Winter in Moscow is surprisingly cold. Low, gray clouds lay over forests and fields all day long. Snowballs blown by strong winds swirled over the main road. Winter provided a lot of favorable conditions for the squadron: the ground began to freeze, the mud was gone, and now a large number of Chinese tanks could move not only along the main road, but also through woods and open areas without the restrictions of the road. The Soviets' defenses had become more difficult, and now they had to meet the [***] squadron in several directions, and the 16th Army appeared to be under-armed.

The fighting is getting more and more brutal. From January 19 to 20, the 3rd and 4th tank groups of the Central [***] team continued their frantic offensive against the 16th Army and its left neighbor, the 30th Army. After a series of almost incessant battles and firefights, Rokossovsky's army group suffered heavy losses in both men and weapons. Moreover, the remaining troops were exhausted. The commanders and staff officers were so tired that they couldn't even stand still.

In order to improve the situation of the 16th Army and stop the advance of the [***] squadron, Rokossovsky believed that the troops had to retreat from their positions on a defensive line a dozen kilometers west of the Ikula reservoir to a new one. This is a very advantageous natural line of defense for the reservoir itself, the Ikula River and the surrounding area. The timely occupation of this line of defense would allow a strong defense to be organized with the help of a small number of troops, and some troops could be deployed to the second echelon of the army group, thus creating a defensive area in depth, and at the same time freeing up a certain number of troops to strengthen the defense in the Kachin direction.

After thorough consideration, Rokossovsky reported his idea to the commander of the Front, General Zhukov. Completely contrary to Rokossovsky's expectations, Zhukov categorically vetoed it and ordered the 16th Army to hold on desperately and never allow a step back.

Rokossovsky was very disappointed with Zhukov's answer. Believing that Zhukov's decision was wrong, he went directly to the General Staff Shaposhnikov and gave him a detailed explanation of the important surnames for the withdrawal to the Ikula Line. A few hours later, Rokossovsky received an answer from the General Staff. Shaposhnikov approved the implementation of this proposal. Having received permission from the General Staff, Rokossovsky immediately drafted an order to withdraw the main forces to the Ikula reservoir.

A subordinate overstepping the appeal and his actions being approved by a higher authority is a serious matter in the military of any country. Zhukov reacted accordingly. He sent a short telegram to Rokossovsky, harshly worded: "I am the one who commands the units of the Front!" I revoke the order of the troops to withdraw to the Ikula reservoir, and I hereby order you to defend the occupied areas without taking a single step back. General Zhukov. "The orders of the superior must be obeyed, it is the duty of a soldier. Rokossovsky obeyed.

The [***] team is continuing to attack. On January 21, Rokossovsky was called to the location of the communications hub. "Zhukov is next to the telegraph," and the telegraph then gave the order "Please report the situation briefly."

Rokossovsky replied: "The enemy is trying to break through from the town of Kiryav to Kachin and from Novopetrovsk to Ikura. The telegraph machine paused for a moment, and then a white note came out again: "I understand. The enemy also approached Kachin from the north. How many troops are guaranteed for defense? ”

"The 107th Motorized Rifle Division has only about 300 people, the 58th Tank Division has no tanks, and the 25th Tank Brigade has only 12 tanks, of which 4 are T-34 tanks," Rokossovsky enumerated. The reply from the telegraph was: "Kachin and Solnovsk are the main ones, please go to Solnovsk, Lobachev immediately go to Kachin, you must make sure to hold these two cities." ”

An hour later, the car of the commander of the 16th Army with the guards crawled slowly along the road to Solnovsk in the twilight. In the sky, from time to time, Chinese planes flew by.

At this moment, whether it is north or south, it is full of fire and cannons.

At this time, Rokossovsky could have taken a nap, but he did not feel sleepy. Leaning back in the back seat of the car, he watched the twilight fall and reminisced about his journey to the horse, and in August 1918, together with his fellow dragoons, he covered the retreat of the 12th Army's infantry units from Riga; In the winter of 1920 he led a cavalry company against the rampant attack of Kolchak's ski troops; In June 1943, he and the tankmen of the Mechanized 9th Army held off Chinese armored units......

That night, he was not able to enter Solnovsk. Although the city has not yet been lost, the Chinese have cut off all roads leading to the city. Having deployed the necessary measures to block the enemy's advance south and west of Solnovsk, Rokossovsky hurriedly drove to Kachin.

The situation here is just as critical. The squadron surrounded Kachin with 4 tank divisions and 2 infantry divisions, leaving only a road to the west. Rokossovsky authorized Major General Zakharov to command Kachin and his troops to the west of him to be sure to block the enemy's offensive to the west, towards Yakhnov and Dimitrov.

Subsequently, Rokossovsky and Lobachev reported to Rykov by telegraph. By this time, Chinese tanks had already rushed into Kachin from the north, and street fighting broke out in the city.

The female operator, who was pale with fright, finally got through to the headquarters of the Eastern Front. Rokossovsky asked for reinforcements, to which Sokolovsky replied that it was impossible to count on reinforcements at this time.

A shell whistled down nearby, the telegraph room shook violently, the glass of the windows was shattered, the lime on the walls fell off, and a corner of the house collapsed...... The telegraph was still working, and the female operator handed Rokossovsky with a trembling hand a note with the inscription: "Organize the defense of the city until the end, concentrate on counterattacking the enemy on both flanks." Retreat is only allowed as a last resort. ”

Rokossovsky told the operator the feint: "Our house has just been hit by a shell, and now we are going to take measures." Goodbye". After saying that, he smiled at the female operator, said "thank you" and walked out of the door.

He ran to an auxiliary command post in a bakery in Kachin. The explosion of shells and the sound of machine gun fire were heard everywhere in the city. Rokossovsky again told Zakharov to hold out until the last quarter of an hour. After the instructions, he and Lobachev left by car.

Late at night on January 23, Rokossovsky finally arrived at the headquarters of the army group. Rokossovsky learned that Kachin and Solnovsk were occupied by the enemy. After bypassing the Ikula reservoir, the squadron began to advance south along the road, towards the Moscow side. In order to cover the Solnovsk direction, Rokossovsky had to send Dovator's cavalry units there from other areas, and reinforced the cavalry units with 2 tank battalions and 2 infantry battalions from the 316th Division, since he had no other reserves at his disposal.

The Solnovsk direction is closest to Moscow, and Rokossovsky decided to move the temporary command post of the army group to the village of Pashki, near the city of Solnovsk, and the basic command post in Lviv. Rokossovsky arrived in the village of Pashki only in the evening of January 24. It became known that there were only a few Red Army units and tanks north of the village of Pashki, who were guarding the road to Moscow on Zhukov's orders. The units of the 16th Army had not yet had time to advance to the designated area.

The phone rang, and it was Zhukov calling. After listening to Rokossovsky's report, Shkov ordered him to immediately turn to the offensive in Solnovsk. Rokossovsky believed that in this case, the transfer to the offensive with the limited forces at his disposal was doomed to failure, so it was better to stick to the defensive. The commander of the Front raised his voice to answer Rokossovsky's objections and reproached him.

Those present saw that Rokossovsky's face had turned pale.

Rokossovsky thought about the conversation just now while walking out of the command post with the officers of the command. At the gate, one of the commanders of the signal corps reported: "Comrade General, Chinese tanks and submachine gunners have appeared in the village!" ”

The village of Pashki was lost. The command of the 16th Army in Lviv also did not manage to hold out for long. Chinese tanks stormed the north end of the village.

There is nowhere to retreat. The soldiers of the 16th Army understood this, Rokossovsky understood this, and it was precisely this that the Military Council of the Front demanded. In a special order to the 16th Army, it was written: "There can be no further retreat, there is nowhere to retreat." All measures must be taken to stop the retreat. One step further for you is the destruction of Moscow's defenses. All the commanders are to be on the battlefield in person......"

It was only after the squadron had moved to the outskirts of Moscow that the Eastern Front began to send reinforcements to the 16th Army, which was said to be dwindling, but not many, and it was all the forces that could be mobilized, including an anti-tank infantry platoon, an artillery battery, and an anti-aircraft artillery battalion drawn from the Moscow Air Defense Command.

The 16th Army held out until the arrival of the 7th Division, which was transferred from Serimpunov, and two tank brigades and two anti-tank artillery regiments from the reserves of the Supreme High Command. These reinforcements allowed Rokossovsky to build a strong defensive line.

On this day, the staff officer on duty reported that the Supreme Commander had called the commander of the army group to listen to the telephone. Rokossovsky picked up the earpiece with trepidation, as his troops were again forced to retreat, albeit not by much......

"I'm Lieutenant General Rokossovsky." He began.

He heard Stalin's calm voice: "Please report on the situation in the Ikula region." ”

Rokossovsky succinctly reported on the combat situation and readiness for a counter-assault. Stalin interrupted him: "There is no need to talk about your measures. In his voice, Rokossovsky felt a kind of trust, he called not to blame anyone, "You are difficult, right? ”

"Yes, Comrade Stalin, very difficult, very ......"

Stalin was silent over there for a moment and said: "I understand. Please hold on a little longer. We'll help you with your ......" and that's the end of the conversation.

Early the next morning, 1 regiment of rocket artillery "Katyusha", 4 companies of anti-tank gunners, 3 tank battalions and 2000 Muscovites drove up.

Reinforcements arrived in time, and the northeastern front of Moscow easily withstood the attack of the [***] team.

A few days later, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief called again.

Having listened to Rokossovsky's report, Stalin asked: "Do you know that in the Eliakov region there was a squadron [***]?" What do you do to repel them? Please note that there is intelligence that they attempted to shell Moscow with large-caliber artillery from the Eliakov region. ”

Rokossovsky replied: "Comrade Stalin, I know that the Chinese vanguard has advanced to the area north of Eliakov. I have sent additional troops there from other areas. It's just that these forces are too few......"

"You must clear the enemy there, and we will immediately order to strengthen this sector with troops from the Moscow Defense District."

After an hour, the Chief of Staff of the Front, Sokolovsky, informed Rokossovsky that 1 tank brigade, 1 artillery regiment and 4 artillery battalions "Katyusha" had been sent from the reserves of the Front to reinforce him. Prior to this, Rokossovsky had already sent all the troops he could muster - 2 infantry battalions and 2 cannon artillery regiments - there. From dawn, the artillery of the 16th Army opened fire on the fortifications of Eliakov's squadron [***]. It was not until dark that the tank crews launched an attack under the cover of artillery, but they were unable to drive the squadron out of there, and the threat of shelling of Moscow was still not lifted.

At the end of January, the fighting on the right flank of the Eastern Front reached a fever pitch. After fierce battles in the direction of Solnovsk and Ikula, the Squadron forced the 16th Army to retreat and advance to an area 25 km from Moscow. The command post of the army group had to continue to retreat. Fighting is already taking place in residential areas. On January 30, the Chinese [***] team made another advance towards Moscow. On the left flank, the Centritorial [***] squadron was able to push the units of the 16th Army to the line of Baranvov, Khvinsky, Petrovsk and Nikino.

At this time, the Supreme Command of the Soviet Army, in absolute secrecy, formed 3 new reserve army groups and concentrated them near Moscow. These three armies were assault armies of the 1st, 2nd and 10th armies, two of which were tasked with replacing the 16th Army's heavily lost and urgently needed recuperating units. At the same time, the Soviet command carried out counter-assault operations in other parts of the Moscow battlefield.

In his memoirs, Zhukov wrote about the heroic counter-assault battles of the Soviet Red Army:

"I hate and revere Du Yuming as a person, and I hate that if he had not replaced the wounded Lin Yuying, the outcome of the Battle of Moscow might have been rewritten, and the casualties of the Red Army would not have been so great. Hundreds of thousands of excellent, simple, brave, young sons and daughters of the heroes of the Soviet Union will not be sacrificed; What is in awe is that this man has only arrived at the front line for a short time, and he has been firmly suppressing the Red Army. and so that the Red Army could no longer launch a major campaign offensive. And had to use trench warfare, which could only be defended in fact. The experience during this period has become an indelible wound in the history of the Soviet Red Army. In that battle, in such a short time and in such a small space, so many Red Army soldiers who used the tactics of crowds to charge were sacrificed. We can't help but see the gap and consequences of the iron-blooded contest. ”

"Our attack force is three armies. These three armies were the 39th, 40th, and 42nd armies. It's all old guards who can fight. The battle began on the night of January 28, 1945, and as soon as the battle began, our fighters pounced on the enemy's blazing fire with crowd tactics. A stubborn assault that defies death, and a fearless devotion that bursts into a dazzling light in the night sky red by artillery fire. But from night to dawn we were not able to capture a single of the enemy's main positions, and the casualties were much greater than expected. ”

"On the 29th, enemy planes were overwhelming, and since the Red Army began its counteroffensive, it had not seen so many planes so densely. Enemy planes bombed around the ring defensive position for a whole morning, and in the afternoon, the [***] squadron came out to counterattack under the cover of tanks in five routes. The casualties of the Red Army were enormous. On the evening of the 30th, the real decisive battle began. All the Red Army attacking units were in place, and they launched a frontal attack - it was truly an earth-shattering, ghost-weeping battle. The tenacious spirit and the will to fight in the face of death were brought into full play by the soldiers of the Soviet Red Army. And the material efficiency of the Chinese and the level of scientific comprehensive command have also reached the peak. This is a contest between the iron of the Chinese and the blood of the Russians. ”

"In the flash of continuous explosions of shells and grenades, a fierce battle appeared at the forward positions of the enemy at the same time. The Red Army soldiers braved the layers of interceptive fire arranged by the squadron and charged fearlessly, the soldiers in front fell, and the soldiers behind stepped on the corpses. The circular position was filled with the shadows of the Red Army soldiers, who were dressed in cotton clothes. It looked bloated, but it was fleeting as they rolled forward. All the tanks and artillery of the squadron spewed flames in all directions with the highest firing speed, forming a wall of bullets in every path where the Red Army soldiers stormed. Near midnight, the fierce battle reached its peak, echoing with the blood flowing on the ground, was a group of dense flares rising over the battlefield about every five minutes, and the light bands composed of dozens of tracer bullets continued to pass parallel or cross under the white light of the flares. The night planes supported by the squadron dropped even more dazzling flares suspended by parachutes, which swayed like huge lanterns over the heads of the soldiers on both sides for a long time......"

"Of course, the backward crowd tactics of the Red Army were not completely ineffective. One of the Chinese positions was lost, and a large gap appeared in the ring position. It turned into a concave position. Sadly, it was bright again. The overwhelming Chinese planes again loomed over the heads of the Red Army. Tons of steel were thrown on the flesh and blood of the heroes of the Soviet Union......"

(To be continued)