Christopher's reconnaissance team sent Sokov back their reconnaissance five hours after departure, saying that a large number of German traces were found in the forest area near Korenievo.
After seeing this telegram, Potukin showed a shocked expression on his face. He looked at Sokov and said, "Comrade Commander, it seems that your judgment is correct. The enemy is indeed ambushed in the forest area. If our division really attacks Bryansk in accordance with the instructions of our superiors, it will penetrate into the enemy's trap and will be in danger of being surrounded or even annihilated."
Sokov received the telegram and quickly read the content above, but frowned: "Hell, what happened to Christopher? He only said that the traces of the German army were found in the forest area. What kind of troops were the enemy and what kind of technical equipment were there? Why didn't they report it?"
"Maybe it was too dark, which caused some difficulties for their reconnaissance." After saying this, Potu King Kong saw Sokov's face sinking, and quickly added: "Comrade Commander, I will send a telegram to Lieutenant Christopher to ask them to provide more detailed information immediately."
After sending the telegram, Potukin returned to Sokov and asked him for instructions: "Comrade instructor, see, do you need to report this matter to your superior immediately?"
"Wait a minute, Comrade Chief of Staff, wait a minute." Sokov knew that this matter was of great importance. If he did not understand the specific situation of the German army, he would report it rashly, which might affect the judgment of his superiors. Therefore, he said cautiously: "Wait until Christopher and others figured out the details of the German army before reporting it."
After a long wait, Christopher's second report finally came at 2 a.m. The first thing he saw was the content of the telegram, and a confused expression appeared on his face: "Comrade Commander, Christopher's report said that the German armored division was withdrawing from the forest area, and a large number of tanks were driven to the railway station to load the train, and their whereabouts were unknown."
"This information is very important and needs to be reported to the headquarters immediately." Although Sokov did not understand why the German army withdrew the troops ambushed in the forest at this time, he felt that the matter was extraordinary and he had to report it to his superiors immediately. So he picked up the phone and asked the communications officer to connect to the army headquarters.
As soon as he heard someone talking, he hurriedly revealed his identity: "Hello, I am Major Sokov. I have important situations and I want to report to the commander."
The person who answered the phone was stunned for a moment, and then Malining's voice came out: "It turned out to be Misha. Comrade Commander is about to call you, so you call me first."
Then, Rokosovsky's voice came from the receiver: "Misha, I just obtained a reconnaissance report. The German army ambushed a large number of troops in the forest area. It seems that the clear telegram we received is true."
Hearing Rokosovsky say this, Sokov was stunned and said inwardly: What's going on? Didn't the scouts sent by the Group Army Command find that the enemy was withdrawing from the forest? Thinking of this, he quickly said to the microphone: "Comrade Commander, I just received the intelligence sent by the reconnaissance personnel. The German troops were withdrawing from the forest. Their tanks were heading to the nearby railway station one after another to carry out boarding operations."
Sokov's words shocked Rokosovsky, and he asked cautiously: "What, Major Sokov, do you say the enemy is withdrawing from the forest? Is this news reliable?"
"Yes, Comrade Commander." Sokov believed in the reconnaissance results obtained by Christopher, so he said decisively: "The scouts I sent sent sent a telegram a few minutes ago that the enemy was withdrawing from the forest area."
"I understand, I will send someone to verify the information immediately." After Rokosovsky finished speaking, he hung up the phone without waiting for Sokov to speak and arranged for people to verify the news of the German retreat.
The reconnaissance team sent by the group army was in a state of retreat after completing the preliminary reconnaissance. After receiving an emergency telegram from Chief of Staff Malining, they had to stop retreating and return to their original reconnaissance location. Originally, some reconnaissance personnel were also somewhat jealous of the order from their superiors. When they saw clearly the German troops who were evacuating from the forest area in the distance, this complaint turned into glory. If the superiors had not ordered them to reconnaissance again, they would have been severely punished for providing wrong reconnaissance information in the future.
After receiving new information from the reconnaissance team, Rokosovsky summoned several leaders of the headquarters and said to them: "Comrades, according to our latest reconnaissance report, the Germans are withdrawing their troops ambushed in the Korenjevo Forest area. Tell me, what's going on?"
"Damn, the Germans actually retreated?" Lobachev stared at the map on the table and said to himself: "Did they also intercept the clear telegram and knew that their plans were exposed, so they had to withdraw their troops?"
"Since it is a clear telegram, we can receive it, and the Germans can naturally receive it." Maximenko and Lobachev finished speaking, immediately continued: "I think their retreat may not be related to the telegram matter."
Maximenko's inference immediately attracted the attention of others. Rokosovsky looked at him and asked, "Comrade Director of the Communications Force, tell me your reasons, why their retreat has little to do with the telegram?"
"Is this more than ten hours?" Maximenko looked up at Rokosovsky and said, "We have received the telegram for more than ten hours. If the Germans felt that their plans were exposed, they would have retreated long ago and would never wait until dark. I guess something urgent happened, which forced the Germans to withdraw their troops here and move them to other directions."
After hearing this, Rokosovsky turned his head and looked at Malining and asked, "Chief of Staff, what do you think?"
Malinin looked at Maximeko in surprise, and then said to Rokosovsky: "Comrade Commander, I agree with General Maximeko's analysis. Some important things must have happened to the German withdrawal at this time, so that they had to withdraw the troops used to ambush our army. I think this matter should be reported to General Zhukov as soon as possible, and by the way, find out if there are any changes in the enemy situation there."
After Malining called Zhukov, after listening for a moment, he held the microphone and turned his head to Rokosovsky and said, "Comrade General, Comrade General is going to talk to you in person."
"Comrade Rokosovsky, the situation has changed. Our original combat plan needs to be modified accordingly." Zhukov immediately said without hesitation when he heard Rokosovsky's voice: "At present, your troops on the left and right wings are not progressing well. If you continue to go deeper, you may be trapped in the siege of the German army. Therefore, I order you to stop everything immediately, turn to defense on the spot, and find ways to defend the occupied areas."
"Comrade General," Zhukov's words confused Rokosovsky, and he asked puzzledly: "What happened? Why did you suddenly stop the attack?"
"Our army encountered some trouble in the direction of Kharkov." Zhukov and Rokosovsky said slowly after asking: "The German army assembled a large number of troops in the Balvinkovo ​​protrusion and launched a strong attack on the 9th and 57th armies deployed in this area. Our army is in danger of being surrounded. The reason why I ordered you to move into defense on the spot is that I was worried that the Supreme Command would draw troops from the Western Front to rescue Marshal Timxingo's troops."
"Balvinkovo, Balvinkovo?" Rokosovsky repeated the place name several times and muttered: "I seem to have heard someone mention this place name before."
"Comrade Commander," said Malinin, who was standing aside, and when he heard Rokosovsky keep muttering Balvinkovo, he whispered: "Has Misha ever mentioned this place to you?"
"That's right, it's him." After Malining reminded him, Rokosovsky immediately remembered what Sokov had said to him, and nodded quickly and said, "He once told me that after the German army was attacked, it was possible to counterattack our army from the Balvinkovo ​​protrusion, but he didn't expect it to be guessed."
"Rokosovsky, what are you talking about with Malining?" Zhukov heard Rokosovsky who was calling him and actually chatting with Malining beside him, and said with some displeasure: "Who guessed that the Germans might launch a counterattack from the Balvin Kovo protrusion?"
"Comrade General, who else can there be? Of course, it is the son of our old comrade-in-arms-Misha." Rokosovsky thought of talking about the Kharkov battle with Zhukov at this moment, which was not considered a leak, so he said truthfully: "While he was in Moscow, he had attended a meeting chaired by Marshal Timuxingo. After listening to the deployment of the battle, he warned Comrade Marshal, saying that after the battle was launched, the enemy might counterattack our army from the Balvinkovo ​​prominence, so he suggested that the area be seized first. Who knew that Comrade Marshal did not attract the necessary attention of his proposal."
Chapter completed!