Chapter 49

In the garrison of the 65th Tank Regiment, after greeting Oleg, Sherov unhesitatingly took over the meeting room for tactical drills and turned it into his own meeting place.

In the spacious meeting room, the two rows were filled with the heads of the Military Administration Department stationed in various units, their ranks ranging from lieutenant colonels to colonels. In theory, the highest-ranking official of the Military Administration Department in the Western Group should be a major general, and the heads of each army group should also be major generals. However, due to Sherov's focus on domestic affairs, there were not enough people in the Western Group at this time. If the Military Administration Department was a steel wall domestically, in the four groups, it could only be considered a fishing net, with some effect but not a significant one.

But this was not an excuse for dereliction of duty. While it was not expected that these people could carry out counter-espionage work in the military with a shortage of personnel, they could certainly handle some conflicts between the Red Army and local residents. In fact, Sherov had never received even a hint of information about such conflicts.

In such a solemn setting, all the KGB officers seated there sat up straight, their eyes fixed on Sherov as they waited for him to finish his work and provide guidance on their tasks.

After completing his work, Sherov, seated at the head of the table, threw the clean pig trotter into the plate with a crisp sound. The air was filled with the smell of food. In his preference for pork, Sherov clearly had more in common with the Germans than with the Soviets.

Wiping the oil from the corners of his mouth and picking his teeth, Sherov finally finished his meal and was now ready to deal with some minor issues within the Third Directorate. His piercing gaze swept over the two rows of KGB officers, and with his mouth wide open, picking his teeth, he looked like a Caspian tiger selecting its prey.

After belching and finishing the water in his glass, Sherov slowly introduced himself, "First meeting, Yuri Yefimovich Sherov, head of the Military Administration Department, ranked third internally. I have gathered everyone here today mainly to understand the situation..."

Understand the situation? This phrase made all the officers present tense. After all, these officers had been in the KGB for many years, and this phrase usually had two meanings: the literal meaning, and the standard statement before taking action after gaining control. The second situation also had two implications: if the person understood their position, it was best to cooperate voluntarily; otherwise, they would have to passively let Sherov understand the situation.

The officers here had almost never met Sherov, but they had heard about his style. Sherov had definitely not gathered them just to understand the situation.

Ignoring his subordinates' thoughts, Sherov continued, "This trip to Berlin has had some minor errors. Although the mission was completed reasonably well, I forgot my primary duties. Comrades, we should have met long ago..."

"First, I want to thank all the comrades for their hard work!" Then Sherov snapped his fingers, and the meeting room door opened. Isayevna and Lukani each carried a stack of documents and placed them on either side of Sherov. "Don't let anyone approach the meeting room!"

"Understood, Director!" Lukani winked and the two women left the meeting room, closing the door behind them. The officers inside could still hear the women's orders to secure the area.

Sherov casually picked up a document and read, "The 211th Guard Tank Regiment of the 79th Guard Tank Division of the 8th Guard Army, on February 12th, beat up a citizen of the GDR, Gerhard, near the Jena garrison. A lieutenant from the 247th Motorized Infantry Regiment had a conflict with local police during his leave!"

"The 68th Guard Motorized Infantry Regiment of the 27th Guard Motorized Infantry Division, near the Halle garrison, illegally occupied the land of a local factory, forcing the factory to spend time expanding its premises..."

"The 117th Guard Motorized Infantry Regiment of the 39th Guard Motorized Infantry Division, Lieutenant Tikhov, drove an armored vehicle over a farmer's leveled land. Oh, it was on March 20th, and I've been in Berlin for quite some time..." Sherov read with a smile, unsure if he was mocking others or himself.

"The 40th Guard Tank Regiment of the 11th Guard Tank Division of the 1st Guard Red Banner Army, hmm?" Sherov's smile vanished, and he said through gritted teeth, "Rape case?"

He closed the document and slammed it onto the pile, then suddenly stood up and pushed the two stacks of documents, scattering over 200 documents in front of the officers of the garrison offices.

"The Military Administration Department is relatively new, and I have focused mainly on domestic affairs. After all, the military has been downsizing in recent years, and there have been structural changes in the Red Army system. Therefore, the personnel in the four groups in Eastern Europe are somewhat insufficient. I thought that even with insufficient personnel, there wouldn't be major problems!" Sherov's tense face made the garrison officers dare not breathe loudly, and no one dared to touch the tiger's bottom at this moment.

"I thought the four groups, especially the Western Group, were selected elites. And being stationed abroad, they would be more restrained. Most importantly, I believed that the representatives of the Military Administration Department could keep the Red Army in check! Now it seems that everything is fine, and I need the Stasi to tell me the real situation. Well, you are doing a great job!" Sherov took a deep drink of water and shouted, "Insufficient personnel is not an excuse for not having full control. If you couldn't detect and eliminate traitors in the military, the excuse of insufficient personnel might be acceptable. Now, you can't even maintain discipline?"

"Director, the Red Army has its own system, and sometimes we can't interfere!" A colonel defended himself in a low voice.

"You're talking nonsense. If the Central Committee trusted the Red Army's self-correction, there would be no need for the Military Administration Department!" Sherov scolded the colonel, "The fact is that you have not been effective, and it is dereliction of duty. These archives can be seen by the Stasi, but why can't I, the head of the Military Administration Department, see them? Just because I am in the country? I admire your courage. Since I joined the KGB, no subordinate has ever concealed information from me. You are the first, and do you feel honored?"

"Isayevna, bring me a notebook!" A minute later, Isayevna brought a notebook, and Sherov personally gave each person five sheets. Sitting at the head of the table, he said calmly, "Five months have passed this year, and there have been 200 incidents of friction. There are seven months left, and my tolerance level is 70 to 80 incidents. There must be no criminal offenses against GDR residents. Otherwise, the self-criticism you write now will be stamped with a major demerit and recorded in your files by the end of the year!"

"Let's get started, no need to be polite. Write, and we will discuss the next issue after you finish!" The response to Sherov was a quiet environment, and all the KGB officers stationed in the garrison, with their shoulders bearing the rank of colonel, bowed their heads and began writing furiously on the table.