The Germans, who had suffered great losses, were repulsed, but Rokossovsky did not take this lightly, and as soon as the cheers of the other commanders in the observation post stopped, he turned around and ordered Krasnoretsky: "Comrade Colonel, immediately get in touch with Lieutenant Colonel Lyon and ask him to withdraw the tanks to the second line of defense and carefully camouflage." ”

Rokossovsky's words surprised Krasnoretsky, who was immersed in the joy of victory, and he asked in surprise: "Comrade commander, the German offensive has been completely repelled by us, why should the tank regiment be withdrawn?" ”

"Comrade Colonel, don't look at the German ground forces that were repulsed by us, but their air force is not vegetarian." Rokossovsky said with a serious face: "If the troops are not withdrawn quickly, when the enemy planes come later, even if they want to, they may not be able to withdraw them." ”

Krasnoretsky looked at the battlefield in front of him and saw that the Soviet commanders and fighters were cleaning the battlefield, some of them neatly stacked the remains of their comrades and the corpses of the Germans in the open space, while others collected those weapons and equipment that could still be used and transported them back by truck.

Seeing this situation, Krasnoretsky said with some unwillingness: "Comrade commander, you see, our commanders and fighters are still cleaning up the battlefield, and now let the tanks be withdrawn, is it appropriate?" ”

"The task of cleaning up the battlefield can be completed by the infantry, and tanks cannot be used." Rokossovsky said lightly: "There are so many tanks in the open field, as soon as the enemy aircraft appears, they will become the target of attack, quickly give the order!" After he said this, he couldn't help frowning slightly when he saw Krasnoretsky still standing in a daze, and then walked quickly to the side of the radio, took the headset and microphone from the operator's hand, and gave an order to Novikov in a loud voice, "Hey, comrade division commander, immediately withdraw your tank division into the forest and hide, move quickly, understand?" ”

"Understood, Comrade Commander." Hearing this order, Novikov immediately replied respectfully: "I immediately let the troops withdraw into the forest." ”

Seeing that Rokossovsky had personally given orders to the troops and made the tank units hidden, Krasnoretsky realized the seriousness of the problem, and hurriedly walked to the intercom and gave Lieutenant Colonel Lyon the order to retreat.

Just as the tank units were withdrawing from the battlefield, Lukin, who was staying in a nearby town, received a detailed battle report that the German troops attacking Shepetovka had been repulsed after suffering a severe blow. His first reaction when he received this battle report was that this Rokossovsky was not bad, and he actually repelled the German attack so quickly. He then instructed the telegraph operator to send the battle report to the Front Command.

At this moment, the atmosphere in the headquarters of the Southwestern Front Army was particularly dull. Pulkaev, the chief of staff of the Front Army, who was always on a straight face, was complaining to Kirponos: "Comrade commander, tell me, what kind of battle are we fighting?" The mechanized corps thrown into the Dubno area were all crushed by the Germans, and more than a thousand tanks were lost, how can we explain to the General Staff? As he said this, he glanced knowingly at Vashukin, who was sitting at the conference table.

Vashukin, who had gone to inspect Rokossovsky's troops yesterday, went to several other units after he had gone to see with his own eyes how the heroic Red Army defeated the fascist invaders. After witnessing a few battles, he was completely desperate. He never dreamed that the army, which had been advertised as invincible before the war, would behave so badly in front of the Germans, that not only was the attack that had been organized with great difficulty crushed, but even the forced defense was beaten to the point where it was unable to fight back.

He pondered: "Why did our troops lose the battle, because the soldiers were not brave enough?" This was clearly incorrect, many of the troops who held their positions, even fighting to the last man, did not take half a step back, and even the wounded pulled grenades and died with the enemy who rushed up. Inferior to the Germans in terms of equipment? This does not seem to be true, the equipment of the border guards can be considered the best in the whole army, half of the commanders and fighters are equipped with submachine guns, and the artillery and tanks are also the most advanced. But what is going on with such a well-equipped army with the bravest commanders and fighters being crushed by the Germans? ”

It was because he was so engrossed in the problem that he didn't even notice the glance that Pulkaev threw at him. And when Kirponos heard what Pulkaev said, his heart couldn't help but tighten, and he was deeply afraid that after Vashukin heard about it, he would take this matter to the line, and then it would cause unnecessary controversy. However, seeing Vashukin sitting at the table, looking dejected, it seemed that he had not heard what the chief of staff had just said, and the stone hanging in his heart fell to the ground.

Kilponos took up the topic of Pulkaev and said: "Since the German invasion of us came so suddenly, our army was not ready for war at all. After a long march, the commanders and fighters of the infantry army are exhausted, and the soldiers are not well rested, and their combat effectiveness will naturally be greatly reduced. And although the mechanized corps has combat vehicles to travel, after a few hundred kilometers, many old tanks and armored vehicles will break down. As you mentioned, at least a third of the thousands of tanks lost in battle were due to their own failures. ”

"Comrade commander," Pulkaev said with a frown: "Now that the troops in our hands are all disabled, two-thirds of the casualties of the eighth, nineteenth, and twenty-second mechanized corps, and almost half of the casualties of several infantry corps, we have to quickly find a way." ”

Kirponos nodded and said: "We have to find a way quickly, we have no air supremacy, and it is very disadvantageous to continue to fight with the German army." Even if our ground forces have an advantage in strength and equipment, they will still suffer heavy losses under the bombardment of enemy aircraft. ”

Pulkaev continued: "When the rapid group, which had been ordered to launch an attack on the area of Shomil, stormed the city, it was only to find that there were only twenty or thirty tanks parked in the city, and all of them were broken down tanks. Before they could destroy all these tanks, the German armored forces surrounded them from all sides, and at the same time, a large number of air forces were dispatched to bombard the city indiscriminately. When the political commissar of Bobeli led the troops, braving the enemy's artillery fire and indiscriminate bombardment, only five tanks and more than 200 people remained in the entire rapid group, half of whom were wounded. ”

"The cunning Germans have set such a trap for us in the area of Shawmilage." Kirponos said indignantly: "As a result, the tanks of our entire front army are almost completely lost. ”

Pulkaev continued: "The current situation is very unfavorable for us, the enemy has formed a large encirclement, and if the General Staff does not cancel the order to attack, our situation will be even worse." Alas, it would be nice if we could teach the Germans a hard lesson in any direction, which would have helped our morale and morale. It is a pity that almost all of our main forces have been crushed, and we no longer have the ability to organize large-scale offensive operations. ”

"Commander, Chief of Staff," said the chief of operations, Bagramyan, who hurried in from outside, handed a telegram to Pulkaev, who was closest to him, and said happily: "I just received a report from General Rokossovsky that they have just repelled the German attack on Shepetovka, destroyed a large number of tanks and armored vehicles, and killed thousands of enemies. ”

Kirponos took the telegram that Pulkaev had read, put on his reading glasses and carefully read through it. After reading it, he took off his glasses and held them in his hand, then raised the telegram in his hand, and said excitedly: "This Rokossovsky is really good, and he brings us good news every time." Speaking of this, he listened to it, pondered for a moment, and then said thoughtfully, "Comrade Chief of Staff, I have a question that I don't understand, Rokossovsky's Ninth Mechanized Army is a unit being formed, and it is weaker than other mechanized armies not only in terms of equipment but also in terms of personnel. But why can he get good news when other troops have lost the battle? ”

Kilponos's voice interrupted Vashukin's thoughts, he jerked his head up and looked at the other man, then stood up abruptly, reached out and grabbed Kirponos's shoulder, and asked in surprise: "Comrade commander, is it Rokossovsky who has telegraphed again?" Did his troops win the battle again? ”