"He's the kind of guy he is, and he'll do it." Rokossovsky smiled wryly with a depressed expression, "During the Civil War, I saw him more than once, galloping at the front of the cavalry company...... That's it, let's clean up the poor family and piece together a little strength. ”

However, time waits for no one. Taking advantage of the fact that the reinforcements of the Chinese army did not arrive, they took immediate action. First of all, it is necessary to figure out how many troops Colonel Lidyukov has. There is not much left, but there is still a little, and there are still a few tanks of the "T-34" type, which were originally transferred from the 5th Motorized Mechanized Corps of General Alexeiyenko. Rokossovsky's reserve had two anti-tank artillery battalions. One battalion has been allocated to Lidyukov. There was also a machine-gun company and several infantry companies. It is important to note that General Rokossovsky had pre-positioned these forces in the dense forest around the village of Pochinka, that is, south of Dorogob. It is estimated that the Chinese army, in order to bring its two groups of Yaltsevo and Yernya, together is likely to carry out a surprise attack in this direction. Constantine? Konstantinovich was not miscalculated.

In the evening, the liaison officers of the Rokossovsky command came to the Pochnok area, where the reserve of the army group was not large, but some. These troops were scattered and distributed, ranging from near and far, and it took great difficulty to assemble in one place, a pine forest, east of the Dnieper, near the village of Soloveyevo.

Some of the detachments had to pass through muddy field dirt roads, while others were oriented by a compass and walked through patches of undulating meadows, peat bogs, and puddles in designated directions. As they walked through impassable swamps, the infantry dismantled the thin branches of aspen, alder and camphor trees, made them into ski-like "brooms" and tied them to their boots. A signal soldier was so distressed that he burst into tears when he saw that everyone had come to ask for a telephone line for this, and that it was cut into sections.

This can be said to be a small invention in war. The people exhausted their last strength, and the detachments finally rushed to the designated pine forest before dawn and at the appointed time, and assembled on standby.

Colonel Lidyukov sent a messenger to the forest lord and summoned the commanders of the various units to the edge of the forest, met with them, and learned about the strength and technical equipment of the detachments. Everything was done quickly and neatly, but without panic. Lidyukov was shrewd, capable, decisive, and his call for unity and forcefulness, all of which made a deep impression. Before engaging the enemy, it is necessary to pass through a 3-kilometer stretch of flooded grass that is almost completely open. This meadow is between the pine forest and the Solovievo ferry. Until then, machine gunners, riflemen, gunners, mortar gunners and tankers had to work together.

The artillery could not be drawn without mules and horses, so the commander of the artillery battalion asked for the assistance of the infantry when the horses were fired upon by the Chinese army. Lidyukov put together an artillery battalion and an infantry battalion, with one gun for each infantry squad.

However, the most difficult thing for Lidyukov was to overcome the sense of alienation among the officers, among the "rabble". The army is like a complex of many large families, with regiments, battalions, and companies all being big families, and almost all the members of these families know each other and trust each other. If this kind of "family" is engaged in the fight, everyone can unite and help each other. But now, when people are suddenly drawn from these "families" and mixed with "unfamiliar" detachments, they are given a completely unexpected task, and many people do not understand the significance of this task for the time being, but they understand that this task is extremely dangerous, and many will never return.

Lidyukov had to go to all corners of the forest to lobby, try to explain the reason concisely to the people, and then give orders to the officers so that they would know the necessary and possible surnames to carry out the task, and above all, to make everyone absolutely trust him, Colonel Lidyukov, and trust that he would trust everyone. He was open and honest with everyone, explaining the danger and arduousness of the task, and then he actually used miraculous means to dismantle the barriers between him and everyone, and he dispelled everyone's doubts with his simple faith. He rejoiced, and everyone under his command now understood that this battle was a great honor for a warrior, for it would be a battle of the key castes, and would determine the future of this war, and that the name would go down in history more than the survival of life. This is the great emotion of the soldier who sees death as if he were at home, and they know that even if he dies under projectiles and flying shrapnel, even if he falls silently, his comrades-in-arms will write to his family before the command sends a notice of death, saying that the breadwinner of this family, or the future adoptive family, is no longer alive, that he has been buried in the land of Smolensk in the battle to defend the Motherland.

And he did. Lidyukov was an outstanding figure, he knew the hearts of people very well, he knew several foreign languages, he was good at convincing those who listened to him with warm and subtle language, with concise gestures, and with simple and understandable truths, so that they could see the situation at the front as if they were there, and he was good at analyzing, convincing everyone that it was not only extremely necessary, but also that it was possible to reverse the declining situation, and that those who contributed to this would surely be duly praised.

Lidyukov was not a hoarse orator, but he could open people's hearts effortlessly. He could always find words that could be said in a different way.

There is a question: whether to attack after the artillery fire is ready, or to make a surprise attack. However, I could not achieve a surname suddenly. It was dawn, and people had gone through long journeys and arduous transfers, with undecided respite and physical strength. There is a three-kilometer open field ahead. It has to be done in one go to get through...... I'm afraid that the Chinese army will wipe out all the people on the Dnieper River and approach the ground.

Colonel Lidyukov chose a firing position in an overgrown grove next to the forest and decided to carry out artillery preparation. The moment has finally come, when the sun has stained the waves of the Dnieper red, and the village of Solovyevo has been destroyed by bombing and shelling, nearly half of which is clearly visible through optical instruments. At present, the newly dug trenches and some machine-gun erection sites facing east of the Chinese army's breastwork have been drawn on the artillery drawing boards, and the firing costs for these targets have also been calculated. At this time, small detachments were formed among the infantry, which were good at swimming, because the boat bridge crossing on the Dnieper River had been destroyed. Everything is ready to go.

At the sound of an order, dozens of artillery pieces raised their muzzles and spewed flames. Like countless thunderbolts breaking through the dark clouds and dancing wildly, the west bank of the Ho Dnieper River bombarded with sweeping momentum.

The guns were aimed at targets in the vicinity of the village of Solovievo and shelled for more than an hour. A smoke-filled encirclement rose around the village. Colonel Lidyukov decided that the time had come, he gave the order, the signal flares took to the sky, and the whole line began to strike.

In the village of Solovyevo, the Chinese saw through the gaps in the willow bushes along the Dnieper River, saw the swarming shock troops, and immediately began to shoot. At this time, it was only 200 meters from the Dnieper. And machine guns, mortars, part of the artillery, as well as the fire of groups of submachine gunners, fired fiercely. Under the dense guns and bullets of the Chinese army and the splash of shrapnel, the casualties of the Soviet attacking troops increased. On the muddy meadows, trampled by thousands of Soviet soldiers, there were many dead and wounded. The sound of shell explosions of the Chinese army came and went, and many Soviet troops took refuge in a hurry.

Colonel Lidyukov, together with the shock troops, ran towards the village of Solovyevo, and in the midst of the fighting, he could only see some people around him, and behind him were some officers of the command. Sensing that the momentum of the impact might be about to fail, and that the fighters might lie down and that there was little chance of getting them back to their feet, he caught up with a light tank that was ahead of him, and despite the fact that the engine burned his hands, he leapt onto the armor plate and grabbed the handle of the turret.

"Comrades!" He shouted, "Party members and comrades, we must not discredit our battle flag!" Advance! The Dnieper is right in front of you! ……… Ulla! ”

He jumped out of the tank again, shouting "Ula!" without pause. ", rushed towards the Dnieper River in front of him.

He did not remember how he managed to get a Chinese submachine gun, but he rushed into the water, believing that the car carrying the bridge was running behind, and that he would do whatever it takes, even his own life, to ensure that the sappers could quickly erect a bridge across the river. He also believes that at least dozens of others have followed his example. He wasn't wrong. Hundreds of swimmers followed Lidyukov and rushed into the Dnieper. This section of the river is not very wide. On the west bank of the river, a hand-to-hand combat began.

This is exactly what the Chinese fighters could not ask for. They are the best at hand-to-hand combat. After a fierce battle, the Soviets retreated along the steep slope of the vegetable garden, and they ran to the only remaining houses, but there was no way to escape.

However, they also pinned their hopes on their air force, on the pincer offensive of the tanks of the brigade. But the counterattack of the Chinese army had already begun, a large number of Chinese planes flew in, destroyed a large number of Soviet tanks, slaughtered the Soviet infantry, and the Soviet defense line collapsed.

On the front line, when the situation is unclear and there is often an atmosphere of anticipation, the anxious and painstaking commander-in-chief always makes one or another combat determination based on the strength of the enemy and our troops, the actions of the enemy troops, and the deployment of our troops. The mediocre commander admits this rule, but this rule follows. And the real generals, although they also follow this rule, are good at using their brains, surprising the enemy, and finding countermeasures to defeat the enemy.

As a commander-in-chief, if he can get rid of the "established rules," or more precisely, if he can break the shackles of this ideology, he will be able to free his hands and feet, deal with it with ease, and set the most necessary and appropriate combat determination, which is easy for his subordinates to understand.

But things are complicated, and there are not many options to choose from. As a commander-in-chief, we should not forget this, and we should also know that the enemy generals are also very scheming, and on the basis of analyzing the troop dispositions of the two belligerents, they will certainly anticipate which "chess" our side will play; therefore, when making up our minds, we must also have a "clever plan" to surprise the enemy, or to further maneuver and warp firepower, or to use reserves, or to throw in the main force to strike at the enemy in a direction that has not yet been perceived.

Marshal Timoshenko was gifted and proven. His "clever plan" of attacking the enemy forces from five directions at the same time and carrying out a joint offensive campaign with five group-level clusters was approved by the base camp. After this battle, the Chinese army may lose the opportunity to maneuver its main groups and reserves. Twenty divisions of the Red Army had been drawn from the reserve front and placed under the command of Timoshenko. With such a large force in his hands, he felt much more at ease in his heart. At the same time, the 16th and 20th armies, trapped in the "Smolensk encirclement", were still constantly striking at the enemy, and this should also be taken into account. Everything seems to be in place. The marshal was confident that he would not only drive the enemy out of Smolensk, but also, following Stalin's instructions, drive the enemy east across the Dnieper.

However, the Eastern Front did not complete this task. Neither the base camp nor the front headquarters expected that the roads would be washed away due to heavy rains in the near future. Coupled with a number of other reasons, the Soviet divisions were not able to assemble on time to the area of departure of the offensive. The main reason was that it did not foresee that in order to seize Moscow and the surrounding important cities of the Soviet Union, the Chinese army transferred a number of new troops to the country.

War is a contest of power. At dawn on June 1, after a long period of artillery bombardment, the Chinese army launched a counteroffensive in the direction of Roslavl. One tank corps and two infantry corps, which had just been transferred from the country, were also brought into battle. At about 5 p.m., about 500 Chinese tanks, together with motorized infantry, rushed along the road to Roslavl towards Zvenchatka. Hundreds of Chinese planes continuously bombed Kacharov's troops. On the evening of June 3, the Chinese army completed the campaign encirclement of the Kacharov Army group. The next day, Kacharov's command was under siege. There really couldn't be a more spectacular scene than this.

The command post of General Kacharov was located in the forest near the village of Stodorishe. He took measures to relieve the headquarters from breaking through the encirclement, and ordered the 149th Infantry Division to break through the enemy encirclement with one regiment in the village of Resovka, so that the personnel of the headquarters could break out of the cage. The regiment delayed its arrival in the designated area and engaged in a fierce battle with the Chinese troops stranded in the village. The Chinese army was repulsed. The personnel of the headquarters braved the artillery fire and followed the regiment. But it was blocked when walking in a southeasterly direction. A fierce battle ensued, but in any case inferior to the enemy. The officers of the command, headed by the military commissar and brigade-level political commissar Kolesnikov, charged towards the skirmish line of the Chinese army that launched the attack.

But to no avail. At that time, General Kacharov, in a command tank, also rushed to the site of the fierce battle. On the edge of the village of Starinok, a Chinese artillery shell penetrated the tank's armor and exploded inside...... Death of the entire crew, Vladimir? Yakovlevich? Lieutenant General Kacharov was killed. The divisions to which the cluster belonged suffered heavy losses.

The other clusters continued to engage in encounters. The divisions under the command of Rokossovsky never stopped storming, but with little success. The clusters of generals Khomenko, Kalinin, Maslennikov and others pushed the Chinese army back only a few kilometers. This shows that the air force support is weak, the number of tanks and artillery is insufficient, and the preparations for the campaign are too hasty.

Soviet troops in the Smolensk direction were exhausted. On June 7, the Chinese army completed its plan to take Moscow.

In the evening, almost all members of the Politburo came to Stalin's underground shelter. Suddenly, Zhukov unequivocally told him that the counteroffensive of five clusters of Soviet troops would make due progress. Stalin, who had not yet recovered from his wounds under the bombardment of the Chinese army, was even more depressed.

Although the Chinese army was expelled from its positions in many places and suffered heavy losses, from an operational point of view, it did not suffer a fatal blow. The terrible thing is that the Chinese army has invested a lot of reserves in some areas, and it is clear that it has the upper hand...... General Kacharov's cluster has been encircled, and I am afraid that there will not be many people who can break through the enemy's blockade. It is rumored that Kacharov seems to have been captured...... It's unbelievable. Who saw it with their own eyes? It seems to be an adjutant, or something. The military commissar, brigade commissar Kolesnikov and the head of the political department of the army group, Colonel-General Tereshkin, were summoned to report to Stalin, and they told Mehlis that it was hard to imagine that General Kacharov would be willing to take prisoner. Mehris criticized them as "politically naïve...... As a result, the Politburo adopted a resolution informing the combat units condemning General Kacharov's apostasy...... But this does not make up for the dilemma at the front. Stalin's heart was heavy, and he thought twice about taking measures to adjust the positions of the military commanders. In mid-June, he proposed to Zhukov that the chief of staff of the Eastern Front, Lieutenant General Malankin, be removed from his post and replaced by Deputy Chief of the General Staff Sokolovsky, who would be his deputy...... The appointment of the new Chief of Staff seems expected to improve the effectiveness of the command of the troops and to strengthen contacts with the General Staff and the base camps, but this is not sufficient...... Stalin often thought of Timoshenko, and gradually strengthened his opinion, and it seemed that he could no longer take on this important task. As if looking for an answer to the question that had afflicted him, he surveyed the faces of the Politburo members, and then, turning to the open window, he looked out into the forest around the villa. Then, questioning nonchalantly, his thoughts were chaotic, and his voice was full of sorrow: "If we return Comrade Timoshenko from the Western Front, maybe the situation there will improve?" ”

"Who's going to take over?" Kalinin was the first to answer.

"It should be discussed with Zhukov." Molotov suggested. "Soldiers may be able to see more accurately."

As a result, Timoshenko was summoned to the General Staff to study the situation at the front. After receiving a phone call from Boskerebeshev, he went to this secret location with Zhukov. They walked in and reported to Stalin that they had come on order. Stalin shook his plaster arm and whispered in a tone that was obviously not fully certain: "That's so...... The Politburo discussed the work of Timoshenko during his tenure as commander of the Eastern Front and decided to remove him from his post...... It was proposed that Zhukov take over...... What's your opinion on this? ”

Timoshenko's carefully shaved, tired face turned slightly pale, his eyes became gloomy, and the corners of his mouth twitched. He wanted to say something, but he stopped talking, and his eyes showed displeasure.

(To be continued)