"I say, comrades, commanders! What are you up to? Rokossovsky looked at the group of commanders gathered around the table and couldn't help but ask.

His voice wasn't loud, but it was enough to get the attention of everyone at the table. Hearing his voice, the commanders turned their heads to look at us, and they all had displeased expressions on their faces, wanting to see who was so impolite and recklessly jumped out to disturb everyone.

When it became clear that the people standing next to me and Rokossovsky were surprised. The commanders of the 1073 and 1075 regiments, Chistyakov and Serebryakov, as well as several staff officers of the divisional headquarters, walked straight in front of me, glanced at Rokossovsky, and then saluted me, "Hello, comrade division commander! Welcome back! ”

But Leviagin and Commissar Yegorov walked up to Rokossovsky without squinting, raised his hand to salute him, and reported: "Comrade Commander, Major General Leviakin, Commissar Yegorov reports to you that you are welcome to the 8th Guards Division. ”

The reason for the fact that there was a situation where two people were reported separately was because among those present, only Leviagin and Egorov had seen Rokossovsky, so they saluted directly to the commander of the highest rank. The rest of the people had never seen what the commander looked like, so even if they saw that the commander I was holding was much higher in rank than me, they still reported to me, the division commander, in accordance with the regulations.

I looked at Rokossovsky, who was holding him, with some embarrassment, and explained to him: "None of them have seen you, that's why they didn't recognize you." Without waiting for him to speak, I hurriedly ordered these officers in front of me, "This is the commander of the 16th Army, General Rokossovsky, you should report to him!" ”

Hearing my order, Chistyakov and they hurriedly turned to the right, stood up again, raised their hands to salute Rokossovsky, and loudly reported: "Comrade commander,......"

Unexpectedly, Rokossovsky raised his hand to stop what they wanted to say later, but directly asked Leviagin in front of him: "Comrade General, what is the current situation of the 8th Guards Division?" ”

"The situation is not good, Comrade Commander." Leviakin replied with a serious expression, then turned to the side and made a gesture of invitation to Rokossovsky: "We are making the current situation map of friend and foe, please come and take a look." ”

I sat down with Rokossovsky, then I sat down too, and then beckoned everyone to sit down and study the enemy together. Although everyone verbally agreed, only Leviakin, political commissar Yegorov, and the chief of staff Malinin, who had just come in, sat down at the back of the table, and the rest of the commanders stood at the table with their bodies straight.

Rokossovsky looked at the map in front of him and was about to speak, when suddenly there was a rush of footsteps at the door. I turned my head to look, and at the same time I was surprised to find that the voices of the signal soldiers had disappeared, and the rest of the people had left except for two or three soldiers on duty next to the telegraph and telephone, and the room had become extremely quiet.

In was a group of commanders, judging by their ranks, except for one lieutenant, the rest were either lieutenant colonels or majors, all colonel-level officers. I saw a familiar face in the crowd, the battalion commander of the major who had just escorted us back to the division headquarters.

Leviagin stood up, coughed, cleared his throat and explained to us: "Commander, comrade division commander, before you come back, we notified all the battalion commanders of the division and asked them to come to the division headquarters for a meeting. No, it's all here. ”

After briefly explaining the situation, Leviagin said to the group of commanders who had just entered: "Now, you can report your position and rank to the commander and comrade division commander. ”

Hearing his command, the commanders came forward in turn to report to us, and the first to speak was the battalion commander, who said to us in a loud voice: "I am Major Dulov, commander of the first battalion of the 1077th Infantry Regiment. ”

"Commander of the 2nd Battalion of the 1077th Regiment, Major Panishev."

"Captain Lomov of the third battalion of the 1077th regiment."

"Deputy Commander of the 1073 Regiment and Commander of the 1st Battalion, Lieutenant Colonel Chernyugov."

"Major Schedurin, deputy commander of the 1075th regiment and commander of the third battalion."

"Major Kuleshov, commander of the second battalion of the 1075th regiment."

……

I looked at the commanders with a blank face, and one by one they stepped forward and reported to me and Rokossovsky their names, positions, ranks, and so on, speculating in my heart about Leviakin's intention to suddenly summon so many commanders. Many years later, when I checked the military history of the Eighth Guards Division, I was surprised to find that all the officers attending the meeting today actually included all the division commanders from the first to the ninth of the division. At the moment, they are still only holding the position of ordinary battalion and regimental commanders.

"Now for the meeting, please come to the table." It was Leviagin who spoke, and with his order, all the commanders who had just entered the door gathered around and stood around the table to listen to Leviakin's analysis and explanation of the current battle situation.

As I sat down just now, I looked at the map on the table, and the red squares representing my division's defense area were cut into three irregular areas by two blue arrows representing the German army. The number of the defending unit was indicated on each area, and in the middle of the two arrows was the 1073rd Regiment, which was almost surrounded by the Germans.

The topic of the meeting revolved around the situation of the 1073 regiment. Leviakin said straight to the point: "Commanders, comrades, everyone knows the situation, because the enemy's offensive is very fierce, our troops have not stopped them for the time being, and the defensive line we hastily established in the process of retreat has not only been broken through by them, but the entire defensive area has also been divided into three disconnected three operational areas, and the 1073rd Regiment has now fallen into the enemy's encirclement. Today, commanders at and above the battalion level have been summoned to the division headquarters for a meeting to discuss and study how to extricate themselves from the current unfavorable situation. ”

The commander of the 1073rd Regiment, Colonel Chistyakov, who spoke first, said worriedly: "I think we should withdraw our regiment from the above-mentioned areas, as soon as the Germans complete the encirclement, we will face the fate of total annihilation." ”

"Comrade Regiment Commander is right, we should organize a breakthrough immediately," echoed the deputy regimental commander, Lieutenant Colonel Chernyugov, who pointed to the map and looked up to the surrounding commanders, "I think we should withdraw our troops here, and after merging the 1075th and 1077th regiments, we should establish a new defense in the existing area." ”

The words of the two men played a role in throwing bricks and stones, and the rest of the commanders also spoke one after another, and everyone's opinions were surprisingly unanimous, and they all suggested that the 1073rd Regiment should be withdrawn from the existing area immediately, and the 1075th and 1077th Regiments should be combined to establish a new defensive line.

After everyone finished talking about their opinions, the commissar Yegorov spoke, and instead of directly expressing his opinion, he turned his gaze to Rokossovsky: "Comrade commander, what is your opinion?" ”

Rokossovsky stared at the map in front of him and asked without raising his head: "How many troops are there in the 1073 regiment?" ”

Hearing this, I looked up at Colonel Chistyakov, who was standing at the table, and repeated Rokossovsky's question: "Comrade Colonel, how many people are still in your regiment?" ”

The colonel bowed his head and replied with some embarrassment: "The whole regiment has gone through a brutal battle, and the number of troops has been reduced by two-thirds, and there are still more than 1,500 people, including more than 300 seriously wounded. ”

I turned my gaze to Serebryakov again and asked: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, how many troops do you have in the 1075th Regiment?" ”

"It's about the same as the 1073 regiment, more than a thousand people, including hundreds of wounded."

"The situation is the same with our regiment, which, with the wounded, does not exceed 1,300 people." My eyes had just turned to Leviagin, and before I could speak, he had already answered the question I wanted to ask.

"Comrade Leda," Rokossovsky asked in a serious tone, "I would like to hear what you have planned?" ”

I organized the vocabulary in my head for a moment before I spoke: "Comrade commander, our division has suffered heavy losses in the continuous fighting, and the number of troops has been reduced by more than two-thirds. With this amount of troops, it is very difficult to defend such a large area. If, as you have just said, we can temporarily withdraw our forces and combine the forces of the three regiments for joint defense, this would be a relatively safe approach. But ......"

"But what?" When Rokossovsky heard me say retreat, his brows furrowed, and when he heard that I didn't seem to have finished speaking, he hurriedly asked: "What good ideas do you have?" ”

"If the 1073rd Regiment retreats and joins the 1075th and 1077th Regiments, on the surface our army's defense will be strengthened, but the entire defense line will be forced to retreat." I stood up and pointed to the defense area of the 1073rd Regiment on the map, "If the Germans occupy this place, they will assemble here and use this as a forward base." Then they can launch a continuous offensive against our army, do you think that with our current forces, we can stop them from attacking round after round? Under their onslaught, we will have to retreat again, so that it will not be long before they approach the city of Moscow. After hearing my words, there was a gasp around me, and it seemed that my analysis had made everyone see the adverse consequences of the retreat. I continued: "In view of the current situation, it is my intention for the 1073rd Regiment to continue to hold its original positions, pinning down the German troops, so that they do not dare to brazenly penetrate into the rear of our army." ”

"But where should we replenish the troops? You know, I don't have any reserves at the moment! "Rokossovsky was probably afraid that I would ask him for reserves, so he preemptively made a statement.

I know that he is right, and that the headquarters of the group army has completely cut off communication with other units on the way back. Not to mention the reserves, the troops that can be directly commanded now are estimated to be only me, the Eighth Guards Division,

"Comrade Commander," Malinin said softly beside him, "can I make a suggestion?" ”

"My comrade chief of staff, if you have anything to say, just say it. Time is running out now, so don't ramble. ”

"I think there are two things to be done at the moment: one is to immediately get in touch with the front command and ask for instructions on the next mission and request that more reserves be sent to us; The second is to send people to contain the troops who have retreated from Klin and Sun Hill Castle, and integrate them into the battle sequence of the Eighth Guards Division. What do you think? ”

"Great!" Rokossovsky excitedly patted Malinin on the shoulder and said loudly: "My comrade chief of staff, your idea is really good. What are you waiting for, go and contact the front army headquarters. ”

"Yes!" Malinin agreed, and hurried to the telegraph to send the telegram.

The topic of discussion had already reached a conclusion, and I looked around and saw the commanders present, because they had just heard the conversation between the commander and the chief of staff, and everyone invariably breathed a sigh of relief, and the original tight brows were relaxed. Especially during the period of my absence, Leviakin, who had been acting as the division commander, even had a rare smile on his face.

"Comrades commanders," I cleared my throat and gave them my first order after returning to the division headquarters: "The task is clear, that is, to continue to stay in the original position and hold on, and not to retreat a single step!" As long as there is one person left, the enemy must not be allowed to move forward. Do you understand? ”

"Got it!" The commanders who attended the meeting neatly agreed.

I added: "The gap between the weapons and equipment of the enemy and us cannot be changed in the short term, so after you go back, you must immediately organize the soldiers to carry out civil engineering work, dig more bomb craters and air-raid shelters, and be prepared for big and vicious battles." Now that I'm done, go back to your respective teams! ”

"Yes!" The commanders said yes again, saluted us, and left.

I sat down again and watched Rokossovsky and Commissar Egorov figure out where to set up shelters for the troops who had retreated from the city and how to reorganize them.

"Comrade commander, a call back from the front army has arrived." Malinin stood next to us with a telegram and reported.

"What did the Front say there?" Rokossovsky still had a smile on his face when he asked this.

"The telegram was personally replied by the new Chief of Staff of the Front, Sokolovsky, who conveyed to us the order of the commander of the Front, Comrade Zhukov: order the 16th Army to immediately integrate the forces under its jurisdiction and launch a counteroffensive on the city of Cumbre Sol on November 27, that is, tomorrow!"

"What? Tomorrow's counterattack on Cumbre del Sol?! This abrupt order froze everyone in the room.