want them to stay here any longer, so they dispersed one after another.

Rokossovsky and Zakharov returned to the headquarters and said with serious expressions: "Comrade Zakharov, according to my observations, the village where your headquarters is located must have been regularly bombed by the Germans?" ”

"Yes." Although Zakharov was surprised by Rokossovsky's keen observation, he replied truthfully: "We have been bombed here several times. ”

"Since you've been bombed, why don't you move the headquarters as soon as possible?" Although Zakharov was his old friend and subordinate, Rokossovsky still criticized him in a stern tone: "Especially today, in order to welcome my arrival, the senior commanders of the subordinate armies have been summoned here. If the German pilot had not been blind, he would have been able to tell that there was a high-level command in the village, based on the concentration of so many vehicles in the village, and bombed indiscriminately. Have you thought about how much damage it would bring to our army if it was bombed during the meeting? ”

"I'm sorry, Comrade Marshal, it was my fault." Zakharov, who had been criticized by Rokossovsky, realized that he had ignored the fact that his headquarters was constantly under German air raids, and it was indeed a bit too rash to convene a meeting of senior commanders in such a situation, so he immediately confessed his mistake to Rokossovsky: "I will not make similar mistakes in the future." ”

Rokossovsky raised his hand and pressed it down, and then asked in a friendly tone: "Zakharov, I took over your position, how did the superiors arrange you?" ”

"I have made a request to my superiors to remain in the Second Front Army and serve as your deputy." Zakharov said with some embarrassment: "I just don't know if you agree with me to stay." ”

"It would be great if you could stay." Hearing Zakharov's statement, Rokossovsky said with joy: "As you can see, I came to office alone, and if there are familiar people to cooperate with me, it will be very beneficial for me to carry out my work in the future." At this point, he paused, sighed softly, and added, "Comrade Zakharov, I really wronged you, because because of me, you were demoted." ”

"Comrade Marshal, what are you talking about?" Seeing Rokossovsky's heart-to-heart for him, Zakharov's heart warmed, "It is my greatest honor to be your deputy and work with you. ”