Red Moscow

The returning convoy brought Sidolin and members of the division headquarters in the evening. Since the location of the division headquarters had been selected, when the people arrived, they went directly to the church and began to erect antennas and lay telephone lines.

By the time all this was done, it was already around ten o'clock in the evening.

Seeing that the sky outside was still dark, Ponegerin suddenly became interested. He said to Sidolin: "Comrade Chief of Staff, let's go for a walk while we have nothing to do, how about?"

"Okay, Comrade Commander." Sidolin said with great interest, "I want to see what the cities controlled by Romania look like."

The two walked along the main road, Shiyue Street, and unexpectedly found that although it was already ten o'clock, there were still many pedestrians on the street because it was not dark.

Most of the bars and restaurants on both sides of the street are open. The waiters put many dining chairs in the open air, so that customers can enjoy the street view while eating and drinking. And some painters who set up stalls on the side of the road always attract a lot of pedestrians to stop and watch after they get business.

A young man holding a guitar is playing and singing on the street, feeling very comfortable. Not far away, a young man in a tuxedo, holding a piece of paper in his hand, is reading Pushkin's poems aloud.

A 20-man Romanian patrol came from the other side of the street. Seeing the oncoming Bornejelin and Sidolin, he stopped quickly, stood on the side of the road and raised his hands to salute the two. After the two had passed by, the patrol continued to move forward.

Seeing this scene, Bornejelin suddenly had an illusion that he was back before the war and was enjoying a peaceful and comfortable life.

"Comrade Commander," said Sidolin, who was walking beside him, when Pornegerin was thinking about it, "seeing all this, do you feel that we have returned to the peaceful age?"

Upon hearing this, Ponegerin looked at Sidolin in amazement, and said, "Comrade Chief of Staff, I thought I was the only one who had such an illusion. I didn't expect you to be the same."

"I really didn't expect that after Romania took control of this city, it managed it so well." Sidolin said with emotion: "If our local cadres can also reach this level, it won't take long for those liberated cities to With time, we will soon be able to recover and provide a steady stream of soldiers and supplies to the front line."

"I also feel the same way." Ponegerin echoed, "If the commander hadn't added 8,000 soldiers to us before coming here, I would definitely set up a recruiting office to recruit a group of new recruits into the army."

When it came to the soldiers, Sidolin couldn't help asking: "Comrade commander, I just plan to talk to you about this matter. Now the total number of soldiers in our division has reached more than 11,000, but those who have weapons No more than four thousand. What about the rest? You can’t let them bite the enemy with their teeth in a war, can you?”

"You don't have to worry about weapons and equipment." Pornejerin explained to Sidolin: "Colonel Yakov's hovercraft unit is estimated to be here in two days. When the time comes, we will have the problem of weapons. can be completely resolved.”

"The troops stationed outside the city today are Colonel Papchenko's 122nd." Sidolin said: "So far, their regiment is the strongest in the whole division in terms of equipment and combat effectiveness. If the German army The city attacks and they should be able to hold out for two to three days."

"Two to three days is enough." Although Ponegerin is now the division commander, his understanding of the troops is naturally not as good as that of Sidolin who has been in the army. He originally thought that the 122nd Regiment could last at most one day under the strong offensive of the German army, but after hearing what Sidolin said, his heart suddenly became more at ease: "I think Yakov's transport team should be able to carry out the battle within three days. Bring all the weapons and equipment we need."

Sidolin has seen Yakov's hovercraft unit, so he naturally has a certain degree of understanding of the transport capacity of this unit. He doesn't think that one transport can solve the weapons and equipment of more than 7,000 people, and at least three or four trips are required. just work.

The two wandered the streets for an hour, and after learning about the general situation in the city, they turned and walked towards the headquarters. On the way, Bonejelin asked Sidolin: "When will the rest of our troops reach Otac?"

"It will have to wait until about three o'clock tomorrow morning at the earliest." Sidolin explained to Pornejelin: "The troops who arrived earlier left a lot of work, and the rear guard troops need to stay to deal with the aftermath, and all of this will take time."

"Currently our strength is roughly equal to that of the Romanians," Pornejelin said with a frown. "Although the two sides are in a cooperative relationship, this cooperation does not seem reliable. We must be prepared for the worst situation."

"Don't worry, Comrade Commander." Sidolin said: "I will notify the troops and let them prepare for being caught by surprise by the opponent."

After the two returned to the headquarters, Sidolin picked up the phone and called Starcha, the head of the 124th regiment: "Comrade Colonel, have you settled down?"

"Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff." Starcha replied with a smile: "The whole regiment has settled down, and the Romanian army arranged accommodation for us. I really didn't expect that I would fight with them on the battlefield for a few days. , and now become an ally."

"Colonel Starcia." Seeing that Starcia was so vigilant, Sidolin couldn't help frowning, and he reminded the other party: "Although we are now in a cooperative relationship with the Romanian army, no matter what , they were all enemies before. We must not let our guard down against them, understand?"

After being reminded by Sidolin, Starcha immediately realized the seriousness of the problem. He looked around and saw that they were all his subordinates, but he still lowered his voice and asked, "Comrade Chief of Staff, have you noticed something wrong?" Something's wrong?"

"I didn't find anything wrong." Sidolin said truthfully: "But it is absolutely necessary to be vigilant."

"I understand, Comrade Chief of Staff." Starcia said: "I will set up duty posts outside the barracks, and equip them with machine guns, so that even if something happens, they will have the ability to deal with it."

Hearing that the other party planned to send a sentry to be on duty at night, Sidolin felt more at ease. No matter how capable the sneak attacking enemy is, it still takes a lot of trouble to clear a squad of sentries, so as to leave enough time for the commanders and fighters in the barracks to react.

Seeing that Sidolin had finished making the phone call, Ponegerin asked, "Have you called both regimental leaders?"

"I only called Colonel Stalcia and asked him to be more vigilant in order not to be plotted by the Romanian army."

"Then Colonel Papchenko's 122nd Regiment, you didn't notify?"

"They are stationed outside the city, so I don't think there is any need to notify them."

"It is precisely because they are stationed outside the city that we have to notify them all the more." Seeing Sidolin's disapproving look, Pornegerin said to him earnestly: "You know, they are facing not only the people on the other side of the river. Germans, but also beware of the Romanians behind, who knows when they will turn their faces and deny people."

Since Ponegerin personally instructed this matter, Sidolin naturally did not dare to neglect, and quickly called Papchenko again, telling him to be more vigilant, so as not to be caught off guard by others.

But the worries of Pornegelin and Sidolin seemed unnecessary. Until four o'clock in the morning, the place where the Romanian army was stationed was quiet, and no one slipped out of the camp at all.

The sudden ringing of the phone awakened Sidolin from his sleep. He grabbed the microphone and stuck it to his ear: "I'm Sidolin, where are you?"

"Comrade Chief of Staff," an unfamiliar voice came from the other end of the phone: "I am the observation post in the east of the city. The 126th Regiment has arrived in the city, and the convoy is entering the city in an orderly manner."

"Yes, I see!" Sidolin, who was drowsy, hummed and was about to hang up the phone after listening to the report from the observation post. But the next sentence from the observation post woke him up.

"Comrade Chief of Staff, I saw several jeeps in the convoy." The observation post said cautiously: "According to my observation, it should be a car from the Group Army Command. I think it is necessary to report to you."

"You did the right thing, Comrade Warrior." Sidolin said into the microphone: "You have faithfully performed your duty."

Putting down the phone, he walked to the corner where the camp bed was placed, and bent over to shake Ponejelin who was sleeping on the bed: "Comrade commander, comrade commander!"

Ponegerin, who was falling asleep in a daze, was shaken awake by Sidolin, looked at him and asked feebly, "Comrade Chief of Staff, what's the matter?"

"Comrade commander, I just received a report from the observation post in the east of the city."

Pornegerin sat up straight, took out a pack of cigarettes from under the pillow, put one in his mouth, and asked casually, "What did he say?"

"He said that the convoy transporting the 126th Regiment has arrived and is entering the city one after another."

"Yeah, got it." Pornegelin hummed absently, found a match, struck it, and lit the cigarette in his mouth: "Comrade Chief of Staff, it's for this reason that you put the Did I wake you up?"

"Of course not, Comrade Commander." Xido Lin Xin said that if there was really only news of the 126th regiment entering the city, I would not disturb your sweet dreams, and hurriedly reported: "The observation post also said that several suspected vehicles appeared in the convoy. The command jeep, and he suspects the commander may be in it."

Hearing that Sokov might be coming, Ponegerin stood up abruptly, threw the cigarette he had just lit on the ground, crushed it with his toes, and said to Sidolin: "Chief of staff, let the division headquarters immediately Everyone here is up, let's go outside to meet Comrade Commander."

"Comrade commander, please don't do this." Sidolin quickly stopped Ponegerin's impulsive behavior: "If Comrade Commander didn't say hello to us before coming here, it proves that he wants to keep a low profile. If we Go out and meet him with a lot of fanfare and he'll probably be very upset."

"Alright then." Ponegerin knew Sokov's character very well. If he really organized people to go outside to greet him, it might make Sokov unhappy, so he had no choice but to give up his original idea, and It was decided to stay in the headquarters and wait patiently for Sokov's arrival.

Unexpectedly, Sokov didn't wait, but there was a huge explosion outside, and even the window glass of the church was shaken.

"What's going on here, where is the explosion coming from?"

Although the staff and communications personnel of the headquarters were all awakened, no one knew what was going on with the explosion sound from outside.

Seeing that no one answered his question, Pornegelin seemed a little impatient, and planned to take someone outside to check it out, but was stopped by Sidolin: "Comrade commander, your combat post is in the headquarters. The situation outside Unknown, you can't venture out."

"Comrade Chief of Staff, don't you know that the commander is coming towards us?" Pornegerin said excitedly, "If the explosion outside is aimed at him and something happens to him, who will bear the burden?" responsibility?"

Although Sidolin felt that what Bonegerin said was very reasonable, he still did not agree to let the other party go out. Instead, he called several staff officers and said: "You immediately contact the various troops in the city and ask what's going on. The troops that are near the explosion site, it is best to send someone to find out what happened."

Five or six minutes after the order was issued, Major Okunev, Chief of Staff of the 124th Regiment, called and reported to Sidolin: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I have figured it out. It was the post office in our defense area that exploded. Now the building It is burning, and it is not yet known if there are any casualties."

"Comrade Major, block that area immediately and organize people to put out the fire."

"However, the Romanian fire brigade is organizing the fire at the moment." Major Okunev said on the phone: "And they have sealed off the fire site, and my people can't get close at all."

"I understand." Sidolin thought for a moment, and told Okunev: "Comrade Major, if you can't go there, then don't go there. Two people are left to monitor the situation, and the rest go back to the camp to sleep."

"Comrade Commander," Sidolin put down the phone and reported to Pornejelin, "there was an explosion in the post office. Someone may have sabotaged it. However, the Romanians have sealed off the area and organized firefighting there. "

Knowing that the post office was on fire, Bornejelin immediately realized that something was wrong. If the post office caught fire, it would be reasonable, after all, the paper products inside are relatively safe. But there was a violent explosion before the fire, which is a bit intriguing.

"Comrade Chief of Staff," thinking of the fire in the city at this time, he couldn't intervene, but Sokov's safety was mentioned as an important position. Pornegerin asked Sidolin: "Can you get in touch with Comrade Commander and find out where he is?"

"Theoretically, it is possible." Sidolin replied: "Usually, comrade commanders will bring a radio when they travel, and we can call the commander through the radio."

"Since you can call, what are you still doing? Hurry up and let the radio operator make a call, and try to get in touch with the commander as soon as possible."

Sidolin knew very well in his heart that although Sokov always took the radio operator with him everywhere, it was still unknown whether the radio operator was by his side at the moment. But seeing that Ponegerin was so worried about Sokov's safety, Sidolin felt that he should make an effort, maybe he could really contact Sokov.