Red Moscow

"Comrade Commander," the chief of staff covered the microphone with his hands, and reported to Cherniakhovsky emotionally: "General Rokossovsky is now not only the commander of the Belarusian Front, but also the commander of the headquarters stationed in the headquarters. A representative of the First Ukrainian Front. Not long ago, he took over the command of the troops as acting commander."

For Cherniakhovsky, the preceding words are all nonsense, and only the last sentence is the key. In the past, Zhukov and Vasilevsky were also representatives of the headquarters, but most of their guiding opinions were directly ignored by Vatutin. The two saw that each other was the favorite general of the Supreme Commander himself, and they often chose tolerate.

Knowing that Rokossovsky had taken over the command of the front army, he couldn't help being overjoyed, and quickly took the microphone in the hands of the chief of staff, and whispered in his ear: "Hello, General Rokossovsky, I'm Cherniakhovsky."

"Hello, General Cherniakhovsky." After greeting the other party, Rokossovsky asked straight to the point: "I heard that you just went to the front to inspect the battle situation. I don't know how the current situation is. ?”

"Comrade Acting Commander," Cherniakhovsky said to Rokossovsky, "the enemy standing in the fortified city of Koros is the 59th Infantry Corps of the German Army. Facing the onslaught of our troops, this army Two divisions have been withdrawn from the city, leaving only the 291st Infantry Division still resisting."

"Oh, the enemy has already withdrawn the two divisions from the city?" Rokossovsky couldn't help being taken aback when he heard the news, and then asked, "Where are the two divisions that have withdrawn from the city now?"

Cherniakhovsky quickly replied: "The two divisions that withdrew from the city did not choose to retreat westward to join other German troops, but moved to the north and south of the city respectively. It seems that they It is intended to encircle us after our army occupies the city."

Hearing what Cherniakhovsky said, Rokossovsky laughed: "General Cherniakhovsky, it seems that the Germans have quite a big appetite. Ross will be the bait to eat you."

"Comrade Acting Commander, the enemy's strength is indeed smaller than ours. When they encircle the city, they also face the danger of being outflanked by our troops outside the city." Cherniakhovsky said this After the words, his expression suddenly became serious: "I heard that the 38th Army in the center has been driven out of Zhytomyr by the Germans. The 3rd Guards Tank Army on the left is also facing the threat of being cut off by the Germans. The danger in the back road..."

"General Cherniakhovsky," although what Cherniakhovsky said was true, Rokossovsky interrupted him before he finished speaking: "You Your task is to ensure that the attack on the right wing goes smoothly, and you don’t have to worry about operations in other directions.”

"Comrade Acting Commander, my current strength is limited." Cherniakhovsky said with a solemn expression: "Even if Korosten is captured, I'm afraid I will be unable to continue to expand the results of the war."

"You can rest assured about this." Rokossovsky said: "I have ordered General Pukhov's 13th Army to move towards you. After you join forces, you will be in charge of commanding the two armies." .”

Knowing that Rokossovsky let him command two armies, Cherniakhovsky couldn't help feeling ecstatic. Out of gratitude, he asked respectfully: "Comrade acting commander, I don't know if our army is occupying the After Korosten, what is the next combat mission?"

"After you occupy Korosten," Rokossovsky knew that Chernyakhovsky's chief of staff might not have conveyed to him what he just said, so he took the initiative to say: "In the consolidation At the same time as the defense line, the 13th Army sent some troops to move to Chernobyl and Pripyat in the north, and echoed with the troops of the Belarusian Front in the north, forcing the enemy to divide its forces for defense."

"Understood, Comrade Acting Commander." Cherniakhovsky said hastily: "After the 13th Army arrives, we will definitely take down Korosten in the shortest possible time and consolidate the strength of the area. defense."

"Very good." Rokossovsky arrived very satisfied with Cherniakhovsky's statement. Before putting down the phone, he finally asked: "General Cherniakhovsky, is there anything else you want?"

"Comrade Acting Commander," Cherniakhovsky thought for a while, and finally made a request to Rokossovsky: "I wonder if you can provide us with air support so that we can capture the City."

"As long as the weather conditions permit, I will definitely send out the air force." After Rokossovsky finished speaking, he hung up the phone without waiting for Cherniakhovsky to speak again, and then turned to Bo Golyubov said: "Comrade Chief of Staff, please record my order. If tomorrow's weather conditions permit, the Air Force will provide the necessary air support for the 60th Army to capture Korosten."

"Okay, Comrade Acting Commander." Bogolyubov replied: "I will call the Air Force Commander later and ask him to prepare for the attack."

After saying this, Bogolyubov glanced at Vatutin, who was expressionless next to him, and continued: "I just received a telegram from the 3rd Guards Tank Army, saying that in the west of Brusilov In front of the anti-tank positions in the south, a certain number of German tanks were successfully destroyed, and Colonel Schönberg, commander of the 1st Tank Regiment of the 1st Armored Regiment of the Banner Guard Division, was killed."

Knowing that the 3rd Guards Tank Army had killed a German armored regiment commander during the battle, Rokossovsky felt that this was a good opportunity to boost morale, so he ordered Bogolyubov: "Comrade Chief of Staff, Immediately send a commendation telegram to General Rybalko, commander of the 3rd Guards Tank Army, in recognition of their achievements."

"Comrade Acting Commander, based on current indications, the battle on the center and left will be concentrated in the Brusilov area." Bogolyubov asked Rokossovsky cautiously: "We need to send reinforcements. Are they?"

"It's not necessary." Regarding Bogolyubov's proposal, Rokossovsky rejected it without hesitation: "Now our center and left wing, as well as the 38th Army and the 3rd Guards Tank Army, we Believe in their ability to stop the enemy's attack."

Bogolyubov wanted to tell Rokossovsky that Katukov's 1st Tank Army had reached Kiev, whether to send them to reinforce the center or the left flank, but hearing Rokossovsky say, He sensibly gave up this idea and asked tentatively: "Comrade Acting Commander, General Katukov, commander of the 1st Tank Army, has arrived in Kiev. Do you see him?"

"Oh, Katukov arrived in Kiev?" Hearing that Katukov had arrived in Kiev, Rokossovsky had a surprised expression on his face, and he quickly said to Bogolyubov: "Comrade Chief of Staff, you immediately Tell him to come to me, I want to have a good chat with him."

Half an hour later, the travel-worn Katukov arrived at the headquarters.

Seeing Katukov enter the door, Rokossovsky immediately greeted him with a smile, and he stretched out his hand and called Katukov by name in a friendly tone: "Hello, Mikhail !"

But Katukov saw Rokossovsky here, with a look of astonishment on his face. He stopped quickly, raised his hand to his forehead, and said respectfully: "Hello, Comrade Commander, I'm glad to see you again!"

Rokossovsky took two steps forward, pulled Katukov's right hand down, shook it vigorously twice, turned his head and explained to Bogolyubov beside him: "When the war broke out, I was the first The commander of the 9th Mechanized Corps. And Comrade Katukov was the commander of the 20th Tank Division at that time, so he was my old subordinate.”

Hearing that Rokossovsky introduced himself to others, Katukov said with some embarrassment: "Comrade Commander, when the war broke out, I just had an operation for kidney disease, so I left the army temporarily. It is my greatest regret to stand shoulder to shoulder with you against the Germans."

"Since the end of the Moscow Defense War, we haven't seen each other for almost two years, right?"

"Yes, one year and ten months." Katukov asked Rokossovsky curiously: "Comrade commander, why are you here?" He turned to Vatutin, who was drinking tea in the corner, and said to himself, why didn't Vatutin react at all when he saw him coming in? No matter how Rokossovsky looked at it, he looked like the master of this headquarters.

"Mikhail, you probably don't know it yet. I am the representative of the First Army sent by the headquarters to the Ukrainian Front." Rokossovsky smiled and said to Katukov: "Not long ago, I just took over In other words, from now on, your troops are also under my command. Do you understand?"

"Understood." After Katukov answered loudly, he asked again: "Who is acting for you on the side of the Belarusian Front?"

"When I'm away, Chief of Staff Malinin will be in charge of the daily work, and he will call me when he can't handle anything." Rokossovsky explained: "That is to say, from now on, I was responsible for commanding both the Belarusian Front and the 1st Ukrainian Front."

Hearing what Rokossovsky said, Katukov was not surprised at all. As Rokossovsky's old subordinate, he naturally knew how good his superior's command ability was. He even secretly prayed in his heart that it would be better for Rokossovsky to serve as acting commander for a longer period of time.

"Comrade Commander," Katukov said, "I heard that Zhitomir has fallen, and the Germans are advancing in the direction of Kiev along the Kiev-Zhytomir highway. Are you planning to send us to support Allies in retreat?"

As soon as Katukov finished speaking, Rokossovsky was seen shaking his head. I just heard the other party say: "I don't think it's necessary. The next battle should start in the Brusilov area, and we have the 38th Army and the 3rd Guards Tank Army here. If you are sent there again, The troops will not be fully deployed at all, but will be congested together, and there will be a danger of being encircled by the German army. Therefore, I decided to let your army group stay in Kiev for the time being, and then launch a fatal attack on the German army when the time is right."

"Then when can we launch a counterattack?"

"Don't worry, Mikhail." Rokossovsky said to Katukov with a smile: "Let our troops hold the enemy in the Brusilov area and consume part of their vitality. Then, Then in the defense of Kiev, further weaken the enemy's strength, and then we can launch a counterattack."

Katukov knew that in the Battle of Kiev two years ago, although the Soviet army had an advantage in numbers, due to problems in command, it was severely damaged by the German army. Not only was the command system destroyed, hundreds of thousands of people were killed and injured, and Hundreds of thousands of soldiers were captured. Thinking of this, he couldn't help but asked worriedly: "Comrade Commander, can our friendly troops stop the enemy?"

"Even if they can't stop them, they can slow down the advance of the German army to Kiev, thereby strengthening our defense and buying precious time." Rokossovsky said to Katukov: "How did your tanks come here? , by train or by road?"

"Comrade Commander," Katukov said with a wry smile upon hearing Rokossovsky's question, "Kiev has just been liberated, and the railway traffic to here has not yet resumed. Our tanks are all along the road. drove in."

As the former commander of the mechanized army, Rokossovsky naturally knew that the tank would need to be repaired after a certain mileage, so he said to Katukov: "Mikhail, I will not arrange for you to fight for the time being." , You should seize the time to maintain the tanks, and try to ensure that all the tanks are in good condition when the counteroffensive begins, and they can launch assaults on the enemy's defense zone at any time."

"I will arrange manpower as soon as possible to maintain the tank." After Katukov finished speaking, he raised his own difficulties to Rokossovsky: "Comrade Commander, we rushed all the way here, and the fuel consumption It is very large. The vehicles for transporting fuel are still far behind. I wonder if you can provide us with the necessary supplies. Otherwise, if there is no fuel, even if there are combat missions, the number of tanks I can put into battle will not be too much many."

"Comrade Chief of Staff," Rokossovsky turned to Bogolyubov when he heard this, "can you solve this problem with General Katukov?"

"Comrade Acting Commander," Bogolyubov replied: "Because of the speed with which we took Kiev, the Germans were driven from the city before they could destroy some important installations..."

"Comrade Chief of Staff, what I'm asking is not whether the facilities in the city have been destroyed by the Germans." Rokossovsky interrupted Bogolyubov before he finished speaking: "I'm asking if you can Refuel General Katukov's troops?"

"No problem." Bogolyubov realized that Rokossovsky wanted to hear a concise and accurate answer, and quickly replied: "The fuel warehouse in the city is still intact so far, Katukov The general's troops will be there, getting the fuel they want."

"Mikhail, it seems that you have good luck." Rokossovsky turned to Katukov and said, "When you return to the army, immediately arrange for people to go to the warehouse to collect the fuel you need. "