After Novikov and Chernyaev raised their hands and saluted, they turned around and prepared to leave, but who knew that they had just walked to the door and were stopped by Rokossovsky. The two of them stopped, looked at their commander in surprise, and wondered in their hearts, why did he stop us, is there something wrong?

Rokossovsky walked up to the two of them, frowned and asked: "Comrade two division commanders, you are both tank experts. I would like to ask you, can the armor of the French tank block machine-gun bullets and shrapnel? ”

Hearing Rokossovsky's layman's question, although both of them couldn't help but want to laugh in their hearts, out of politeness, the two had to pretend to be casual on the surface. Novikov replied: "Comrade commander, you must know that this armor that has been issued by tanks, let alone blocking machine gun bullets and shrapnel, even the German M1930 37-mm anti-tank gun cannot penetrate its characteristic inclined armor plate from the front. ”

"Great, that's great." Rokossovsky excitedly said: "Didn't you say that French tanks had no ammunition? Seeing that the two of them nodded affirmatively, he continued, "But these tanks are heavily armoured, and what do you think will happen if you drive these tanks into positions and turn them into machine-gun positions?" ”

Novikov thought for a moment about Rokossovsky's whimsical statement, nodded slowly, and then said solemnly: "That's right, Comrade Commander, if these tanks are placed in positions and let our machine gunners hide in the tanks and shoot, even if they are shelled by the enemy, the safety factor is much higher than staying in a civil bunker." ”

"Yes, Comrade Commander." Chernyaev echoed: "Using tanks that are not of much use as machine-gun positions can reduce the amount of work required by the fighters to build fortifications, and it is a good way to kill two birds with one stone." ”

Seeing that the two division commanders agreed with their opinions, Rokossovsky smiled and said to the two: "Since you also agree with this plan, go ahead and implement it." After speaking, he raised his right hand to his forehead and saluted the two.

After the two division commanders left happily, Rokossovsky immediately ordered to call Second Lieutenant Kochetov. After discovering that the intelligence collected by the second lieutenant was very strong, he kept him by his side. Now in order to find out the movements of the German army and formulate corresponding countermeasures, it is necessary to send people out of the city to reconnoitre, and the best person in charge of reconnaissance is none other than this Kochetov from the internal affairs army.

Kochetov soon came, he stood in front of Rokossovsky, looking blankly at the general in front of him, waiting for him to give him an order.

He was looking at Rokossovsky, and the other party was looking at him. After the two looked at each other like this, Rokossovsky asked: "Comrade Second Lieutenant, I would like to know what you think about the emptiness of troops here in Lublin?" ”

Kochetov frowned and thought for a moment, then shrugged his shoulders and said: "What to say, Comrade General. I think it's abnormal. It stands to reason that this is an important transportation hub for the German army, and if it is not heavily guarded, at least there will not be only one battalion. I took part in the battle myself, and found that the enemies in the barracks, who were basically old, weak, sick and disabled, raised their hands and surrendered as soon as they saw that our soldiers' guns were aimed at them, and without even the slightest resistance. I think there must be some conspiracy here, or rather, there's a trap here. ”

"Trap, what trap?" Kochetov's words aroused great interest in Rokossovsky, "Comrade Ensign, tell me what you think. ”

"I can't say it, Comrade General." Hearing Rokossovsky say this, Kochetov looked a little flustered, "Maybe the enemy has somehow obtained information that we are going to attack Lublin, and in order to completely annihilate our troops, he deliberately laid such a trap." ”

If Rokossovsky had no memory of later generations, Kochetov's statement would also have aroused his vigilance, wondering if the contents of the "KOBO-41" top-secret plan that he opened before the troops left Zhytomyr were known to the Germans in advance, and they must know that there was indeed a content about the capture of Lublin, so they arranged such a trap and waited for the large forces of the Soviet army to jump in. But at this time, he shook his head and denied the other party's statement: "No, Comrade Ensign, there is absolutely no possibility that the documents we locked in the safe can be obtained by the Germans. Besides, they used 200 tanks and a large number of weapons and ammunition as bait at one time, which is too expensive. ”

Hearing Rokossovsky say this, Kochetov just listened quietly and did not speak.

If Rokossovsky had not made Kochetov understand the importance of reconnaissance, he would not have told him about these things that only commanders at or above the division level could discuss, and seeing that he had been silent, he continued: "Second lieutenant, I will send you ten soldiers to the west on motorcycles to Płavi to reconnoiter and find out about the situation of the German troops there." ”

"Comrade General, I don't know how long you gave us reconnaissance time?" Kochetov waited for Rokossovsky to finish speaking, and then asked respectfully.

"It's best to come back before dawn." When Rokossovsky said this, he pointed to the German uniform on Kochetov's body, "Don't take off this skin, at least you can meet the Germans on the road, and you can still get through the pass." ”

"Yes, I promise to get the job done." Kochetov replied loudly.

After Kochetov left, Rokossovsky did not remain at the command headquarters, but took two guards with him to inspect the defensive positions of General Schertyuk.

When Rokossovsky found Scherstyuk and came to the defensive area under construction, he found that Novikov and his actions were quite neat, and many sections were already equipped with French tanks. For those tanks behind the trenches, the machine gunners stayed in the turrets and stuck their muzzles out of the firing holes; Some tanks are located across the trenches, and the machine gunner places the machine gun fire point below the tank.

Scherstyuk also pointed to the machine-gun positions located under the tanks, and said to Rokossovsky with a smile: "Comrade General, you see, these machine-gun positions are much stronger than the earth-wood fire points, and as long as they are not directly hit by the enemy's heavy artillery, there is no way to destroy them." ”

Rokossovsky saw the French tanks lying across the trenches, nodded approvingly, and said: "Although our fortifications are very rudimentary, with these tanks, I believe that it will be difficult for the enemy to break through our line without the cooperation of heavy artillery." ”

"Don't worry, Comrade General." Scherstyuk assured Rokossovsky: "Although my troops are not strong, they have replenished so many weapons and ammunition that there is no problem in holding back the German attack." ”

While the two were talking, one of Schertyuk's officers ran over, came to the two of them, and reported to Rokossovsky out of breath: "Comrade General, the fighters in your command have just called and said that Second Lieutenant Kochetov has returned and has important information to report to you, so please return to the command headquarters immediately." ”

Rokossovsky knew in his heart that there must be something important about Kochetov, otherwise he would not be in a hurry to return to the command, so after saying goodbye to Scherstyuk, he got into a gas car parked near the trench and hurried to the temporary headquarters.

As soon as Rokossovsky walked into the headquarters, the people who had been sitting on chairs or tables in the room all stood up in unison, stood in an upright position, and saluted Rokossovsky.

Rokossovsky caught a glimpse of Kochetov standing not far away, then looked at him and asked: "Ensign, you went out to reconnoitre, did you gain anything?" ”

"Report to Comrade General." Kochetov replied: "We were on the way to Pwavi, and we caught a mysterious person, and I thought she was important, so I brought her. With that, he grabbed the arm of a person next to him and dragged her in front of Rokossovsky, "Comrade General, it's her!" ”

Rokossovsky saw that the person who was caught by Kochetov was actually a young girl. At the moment the tall, thin girl with short hair was struggling desperately, cursing loudly in German or Polish, or whatever, or something, a language that Rokossovsky did not understand.