Chapter 139

I quickly recovered from my surprise, took a deep breath, and tried to ask in a calm tone: "Comrade political commissar, do you know why the commander gave such an order?"

"I don't know!" At the other end of the phone, the commissar muttered in a complaining voice: "I only know that when the order is clear, I will immediately carry out the order instead of discussing the right and wrong of the order."

When I heard him say this, I sighed and said, "then you should follow the command of the commander, and lead the 1073 and 1075 regiments to withdraw to the Istra River first..."

"What about you and the officers and men of the 1077 regiment?" The commissar couldn't wait to interrupt me and asked.

"If the main force wants to move, someone must stay to cover it. I plan to lead the 1077 regiment with general leviagin and stay in the city for another two days to attract the main force of the enemy so that you can safely retreat to the assembly site. "

"But you are the head of a division. Your duty is to go back to the headquarters and command the troops, not to fight the enemy face to face like ordinary soldiers." He tried to persuade me: "besides, you are still injured. Staying in a place with fierce fighting and poor medical conditions is not conducive to your recovery."

"Thank you for your kindness." Although I would like to leave this dangerous city and go back to the headquarters of rear security, we are surrounded by German troops and it is not so easy to retreat. Instead of risking to break through at this time, it would be better to stay in the city and deal with the German army until the time is ripe to jump out of the siege. So I said to the commissar on the other side of the phone as if nothing had happened: "first, you take the division's main force outside the city to transfer. After I finish the task of containment, I will lead the troops to join you as soon as possible."

"But..." the commissar tried to persuade me, but I stopped him mercilessly: "carry out the order, comrade commissar!"

Hearing that my attitude was so firm, he had no choice but to agree.

Hang up the phone, I looked at leviagin standing in front of him with a confused face, and asked before he spoke, "Comrade General, can we talk directly to the headquarters of the group army?"

He said with a bitter face and shaking his head: "there was a high-frequency telephone that could contact the headquarters of the group army directly, but it was blown up in the process of yesterday's transfer. Now, unless the headquarters of the group army calls us first, we will not be able to contact them on our own initiative. "

I sat down on the bench beside the table, staring at the map spread out on the table, tapping the table with my fingers. Although I look at the map with my eyes, I can't see anything on it. I just wonder why rokosovsky suddenly gave the order to withdraw?

"Sir, comrade!" Leviagin, who was standing opposite me, put his hands on the edge of the table, leaned forward and asked me in a low voice, "why do you think the commander suddenly gave such a strange order?"

First, I shook my head. I just wanted to say I don't know, but I suddenly thought of a scene in the movie "Moscow defense": rokosovsky went to the Western army headquarters to find Zhukov and asked him to allow the troops to retreat to the Istra river area to organize a new defense. As a result, Zhukov turned down the request mercilessly. In desperation, he had to call marshal Shaposhnikov, the general staff officer of the Red Army, and put forward the request to withdraw the troops again. This time, he was very lucky. After consulting Stalin, the chief of general staff agreed to rokosovsky's withdrawal plan.

Since rokosovsky gave the order to withdraw at this time, according to the history I have, it was the supreme commander who agreed to withdraw the troops to a new area and reorganize the defense plan. Now that I understand the context of things, I can make targeted decisions.

I looked up at leviagin in front of me, spread my palm on the map, and said to him in a casual tone, "Comrade General, please point out the location of the Istra River to me!"

Leviagin looked down at the map, then pointed decisively to a place with his index finger. I followed the position of his finger and saw that the name spelled out the Istra river. Although I already knew the reason for rokosovsky's order to withdraw, I still pretended to point around the place with my finger, and then said thoughtfully, "Oh, I see. That's it!"

"What do you understand?" Levigin asked me mistily.

"I understand why the commander, general rokosovsky, ordered the troops to withdraw here." When I spoke, I deliberately pointed the place name with my fingers.

Leviagin asked me with great cooperation: "why?"

"The enemy forces quickly gathered in the direction of Kling, and the threat from the North increased. The fierce attack on the left wing of our group army has not stopped. All this made general rokosovsky have to consider taking new measures to improve the situation of our army and prevent the enemy from advancing. Today, the battle between the center of the whole army group and the left wing takes place 10-12 kilometers west of the Istra reservoir. If my estimation is correct, the commander will think that the reservoir itself, the Istra River and its adjacent areas are the best defense areas. After occupying this area, only a small number of troops can be used to organize a solid defense. In this way, the group army can put some troops in the second echelon, establish defense in depth, and put most of the troops in the klin direction. "

"Is it?" Although listening to my analysis, leviagin habitually asked a rhetorical question“ That's right. " I answered him very simply, in a confident tone. He frowned at the map and tried to digest what I had just said. Suddenly, the phone on the desk rang. He reached for the microphone and said aloud, "I'm general leviagin. Where are you?" The other side replied, but before I could understand what he was saying, he held the receiver and stood at attention, respectfully saying, "Hello, comrade commander." When I heard him call the commander, I immediately guessed that it was rokosovsky calling. I quickly raised my ears to listen to the conversation between them. Unexpectedly, leviagin handed over the microphone directly and said in a low voice, "Comrade commander, I want to talk to you in person." I took the microphone, put it in my ear and said hello to rokosovsky: "Hello, comrade commander."“ Have you received an order to withdraw? " He asked with concern“ I got it. "“ Do you know why I decided to withdraw? "“ I know“ "Oh," he said with great interest, "tell me your reason!" I looked at leviakin, who was listening to my conversation with rokosovsky, and repeated the analysis aloud“ Great After listening to my analysis, rokosovsky said excitedly: "it's amazing! I didn't expect that you could judge my intention so accurately. " After a pause, he asked with concern, "are you ready to withdraw?"“ I have ordered the political commissar to lead the 1073 and 1075 regiments to retreat first, while the 1077 regiment led by general leviagin and I will continue to stay in the city and deal with the German army as a follow-up cover mission. "“ No way "You should also obey orders, abandon the existing defensive areas and immediately organize troops to move to the Istra River," he said firmly“ Comrade commander, "instead of directly rejecting him, I changed the subject and said," I think this order of retreat you gave may be opposed by general Zhukov, commander of the front army. "“ Ha ha, "he said with a smile at the other end of the phone," you really know Comrade Zhukov very well. To tell you the truth, I first made this request to him, but he refused it without hesitation. Then I made the same request to the chief of the general staff. With his consent, I gave the order to the group army to withdraw. I worked with Shaposhnikov as early as in peacetime. I believe his reply was undoubtedly agreed by the supreme commander, or at least informed him. So I immediately drafted an order for the troops to transfer the main force to the Istra reservoir at night, and ordered individual troops to remain in their original positions and maintain contact with the German forces, so as to contain their forces and cover the whole retreat. "“ But... "I hesitated for a moment, but I finished what I wanted to say:" I think with the character of general Zhukov, even if this action is approved by the chief of general staff and the supreme commander, he may still oppose it. " When I heard this kind of worrisome thought, rokosovsky laughed on the phone and said, "dear comrade Lida, you think too much..." Before he finished, I suddenly heard someone talking next to him: "report to Comrade commander, I just received a telegram from general Zhukov, commander of the front army."“ Read Rokosovsky didn't cover the microphone, so he told his subordinates directly. Maybe he also wanted me to hear what Zhukov's telegram said“ I'm commanding the front army! No one else! Now I withdraw the order to transfer the troops to the Istra reservoir. I ordered you to stay where you are and not step back. General Zhukov. " The message was short, but daunting. After listening to the telegram, rokosovsky didn't speak for a long time. If I didn't hear his breathing, I even thought he hung up. After a long time, he sighed and said, "Zhukov is right. Behind us is Moscow. We have no way back. "