Red Moscow

Octave stood up and walked up and down the room with his hands behind his back, thinking about what Udrea had said. And Udrea didn't speak, but picked up a cup, went to the side and turned on the tap of the samovar, took a cup of hot black tea, put two cubes of sugar in it, and returned to the table.

He stirred the teacup gently with a small spoon, staring at Octave who was walking back and forth, without any anxious expression on his face, quietly waiting for Octave to make the final decision.

"Udrea," Octave finally stopped, came to Udrea, and asked solemnly, "Do you think the Russians are reliable?"

Without waiting for Udrea's answer, he said to himself: "I heard that the Russians have always been untrustworthy. If I agree to cooperate with them and give them a way to fight the Germans. But if After they wiped out the Germans, they turned around and hit us, what should I do?"

"Octave, you are worrying too much." Udrea put the tea cup in his hand on the table, comforted Octave and said: "Our division is the most typical example. When the division commander, General Antoneta, chose When cooperating with the Soviet army and inviting them to settle in Otac, I was not at ease, worrying that the other party would disarm our army as soon as they entered the city. But after the Soviet army came, they showed enough respect and friendship to us. I don’t know much about the situation in other places, but when it comes to Otac, I can assure you that our army and the Soviet army have always coexisted peacefully, and there has been no dispute between the two sides.”

Udrea's words eased Octave's worries a lot: "So, we can cooperate with the Russians?"

"That's right, Octave." Seeing that Octave was already a little moved, Udrea said while the iron was hot: "Judging from the current battle situation, the defeat of the Germans is only a matter of time. You should make plans early. Lest you fall victim to the Germans."

Octave nodded when he heard this, and said: "Udrea, what you said is very reasonable, but this matter is of great importance. I can't say it alone. It is necessary to call the heads of the regiments. Let's hear what they have to say."

"This is what it should be." Udrea felt that since he wanted to cooperate with the Soviet army, he called the heads of the regiments together for a meeting to let everyone understand the current situation and help them make the right choice: "Then as soon as possible Call them together for a meeting."

After the notification went down, Colonel Adam, the commander of the 91st Infantry Regiment, first appeared. After he entered the door, he saw Udrea sitting on the side, and immediately exclaimed: "Udrea, my old friend, why did you appear here?"

After Udrea got up and hugged Adam, he said with a smile: "I came here today because I have something important to communicate with General Octave. Now we have reached a consensus, so he called you to a meeting .”

Adam is also a smart man. He has heard about the fact that Udrea's 18th Infantry Division chose to cooperate with the Soviet army. In addition, seeing the Soviet army mobilizing outside the defense zone in the past two days, I knew that the opponent was about to launch an attack. Udrea's appearance here at this moment must have something to do with the frequent mobilization of the Soviet army.

Thinking of this, he pulled Udrea aside and asked in a low voice: "Udrea, we are friends, tell me, are you here to persuade the teacher to cooperate with the Russians?"

Anyway, this news will be announced to everyone in a few minutes. Udrea doesn’t mind telling his good friends in advance: “Yes, I’m here today for this purpose. As long as the 20th Infantry Division doesn’t The Soviet army is the enemy, and let them open a channel to attack the German army, and you will be able to coexist peacefully with the Soviet army in the future.”

"The Russians are going to attack the German army?" Adam asked hesitantly, "Is this true?"

"Of course it is true." Udrea pulled Adam to the map hanging on the wall, pointed to the map and said to him: "Look, this is your division's defense zone, next to it is the German defense zone. Now In the east of the German defense zone, a Soviet army has assembled and is about to launch a fierce attack. On the west side of the defense zone is your division. Now your division is in front of two Soviet divisions. They need to get out of your way Pass through the passage and attack from the rear of the German army."

After reading the map, Adam said in surprise: "So, this German army is finished?"

"Needless to say," Udrea said, pointing his head, "Your division and this division of the German army have long been surrounded by the Soviet army. Even if reinforcements come to rescue them, they may not be able to break through the Soviet army. Layers of defense, come here to join you. So if you don’t choose to cooperate with the Soviet army, then you will be wiped out together with the German army.”

Adam glanced at the seat where Octave was sitting, and asked in a low voice, "Udrea, what did the commander think?"

"Don't worry, Adam." Udrea smiled and comforted Adam and said, "Octave has agreed to my suggestion and is ready to cooperate with the Soviet army. He called you together for this emergency meeting to officially inform you , saying that he intends to further cooperate with the Soviet Army."

"That's good, that's good." When Adam learned that the division commander Octave agreed to cooperate with the Soviet army, he immediately let go of the stone in his heart and said with relief: "With the current strength of our division, of course it can't beat the Germans." , but also can’t beat the Russians. If we can choose to cooperate with the Russians, we can maintain our strength.”

Then, the heads of the 82nd and 83rd Infantry Regiments walked into the conference room side by side. When they saw Udrea who was chatting with Adam, they couldn't help showing a look of astonishment on their faces, and then they stepped forward to shake hands with each other, and asked politely: "Udrea, why are you free to come to us today?" Woolen cloth?"

Udrea smiled slightly and replied, "I came here to save the lives of officers and soldiers of the 20th Infantry Division."

His words were very clear, and the two regiment leaders immediately understood what he meant. However, just to be on the safe side, one of the regiment leaders still asked tentatively: "Udrea, do you also plan to let the 20th Infantry Division choose to cooperate with the Russians like you?"

"Yes, this is really the purpose of my visit." After Udrea said this, he reminded the two of them: "If we cooperate with the Soviet Army, please remember to change the title, and we can no longer call the Soviet Army Russians. ;For officers, you can't call them sir, but comrades. Remember?"

"Remember, remember!" The two regiment leaders said hastily: "We will pay attention to the address in the future."

Last to appear were Colonel Ambrose, commander of the 20th Artillery Brigade, and his commanders of the 39th and 40th Artillery Regiments.

Seeing that all commanders above the regiment level had arrived, the chief of staff of the division announced: "Everyone, please be quiet, the meeting is now held!"

After the conference room was quiet, the division chief of staff did not go around in circles, but pointed to Udrea and said bluntly to everyone: "I believe everyone knows Colonel Udrea, the commander of the 52nd regiment."

"I know!" There was a neat voice of agreement in the conference room.

The chief of staff of the division went on to say: "He came here today with a mission. The Russians have expressed their willingness to cooperate with us and hope that we can give them a passage so that they can pass here. Attack from the Germans' flanks and rear."

Speaking of this, the chief of staff of the division intentionally paused for a moment to observe everyone's performance. When they saw someone with such an expression, and some people showed surprise on their faces, they continued: "After discussing with Colonel Udrea, the division commander and Colonel Udrea decided to agree to the Russians' request and cooperate with them. At the same time, for the They opened the way to the German lines."

After the division chief finished speaking, Octave stood up, glanced at his subordinates one by one, and then said, "I have already told you my choice, what do you think about it?"

As soon as his words fell, the artillery brigade commander Ambrose stood up and said: "Mr. General, I think your choice is very wise. With our current equipment and combat power, there is no chance of winning the war with the Russians.

Take my 20th Artillery Brigade as an example. The 39th Artillery Regiment is composed of two 75mm cannon battalions and one 100mm howitzer battalion. Many soldiers were even older.

The 40th Artillery Regiment, consisting of two battalions of 100mm howitzers, was not much better off. The cannons they used were all old equipment eliminated by the Germans, and their performance could not be compared with the new cannons. Moreover, each cannon had only five shells, which could not even sustain a small-scale battle. "

With Ambrose's suggestion, the other infantry commanders also stood up to speak, raised the issue of poor equipment and insufficient training of their troops, and finally said: "With this kind of troops, to resist the Russians' thousands of troops Kazuma is going to die in vain, so I agree with the division commander's decision to stop hostilities with the Russians and start cooperating with them."

Seeing the astonishing unanimity of the group leaders under him, Octave's worries completely disappeared. He said to Udrea: "Udrea, you return to the Russians as soon as possible and tell them our decision."

Now that the purpose of his trip has been achieved, Udrea did not stay any longer, and quickly got up and said to Octave: "Octave, I will go back and say hello to the Soviet commanders and ask them to send an official representative. Get in touch with you, and then discuss matters of cooperation."

Udrea returned to the Soviet position and reported the results of the negotiations to Stirlitz in detail. After hearing this, Stirlitz was stunned. He originally thought that even if Udrea went to the defense area of ​​the Romanian army, even if he could persuade the opponent to surrender, he might have to wait a day or two. As a result, within two hours of going out, the two parties reached a cooperation intention.

Stirlitz did not dare to neglect such an important matter, and hurriedly reported it to Army Commander Melekhov. After receiving the report, Melekhov called Sokov to inform him of the incident.

Sokov waited for Melekhov to finish speaking, and said with a smile: "It is a great victory to be able to persuade the Romanian 20th Infantry Division to cooperate with us and reduce our army's casualties. Udre, who was in charge of the negotiations, Colonel Ya, you must be commended."

"But, Comrade Commander." Hearing what Sokov said, Melekhov quickly reminded him: "Colonel Udrea is a member of the Romanian army. How can he get our medal?"

"General Melekhov, isn't Colonel Udrea's 52nd Infantry Regiment incorporated into Colonel Stirlitz's 116th Division?" Sokov naturally knew Udrea's identity. Knowing that, he said to Melekhov: "Since his troops have been under our command for the time being, he is naturally one of us. He can also get the medals that our commanders and fighters can get. Don't forget, it is because of him Thousands of commanders and fighters were saved from death or injury through their efforts."

Hearing what Sokov said, Melekhov immediately realized that his situation was small, and quickly said: "Comrade Commander, you are right. Colonel Udrea has made such a great contribution, even if he is Romanian soldiers are also eligible to receive medals awarded by our army."

Seeing that the other party recognized his statement, Sokov continued: "Since Udrea has reached a preliminary cooperation intention, then you should send a formal negotiator as soon as possible to negotiate with Major General Octave, the commander of the 20th Infantry Division. Negotiation. Understand?"

"Understood, Comrade Commander." Melekhov nodded and said, "I will immediately arrange competent personnel to go to the Romanian army's defense zone to negotiate."

After putting down the phone, Sokov said to Sameko who was standing aside: "Comrade Chief of Staff, Colonel Udrea really helped us a lot this time. After successfully persuading Major General Octave, the The opponent is no longer hostile to us, and even took the initiative to give way to our army so that we can attack from the rear of the German army. Based on this alone, it is only natural to award him a medal."

"Comrade Commander, I agree with your proposal." Sameko echoed: "If he can't get a medal for such a feat, I'm afraid it will chill the hearts of many people. I'm afraid no one will encounter this kind of thing in the future." Willing to do it."

Smirnov, who was sitting next to him, said breathlessly: "Comrade Commander, I think what you said makes sense. He has made such great achievements for us. It is really unreasonable not to commend him." He turned his head to the side After looking around, he found that the military commissar Gorokhov was not there, so he added, "When Comrade Military Commissar returns, I will talk to him about honoring Colonel Udrea. If possible, I will talk to him Go to the 116th division in person to award Udrea with honors."

"Comrade Commander," Trofimenko interjected, "as long as this German unit behind us is dealt with, then the combat area of ​​the 52nd Army will be connected to ours, so that we can devote all our energies to Concentrate on the enemy in the front without worrying about the danger of being attacked on the flanks or rear."

However, he did not immediately express his attitude on whether to award Udrea with an honor, but said to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, I think it is very important to award Colonel Udrea with an honor. Report to Marshal Konev first, and proceed after obtaining his consent. What do you think?"

"There is no need for this." Sokov waved his hands and said, "The medal we awarded Udrea is within our authority, and we can completely not disturb Marshal Konev. This matter is settled like this, and there is no need to continue discussing it." .”