Red Moscow

Christopher's reconnaissance team sent back to Sokov their reconnaissance situation five hours after departure, saying that a large number of German troops were found in the forest area near Korenievo.

Potukin had a shocked expression on his face when he saw the telegram. He looked at Sokov and said, "Mr. If you really follow the instructions of your superiors and launch an attack in the direction of Bryansk, you will get into the enemy's trap, and you will be in danger of being encircled or even wiped out."

Sokov took the telegram and quickly read the content, but frowned: "Damn, what did this Christopher do? He only said that he found traces of the German army in the forest area. What kind of enemies are there?" The strength of the troops, what kind of technical equipment they have, why didn't they report it?"

"It may be that the sky is too dark, which has caused certain difficulties for their reconnaissance." After Botu King Kong said this, seeing Sokov's face sank, he quickly added: "Mr. Lieutenant Dove sent a telegram asking them to provide more detailed information immediately."

After sending the telegram, Potukin returned to Sokov and asked him for instructions: "Comrade commander, look, do you need to report this matter to your superiors immediately?"

"Wait a minute, Comrade Chief of Staff, wait a little longer." Sokov knew that this matter was of great importance. If he did not know the specific situation of the German army's strength and reported it rashly, it might affect the judgment of his superiors. So he said cautiously: "Wait for Christopher and the others to figure out the details of the German army before reporting."

After a long wait, Christopher's second report finally came at two o'clock in the morning. Potukin, who first saw the content of the telegram, showed a confused expression on his face: "Comrade Commander, the report from Christopher said that the German armored division was withdrawing from the forest area, and a large number of tanks were driving to the railway station to load up." Car, whereabouts unknown."

"This information is very important and needs to be reported to the headquarters immediately." Although Sokov didn't understand why the German army withdrew the troops ambushing in the forest at this time, he felt that the matter was serious and he had to report it to his superiors immediately. So he picked up the phone and asked the communications soldier to connect to the group army headquarters.

As soon as he heard someone speak, he hurriedly identified himself: "Hello, I am Major Sokov. I have an important situation and I need to report it to the commander."

The person who answered the phone was stunned for a moment, and then Ma Lining's voice came out: "So it's Misha, Comrade Commander was about to call you, so you called here first."

Then, Rokossovsky's voice came from the receiver: "Misha, I just got the reconnaissance report. The German army ambushed a large number of troops in the forest area. It seems that the plain code telegram we received said that It's all true."

Hearing what Rokossovsky said, Sokov couldn't help being taken aback, and said to himself: What's going on? Didn't the scouts sent by the army headquarters find that the enemy was withdrawing from the forest area? Thinking of this, he quickly said into the microphone: "Comrade Commander, I just received information from the scouts that the German troops are withdrawing from the forest, and their tanks are heading to the nearby train station one after another for boarding." Operation."

Sokov's words startled Rokossovsky, and he hurriedly asked cautiously: "What, Major Sokov, you said that the enemy is withdrawing from the forest. Is this news reliable?"

"Yes, Comrade Commander." Sokov believed in the reconnaissance results obtained by Christopher, so he said decisively: "The scouts I sent sent a telegram a few minutes ago, saying that the enemy is withdrawing from the forest area." out."

"I see. I will send someone to verify this information immediately." After Rokossovsky finished speaking, he hung up the phone without waiting for Sokov to speak again, and arranged for people to verify the news of the German army's retreat.

The reconnaissance team sent by the group army was in a state of retreat after completing the preliminary reconnaissance. After receiving an emergency telegram from Chief of Staff Ma Lining, they had to stop the retreat and return to the original reconnaissance location. Originally, individual scouts were a little slanderous about this order from their superiors. When they saw clearly the German troops who were evacuating the forest area in the distance, their complaints turned into gratitude. If they were not ordered by their superiors to conduct reconnaissance again, they would be severely punished for providing wrong reconnaissance information in the future.

After receiving the new information from the reconnaissance team, Rokossovsky called together several heads of the headquarters and said to them: "Commanders, according to our latest reconnaissance report, the Germans are withdrawing. Tell me about their troops ambushing in the Kolenevo forest area, what is going on here?"

"Damn it, the Germans actually retreated?" Lobachev stared at the map on the desktop, and said to himself: "Could it be that they also intercepted the plaintext telegram, knowing that their plan was exposed, so they had to withdraw?" force?"

"Since it is a clear telegram, we can receive it, and the Germans can also receive it." Maximenko waited for Lobachev to finish speaking, and immediately continued: "I think their retreat may be related to the telegram. Not big."

Maximenko's inference immediately attracted the attention of others. Rokossovsky looked at him and asked: "Comrade Director of the Communication Corps, tell me your reason why their retreat has little to do with telegrams. ?”

"Does it need to be said?" Maximenko looked up at Rokossovsky and said, "We have received the telegram for more than ten hours. If the Germans felt that their plan was exposed, they would have retreated long ago. , will definitely not wait until dark to withdraw. I guess there must be some urgent incident, so that the Germans have to withdraw their troops here and transfer them in other directions."

After listening to Rokossovsky, he turned to look at Ma Linin and asked, "Chief of Staff, what do you think?"

Ma Linin looked at Maximenko with some surprise, then turned to Rokossovsky and said: "Comrade Commander, I agree with General Maximenko's analysis, the German army withdrawing at this time must have happened something important So much so that they had to withdraw the troops used to ambush our army. I think we should report this to General Zhukov as soon as possible, so as to find out if there is any change in the enemy's situation."

After Malinin called Zhukov, he listened for a while, then held the receiver and turned to Rokossovsky and said, "Commander, Comrade General wants to speak to you in person."

"Comrade Rokossovsky, the situation has changed, and our original combat plan needs to be revised accordingly." Zhukov immediately said without hesitation when he heard Rokossovsky's voice: "At present, your The troops on the left and right flanks are not progressing smoothly, and if you continue to go deeper, you are likely to fall into the encirclement of the German army. Therefore, I order you to stop all operations immediately, turn to defense on the spot, and find a way to hold on to the occupied areas."

"Comrade General," Zhukov's words confused Rokossovsky, and he asked wonderingly: "What happened, why did you suddenly stop the attack?"

"Our army is in a bit of trouble in the direction of Kharkov." Zhukov waited for Rokossovsky to finish asking, and said slowly: "The German army has assembled a large number of troops at the Barvinkovo ​​salient, and we are heading to the The 9th and 57th armies deployed in this area launched a strong attack, and our army is in danger of being encircled. The reason why I ordered you to switch to defense on the spot is because I am worried that the Supreme Command will draw troops from the Western Front to go to Timoshenko The Marshal's troops relieve the siege."

"Balvinkovo, Balvenkovo?" Rokossovsky repeated the name of the place several times, and muttered: "I seem to have heard someone mention this place name before."

"Comrade Commander," Malinin, who was standing by, reminded Rokossovsky in a low voice when he heard Rokossovsky talking about Barvenkovo, "Did Misha mention this place to you?"

"That's right, that's him." After Malinin's reminder, Rokossovsky immediately remembered what Sokov had said to himself, and nodded quickly: "He once told me that the German army After being attacked, it is possible to launch a counterattack against our army from the Barvinkovo ​​salient, but he guessed it unexpectedly."

"Rokossovsky, what are you and Malinin talking about?" Zhukov heard that Rokossovsky, who was on the phone with him, actually chatted with Malinin, and said a little displeased: "What the hell is going on?" Who would have guessed that the Germans might launch a counterattack from the Barvinkovo ​​salient?"

"Comrade General, who else? Of course it is the son of our old comrade-in-arms—Misha." Rokossovsky thought that talking about the Battle of Kharkov with Zhukov at this moment was not considered a leak, so he said truthfully: "During his stay in Moscow, he attended a meeting hosted by Marshal Timoshenko. After listening to the deployment of the campaign, he warned Comrade Marshal that after the campaign was launched, the enemy might attack from the Barvenkovo ​​salient. Our army launched a counterattack, so it is recommended to seize this area first. Unexpectedly, Comrade Marshal did not pay the necessary attention to his proposal."

Knowing that Sokov had already discovered that the German army might launch a counterattack from the Barvinkovo ​​salient, Zhukov couldn't help being surprised. He said to himself that even a small major could discover the problem. Why did the senior commanders who made the plan actually will turn a blind eye. However, he did not express his thoughts, but said lightly: "I understand. Your army group should follow my order and switch to defense on the spot. Before receiving my order, you are not allowed to act rashly."