When Chernyakhovsky learned that his superiors had canceled the plan to attack Kyiv, after a short silence, he suddenly had a seizure. He threw himself into the microphone and asked aloud: "Comrade commander, what the hell is going on?" Why, why at such a time, to cancel our right to attack Kyiv? ……”

"What's the use of yelling at me?" After waiting for Chernyakhovsky to vent his anger, Rokossovsky said angrily: "When I received this notice, I was even more angry than you. But what's the use of being angry? This is an order from the High Command, and no one has the right to change it. Comrade Chernyakhovsky, you are also a veteran, and you should understand very well in your heart that as a soldier, we cannot discuss the orders given by our superiors, but can only carry them out unconditionally, do you understand? ”

"Understood, Comrade Commander." After Chernyakhovsky waited for Rokossovsky to finish speaking, he said helplessly: "I understand that this is an order from the Supreme Command, but how should I tell my division commanders about this?" Although during this period of continuous fighting, and all the commanders and fighters became exhausted. But the thought that we will be the first liberators to enter Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, makes everyone feel full of energy. But you have deprived everyone of hope at such a time, and I think everyone will be very disappointed. ”

"As the commander of the front army, it is my responsibility to inform the commanders of the various army groups below about this matter." Rokossovsky, who was expressionless, said slowly: "And you, as the commander of the group army, should be responsible for the work of pacifying the commanders of the divisions below." ”

When Chernyakhovsky informed the commanders of the divisions about this, it caused an uproar. Fortunately, the offensive had been stopped at this moment, so the commanders of the divisions handed over the work to their deputies, while they themselves hurried to the headquarters of the army group.

First the commander of the infantry division came, then the commander of the cavalry division also arrived, then the commander of the tank brigade, the commander of the artillery division, and so on. In less than half an hour, Chernyakhovsky's headquarters was packed, and the room, which was still quite spacious, suddenly became crowded.

More than 20 divisional leaders were scrambling to express their opinions, and the noise was so loud that Chernyakhovsky's head was about to explode. He was so angry that he banged his fist on the table a few times in a row, shouting: "Quiet, give me silence!" "Due to the agitation of the division leaders, Chernyakhovsky's voice was drowned out by them.

"Smack!" Chernyakhovsky pulled out his pistol and fired a shot at the roof. In the semi-enclosed room, the gunfire had the effect of amplifying, and the noisy division leaders finally quieted down, and everyone stared at Chernyakhovsky with surprised eyes.

"Look, what do you look like now?" Chernyakhovsky put the pistol back in its holster, pointed with his hand at the commanders standing in front of him, and said dissatisfiedly: "Still like a senior commander of the Red Army?" Whatever you want to do here, go back to your troops at once. ”

After Chernyakhovsky's words, the whole room fell silent. After a long time, a division commander asked: "Comrade commander, are we really not attacking Kyiv?" ”

His words asked all the commanders, and everyone looked at Chernyakhovsky with blank eyes, waiting for him to give a satisfactory answer to everyone.

"Comrade commanders, I understand your mood at the moment." Seeing that his subordinates were looking at him expectantly, Chernyakhovsky slowed down and said: "I feel the same anger and loss as you. But there is no way, this is the instruction of the Supreme Command, not to mention me, even the commander of the Front, General Rokossovsky, has no right to change it. That is, from now on, the direction of the main attack of ours and the 13th Army will turn to the Chernihiv direction. ”

After saying this, the strength in his body seemed to be drained at once. He sat in his position, waved at the division-level commanders standing in front of him, and said weakly: "Okay, there is nothing to do with you here, let's all go back to our respective units." ”

After the divisional commanders had left, the chief of staff walked up to Chernyakhovsky and said to him: "Comrade commander, judging from the current situation, we must immediately turn to Chernihiv, and there may be some difficulties. ”

Chernyakhovsky looked up at his chief of staff and asked puzzled: "Chief of staff, what do you mean by this?" ”

"Comrade Commander, please look at the map." The chief of staff put the map in front of Chernyakhovsky and pointed his finger at him: "After the liberation of Nezhin, our army group stopped advancing towards Kiev for the sake of safety, because of the distance between us and the friendly forces on the left, and instead transferred two divisions of troops to Priluki, south of Nezhin. ”

Hearing what the chief of staff said, Chernyakhovsky snatched the map and leaned in front of him to examine it carefully. After looking at it for a long time, he put down the map, looked at the chief of staff and said: "Comrade Chief of Staff, if according to the situation on the map, our troops can completely take Priluki?" ”

"Comrade Commander, I feel the need to remind you." The chief of staff said with a blank face: "Priluki is now in the area of attack of the Voronezh Front, and if we want to seize this city, it will be a cross-border operation." ”

"Chief of Staff, you see, the troops of our army group are only fifteen kilometers away from the city of Priluki, and the friendly forces on the left are still a hundred kilometers away." Chernyachovsky frowned and said: "If we stop the offensive, the Germans will be able to use this time to strengthen the defense." When friendly forces arrive, they will have to pay a greater price to capture the city. Therefore, I decided that the two divisions deployed on the left flank should immediately launch an offensive against Priluki, and that the city would be taken first. ”

"Comrade commander," the chief of staff, seeing that Chernyakhovsky had made up his mind, did not refute him, but asked tentatively: "Do you see if you will report this matter to the commander of the Front, and after obtaining his permission, we will attack again." In this way, even if the superiors blame us, we can explain. ”

Regarding the proposal of the chief of staff, Chernyakhovsky thought for a moment, then nodded in agreement: "Chief of staff, you have a point, I will call the commander of the front." ”

When Rokossovsky received a phone call from Chernyakhovsky, he thought that the other party was trying to figure out himself for the northward shift of the combat area, so he said impatiently: "General Chernyakhovsky, do you have anything to do?" If it's still for the sake of the combat area, I ask you not to bother with any more words. This is a decision made by the High Command, and no one can change this order. Do you understand? ”

"Understood, Comrade Commander, I understand perfectly." Cherniakhovsky's answer was unexpected, and he said loudly: "I called you for another important matter. ”

"Another important thing?" When Rokossovsky heard Cherniakhovsky say this, he couldn't help but prune, and then asked: "If there is anything important, you can just say it." ”

"Comrade commander, I think you should remember," said Chernyakhovsky unhurriedly, "after the capture of Nezhin by our army group, because of a huge gap in the line of defense with friendly forces, we had to temporarily stop advancing towards Kyiv and transfer part of our forces to strengthen our left flank. ”

"Yes, there is." Rokossovsky nodded and said, "But does this matter have anything to do with what you want to talk about?" ”

"Yes, there is a relationship, but there is a big relationship." Seeing that he had attracted Rokossovsky's attention, Chernyakhovsky continued: "At the moment our two divisions deployed on the left flank are only fifteen kilometers away from the city of Priluki. And the vanguard of friendly forces is still hundreds of kilometers away from the city. ”

Chernyakhovsky's words stopped at this point, but Rokossovsky had already guessed his intention, which was to order two divisions deployed on the left flank to launch an attack on the city of Priluki. Rokossovsky stared at the map for a long time and felt that it would be a pity not to use such a good fighter. So he turned into the microphone and said, "I see what you mean, General Chernyakhovsky. Well, I authorize your troops to attack Priluki for 24 hours, and if you can't take the city, then stop the offensive and immediately move your forces to the north, understand? ”

Hearing that Rokossovsky agreed to his battle plan, Chernyakhovsky immediately and cheerfully agreed: "Understood, Comrade Commander. Rest assured, in less than 24 hours, our troops will be able to take Priluki. ”

As soon as Chernyakhovsky put down the phone, he immediately instructed his chief of staff: "Chief of staff, call the commanders of the two divisions on the left flank and order them to launch an offensive against the enemy in Priluki within three hours. ”

Hearing Chernyakhovsky say this, the chief of staff did not immediately go to convey the order, but asked in an incredulous tone: "Comrade commander, did the command of the Front agree to our operational request?" ”

"Yes, my Comrade Chief of Staff." Chernyakhovsky grinned and urged the chief of staff: "Commander Rokossovsky has given us only 24 hours, and our movements are going to be accelerated." ”

……

……

Although Chernyakhovsky gave the two infantry divisions three hours to prepare, they were eager to learn and launched a fierce offensive against Priluki in less than an hour.

The sudden attack of the Soviet army caught the German army that had just fled here by surprise. These German officers and soldiers were already demoralized and demoralized, and it was difficult for them to organize decent resistance in the face of the Soviet attack. After two hours of fighting, Soviet troops stormed the city of Priluki and engaged the Germans in street fighting.

Rokossovsky was happy when he heard that Chernyakhovsky's troops had successfully stormed the city of Priluki, but he heard Maksimenko come over and report to him: "Comrade commander, do you need me to turn on the call from General Vatutin's army from the Voronezh Front?" ”

When Rokossovsky heard that it was Vatutin's call, he knew in his heart that the other party must have made the commander of the Front unhappy because he was fighting in the newly demarcated area of the Voronezh Front. He nodded at Maksimenko and motioned for the other to turn the phone around.

After Maksimenko walked away, he picked up the phone in front of him, and when he heard Vatutin's voice coming from the receiver, he also knowingly asked: "Hello, General Vatutin, may I ask you to call, is there anything important?" ”

"Comrade Rokossovsky, please explain to me." Vatutin asked angrily on the phone as if he had taken gunpowder, "What the hell is going on?" ”

"Comrade Vatutin," Rokossovsky knew that the other party had come to Xingshi to ask about the crime, but he also deliberately pretended to be confused and asked: "What happened, who provoked you to lose such a temper?" ”

"Who else could it be?" Vatutin huffed and said, "Of course it's you." ”

"Me?" Rokossovsky pretended to be puzzled and asked, "Comrade Vatutin, where did this begin?" ”

"Still pretending to be confused." Vatutin unceremoniously debunked Rokossovsky's disguise, "Let me ask you, the city of Priluki is now within the operational range of our front, why would your troops attack here?" ”

"I see." Rokossovsky put on a look of sudden realization and said: "According to the information we have received, the enemy, who was repulsed by our troops and fled to Priluki, is in chaos. I saw that my troops were only fifteen kilometers away from the city, and your troops were a hundred kilometers away, so in order not to delay the fighters, I ordered General Chernyakhovsky to send troops to attack Priluki. By the time the battle had been underway, our troops had stormed the city and were engaged in street battles with the enemy. ”

"Comrade Rokossovsky, stop, order them to stop immediately." Vatutin said reluctantly: "Priluki is our area of operations, and you have no right to attack this place without my permission. ”

"No, Vatutin, you should know it's impossible." Hearing that Vatutin ordered his troops to stop the attack on Priluki, Rokossovsky was also a little annoyed, and he said unhappily: "My troops may be able to liberate the city from the Germans in a few hours, and the attack must not be stopped at such a time." ”

"However, you are fighting across the border, and you are violating the rules......

"your order!" Rokossovsky suddenly became a little nameless, and he said loudly into the microphone: "I only know that I must take advantage of all available favorable opportunities to resolutely and completely destroy the fascist aggressors, and whether or not to fight across the border is not within the scope of my consideration." Well, Comrade Vatutin, please speed up your right-wing troops, so that we can hand over the liberated Priluki to you as soon as possible. ”