"Inform the General Staff!"

The staff officer replied succinctly with a "yes" and turned to walk out of the living room. Yang Shuoming had just turned his gaze back to Peng Tao when another civilian official hurriedly walked over.

"President, the Swiss delegation is here."

"What do they say?"

"They said that as far as they knew, there were still doubts on the German side, and whether or not we could completely defeat the Soviet Union and the Soviet Union was the key to the peace talks."

Yang Shuoming frowned slightly, pondered for a while, and looked at him directly, his eyes were resolute and bright: "Through relevant channels, I will reveal a message to overseas newspapers that we are about to prepare to use a powerful weapon against the Soviet Union and carry out the final blow!" ”

The civilian looked at him, paused for a moment, and asked, "If a foreign journalist asks about this, how do you answer?" ”

"'No comment.'"

Yang Shuoming had already stood up. A waitress came over to put on a coat for Yang Shuoming, and two more soldiers, Yang Shuoming's guard and secretary, walked over, standing beside the old man on the left and on the right. The civilian official wrote down Yang Shuoming's words in a large book he carried with him, looked up, and said, "Then I'll do it immediately!" Yang Shuoming nodded. The civilian officials are gone. Yang Shuoming stood, and Peng Tao also stood up.

At this moment, Yang Shuoming moved his gaze to him again.

"Well, at seven o'clock I'm going to see a foreign delegation. You have just arrived at the 16th Division as a division commander? …… That unit is good, it is the old foundation of the original Hunan Army Protector Army, and it is a meritorious unit. Do your job. …… Go back and ask your mother for me, I have time to see her, and ...... old Peng"

Yang Shuoming said as he moved his steps outside the door. Peng Tao followed him to the door, watched him get into the car, and the car drove away almost immediately.

…… That night, because he was too far away from home, Peng Tao still spent time in the headquarters guest house.

Lying on the soft Simmons bed, Peng Tao recalled the whole process of Yang Shuoming's meeting with him one by one, and was surprised to find that the fierceness and emotion that the battle of Mount Kibiv brought to his heart, which had been boiling like magma, suddenly disappeared.

His eyes widened in the darkness. It was everything he saw and heard in the few minutes that Yang Shuoming met him that made him no longer just look back at the battle of Mount Kibiv with his own eyes, but also as if he could look back at the battle of Mount Kibiv with Yang Shuoming's eyes. For the first time, he was deeply aware that, in fact, in the eyes of this leader, who shouldered the future and destiny of the country and the nation, in his heart, and in his life, wars between nations were going on every day, and wars were wars on a global scale. Under such a gaze, both the battles in the Kibiv Mountains and around Moscow are small corners and events in the huge and dynamic chess game of war and peace that unfold on the planet all the time. The smoke of gunpowder and the flames of war in the Kibiv Mountains are only a wisp of light smoke from the vast land, sea, and space occupied by mankind. For him, the Kibiv Mountain War did not and will never pass, but for Yang Shuoming and the history of the Chinese nation defending the country, it has passed. Yang Shuoming received him, or he just wanted to meet him, a son of an old subordinate who was famous for the battle of Mount Inkibiv and aroused his memories and interest.

Two weeks later, Peng Tao returned to the battlefield.

On the outskirts of Minsk, the Soviet front.

The curtain of the tent was lifted, and the forest was shrouded in blue fog outside the door. Rokossovsky was lying on a narrow iron bed covered with a thin mattress and covered with a raincoat. He pulled the stinging blanket over his body and looked out at the forest. He woke up as if he had been pushed, but still didn't feel like he had slept enough. It was about to dawn, and the darkness in the forest had just begun to recede, and it was time to sleep a little longer. Still, Konstantin? Konstantinovich was no longer sleepy, he lifted the blanket, as if he had been burned, and jumped out of bed. The grass in the tent was covered with cold dew, and the general took off his boots and slept on an exception, so that his feet could rest. He covered himself with a blanket again and lay down: "Suo will lie down for another five minutes......"

The dew on the grass seemed to wake him up and remind him of strange nightly dreams...... Rokossovsky met General Chumakov at the intersection of the main Minsk highway and a short road to Vyazma, and said goodbye in a hurry, and it has been two weeks since he talked to him, and he has never forgotten it. Constantine? Konstantinovich asked what Chumakov's main experience was after several battles, and he often recalled Chumakov's answer. At that time, I felt that his words were too cliché, and everyone knew it: "...... To devote the maximum force to the defense of tanks and it is necessary to master a part of the artillery anti-tank reserve...... There was also a correspondence...... "Today, in a hazy dream, he heard these words again, but for some reason they came not from General Chumakov, but from his late father Ksaveri?" The Mouth of Yusuf. It was a strange and strange thing, for whenever his father appeared in his dreams, he was silent, though there was always an indescribably strange look in his eyes. Constantine? Konstantinovich knew very well why his deceased father blamed him, and every time he woke up, he felt that he had irreparable sins in front of his father, so his heart was heavy and sullen. His original name was Konstantin? Ksavievich, even he himself did not expect that in the twenties, he would change his name to Konstantinovich, at that time in order to save trouble, because in various materials, the word Ksaveri is often written incorrectly. In the end, he will be wrong, and the surname Suo will no longer call himself Ksavilievich.

As the years passed, his knowledge and intellect grew greatly, and he learned that the surnames of his loving parents were sacred and unreadable, and then he began to feel guilty, and this guilt was often transformed into dreams, and in vague dreams he saw the face of his father, who was distantly and had vague memories.

General Rokossovsky was not superstitious, he did not believe in bad omens and nightmares, but today's dreams uneasy him, troubled his heart, and made him think about the past and the future. I don't know where the trouble will come from. In fact, he should be prepared at all times, and he knows this. He knew that he and his troops were on the cusp of war.

He seemed to see the ancient city of Smolensk, which was shrouded in magical legends and was itself a history of Russian affairs, through a space not far away. Now, at this moment of life and death, Smolensk stands as majestic as the giant rocks that rise above the sky on Russian soil, and the city has always stood in the rough waves of the enemy invasion. It stood upright, fought, and summoned Russian reinforcements from near and far in battle...... Yesterday evening, the liaison officer, Captain Bezusov, returned from General Lukin's 16th Army. His face, with its deep-set brown eyes, looked sleepy and depressed, but his mood seemed excited and excited. Constantine? Konstantinovich knew that not far from here, at the two crossings of Soloveyevo and Racha through the Dnieper, thousands of cars, tens of thousands of wounded soldiers, refugees and breakouts would be in chaos, where you would quarrel to the death, and he imagined that Captain Bezusov had come through the cracks of the crowd under constant bombardment and continuous artillery fire. At this moment, he felt that he was the lucky one on the battlefield, as if he had returned from "another world". When Captain Bezusov reported what he had seen and heard in Smolensk and in General Lukin's troops, Rokossovsky felt that as if he had been there in the Russian city where the battle had been fought, and at the same time with Captain Bezusov, his heart was stirred, a feeling of awe and fear that can only be found when he saw a scene of unimaginable grandeur and indescribability.

The lieutenant brought back with him a copy of the combat report from the headquarters of the 16th Army to the command of the Front, which was printed on tattered carbon paper, but the handwriting was still legible.

General Lukin wrote excitedly; "From April 15 to April 16, the enemy decided to strengthen the offensive forces in Smolensk. The 137th Infantry Division of the Eighth Infantry Corps of the Medium [***] Infantry has been dispatched along the north bank of the Dnieper River to prepare for a surprise assault on the rear of the 152nd Infantry Division, which is attacking from the west towards the eastern Smolensk sector. The commander of the 152nd Infantry Division, Colonel Chernyshev, was calm and composed. He attacked with two regiments, leaving two regiments in reserve (one of which was formed under the leadership of Alexander Rov from units scattered by the nineteenth, twentieth and other armies). Early in the morning, according to the reconnaissance department, a huge column of enemy infantry, artillery and vehicles was gathering in the woods in the front line of our 6th ** Infantry Regiment west of Smolensk. Colonel Chernishev seized the opportune moment and opened heavy fire on pre-aimed targets with fire from four artillery regiments, two artillery battalions, two artillery regiments of the headquarters reserve, and vehicle-mounted twin and quadruple anti-aircraft machine guns. The enemy camp was in chaos. ”

"The 6th Infantry Regiment under the command of Major Arakveljan and the 'patchwork' Infantry Regiment under the command of Colonel Aleksandrov were deployed before the enemy and turned to the offensive. The battle was short-lived, but the enemy suffered heavy losses. This was actually the Eighth Infantry Corps of the enemy's Ninth Army, which supplemented the 137th Infantry Division of Kazakh soldiers. …… A large amount of booty was captured, and more than 300 enemies were captured. Many of our soldiers are equipped with Chinese-made submachine guns......"

Then, in his report to the Front, General Lukin wrote that during this period, the guerrillas showed unheard-of bravery, heroism, and the ability to coordinate their actions with the troops, and they began to give no small help to the army group. Leading this partisan detachment was the "daddy" sent by Moscow - Nikifor? Zakharovich? Kolyada, he was a man of extraordinary courage and extraordinary bravery.

This Niki Fore mentioned in the report? Kolyada, Rokossovsky's memories reminded him of the distant past during the Civil War when he was the commander of the 35th Cavalry Regiment of the 35th Infantry Division. At that time, Rokossovsky's regiment was stationed in the vicinity of the village of Zheltulinskaya, and was responsible for blocking the Soviet-Mongolian border area against attacks by the Sukharev bandits and Baron Winganlon's large white cavalry. At that time, he was directed at the military commissar of the Primorsky region, Niki For? Zakharovich? Kolyada's name has been heard for a long time. And the most famous leader of the partisans in the Far East, Peter? Xie Jingkin, at that time he was also leading the guerrilla movement, but in Siberia. During the battle against the Wenganlun bandits, Xie Jingkin's troops merged with Rokossovsky's cavalry regiment...... Sekyonkin and Rokossovsky fought in the village of Zheltulinskaya, and both were awarded the Order of the Red Banner at the same time, so there were rumors that it seemed that he was the one who captured Baron Winganren - Konstantin? Rokossovsky, as a result he had to make a written statement that this was not the case. The leader of the white bandits was captured by a Cossack cavalry patrol, who was later handed over to the partisans, while Rokossovsky merely interrogated him and ordered him to be escorted to Novoshinbirsk, where the baron was sentenced to death by the Revolutionary Tribunal.

Later, at the end of the twenties, Peter? Xie Jingkin served as an instructor of the Siberian border troops and an instructor of the 11th Cavalry Division of Rokossovsky. At the time of Xie Jingkin's death, Rokossovsky had witnessed the ...... And Nikifor, who was then the leader of the partisan detachments in the Primorsky region and is now the leader of the Smopossk region? The image of Kolyada resurfaced in his mind at this moment.

Yes, war is a test of strength. Wen Ganlun? Feng? Sternberg is long gone. The Germans on the Baltic Sea had delusional hopes of occupying Mongolia from the east, and then using Mongolia as a base to attack and eliminate Soviet power, only to be driven away by the Chinese. And now, the Chinese are attacking Russia from the east with unprecedented force, and he, Rokossovsky, is ordered to withstand this strong enemy in the most critical directions.

The most important directions...... Artsevo, Vopi and Minsk-Moscow highways. The armored tanks of the Chinese Army Group "Center" were like a curved bow, buckled with powerful arrows, and the steel arrows pointed directly at the area. This was clearly known as early as when Major General Rokossovsky went to the Kasna station of the Western Front headquarters to meet with the military commissar of the front and the head of the political department of the front, Lestyev. Everyone's faces were gloomy and depressed. It was only when Rokossovsky reported that he had been ordered to come "on a mission" that Timoshenko smiled slightly and shook hands tightly, expressing his long-awaited reunion...... The comrades-in-arms of the cavalry met again. That's where Timoshengo began.

"Forget all the old tactics of cavalry. Your mission now is to deal with the enemy's powerful tank and motorized corps. Then he briefly talked about the situation of the Western Front. As far as General Rokossovsky understood, his remarks could be summed up in the fact that the enemy's Army Group "Center" had broken through the Red Army defenses in several sectors and penetrated deep into the interior of the Soviet Union, and its main purpose was to encircle and destroy the Red Army Corps in the Nevel, Smolensk and Mogilev regions. Having succeeded in many respects, the squadron decided that the Soviet Red Army in the strategic direction of Moscow was exhausted and vulnerable, so it decided not to wait for the arrival of the 9th and 2nd Field Armies, which were fighting against the "besieged" Soviet troops in the eastern zone, to divide the Eastern Front in several directions with the 2nd and 3rd Panzer Clusters and advance towards Smolensk.

Rokossovsky went around the operations and intelligence departments of the headquarters and was in a bad mood. Due to the loss of contact with Konev's 19th Army and Yershakov's 22nd Army, the staff of these two divisions were very anxious. A few hot-headed people even suggested that General Konev should be punished by military law, although no one knew what was happening in Konev's area.

Due to the sound of the air raid siren, it was not possible to go to the various parts of the headquarters again. In a short time, the Chinese Air Force began a long period of intensive bombing. A part of the anti-aircraft artillery battery covering the headquarters was suppressed by the artillery fire of the squadron [***], and the bombers swooped down on buildings, cellars and cars with impudence...... Rokossovsky has never seen such a situation yet...... The command suffered heavy losses.

On the march towards Vyazma, the parting words of Marshal Timoshenko sounded in his mind: "The normal replenishment of forces is about to be resolved, we will first give you two or three divisions to solve the urgent need, you can collect any troops and organize a counterattack against the enemy in the Yaltsevo region." At the same time, he was granted a letter saying that Rokossovsky had carte blanche to act in the name of the Military Council of the Western Front.

This was probably one of the last documents signed by Timoshenko in the name of the "People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR", because in two days the Politburo of the Central Committee decided to transfer this post to Stalin, and Timoshenko concentrated on the post of commander-in-chief in the east.

At night, the main Minsk-Moscow highway near Vyazma began to be noisy, and no one was worried about the attack of the bombers of the [***] squadron anymore. However, the car team led by Rokossovsky always stopped and went. He was in a disguised "Guiss-101" car. Chief of Staff Sergey? Pavlovich Tarasov sat in the cab of one of the trucks in the back. More than 20 officers sat in the compartment of the truck and in the car with quadruple anti-aircraft guns. Most of these people were proficient in the infantry profession and had just graduated from the Frunze Military Academy. This is the command of the army cluster of Major General Rokossovsky.

Just on the line of the road from Minsk to Moscow, the command began to work, like a solid barrage to block the movement of pedestrians and convoys. Rokossovsky personally, together with the personnel of the command, found out what kind of troops were going in the direction of Vyazma. These are the remnants of some Red Army units that were scattered by the [***] team, some of them were people who broke out of the encirclement in groups, and some were stragglers who broke away from the troops. Thus, in the midst of them, responsible persons were appointed, their names and the numbers of their former units were registered, and the places to which they should go immediately were indicated on the map. Most of these sites are located in the woods near the Vopi River, on both sides of the main Minsk-Moscow highway, and not far from Yaltsevo. If you don't have a map, you can immediately draw a sketch on a blank sheet of paper and mark the objects above. Each designated person in charge should report to the Rokossovsky command at the designated place......

(To be continued)