Not surprisingly, the order from the superior came down quickly...... Rokossovsky could not withstand the pressure of Mehris, after all, Mehris represented the Supreme High Command.

"Keep attacking!" Rokossovsky reluctantly ordered: "Obey the command of Comrade Mehris and hand over Rzhev to the 117th Division!" ”

The 117th Division was one of the nine divisions that had escaped from the German encirclement, and they were resting on the flank of Rzhev.

Shulka and Katukov were speechless when they heard this order, this is not to say that the 1st Guards Tank Brigade needs to rest or something, although the 1st Guards Tank Brigade does need to rest, they have lost more than half of their tanks all the way from Tver...... Part of it is battlefield attrition, and more is due to breakdowns.

The failure rate of the "Matilda" tank is not low at all, not to mention in extremely cold conditions.

But it's not that more serious.

From Katukov's point of view, it means that German reinforcements have arrived at the front, and they are still a few armored divisions that have just arrived from Germany with sufficient clothing and supplies.

At the same time, the 1st Guards Tank Brigade has exposed the shortcomings of the "Matilda" because of the previous battles, and they are the 1st Guards Tank Brigade, which is the 1st Guards Tank Brigade of the German Army...... In such a situation, it was easy to be surrounded and annihilated by German armored forces.

From Shulka's point of view, he knew that further west from Rzhev was a series of German important places such as Holm.

If the Soviets value these important places, then they may be able to take them.

The problem was that the Soviets were overly optimistic about the current situation from top to bottom, believing that this battle would undoubtedly drive the Germans out of the country, and that the strategic goal of the High Command was to reach at least the Kiev line.

Therefore, no one took such a small place as Holm seriously, and certainly did not regard it as a threat, and most of the main forces crossed these strongholds to pursue the Germans.

As a result, after the snow melted in the spring, none of these troops could return.

If the 1st Guards Tank Brigade continues the offensive...... They were even driving the Matilda, which was traveling at a speed of less than 10 kilometers per hour, and even if they wanted to, they would not be able to escape.

But Mehris didn't care about that, he looked at his watch, and said, "Give you two hours to prepare, and you'll be on time in two hours!" ”

"Yes, Comrade Mehris!" Katukov replied, and then reluctantly raised his head at the staff officer and asked him to give the order.

"Comrade Shulka!" Mehris said, "Come to my headquarters!" ”

Mekhlis already had a command in the 1st Guards Tank Brigade, which represented the command of the Supreme Command.

It was located right next to Katukov's headquarters, which was originally Katukov's lounge...... Katukov was not in good health and went to the front command with only one kidney, so he often needed to rest.

"How is it, Comrade Shulka!" Mehris asked Shulka: "Do you have confidence in this fight?" ”

"Yes, Comrade Mehris!" Shulka replied insincerely: "Of course there is confidence!" ”

Shulka knew that it was useless to say anything else at this time, Katukov had already said what he should have said.

"Good!" Mehris nodded with satisfaction: "Comrade Shulka, I think you are a courageous and wise person, you will not be in the same league as those cowards!" They are simply a disgrace to our army, enemies of the people, and at this time they do not know how to take advantage of the victory and give the enemy a respite......"

And then there was a lot of "honk, blah, blah", and to Shulka's disbelief, he made a lot of sense, at least as it sounded, and he said it righteously and majessarily.

Shulka even suspected that the Mehris in front of him was not the same person as the lieutenant general who had almost peed his pants in fright under the German pursuit.

After talking for a while, Mehris changed his words and said to Shulka: "I admire you, Comrade Shulka! I can see that you are a soldier who can really fight on the battlefield, and you are just a captain like you...... I don't think that's in line with your talent. ”

"No, Comrade Mehris, I lack command experience!" Shulka was a little worried that Mehris would be promoted indiscriminately, which would be counterproductive, and would also cause others to resent him to think that he would be in the company of such a person to get promoted.

However, Shulka soon knew that his worries were unfounded, and that Mehris did not mean it.

Mehris nodded and said, "Yes, I looked at your file and found that you have been promoted from private to captain in these months...... This is what you deserve, and even I think you deserve more. But commanding troops to fight is not the same as personal feats, you need more honing and commanding experience! ”

"Yes, Comrade Mehris!" Shulka couldn't help but secretly breathe a sigh of relief, and at the same time a little strange, what did this Mehris want to say.

After a long while, Mehris said, "But Comrade Shulka, you need not worry that your ideas will not be realized. You can report it to me, understand? I mean, if your thinking is limited because of your rank, your rank, you can report it to me...... If it works, I'll apply it to the battlefield! ”

So Shulka understood.

Mehris was hoping to use Shulka to gild himself.

This is one of the reasons why Mekhlis clearly promoted Shulka, and he did not want others to think that he was all dependent on Shulka for advice.

There is a saying that "the more you lack something, the more you show off".

Mehris is also in this way, he got to the top by playing small reports, and he is well-informed, of course, he knows what others are saying about him behind his back.

He wants to take off the hat of the "king of small reports", and wants others to look at him in a different way or give him more bragging capital.

However, because he did not know how to fight, he could only command indiscriminately on the front line and always quarrel with the front line commanders...... Mehris's command was really nothing more than attacking, attacking, valiant attacking, and nothing else.

The reason why he was chased and beaten by the Germans before was because he was chasing the Germans too closely and was counterattacked.

Frightened and half dead, Mehris had planned to avoid the battlefield and abandon the idea of gilding, but Shulka's appearance made his eyes shine: this is the legendary "Breakout Hero", why not use his battlefield talents? ”

At this time, Shulka was a little more relaxed, because he knew that if he grasped Mehelis's mentality, then things would be much easier.