Chapter 220

I went back to the front line in the same car as rokosovsky. With my understanding of him, I knew that he must have something to say to me in private, so I didn't sit in the co pilot's seat, but sat side by side in the back with him.

Sure enough, not long after the car left the headquarters of the front army, rokosovsky, who had been in a low mood, began to complain about Zhukov to me“ Rita, you can see the current situation of the group army All of us, from soldiers to commanders, feel that we have reached a decisive moment to hold on anyway. We all have only one idea, that is, everyone should try his best to do his job better without being urged. The army trained by war knows how much responsibility it has. "

I could not help glancing anxiously at the driver in the front row when I heard rokosovsky's unrestrained complaints. This little action of mine was immediately noticed by rokosovsky. He waved his hand and said, "it doesn't matter. The driver is his own. He won't spread the content of our conversation."

I said, "commander, please go on."

"These days, I have also learned the nervousness and impatience of some of our immediate leaders. Self control, calmness and respect for subordinates are the essential qualities of any leader, which are particularly important in war. The old soldier should be trusted: he realized that his superiors trusted him, believed in his ability, and pinned hope on him. In battle, there was nothing more precious for a man than this consciousness... Unfortunately, our commander of the Western Front Army sometimes did not consider this. "

The reason why rokosovsky has such a big opinion on Zhukov is clear to me: first, rokosovsky wanted to withdraw his troops to the Istra area to organize a new defense zone, and this proposal was immediately rejected by Zhukov. Although the opinion was rejected, according to the judgment of the enemy, rokosovsky felt that the 16th group army could not hold the position at that time, so he took the upper line and made a request to Stalin to withdraw through Marshal Shaposhnikov. With the tacit consent of the supreme commander, the order of retreat was given to his troops. Just as the withdrawal of troops began, a message from Zhukov terminated rokosovsky's now seemingly correct order. Although at that time, rokosovsky showed a noble attitude of obedience to the overall situation, he had an idea of Zhukov in his heart. After a few days of resistance in place, the ill fated rokosovsky again ordered the troops to withdraw to the Istra area.

At the beginning of the movement, Zhukov passed rokosovsky and gave orders to the following division leaders to change their march route and attack the German troops who occupied Taiyangshan city. Because there was no unified command, all the troops fought on their own. In the absence of heavy weapons, they launched attacks on the enemy with dominant technical equipment, with little effect and heavy casualties.

As for rokosovsky himself, because of Zhukov's order, he not only lost contact with his troops, but even nearly took his own life in peshki village. For this reason, rokosovsky was particularly dissatisfied with Zhukov, so that they did not even say a word at today's military meeting.

I can only give a wry smile to rokosovsky's complaints. I know, after all, they are old comrades in arms for many years. Although the relationship between them is so tense now, it's not as serious as fire and water. If I help him fight against injustice, maybe when they are reconciled, this will reach Zhukov's ears. It will be enough for me to drink a pot, so I wisely choose silence.

Seeing that I didn't respond, rokosovsky gave me a look of disappointment, and then turned the topic to other aspects: "in order to strengthen the command and combat effectiveness of the troops, I made necessary adjustments to the commanders of your division."

"Ah?" I was shocked by rokosovsky's words. Less than two days after I left the army, the command system of the army was adjusted. I was silent for a few seconds, still can't help but ask curiously: "don't know how to adjust?"

Looking out of the window, rokosovsky said calmly, "the three settlements outside Taiyangshan city are currently defended by the 133rd infantry division, which has just retired from Kerry. Because the division commander died in the battle, I appointed general leviagin as the new division commander, and transferred the mixed Cadet regiment of commander mlakintsev and political commissar slavkin to the past. "

I have no objection to the arrangement of rokosovsky. After all, it is inappropriate for a general with rich combat experience like leviyagin to be under the leadership of a person like me who is inferior to him in both resume and experience for a long time. The geographical location of the other three settlements is very important. If the German army occupied them, the traffic between Taiyangshan city and Moscow in the north and East directions would be completely cut off.

I nodded, agreed with his arrangement, and then asked, "what else?"

"The first guard tank brigade withdrew from Taiyangshan city yesterday. I have sent them to Hongcun to help the infantry consolidate the defense there. You know, if we didn't recover the red village in time the day before yesterday, the German artillery deployed there would be able to directly aim at the Kremlin and fire. "

Speaking of general katukov's first guard tank brigade, I have nothing to say. Rokosovsky had long wanted to return the troops to the army. I had been holding the ground for a long time and refused to return it. Because of the remarkable performance of our division and tank brigade in a series of battles, rokosovsky turned a blind eye and didn't care with me. However, at present, the situation there is even more threatening. It is also justifiable to transfer the tank brigade at this time. But in this way, even if the two infantry battalions and one artillery regiment that Zhukov promised me could be in place in time, there would be no tanks with strong mobility in our hands. At least before the big counterattack, we could only defend passively and could not take proper counterattack actions. I wry smile for a while, did not make a statement, just a simple question: "is there anything else?"“ After general leviakin was transferred, I appointed Colonel chisgakov as the deputy division commander and lieutenant colonel chernukov as the head of the 1073 regiment; Major sherebryakov was the chief of staff of the division, and major sherdurin was the head of the 1075 regiment; Major panishev, the former commander of the second battalion of the 1077 regiment, was the head of the 1077 regiment. " After listening to a series of personnel changes in the division, my mood became more and more depressed. It's not that I'm dissatisfied with these promoted commanders. It's that rokosovsky made such a large-scale personnel adjustment without saying hello to my teacher. Even if the starting point is good, it will make me have bad associations. Looking at my silence, rokosovsky asked faintly: "talk about your opinion." I organized the words in my mind, and then said: "Comrade commander, I will obey your adjustment unconditionally. The transfer of the mixed Cadet regiment will have limited impact on the overall defense of Taiyangshan city. However, if even the tank troops are transferred, it will be very difficult to block the attack of the enemy's armored forces with their current anti tank strength. " After listening to me, rokosovsky pondered for a moment, and then answered like he was determined, "well, you have a point. But it's not realistic to bring back general katukov's tank brigade. I'd better wait until I get back to the headquarters and try to bring you another tank brigade from other places. " Now that he has said this, I have to reluctantly promise: "well, that's the only way." Just then, the car suddenly stopped“ What's going on? " Asked rokosovsky aloud. My first reaction was that when I was attacked by the enemy, I quickly reached for my gun and looked out of the window“ Comrade commander, "the driver in front turned to rokosovsky and asked," there is a fork in the road ahead, one leading to the headquarters, the other leading to the eighth division of the guards. Which way should we go, please“ We're going straight back to headquarters. " Rokosovsky said, then turned to me and said, "Rita, I can only send you here. Now go to change your car and go back to the division department. I'll send you the tanks you need as soon as possible. " I promised, got out of the car and asked grissa, who had been following me, to drive over. Grissa drove the car over and stopped steadily beside me. Yushchenko and two guards immediately opened the door and got out, stood beside me, waiting for me to get on the bus. Instead of getting on the bus immediately, I stood by the side of the road, watching rokosovsky's black Jim car and the truck full of soldiers behind. After driving away, I got into the car, got into the co driver's seat, and told grissa: "drive, return to the division!"