"Great! That's great! It's amazing!! Rokossovsky rushed over and excitedly slapped the communications officer on the back several times, causing him to cough violently. Rokossovsky realized that he was overjoyed, and quickly stopped the slapping action of his hand, and couldn't wait to ask: "What did Comrade Commissar Lobachev say?" ”

"Ahem, ahem, ahem, the commissar said that he had gathered a part of his troops and built fortifications on the east side of the city of Mount Del Sol, ready to defend against a new enemy offensive." The officer coughed as he read the contents of a small note spit out from the Hakata transmitter.

"Great, great!" Rokossovsky rubbed his hands excitedly and said again and again: "Quick, call back to the political commissar and ask him what troops he has in his hands now, and what is the total strength?" ”

The reply from the other party came quickly, and looking at the small note spit out by the machine, I hurriedly took a few steps forward, grabbed the small note, and read it aloud to Rokossovsky and everyone in the room: "...... The current strength of our division is as follows: the 17th Cavalry Division of Gaidukov, the 3rd and 53rd Cavalry Divisions of the 53rd Cavalry Corps under the command of Acting Commander General Priev, the 289th and 296th Anti-Tank Regiments and the 138th Cannon Regiment under the command of General Kazakov, the commander of the artillery of the army, the cadet regiment named after the Supreme Soviet, Lieutenant Colonel Mlagintsev, and several infantry regiments temporarily formed from the defeated units. With a total strength of more than 13,000 men, it has now spread out and occupied positions in the area east of Cumbre del Sol. ”

I was reading the telegram when the signal soldier over there shouted again: "Comrade commander, the commander of the front army headquarters wants to speak to you!" ”

"Keep reading the telegram," Rokossovsky commanded me, then limped over, grabbed the microphone and said loudly: "I'm Rokossovsky, please!" ”

"I am Sokolovsky, Chief of Staff of the Front. Comrade General! General Zhukov asked me to convey to you what he meant: after his efforts, the Supreme Commander agreed to send 1 Katyusha rocket artillery regiment, 2 anti-tank regiments, 4 anti-tank gun batteries and 3 tank battalions to supplement your army group. In addition, more than 2,000 fighters from Moscow can be added to the heavily attritioned units. ……”

"Great, with such a replenishment of troops, the chances of winning tomorrow's counteroffensive are much higher." Hearing such good news, not only Rokossovsky, but also the rest of the room became excited, chattering one after another.

"General Rokossovsky," Sokolovsky on the other side continued: "Comrade Commander, let me ask you if you have now made contact with the troops below?" ”

"Comrade Chief of Staff, please tell General Zhukov that I have just contacted Lobachev, the political commissar of the army group. He led an army of tens of thousands of men and had already spread out and occupied the starting position on the eastern side of the city of Cumbre del Sol. ”

Hearing Rokossovsky's triumphant report to the Front, I suddenly had a hint of foreboding in my heart, and I wanted to stop him from talking, but he spoke very quickly, and before I could react, he had already finished reporting. So I just opened my mouth and swallowed the words into my stomach again.

"This news is very important, I will report it to Comrade Commander immediately." Sokolovsky said dryly, and then there was no sound on the other side.

"Why don't you read it down? Leda, keep reading! "Rokossovsky saw that I was standing there without moving or reading the telegram, so he reminded me.

I looked at the note in front of me, shook my head, and said, "No, Comrade Political Commissar has sent so much content." ”

"Wouldn't it? He didn't talk about their next combat deployment? Rokossovsky stood in place and dictated to the communications officer: "Tell the commissar that the army group will launch a counteroffensive against the city of Cumbre del Sol at ten o'clock tomorrow morning, and ask him if there are any difficulties?" ”

Just as the communications officer converted Rokossovsky's meaning into radio waves and sent them out, there was another voice on the other side of the front: "General Rokossovsky? I'm Zhukov! ”

"Is there anything I can do for you? Comrade General. As long as you give me enough troops, I will attack Berlin tomorrow. Perhaps hearing that the reserves would be replenished tomorrow, Rokossovsky was in a particularly good mood, and even joked with Zhukov.

"I don't want Berlin," Zhukov said coldly, "can I do it if you take back the city of Cumbre del Sol from the hands of the fascist bandits?" ”

"As long as the reserves can arrive in time," Rokossovsky hesitated, but still gave the other party an affirmative answer: "Sun Hill City will definitely be recaptured." ”

"Now that the situation has changed, you have to be mentally prepared. When I was talking to Comrade Stalin just now, he said that we should abandon measures to ward off the enemy and only think about how to repel the enemy. So the original time for the offensive has been advanced," Speaking of this, Zhukov paused, I guess he was looking at his watch, and sure enough, he quickly continued: "A counteroffensive must be launched at eight o'clock tomorrow morning, this is the meaning of the Supreme Command, this order is beyond doubt, and it must be carried out to the letter." Do you understand? ”

Since Zhukov brought out the supreme commander-in-chief, Rokossovsky did not dare to refute, so he could only answer honestly: "Yes, I understand it completely!" The counteroffensive against Cumbre del Sol will begin at eight o'clock! ”

"Okay, I'm waiting for your good news. Break a leg! With that, Zhukov cut off contact.

Rokossovsky slowly lowered the microphone and sat weakly in his seat. After a long while, Malinin stepped forward and asked softly: "Comrade commander, what should we do?" ”

Rokossovsky, who came to his senses, wiped a handful on his face, then stood up and said loudly in a decisive tone: "Immediately send a telegram to the commissars and let them be ready for battle at half past seven tomorrow morning." At eight o'clock, launch a counterattack on the city of Sun Hill on time, and be sure to drive the enemy out of the city as quickly as possible. ”

At eight o'clock in the morning of November 27, with Rokossovsky's order, the rumbling of artillery was heard in the distance, and the counterattack on the city of Cumbre del Sol officially began.

In the command headquarters, apart from Rokossovsky, Malinin, me, Leviakin, and Egorov, there were only a few operational staff officers, communications personnel, and the like. Since the political commissars did not have walkie-talkies, all combat orders and feedback were carried out through telegraphs and telephones. What we can do is to wait for the battle report here, and then issue combat orders according to the specific situation.

At half past eight, the report of the first phase of the battle came back. Because the battle broke out very suddenly, the Germans were taken by surprise. General Pliyev led three cavalry divisions from the southwest and southeast directions to outflank the enemy entrenched in the city. He led his division in an offensive towards Sverchikovo, Selishevo and Martnovo, and after a fierce battle, the troops captured the three settlements and inflicted heavy losses on the German 240th Infantry Regiment.

Seeing such a result, Malinin immediately reported the information to the front army command. Rokossovsky said optimistically: "If the reserves given to us by the higher authorities can arrive within half an hour, we can completely recover the city of Sol before dark." ”

The wish is good, but the reality is cruel. Just half an hour later, the tide was reversed. Before our reinforcements and air force could enter the battle, enemy reinforcements arrived first. They first used aircraft to indiscriminately bombard our troops occupying the settlements, and then they sent out tank units to counterattack, and in one fell swoop they drove General Pliev's troops out of the above-mentioned areas.