With the liberation of the city of Zhizdra, the troops of the 16th Army opened the passage to the direction of Bryansk. Rokossovsky summoned all the division commanders who participated in the war to his headquarters. After first praising Sokov, he ordered Malinin to assign new combat tasks to everyone.
Malinin pointed to the map hanging on the wall and introduced the situation to the division commanders present: "...With the liberation of Zizdra, the passage to Bryansk was opened. Our next step The mission is to advance southwestward, liberate the cities of Korenevo, Berezino, Fokino and other cities on the way to Bryansk, and eliminate all enemies in this area..."
General Orlov waited for Malinin to finish introducing the situation, and then asked first: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I would like to ask which unit the headquarters plans to order to serve as the vanguard of the entire group army."
"Needless to say, Comrade General." Malinin looked at Sokov and said with a smile: "In view of the outstanding performance of the 31st Guards Division in the battle to liberate Zizdra, this attack will be carried out by them. Main attack mission.”
Orlov originally wanted to win this master mission for his infantry army, but when he heard that the headquarters had arranged for the 31st Guards Division to perform this mission, he wisely kept his mouth shut. If it were another unit, he could still fight for it, but the record achieved by Sokov's unit was incomparable to him, and he couldn't compete even if he wanted to.
However, Rokossovsky considered that the infantry army had just been formed, and if there were no results, it would not be easy to explain to the base camp, so he stood up and said to Orlov: "General Orlov, Major Sokov's The 31st Guards Division, as the vanguard of the entire army, is responsible for the main offensive mission; while your army, as the second echelon, is ready to respond to them at any time."
Orlov knew very well that the tasks of the second echelon were usually to enter the battlefield through the gap opened by the first echelon in order to achieve the purpose of expanding the results. Although the 31st Guards Division is responsible for the main attack here, the own infantry corps, as the second echelon, can gain considerable credit. Therefore, as soon as he listened to Rokossovsky's words, he promptly expressed his position and said: "Comrade Commander, please rest assured that my infantry corps will be ready for battle at any time and provide the 31st Guards Division with sufficient support."
After he said these words, he did not sit down immediately, but continued to stand where he was. Judging from the expression on his face, it seemed that he had something else to say to Rokossovsky. Rokossovsky noticed his hesitation and asked, "General Orlov, do you have anything else to do?"
"That's it, Comrade Commander." Orlov glanced at Sokov first and said with a guilty conscience: "I heard that when our army attacked Zizdra, the commander of the front army, General Zhukov, once said, Colonel Mamendov is at the level of a battalion commander. Once the battle is over, he will be sent to the 31st Guards Division as a battalion commander. Did you know this happened?"
When the commanders present heard what Orlov said, they immediately became confused: Demoting a division commander to a battalion commander is a very serious punishment. Is it true? This was the first time Sokov heard about this matter. Like everyone else, he was confused and didn't know whether it was true or just a common rumor.
"Yes, there is such a thing." Before speaking, Rokossovsky glanced at Sokov, then faced Orlov and said: "How good is Colonel Mamendov's command in the battle?" , I think not only you, but also other commanders of the infantry army have seen it. Because he used wrong tactics in the offensive battle, our commanders and fighters suffered huge casualties. If it were not for the close The 31st Guards Division is trying to turn the tide. Maybe our operation to liberate Zizdra will end in failure again. With such a commander, let alone the battalion commander, even if he is the company commander, I think it is Not too much at all.”
Just when Rokossovsky was furious, Maximenko, director of the Army Group Communications Corps, came over, handed a telegram to Rokossovsky, and said in a low voice: "Comrade Commander, we just I received a strange plain coded telegram, please take a look."
Rokossovsky took the telegram and read the contents clearly. He frowned and asked, "Major General Maximenko, do you think the contents of this telegram are reliable?"
"I don't know." Maximenko shook his head and said: "If the intelligence is true, it will never be sent in the form of a clear telegram. Therefore, not only can we understand the content of the telegram, but even the enemy can Saw the telegram.”
"What's going on? Did something happen?" Seeing Rokossovsky and Maximenko whispering, Malinen quickly came over and asked in a low voice.
"Comrade Chief of Staff." Rokossovsky handed the telegram in his hand to Malinin and ordered him: "Read the contents of the telegram to the commanders present."
Ma Lining took the telegram and read the contents clearly, with a surprised expression on his face. However, he still followed Rokossovsky's order and read the telegram to the commanders present: "According to reliable intelligence, the enemy has ambushed an armored division in the forest of Kolenevo. They have a large number of tanks and artillery. .Once our troops enter their ambush circle, they will launch an attack."
After listening to the telegram, the commanders started talking again. Someone said: "It's really baffling. How could such an important telegram be sent in clear code? I think this must be a German conspiracy."
His statement immediately resonated with the surrounding commanders: "Yes, the Germans must have seen us liberating Zizdra and opened a gap in their defense line. In order to delay our army's advance, they That’s why we came up with such a telegram full of loopholes.”
While everyone was talking about it, Sokov was thinking to himself: What on earth is going on? With the German character, they will never play such a cheap scam, because it will be seen through by others at a glance. But if it was a telegram sent by our military's intelligence personnel, why not use a code instead of such a dangerous clear-coded telegram?
After Rokossovsky waited for silence to return to the room, he took the telegram from Malinin, tore it into pieces, and then said: "Comrade commanders, this must be a German conspiracy, we don't need to pay attention to it. . Next, it is up to Chief of Staff Malinen to assign you the next combat mission."
