Red Moscow

"Report to Comrade Commander," the visitor raised his hand to salute Sokov, and then reported loudly, "I was ordered by Colonel Surodenko to send you the signed and completed agreement."

"Oh, the agreement has been signed." Sokov held out his hand to the other party: "Show me the agreement."

After reading the cooperation agreement with Romania, Sokov handed it to Ponegerin: "General Ponegerin, take a look, this is the cooperation agreement signed between the Romanian army and us."

Ponegerin took the agreement, read it carefully, and asked Sokov with a frown: "Comrade Commander, don't you worry that the Romanians will tear up the agreement?"

"Not afraid." Sokov shook his head and said, "Besides, they didn't dare." Seeing Pornejelin's puzzled face, he explained, "I think they should see the situation on the battlefield very clearly. Under the strong blow of our army, they are retreating steadily. The choice they can make now is to leave the German camp and join us."

"But the 18th Infantry Division we are cooperating with is just a unit with little combat effectiveness." Pornejelin shook his head and said with some disappointment: "I hope that after the battle starts, they will not become our burden .”

Sokov clearly remembered that an armed uprising broke out in Romania on August 23, 1944. During a week of fighting, more than 5,000 German troops from six divisions were killed and more than 53,000 captured, including 14 generals and 1,124 officers, and two-thirds of the country was liberated.

"General Ponegerin, I think you are worrying too much." Sokov said to Ponegerin: "On the surface, the combat effectiveness of Major General Antonetta's 18th Infantry Division is indeed weak. But as long as they Being able to carry out real cooperation with us can help us gain more support from the Romanian army in the next battle."

After the two chatted for a while, Sokov received a call. After listening to it, he said to Pornegerin: "General Pornegerin, the call is from the chief of staff. He told me that all the troops have been dispatched." The troops have been added, although many people do not have weapons, but it does not affect their stationing in Otac at all."

"What about the means of transportation?" Now that the problem of soldiers has been solved, the next concern is how to get to Otac. After all, it takes at least two days to march on foot for a distance of nearly 100 kilometers.

"You can also rest assured about this." Sokov continued: "The late-stage troops will prepare two hundred trucks for you, and they can transport two to three thousand commanders and fighters at a time. You can send the most elite troops as the vanguard, with the fastest Settle in quickly and make defensive arrangements so as not to be suddenly attacked by the Germans. Understand?"

"Understood, Comrade Commander." Ponegerin said seriously: "Since you handed Otac to me, I will never hand over the city to the Germans."

"It's not enough just not to hand over the city to the Germans." Sokov told Ponejielin: "In the days to come, maybe we will use this city as a means of crossing the Transnistria." Therefore, it is absolutely necessary to establish a solid defense system."

Two hours later, the 122nd Regiment, which was the vanguard, boarded the logistics preparation truck and drove towards Otatz.

Originally, Ponejielin had already explained everything to Colonel Papchenko, the head of the regiment, but when the troops were about to start, he was worried, so he handed over the work of the division to Chief of Staff Sidolin, and he followed the 122nd The regiment was stationed in Otac together.

Seeing the Soviet troops entering the city, Antonetta brought people to greet him personally. When he saw Ponejielin and Papchenko appearing at the same time, he thought that Papchenko was the division commander, and he took the initiative to show his favor to the other party. : "Mr. Colonel, you must be the commander of the 41st Guards Division. I am Major General Antoneta, the commander of the Romanian 18th Infantry Division. On behalf of the entire city, I welcome you and your troops!"

Mistaken by Antonetta as the division commander, Papchenko couldn't help but blush. He pointed to Ponejielin standing beside him, and introduced to the other party: "Your Excellency, you made a mistake. I am not a division commander. , is only the commander of the 122nd Regiment. This Lieutenant Colonel Bornejelin is our new division commander."

Antoneta was surprised to learn that the lieutenant colonel was the division commander, but the colonel was only the regimental commander. However, he did not show any fuss, but began to introduce his subordinates: "Let me introduce to you, this is Colonel Dinu, chief of staff of the division...Colonel Udrea, head of the 52nd regiment...Colonel Udrea, the head of the 53rd regiment Colonel Kostic... Colonel Marinescu, commander of the 54th regiment."

Seeing that the other party was a colonel of Yishui, Pornejelin's old face couldn't help but blush slightly, and he actually became the person with the lowest rank in the military.

"Lieutenant Colonel Ponegerin!" Udrea, the head of the 52nd Regiment, took a step forward. After looking him up and down, he tentatively asked: "Before the war, I knew a General Pornedelin, he is the commander of the 12th Army of the Russian Army. Excuse me, are he related to you, or do you happen to have the same surname.”

Hearing Udrea's question, Ponegerin was taken aback for a moment, and then replied with some embarrassment: "Mr. Colonel, the person you are talking about is not my relative or the same name. That is me."

"You are General Ponegelin." After confirming that the lieutenant colonel in front of him was the commander of the Soviet Army Group, Udrea couldn't help but respect: "Hello, Mr. General, I am Colonel Udrea , nice to see you again."

"Colonel Udrea, do you know me?"

"Yes, Mr. General." Udrea said respectfully: "Before the war, my troops had held joint military exercises with the troops under your command. At that time, you were a general, and I was just a Captain, it is only natural that you have no impression of me."

"Lieutenant Colonel Ponegelin." Antonetta stood up and said, "Colonel Udrea is the officer who most supports our cooperation agreement."

"Hello, Colonel Udrea." Knowing that the other party is an officer who supports the cooperation between the two sides, and that he had dealt with him before the war, Pornegerin naturally liked him a little more, and he extended his hand to the other party. , said friendly: "Nice to meet you here."

"Lieutenant Colonel Ponegelin," Antoneta felt that the outdoors were not the place to talk, so he greeted Ponegelin: "This is not the place to talk, why don't you come to my office with this colonel, we can discuss A matter of common defense."

"General Antoneta, I can just talk to you about this matter. As for Colonel Papchenko, there are other tasks." After finishing speaking, Ponejielin turned and told Papchenko: "Comrade Colonel, Immediately take your troops to the southwest of the city and build defenses there."

Hearing that Ponegelin was arranging for the construction of fortifications, Antonetta immediately said: "Mr. Lieutenant Colonel, your troops have arrived and are not familiar with the terrain. How about I send Colonel Udrea to guide you? He The troops are now stationed southwest of the city."

For Antonetta's kindness, Ponejielin naturally would not refuse, he said to Papchenko: "Colonel, then you stay and discuss with Colonel Udrea to see how to build fortifications .”

Arriving at Antonetta's office, just as Ponegerin sat down, a staff officer came in with two cups of coffee, placed them in front of Antonetta and Bonegerin, and then quietly retreated. Go out and close the door behind you.

"General Ponegerin." Seeing that there were only herself and Ponegerin in the office, Antonetta changed the address and asked curiously, "I heard that you were captured in Uman not long after the war broke out? But seeing you appearing here now, I think the rumor I heard back then should be a shameful rumor."

"General Antonetta, what you heard was not a rumor." Regarding the fact that he had been captured, Ponegerin knew how to face it bravely, and he took the initiative to say: "After the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War, I was indeed captured by the Germans in Uman due to wounds and spent more than two years in their concentration camp."

"But I heard that basically all the captured people will be sent to Siberia after returning." Antonetta looked at Ponegelin and asked puzzledly: "But I think you are not only not sent to Siberia, On the contrary, he returned to the army and even served as a division commander. The only fly in the ointment is that his rank is a little lower."

"General Antonetta, you speak Russian well." Pornegerin didn't want to talk about this sensitive matter, so he changed the topic in time: "Where did you learn it?"

"It's not uncommon for Romanians to speak Russian." Antonetta said with a smile: "After all, this country was protected by Tsarist Russia more than a hundred years ago. Mastering Russian is very necessary. .”

After the two chatted for a while, Antonetta tentatively asked, "General Ponegerin, when will General Sokov arrive in Otac?"

"It's not very clear." Although the two parties are now in a cooperative relationship, Antonetta suddenly asked this question, which aroused Pornegerin's vigilance. But in order to save face for the other party, he still replied tactfully: "At present, our troops in Otac City are still too small. After increasing to a certain number, I think he will definitely come over."

"It should, it should." Antonetta agreed with Ponegelin's statement: "After all, we are too close to the German defense zone. Once they know that General Sokov is here, and If we launch a strong offensive, with the current strength of our two sides, we will not be able to stop their attack at all. At that time, General Sokov will be in danger."

Through the conversation with Antonetta, Pornegelin came to the conclusion that this is a fool who knows how to adapt. Now that the strength of the Germans is damaged and their performance on the battlefield is not satisfactory, he will take the initiative to move closer to the Soviet army. Once the power of the Germans becomes strong again, maybe he will fall back to the Germans again. For him, you need to be vigilant at all times, so as not to be plotted by him in the future, and you don't know what's going on.

When I was outside, although I only had one face-to-face meeting with the three regimental commanders under the division, Pornejelin felt that Colonel Udrea, the commander of the 52nd regiment, was obviously pro-Soviet, and he could strengthen his relationship with the Soviet Union in the future. cooperation between him.

"How is the situation in the city?" Pornegelin asked again: "Are the factories open, are the shops open?"

"General Ponegelin, you can rest assured about this." Antonetta understood the meaning of Ponegelin's question, and explained to him: "As of now, several factories in the city, and security The stores of life are always in normal operation."

Possibly in order to show merit in front of Pornegelin, he also took the initiative to say: "The director of the factory and the owners of those shops once came to me to ask for closure, saying that they were worried that their factories and shops would be destroyed if the battle broke out. It would be destroyed by the flames of war. I was considering cooperating with you at that time, so I rejected their request. Now it seems that the decision I made at that time was correct."

"That's right, General Antonetta, you did the right thing." Pornegelin agreed with his approach: "I believe that after the war is over, the residents of Otac City will thank you for your support everything done today."

"By the way, the prison!" Ponegerin suddenly remembered a key department: "Are there any members of the underground resistance organization detained there?"

"Yes, General Ponegelin." After Ponegelin's reminder, Antonetta immediately realized that he had neglected an important matter, quickly picked up the phone on the table, dialed a number, Say into the microphone: "This is Antoneta, transfer me to the warden."

"The warden? I'm Antonetta, and I'm ordering you to immediately release all the members of the underground resistance organization in the cell. ... What, you dare not! Why? ... Afraid that the Germans will retaliate against you? "

"Prisoner, let me tell you the truth, the Russians... No, the main force of the Soviet army has entered the city." Seeing that the warden disobeyed his order, Antonetta said in a stern tone: " If you follow my order to release people now, that’s fine. But if you wait until the Soviet army goes to the prison to release people, I’m afraid you will be imprisoned. How to do it, you can figure it out.”

After putting down the phone, Antonetta explained to Ponegelin with a smile: "General Ponegeline, the prison warden is a pro-German, and he doesn't think he will take the order I gave. If I don't Threat him, I'm afraid he won't honestly release the imprisoned members of the resistance organization."

"General Antonetta," no matter what decision Antonetta will make in the future, but he took the initiative to let the warden release him, which is to show his favor to Ponegelin. So Pornegerin stood up, stretched out his hand to him, and said kindly: "Thank you for everything you have done today. On behalf of the members of the resistance organization who are about to be free, I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to you."

"Where is there, this is what I should do." Antonetta felt that it was very necessary to have a good relationship with Ponegerin. He took advantage of the handshake and asked tentatively: "General Ponegerin , I wonder where you plan to set up the headquarters?"

Bornegelin did not immediately answer this question, but instead asked: "Do you have any good suggestions?"

"There are still a lot of vacant rooms here in the municipal building, why don't you set up the headquarters here!"

The water and electricity supply in the municipal building is convenient, and it is indeed a good choice to set up the division headquarters here. But Pornegelin thought that although the two sides are now cooperating, after all, the hostile relationship has just been resolved, and the heart of defense is indispensable. pot end.

After thinking about this, he smiled and said to Antonetta: "General Antonetta, thank you for your kindness. I thought about it, if my division headquarters also moved in, there would definitely be more people in the building by then. It will become overcrowded, so I think I should find another place to be the headquarters. For example, a church in the city center, I think it is a good choice."