Stalin did not expect that Rokossovsky would suddenly faint. He rushed to the door, opened the door, and said to Poskrebyshev who was sitting outside: "Poskrebyshev, Rokossovsky
Sovsky fainted, please find a doctor quickly!"
In just a few minutes, a doctor carrying a medical kit appeared at the door and said respectfully to Stalin: "Hello, Comrade Stalin, what can I do for you?"
Stalin didn't care about why the doctor came so quickly. He just urged him: "Comrade Rokossovsky has fainted. Come quickly and see what's going on?" The doctor did not dare to neglect and walked quickly.
He walked to the conference table, placed the medical kit on the table, opened the lid, took out the examination instruments, and began to examine Rokossovsky's body.
Stalin turned his head and saw Poskrebyshev standing at the door, peering inside. He walked over and asked, "Is he the doctor you arranged in advance?"
"Yes, Comrade Stalin." Poskrebyshev nodded quickly and replied truthfully: "When Marshal Rokossovsky came, his face was particularly ugly. I was worried that something might happen to him, so I prepared it in advance.
I called the doctor and asked him to wait in the next room."
"You did the right thing." After praising the other party, Stalin returned to the room and asked the doctor who was examining Rokossovsky: "What's wrong with him?"
The doctor stopped what he was doing and said to Stalin: "Comrade Stalin, Marshal Rokossovsky worked too hard and was under too much pressure, which caused the recurrence of old injuries and fainted. I suggest that he be sent to hospital immediately.
Going to the hospital for a comprehensive examination and recuperating for a period of time will be very helpful for his recovery."
With Stalin's permission, a stretcher was quickly carried to the office. Four strong guards lifted Rokossovsky onto the stretcher and carried him out. Not only the doctor and Ferdinand
Juninsky and the others followed, and even Stalin followed behind.
The reason why Stalin wanted to follow him out was because the stretcher was coming from his office. If he didn't show up in time, rumors would inevitably spread that he was seriously ill, which would be detrimental to military morale.
Impact.
Poskrebyshev followed Stalin closely, feeling that it was unnecessary for Stalin to do this. Even though Rokossovsky was a marshal, he did not come out personally with the stretcher carrying him. But soon
, he discovered how wise Stalin’s decision was. When the officers or leaders at all levels walking in the corridor saw a stretcher being carried out from Stalin’s office, they all had expressions of horror on their faces. But when they
When they saw clearly that Stalin himself was walking leisurely behind the stretcher, they couldn't help but heave a sigh of relief.
Stalin watched the ambulance carrying Rokossovsky go away, then turned and returned to his office. He dialed a phone number for Antonov and said to him: "Comrade Antonov, Rokossovsky
Sovski fainted during today's meeting. After the doctor's examination, it was a recurrence of an old injury and he may rest in the hospital for a while."
Antonov heard this and said carefully: "Comrade Stalin, the Second Belarusian Front has just changed its commander. I think it is a bit inappropriate to change the commander again at this time."
"You misunderstood, Comrade Antonov." Stalin's call to Antonov did not mean to change the commander of the front army again. "It is inappropriate to change the commander of the front army frequently at any period. I
The reason I am calling you is to tell you that Rokossovsky may have to stay in the hospital for a while. While he is away from the front line, you must arrange for someone to take over his job as soon as possible. If that doesn't work,
, let’s first transfer Zakharov back from the First Front Army and let him temporarily act as the commander of the Front Army.”
"Understood, Comrade Stalin." Antonov was relieved when he heard that Rokossovsky was not going to be fired. He quickly replied: "Deputy Commander Trubnikov has already taken office.
It has been three days, and he has basically understood the internal situation of the front army, so it is very appropriate for him to act as acting commander."
"Okay, let Trubnikov act as the commander of the front." Stalin did not want the Second Front to fall into chaos because of Rokossovsky's absence, so he agreed to Antonov's proposal:
"In addition, due to Rokossovsky's hospitalization, the five combined arms armies and one tank army originally assigned to the Second Front can be postponed for a few days."
"Understood, Comrade Stalin." Antonov replied: "I will arrange for the troops to be in place within a month, and Marshal Rokossovsky should have recovered and been discharged from the hospital by then."
Antonov was at the General Staff Headquarters, negotiating with Zhukov on the transfer of the 65th, 48th and 70th Group Armies of the First Front Army to the Second Front Army. After talking to Stalin and putting down the phone, he said
Zhukov, who was looking at a map by the wall, said: "Comrade Marshal, Marshal Rokossovsky suddenly fainted during a meeting in Stalin's office. He may not be able to return to the front line to command the troops for a long time. He
The position will be temporarily taken over by Deputy Commander Trubnikov. According to the wishes of the Supreme Commander, the troops that you should transfer to the Second Front can be temporarily postponed."
"This is really great." The reason Zhukov arrived in Moscow did not go to see Stalin immediately, but came to Antonov to discuss who would occupy the positions vacated by the three armies after they were assigned to the Second Front.
When he heard that the period for handing over troops could be extended, Zhukov couldn't help but be overjoyed: "In this way, we can concentrate our main forces on the weakest defense areas of the German army and carry out several appropriate assaults."
Thinking that Rokossovsky was in the hospital, he paused for a moment and asked tentatively: "By the way, do you know what hospital Rokossovsky is in? I want to go see him when I have time."
.”
Antonov shook his head and said: "Comrade Stalin didn't say where he lives, so I don't know for sure. But don't worry, I'll make two phone calls later to find out where he lives."
…
When Rokossovsky woke up, he unexpectedly found himself lying in a spacious ward with a young female nurse sitting next to him. As soon as he moved, he was discovered by the nurse next to him, who exclaimed
A voice: "Comrade Marshal, you're awake!"
Rokossovsky thought that he was in Stalin's office a moment ago, discussing the troops of the Second Front with him. Unexpectedly, when he opened his eyes, he found himself lying in the ward. "Where am I?" he said.
As he asked, he sat up tentatively.
"Comrade Marshal, you are at the military hospital in Lubyanka." But the nurse stopped him and said to him: "What you need is bed rest. You can't get up for the time being. What's more, you are still receiving infusions."
As she spoke, she looked up at the bottle hanging on the shelf to see how much liquid was left in it.
Looking at the bottle hanging on the IV pole, Rokossovsky instinctively asked: "Comrade nurses, what did you give me?"
"It's disulfide, Comrade Marshal." The nurse explained to Rokossovsky with a smile: "This is the best anti-inflammatory drug currently. The doctor said that you have a recurrence of an old injury, so I will give you some of this medicine to reduce inflammation."
After a pause, she added, "After the infusion of this medicine, there may be some side effects and you will feel thirsty. If you need to drink water, just let me know."
The nurse didn't say that using sulfa would cause thirst, but Rokossovsky hadn't noticed yet. After hearing what she said, he really felt a little thirsty, so he said to her: "I just want to drink water now."
When the nurse stood up to pour water, Rokossovsky remembered that he and Sokov had mentioned this hospital in their chat, and couldn't help but ask: "Comrade nurse, I heard that there is an anti-inflammatory drug called penicillin, which is more effective than
Disulfonamide is much better, why don’t you give me that medicine?”
Hearing what Rokossovsky said, the nurse showed a surprised expression on her face: "Comrade Marshal, I really didn't expect that you actually know about penicillin?"
She walked to Rokossovsky with water, supported him with his back against the head of the bed, and explained while feeding him water: "You are right, the anti-inflammatory effect of penicillin is indeed better than
Sulfuramine is good, but because that drug is not used frequently, we have not fully understood its side effects. Out of consideration for your health, the military doctors did not use penicillin for smoke treatment."
As he was talking, the door of the room was pushed open from the outside, and a young major walked in from the outside. The nurse quickly put down the teacup and went to greet him, saying with a straight face: "Comrade Commander, you are not allowed to enter here casually.
Please leave immediately."
But the major ignored the nurse and stood at the door like a telegraph pole. The nurse was about to get angry when she saw a short officer with a big head walking in from the outside. Waiting for her to see him clearly
After seeing his appearance, he was immediately startled, stood up hurriedly on the spot, and shouted in a panic: "Hello, Marshal Zhukov!"
Rokossovsky heard the nurse's voice and quickly looked towards the door. Sure enough, he saw Zhukov standing there. He smiled and said politely: "Comrade Marshal, you are here!"
Zhukov quickly walked to the bed, bent down and asked Rokossovsky with a worried look: "Koschka, how do you feel?"
"It should be okay." Rokossovsky looked at Zhukov and said, "I remember that I was having a meeting in Comrade Stalin's office. I don't know why, but I suddenly lost consciousness. When I woke up, I found myself lying here.
Already."
Zhukov turned to the nurse and asked: "Comrade nurse, how long does he need to stay in the hospital?"
The nurse heard Zhukov's question and quickly replied: "The test results haven't come out yet. It may take a few days of observation."
Seeing that he couldn't get the answer he wanted from the nurse, Zhukov waved his hand to her and said, "You have nothing to do here. You can go out first."
The nurse glanced at the bottle hanging on the infusion pole again, and before leaving the room, she said to Rokossovsky: "Comrade Marshal, I will be back in five minutes."
After the nurse left, Zhukov said to Rokossovsky: "Koschka, judging from the current situation, our army is not yet capable of launching a large-scale attack on the areas occupied by the Germans. We need to continue to consolidate the existing
Occupying positions, hoarding ammunition and replenishing troops. According to my estimate, this process will last at least two months. During this time, you can stay in the hospital to recuperate. You don’t have to worry about the second front.
Yes, according to Comrade Stalin’s order, Trubnikov will temporarily act as your deputy.”
The conversation between the two was very short, but when the nurse came in with a new bottle of disulfide, Zhukov stood up and said to Rokossovsky: "Koschka, you stay here and take good care of your health. Comrade Stalin may be injured in the near future."
I will visit you personally. I'm leaving. I wish you good health!" After saying that, he shook hands with Rokossovsky, turned around and walked out of the ward.
When it got dark, the sound of neat footsteps suddenly came from the corridor. Rokossovsky heard someone shouting commands in a low voice. Based on his experience, he immediately judged that sentries were being set up in the corridor outside the door.
. He thought to himself: When Zhukov came, he was traveling in a light vehicle and only brought a major adjutant. Now that there is such a big movement outside, must it be Stalin?
Just as he was thinking this, the door to the ward was pushed open from the outside, and Stalin walked into the room surrounded by two officers. An officer saw the nurse standing by the bed, walked to her side, and whispered
He said a few words to her. After hearing this, the nurse nodded vigorously, and then left the ward quickly.
After Stalin sat down on the chair next to the hospital bed, he smiled and asked: "Konstantin Konstantinovich, how do you feel physically?"
"I'm fine, Comrade Stalin." Rokossovsky replied quickly and respectfully: "I think my body has returned to normal and I can be discharged from the hospital at any time."
"Don't be anxious," Stalin quickly raised a hand, pressed it down, and said with a smile: "Our army currently needs to digest the existing occupied areas, and will not launch any large-scale attacks on the German army in the short term, so
You can stay here to recuperate with peace of mind, and when you are well, you can go and attack the Japanese invaders severely."
After the conversation between the two parties lasted for more than ten minutes, Stalin suddenly sighed and said to Rokossovsky: "Comrade Rokossovsky, I know you have emotions in your heart..." Seeing Rokossovsky
Ji wanted to retort, but quickly raised his hand to stop the other party, "Don't speak, just listen to me."
"I know you are blaming me in your heart, thinking that I have adjusted you from the main direction to the secondary direction. I am here today just to tell you that the position you are in now is not a secondary direction, but a secondary direction.
It is the same important direction as the First Front. My intention is to use the joint offensive of the three fronts: the First Belarusian Front, the Second Belarusian Front and the First Ukrainian Front to end this attack launched by the Japanese invaders.
war……"
"Comrade Stalin, please rest assured!" Even if Rokossovsky had any emotions, he could only hide them in his heart in front of Stalin. He said respectfully: "My Second Front Army will definitely cooperate with its full strength.
Marshal Zhukov's troops will crush the communists who are still resisting and realize your strategic intention."
After getting the answer he wanted, Stalin nodded with satisfaction, exchanged a few words with Rokossovsky, stood up and left.