Red Moscow

Sokov's "prophecy" was verified a few days later. Rokossovsky called him personally and said with emotion: "Misha, your analysis is correct. The Voronezh Front Army has three armies The troops defeated the German Lanz battle group and recovered the Ukrainian industrial city of Kharkov."

"Comrade Commander of the Front Army, this is really exciting news." Sokov said cautiously after rearranging the vocabulary in his mind: "But the Germans may launch a crazy counterattack next."

"Misha, you can rest assured about this." Rokossovsky said with a smile: "I have spoken with General Golikov on the phone and conveyed your advice to him. He has already prepared all countermeasures. , even if the Germans launch a crazy counterattack, he can deal with it calmly."

"Actually, I'm not worried about General Golikov, but General Vatutin on the other side." Sokov knew very well that Manstein didn't care about the Soviet occupation of Kharkov at all. , his attention was focused on the south, and he was ready to concentrate on dealing with Vatutin's Southwest Front Army. "I think they will be the first target of the Germans."

"I don't think so." Rokossovsky was skeptical about Sokov's "analysis": "As far as I know, the German defense line is under the onslaught of our two front armies. It has long been fragmented. Moreover, General Vatutin's troops have also approached Manstein's headquarters, Zaporozhye, an important town located at the bend of the Dnieper River. As long as the friendly forces can take this city, the enemy will not be able to Without abandoning the existing defensive areas, withdraw to the other side of the Dnieper River."

He paused for a moment, then continued: "I think the next point of defense should be in the direction of Kharkov. After all, the liberation of Kharkov will be of great help to the recovery of our army's military production. The Germans certainly don't want to see this happen, so they will concentrate all their forces and launch a counterattack against Kharkov."

"Comrade Commander of the Front Army," Sokov was silent for a moment, feeling that he should report the problems faced by the Southwest Front Army to Rokossovsky: "While General Vatutin's Southwest Front Army penetrated deep into the enemy, The two wings have been exposed to the German army. Moreover, our troops are advancing too fast, and the logistics supply line has been damaged by the German army because of the roads and bridges along the way, so it cannot be used normally. Once the flanks and supply lines are attacked, they will Facing a catastrophe."

If it was any other commander, when they heard Sokov say this, they would definitely criticize him severely. After all, the Soviet army is on the offensive like a rainbow, but you are singing the opposite tune here, saying that the attacking troops are facing danger. This is simply a defeatist argument, and should be severely criticized.

Rokossovsky covered the microphone with one hand, and tapped the table lightly with the other, but his eyes stayed on the map on the opposite wall, thinking about Sokov's statement over and over again.

Sokov heard the sudden silence from the receiver, but there was no blind tone after hanging up. After waiting for two minutes, he tentatively asked, "Comrade Commander, are you still listening?"

"I'm still here." Sokov's voice woke Rokossovsky from his contemplation, and he said hastily: "Misha, I have just carefully considered what you said, and I think it is very possible. , I need to report this matter to the higher authorities immediately. Help me take care of Ada." After finishing speaking, he hung up the phone involuntarily.

After Rokossovsky finished talking with Sokov, he realized the seriousness of the problem and immediately contacted the Kremlin through the high-frequency telephone in the headquarters. Hearing Poskrebekinov's voice from the receiver, Rokossovsky asked politely: "Hello, Poskrebekinov! Is Comrade Stalin in the office?"

"Yes, he is in his office." Knowing that Rokossovsky called, there must be something important, and he quickly said into the microphone: "General Rokossovsky , please wait a moment, I will inform Comrade Stalin." He pressed the button of the intercom on the table, and when he heard a voice, he immediately said respectfully, "Comrade Stalin, Rokossovsky The call from the general is on the line."

"Come in." After Stalin finished speaking, he picked up the phone on the table: "I am Stalin."

"Hello, Comrade Stalin." Rokossovsky said respectfully, "I have important information to report to you."

"Speak, Konstantin Konstantinovich." Stalin smiled when he heard Rokossovsky's voice, and affectionately called the other party's real name and father's name, and asked: "You Call me, is there anything important?"

"Comrade Stalin, I think you should have received the battle report from the front. The Voronezh Front Army under the command of General Golikov has taken over Kharkov from the Germans."

"That's right, I have already received such an exciting battle report." Stalin asked back: "Did you call me to congratulate me?"

Rokossovsky hesitated for a moment, and decided to be honest: "Comrade Stalin, I called you because I discovered that General Vatutin's Southwest Front Army is now in danger."

Stalin's smile froze on his face, and he took a few deep breaths before suppressing the anger in his heart: "Comrade Rokossovsky, don't you know that the troops of the Southwest Front Army have already approached Manstein. Yin's headquarters, there is a possibility of capturing this city at any time. We are already in sight of victory, but you want to say something frustrating. Why didn't I see that Vatutin's troops were in danger? Tell me , who instilled such absurd ideas into your mind?"

"Comrade Stalin, when I first heard about this possibility, I also thought it was very absurd." Rokossovsky decided not to tell Sokov, so as not to cause unnecessary trouble for him, and put all the responsibility On his own body: "After careful observation, I found that General Vatutin's troops penetrated hundreds of kilometers deep into the German defenses, and the two wings have long been exposed to the enemy. In addition, the supply line was destroyed by the enemy because of roads and bridges. Supplies that could reach the front in time were rare and slow to arrive. If the Germans discovered a weakness in our army and attacked from the flanks, cutting off their supply lines, Vatutin's troops were in danger of being encircled."

"Comrade Rokossovsky, I think you are oversensitive." Stalin did not pursue where this absurd remark came from, but retorted: "Don't you know that our army is Are they several times more than the Germans? Even if the current supply situation is not ideal, it is impossible for the Germans to encircle us.

I just talked to Vatutin on the phone, and he told me very firmly that the enemy has been hit hard by our army after the demise of the Paulus Group. As long as our army continues to advance, then they will never look back escaped across the Dnieper. As for the counterattack, that is simply impossible. "

"Okay, don't talk about it." Stalin heard that Rokossovsky seemed to want to justify something, so he interrupted him involuntarily: "The Paulus clique has just been eliminated, and there are still many problems to be solved. You can take care of your own, don't worry about Vatutin and Golikov's affairs."

After Rokossovsky put down the phone, he asked Malinin who was standing aside: "Chief of Staff, if you want to replenish a unit, how long will it take?"

"Comrade Commander," although Malinin did not understand the purpose of Rokossovsky's question, he still replied truthfully: "It depends on the size of the reinforcements. If it is at the army level, it will take two at the earliest A month and a half..."

Before Malinin could finish speaking, Rokossovsky raised his hand and interrupted him: "It's not at the army level, nor at the army level, but at the division level. How long will it take to replenish the troops?"

"Replenishment of troops at the division level is much simpler." Ma Lining thought for a moment in his mind, and replied: "If there are less than 2,000 soldiers, it can be completed in one day; if there are 2,000 to 5,000 soldiers, it will take two days; For more than a thousand people, it will take about three or four days."

"Then I'll give you three days." Rokossovsky waited for Malinin to finish speaking, and immediately went on to say, "Replenish the 41st Guards Division with no less than 6,000 troops."

"Supplementary troops to Sokov's 41st Guards Division?" Ma Linin asked with some surprise: "Their division now has nearly 7,000 troops. If they add another 6,000 troops, the total strength will reach 13,000." People, the number is equivalent to two divisions of others. I don't understand, there is no war now, why should we add so many troops to them?"

"Chief of Staff, I have an ominous premonition that what Misha said may become true." Rokossovsky pointed to the map and said to Malinin: "After the 41st Guards Division completes its repairs, Deploy them close to the Southwest Front Army, and once the situation on the battlefield becomes unfavorable to our army, they will be able to block the rushing enemies."

"Comrade Commander, do you also think that General Vatutin's troops will fail?"

"The situation on the battlefield is changing rapidly. No one can tell the outcome of the battle until the last moment. Misha's vision is very poisonous. He can see where we old guys have neglected. Put more trust in him. It's not a bad thing." Rokossovsky continued: "I put Misha's troops on the side close to the friendly army, just in case. Even if the situation is always in our army's favor, it doesn't matter, it's right to let them Rest there."