When Rokossovsky heard Bogolyubov address him, he changed from general so-and-so to commander, which showed that the other party began to accept him. He smiled slightly and said to the other party: "Comrade Chief of Staff,
Please hurry up and make a phone call."
"Yes!" Bogolyubov brushed aside half an hour's decadence and replied energetically: "I will call Major General Pukhov immediately and order him to move to the Korosten area as soon as possible."
A few minutes later, Pukhov, commander of the 13th Army, received a call from Bogolyubov: "Major General Pukhov, are your troops ready for combat?"
"Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff." Pukhov replied solemnly: "I have just returned from the troops below. The commanders and soldiers are ready for battle and are ready to cooperate with the 38th Group Army to launch a counterattack against Zhytomyr."
"Major General Pukhov, the mission of your army has been adjusted." Bogolyubov waited for the other party to finish speaking, and immediately corrected: "You no longer need to rush to support the 38th Army, but turn northwest to assist the 60th Army
Army group captures Korosten."
"What, assist the 60th Group Army in capturing Korosten?" Pukhov couldn't help but secretly complain when he heard this order, because his leading division had now left Kiev and was heading towards the Kiev-Zhytomyr highway.
Advance westward, preparing to join the retreating 38th Group Army. He said aggrievedly: "But my leading division has already set off and is preparing to rush along the road to join the 38th Group Army."
"Immediately order the leading division to change its marching direction and move towards the Korosten area." Bogolyubov was deeply afraid that the other party would not take this order seriously, and specifically emphasized: "This is an order issued by General Rokossovsky on behalf of the base camp.
Orders must be carried out unconditionally."
When Pukhov heard that the order was given by Rokossovsky, he was surprised and asked: "What, the order was given by General Rokossovsky? When did he become the representative of the base camp?"
"Today," Bogolyubov replied briefly: "In order to save the situation in Kiev, the Supreme Command temporarily appointed General Rokossovsky as the representative of the base camp and came to our headquarters to assist in commanding operations. But since then
From now on, he has taken over the command of the entire army, so you must obey his orders unconditionally. Do you understand?"
Pukhov couldn't help but be overjoyed to learn that Rokossovsky had taken over the command of the front troops. He knew very well that Rokossovsky's ability to command operations was far better than that of Vatutin.
Commanding the troops will definitely reverse the current unfavorable situation. He quickly replied loudly: "Understood, Comrade Chief of Staff, I will immediately order someone to notify the vanguard division and ask them to change their marching direction and advance towards the Korosten area."
Bogolyubov waited for Pukhov to finish his statement, and then continued: "General Pukhov, once your army assists the 60th Army in capturing Korosten, it will dispatch troops to Chernobyl and Pripya.
The quarterly movement echoed the Belarusian Front troops moving south, making it impossible for the enemy to mobilize sufficient strength to launch a new attack on Korosten."
"Don't worry, Comrade Chief of Staff." Now that he knew that Rokossovsky was now commanding the troops, Pukhov felt much more at ease. "I will definitely carry out the new combat orders to the letter."
"Very good, then we are waiting to hear your good news."
After Bogolyubov put down the phone, he immediately reported to Rokossovsky: "Comrade Commander, I have conveyed your order to the 13th Army. The Army Commander Major General Pukhov told me that his leader
The division is moving along the road in the direction of Zhitomir, and he will order the troops to turn to the Korosten area as soon as possible."
After hearing this, Rokossovsky nodded slightly and said to Bogolyubov: "Whether Kiev can be defended depends entirely on the 60th and 13th armies. When can they capture Korosten to disperse the main force of the German army?"
the goal of."
When it came to resolving the crisis in Kiev, Rokossovsky considered it very carefully. He felt that if Vatutin followed Vatutin's approach and placed all the troops inside and outside Kiev, then the Germans might repeat the same thing.
They used the tactics they used in 1941 to encircle the Soviet army in the Kiev area and try to win a similar victory. Once something goes wrong with the Soviet army in the Kiev area, the good situation they finally obtained with great difficulty will be ruined.
Lose.
And he sent the 13th Army outside the city of Korosten to assist the 60th Army there to seize the city. Once the city is liberated, the two armies can divide their forces, with one part continuing to hold on to the newly liberated city, while the other part will turn around.
Go north and cooperate with friendly forces in Belarus.
Rokossovsky called the director of the Communications Corps in front of him and told him: "Comrade Director of the Communications Corps, please help me get through to the Belarusian Front. I want to speak to Chief of Staff Malinin."
The call was quickly connected. Malinin heard Rokossovsky's voice and immediately asked with concern: "Comrade Commander, I heard that you were appointed as the representative of the base camp and sent to the First Ukrainian Front.
How are you? Are you there?"
"Yes, I have already arrived at the new headquarters." After Rokossovsky briefly answered the other party's question, he said to Malinin casually as usual: "And I have just taken over the command of the troops.
From now on, I can command the Belarusian Front and the 1st Ukrainian Front at the same time."
Hearing the news, Ma Lining couldn't help but be overjoyed and said repeatedly: "Great, Comrade Commander, this is great. In this way, you can adjust the deployment of troops and choose the direction of attack in a timely manner according to the situation on the battlefield.
This enables us to take the initiative on more battlefields."
"Comrade Chief of Staff, I think about it this way." Rokossovsky knew that if he wanted the troops of the two fronts to coordinate on the battlefield, he had to explain it to Malinin, so as not to cause communication problems between the two troops.
During the attack on the German army, there was again a situation of separate operations.
He said into the microphone: "Gomel has been liberated by our army. It can be used as a transfer point for our supplies. You must stockpile enough weapons, ammunition and military supplies there as soon as possible to ensure that when our army fights in Belarus,
We can get all kinds of supplies in a timely manner.”
Rokossovsky's words reminded Malinin of Vatutin. The Kharkov counterattack at the beginning of the year was initiated by Vatutin on his own initiative. He misjudged the situation and believed that the Soviet army had been completely wiped out in Stalingrad.
After Paulus's 6th Army, the German army fell into a rout. Vatutin wanted to change the situation of the war with the offensive he led, instigating the Soviet army to launch a general attack on Manstein's headquarters, and eventually eat up the entire Southern Army Group.
At that time, Vatutin commanded the Southwest Front and broke through more than 600 kilometers of the German defense line, more than 200 kilometers away from the nearest supply point. In order for Vatutin to completely defeat the German army on the left bank of the Dnieper River, the Supreme Command specially dispatched the entire Voronezh Front army to come for reinforcements.
.However, not only did it not achieve the goal of the campaign, but it also allowed the German army to make a beautiful turnaround, and it was also the highlight of Manstein's military career.
Although the failure of the Kharkov counterattack caused heavy losses to various Soviet units, Vatutin was punished very lightly. Although the post of commander of the Southwestern Front was removed, he was soon reassigned to the Voronezh Front.
Commander. But Golikov, the former commander of the Voronezh Front, became his scapegoat.
"Comrade Commander, you can rest assured on this." Malining replied respectfully: "As long as it is an order you give me, I will execute it unconditionally."
"Very good." Rokossovsky continued: "I have ordered the 13th Army to move towards the Korosten area and prepare to assist the 60th Army fighting there to capture the city. Once the city falls into our hands,
The 13th Army will allocate part of its forces and advance towards Chernobyl and Pripyat. At that time, you can send a force south and advance towards these two cities, forcing the Germans to divide their forces for defense.
, thereby reducing the pressure on our army in offense and defense."
After Malinin waited for Rokossovsky to finish speaking, he thought for a while, and then said: "Comrade Commander, if I understand correctly, you think it is best to connect the combat areas of the two fronts so that they can
We supported each other in the battle."
"Yes, I do have such an idea." Rokossovsky said: "Although we have been taking the offensive, there are still residual German forces among the various front armies. In order to prevent these enemies from attacking our defense area
and transportation lines pose a threat, we also need to deploy a certain amount of troops to defend them, so that the offensive power of the front line will be weakened in disguise."
After ending the call with Malinin, Rokossovsky held the microphone and thought for a while, feeling that he should have a call with Chernyakhovsky, commander of the 60th Group Army, to learn about the situation in the Korosten area.
.
When the director of the communications corps learned that Rokossovsky wanted to contact the 60th Army, he didn't dare to neglect it. He answered the phone in less than three minutes. Rokossovsky put the phone to his ear and heard a voice coming from inside.
He came out and immediately said: "Please help me find General Chernyakhovsky."
"The commander is observing the enemy situation outside. I am the chief of staff of the group army." The person who answered the phone was the chief of staff of the group army. He didn't know who was calling, so he spoke without any scruples: "If you have anything to say, just talk to me directly.
explain."
"I am Rokossovsky." After Rokossovsky said his name, considering that the other party may not know the position he currently holds, he added: "Now, as a representative of the base camp,
I took over the command of the 1st Ukrainian Front. In other words, I am now the acting commander of the front."
After the chief of staff understood Rokossovsky's identity, he quickly straightened up and said respectfully: "Hello, Comrade Acting Commander, do you have any instructions for us?"
"Send someone to bring Chernyakhovsky back. I have a task to give him."
"Understood." The chief of staff called a staff officer and told him: "Hurry up and invite Comrade Commander back. He said there is an important call and he needs to answer it in person."
After the staff left, the chief of staff quickly reported to Rokossovsky: "Comrade Acting Commander, I have ordered someone to ask for General Chernyakhovsky. I believe it won't be long before he can
Came to answer your call."
Rokossovsky knew very well that even if the Chief of Staff immediately sent someone to invite Chernyakhovsky, it would probably take a lot of time. The situation in Kiev was not good now, and Rokossovsky did not want to
After wasting too much time, I took advantage of Chernyakhovsky not coming over to learn about the situation in the Korosten area from the Chief of Staff.
"Comrade Chief of Staff, how is the situation there?" Rokossovsky asked kindly: "How long will it take for you to seize Korosten from the enemy's hands?"
"We have broken through the German perimeter defenses outside the city and are trying to rush into the city." The chief of staff replied: "But the German resistance was too tenacious. We attacked for two consecutive days, but still failed to reenter the city.
." He paused here, and after thinking about it in his mind, he added, "Comrade Acting Commander, our group army has been greatly weakened in the battle to liberate Kiev. Therefore, in the battle to capture the heavily fortified city of the German army,
The battle will be more difficult. If you can send us reinforcements, even a division or even a regiment, it might be able to play a decisive role in the battle."
"One division is too few, Comrade Chief of Staff." Rokossovsky said with a smile: "I can give you a group army so that you can seize Korosten from the Germans in the shortest possible time."
"What, give us reinforcements for a group army?" The chief of staff was stunned when he heard Rokossovsky's words. After a while, he asked in an uncertain tone: "Comrade Acting Commander, this is all
is that true?"
"Of course it's true." Rokossovsky replied: "In order to ensure that you can seize Korosten from the Germans in the shortest possible time, I decided to send General Pukhov's 13th Army
Towards you."
"Great, this is really great. As soon as the 13th Group Army arrives, our strength will be greatly strengthened." The chief of staff was just happy for a few seconds when he suddenly thought of a key question and asked quickly: "
The two armies are in the same area, who will be in command then?"
Rokossovsky knew very well that Chernyakhovsky, the commander of the 60th Army, not only had a higher military rank than Pukhov, but his commanding ability was also two levels higher, so he said without hesitation:
"When the 13th Army arrives, I will order them to resolutely obey your command."
"Comrade Chief of Staff," just as the Chief of Staff was overjoyed, Chernyakhovsky appeared at the entrance of the command department. As he walked inside, he asked: "Who are you calling?
?”
"It's General Rokossovsky." The chief of staff quickly replied: "It's the call from General Rokossovsky, commander of the Belarusian Front."
"General Rokossovsky?" Chernyakhovsky couldn't help but frowned after hearing what the chief of staff said. He muttered to himself: "Why did he call himself? Did he want to transfer himself?"
Going to the Belorussian Front?" In order to find out what was going on, he then asked, "Is there something wrong with him?"