At 6 o'clock in the morning of the 11th, with the order of Rokossovsky, the roar of artillery broke the silence of the harsh winter morning, and the overwhelming shells fell on Skirmanovo, which was shrouded in thick fog. The Battle of Skirmaovo, hastily deployed by the command of the Western Front, officially began.

I stayed at the forward observation post of the army group, standing at the lookout hole with Rokossovsky. The fog made it difficult for us to see the battlefield, and neither binoculars nor sight glasses could help. The milky white mantle was only red by the flickering fire of the cannonballs...... The rumbling of artillery did not stop for a moment.

The sound of shell explosions moved into the distance. This meant that the artillery began to shoot extendedly. At this time I clearly heard the shouts of "Ula", as well as the creaking of tank tracks. The offensive has begun! I couldn't help but look at Rokossovsky beside me, he looked straight ahead with a blank face, without saying a word, perhaps he was thinking about the same question as I did - can we break through the enemy's fortifications?

I concentrated on listening to the movement on the battlefield, and the German artillery began to return fire, but the sound of the artillery was sparse, and the shelling appeared to be scattered, and it seemed that in the preparation of the artillery fire just now, the German artillery positions suffered considerable losses. Suddenly, I heard German machine-gun fire on all fronts. It seems that our artillery preparations have not yet destroyed all the machine-gun positions of the German troops. Suddenly, in the thick fog, there was a scattered sound of cannons. I secretly guessed that perhaps our artillery was advancing to the front in order to suppress the German firing point.

"Is there any smoke?" I was staring out at the fog when I suddenly felt someone touch my arm, and when I turned my head, it was Rokossovsky. He may be preoccupied now, and he wants to smoke a cigarette to relax his nervousness, so he casually asked the person next to him for a cigarette, but he didn't expect to find me by mistake.

"I'm sorry, Comrade Commander, I don't smoke."

"Oh, it's you, I didn't pay attention." He turned his head and shouted from behind: "Chief of Staff, do you have any cigarettes there?" Give me one. ”

"Yes, Comrade Commander." Malinin agreed, ran over, took a cigarette from his pocket and handed it to Rokossovsky. The commander took one out of the cigarette case, put it in his mouth, and the chief of staff next to him hurriedly lit a fire for him. He took two sharp puffs, then puffed out a few smoke rings violently, and asked, "Where is Director Romanchenko?" ”

"I went back to Moscow after yesterday's meeting." The chief of staff replied.

"What about the police detachment, how did you arrange it?"

"The civilian police detachment from Moscow consisted of 150 people, and I divided them into three groups with local militia. At one o'clock in the morning, I had already sent them to infiltrate the area where we were about to attack, to carry out reconnaissance and sabotage work. ”

"Well, do they have any news now?"

"Not for the time being, Comrade Commander."

Rokossovsky threw the cigarette butt on the ground, crushed it with his foot, and then picked up the telescope and looked into the fog. The sky was already late in winter, and coupled with this rare foggy weather, it was impossible to understand the situation on the battlefield in time, no wonder he was so upset.

"Comrade Commander." The voice of the head of the political department, Romanov, came from the door of the observation post, and without waiting for Rokossovsky to answer him, he continued to say to himself: "Comrade Vladimir Stavsky, a Pravda correspondent from Moscow, has arrived. He wants to interview you, can you see it? ”

"No, you can't!" Rokossovsky simply rejected the request, saying impatiently: "There is a war going on now, and we will talk about it when the battle is over." ”

"Yes!" Romanov answered, turned around and was about to walk out.

"Wait a minute, Comrade Romanov." The artillery commander, General Kazakov, who had been sitting at the table looking at the map, stopped the head of the political department and whispered to him: "Don't you see that Comrade Commander is upset? Find a place to settle Comrade Vladimir Stavsky first, and then talk about the interview when the battle is over. ”

Romanov complained bitterly: "I have just arranged a place to rest, but Comrade Vladimir Stavsky does not want to, he said that he has come to the front to cover the news, and he wants to go deep into the front line to stay with the fighters. For the sake of his safety, I arranged for him to interview Comrade Commander, but look at this...... How's that good? ”

General Kazakov walked back and forth a few times with his hands behind his back, then stopped and said to Romanov: "Comrade Chief of the Political Department, you should first arrange for him to be assigned to Major Yevremenko's 259th Anti-Tank Artillery Regiment." That regiment belonged to the reserve of the army group, and for the time being, it would not be put into battle, and staying there would ensure his safety. ”

"Yes!" Romanov saluted General Kazakov and happily turned away.

As the minutes ticked by, the sky gradually brightened, but the fog refused to disperse. The sound of gunfire outside had thinned out, but there was still no news. Waiting is painful, especially when I don't know what the end of this waiting is. I hope that news will come from the front line as soon as possible, and I will know whether the outcome of the battle will be won or lost. However, I don't know if the person who delivers the message will bring good news or bad news. Because this counterattack is not in my limited memory of the defense of Moscow. So I was looking forward to the news coming soon, but I was afraid that the news would come, and this emotional entanglement made me a little anxious.

At this moment, the telephone on the table rang, and the chief of staff stepped forward to pick up the microphone and asked: "This is the observation post of the group army, where are you?" As soon as the other party spoke, he excitedly shouted at Rokossovsky: "Comrade commander, this is Colonel Chernenov of the 18th Infantry Division, he wants to report to you......"

Before he could speak, Rokossovsky had already stepped forward and snatched the microphone, and said loudly inside: "I'm General Rokossovsky, tell me quickly, how is the situation on your side?" ”

The observation post was not large, and the sound coming from the microphone was loud enough for everyone in the room to hear. "Report to Comrade Commander, my 18th Infantry Division, under the cover of the Katukov Tank Brigade, has captured Skirmanovo, and most of the German troops have already been wiped out by us. At present, the troops are cooperating with the 50th Cavalry Division to clear out the remnants of the enemy in the occupied area. ……”

Colonel Chernenov's words relieved everyone in the observation post. Rokossovsky was even more excited, and he exclaimed: "Great job! I congratulate you, Comrade Colonel. Leave a small force in Skirmanovo to clear out the remnants of the enemy, and the rest of the troops must continue to assault the enemy's line of defense, and move quickly and fiercely! Do you understand? Although our tanks and artillery are now superior to the German army, we do not have air supremacy. As soon as the dense fog clears, Luftwaffe planes will be dispatched to bombard the attacking troops indiscriminately, which will inevitably cause heavy casualties to our troops. Therefore, you should seize the time to expand the results of the battle and try to recapture a few more settlements before the enemy planes destroy you. Do you understand? ”

"Totally understood, Comrade Commander." Colonel Chernenov, on the other end of the phone, looked confident.

Rokossovsky put down the phone, looked at his watch, then grabbed another phone on the table, shook the handle a few times, picked up the microphone, and said: "Pick me up Comrade Zhukov, the commander of the Front." ”

After the phone was answered, Rokossovsky reported to Zhukov that Skirmanovo had been recaptured. Zhukov on the other end of the phone quietly listened to the report, did not interrupt him, and said after a long while: "In addition to the reserves, I suggest that you immediately put the second echelon into battle, and move quickly!" With that, he hung up the phone.

Rokossovsky ordered Malinin, who was standing aside: "Immediately connect all the commanders of the second echelon to me." ”

Malinin picked up the phone and began to call the units to which the second echelon belonged in turn. Rokossovsky walked up to me and asked with a smile on his face: "Leda, what do you think our counterattack can achieve?" ”

"It can effectively slow down the advance of the German army towards Moscow, and buy valuable time for those troops that are gathering in the capital and preparing for a major counteroffensive."

Listening to my words, Rokossovsky's face showed a clear expression of disappointment, and he probably wanted to hear my praise for this battle, but he did not expect me to say such disappointing words. When he was about to say something, the chief of staff was already calling him: "Comrade commander, the phones of the second echelon have been connected, please give an order!" ”

Rokossovsky took the phone, took a deep breath, and then shouted into the microphone: "Comrades! Brethren! The time for a counteroffensive has come, for the Motherland! For Moscow! Advance! ”

The sound of horses' hooves, mixed with the sound of soldiers shouting "Ula", reached the observation post from far and near.

"Comrade commander, listen, it's the cavalry units of the second echelon, and they're coming up." Hearing the movement outside, Ma Lining's face flushed with excitement.