On July 15, 1941, Rokossovsky came to the Supreme Command of the Soviet Army in Moscow.
When Rokossovsky just got off the plane, he knew that nothing good would happen during his trip to Moscow. At that time, the Soviet army was experiencing the most tragic period of the Soviet-German war, and the Soviet army collapsed on almost all fronts.
Rokossovsky was able to guess,I'm afraid I'll be thrown somewhere to "fill in the line".。But he didn't know exactly where he was going to **, because in the Soviet Union at this time, there were too many similar places. Sure enough, the Supreme Command of the Soviet Army gave Rokossovsky an "impossible task".
Rokossovsky).
In Moscow, the Supreme Command of the Soviet Army presented Comrade Rokossovsky with a picture of the situation facing the USSR at that time. If there were four words to describe the situation at that time, it would be "collapse at the touch of a button".。Due to the collapse of the Southwestern Front of the Soviet Army, as well as the Bryansk Front, it ledThe Germans were on the road to Moscow, and only Timoshenko's Western Front was still holding out.
However, due to the landing of German airborne troops near Yaltsevo, the Western Front had to transfer forces to defend the Yaltsevo region, which ledThe Smolensk region became a "vacuum".。At present, in the Smolensk region, only one of Konev's fronts is still holding out, but their forces are only enough to defend the city, and they are completely unable to take care of the surrounding areas.
Konev) according to the assumptions of the Supreme Command of the Soviet Army, Rokossovsky was supposed to form a powerful mobile group consisting of 2-3 tank divisions, as well as 1 infantry division, on the line of Yaltsevo-Smolensk to build an "iron wall".
With the help of the Soviet 16th Army and the 17th Army, Rokossovsky should also take the initiative to look for fighters to repel the invading enemy. (With the cooperation of Rokossovsky and Konev, the siege of Smolensk was indeed lifted this time.) ）
Then,Rokossovsky asked the Supreme High Command: "So what exactly is my unit in?"”The Supreme Command said that the Soviet army at this time was most lacking soldiers, and due to the confusion of the command system, in fact, the Supreme Command did not know how many troops the Soviet Army still had.
Rokossovsky).
The Supreme High Command could only promise in the end:"You go to Yatsevo now, and all the troops you see along the way are under your command!”Subsequently, the Supreme High Command handed Rokossovsky two trucks with 4 anti-aircraft guns, a command vehicle, a staff group, a radio station, and a radio group, and sent Rokossovsky to Yaltsevo.
This is really a starting car, and the equipment is all up to pickup...
On the evening after leaving Moscow, Rokossovsky arrived at the headquarters of the Western Front in Kas, where he met with the commander of the Front, Timoshenko.
In Kas, Rokossovsky received a promise from Timoshenko, who recognized Moscow's order. And said to Rokossovsky that in a few days, 2-3 divisions of troops would be mobilized for him, butIn the days before that, Rokossovsky was needed to "solve the problem on his own."
However, Timoshenko still said that Rokossovsky could be during this timeRequisition of any "uncommanded" troops。To put it bluntly, in fact, it is the remnants of the army, the routs and deserters, Rokossovsky can gather these people at will, and re-break them up to form a new army.
In the USSR at that time,Especially in the Soviet army, whether it is a rout or a deserter, as long as they leave the battlefield, then the fate that awaits them is often miserable.
Basically, it is impossible to escape the fate of being shot, so it is better for deserters to pray that they will not be caught by the military police, otherwise they will die. But Rokossovsky's group became an exception, and the Soviet rout saw it as a way to survive.
Rokossovsky).
Because as long as you join Rokossovsky's troops, all the previous experiences will be "not to blame". Therefore,Rokossovsky gathered a large number of men in a short period of time, they belong to various branches of the army, there are infantry, artillery, tank crews, engineers, machine gunners, medical personnel and even pilots.
And these routs, some of them came, some of them ran, some of them came by car, and some of them came by tank. This also allowed Rokossovsky to get a large number of heavy loads in a short period of time, and Rokossovsky had almost everything in an instant. And this army, as it is called"General Rokossovsky cluster".
Soviet-German battlefield) and the first time Rokossovsky used his own "right of incorporation" was east of Yaltsevo. At that timeThe "General Rokossovsky Cluster" is heading for Yaltsevo, and in the vicinity they met the resistance of the Germans here. 19th Division of the 38th Army, which was commanded by Colonel Kirillov.
The 19th Army, which we mentioned earlier, was defending Konev's troops in Smolensk. WhileWhen Rokossovsky met Colonel Kirillov, the 38th Division was incorporated on the spot。Kirillov was quite happy, because he was the only one fighting in Yatsevo.
Soviet-German battlefield) Rokossovsky reorganized the rout troops collected along the way to the 38th Division, and based on this unitBegan to try to crucify in Yaltsevo.
At this time, Yatsevo was already a lost territory, there was no organized resistance here, but all kinds of scattered resistance never ended. After hearing that Rokossovsky was stationed there,A large number of stragglers began to move closer to Rokossovsky。Some divisions are complete detachments, others are separate command groups, and of course more are scattered infantry.
Rokossovsky).
Rokossovsky never asked about these people's pasts. Rokossovsky later wrote in his memoirs:"I think the most commendable thing is that these people have obviously lost their unified command. But they are still stubbornly looking for an opportunity to unite, they are eager to fight, they are eager to defend their homeland. ”
Soon, Mikhailov's 101st tank division also came to Yaltsevo, and Rokossovsky finally had a formed tank unit. ButThe shortage of personnel in this army is serious, but it doesn't matter, Rokossovsky has people
A little later, Carmela's artillery unit also came to Yaltsevo, and Carmela was an old friend of Rokossovsky.
Rokossovsky).
Rydyukov's elite infantry units were the last, but after his arrival,Rokossovsky's army group was also basically formed。Rokossovsky will also use this unit to give the Germans a little color.
Rokossovsky).Memoirs of the War of Marshal Rokossovsky [M].People's Liberation Army Press, 2003History of the USSR