Rokossovsky's convoy soon entered the defense area of the 50th Army. The soldiers on duty at the checkpoint were frightened when they saw that the marshal was coming. They were about to call their superiors to report, but were stopped by Rokossovsky.
. He just wanted to use a surprise inspection to understand the current preparations of the 50th Group Army.
Although there were many tents along the way, there were no lights in sight, and faint snores could be heard coming from inside, proving that the commanders and fighters in the tents were fast asleep. Seeing this, Rokossovsky couldn't help but
He frowned slightly, thinking why the defense in the 50th Group Army's defense area was so lax. The commanders and soldiers were sleeping in tents, and there was not even a patrol outside. If they were attacked by the Germans, they would probably suffer huge casualties.
.
The convoy came to a stop at the gate of the headquarters. The sentry standing at the gate saw clearly that the people coming were Rokossovsky and Subbotin. He was so frightened that he quickly raised his hand and saluted: "Hello, Comrade Marshal! Hello!
,Comrade Military Commissar!”
Seeing that the sentry was about to go in to report, Rokossovsky raised his hand to stop him and walked into the headquarters.
There were only a few staff officers in the headquarters busy in front of the map, probably marking the latest map of the enemy's situation. The telephone operator in the corner was dozing against the wall because there was no call coming in. He heard someone walking in from outside.
, the attention of the staff members was immediately attracted. After seeing clearly that it was Rokossovsky, they all stood at attention and raised their hands in salute.
Rokossovsky walked up to a staff officer and asked sharply: "Where is your commander?"
The staff officer pointed to the small room next to him and said, "Comrade Commander is sleeping in there."
"Going to bed so early?" Rokossovsky asked.
"He drank some wine and was a little too tired, so he went to bed first."
Rokossovsky snorted coldly. Just when he was about to say something, Subbotin asked the staff member pleasantly: "What about your chief of staff, General Ozerov?"
"He seems to have gone to the telecommunications room. It is said that a report from the scouts was reported back."
"How long have you been there?"
The staff officer raised his hand to look at the time and replied: "About a quarter of an hour, I should be back soon."
Rokossovsky heard that the chief of staff would not be back until later, so he strolled to the door of the small room and pushed open the door. He saw General Bolkin, wearing a white pullover, lying on the bed.
He was fast asleep on the bed, talking in his sleep from time to time.
"Hey, wake up!" Rokossovsky stepped forward and shook his shoulders, shouting: "Wake up quickly."
Not long after, Bolkin opened his eyes. Because he had just woken up, he couldn't see clearly who was standing in front of him, so he said angrily: "Didn't I say that when I was sleeping, no one could see me?"
Aren't you allowed to disturb me?"
"You don't carry out the combat orders I gave you, but you sleep here." Rokossovsky said angrily: "If you delay the fighter plane and let the Germans slip away from your nose,
Just wait until you go to court-martial."
Only then did Bolkin realize that the person who disturbed his dream was actually Rokossovsky. He was so frightened that he rolled out of bed. While he was getting dressed in a hurry, he said incoherently: "Marshal, Comrade Marshal.
, why did you come to my place, did you go to the wrong place?"
Until Rokossovsky let out a loud roar, "You are so brave, you dare to disobey orders. Is our military law just a show-off?"
Hearing what Rokossovsky said, Bolkin broke into a cold sweat. He was sweating profusely and said: "Comrade Marshal, I faithfully carried out your order without any delay in the fighter plane."
"Really?" Rokossovsky said with a sneer: "I heard an hour or two ago that the Germans in front of you have retreated. Why are you still standing still here?"
"This is impossible, Comrade Marshal." Bolkin tried his best to defend himself and said: "My troops have been closely monitoring the Germans and have not found any movement on their part. You may have received wrong information."
Rokossovsky didn't want to talk nonsense with him. He turned back to the outside room and asked loudly: "Is the chief of staff back?"
"Comrade Marshal," hearing Rokossovsky asking himself, Ozerov, who had just entered the door, trotted over quickly and said, "I am here. What instructions do you have?"
"I heard that you went to the telecommunications room to receive intelligence feedback from the scouts, right?"
"Yes, Comrade Marshal, it is indeed true."
"What did the intelligence feedback from the scouts say?" Rokossovsky asked: "Did the enemy retreat, or did they stick to their existing positions?"
Ozerov did not speak, but glanced at Bolkin who was standing at the door of the hut. Rokossovsky noticed that the chief of staff's eyes were wandering, waved his hand in front of him, and said: "
Don't worry about General Bolkin, just report to me what you know about the situation."
After hearing what Rokossovsky said, Ozerov quickly straightened his back and said: "Reporting to Comrade Marshal, according to the latest intelligence feedback from the scouts, all the enemies in front of our army have retreated, and there is no one on the position."
"Really?"
"Yes, Comrade Marshal." Ozerov replied resoundingly: "Our scouts checked several times and confirmed that no enemy was found on the position before sending back the latest information."
"Where is the information? Show it to me?" Rokossovsky stretched out his hand to Ozerov.
Ozerov did not dare to neglect and quickly handed the telegram in his hand to Rokossovsky.
After reading the telegram, Rokossovsky came to Bolkin and said with a sneer: "General Bolkin, you just told me that your troops are closely monitoring the enemy and found that the enemy has no movement.
Then look, what is this?" When he said this, he suddenly raised his voice and slammed the telegram in his hand into Bolkin's face.
Bolkin hurriedly bent down to pick up the telegram on the ground and browsed it quickly. After reading the above content, he was shocked into a cold sweat, but despite this, he still refused to admit his mistake: "Comrade Marshal
, This may be a conspiracy by the Germans. They captured our scouts and used their radio to send us this false intelligence."
"General Ozerov," Rokossovsky was completely disappointed with Bolkin at this moment. He turned to Ozerov and said: "I declare that from now on, you are the acting commander of the 50th Army.
At your command."
"What about our commander?" Ozerov looked at Bolkin, who was shivering at the side, and asked tentatively: "How do you plan to deal with him?"
"It's my business how to deal with him, but he definitely can't stay in the 50th Army anymore. I will take him away when I leave later." Rokossovsky said: "He will be responsible for his mistakes.
Pay the appropriate price."
Ozerov glanced at Bolkin with a sympathetic look, and said in his heart that if it weren't for your stubbornness, we should have launched a pursuit of the German army at this moment. If we really did this, I am afraid that Comrade Marshal would not be angry at you at this moment, but
It’s time to praise you for your achievements.
However, there is no regret in selling medicine. Now that it has happened, there is no room for recovery. Ozerov decided to use the power given to him by Rokossovsky to command the army. He asked tentatively: "Marshal
Comrade, what should we do next?"
"Since the scouts have found out that there is not a single German on the enemy position in front of you, then what are you still doing?" Rokossovsky said with a serious expression: "Of course, send troops to occupy him.
And form a fast column equipped with tanks and armored vehicles to pursue the fleeing German troops. We don't know how long the enemy has been withdrawing, so we can only do our best and eliminate as many as we can. Do you understand?"
"I understand completely, Comrade Marshal." Ozerov said: "I immediately gave orders to the troops to advance towards the enemy's positions."
"Give the order, Comrade General." Rokossovsky said to Ozerov: "I will watch your command from here."
With Rokossovsky sitting next to him and watching, Ozerov still had some progress in his heart. He picked up the phone on the table and began to give orders: "The 19th Infantry Corps and the 38th Infantry Corps took action immediately to attack the German army."
Advance the defensive position. If you encounter enemies who resist, resolutely eliminate them. The 121st Infantry Corps, the 307th Infantry Division and the Tank Brigade serve as the second echelon and be prepared to advance."
Rokossovsky was quite satisfied with Ozerov's deployment. It was too late now, and it was obviously inappropriate to dispatch the tank brigade. Therefore, the best way was for the infantry to open the way in front and occupy as many areas as possible.
In the German position, it would not be too late to let the tank troops go into battle after daybreak.
After Ozerov assigned the task to the troops, he turned to face Rokossovsky and said: "Comrade Marshal, the order has been issued. The troops will advance to the enemy-controlled combat area in the shortest possible time and seize the undefended area."
position."
Half an hour later, the commander of the 19th Infantry Corps called and reported to Ozerov: "Comrade Chief of Staff, the two infantry divisions under our army have successfully occupied two German positions, and neither was attacked.
Any form of resistance."
"Very good, Comrade General." Ozerov nodded and said: "Leave the troops to consolidate the occupied positions and continue to advance deeper into the German defenses. In a word, you can advance as far as you can.
Far."
"Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff, we will try our best to move forward." After the military commander finished saying this, he said hesitantly: "But is it appropriate for you to go beyond the commander and give us orders? What if Comrade Commander waits?
When we wake up from the wine, aren’t we going to be scolded again?”
"Don't worry, General Bolkin is no longer the commander of the 50th Group Army. Chief of Staff Ozerov is the latest group army commander." Rokossovsky stood up and said into the microphone: "What he ordered
You just have to carry out the order with confidence and boldness."
The military commander heard a strange voice coming out and asked angrily: "Who is it? Who is talking?"
"It's me, Rokossovsky." Rokossovsky continued into the microphone: "I think what I said should be regarded as an order, right?"
When he learned that the person he was talking to was actually Marshal Rokossovsky, the commander was frightened and said quickly: "Yes, Comrade Marshal, what you said is an order. I will follow Ozer's instructions now."
Commander Love ordered the troops to continue advancing deeper into the German defenses."
"Very good, Comrade General." Rokossovsky was very satisfied with the commander's performance of being aware of current affairs. He continued, "I'm just waiting for your good news."
As soon as the phone was put down, the call from the commander of the 38th Infantry Corps also came in. He reported to Ozerov: "Comrade Chief of Staff, what is going on? Why is there no one on the German position? They
When was it evacuated?"
"I don't know when they withdrew." Ozerov said helplessly: "You just need to know that there are no defenders on the German positions. Your army's mission is to fight against the Germans.
The defense can advance rapidly in depth and occupy as much area as it can."
"Comrade Chief of Staff," the commander of the 38th Army asked the same question as his colleagues: "Have you consulted the commander for this order? If he is not satisfied and blames him, we will be in trouble by then.
."
"Don't worry, Comrade Commander." Ozerov glanced at Rokossovsky sitting next to him and said confidently: "Comrade Marshal, he is right next to me. He has just appointed me as the 50th Army General.
Acting Commander of the Group Army, so you just have to carry out every order I give."
Knowing that Rokossovsky was at the headquarters at this moment, the commander of the 38th Army was also very surprised: "Chief of Staff, no, Comrade Commander, why is the Marshal here with you?"
Ozerov knew that this matter could not be explained in a few words, so he said into the microphone: "I will tell you about this later. What you can do now is to let your soldiers rush forward to capture as much as possible."
Occupy as many positions as you want. Let me remind you that the 19th Army is much faster than you, so don't fall behind."
Seeing Ozerov put down the microphone, Rokossovsky smiled and said: "General Ozerov, I really didn't expect that you can mobilize the enthusiasm of the troops in just a few words. It's all my fault for my usual attitude towards
You don't pay enough attention to me. If I had noticed you earlier, I could have assigned you to a suitable position." At this point, he glanced at Bolkin next to him and said coldly, "To avoid a situation like this today that will delay the opportunity for the fighter.
Appear."
After saying this, Rokossovsky stood up, stretched out his hand to Ozerov, and said in a friendly tone: "General Ozerov, I will leave the 50th Group Army to you. What are the latest results?
Remember to report to the front army headquarters in time."
"Understood, Comrade Marshal." Ozerov raised his chin slightly and said confidently: "I will never betray your trust."
Rokossovsky smiled and nodded, then called two soldiers and asked them to take Bolkin with them, then turned and left the headquarters.
When several staff officers in the headquarters saw Bolkin being taken away by Rokossovsky, they all gathered around Ozerov and asked tentatively: "Chief of Staff, you said that the commander was taken away by Comrade Marshal.
What kind of punishment will you receive?"
Ozerov, who had just become the acting commander, naturally would not comment on Rokossovsky's decision with several staff officers. Instead, he said with a straight face: "Don't you have any work to do? Are you all gathering here to gossip?
, why don’t you return to your respective jobs as soon as possible.”
This chapter has been completed!