In the evening of the same day, taking advantage of the cessation of the enemy's offensive, Rokossovsky summoned officers from the regimental level of the combat cluster to a temporary military meeting in the new headquarters. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

Although the room for the meeting was the largest in the whole village, the commanders who came to the meeting still filled the room. Chief of Staff Ma Lining stood at the door and saw the commanders in the room, all sitting in their positions motionless, waiting for the appearance of the superior commander.

Seeing that everyone was here, Ma Lining hurriedly came to the door of a nearby room, knocked lightly on the door, and then pushed the door and walked in. Next to the wooden table in the middle of the room sat Rokossovsky, Carmela and Vinogradov, who were studying how to make the next step in their defenses. Hearing someone walk in, several people turned their eyes to the door.

After seeing clearly that it was Malinin, Rokossovsky politely asked: "Comrade Chief of Staff, have all the commanders who came to the meeting arrived?" ”

"Yes, Comrade Commander." Malinin replied respectfully: "All the commanders who have been notified have arrived. ”

Rokossovsky stood up and said to the other two generals who were still sitting at the table: "Let's go, comrades generals, it's time for us to go to the venue." ”

When Rokossovsky and his party walked to the door, Malinin shouted inside: "The commander has arrived!" ”

At his shout, the commanders seated in the room stood up in unison, standing there with their heads held high, waiting to be reviewed by Rokossovsky.

After Rokossovsky led Carmela and Vinogradov through the standing commanders, he walked behind a wooden table facing all the commanders, beckoned Carmela and the two to sit down, and he also sat down in the center. Ma Linin, who was standing next to him, saw that the three generals were seated, so he said loudly: "Sit down." ”

After all the commanders had sat down, Rokossovsky stood up with his hands on the edge of the table, and after scanning the audience with a cold gaze, he said in a loud voice: "Comrade commander, now the meeting is open. Our topic today is how to hold on to Yatsevo. Next, the Chief of Staff, Colonel Malinin, will deploy the mission to you. ”

Malinin took a piece of paper handed to him by Rokossovsky, looked at it in front of him, and found that it was the plan that the three of them had just drawn up to change their guards. After a quick glance, he loudly announced: "Since Colonel Kirillov's 38th Infantry Division and Colonel Mikhailov's 101st Tank Division had suffered serious attrition in the early battles, the command decided to transfer the two divisions to the second line of defense east of Yaltsevo. The positions vacated by the two divisions will be replaced by motorized divisions and a tank division of the Seventh Mechanized Corps. ”

The order announced by Malinin was completely unexpected by Kirillov and Mikhailov. The two had thought that Rokossovsky would not allow his troops to retreat until their troops were completely exhausted. Unexpectedly, now they directly asked the troops who had just arrived to take over their defense area and let them withdraw to the second line of defense for rectification.

Kirillov looked at Rokossovsky behind the table, and secretly said in his heart that the commander was sympathetic to his subordinates, knowing that his troops had suffered serious losses in the fighting during this time, and although they had won many victories and received some sporadic replenishment of soldiers, weapons and ammunition, the morale of the entire unit was still inevitably affected. Now, by withdrawing the troops from the places where the fighting is most intense and going to the rear to rest for a while, it is possible to avoid a situation in which the troops are discouraged.

And after Mikhailov heard the order to change guards, the expression on his face did not change in the slightest. He had long understood in his heart that his two tank regiments had been almost completely lost in the recent battles. The tankmen who lost their tanks are now being used as infantry, which is a complete waste. However, apparently the commander was also aware of this, and as soon as the new tank unit arrived, he immediately made the other side and his own troops change their guards.

After a pause, seeing that no commander had expressed any objections, Malinin continued: "The 7th Mechanized Army, which has taken over the defense of the western side of Yaltsevo, should resolutely hold its position at all costs and not allow a single step back. The mixed detachment, which was currently stuck in the second line of defense, launched an attack on the enemy's rear on 20 July after being reorganized......"

When Lidyukov heard the order read by Malinin, he couldn't help but look surprised, and secretly said in his heart that I don't have the strength of a company now, even if I give me three days to replenish it, how many troops can I replenish? Taking a step back, even if the militia, workers, and collective farm workers were barely enough to be numbered, the combat effectiveness of the troops would be greatly diluted.

Thinking of this, he mustered up the courage to stand up, interrupted Malinin, who was reading the order, and asked Rokossovsky with an angry voice: "Comrade commander, in the battle of the previous few days, not only did our mixed detachment almost lose all the casualties, but also lost all the technical equipment. You only give me three days to replenish it, where can I find so many wicked people with combat experience, and where can I go to replenish the lost technical equipment? You must know that our activities behind enemy lines in the early stage have aroused the enemy's great attention, and they have even dispatched armored units to encircle and suppress our mixed detachment. Without the technical equipment to compete with the enemy, and at least 300 commanders and fighters with rich combat experience, it will be difficult for us to complete the task of harassing the enemy's rear. ”

As soon as Lidyukov's words fell, the commanders around him began to whisper to each other. Seeing the chaos below, Carmela was a little anxious, he leaned forward slightly, and was ready to immediately stand up and criticize Lidyukov, an old comrade-in-arms, but before he could stand up, he was pulled by Rokossovsky.

Seeing Rokossovsky stand up, the commanders, who had been whispering, quickly closed their mouths obediently, returned to a precarious posture, and looked at Rokossovsky with their eyes to see how he planned to reply to Lidyukov.

"Colonel Lidyukov, your mixed detachment showed itself very well in the early battles. It was your heroic and tenacious fighting behind enemy lines that kept the Germans at bay so large that they could not concentrate their forces on our offensive and favourably prepared the defensive actions of the defenders of the western line of Artsevo. Rokossovsky did not get angry at Lidyukov, but first put a high hat on him, and after seeing that his mood was slightly calmer, he continued: "The command of the Front informed us this afternoon that it would replenish us with twenty tanks, including T-34 tanks, which would arrive in two days. When this batch of tanks arrives, I will assign them all to your mixed detachment. ”

"Really, Comrade Commander?" Hearing that his troops could be allocated ten of the latest T-34 tanks, Lidyukov asked a little excitedly: "Do you really give us all the newly replenished tanks?" ”

Mikhailov, who was sitting on the other side, couldn't help but chuckle in his heart when he heard Rokossovsky say this, and then began to complain: "Commander, commander, the tanks of our tank division have almost been lost, but with new tanks, you have all the supplies to the mixed detachment, do you really plan to use our tank division as infantry?" ”

I only heard Rokossovsky say to Lidyukov with a smile: "That's right, Comrade Colonel, I will replenish all the 20 new tanks to your mixed detachment one by one." With that, he caught a glimpse of Mikhailov's face turning dark purple, as if the blood on his face had congealed. Hurriedly added: "Since your mixed detachment will go deep behind enemy lines to carry out dangerous combat missions, I did not supplement this batch of tanks to the 101st Tank Division, but directly equipped it with you." ”

"Don't worry, Comrade Commander." Lidyukov had let go of his knot at this moment, patted his chest and assured Rokossovsky: "As long as the tanks are in place, then I will definitely lead my troops to turn the rear of the Germans upside down." ”

Seeing that Lidyukov's mood had stabilized, Malinin read all Rokossovsky's deployments in one go. Then he put the paper on the table, swept his eyes over the commanders present, raised his voice and asked, "Does anyone have any questions?" ”

"Nope!" The commanders below replied neatly,

"Since there is no problem, let's dismiss the meeting." Rokossovsky waved his hand and said: "After the commanders return to their respective units, they will follow the orders given by the command. All units that have changed their guards must enter their designated defensive positions before dawn tomorrow. As for the troops that have been withdrawn for reorganization, they must seize the time and try by all means to replenish their own troops. ”

Seeing that all the commanders stood up, Yuguan walked outside. Rokossovsky suddenly remembered that his mood when he saw Mikhailov just now seemed to be a little wrong, and hurriedly called out to him: "Colonel Mikhailov stays." ”

When Mikhailov heard Rokossovsky's order, he immediately stopped where he was. After the commanders of the meeting had left, he reluctantly came to Rokossovsky, raised his hand and saluted, and then stood there without saying a word.

"Comrade Colonel," Rokossovsky said to him kindly, "I know that the tanks that are about to arrive have not been assigned to your division, and you have some emotions in your heart. ”

When Mikhailov heard Rokossovsky say this, the corners of his mouth twitched violently a few times, but he still did not speak, just stood straight in place like a telephone pole.

"Colonel Mikhailov," Carmela and Mikhailov have spent more time in the same command, so they speak relatively casually. He saw that Mikhailov was putting on an unruly appearance at this moment, and he was afraid of causing Rokossovsky to be furious, so he hurriedly raised his voice and said to the colonel: "How can you do this to Comrade Commander? I order you, immediately apologize to the commander. ”

"Okay, Comrade General, don't talk about it." Rokossovsky raised his hand to stop Carmela, glanced at Mikhailov, who was not convinced, and then looked at Carmela and said: "I am actually to blame for this, when I knew that my superiors were about to replenish our troops with 20 tanks, he did not communicate with Colonel Mikhailov, and he took it upon himself to assign all these tanks to the mixed detachment, which is understandable." ”

Rokossovsky's reasonableness was somewhat unexpected by Mikhailov. He waited for Rokossovsky to finish speaking, and immediately defended himself: "Comrade commander, I can't blame you for this, I was too anxious in my heart. Due to the bombing of enemy aircraft, heavy artillery bombardment, and the battle with German tanks in the early battle, the two tank regiments were almost completely lost. The fighters who lost their tanks are now infantry. It would be a waste to use tank crews, which are difficult to train, as infantry. ”

"I understand, I understand." Rokossovsky said repeatedly: "As soon as this batch of tanks arrives, I will immediately apply to the Front Command and ask them to replenish us with more tanks to supply your division." After he said this, he saw that Mikhailov's mood had calmed down, and then he said his other plan, "Colonel, there is something I would like to discuss with you. Colonel Lidyukov's mixed detachment suffered heavy losses, and almost all the tankmen died. So I would like to ask you to send a group of tankmen temporarily under the command of Colonel Lidyukov, who will drive these tanks and teach the Germans a hard lesson. Don't know what you mean? ”

Regarding Rokossovsky's proposal, Mikhailov thought only for a moment, and then decisively agreed: "Well, comrade commander, anyway, there are no tanks, and those tankmen under my command can only be idle. If there are tanks to drive now, it is estimated that they will not be able to ask for it. Don't worry, I'll take out the best tankmen and go to the aid of Colonel Lidyukov. ”

When Mikhailov walked out of the command headquarters, Carmela immediately gave Rokossovsky a thumbs up and said with emotion: "Comrade commander, you are still amazing." In just a few words, Colonel Lidyukov and Colonel Mikhailov were persuaded respectively so that both of them could seriously carry out the orders you had given. ”

Major General Vinogradov, who was on the side, waited for Carmela to finish speaking, and then asked: "Comrade commander, although our troops seem to be quite a lot, our numbers and technical equipment are still at an absolute disadvantage compared with the Germans. In addition, the air supremacy on the battlefield has always been in the hands of the Germans, and if we do not have the support of the air force, I believe that it will not be long before our current troops will be quickly consumed in battle. (To be continued.) )