At this moment, several people walked in through the door. Before I could look back and see who it was, I heard a familiar loud voice: "Comrade Commander, you are back!" ”

"Yes, Comrade Malinin." Rokossovsky replied with a smile: "I just returned from Moscow and brought back an old friend for you. ”

"Old friends?!" I heard Malinen ask in a puzzled voice, "Who is it?" ”

"Who else could it be, of course it's me." Without waiting for Rokossovsky to speak, he turned to Malinin, who was standing by the door, and smiled and said: "Hello, Comrade Chief of Staff, it's a pleasure to meet you here!" ”

When Ma Lining saw that the person talking to him was me, he immediately showed a surprised expression on his face, and hurriedly stretched out his hands to me, and said at the same time, "It turned out to be you, Lida." Welcome, welcome, welcome to our headquarters. ”

"My Comrade Chief of Staff, Lida is not just a guest here." Rokossovsky deliberately explained my intention to Malinin with a straight face: "She came to inspect our armament on the orders of the base camp. ”

Hearing Rokossovsky say this, Malinin's hand increased a little more, and he said more enthusiastically: "Since you are a representative of the base camp, you must welcome it even more." ”

After we finished greetings, Rokossovsky suddenly beckoned to a tall and thin general who was still standing by the door, and said: "General Proshlyakov, what are you still standing there doing, come to me, I really have something to discuss with you." ”

General Proshlyakov walked quickly in front of Rokossovsky, maintaining an upright posture, and respectfully asked: "Comrade commander, what instructions do you have?" ”

"General Proshlyakov," Rokossovsky pondered, "we will fortify the existing defensive zone in the next few months. Therefore, your Agency will start to work on the calculation of the construction of fortifications in the Kursk defensive zone. I hope that you will be able to compile the project schedule as soon as possible in these two days. Do you understand? ”

"Understood!" Proshlyakov, after agreeing in a deep voice, frowned and thought for a moment, and then said to Rokossovsky: "Comrade commander, the calculation of the construction of fortifications in the defensive zone, and the preparation of the schedule of works. It's a lot of work. It requires the amount of manpower, building materials, motor transport, and various machines for construction, taking into account the terrain, and I need you to send someone to assist me if I want to do it in two days. ”

"No problem, General Proshlyakov. I have already chosen the person to assist you in your work. When Rokossovsky said this, he turned his head and said to Terekin, who was sitting next to him: "Comrade Military Commissar, from tomorrow you will assist General Proshlyakov in this difficult task. Is there a problem? ”

"Nope. There are no problems, Comrade Commander. Terekin got up from his seat and replied in an affirmative tone: "Considering that the forces of the enemy for the assault must be very strong, it is necessary to construct the second and third defensive zones in addition to the fortifications of the main defensive zone, as well as the defensive zone in the rear of the army group and the front. ……”

Hearing this, Rokossovsky turned his head to look at Terekin next to him, and the two glanced at each other. They all laughed. Their laughter stunned Proshlyakov. Confused, he asked, "Commander, military commissar, am I not right?" ”

Terekin forced a smile and said: "No, Comrade Proshlyakov, you are quite right. We laugh not because you said something wrong, but because of what you said. It is exactly the same thing that Comrade Commander said on our way back. ”

After explaining to Proshlyakov, Terekin turned to Rokossovsky and said: "Comrade commander, such an energetic and motivated comrade as General Proshlyakov. It can be completely trusted. I believe that under his command, our construction project can be completed on time with quality and quantity. ”

As soon as Proshlyakov and Terekin finished speaking, he immediately mustered up the courage to say to Rokossovsky: "We will not only build fortifications in Kursk, but also set up minefields in many areas in front of the positions. These minefields were supposed to become an obstacle on the way of the enemy's direct attack on the Kursk line. However, Comrade Chief of Staff and I have just gone to inspect and found that the necessary number of mines and explosives could not be collected, either from the warehouses of the engineering command of the Front Army or from the places where supplies could be found. I ask you to apply to your superiors so that they can provide us with the necessary military supplies. ”

Unexpectedly, after listening to his words, Rokossovsky decisively shook his head and replied: "General Proshlyakov, you should be well aware. It is not only our Central Front that will be built where fortifications are to be built now. We have already given you all the resources that can be allocated to you. ”

"But, Comrade Commander." Hearing; Rokossovsky's reply, Proshlyakov stubbornly retorted: "Before you went to Moscow, you said in person that you would go to the base camp to ask for the supplies we need. We must know that in the next battle, we may face the German army on both sides at the same time, and if we do not have enough supplies, it will be difficult for us to complete the construction of the overall fortifications in the shortest possible time. Seeing Rokossovsky listening to his statement expressionlessly, Proshlyakov couldn't help but slow down his tone, "Even if you ask Moscow to allocate a small amount of supplies to us, even if you only give us mines, we can accept it without explosives." ”

In response to Proshlyakov's request, Rokossovsky shook his head again and said helplessly: "General Proshlyakov, I made this request when I went to the Kremlin to meet Comrade Stalin. Unfortunately, my request was denied. Because we are not the only one in the place where the war is fought, there are more important directions than us, so these supplies must be provided to them first. And we can only try to use the local resources. ”

Hearing Rokossovsky say this, Proshlyakov had nothing more to say, he shrugged his shoulders somewhat bewildered, and then stood there without saying a word.

"Comrade Commander, I would like to ask a question." Chernyakhovsky, who had never spoken, suddenly asked loudly: "Is there no more tank you promised to give us Army Group?" ”

Rokossovsky nodded with a wry smile. "Yes, Comrade Chernyakhovsky. I know that there is not a single tank in the tank brigade of your army, so I sincerely ask Comrade Stalin to give us a hundred or even eighty of the newly developed tanks. But. He unequivocally rejected my request again, saying that only six new tanks had been produced and that it would not be possible to assemble troops in large quantities in the short term. ”

What Rokossovsky said, I, as an insider, can only sigh in my heart. Although the secret base obtained the detailed design concepts, drawings and parameters of the T-72 tank provided by Floning, it was not an easy task to equip the troops in a short period of time.

First of all, the main research and production base of tanks - Kharkov, which is still under the control of the German army, and the production capacity of tank factories in the rest of the regions is very limited. Plus there was not enough special steel for the new tank. Getting the new tank on the market ahead of schedule was a huge set of insurmountable difficulties.

"So what are we going to do?" Although Chernyakhovsky is good at using tank corps to fight, he now has not a single tank in his hand, which can be described as a clever woman who has no rice to cook, and he is helpless in the face of the enemy's assault, so he can't help but bring a trace of anger when he speaks: "If there is no tank, after the battle starts, we can only use the tank men as ordinary infantry." This is not only a waste of troops, but also a crime. ”

For Chernyakhovsky's whining. Rokossovsky did not get angry, but, after a long sigh, comforted him and said: "Comrade Chernyakhovsky, don't worry, although we don't have tanks now, it doesn't mean that we will never be without tanks." Maybe in a month or so. The newly produced T-34 tanks were continuously replenished to the troops. ”

"What are we going to do in the period before the arrival of new tanks in the troops?" Despite Rokossovsky's promises, Chernyakhovsky persistently asked: "What if in a month we still don't get tanks to replenish us?" ”

Seeing Rokossovsky's embarrassed expression. I said decisively: "General Chernyakhovsky, don't worry, the chances of a German attack are very small until your tank brigade is replenished with tanks. What you have to do now is to urge the commanders and fighters at all levels below to hurry up and build strong and reliable fortifications in the existing defensive areas to resist the possible attack of the German army. ”

Chernyakhovsky looked at me and asked puzzledly: "General Oshanina, I would like to ask you, how do you judge that the German army will not attack our defense zone in the short term?" ”

"Intuition, I rely on my intuition." I didn't want to dwell on the question of how to judge that the Germans would not attack in the short term based on the enemy's intelligence, but said bluntly: "You may think it is ridiculous, but I tell you that a woman's intuition is very accurate. It was with this intuition that I commanded my troops to defeat the enemy many times. ”

Chernyakhovsky probably didn't expect me to say such a reason, but after a pause, he said without anger: "Okay, since you can command the troops to win the battle according to your intuition, then we still need scouts to reconnoiter the enemy's situation, just find a few female soldiers, let them judge the enemy's next move according to their own intuition." ”

"All right, Comrade Chernyakhovsky, please stop talking." Rokossovsky suddenly interrupted Chernyakhovsky and continued, coming out to relieve me: "I have known Lida for more than a year and almost two years, and I agree with her intuition. If she didn't have this intuition, I guess I would have been out of this world a long time ago. ”

Rokossovsky's sudden remark stunned everyone present, including me. All eyes of us were on him, waiting for him to continue. When he saw that all of us were waiting for his answer, he coughed lightly and said: "I heard Comrade Stalin himself say this matter. He said that during the defense of Moscow, once Leda went to see him and said that it would be dangerous to dream that I would be in such and such a place. Although Comrade Stalin was skeptical, he mobilized a force and rushed to the vicinity of the village to set up defenses. Unexpectedly, a few days later, as soon as my command and I withdrew to that village, we were besieged by the enemy, but fortunately, with the support of the troops deployed there in advance, we managed to escape from the German encirclement. ”

Speaking of this, he looked at Chernyakhovsky and said solemnly: "Comrade General, after hearing this, do you still suspect that Leda's intuition is unreliable? ”

After listening to Rokossovsky, Chernyakhovsky looked at me, then shook his head and said: "Comrade commander, since you say so, then I prefer to believe that it is true. Then he smiled at me again and said apologetically, "I'm sorry, Comrade Oshanina, I don't dare to doubt you, please forgive me for my recklessness." ”

As soon as Chernyakhovsky's words were finished, Malinin also interjected: "Comrade commander, there is something I almost forgot to tell you. This afternoon I received a telephone call saying that Marshal Zhukov was inspecting the defense area of the 70th Army today and would come to our front headquarters at noon tomorrow. You see, did you stay in the command and wait for him? ”

"Well, now that it's over, don't mention it again." After listening to Malinin's words, Rokossovsky came out again to play a round for us, and he said to Chernyakhovsky: "Leda was sent to us by the base camp to inspect it, and I wanted to take her to the troops below to see it myself. But tomorrow Comrade Marshal will come, and I will have to entrust you with this difficult task. I believe that it will be very helpful for you to take her to the infantry division and tank brigade below and give a speech to the commanders and fighters. ”

Since Rokossovsky has already spoken out, then Chernyakhovsky will definitely not object, he nodded and said: "Okay, tomorrow I will personally accompany General Oshanina to my troops, in addition to asking her to check our arming, I can also let her speak a few words to our soldiers, so that everyone can also get to know our female general who has made great achievements." (To be continued......)