"General Ryabishev, what are you going to do next?" Rokossovsky politely asked: "Do you continue to retreat to the rear, or join forces with us and block the Germans here?" ”

"At present, we have completely lost contact with our superiors, and even if we want to evacuate, we don't know where to evacuate." Ryabishev said with a sad face: "Instead of scurrying around like a fly without a head, it is better to stay with you and fight side by side with you." Perhaps after our field troops arrive, the superiors will use the remnants of our two mechanized armies as the main force of the attack. ”

Rokossovsky only smiled politely at Ryabishev's conjecture. He thought to himself: although he is also the commander of the mechanized army, but the rank is lower than that of Beryabeshev, who should command the other party in the coming days?

Just when he was in a dilemma, Ryabishev spoke again: "Comrade Rokossovsky, I just thought about it, although my rank is higher than yours, because I have just been withdrawn from Dubno, I don't know the situation here, so the troops of our two armies will be handed over to you for unified command. ”

Seeing that Ryabishev trusted him so much, Rokossovsky did not shirk it, nodded his head, and said briskly: "Okay, General Ryabishev, since you trust me so much, then from now on, your troops will be assigned to Colonel Kalinin's 131st Division, which will be responsible for the defense of the southwest of the defensive line." ”

"No problem, I'll let the remaining commanders report to Colonel Kalinin later." After Ryabishev said this, he looked up at Rokossovsky and said: "By the way, you just said that the command of the commander of the 16th Army, Lieutenant General Lukin, is not far from here, can you send someone to take me to meet him?" ”

"Yes, General Ryabishev." Rokossovsky politely replied: "I'll arrange it." After that, a staff officer was called from outside the door and asked him to drive Ryabishev to the headquarters of the army group.

After Ryabishev left, Rokossovsky sat at the table, stared at the map spread out in front of him, and muttered to himself: "It turns out that the movies I used to watch were so unreliable. He thought that the order to send the Eighth Mechanized Military District to death was given by Vashukin, the military commissar of the Front, but now he found out that the person who issued the order indiscriminately was actually Zhukov, whom he respected the most. It's been a long time since I've seen Vashukin, and I don't know how he's doing, did he shoot himself like in the movies? There is also the commander of the air force of the front army, General Putukhin, who once said that in the shortest possible time, the surviving planes would be lifted into the air for battle, but apart from the few fighters that fought until the last moment some time ago, we have never seen our planes appear in the sky. ”

"Comrade Commander, what are you thinking?" Just as Rokossovsky was thinking nonsense, he suddenly heard Maslov's voice, he quickly raised it and asked in a somewhat panicked manner: "Comrade Chief of Staff, is there something wrong?" ”

"That's so, Comrade Commander," Maslov asked politely, recovering Rokossovsky from his musings, "you say that you plan to send troops to attack the German lines of communication, and I wonder when we will start moving?" ”

"Without further ado, let's do it tonight." Rokossovsky was also a resolute man, and since the decision was made, he did not delay and decisively gave an order to Maslov: "Let General Novikov form several small detachments of platoon units, carrying mines and explosives, to destroy the bridges on the highway from Rivne to Zhytomyr, and absolutely not allow the enemy to reach our city so easily." ”

"Okay, I'll call General Novikov right away and ask him to immediately assemble the small molecule." After Maslov finished speaking, he picked up the phone on the table and called Novikov's division command.

Kamenev looked at Rokossovsky and asked tentatively: "Comrade army commander, the casualties in the troops are very large at present, and it is estimated that they will have a great impact on the morale of the troops, so I plan to go to the grassroots level and work with political workers at all levels to carry out political agitation work in the troops, what do you think?" ”

"Very well, Comrade Deputy Political Commander." Rokossovsky was overjoyed when he heard Kamenev's proposal, and he understood the importance of political work in boosting morale, so he urged again and again: "Before the enemy has attacked, you should immediately start working." ”

After sending Kamenev away, Rokossovsky looked at Maslov and asked: "Chief of Staff, did you call General Novikov?" ”

"Yes, Comrade Commander." Maslov replied in the affirmative: "The division commander Novikov said that he would take out the elite soldiers, form small detachments, and go deep behind enemy lines to carry out sabotage. ”

"Comrade Commander, the enemy is attacking again!" Deputy Army Commander Vnukov, who had been standing at the observation post, suddenly shouted: "About two companies of infantry, under the cover of seven or eight tanks, rushed towards the outpost of the 326th regiment. ”

"Don't worry, Comrade Deputy Commander." Hearing Vnukov's shout, Maslov said a little disapprehantly: "In the past few days, the Germans have launched more than a dozen attacks on our outposts, but they have all been repulsed by us. If you look at the open space in front of the position, it's almost covered with the corpses of the enemy. ”

"Comrade Chief of Staff, although the outpost positions have blocked the repeated attacks of the German troops, we cannot take it lightly." Rokossovsky saw that Maslov was too optimistic, and couldn't help but remind him: "You must know that the forces we can use are getting smaller and smaller, and even if the commanders and fighters show bravery, this line of defense will be broken by the Germans sooner or later." ”

"Comrade Army Commander, don't you have any confidence in our victory in the war?" Maslov looked left and right, saw that Kamenev was not there, and then said in surprise: "You must know that if you say this, if the political deputy commander hears it, it is estimated that he will have an argument with you again." ”

Rokossovsky waved his hand and said in a firm tone: "Comrade Chief of Staff, we will definitely be able to achieve the final victory." At the same time, however, we must also have a clear understanding of the situation, although we have won many victories in the recent past, but they are only small partial victories, and the enemy is in an absolute position in the overall battle situation, and they have far surpassed us in terms of strength and technical equipment, and they have also mastered air supremacy. In this case, it is almost impossible to defeat them. Therefore, this war will be protracted and brutal, and we must all be mentally prepared. ”

The German tanks stopped a few hundred meters from the outpost, and then lined up, suppressing the fire on the Soviet positions with artillery fire and covering the infantry charge.

After looking at it for a while, Maslov said contemptuously: "The German attack has always been the same, first with artillery bombardment and plane bombing, and then the infantry, under the cover of tanks, launched an attack on our positions. As long as we can stop their attacks, they're helpless. ”

After looking at it for a while, Vnukov said in amazement: "Our hygienist is so brave that he dares to brave enemy fire and rescue our wounded in the rain of bullets." Speaking of this, he suddenly paused for a moment, and then unconsciously raised his voice, "My God, I'm not mistaken, the hygienist who rescued the wounded on the battlefield is actually a woman?" ”

"What, hygienist?" Maslov hurriedly moved the camera to search for the female hygienist that Vnukov had mentioned. He quickly found his target, and after careful observation for a while, he put down his binoculars and turned to Rokossovsky: "Comrade commander, I'm not mistaken, there are actually female hygienists in our army?" ”

"No, Comrade Chief of Staff, you read that right." To Maslov's suspicions, Rokossovsky replied affirmatively: "This female hygienist was specially recruited by me." ”

"But why is that?" Maslov muttered to himself: This female soldier will not be Rokossovsky's confidante, otherwise how could he violate the order and get a female soldier into the army. Although he thought so in his heart, he said something else: "If the superior knows, will he blame you?" ”

Rokossovsky shook his head and said confidently: "Chief of staff, don't worry, it will definitely not." I expect it won't be long before thousands of women join us. In war, there are only soldiers and civilians, and there is no distinction between men and women. ”

Rokossovsky said as he walked to the lookout and raised his binoculars to look at the battlefield. Through the camera, he saw Katya carrying a wounded soldier's rifle on his back, then lying on the ground, dragging the wounded soldier little by little towards the trench. Seeing this scene, he nodded silently, adding a little affection to Katya, who was so unshaven.

The German offensive, as usual, ended in failure. In front of the outpost, they dropped a destroyed tank and dozens of corpses, and then retreated in disgrace.

As soon as the battle ended, the phone rang in the command headquarters. A staff officer walked over and picked up the phone, and after listening for a while, he hurriedly handed the microphone to Rokossovsky, and at the same time said: "Comrade commander, it was the commander of the group army who called, and he said that he was looking for you urgently. ”

Rokossovsky walked over and took the microphone, and as soon as he put it to his ear, he heard Lukin's voice coming from inside: "Comrade Rokossovsky, is the enemy attacking your position again?" ”

"Yes, Comrade Commander." Rokossovsky politely replied: "But their attack has been repulsed again by our valiant fighters." ”

"Well done, Comrade Rokossovsky, your fighters are all good. On my behalf, I ask you to convey to them my gratitude for the courage they have defended our great Motherland. After Lukin said this, he suddenly changed the subject: "I have just met General Ryabishev, can you come to us for a while, there are some things that I want to talk to you about." ”

"Comrade commander, as a commander, I cannot casually leave my combat post." In response to Lukin's invitation, Rokossovsky politely declined: "If you have anything, just tell me on the phone." ”

"No, Comrade Rokossovsky, you have to come in person." After saying this, Lukin was silent for a moment, and then said in a serious tone: "I have just received an order from the General Staff to rush to the Smolensk region as soon as possible and organize troops there to resist the German offensive. There are some things I need to explain to you in person. ”

Although Rokossovsky was very reluctant to go to Lukin's headquarters, since the other party had said everything to this point, he had to bite the bullet and promise: "Okay, Comrade Commander, since this is the case, I will rush to you immediately." ”

After Rokossovsky put down the phone, Maslov, who heard only a few words next to him, immediately asked: "Comrade army commander, is there anything important that General Lukin asked you to go to his headquarters?" ”

"General Lukin said that he received an order from the General Staff to rush to Smolensk as soon as possible to command the troops." Rokossovsky said helplessly: "Before he leaves, he has some important things to explain to me in person, so I have to go there myself." ”

When Maslov saw Rokossovsky's embarrassed expression, he understood in his heart why his commander was very resistant to going to Lukin's headquarters, firstly, because the road was relatively far, and secondly, he was vulnerable to bombardment by enemy planes on the road. He asked tentatively: "Comrade commander, do you know why you are concentrating on the defense of Smolensk?" ”

Hearing Maslov's question, Rokossovsky shook his head and said confusedly: "I don't know, Chief of Staff, do you know something?" ”

Maslov looked left and right, and saw that everyone was busy and did not notice that he was here, so he lowered his voice and said: "I have heard from others that in the forest next to Smolensk, there are priceless tsarist treasures. I guess the General Staff was worried that the treasures would be snatched by the Germans, so they hurriedly transferred General Lukin to command his troops and defend Smolensk. ”

Rokossovsky couldn't help but laugh dumbly when he heard what Maslov said. And Maslov couldn't help frowning when he saw Rokossovsky's reaction, and he said with some displeasure: "What, comrade commander, don't you believe it? You must know that the legend of this tsar's treasure has been circulating among the people from the fall of the tsar to the present. ”

After listening to it this time, Rokossovsky couldn't help laughing, he raised his hand and patted Maslov's shoulder, and said teasingly: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I didn't expect you to still believe in this kind of folklore. Let me tell you, in the forests of Smolensk there are no tsarist treasures at all. Even if there were, it would have been dug up a long time ago. After saying that, he straightened his military hat on his head, waved his hand at Maslov, and said, "Okay, Chief of Staff, I will go to General Lukin, and I will be in charge of you here." (To be continued.) )