After receiving a call from Zhukov asking for cooperation, Timoshenko also gave orders to the commanders of several subordinate army groups, asking them to take decisive offensive actions against the German troops in front of them, so as to contain the enemy's forces and prevent them from sending troops to reinforce Yelnya. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

From morning to evening, the fighting never stopped. At noon, the German air force attempted to bomb the Soviet troops attacking Yelnya, but was driven away by anti-aircraft fire from the ground. Seeing that the enemy had dispatched the air force in order to stop his attack, Zhukov ordered the air force to go out again and intensively bombed the German defensive positions to cover the infantry attack.

While Zhukov was sitting at the table and marking the map with a red and blue pencil, Liapin came up to him and reported: "Comrade Commander, the 24th Infantry Division of the 107th Army has successively broken through two lines of German defense, routed the troops of the 1st Battalion of the German 'German' Regiment and captured a 2nd Commando Squadron Leader. ”

After a day of fighting, Zhukov found that this hard bone of the German army in Yelnya was really not easy to gnaw. He was also criticizing General Kalinin of the 24th Army in the morning, saying that his troops were moving too slowly and asking him to speed up the offensive. It was almost dark now, and the unit was still engaged in a tug-of-war with the enemy in the second line of defense of the German army. As for Kurochkin's 43rd Army, it behaved even worse, for a whole day they did not gain a firm foothold in the occupied German positions, each time they had just occupied the positions, and then under the German counterattack, they lost their positions again.

Zhukov looked up at Liapin and said to him: "Comrade Chief of Staff, please tell the commanders of the two army groups that the attack on the enemy cannot be stopped. Even if it's dark, the battle will go on. Now the German forces in Yelnya are weak, and if we do not take the city as soon as possible and crush them, we will have to withdraw from the battle as soon as the large forces of the German army arrive. ”

"Understood, Comrade Commander." After listening to Zhukov's words, the expression on Liapin's face was very rich, he originally saw that it was dark and wanted to ask Zhukov to let the troops stop fighting, but he didn't expect that he hadn't mentioned this matter yet, Zhukov had ordered the troops to continue the night battle, so he had to say helplessly: "I'll go and call the two commanders." ”

Not long after Liapin left, a phone ringing in front of Zhukov. Zhukov, who was looking at the map, grabbed the phone casually and said: "I'm Zhukov!" ”

As soon as his words fell, Stalin's voice with a Georgian accent came from the earpiece: "Comrade Zhukov, I wonder how your attack on Yelnya is going?" ”

"Comrade Stalin." Hearing that it was Stalin's voice, Zhukov quickly got up from his seat, straightened his back and replied: "Since the Germans have built strong fortifications on the outskirts of Yelnya and the enemy has shown tenacity in battle, our attack is not going well. At the moment Kalinin's 24th Army has broken through two lines of German defense, while Kurochkin's 43rd Army has not yet captured any enemy positions. ”

"How can this happen?" Although Stalin spoke in an unhurried tone, Zhukov still heard a trace of anger on the other side: "I remember that before the battle began, you reported to me that the 46th armored car stationed in Yelnya had been transferred and the German army had become weak. ”

"Comrade Stalin," Zhukov, who was rebuked by Stalin, defended: "the strength of the German army was weak, only relative. You must know that the troops they deployed in the Yelnya salient, one imperial division alone, is enough to contend with one of our army groups. ”

Stalin lit a match, lit the cigarette butt in his mouth, and then asked: "Comrade Zhukov, what are you going to do next?" ”

"Comrade Stalin," Zhukov replied in a calm tone, "my plan was to first clear the positions on the outskirts of Yelnya, and then concentrate my forces on the attack on the city." At the same time, in order to prevent the Germans from sending rapid troops, we also had to draw forces to launch an offensive on the Trubchevsk and Korope regions further south, and firmly contain the enemy's forces there. ”

Stalin's eyes stayed on the map in front of him, and when he saw the situation of friend and foe marked in red and blue pencils, he could clearly see that the troops holding on to Kiev were completely surrounded by the German army. For a moment, he fell into a state of distraction, remembering that not so long ago, Zhukov, who was also the chief of the General Staff, had an argument with himself in his office, and he proposed to abandon Kiev and withdraw the troops of the Southwestern Front to the left bank of the Dnieper, where a new line of defense would be formed to block the German troops who were trying to rush to Moscow.

At that time, when he heard his proposal, he could not help but be furious, and he was also removed from the post of chief of the General Staff and demoted to the post of commander of the reserve front. Unexpectedly, in just a few weeks, his fears became a reality, and the Southwestern Front, with hundreds of thousands of troops, had fallen into the iron wall of the German army.

Hearing that no sound came from the earpiece, and that the phone did not hang up, Zhukov guessed that the Supreme Commander himself must be thinking about some important question, so he coughed lightly.

Zhukov's cough woke Stalin from his contemplative state. He looked into the microphone and said with a serious expression: "Comrade Zhukov, it seems that you are right. Without waiting for Zhukov to react, he continued, "At present, the Southwestern Front has fallen into the encirclement of the German army in the Kiev region, and the situation is very bad, and your battle in Yelnya may be able to attract the attention of the Germans and let them withdraw a part of their troops from the direction of Kiev to fight you, so that the chances of the defenders of Kiev breaking through the encirclement can be improved." ”

"Comrade Stalin," Zhukov, as the former chief of the General Staff, although he is now directing the troops in the Yelnya campaign, does not mean that he does not care about the situation in the Kiev region. Based on the information he had, he judged that the defenders of Kiev were already doomed, and that the battles in other directions, even if they could attract the attention of the Germans and make them move some of their forces to the region, would only delay the destruction of the Southwestern Front for a few days. Since Stalin took the initiative to mention the matter of Kiev, he also bluntly said: "The German army has formed a situation of encirclement of Kiev, and according to my judgment, the troops of the Southwestern Front will not be able to support it for a few days, and if they can break through now, they may ......."

"Enough, Comrade Zhukov." Stalin couldn't help but be furious when he heard Zhukov mention the abandonment of Kiev again, he interrupted Zhukov's later words, and then said coldly: "Your task now is to eliminate the German troops in the Yelnya salient so that they cannot advance to Moscow. As for Kyiv, after all, we have hundreds of thousands of troops there, and even if they can't inflict heavy losses on the enemy, there should be no problem in self-preservation. ”

"I see, Comrade Stalin." Zhukov knew that Kiev was Stalin's backlash and could not be mentioned casually, so he changed the subject in time: "At the same time as we launched an offensive against Yelnya, Marshal Timoshenko's troops were also actively acting. In particular, General Rokossovsky's 16th Army, which carried out a counterattack against the Germans early this morning, inflicted heavy losses on the enemy on the east bank of the Woppy River, and successfully crossed the Wopi River and rushed to the depth of the German defense. ”

Hearing Zhukov's report, Stalin took the pipe out of his mouth, held it in his hand, nodded slowly, and said with satisfaction: "This Rokossovsky has behaved very well, whether in Lutsk, Shepetovka, or Yaltsevo, he has shown excellent commanding skills. ”

"Comrade Stalin, I have a suggestion." Although Zhukov left the General Staff, he was still well informed, and he knew that in a few days there would be another appointment for Timoshenko, and the post of commander of the Front would become vacant, so he boldly suggested to Stalin: "With the command ability of Comrade Rokossovsky, he is fully qualified for a higher post." ”

"What higher position?" Stalin knowingly asked: "Now that he is the commander of the army group, should he be made the commander of the front?" ”

"That's right, Comrade Stalin." Zhukov didn't hear the mocking tone in Stalin's tone for a while, and said truthfully: "Although his qualifications are a bit shallow, I think it is very appropriate for him to take this position." Even if you don't want him to take up the main position, you can make him deputy commander or chief of staff. ”

Although Stalin felt that Zhukov's recommendation still had some truth, after thinking for a while, he decisively refused, "No, Comrade Zhukov." I can't agree with your proposal. I think you already know that in a week Comrade Timoshenko will step down from the post of commander of the Western Front, but his successor, after study and discussion by the Supreme High Command, decided that the commander of the 19th Army, General Konev, would assume this post. ”

Stalin's words made Zhukov feel a little disappointed. But he still asked unwillingly: "Comrade Stalin, after General Konev went to the post of commander of the Front, who will take his place?" ”

"General Lukin of the 20th Army." Stalin said briefly.

"Who will fill the vacated post of commander of the 20th Army?" Zhukov asked.

"The Supreme High Command decided that General Yershakov would take command of the 20th Army."

Hearing Stalin's talk about a series of personnel adjustments, Zhukov knew that his proposal had no chance of being adopted. He couldn't help but sigh softly, and then said: "I think the personnel changes made by the Supreme Command must have been carefully considered, and since this is the case, let Rokossovsky continue to serve as the commander of his army group." ”

Stalin probably felt that his words were a little stained that Zhukov could not get off the stage, and explained to him for the first time: "Comrade Zhukov, I know Rokossovsky's abilities well, but in just two months, he went from a mechanized corps commander to the commander of an army group, and at the same time his military rank was promoted to lieutenant general. If he were to be appointed commander of the front now, it would probably attract a lot of opposition. So what I mean is to prepare him to be in his current position, to train for a while, and to promote him again when he has the right opportunity in the future. ”

Zhukov did not expect that his recommendation to Rokossovsky would have brought him death, and if he had not been lucky enough to escape, the future marshal star would have fallen in the early days of the Great Patriotic War.

After a few more conversations, Stalin hung up the phone and ended the call with Zhukov. He dialed the headquarters of the Western Front, and Bulganin, who answered the phone, said: "Is it Comrade Bulganin?" I'm Stalin, I'm looking for Timoshenko, is he there? ”

Bulganin heard that it was Stalin's voice and reacted, just like Zhukov just now, he got up from his seat, straightened his back and replied: "Hello, Comrade Stalin. Please wait a moment, Comrade Timoshenko is talking to the troops at the front, and I will ask him to answer the phone immediately. ”

Bulganin covered the microphone with his hand and whispered to Timoshenko, who was answering the phone not far away: "Comrade Marshal, Comrade Marshal!" ”

Hearing Bulganin's shout, Timoshenko immediately looked up at his military commissar and asked the other party with his eyes: Is there something wrong?

"Comrade Marshal." Bulganin hurriedly said: "It was Comrade Stalin's call. ”

Hearing that it was Stalin's call, Timoshenko hurriedly said into the microphone: "Okay, let's do it first, call me immediately if there is anything." ”

Seeing Timoshenko walking towards him, Bulganin couldn't help but ask: "Comrade Marshal, who called?" ”

"The secret service section of the 16th Army." Timoshenko said with a blank face: "They reported to me that Rokossovsky, without asking me for instructions, used the rocket artillery battalion on his own initiative and fired a volley at the German camp stationed on the east bank of the Wopi River. This Rokossovsky is simply too unspeakable, who gave him the right to make his own claims. By the way, what is Comrade Stalin looking for me? ”

Bulganin hurriedly shook his head and said, "He didn't say it, so you should ask him personally." With that, he removed his hand from the microphone and handed it to Timoshenko.

"Hello, Comrade Stalin." Timoshenko put the earpiece to his ear, smiled at the microphone and said, "Do you have any instructions?" ”

"Comrade Timoshenko, in a week, you will step down." Stalin asked expressionlessly: "Has the transfer already begun?" ”

"Not yet." Although Timoshenko did not know why Stalin suddenly asked about this, he still answered honestly: "At present, the 19th Army is being attacked by the Germans, and Comrade Konev is busy directing operations every day, so the transfer has not yet been carried out. ”

"Comrade Timoshenko, I want to ask you." Stalin remembered Zhukov's recommendation just now, and couldn't help asking: "Do you think that if Rokossovsky is put in the post of commander of the Front, will it be more suitable than Konev?" ”

"What, to make Rokossovsky the commander of the Front?" Timoshenko was taken aback by Stalin's words and hurriedly retorted: "No, no, I don't think he is suitable for this position." (To be continued.) )