After inspecting the positions of the Kirillov division, Tarasov asked Rokossovsky for instructions: "Comrade commander, where are we going next?" ”

Rokossovsky thought for a moment, and then said decisively: "Let's go to the city of Yaltsevo and see if we can find the local leadership and ask them to organize a militia to strengthen the defenses here." Otherwise, with the little strength we have, it will be difficult to hold back the German attack. ”

"Okay, I'll go call the guard platoon." As he spoke, Tarasov wanted to go to the guard platoon commander, but he didn't take a few steps, but was stopped by Rokossovsky.

Seeing Tarasov looking at him blankly, Rokossovsky asked rhetorically: "Comrade Chief of Staff, what are we going to Yaltsevo to take the guard platoon for?" ”

"What else can be done?" Tarasov was confused by Rokossovsky, he scratched the back of his head and said: "Of course they are protecting us to go to Yaltsevo, you know, on the way you may encounter a small force of German troops infiltrating our rear." ”

"No need, Comrade Chief of Staff." Rokossovsky said with a big grin: "This is only three or four kilometers away from the city, there should be no danger, just let the guard platoon commander send a few fighters to follow us in a jeep." ”

Hearing Rokossovsky's instructions, Tarasov did not immediately go to the commander of the guard platoon, but kindly reminded him: "Comrade commander, for your safety, I think it is better to bring the guard platoon with you, even if we encounter the enemy on the road, they can cover you and get out safely." ”

"Chief of Staff, you're worrying too much. It's just a few kilometers from the city, and in the event of an encounter with the enemy, the guard platoon can arrive in a matter of minutes. Rokossovsky pointed to a forest not far away and said, "You first let the staff officers set up the command there, and let the guard platoon stay behind to cover them." ”

"Alright, I'll go and deliver your orders." Seeing that Rokossovsky was so stubborn, Tarasov was not easy to persuade again, and turned around and left after agreeing.

In half an hour, two jeeps drove into Yaltsevo. Tarasov, who was sitting in the passenger seat, kept staring out the window as soon as the car entered the city. Seeing that there was silence everywhere in the city, he couldn't help but turn his head and wonder and said to Rokossovsky: "Comrade commander, it seems that all the people in the city have run out!" ”

"What, there's no one in the city?" Rokossovsky, who had been recuperating with his eyes closed, heard Tarasov say this, and immediately opened his eyes and looked out the window, only to see that most of the buildings in the city had been destroyed. There was not a single figure to be seen in the streets, and everywhere was silent, and nothing could be heard except the roar of the jeep's engine, as if the whole city had been abandoned.

He pondered for a moment, remembering that in the center of every city, there would be a fortified church, and perhaps people would have taken refuge there to escape the air raids. Thinking of this, he immediately instructed the driver: "Drive to the church in the center of the city and see if there is anyone there." ”

The driver said yes, sped up and drove down the street towards the church in the city center.

Rokossovsky had expected to go to the church and meet the local leaders, or at least some of the city's residents. Unexpectedly, after the jeep stopped at the church, he led people into the church, only to find that it was still empty.

Seeing this, Tarasov was a little anxious. He asked with some emotion: "Comrade commander, what the hell is going on, why are all the people in the city gone?" ”

"Maybe it's a shift." Rokossovsky said helplessly: "After all, Smolensk is only about twenty kilometers away from here, and if the German tanks rush along the road, they can reach here in an hour at most." He stood there and pondered for a moment, then waved his hand and said, "Let's go west, and see if we can find our troops outside the city." ”

"What, we're going west?" Tarasov was surprised: "You can't go far beyond the city, but you will reach Smolensk." Don't look at the fact that General Lukin's troops are still holding on to Smolensk, but maybe the enemy will bypass the city and come directly to us. There were seven or eight of us, and if we met an enemy, we wouldn't be able to get out. ”

"Comrade Chief of Staff, since we have all arrived here, it would be a pity if we gave up halfway." Although Rokossovsky knew that the situation that Tarasov said was possible, in order to contain more troops, he said with a hint of luck: "Let's go and see, in case we encounter troops that are separated from our superiors, we can use them to enrich our combat cluster." ”

Tarasov was really speechless about Rokossovsky's stubbornness, but thinking that the other party was his superior, he could also stubbornly agree: "Okay, Comrade Commander, since you say so, then let's go to the west of the city." After saying this, he paused for a moment, and then added, "Whether or not we can meet our troops, we will go back to the headquarters after reading it, okay?" ”

"No problem, my Comrade Chief of Staff." Rokossovsky readily agreed: "I promise you that I will immediately return to the command headquarters, regardless of whether or not I can meet our troops outside the city." So you're satisfied, aren't you? ”

After the two jeeps drove out of the city from the west of the city, they drove about five or six kilometers in the direction of Smolensk. Although I saw a lot of field fortifications along the way, they were all empty, and there was not a single defender.

After passing through two empty lines of defense in a row, Tarasov told the driver to stop the car on the side of the road, and then said to Rokossovsky: "Comrade commander, I see that the entire population of the Yaltsevo region and the troops who were holding on to it have all been transferred. ”

"Transfer, where did they move?" Rokossovsky said depressedly: "On the way here, we didn't see any formed units at all, except for the 38th Infantry Division of Colonel Kirillov and some scattered small units. ”

Tarasov thought for a moment, and then replied: "Comrade commander, there is another possibility, that is, because the Smolensk direction is tight, the troops responsible for the defense of Yaltsevo have been transferred to support Smolensk. ”

Rokossovsky listened to Tarasov and agreed very much with his speculation. He nodded, and said helplessly: "Comrade Chief of Staff, the troops here have all been transferred to Smolensk, and as a result, Yaltsevo has become an empty city." Well, if we go any further, we may be in the middle of the enemy, so let's turn back now. ”

Tarasov nodded, then patted the driver on the shoulder and ordered him: "Comrade driver, turn around immediately, we must rush back to the newly built headquarters as soon as possible." ”

On the way back, Rokossovsky secretly wondered whether to transfer Kirillov's division from the existing defensive zone to the fortifications that had already been built in the west of the city. At this moment, an explosion suddenly came from outside the car, and the explosion point was five or six meters away to the right of the car.

Before Rokossovsky could figure out what was going on, another explosion sounded, and the jeep, which was more than fifty meters in front, was blown into a ball of fire. The driver, who was already driving fast, hurriedly braked, and the huge inertia caused Rokossovsky to rush forward.

"Hell, what the hell is going on?" Rokossovsky scolded angrily.

"It was a mortar hit, Comrade Commander." Tarasov glanced at the burning jeep in front of him, and seeing that no one in the car had escaped, he hurriedly drivered: "Speed up and bypass the car in front." As long as we are fast, we will be able to get rid of the enemy in no time. ”

The driver didn't speak, just slammed on the accelerator, and the jeep, which had been stopped, rushed forward again. Not long after driving away, a whistling cannonball landed where the car had just been parked, and a stream of dirt was lifted into the air by a wave of air, and then fell on the roof of the car with a crackle.

"Quick! Hurry up! Tarasov shouted nervously.

As the jeep rushed forward like crazy, Rokossovsky leaned his face to the window, trying to see where the shells were coming from. Soon, he saw the Germans in the otherwise empty fortifications on the side of the road, and a mortar team was constantly firing at his side. At this moment, several German soldiers crawled out of the trenches, put their submachine guns in their stomachs, bent over, and quickly ran towards them.

At this moment, the jeep suddenly stopped. Without waiting for Rokossovsky to speak, Tarasov shouted at the driver: "Comrade driver, why stop, didn't you see that the enemy was rushing towards us?" ”

"The engine was broken." The driver pointed to the hood in front of him with green smoke and said innocently: "This car can't continue to drive!" ”

Rokossovsky pushed the car door and shouted at the two: "What are you still doing in a daze, don't you get out of the car quickly, do you want to stay here and be a prisoner of the Germans?" ”

Tarasov and the driver jumped out of the car and ran forward after Rokossovsky. Rokossovsky knew that running along the road at this time would either be killed by German mortars or submachine guns, so the only way was to run into the forest by the roadside. As long as you run into the forest, the chances of escape can be greatly improved.

Rokossovsky ran for a while, and suddenly heard the sound of submachine gun fire behind him. As he ran, he looked back and saw the driver half-crouching, shooting at the pursuing Germans with the submachine gun in his hand. However, before one of his magazines could be fired, he was hit by an enemy bullet. He threw the gun in his hand, and the whole man fell straight down straight behind him.

Tarasov panted as he ran: "Comrade commander, the driver is sacrificed, what should we do?" ”

"Keep running." Rokossovsky looked at the forest a few tens of meters away and shouted: "At most, we will be able to enter the forest in a few tens of seconds." ”

At that moment, a low rumble was heard in the forest, and Rokossovsky couldn't help but slow down, trying to figure out what was coming from the forest. Suddenly, a tree fell head-on, and a huge tank body and a short barrel appeared in front of him, the top hatch of the turret opened, and a tanker in a black helmet peeked out of it.

Tanks of the Germans! As soon as Rokossovsky thought of this possibility, he stopped and stood still, ready to resign himself to fate. The machine guns on the tanks began to fire, but instead of Rokossovsky and Tarasov, they fired at the Germans who were pursuing them. Then, with a bang, the whistling shells landed in the middle of the pursuing German soldiers and exploded, blowing several soldiers to pieces on the spot.

At this time, Rokossovsky finally understood that it turned out that this was not a tank of the Germans, but a tank of his own. After seeing clearly that it was his own tank, he hurriedly waved his arms at the other party, and at the same time shouted loudly: "Good job, comrades! You're all good! Rush up and finish them all. ”

Ten minutes later, the battle was over. The battlefield was littered with the corpses of German soldiers, and in the battle that had just ended, Soviet tanks had killed thirty German soldiers. Only the mortar group that remained in the trenches escaped because it was too far away.

The tankman jumped out of the tank, walked up to Rokossovsky, shook his head and said: "Comrade commander, you are so risky, if we come a little later, you and the chief of staff will be finished." ”

Rokossovsky took the other party's hand, shook it vigorously a few times, and said gratefully: "Comrade Colonel, thank you, if you hadn't arrived in time, I guess I would have gone to see God." ”

The tankman, the commander of the 101st Tank Division, Colonel Mikhailov, asked Rokossovsky curiously: "Comrade commander, how did you come here?" ”

Rokossovsky first pointed in the direction of Yatsevo and said: "We went to the city first, and we plan to talk to the local leaders to see if they can organize militia units to enrich our combat group." When I went to the city, I found that it was an empty city. Then he pointed to the defensive position not far away with his hand, "Since there is no one in the city, I came to the defensive area outside the city to see if I can find the troops I need." As a result, we didn't see our troops, but they were attacked by the Germans, and if you hadn't appeared in time, I guess we would have all been here. ”

"Comrade Commander, I can only say that you are lucky." Mikhailov said with palpitations: "Originally, our tank division entered the defense zone of the Kirillov division, but it was Colonel Kirillov who told me that you had come to Yaltsevo. I was worried about the danger you would encounter, so I personally led two tanks through the forest to meet you. Unexpectedly, when we were about to get out of the forest, we happened to see you being pursued by the Germans, so we saved you by mistake. ”

Hearing Mikhailov say that they had come through the forest, Rokossovsky could not help but frown. He pointed to the forest not far away and asked with a serious expression: "Colonel, you said that you came through the forest, can tanks pass here?" (To be continued.) )