Red Moscow

After receiving the order to march to Chernivtsi, Ponedelin was full of apprehension. If it was only the team he commanded, then the honor of being the first to enter Romania must belong to his team.

But now the troops that are advancing towards Chernivtsi at the same time as them are General Bogdanov's 2nd Tank Army. From a certain point of view, the strength of this group army is even stronger. Whether there is a tank army or several infantry divisions, it is entirely possible for the superiors to make them the first unit to enter Romania.

When he received a call from Sameko and learned that Sokov planned to let the 41st Guards Division under his command become the first unit to enter Romania, he couldn't help being overjoyed and said repeatedly: "Thank you, that's really great." Thank you very much, please convey to Comrade Commander the respect of all commanders and fighters of our division."

After putting down the phone, he excitedly said to Sidolin: "Comrade Chief of Staff, the higher-ups have made a decision to let our division be the first unit to enter Romania. You should start making preparations now, lest you have time to do it." Caught off guard."

When Sidolin heard the good news, he was naturally overjoyed, and quickly said: "Okay, Comrade Commander, I will immediately arrange manpower to carry out reconnaissance in Romania."

At dawn, Ponedelin arrived in Chernivtsi, where he met Bogdanov, commander of the 2nd Tank Army. Although Bogdanov used to be his subordinate before the war, but now the opponent is a lieutenant general, and he is only a lieutenant colonel, so he took the lead in saluting him: "Hello, Bogdanov General Husband, it is a pleasure to meet you here."

When Bogdanov saw his old superior, he couldn't help showing a surprised expression on his face, but he quickly returned to normal. After he raised his hand to return the salute, he said politely: "Lieutenant Colonel Ponejielin, I was ordered to strengthen the defense of Chernivtsi. However, the commander did not tell me that there are also you among the troops stationed here. battle group."

Pornegerin heard the other person's voice, and quickly said to him: "General Bogdanov, my troops will leave soon, and you should be in charge of the city's defense."

"Leaving?!" Bogdanov asked in surprise, "Where are you going?"

"Where can we go? Of course, we have crossed the border and entered Romania." Ponegerin said with a smile: "The order given to us by our superiors is to quickly establish a reliable landing site on the right bank of the Prut River so that we can As the starting point of the attack of the main force."

Knowing that Ponegerin's troops would be the first to enter Romania, Bogdanov felt a little disappointed. According to his thinking, it is undoubtedly the best choice for him to have not only a tank army, but also several infantry divisions. But he never dreamed that Sokov would give this honor to Ponejerin.

But even if there are complaints, Bogdanov has developed the habit of obedience after ten or twenty years of military career. He asked politely: "Lieutenant Colonel Pornegelin, if there is anything I can do for you, just ask, and I will definitely help you with all my strength."

"Thank you, General Bogdanov." For Bogdanov's kindness, Ponejielin expressed his gratitude, and he even offered to say: "Since your troops have reached Chernivtsi , that means that in the near future, all your troops will also enter Romania."

Bogdanov had no doubts about the entry of troops into Romania. But what bothered him was that his troops were not the first to enter enemy territory. When this period of history is recorded in the history books in the future, only the first troops that entered will be recorded, while the troops that entered later will be directly ignored.

At noon, the dispatched scouts sent information: "A large number of permanent fortifications were found near the border in Romania, where the organized Romanian army was stationed. But what is strange is that they did not do anything at all. combat readiness, does not seem to want to fight."

After receiving the intelligence from the scouts, Ponegerin and Sidolin began to discuss: "Comrade Chief of Staff, tell me, what is going on? Heavy troops were deployed in the fortifications, but the other side did not engage in any confrontation at all. Don’t they think they have the confidence to stop our army’s attack?”

"It's hard to say, Comrade Commander." Sidolin scratched the back of his head and said, "From the report of the scouts, I saw that the Romanians are ready to abandon their positions and retreat at any time."

For Sidolin's guess, Ponegerin thinks it is still possible. After all, along the way, he has encountered many times when the Romanian army retreated without a fight. Among other things, Chernivtsi, which is currently stationed, was voluntarily abandoned by the Romanians.

Seeing Bonegerin walking back and forth in the room with his hands behind his back, Sidolin suggested to him: "Mr. Comrade, I have a bold suggestion."

Ponegerin stopped, looked at Sidolin and asked, "What suggestion?"

"We can send a vanguard into Romanian territory and see how the Romanian army reacts."

"I think you can try it." Ponegelin felt that since the Romanian army has no fighting spirit now, even if he only sends one regiment into the opponent's country, it may not cause too much reaction, so he agreed to Xi Doring's suggestion: "It seems to me that this task can be given to Colonel Papchenko's 122nd Regiment."

Papchenko, who received the order, did not dare to neglect, and quickly assembled his troops to prepare for departure. However, the deputy commander, Lieutenant Colonel Victor, suggested to Papchenko: "Regiment commander, judging from the current situation, the Romanian army over there has no intention of fighting. I think it is better to send a company to explore the road first." .I don't know what you want?"

"I think it's okay." Papchenko agreed with Victor's proposal: "I just want to send a reconnaissance company to enter Romania on a motorcycle and see how the defenders along the way react."

In this way, the reconnaissance company sent by Papchenko left the city in more than forty three-wheeled motorcycles and drove along the road to Romania.

The motorcycle team drove over the bridge over the Prut River and officially entered Romania.

There is a Romanian checkpoint on the border with four or five soldiers on duty. Seeing the approaching motorcycle team, a corporal originally raised his gun, but the next moment he put the gun away, put it on the ground neatly, turned around and greeted the stunned companions, and asked them to put the gun away. Barricades blocking the road have been removed to facilitate the passage of motorbike convoys.

Facing the Romanians who cooperated so well, the Soviet commanders and fighters who explored the road were also very surprised. You know, when they saw this checkpoint just now, the soldiers were all ready to fight, and only waited for the opponent to show hostility before shooting mercilessly. Unexpectedly, the other party not only did not resist, but even took the initiative to make way for him.

Therefore, when passing the checkpoint, the reconnaissance company commander sitting in the sidecar of the motorcycle waved at these Romanian soldiers.

When the convoy passed the checkpoint and walked away along the road, the corporal raised his hand to wipe the cold sweat from his forehead, and said to his subordinates with relief: "Fortunately, no shots were fired, otherwise we would all be corpses lying on the side of the road now. "

Besides, after the motorcycle team drove forward for four or five kilometers, the reconnaissance company commander suddenly saw several barrel trucks parked on the side of the road ahead, and soldiers in Romanian military uniforms stood beside the barrel carts.

Seeing this, the reconnaissance company commander quickly issued a battle order: "The enemy is found in front, everyone is ready to fight. As soon as I give an order, I will immediately open fire on the enemy."

But what happened next was far beyond the expectations of the reconnaissance company commander. A soldier bent down and took out a white flag from the car, waving it desperately. And the officers who had been chatting by the side of the car gathered quickly and lined up behind the soldiers waving the white flags.

Seeing this, the reconnaissance company commander quickly raised his right hand above his head and shouted loudly: "Don't shoot! Put down the guns."

After stopping the convoy, the reconnaissance company commander asked his motorcycle driver to drive forward on the motorcycle, and he wanted to find out what happened.

Soon, the motorcycle of the reconnaissance company commander came to the soldiers waving the white flag. After he signaled the motorcycle to stop, he walked out of the sidecar and stood there looking at the group of officers facing him.

An officer lined up and came to the scout company commander. After raising his hand in salute, he asked politely, "Mr. Captain, may I ask which part you belong to?"

"I belong to the reconnaissance company of the 41st Guards Division of the 53rd Army."

After hearing this, the officer had a surprised expression on his face: "Is it General Sokov's troops?"

The reconnaissance company commander knew that Sokov was well-known in the German army, but he didn't expect that he was also famous in the Romanian army, so he nodded and said in a positive tone: "Yes, I am his subordinate."

"Mr. Captain," the army said after confirming the identity of the reconnaissance company commander, "I am Lieutenant Colonel Luca, Chief of Staff of the 27th Frontier Defense Regiment, and I am waiting for you here."

"Waiting for us here?" Luca's words surprised the reconnaissance company commander, and he asked in amazement, "What are you waiting for us here?"

"We agree that it is meaningless to continue fighting with the Soviet army." Lieutenant Colonel Luca replied politely: "In order to save more lives, we decided to stop the resistance and hand over the position to your army." .”

Upon hearing this, the reconnaissance company commander quickly asked, "Where is your position?"

Luca turned around and pointed to the distance, and said, "Just two or three kilometers away from here, there is a permanent fortification, and our regiment is responsible for the defense there."

The scouts who went out to conduct reconnaissance in Romania were all subordinates of the reconnaissance company commander. He had some understanding of the situation here. After listening to Luka at this moment, he realized that the information reported by his subordinates was true, and quickly said to Luka: "Lieutenant Colonel Luka, I need to ask my superiors for instructions before I can give you an accurate answer."

"Yes, absolutely." Luka said rationally: "Mr. Captain, we will wait for your reply here."

The reconnaissance company commander returned to the motorcycle equipped with the radio, and got in touch with Chief of Staff Sidolin through the radio: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I am the reconnaissance company commander."

"Comrade Company Commander." Sidolin asked, "How is the situation there?"

"Reporting to Comrade Chief of Staff, our motorcycle team passed the border checkpoint of the Romanian Army without any resistance." The reconnaissance company commander said: "Now we have met Lieutenant Colonel Luca, Chief of Staff of the Romanian 27th Border Guard Regiment, He said they were unwilling to fight our army and planned to hand over the positions they held to us."

When Sidolin heard that the Romanian army did not resist and planned to hand over the position to his own troops, he was very excited. However, in front of the subordinate of the reconnaissance company commander, he pretended to be calm and asked: "Comrade company commander, is this information reliable?"

"Reliable, Comrade Chief of Staff, absolutely reliable." The reconnaissance company commander glanced at Lieutenant Colonel Luca standing in the distance, and reported to Sidolin: "Lieutenant Colonel Luca, the chief of staff of the regiment who came to negotiate, is now waiting At less than 100 meters away from me, I don't think he lied to me."

"Okay, Comrade Company Commander." Sidolin confirmed that the Romanian army really wanted to surrender, so he ordered the reconnaissance company commander: "You tell them, you can accept their surrender. But before our troops arrive, they must stick to the present situation." Certain positions must never be handed over to the Germans or other hostile forces. Do you understand?"

"Understood, Comrade Chief of Staff." The reconnaissance company commander said respectfully: "I will truthfully convey your meaning to Lieutenant Colonel Luca."

After finishing the call, the reconnaissance company commander returned to Luka, and said to him neither humble nor humble: "Lieutenant Colonel Luka, I have already consulted my superiors, and they have agreed to your request."

Knowing that the Soviet army agreed to their request, Luka and his subordinates showed relaxed expressions on their faces. But at this time, the reconnaissance company commander added: "But..."

"But what?" Luca asked nervously.

"Before our army officially takes over the defense from your hands, you must be responsible for protecting the position and absolutely not letting it fall into the hands of the Germans or other hostile forces."

Luka thought it was some kind of harsh conditions, after listening to what the reconnaissance company commander said, he breathed a sigh of relief, and said: "So that's what happened, Mr. Captain, don't worry, before your troops arrive , we will absolutely not hand over the position to anyone."

"Go back first." The reconnaissance company commander waved at Luca and said, "I'll wait for our troops here."

"Mr. Captain!" Luka learned that the reconnaissance company commander planned to wait for the arrival of the main force here, and quickly said to him: "There is still a long distance from here to Chernivtsi. Even if your people set off immediately, I'm afraid It will take an hour or two to get there. I think you might as well go to our place and have a cup of coffee and wait for your troops slowly."

Faced with Luka's invitation, the reconnaissance company commander pondered. If the motorcycle team he brought stayed on the road for a long time, if it was discovered by the reconnaissance planes patrolling the air of the German army, it might cause unnecessary trouble. A place to hide the motorcycles, and let the soldiers rest by the way.

It was precisely out of this consideration that the scouting company commander nodded and agreed to Luka's invitation: "Okay, Lieutenant Luka, then I will take my people to your place for a cup of coffee."

After the two sides reached a consensus, Luka and others returned to the barrel cart, led the motorcycle team in front, and guided them to the area where the 27th Border Guard Regiment was stationed.