Looking at the telegram from Marshal Budyonny in his hand, Rokossovsky almost burst into tears, and this emotion came not from emotion, but from fear. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

The Germans broke through the lines of the Southwestern Front in the Cherkasy area, and Marshal Budyonny asked him to command the steppe front to quickly destroy the enemy in front of him, to fill the breakthrough and drive the Germans down the river.

Rokossovsky thought indignantly that the main forces of the German XXIV Panzer Army were entrenched in the inner city of Luble and the surrounding area, which happened to block the road to the Cherkasy region, and played the role of a stumbling block perfectly.

In order to kick away this stumbling block, his "foot bones" were kicked and "fractured", and the mechanized army under his command was originally a remnant, and after days of pursuit and fighting, it was even more disabled, almost to the point of losing combat capability.

Especially in terms of weapons, he had just developed the most suitable use of the KV-2 heavy tank, and was about to use the KV-2 to make a big move, but the logistics department sent a bad news, the KV-2 was out of stock, for unknown reasons.

Unbeknownst to Rokossovsky, the KV-2 heavy tank was produced at the Kirov plant in Leningrad, and as the German Army Group North approached Leningrad, the Kirov plant was forced to relocate to the Ural industrial zone in the rear, which led to a months-long shutdown period for the KV-2.

After thinking about it, Rokossovsky collected the resentment and helplessness in his heart.

Even if these realities are reported, the superiors will not pay attention to them, and they will only think that they are looking for objective reasons for their incompetence.

Remembering General Pavlov of the Western Front, who was shot for defeat.

The commander of the North-Western Front, Colonel-General Kuznetsov, was escorted to Moscow for trial because of his defeat, and was finally demoted to lieutenant general and sent to the rear to form a new army group.

If he can't complete the task, will it be Pavlov's fate? Or the fate of Kuznetsov?

He is a person who has been shot once, and he cannot be shot a second time, his fate must be in his own hands, and he must start to save himself.

Under the threat of the shadow of death, Rokossovsky forcibly suppressed the uneasiness and panic in his heart, and actively thought about how to save himself.

At the critical moment, the savior appeared, and a communications staff officer hurriedly walked up to Rokossovsky and handed him the telegram.

The telegram came from the subordinate headquarters of the 4th Mechanized Corps, the Germans in the direction of Konoto in the north launched an offensive, and the 4th Mechanized Corps fell into a bitter battle.

Rokossovsky quickly found Konoto on the map, and the pencil in his hand drew a downward arc with Konoto as a starting point.

With a turn of the pencil, Rokossovsky's gaze turned to the Cherkasy area, and drew an upward arc, and the two arcs intersected, encircling one of the troop numbers on the map.

It was the Central Front.

Unlike other troops, the Steppe Front, the Southwestern Front, and the Southern Front would at most be routed by the Germans in front of them, and only the Central Front was in danger of being completely annihilated by the combined German armies of the two routes.

Rokossovsky's eyes suddenly brightened.

We must find a great, bright and just excuse for our self-help behavior, and the most suitable excuse is to rescue the Central Front Army in a major crisis.

"To save others is to save oneself." Rokossovsky whispered, and then gave an order.

"All the troops stopped attacking and switched to the defense on the spot. Send another telegram to Marshal Budyonny・・・・・・ I will write it myself. ”

Rokossovsky took a pen and paper, frowned, carefully considered every word, and wrote a telegram of 100,000 urgent.

Marshal Budyonny, seeing Rokossovsky's callback, immediately recognized the critical situation.

"Quick, forward this telegram to the High Command."

Rokossovsky's telegram was forwarded to the Supreme High Command, and Stalin saw the contents of the telegram as soon as possible.

"The Dnieper line of defense has been broken through, the XXIV Panzer Corps in the city of Lubne, as well as Rommel's department in the direction of Konoto in the north, have launched an offensive, and the steppe front has been pinned by German troops from two directions. In order to ensure the safety of the logistics passage of the Central Front, the Steppe Front will do everything to prevent the formation of an encirclement. An army is gone, and the military headquarters fills in; The army group was gone, and the army headquarters filled it in; The front army is gone, I lead the front headquarters to fill in, long live the Soviets, victory will be ours. ”

The telegram was passed around in the hands of several people, and Marshal Shaposhnikov said: "The front army is gone, and I will lead the front command to fill it in." Comrade Rokossovsky was able to say such things, which shows that he is under great pressure. ”

"No matter how much pressure he is under, he is not as big as the Central Front." Stalin said.

Vasilevsky stood aside, calculating in his mind the direction of the battle.

The Dnieper defense line had been broken through, and Rommel's troops had been separated in two places to launch a counteroffensive at the same time, and then the 1st Panzer Army under the command of Kleist in the north would certainly make a comeback.

In the previous battles, the Central Front had three complete mechanized corps, the 18th, 23rd and 24th, and did their best to block Kleist's southward advance and ensure the security of the right flank of the Central Front and even the entire Nieper River defense line.

If Kleist moves south again, it is completely unknown whether the remnants of these three mechanized corps will be able to stop Kleist, once the right flank is lost・・・・・・

"Report, the Central Front Army is in an emergency."

Hearing this, Vasilevsky couldn't help but shudder.

The telegram sent at this time is certainly not good news.

Vasilevsky glanced at the contents of the telegram a few times, and his features twisted in pain.

Stalin, perceiving Vasilevsky's expression, dodged the telegram.

"Kleist's 1st Panzer Army again launched an offensive on the right flank of the Central Front, and found on the front line a new German unit number, the 39th Panzer Corps, and a 504 heavy armored battalion."

"That 504 heavy armored battalion had never appeared before, and it was supposed to be a newly transferred unit from the Germans from the mainland. As for the 39th Panzer Army, they were previously subordinate to the German 3rd Panzer Army. Vasilevsky, with his super memory, told the origin of the two German armies.

"When the decisive moment comes, what do you say?" Stalin asked.

Shaposhnikov coughed a few times and knocked on the right flank of the Central Front, in the Chernihiv direction.

"This protruding junction is a sword of Damocles hanging over our heads, and with it on the Central Front and the entire Southern Front, we are at great risk, and we are too passive. There is only one way to resolve the crisis on the southern front, which is to eliminate this salient. ”

"How to eliminate?" Stalin asked.

Shaposhnikov and Vasilevsky were tacitly silent.

In the oppressive silence, Stalin's face turned unusually pale.

"You mean retreat?"

Shaposhnikov nodded and said heavily: "The Germans transferred new armored forces to reinforce Kleist, but we did not have new armored forces to reinforce the Central Front. If it does not retreat in time, the Central Front will be completely annihilated. ”

Hearing the word retreat, Stalin was like a lion whose tail had been stepped on, and he instantly went berserk.

"You said before that you would retreat to the Dnieper, and then rely on the Dnieper to fight a defensive counterattack, and then regain the lost territory, but now, you still have to continue to retreat and lose almost all of Ukraine to the Germans."

"But there is really no better way now, once the Central Front is annihilated, we will still be forced to retreat, and at that time, we may not even have the ability to reorganize the defensive line." Marshal Shaposhnikov said.

"The steppe front withstood Rommel's troops, it will take some time for Kleist's troops to break through the defensive line, and the Central Front still has a chance to jump out of the encirclement, but it is better to sacrifice part of the troops that are fighting and blocking, so it is better than being completely annihilated." Vasilevsky said.

"This retreat is to pull the front with the Bryansk Front, where are you going to retreat next time? Moscow? Stalin asked.

Perceiving the fierce glint in Stalin's eyes, Vasilevsky hurriedly said: "No, the autumn rain assembly has arrived, followed by an even more terrible early winter muddy period, the German armored forces will be paralyzed, we can use this period to regroup our troops and defensive lines, and then drag the war until the cold comes." ”

"What if the cold comes?" Stalin asked.

"The Germans will not be stupid enough to attack in the winter, we will have a winter to regroup our forces and then launch a counteroffensive." Vasilevsky said.

Stalin's gloomy gaze shifted between Shaposhnikov and Vasilevsky, and finally succumbed to the harsh reality.

"Well, I'll trust you one more time. Let the Central Front make a retreat plan first, and the Steppe Front must hold on there, protect the rear of the Central Front, and then wait for the next order. ”