Rokossovsky had a peculiarity: in the first few hours of the battle, in order not to affect the command of the commanders below, he never took the initiative to make phone calls, nor did he allow anyone in the command to call or send telegrams to inquire about the progress of the battle. As for this provision he designated, his chief of staff, Malinin, had reminded him of it as early as when he was still the commander of the 16th Army. But Rokossovsky replied: "If they need help or if there is any significant progress, the commander of the army group will report to me on his own initiative." ”

Although he did not serve as the commander of the Second Belorussian Front for a long time, this provision of his was understood by everyone in the command. Therefore, after the encirclement and annihilation of the German army began, no one could not wait to contact the commanders of the group armies participating in the battle, but quietly waited for the battle report from the front.

Without waiting for the battle report, the faintly audible cannon sound outside suddenly stopped. Rokossovsky frowned slightly, picked up the phone on the table, dialed the command of the artillery commander Sokolisky, and asked straight to the point: "General Sokolisky, why did your artillery support for the infantry stop so quickly?" ”

"Comrade Marshal," said Sokolisky on the other end of the phone, with some excitement, "General Fedyuninsky called me and said that the Germans had raised the white flag and surrendered to our troops, and if the shelling continued, we would mistakenly injure our troops who had surrendered." That's why I ordered all the artillery to stop firing. ”

"What, what did you say?" When Rokossovsky heard Sokolsky say this, he couldn't help but be taken aback, and hurriedly asked: "You said that the Germans have surrendered, is this news reliable?" ”

"It was General Fedyuninsky who called me personally." Although Sokolsky felt that Rokossovsky did not know about the surrender of the German army, it was a little strange, but he still answered truthfully: "He said that the German 7th Panzer Division and the Greater German Division stopped resisting and began to surrender to our army." ”

Rokossovsky thought in his heart that if the 7th Panzer Division had surrendered, it would not be surprising that Fedyuninsky would have known about it at the first time; But it was Volsky's 5th Guards Tank Army that attacked the Greater German Division, how did Fedyuninsky also know about it? Just when he put down the phone with a stomach full of questions, and was about to call and ask Fedyuninsky what was going on, Fedyuninsky's phone came in first.

Fedyuninsky was emotional on the phone, and said with a little pride: "Comrade commander, I have great news for you. Both the German 7th Panzer Division and the Greater German Division had already raised their white flags, laid down their arms and surrendered to our troops. ”

"What the hell is going on?" When Rokossovsky heard Fedyuninsky say this, he immediately couldn't wait to ask: "The development of this situation has confused me." ”

"Comrade Marshal, this is the case." From the tone of Rokossovsky's speech, Fedyuninsky heard that he knew nothing about the surrender of the German army, and hurriedly explained to him: "General Karmous, the commander of the German 7th Panzer Division, was seriously wounded in the shelling, and it was Major General Lorenz, commander of the Greater German Division, who ordered two German divisions to stop resistance and surrender to our army in his name. ”

Hearing that Calmos was seriously wounded, Rokossovsky hurriedly asked: "Where is the other person?" ”

"The hygienist examined him and said that the injuries were serious and that he had to be operated on immediately." Fedyuninsky reported: "So I sent him to the field hospital of the Front, after having him do a simple disposition on the spot. ”

"Comrade Fedyuninsky, you are doing the right thing." Rokossovsky then asked: "Where is Lorenz?" ”

"He just got to my headquarters." Fedyuninsky did not know why Rokossovsky asked, so he asked tentatively: "Do you think I need to send him to you?" ”

"I'll stay with you for now." Knowing that the two elite German divisions in the encirclement had been destroyed, Rokossovsky's heart was extremely excited. According to the memories of his later generations, the 7th Panzer Division, which had been heavily damaged by the Soviet army, surrendered to the British and American forces on May 3, 45; Next month, in November, the Großdeutsche Division will be officially expanded into the Großdeutsche Army, which will now include the Großdeutsche Division, the Brandenburg Division, and a number of other units. Now these two elite divisions of the German army have withdrawn from the stage of history ahead of schedule because of themselves, which is an encouraging thing.

Immediately after the end of the call with Fedyuninsky, he dialed Moscow, first through the switchboard, the General Staff, to report the exciting news to the General Staff Antonov. Antonov, who was originally sitting in his position, immediately got up from his seat when he heard the news, and said with great emotion: "Marshal Rokossovsky, please accept my congratulations, I congratulate you on such a great victory!" ”

After a pause, Antonov asked again: "Did you report this news to Comrade Stalin?" When he learned that Rokossovsky had not yet reported, he hurriedly urged, "Comrade Marshal, I believe that he is waiting for such good news, you better call him quickly." ”

Although he still had a pimple in his heart because of his transfer from the First Belorussian Front, in order to let the commanders and fighters get the reward they deserved, Rokossovsky personally called Stalin.

Stalin heard Rokossovsky's voice coming from the telephone headset and thought that he was ready to ask himself to postpone the offensive, which was not uncommon throughout the Soviet-German war. Stalin tried to ask in a calm tone: "Comrade Rokossovsky, do you have anything to report to me?" ”

"Yes, Comrade Stalin." Rokossovsky said in a calm tone: "I officially report to you that our army has completely annihilated the German 7th Panzer Division, the Greater German Division and the 58th Infantry Division wedged into the left flank of our front army half an hour ago, and the specific results are still being counted. As soon as the results come out, we will immediately report the situation to the General Staff by telegram. ”

"What, the three German divisions surrounded by you have been wiped out?" Stalin's hands trembled slightly when he heard the news, and he struggled to control his emotions and asked in a flat tone: "How many enemies have escaped from your encirclement." ”

"Not a single one ran away, Comrade Stalin." Rokossovsky replied: "The commander of the 7th Panzer Division, General Karmous, and the commander of the Greater German Division, General Lorenz, have already been captured by our troops. ”