Octave stood up, walked back and forth in the room with his hands behind his back, and began to think about what Udrea said. Udrea did not say anything, but picked up a cup, walked aside and opened the samovar.
He took a cup of hot black tea from the faucet, put two cubes of sugar in it, and returned to the table.
He gently stirred the teacup 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 never been trustworthy. If I agree to cooperate with them and give them a way to fight the Germans. But what if I agree to cooperate with them and give them a way to fight the Germans?
After they wiped out the Germans, they turned around and attacked 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. At the time, the division commander General Antonetta chose
When we cooperated with the Soviet army and asked them to settle in Otac, we were not at ease because we were worried that the other side would disarm our army as soon as they entered the city. But after the Soviet army came, they showed enough respect and friendliness to us.
I don’t know what the situation is 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 have been no disputes between the two sides.”
Udrea's words relieved Octav'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 war situation, the Germans' defeat is only a matter of time. You should have made plans in advance.
So as not to become a victim of the Germans."
When Octave heard this, he nodded and said: "Udrea, what you said makes sense, but this matter is of great importance. I alone can't make the decision. We need to summon the leaders of each regiment.
Let’s hear what they think.”
"This is what it should be." Udrea felt that since he wanted to cooperate with the Soviet army, he called the heads of each regiment 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 announcement, the first person who appeared was Colonel Adam, the commander of the 91st Infantry Regiment. After he entered the door, he saw Udrea sitting aside and immediately exclaimed: "Udrea, my old friend, what are you doing?
Will it appear here?"
After Udrea stood up and hugged Adam, he said with a smile: "I came here today to communicate with General Octave on important matters. Now we have reached a consensus, so he summoned you to a meeting.
.”
Adam was also a smart man. He had already heard about the fact that Udrea's 18th Infantry Division chose to cooperate with the Soviet army. In addition, he had seen the Soviet army mobilizing outside the defense zone in the past two days, and knew that the other side was about to launch an attack.
.The fact that Udrea appears here at this moment must be related to 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 the truth. Are you here to persuade the division commander to cooperate with the Russians?"
Anyway, this news will be announced to everyone in a few minutes. Udrea does not mind revealing it to his good friends in advance: "Yes, I am here today just for this matter. As long as the 20th Infantry Division does not cooperate with
If you treat the Soviet army as the enemy and make way for them to attack the German army, 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's true." Udrea pulled Adam to the map hanging on the wall, pointed at the map and said to him: "Look, this is your division's defense area, and next to it is the German defense area. Now
To the east of the German defense zone, a Soviet army group has assembled and is about to launch a fierce attack. To the west of the defense zone is your division. Now in front of your division are two Soviet divisions. They need to get out of your way.
Pass through the passage and launch an 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 nodded and said: "Your division and this German division have been surrounded by the Soviet army for a long time. Even if reinforcements come to rescue them, they may not be able to break through the Soviet army.
Layers of defense, rush here to join you. So if you don't choose to cooperate with the Soviet army, you will be annihilated together with the German army."
Adam glanced at where Octave was sitting and asked in a low voice: "Udrea, what did the division commander think about it?"
"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 has summoned you for this emergency meeting to formally inform you.
, saying that he intends to carry out further cooperation with the Soviet army."
"That's good, that's good." When Adam learned that division commander Octave agreed to cooperate with the Soviet army, he immediately put down the stone in his heart and said with relief: "With the current strength of our division, of course we can't defeat the Germans.
, but we can’t defeat the Russians either. If we can choose to cooperate with the Russians, we can still maintain our strength.”
Then, the commanders of the 82nd and 83rd Infantry Regiments walked into the conference room side by side. When they saw Udrea chatting with Adam, they couldn't help showing a look of astonishment on their faces, and then stepped forward to shake hands with him.
And asked politely: "Udrea, why are you free to come to us today?"
Udrea smiled slightly and replied: "I am here to save the lives of the officers and soldiers of the 20th Infantry Division."
His words were very clear, and the two regiment leaders immediately understood what he meant. However, to be on the safe side, one of the regiment leaders tentatively asked: "Udrea, do you also plan to let the 20th
The infantry division, like you, chose to cooperate with the Russians?"
"Yes, this is really the purpose of my coming here." After Udrea said this, he reminded the two of them: "If we start cooperation with the Soviet army, please remember to change the name. We can no longer call the Soviet army Russians.
"You can't call officers sir, but comrade. Remember?"
"Remember, remember!" the two group leaders said hurriedly: "We will pay attention to the names in the future."
The last to appear was Colonel Ambrose, commander of the 20th Artillery Brigade, and the commanders of his 39th and 40th Artillery Regiments.
Seeing that all commanders above the regiment level had arrived, the division chief of staff announced: "Everyone, please be quiet. The meeting is now in session!"
After the conference room became quiet, the division chief of staff did not talk in circles, but pointed at Udrea and said bluntly to everyone: "I believe everyone knows Colonel Udrea, the commander of the 52nd Regiment."
"Understood!" A chorus of agreement came from the conference room.
The division chief of staff continued: "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 channel so that they can pass here.
Attack from the German flank and rear."
Having said this, the division chief of staff paused intentionally for a moment to observe everyone's performance. When he saw someone's expressions like this, and some people's faces showed surprise, he continued: "The division commander and Colonel Udrea discussed it
After that, it was decided to agree to the Russians’ request and cooperate with them. At the same time, the road to the German defense lines was opened for them.”
After the division chief of staff finished speaking, Octave stood up, glanced at his subordinates one by one, and then said: "I have told you my choice, I wonder how you think about it?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Artillery Brigade Commander Ambrose stood up and said: "Mr. General, I think your choice is very wise. With our current equipment and combat power, if we start a war with the Russians, we have no chance of winning.
Take my 20th Artillery Brigade as an example. The 39th Artillery Regiment is composed of two 75mm cannon battalions and one 100mm howitzer battalion, but many of the artillery they use are products of the last war, even older than
Many soldiers are even older.
The situation of the 40th Artillery Regiment, composed of two 100mm howitzer battalions, is not much better. The artillery they use are old equipment that has been eliminated by the Germans. They cannot be compared with the new artillery in terms of performance, and each
The cannon only has five rounds and cannot sustain even a small-scale battle."
With Ambrose's suggestion, another infantry commander also stood up to speak, raising the issue of poor equipment and insufficient training of his troops, and finally said: "With this kind of troops, we can resist the Russians' thousands of troops."
Ten thousand horses is equivalent to dying in vain, so I agree with the division commander's decision to stop hostility with the Russians and start cooperating with them."
Seeing the surprisingly unanimous opinions of his regiment leaders, Octave's worries completely disappeared. He said to Udrea: "Udrea, return to the Russians as soon as possible and tell them our decision.
.”
Now that the purpose of his trip has been achieved, Udrea stopped staying and quickly stood up and said to Octav: "Octav, I will go back and greet the Soviet commanders and ask them to send official representatives.
We will contact you and then discuss cooperation."
Udrea returned to the Soviet position and reported the results of the negotiations in detail to Stilitz. After hearing this, Stilitz was stunned. He originally thought that Udrea went to the Romanian army.
In the defense zone, even if the other party could be persuaded to surrender, it would probably take a day or two. As a result, within two hours of leaving, the two sides reached an intention to cooperate.
Stilitz did not dare to neglect such an important matter and quickly reported it to Army Commander Melekhov. After receiving the report, Melekhov called to inform Sokov of the matter.
After Sokov waited for Melekhov to finish speaking, he smiled and said: "It is a great victory to persuade the Romanian 20th Infantry Division to cooperate with us and reduce the casualties of our army. Udrei, who was responsible for the negotiations,
Colonel Ya, you must be commended."
"But, Comrade Commander." Melehov heard what Sokov said and quickly reminded him: "Colonel Udrea is a member of the Romanian army. How can he receive our medal?"
"General Melekhov and Colonel Udrea's 52nd Infantry Regiment, haven't they been integrated into Colonel Stilitz's 116th Division?" Sokov naturally knew Udrea's identity.
Knowing full well, he said to Melekhov: "Since his troops have been temporarily under our command, he is naturally one of us. He can also get the medals that our commanders and soldiers can get. Don't forget, it is because of him
Our efforts saved thousands of commanders and soldiers from being sacrificed or injured."
Hearing what Sokov said, Melekhov immediately realized that his situation was too small, and quickly said: "Comrade Commander, you are right. Colonel Udrea has made such great contributions, 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: "Now that Udrea has reached a preliminary intention to cooperate, you should send a formal negotiator as soon as possible to talk to the commander of the 20th Infantry Division, Major General Octave.
Negotiation. Do you understand?"
"Understood, Comrade Commander." Melekhov nodded and said, "I will immediately arrange for capable personnel to go to the Romanian army's defense zone for negotiations."
After Sokov put down the phone, he said to Samyko who was standing aside: "Comrade Chief of Staff, Colonel Udrea really helped us a lot this time. With the success of convincing Major General Octave, he
The other side is no longer hostile to us, and even took the initiative to open a passage for our army so that we can attack from the side and rear of the German army. For this reason, 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 achievements, I'm afraid it will chill many people. If this kind of thing happens again in the future, I'm afraid no one will
I’m willing to do it.”
Smirnov, who was sitting next to him, said breathlessly: "Comrade Commander, I think you are right. He has made such great achievements for us. It is really unjustifiable not to commend him." He turned to the side.
After taking a look, he found that Military Commissar Gorokhov was not there, so he added, "When Comrade Military Commissar comes back, I will talk to him about the matter of conferring honors on Colonel Udrea. If possible, I will talk to him
Go to the 116th Division in person to award Udrea the medal."
"Comrade Commander," Trofimenko interrupted: "As long as the German force behind us is solved, the 52nd Army's combat area and ours can be connected together, so that all energy can be devoted to
Focus 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 the honor. He only said to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, I think it is very important to award Colonel Udrea. It is best to
Report to Marshal Konev first and get his consent before proceeding. What do you think?"
"There is no need." Sokov waved his hands and said: "The medal we awarded Udrea is within our authority, and there is no need to alert Marshal Konev. This matter has been settled, and there is no need to continue discussing it.
."
This chapter has been completed!