Chapter 172

"I said, comrades commander! What are you up to? " Looking at the commanders around the table, rokosovsky couldn't help asking.

His voice was not loud, but it was enough to attract the attention of everyone at the table. Hearing his voice, the commanders turned their heads and looked at us one after another. Their faces were all unhappy. They wanted to see who was so impolite, so they jumped out to disturb us.

When it was clear that the people standing next to me and rokosovsky, everyone's face showed a look of surprise. The leaders of the 1073 and 1075 regiments, chisjakov and sherebriakov, as well as several staff officers of the division headquarters, went straight up to me, glanced at rokosovsky, and then stood at attention to salute me, "Hello, comrade division commander! Welcome back

However, leviakin and political commissar yegorov walked up to rokosovsky without squinting, raised their hands to salute him, and reported: "Comrade commander, major general leviakin and political commissar yegorov report to you, welcome to the eighth division of Jinwei."

The reason why they reported to the two men was that only leviakin and yegorov had seen rokosovsky, so they saluted the commander with the highest rank. And the rest of the people have never seen what the commander looks like, so even if they see that the commander I am supporting is much higher than me, they still report to my division commander in accordance with the regulations.

I looked awkwardly at rokosovsky and explained to him, "they haven't seen you, so they didn't recognize you." Without waiting for him to speak, I quickly told the officers in front of me, "this is general rokosovsky, commander of the 16th group army. Please report to him."

At my command, chisgakov turned right and stood at attention again. They raised their hands and saluted rokosovsky. They loudly reported, "Comrade commander,...."

Unexpectedly, rokosovsky raised his hand to stop what they wanted to say behind them. Instead, he directly asked leviakin in front of him, "Comrade General, what's the current situation of the eighth guards division?"

"The situation is very bad, comrade commander." Leviagin replied solemnly, and then, leaning to one side, he made a gesture to rokosovsky: "we are making the current situation map of our enemy. Please come and have a look."

First I helped rokosovsky sit down, then I sat down, and then I asked everyone to sit down and study the enemy situation together. Although everyone agreed verbally, only leviagin, political commissar yegorov and chief of staff malining, who had just come in, sat down at the end. The rest of the commanders stood upright at the table.

Rokosovsky looked at the map in front of him. He was about to speak when there was a sudden sound of footsteps at the door. I turned to look at it, and was surprised to find that the voice of the signalmen had just disappeared. Except for two or three soldiers on duty, the rest of the people by the telegraph and telephone had left, and the room became very quiet.

A group of commanders came in. Judging from their ranks, except for a captain, the rest were either lieutenant or major, all school level officers. I saw a familiar face from the crowd, that is, the commander of the major who had just escorted us back to the division headquarters.

Leviagin stood up, coughed, cleared his throat and explained to us, "commander, comrade division commander, before you come back, we informed all battalion commanders of the division to come to the division headquarters for a meeting. No, it's all here. "

After explaining the situation briefly, leviagin said to the group of commanders who just came in, "now, you can report your position and rank to the commander and division commander."

At his command, the commanders reported to us one by one. The first speaker was the battalion commander. He said to us in a loud voice, "I'm major dolov, the first battalion commander of the 1077th infantry regiment."

"Major panishev, commander of the second battalion of the 1077 regiment."

"Captain lomov of the Third Battalion of the 1077 regiment."

"Lt. Col. chernukov, deputy head of 1073 regiment and commander of 1st battalion."

"Major Xie Dulin, deputy head of the 1075 regiment and commander of the Third Battalion."

"Major Kuleshov, commander of the second battalion of the 1075 regiment."

……

I looked at these commanders without expression, one by one came forward, reported my name, position, military rank and so on to me and rokosovsky, and guessed in my heart the intention of leviagin suddenly calling so many commanders. Many years later, when I looked at the history of the eighth division of Jinwei, I was surprised to find that all the officers from the first division to the ninth division were included in the meeting. At the moment, they are just serving as ordinary battalion and regiment level commanders.

"Now for the meeting, please come to the table." It was leviagin who spoke. With his order, all the commanders who just came in gathered around and stood around the table, listening to leviagin's analysis and explanation of the current situation.

When I sat down just now, I looked at the map on the table. The Red Square representing our division's defense area was cut into three irregular areas by two blue arrows representing the German army. Each area is marked with the number of the defensive force, while the 1073 regiment is sandwiched between the two arrows. From the situation, this regiment has been almost surrounded by the German army.

The topic of the meeting revolved around the situation of the 1073 regiment. Leviagin said frankly, "comrades, as you all know, because the enemy's offensive is very fierce, our troops haven't stopped them for the time being. The defense line we hastily established in the process of withdrawal is not only broken through by them, but also divided into three unconnected combat areas, The 1073 regiment is now surrounded by the enemy. Today, the purpose of calling commanders at or above the battalion level to the division headquarters is to discuss and study how to get rid of the present unfavorable situation. "

The head of the 1073 regiment, Colonel chisgakov, who first spoke, said anxiously: "I think we should withdraw our regiment from the above-mentioned areas. Once the Germans have completed the encirclement, we will face the fate of total annihilation."

"Comrade commander in chief is right. We should organize a breakthrough immediately," said lieutenant commander chernukov, who pointed to the map and raised his head to the commanders around him. "I think we should withdraw our troops here and join the 1075 and 1077 regiments to build a new defense in the existing area."

The two men's words played an important role in attracting talents. The rest of the commanders also spoke one after another. Everyone's opinions were unexpectedly unified. They all suggested that the 1073 regiment should be withdrawn from the existing area immediately and join the 1075 regiment and 1077 regiment to establish a new defense line.

When everyone finished their opinions, political commissar yegorov opened his mouth. Instead of directly expressing his opinions, he turned his eyes to rokosovsky: "Comrade commander, what's your opinion?"

Rokosovsky stared at the map in front of him and asked, "how many troops are there in the 1073 regiment?"

On hearing this question, I looked up at Colonel chisgakov standing at the table and repeated rokosovsky's question: "Comrade Colonel, how many people are still in your regiment?"

The Colonel bowed his head and answered with some embarrassment, "the regiment has been reduced by two-thirds after a brutal battle. At present, there are still more than 1500 people, including more than 300 seriously wounded."

I turned to selebriakov again and asked, "Comrade commander, how many troops do you have in your 1075 regiment?"

"Similar to the 1073 regiment, there are more than 1000 people, including hundreds of wounded."

"The same is true of our regiment. With the wounded, the total strength is no more than 1300." I just looked at leviagin. Before I could speak, he had already answered the question I wanted to ask.

"Comrade Rita," rokosovsky asked solemnly, "I want to hear what your plans are?"

After organizing some words in my mind, I began to say, "Comrade commander, our division has suffered heavy losses in the continuous fighting, and the troops have been reduced by more than two thirds. With this strength, it is very difficult to defend such a large area. If, as you have just said, we temporarily withdraw our forces and combine the forces of the three regiments for joint defense, it would be a relatively safe approach. But... "

"But what?" Rokosovsky just heard me say retreat, his brow wrinkled up. As soon as I heard that I seemed to have something to say, he quickly asked, "what's your good idea?"

"If the 1073 regiment retreats and merges with the 1075 and 1077 regiments, on the surface, our defense forces will be strengthened, but the whole defense line will be forced to retreat." I stood up and pointed to the 1073 regiment on the map. "If the German troops occupy here, they will gather here and use it as a forward base. In that way, they can launch a continuous offensive against our army. Do you think that with our current strength, we can block their attack after attack? Under their fierce attack, we will have to retreat again, so they will soon approach Moscow After listening to what I said, there was a sound of air-conditioning around me. It seems that my analysis shows us the adverse consequences of the retreat. I continued to add: "in view of the current situation, I intend to let the 1073 regiment continue to hold its original position and contain the German troops, so that they do not dare to intrude into the rear of our army recklessly."

"But what should we do to replenish our forces? You know, I don't have reserves at the moment! " Rokosovsky was afraid that I would ask him for a reserve team, so he made a statement first.

I know what he said is true. On the way back, the communication between the group headquarters and other troops has been completely interrupted. Not to mention the reserves, I'm the only unit that can command directly now,

"Comrade commander," malining said softly beside him, "can I make a suggestion?"

"My chief of staff, just say what you have to say. Time is running out. Don't stammer

"I think there are two things to do at present: one is to get in touch with the headquarters of the front army immediately, ask for instructions on the next task and request to send more reserves to us; Second, send people to take in the retreating troops from Kerin and Taiyangshan City, and put them into the combat sequence of the eighth division of the guards. What do you think? "

"Great!" Rokosovsky patted malinin on the shoulder excitedly and said in a loud voice, "my chief of staff, your idea is really wonderful. What are you waiting for? Go and contact the headquarters of the front army. "

"Yes With a promise, marinin hurried to the telegraph to send the message. I looked around and saw the commanders on the scene. Because they had just heard the dialogue between the commander and the chief of staff, they all breathed a sigh of relief, and their brows stretched out. Especially during my absence, leviagin, who has been acting as a teacher, even showed a rare smile on his face“ Commander comrades, "I cleared my throat and gave them my first order after returning to the division headquarters:" the task has been made clear, that is, to continue to stick to the original position and not to retreat! As long as there is one more person, the enemy must never be allowed to move forward. Do you understand? "“ I see! " The commanders attending the meeting agreed neatly. I added: "the gap between the enemy and our weapons and equipment can not be changed in a short time. So when you go back, you should immediately organize the soldiers to carry out civil engineering operations, dig more bullet holes and air raid shelters, and be ready for big and vicious battles. That's all I've said. You all go back to your respective teams! "“ Yes The commanders agreed neatly, saluted us and left one after another. I sat down again and watched the political commissar rokosovsky and yegorov study where to set up reception points to accommodate the troops who had retreated from the city and how to reorganize them“ Comrade commander, we have a call back from the front army. " Malining stood next to us with a telegram and reported“ What did the front army say? " When asked this, rokosovsky still had a smile on his face“ The telegram was personally answered by sokolovsky, the new chief of staff of the front army. He conveyed to us the order of Comrade Zhukov, commander of the front army: order the 16th group army to immediately integrate its troops and launch a counter offensive against Taiyangshan city on November 27, that is, tomorrow! "“ what? Tomorrow's counterattack against sun mountain city? " The sudden order stunned everyone in the room.