When Sokov walked into the headquarters, he saw that in addition to the commander himself, there were also Chief of Staff Malinin, Artillery Commander Kazakov, and several staff officers. He walked directly in front of Rokossovsky, raised his hand to his forehead, and reported in a loud voice: "Comrade Commander, Major Sokov, commander of the Istrian Battalion, is here to report to you. Please instruct!"
Hearing Sokov's voice, Rokossovsky, who was working at his desk, raised his head and said with a smile: "Misha, you are here!" After saying that, he stood up and met Sokov across the table. He shook hands, pointed to the empty seat next to him, and said, "Sit there for a while while I read this document first."
"Major Sokov, you're here!" Malinin, who was standing by the wall looking at the map, also came over at this time, smiled and stretched out his hand to Sokov, saying: "In this mission to liberate Maklaki Town, Your battalion played a vital role in the battle. Without your participation in the battle, the town might still be in the hands of the enemy."
"Comrade Chief of Staff, you are very grateful. The liberation of Maklaki Town is not my fault alone." In response to Malinin's praise, Sokov said modestly: "Without the support of Comrade Commander, there would be no Chernyshev." The general voluntarily gave up command. Without the support of the army's artillery, it may be very difficult for us to capture the town of Maklaki."
Hearing what Sokov said, Malinin couldn't help laughing, turned to Kazakov who had just walked over and said: "Comrade General, you can see that our young major is quite humble and has made such great achievements. But he’s not arrogant at all.”
After hearing this, Kazakov smiled, nodded, and echoed: "Comrade Chief of Staff, you are right. He is quite similar to his father in this regard."
Sokov did not have the slightest memory of inheriting this body, and did not understand at all the "father" mentioned by the leaders of these army groups. So when Kazakov heard what he said, he could only smile awkwardly at him.
Fortunately, Rokossovsky came out in time to relieve the siege. He put down the documents in his hand, stood up and said to Malinin: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I am going back to Moscow with Major Sokov. All the work of the group army, I I’ll leave it to you and Deputy Commander Zaharov to take charge.”
"Don't worry, Comrade Commander." Malinen said with a smile: "I will handle the normal work properly, so you can go back to Moscow with peace of mind."
"Okay, then I'll set off with Misha..." A "bang" of gunfire outside the window interrupted Rokossovsky's words. He instinctively turned his head to look out the window and said strangely: "Hell, we have cleared all the German strongholds near Susinich. Where did this artillery shell fly from?"
Just as Rokossovsky was speaking, Sokov, who had sharp ears, heard the scream of artillery shells in the air, flying towards the window, and hurriedly shouted: "Be careful..." shouted while preparing to rush over and pull Rokossovsky away from the window.
Before Sokov could rush to Rokossovsky, a shell fell outside the window and exploded. The blast of air was like an invisible hand, knocking him to the ground. When he got up from the ground, he saw Rokossovsky lying motionless on the ground near the window.
Sokov hurriedly crawled over on his hands and knees, knelt on one knee and helped Rokossovsky sit up, shouting anxiously: "Commander, Comrade Commander..." Although he shouted at the top of his voice, But he couldn't hear his shout at all. The explosion just now had already made his ears deaf.
Malinin, Kazakov and several staff officers were also affected by the explosion and were knocked to the ground. When they found their commander lying in a pool of blood, they quickly gathered around and shouted loudly in Rokossovsky's ears, trying to wake him up from his coma.
Amidst the shouts of the crowd, Rokossovsky finally opened his eyes. He tried his best to put a smile on his face and said with difficulty: "I... I seem... I seem to have been... shot... ..." After saying that, he closed his eyes and fainted again.
The staff officer sent by Malining to find the military doctor came in at this moment with the military doctor and two stretcher bearers. When Ma Lining saw the military doctor, it was as if he had grasped a life-saving straw and quickly told him: "Comrade military doctor, come quickly and check the commander."
Everyone hurriedly took off Rokossovsky's military coat and placed him face down on a stretcher. The medic lifted up his bloodstained jumper and carefully examined the injuries on his back.
Ma Lining asked anxiously: "How are you, comrade military doctor, is the situation serious?"
The military doctor nodded and said with a serious expression: "Comrade Commander was hit by several pieces of shrapnel in his back and needs immediate surgery. However, Susinich's condition is too poor, so I suggest he be sent back to Moscow for treatment."
After hearing what the military doctor said, Malinin stood up and walked to the table and picked up the phone, preparing to report the news of Rokossovsky's injury to Zhukov. Unexpectedly, he put the receiver to his ear, but did not hear any sound coming from it. After careful inspection, it turned out that the phone line was broken.
Malinin threw the microphone on the table, rushed out of the room quickly, went to the communications room next door, and yelled at Maximenko: "Comrade Director of the Communications Corps, hurry up and get me through the front army headquarters. There are important situations that need to be reported to General Zhukov immediately."
Maximenko just saw military doctors and stretcher bearers entering the headquarters next door, and he guessed who was wounded in the shelling. He wanted to ask who was injured, but seeing Ma Lining's cannibalistic expression, he quickly swallowed his question and ordered the communications troops to quickly connect to the front army headquarters.
Zhukov, who was looking at the map, heard the phone ringing in front of him. He reached out and picked up the receiver, put it to his ear, and said slowly: "I'm Zhukov!"
"Hello, Comrade General." Hearing Zhukov's voice from the receiver, Ma Linin hurriedly identified himself: "I am Ma Linin, Chief of Staff of the 16th Group Army."
In Zhukov's mind, Malinin was a very calm person, but judging from his voice at the moment, he seemed a little panicked. Zhukov frowned and asked with some displeasure: "Comrade Malinin, what's the matter?"
"The German army has just carried out a cold bombardment on the location of our headquarters." The anxious Malinen said very fast: "Comrade Commander was wounded in the bombardment."
"What, Rokossovsky is injured?" Upon hearing this, Zhukov suddenly stood up from his seat and asked urgently: "Is the injury serious?"
"Yes, Comrade General, the injury is not serious." If Rokossovsky's injury was not serious, Malinin would not have made this call. After hearing Zhukov's question, he quickly answered in the affirmative: "Judging from his injuries, if he is not treated in time, his life may be in danger."
"I understand, you should seize the time to clear an area for the plane to land." Zhukov said to Malinin on the phone: "I will immediately send a plane to pick up Rokossovsky and send him to Moscow for treatment. "
