Sokov originally just said that casually, but unexpectedly, he hit the mark.
Located in Otac on the Dniester River, more than 30 kilometers away from Chernivtsi. The Romanian 18th Infantry Division is stationed there.
After the division commander, Major General Antonetta, learned that the Soviet army had occupied Chernivtsi, he suddenly became panicked, fearing that the other side would take advantage of the victory to pursue it, and then launched an attack on Otats.
Despite the fact that he had more than 6,000 men under his command, since it was a rebuilt unit, it did not have any heavy weapons except for a few light tanks captured from the Soviet army and some mortars.
Just when he summoned the division chief of staff, Colonel Dinu, to discuss whether he should abandon the city and leave, he received a call from the military headquarters. The military chief of staff called him and said in a stern tone: "General Antonetta, commander of the army.
Order your division to immediately attack Chernivtsi, be sure to eliminate the Russians in the city and retake the city."
"Mr. Chief of Staff," the other party's order was like a reminder to Antonetta. While wiping the cold sweat on his head, he said tremblingly: "You know the situation of our division. There is a serious shortage of officers.
, the soldiers have not undergone rigorous training, and the weapons they use are basically antiques from World War I. How can we fight the Russians with this kind of equipment?"
"General Antonetta, let me remind you that this order was issued by the Germans, and the commander and I were just relaying it." The Army Chief of Staff said unceremoniously: "If you don't obey the order, just wait.
Let's go to court martial."
After Antonetta put down the phone, she asked Dinu in a panic: "Chief of Staff, tell me, what should we do?"
As the chief of staff of the 18th Infantry Division, Dinu naturally knows the situation of the troops. With the current strength of the troops, it is enough to defeat the guerrillas hiding in the forest. If he competes with the well-equipped Soviet army, he will undoubtedly die.
.
Hearing Antonetta ask himself at this moment, he thought for a while and replied: "Mr. Division Commander, our strength is not at the same level as the Russians. Let alone attack, even defense is probably very difficult. I
Look, it’s better to send people to contact the Russians. If that doesn’t work, we will surrender to them.”
"Why surrender to the Russians?" Although Antonetta did not have the courage to fight the Soviet army, he felt embarrassed to ask him to surrender to the Soviet army: "Chief of Staff, there is no other way.
?"
"Yes, Mr. Division Commander." Dinu said with a serious expression: "With our strength, we will definitely not be able to defeat the Russians. But if we abandon the city without authorization and retreat, we will be sent to a military court. Since attacking is death, retreating is also
Die, why not try something else, like surrender to the Russians?"
"Chief of Staff, do you think the Russians will accept it if we surrender?"
"I think it should be possible." Dinu said: "We can send people to explore the way first. If everything goes well, it will not be too late to send special envoys to negotiate."
"Who do you think is more suitable to explore the road?"
Dinu thought for a while and replied: "Lieutenant Efrem, deputy commander of the division's reconnaissance company, he understands Russian and has fought in Russia. It is most appropriate for him to go explore the route."
"Okay, Chief of Staff." Antonetta nodded and said, "Call him and ask him to come over."
A few minutes later, a tall, handsome lieutenant appeared at the division headquarters.
"Is this Lieutenant Ephraim?" Antonetta raised her head and asked.
"Yes, Mr. Division Commander, it's me, Lieutenant Ephraim." Ephraim didn't know why he summoned himself to the headquarters, and asked respectfully: "What advice do you have?"
"Lieutenant, I heard that you fought in Russia, right?"
"That's right, Mr. Division Commander." Eprem replied: "I fought in Odessa and Stalingrad."
Knowing that the other party had fought in Stalingrad, Antonetta couldn't help but said with emotion: "You can come back alive from Stalingrad. It seems that you have been blessed by God."
"Mr. Commander, I was able to leave Stalingrad alive only because I was wounded." Efrem said to Antonetta: "At that time, my company was attacking Mamaye occupied by the Russians.
Fu Gang launched an attack. At that time, our enemy may have been short of ammunition, but they actually fought with us with bayonets. My company originally had more than 160 people. After the battle, there were only five or six of us wounded. The rest
Everyone died in the battle at Mamayev Kurgan.
The injuries of myself and the other two wounded were relatively serious, so we were sent back to China for treatment. Unexpectedly, before my injuries recovered, we received news that all the troops entering the Stalingrad area had been wiped out by the Russians."
Although Antonetta had never been to Stalingrad, he couldn't help but shudder when he heard his subordinates mention Mamayev Heights: "It is said that the commander of Mamayev Heights at that time was the famous
Sokov. Both the Germans and our army launched attacks there again and again, but they all ended in failure."
"Mr. Division Commander, fortunately, Sokov was injured by a German bomb when he was commanding the troops to advance towards Kirovgrad. He may still be lying in the hospital today." Chief of Staff Dinu continued: "
It’s a blessing to not have to be an enemy of him.”
"Mr. Chief of Staff," unexpectedly, as soon as he finished speaking, Eprem said unexpectedly: "According to the information I have obtained, the Russian troops occupying Chernivtsi are commanded by Sokov.
"
"What, the troops that occupied Chernivtsi were commanded by Sokov?" After listening to what Efrem said, Dinu asked in shock: "Lieutenant Efrem, this kind of thing cannot be done.
Just kidding.”
"That's right, Mr. Chief of Staff." Eprem said in a positive tone: "According to our reconnaissance, the troops occupying Chernivtsi are the 130th Division of the Russian 49th Army, which belongs to the 53rd Army. And now
The commander of this army group is none other than the familiar General Sokov."
Originally, Antonetta was still holding on to a sense of luck, thinking that he could send someone to negotiate with the Russians, and then deliberately delayed the time until the situation became clear before deciding whether to surrender to the Soviet army. However, Ephraim's words made his heart
The last line of defense collapsed.
"Lieutenant Ephraim," Antonetta felt that the matter had reached this point and it was necessary to tell the truth to Ephraim, who was going to explore the road: "I want to send you to Chernivtsi to have a good talk with the Russians.
talk."
"Mr. Commander," Ephraim asked tentatively, "I wonder what the mission is?"
"Lieutenant, we intend to negotiate with the Russians and prepare to peacefully hand over the defense of Otac to the Russians." Chief of Staff Dinu explained to Ephraim: "But we don't know what the Russians' intentions are.
Therefore, we need to send someone who is familiar with Russia and understands Russian to have a taste. And you happen to be the most suitable candidate."
After listening to Dinu's words, Ephraim turned to Antonetta: "Mr. Division Commander, I wonder how the negotiations between me and the Russians should be conducted?"
"Our conditions are very simple," Antonetta said: "After the peaceful transfer of the defense of Otac, the Russians cannot disarm us, they must ensure the integrity of our organization, and they must not lock us into prisoner of war camps...
"
After listening to the dozen or so terms mentioned by Antonetta, the muscles on Ephraim's face twitched violently. He thought it was strange that the Russians could agree to such terms. But before meeting the Russians, he
Instead of expressing his worries, he stopped and said to Antonetta: "Mr. Commander, I will truthfully convey the conditions you proposed to the Russians."
Seeing that Ephraim agreed to serve as a special envoy to meet the Russians in Chernivtsi, Antonetta and Dinu both breathed a sigh of relief. They looked at each other and saw joy in each other's eyes.
"Lieutenant, I will arrange an armored vehicle for you to ensure your safety on the road."
"Mr. Chief of Staff." Unexpectedly, after hearing this, Ephraim rejected Dinu's kindness: "If you really hope that I can reach Chernivtsi safely, please prepare an open-top car for me.
Bucket truck."
"Why?" After hearing Eprem's strange request, Dinu asked puzzledly: "Isn't it safer for you to travel in an armored vehicle?"
"On the contrary, Mr. Chief of Staff." Eprem shook his head and said: "If there is a Russian vanguard on the road leading to Chernivtsi, when they see an armored vehicle of our army appear,
, will definitely carry out an attack. But if I sit in an open barrel truck and fly a white flag, they will not take the initiative to attack, and will send me safely to their headquarters."
"Chief of Staff," Antonetta waited for Efrem to finish and then immediately ordered Dinu: "Prepare an open barrel truck for Lieutenant Efrem so that he can reach Chernivtsi safely.
"
Lieutenant Ephraim did not bring any entourage. He tied the white flag to the right rearview mirror, and then drove the barrel truck alone along the road to Chernivtsi.
As soon as he entered the suburbs of Chernivtsi, Eprem saw the fortifications being built in front of him. In order to prevent misunderstandings, he took the initiative to slow down the car and moved forward slowly at a speed not much faster than walking.
.
The Soviet army, which was building fortifications, must have arranged personnel to be on guard. When they saw a barrel truck approaching from a distance, with a Romanian officer sitting in the truck, the sentry raised his gun and was about to shoot at the opponent. But.
When he saw the white flag tied to the right rearview mirror, he put down his gun and called a companion to meet him.
"Stop!" He stood in the middle of the road and shouted loudly at the barrel truck approaching: "If you don't stop, I will shoot." He was shouting in Russian, regardless of whether the people coming could hear him.
Russian.
Ephraim parked his car five or six meters away from the sentry, but he did not get out of the car. Instead, he quietly waited for the other party to come over and question him, so as not to cause unnecessary misunderstandings.
The sentry parked Ephraim's car not far away, walked over cautiously, and asked cautiously: "Who are you, and what are you doing here?"
"I am the staff officer of the Romanian 18th Infantry Division." Eprem was more thoughtful and did not explain his true identity, but generally said that he was the staff officer of the division: "I came here to see you under the order of the division commander.
Your supreme commander."
When he learned that the other party was coming to see his own supreme commander, the sentry did not dare to make any independent decisions, so he ordered his battalion commander to be called and reported the matter to him.
The battalion commander walked to Ephraim's car, glanced at the white flag tied to the rearview mirror, and asked warily: "Why do you want to see our supreme commander?" Although there was only one person on the other side, for safety reasons
For consideration, he still has to make necessary inquiries.
"Our division is stationed in Otac, more than thirty kilometers away from here." After Ephraim deliberately explained the location of his troops, he continued: "We have no intention of fighting with your army, so the division commander sent me
Come here and talk to your supreme commander about how to hand over the city's defense to you."
Fortunately, the battalion commander was not stupid. When he heard the other party talking about handing over defense, he knew that the Romanian army was preparing to surrender to the Soviet army. How could he dare to make the decision casually on such a major matter? He quickly returned to the nearby post and called the regiment.
Leader, report what happened outside to the other party.
After listening to the phone call, the regimental commander immediately contacted the division commander Surodenko and reported to him that the Romanian army had sent people to negotiate.
When Surodenko learned that the Romanian army had sent someone to negotiate, he couldn't help but be overjoyed. He quickly ordered the regimental commander: "Send someone to the division headquarters immediately. I want to talk to him personally."
After finishing the call with the regiment commander, Surodenko answered the phone at the headquarters again, preparing to report the good news to Sokov. But the person who answered the phone was Chief of Staff Smirnov, who spoke in a plain voice.
In a calm tone, he asked: "Colonel Surodenko, do you have anything to report?"
"Comrade Chief of Staff, I have good news to report to you." Surodenko suppressed the joy in his heart and reported to Smirnov: "The Romanian army stationed in Otac sent people to contact us.
The negotiation seems to be about surrender. I want to ask, how should I reply to them?"
"Comrade Commander," Smirnov heard the news and quickly covered the microphone with his hand, turned to Sokov and said: "Colonel Surodenko reported that the Romanian army stationed in Otac sent people to
Meet him to discuss surrender. He wants to ask, how should we reply to each other?"
"Our conditions are very simple, that is, the Romanian army surrenders unconditionally." Sokov said with a serious expression: "The surrendered officers and soldiers can enjoy the treatment that prisoners of war deserve, and the officers can keep their personal belongings, self-defense weapons, and medals.
Wait, Comrade Chief of Staff, please convey my opinions to Colonel Surodenko truthfully."
After receiving Sokov's instructions, Surodenko knew how to proceed with the subsequent negotiations. When the blindfolded Lieutenant Efrem walked into his headquarters with the support of a soldier, he
Just ask straight to the point: "Lieutenant, can you hear Russian?"
"Yes, sir." Eprem didn't bother to take off the black cloth that blindfolded his eyes, straightened his body and replied: "I can understand Russian."
"Very good!" Surodenko nodded and continued: "Since you understand Russian, Mr. Lieutenant, please tell me, what is the purpose of your coming here?"
"Mr. Commander." Ephraim pulled off the black cloth that blindfolded his eyes. Before he could see clearly who was standing on the other side, he hurriedly replied: "I was ordered to come here to talk to you.