For a moment, Rokosovsky almost agreed with Malining's statement. Based on his past experience, it is basically impossible for a company-level unit to attack the enemy's supply points to escape without losing.
But when the words came to his mouth, what he said was something else: "Comrade Chief of Staff, if other troops attacked the German supply points at night, the possibility of retreating was almost zero. But this time it was the infantry brigade's troops, Misha was a man who was good at creating miracles. I believe that the night attack troops he sent would be able to return smoothly in the end."
Seeing that Rokosovsky trusted Sokov so much, Malining smiled bitterly and shook his head, instead of speaking, but continued to look down at the battle report in front of him.
"By the way," Rokosovsky suddenly changed the topic: "How is Volokoramsk's situation?"
"General Panfirov reported that after a night of fierce fighting, all the enemies entering the city have been eliminated." Malining reported: "But the troops who were standing in the city have suffered serious losses. I hope we can send troops to reinforce."
Rokosovsky's face showed a bitter expression: "Chief of Staff, you don't know what we are doing now. Where can I find a reserve team for Panfirov?"
Malining's eyes turned and suggested to Rokosovsky: "Comrade Commander, aren't there still infantry brigades? You must know that the brigade's total strength is close to 5,000 people. If they are transferred to Volokoramsk, they will be able to strengthen the defense of the area."
Hearing Malining say this, Rokosovsky widened his eyes in surprise: "What, the infantry brigade's strength is close to five thousand people. Is this news reliable?"
"Full be reliable, Comrade Commander." Malining replied in a positive tone: "This was reported to me personally by Lieutenant Colonel Karsokov, Chief of Staff of the Infantry Brigade."
"I really didn't expect that Misha had put together so many troops in just a short time." Rokosovsky shook his head and said with emotion: "You know, when we asked him to recruit defeated troops, we only gave him one company of troops. Look, just a few days later, not only did the troops reach several thousand, but also obtained enough weapons, equipment and supplies from the hidden arsenal. If anyone had changed to, he would not be able to do better than him."
"Comrade Commander, you can't say that." Malining said flatteringly: "A few months ago, when the superior appointed you as commander of the combat cluster, you only gave you more than twenty staff officers. In a very short time, you formed a unit of tens of thousands of people and blocked the Germans' advance in the Yarcevo area."
"My situation is different from Misha." Rokosovsky pointed to his seal and said modestly: "No matter what, those retreating commanders and fighters will choose to obey my orders when they see my military rank. And Misha is just a major, and a major who has just been promoted not long ago. If you don't have some skills, you can imagine how difficult it is to make so many retreating commanders and fighters willing to accept his command.
"Yes, right." As Malining said this, her eyes couldn't help but look at the communication area and muttered, "Why is there no news yet?"
Rokosovsky heard Malining's low murmur and asked curiously: "Chief of Staff, what news?"
"I wonder if the Director of the Communications Force has intercepted the latest telegram from the German army." Malining replied: "I think Major Sokov must have been waiting for news from us."
After hearing what Malinin said, Rokosovsky immediately understood what was going on. He glanced at Maximenko, who was busy, and said: "Chief of Staff, the Director of the Communications Force is a very responsible person. If there is information we urgently need to know in the intercepted German telegram, he will report it to us as soon as possible."
As noon approached, Maximenko came to Rokosovsky with a telegram: "Comrade Commander, there is a telegram here, you'd better see it yourself."
When Rokosovsky received the telegram, he asked curiously: "Is it related to the company that attacked the German supply points?"
Maximenko hesitated for a moment, then nodded vigorously, and replied in a positive tone: "That's right, it's indeed related to that company!"
After Rokosovsky quickly browsed the content above, his face suddenly showed a shocked expression. He slapped the telegraph on the table and said angrily: "Nonsense, it's simply nonsense. I trust him so much that he actually lied about military affairs. Are you not afraid of going to the military court?"
Malining, who was busy next to him, saw Rokosovsky getting angry, hurried over and asked curiously: "Comrade Commander, what happened?"
Rokosovsky grabbed the telegram on the table and stuffed it into his hand: "Chief of Staff, look, what is written in Misha's telegram?"
Malining took the telegram with confusion and carefully checked the contents of the telegram. After reading the telegram, he couldn't help but widen his eyes in surprise: "Comrade Commander, this battle result is too outrageous. A soldier actually killed 75 enemies in one breath while being surrounded by the enemy. This is too exaggerated. Is this Major Sokov crazy? How dare you report such a ridiculous battle report to the headquarters?"
"Chief of Staff, call back the infantry brigade immediately." Rokosovsky said angrily: "Let the brigade-level commander, including Sokov, make a review on this matter."
"Okay, I'll handle this matter right away."
Lobachev, who had just come from the grassroots, happened to hear the conversation between Rokosovsky and Malining, and asked casually: "Comrade Commander, what happened? Why do I think you and the Chief of Staff have bad looks?"
Malining quickly handed the telegram that made Rokosovsky angry to Lobachev: "Military Commissioner, look at this telegram."
After reading the telegram, Lobachev frowned and asked Rokosovsky: "Comrade Commander, are you angry for the content on the telegram?"
"That's right." Rokosovsky did not hide his views, but said the truth: "Even if a person has the ability, he cannot destroy 75 enemies in one breath when he is surrounded by the German army. It is not man but God who can do this. Can such a poor lie deceive us?"
After reading the contents of the telegram twice, Lobachev said slowly: "Comrade Commander, aren't you particularly optimistic about Major Sokov? Why, how could you be skeptical about the telegram he sent?"
After hearing this, Rokosovsky was stunned and asked back: "Comrade Military Commissioner, do you think the contents of this telegram are all true?"
"I can't make a judgment on the authenticity of the telegram." After putting the telegram back on the table, Lobachev suggested to Rokosovsky: "It's better to send a call to Major Sokov and ask them if they have verified the results of this battle? It's not too late to decide what to do after the new telegram comes."
Rokosovsky thought about this suggestion, but nodded and agreed: "Military Comrade, what you said makes sense. We cannot easily draw conclusions about the results of the telegram, but we must verify it before talking about it. Chief of Staff!"
Hearing Rokosovsky call himself, Malining hurriedly said, "Comrade Commander, I understand. I will call back the infantry brigade and verify the matter with them."
Just a few minutes after the telegram was sent, the call from the infantry brigade arrived.
Malining quickly read the contents of the telegram, then quickly came to Rokosovsky and handed the telegram to him. At the same time, he reported: "Comrade Commander, according to Major Sokov's report, he was also skeptical after learning about the results of the battle. For this reason, he specially sent Deputy Brigade Commander Lieutenant Colonel Belkin to the place where the battle took place to verify. Lieutenant Colonel Belkin led his men to find 78 German bodies in the forest where the battle took place, 75 of which were shot in the head, and should have been killed by the soldier."
After listening to Malining's report, Rokosovsky still read the contents of the telegram several times, then slapped the table with his hand and said excitedly: "I really didn't expect that such an exaggerated result would be real."
Lobachev, who was still a little nervous, heard Rokosovsky say this and picked up the telegram to check the contents on it carefully. After reading it, he looked up at Rokosovsky and said, "Comrade Commander, since this battle report is true, then we should promote it within the group army to achieve the purpose of inspiring morale."
"That's right, comrade of the military committee, you're right." Rokosovsky said excitedly: "We not only need to promote the whole army, but also commend this soldier. Since Misha has promoted him from a soldier to a lieutenant, he will not be able to promote his military rank in a short time, but he can be awarded a medal."
"Leave the award to me," Lobachev volunteered: "After all, I have always been responsible for this work."
"No problem." Rokosovsky agreed to Lobachev's request very readily: "I think I'll give him the Red Flag Medal. The achievements he has achieved are worthy of such honor."
"Well, I agree to award him the Red Flag Medal."
"This is an amazing event." Rokosovsky walked back and forth in the house with his hands behind his back for a few times, and suddenly stopped and said, "I want to report the results to Zhukov immediately to see how he reacts."
After saying that, Rokosovsky grabbed the phone on the table, grabbed the crank and shook it a few times, picked up the microphone and put it in his ear and said, "I am Rokosovsky, please pick me up the Front Command and find General Zhukov."
The phone was quickly connected, and Zhukov's low voice came from the receiver: "I am Zhukov!"
"Dear Georgi Konstantinovich!" Rokosovsky said emotionally: "I have good news to report to you."
"Koschika, what good news?" Zhukov asked with interest: "Is it the enemy who attacked Volokoramsk who was destroyed by you?"
"Uh, that's not." Rokosovsky couldn't help but feel embarrassed when he heard Zhukov's question, and then replied: "I called you for another thing." Then, he reported the results of Regalin to Zhukov.
Unexpectedly, as soon as he finished speaking, he was ridiculed by Zhukov: "Koschika, what's wrong with you? You actually believe such a ridiculous thing? I really want to open your head and see if it's cheese residue inside?"
Rokosovsky, who was scolded, was not angry, but called Zhukov's real name and father's name and smiled and said, "Georgi Konstantinovich, when I first received this report from the Infantry Brigade, I was also very angry. I thought it was the brigade commander Major Sokov who treated us as fools. Even if a soldier has the ability, he would not be able to kill 75 enemies alone. However, after the deputy brigade commander of the Infantry Brigade, Lieutenant Colonel Belkin, personally led people to the scene to verify, he found that such results were indeed true. Among the 78 German bodies they found, 75 were shot in the head, and it should have been done by the soldier."
After listening to Rokosovsky's explanation, Zhukov slowed down and asked, "What is the name of this soldier, what military rank, and what position he holds?"
"His name is Regalin, and he was still a private when he destroyed the enemy. But after the brigade commander Major Sokov learned of the results he had achieved, he promoted him to the rank of lieutenant." Rokosovsky replied, "Now he is the deputy company commander of the special company."
"Special company?" Zhukov couldn't help but ask in surprise when he heard this strange number: "What does this company do?"
"According to Major Sokov's report, this special company is newly formed and is specially designed to attack special targets in the depth of the German defense." Rokosovsky continued: "After the formation last night, they were ordered to go behind enemy lines to destroy an important supply point for the German army."
"What's the result? Have you destroyed this supply point for the German army?"
Rokosovsky was silent for a while, and replied in a heavy tone: "Georgi Konstantinovich, there is no news about this force since he left the camp of the infantry brigade last night. So we cannot know for the time being whether they destroyed the German supply points."
"So, is this company missing the command of the infantry brigade?"
"This is the region," Rokosovsky continued: "Major Sokov sent me a special telegram after dawn, asking if there was any news about this company in the German telegram intercepted by our headquarters."
Zhukov had guessed the result from Rokosovsky's words, but he asked carefully: "So, there is no news about this company in the telegram you intercepted?"
"Yes, there is no news at all." Rokosovsky said this, unable to help but sigh and said in a regretful tone: "If this company was really wiped out when it attacked the German supply points, then the sacrifice of Lieutenant Regalin is really regrettable."
Chapter completed!