In order to facilitate the command of the troops, Rokossovsky moved his headquarters to a location just three kilometers from the battlefield, where the situation on the battlefield could be clearly observed from observation posts set up on nearby high ground. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 info He originally wanted to move the headquarters a few hundred meters from the battlefield, but considering that he was the commander of the front army, if the headquarters was located a few hundred meters from the battlefield, then the commander of the group army could only place the headquarters closer to the battlefield. As for the commanders of the divisions, they could only follow the troops to charge in the face of the enemy's bullets.

Preparations for artillery fire before the attack had only been going on for ten minutes when they were interrupted by approaching enemy aircraft. Although there was no artillery support, the infantry and tanks, which had already entered the starting position of the attack at night, charged the enemy's position without hesitation. At the forefront were sparse infantry formations, followed by a dozen tanks providing artillery support.

Rokossovsky, who was standing in the observation post, put down his binoculars, turned his head and asked Orel, who was standing on the side: "Is this the step-to-tan synergy you are adopting?" ”

"That's right," Orel replied affirmatively, nodding his head, "the infantry rushed in front of the tanks and could clear the German anti-tank men; The tanks that followed the infantry could destroy the German firing points with artillery fire when the infantry was suppressed by fire. ”

Rokossovsky did not say anything, just nodded, raised his telescope and continued to observe the situation on the battlefield. German shells fell in the Soviet offensive ranks, raising columns of smoke. The blast wave of the explosion overturned the fighters near the blast site, and the flying shrapnel swept the fighters down one after another. Machine gun fire points on German positions opened fire at the same time, blocking the roads of the Soviet assault with dense fire.

The infantrymen who rushed in front hurriedly lay down on the spot, hid their bodies behind safe cover as much as possible, and fired back at the place where the German fire was most ferocious. If it is a simple infantry attack, in the case of a feint, the tactics they use can only delay the time for themselves to be killed. However, with tanks in the back, the situation is very different, as long as the tank turns its muzzle and fires a shot at the German firepower, the whole world is suddenly quiet, and the infantry lying on the ground can get up again, bend down and continue to rush forward with their weapons in hand.

Before the attack, Malinin and his men considered that the high ground on both sides of the main German position would pose a great threat to the troops attacking frontally, so they specially prepared an artillery battalion for each of them, constantly firing artillery to suppress the enemy in two places, and did not stop shelling even when they were bombed by enemy planes.

Due to the anti-tank fire on both sides, which were effectively suppressed by Soviet artillery fire, the casualties of the frontal attacking troops were greatly reduced. The infantry, under the cover of the tanks, rushed to a place about 20 meters from the position, threw grenades at the trenches, and bravely rushed forward with the smoke from the explosion.

Rokossovsky saw that the brave fighters quickly occupied the first line of German trenches, and except for a few men who were left to clear the remnants of the enemy and strengthen their positions, the rest followed the tanks and continued to rush towards the enemy's second line of trenches......

"Good job, our fighters are good good." Rokossovsky put down his binoculars and said to Orel beside him with emotion: "As long as our troops can wedge into the defense line of the German 14th Tank Army, the corridor they have built to the Volga River will always be under the threat of our army." ”

Orel tilted his head to look at the several enemy planes still hovering in the sky, and said with trepidation: "Comrade commander, if we can't control the air, I'm worried that the next attack will lose in the German bombing and artillery bombing......

Rokossovsky raised his hand and looked at his watch, comforted him and said: "Don't worry, Comrade Orel, I will immediately call the Air Force to see if they are ready to attack." He picked up the phone, asked the operator to connect with the command of the commander of the Air Force, and asked bluntly: "General Rudenko, is your Eagle ready to attack?" ”

"Yes, Comrade Commander." Air Force Commander Rudenko replied respectfully on the phone: "We are ready to strike and ready to go into battle at any time." ”

Seeing that the Air Force was ready, Rokossovsky immediately ordered: "Immediately put the 283rd Division of Fighter Aviation and the 291st Division of Strike Aviation into battle." Do you understand? ”

"Understood, Comrade Commander. I immediately ordered the troops to take to the skies for combat. ”

Seeing Rokossovsky put down the phone, Orel couldn't help but ask curiously: "Comrade commander, why didn't our Air Force go into battle earlier, so that our artillery preparations would not be interrupted by the German Air Force." ”

"No way," Rokossovsky shrugged his shoulders and said helplessly: "Due to poor transportation, the Air Force did not get fuel and ammunition replenishment on time, so their sortie could only be postponed." ”

Chief of Staff Malinin called Rokossovsky for instructions: "Comrade commander, I can handle the situation here, should you go to the defensive zone of the 66th Army according to the original plan to see, they have been fighting a very hard tug-of-war with the German army in the past two days." ”

After a brief handover of work to Malinin, Rokossovsky called Zhertov, took several guards, and went to the headquarters of the 66th Army in a jeep.

When he came to the headquarters of the army group, he found that he was greeted by the chief of staff of the army group, Major General Korzhenevich. Rokossovsky shook hands with the other party and asked curiously: "Comrade Chief of Staff, didn't your commander get notice that I was coming here?" ”

"I've been notified." Korzhenevich nodded and replied: "But our commander and the commander of the 4th Tank Army went to the 99th Infantry Division." ”

After learning about Malinovsky's whereabouts, Rokossovsky turned to Zhertov and introduced him to the chief of staff of the army: "Comrade Military Commissar, let me introduce to you, this is Comrade Korzhenevich, Chief of Staff of the 66th Army. I met him in 1930 while working with him in the 3rd Cavalry Corps. At that time, I was in command of the 7th Samara Cavalry Division, and he was the chief of operations of the army headquarters, a highly educated command officer with extensive combat experience. ”

"Hello, Comrade Korzhenevich." Zhertov stepped forward to shake his hand and said enthusiastically: "With such an excellent commander as you as the chief of staff of the 66th Army, I believe that the troops will be able to win battles often." ”

Hearing Zheltov's praise, Korzhenevich's face turned slightly red, and then he said modestly: "Comrade Military Commissar, you have won the award, my ability is limited, and being the chief of staff of the army group can only be said to be barely competent." After letting go of Zheltov's hand, he turned his body to the side, made a passage for Rokossovsky and them, and made a gesture of invitation with his hand, "Comrade commander, comrade military commissar, please go in and have a cup of tea!" ”

"No, Comrade Chief of Staff." Rokossovsky waved his hand at Korzhenevich and said: "We still have to rush to the 99th Infantry Division to meet Comrade Malinovsky, so we won't go in." You call the 99th Infantry Division and say we're going to go to General Malinovsky. ”

After shaking hands with Korzhenevich and saying goodbye, the two hurried to the defense area of the 99th Infantry Division by car. I inquired with the division commander, but I learned that Malinovsky and General Krychokin went to the regiment. When I arrived at the regiment, I heard from the regiment commander that the two commanders had gone to the defense area of the second battalion. When they arrived at the defense area of the second battalion, the battalion commander said that they had gone to the position of the eighth company.

After encountering a series of obstacles, even a fool knows that Malinovsky is deliberately avoiding himself. Zhertov shook his head and said to Rokossovsky: "Comrade commander, we chased from the headquarters of the army group to the division, and from the division to the regiment, and from the regiment to the battalion, each time one step too late. I think this Malinovsky is deliberately avoiding us, so let's not be bored, let's go back as soon as possible. ”

Rokossovsky had already noticed what Zheltov said, where in the world there was such a coincidence, and every time he went to the next destination, he had called to inform him, but every time he arrived at the place, he did not see anyone. If it is once or twice, it can also be explained as a coincidence, but four times in a row, it is obvious that Malinovsky is deliberately avoiding himself. The more this happened, the more determined Rokossovsky became to find Malinovsky, and he planned to go back to the position of the Eighth Company, when Malinovsky would have nowhere to hide even if he wanted to.

The positions of the 8th Company were under German shelling, so Rokossovsky and Zheltov risked their lives, sometimes straightening up, sometimes bending, and weaving through uneven communication trenches.

Malinovsky and Krychokin, who were staying at the company command post, could not help but be taken aback when they saw Rokossovsky and Zheltov walking in, and quickly stood up from the table and raised their hands to salute the two.

Rokossovsky was familiar with Krychokin, who had served as commander of the 5th Cavalry Division of the 14th Caucasian Cavalry Corps, which he commanded, so he focused his gaze on the medium-sized, muscular general on his right. Tentatively asked: "If I am not mistaken, you should be Lieutenant General Malinovsky, the commander of the 66th Army!" ”

"Yes, Comrade Commander." Malinovsky's swarthy face flushed, and he replied a little embarrassedly: "I am Malinovsky." ”

Rokossovsky stepped forward, shook hands with him and Krychokin one by one, and asked with a frown: "General Malinovsky, with all due respect, why did you, as a commander of an army group, come to the position of a company at the height of the battle?" Is it really necessary to do so? ”

With a smile on his face, Malinovsky explained to Rokossovsky: "Comrade commander, I understand everything you said, but I am embarrassed. Superiors always put pressure on me to complete difficult tasks, so I had to go farther away from these blind leaders. ”

Malinovsky's words reminded Rokossovsky of the day he first arrived in the army, when he saw Goldov scolding his subordinates indiscriminately at the microphone, and he seemed to understand the reason why Malinovsky wanted to escape. He nodded and said: "Comrade Malinovsky, even if you are blindly commanded by your superiors, as a commander of a group army, you must not leave your post without permission, otherwise the troops will fall into chaos because of the loss of unified command." Do you understand the serious consequences of this? ”

"Yes, Comrade Commander." After listening to what Rokossovsky had to say, Malinovsky replied with some embarrassment: "I remember, as soon as the shelling stops, I will immediately return to the headquarters." ”

Rokossovsky listened to the rumbling artillery outside and asked curiously: "Comrade Malinovsky, why does the enemy keep shelling your positions?" ”

Malinovsky smiled bitterly and replied: "I think they must have been retaliating for our attack yesterday that they kept shelling our positions. ”

"What was the outcome of the attack?" Although Rokossovsky knew in his heart that the Malinovsky offensive would end in failure nine times out of ten, he habitually asked: "What kind of results have been achieved?" ”

"It's a pity, Comrade Commander, that our offensive failed." Malinovsky replied truthfully: "In front of the positions of our two armies, there is an open plain, and whether we attack the Germans or the Germans attack us, we will end in failure." ”

After waiting for Malinovsky to finish, Rokossovsky turned his gaze to Kryuchokin, who was standing aside, and asked curiously: "Comrade Kryuchokin, I want to ask, why are you here?" ”

"That's right, Commander... No... Comrade Commander. Krychokin habitually called Rokossovsky the commander of the army, but as soon as the words came out, he immediately corrected himself and said with a bitter face: "Because of poor organization, the dispersion of troops into battle, and the lack of necessary artillery support during the offensive, my tank army suffered huge losses. So far, there were only four tanks left of the entire army group, which became a veritable tank 4th army. ”

"What, there are only four tanks left in your tank army?" Rokossovsky originally wanted to use Kryuchokin's troops to carry out more combat missions, but when he heard that they had almost completely wiped out, he couldn't help but be surprised, and hurriedly asked: "Where are they lost?" ”

Krychokin listened to the outside, and when he noticed that the German shelling had stopped, he stretched out his hand and made a gesture of invitation to the door: "Comrade commander, please come to me, I will show you where our tanks are lost." ”

The group, led by Krychokin, came to the first trench. Rokossovsky's eyes widened when he looked into the open field outside the trench, and his vision appeared countless tanks, to be precise, the wreckage of destroyed tanks, both Soviet and German. A few hundred meters in front of the position, the open space became a tank grave.

Kryuchokin pointed to the destroyed tanks in front of the position and said to Rokossovsky with a wry smile: "Comrade commander, you have seen it all. The defensive positions of both the enemy and us were set up on high ground, and the tanks destroyed in the middle were all destroyed in the battle to seize the opponent's position. ”