Stalin did not expect that Rokossovsky would suddenly faint. He rushed to the door, opened the door, and said to Poskrebeshev who was sitting outside: "Poskrebeshev, 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, how can I help you?"
Stalin didn't care about why the doctor came so quickly. He just urged him: "Comrade Rokossovsky has fainted. Come over 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 health 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 did the doctor and Feijuninsky follow them out, but even Stalin followed.
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 the morale of the military. Impact.
Poskrebyshev followed closely behind Stalin, feeling that Stalin's actions were unnecessary. 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. Officers or leaders at all levels walking in the corridor had expressions of horror on their faces when they saw a stretcher being carried out of Stalin's office. But when they saw clearly that Stalin himself was walking slowly behind the stretcher, they couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief.
Starling watched the ambulance carrying Rokossovsky go away, then turned and returned to his office. He called Antonov and said to him: "Comrade Antonov, Rokossovsky fainted during today's meeting. After the doctor's examination, it was a recurrence of an old injury. He may be in the hospital. Take some rest here.”
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 I am calling you to tell you that Rokossovsky may have to stay in the hospital for a while. During the period when he is not on 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 secretly relieved when he heard that Rokossovsky was not going to be dismissed. 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 to the Second Front. After talking to Stalin and putting down the phone, he said to Zhukov who was looking at a map by the wall: "Comrade Marshal, Marshal Rokossovsky suddenly fainted during a meeting in Stalin's office. Maybe after a long He will not be able to return to the front line to command the troops for a period of time, and his duties will be temporarily replaced by Deputy Commander Trubnikov. According to the wishes of the Supreme Commander, the troops that should be transferred to the Second Front can be temporarily postponed. slow."
"This is really great." The reason Zhukov arrived in Moscow did not go to see Stalin immediately, but came to Antonov, just to discuss who would occupy the positions vacated by the three armies after they were assigned to the Second Front. to defend against the problem. At this moment, Zhukov heard that the deadline for handing over the troops could be extended. Zhukov couldn't help but be overjoyed: "In this way, we can concentrate the main forces on the weakest areas of German defense 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 will 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 noticed by the nurse next to him, who exclaimed: "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 asked, sitting 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 stand, 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 at the moment. 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 sulfonamides would cause thirst, and Rokossovsky hadn't noticed yet. After hearing what she said, I really felt a little thirsty, so I 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 drug?”
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 very frequently, we have not fully understood its side effects. Out of consideration for your health, military medical comrades have not used penicillin for gunpowder smoke."
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 her tea cup and went up to 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 in the doorway like a telegraph pole. The nurse was about to get angry when she saw a short officer with a big head walking in from outside. After she saw the other person's appearance clearly, she was startled. She stood at attention in a hurry 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 are you feeling?"
"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. ”
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 to her and said, "You have nothing to do here. You can go out first."
The nurse glanced at the bottle hanging on the IV 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 about two months. During this time, you can stay in the hospital to recuperate. You don’t have to worry about the second front. 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. Maybe Comrade Stalin will 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 was 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 simple manner 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 over to her and whispered something to her. After hearing this, the nurse nodded vigorously, and then quickly left the ward.
After Stalin sat down on the chair next to the hospital bed, he smiled and asked: "Konstantin Konstantinovich, how is your body feeling?"
"I'm fine, Comrade Stalin." Rokossovsky replied quickly and respectfully: "I think my body has returned to normal and I can be discharged 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 attack the Japanese invaders severely."
After more than ten minutes of conversation between the two parties, 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 person, "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 Army. My intention is to end this attack launched by the Japanese invaders through the joint offensive of the three front armies: the First Belarusian Front Army, the Second Front Army and the First Ukrainian Front Army. war……"
"Comrade Stalin, please don't worry!" 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 fully cooperate with Marshal Zhukov's troops to crush the stubborn communist elements and complete your strategic intentions."
After getting the answer he wanted, Stalin nodded with satisfaction, exchanged a few words with Rokossovsky, then stood up and left.
