Moldovans in the former, and 3/16 in the latter. Examples noted by the author include Nikifor Adazhyi, D. S. Ciobanu, and I. S. Lungu. Historian M. C. Stănescu additionally describes Leonid Yakovych Tokan (or Toncan) as a Romanian by origin and a priest by training. Romanian Army historian Ion Giurcă sees Davidoglu as ill-suited for the task of maintaining order, in that he failed to anticipate the subsequent incursion. Stănescu similarly notes that Davidoglu and his aide, Colonel Carol Ressel, "did not consolidate [their] positions", despite being informed of troop movements near Mohyliv. On January 19, Podolian irregulars crossed into Hotin County at Atachi, disarming Romanian border guards and moving in on Soroca. Historian Wim van Meurs describes this attempt as "Bessarabian peasants [...] attempt[ing] to capture the bridge across the Dniester in order to smuggle arms into Bessarabia." These reinforcements succeeded in taking over a string of villages, including Arionești, Codreni, Naslavcea, Pocrovca, and Rudi; on January 23, after reaching Secureni, rebellion erupted in Khotyn itself, chasing out the Romanian garrison. Two days earlier, most of Davidoglu's units had been dispersed to chase the rebels in surrounding villages, which, as Giurcă notes, only gave impetus to an "uprising of the hostile population". The fall of Khotyn came as he had retreated to Nedăbăuți, and planning further moves toward Noua Suliță, for fear that guerillas were in control of all surrounding villages. Both Noua Suliță and Nedăbăuți fell to the rebels shortly after, and a Redcoats brigade, under General Mihai Schina, made repeated attempts to regain them. In the ensuing confusion, various targeted attacks killed Romanian Army officers, including Gheorghe Madgearu in Volcineți and General Stan Poetaș in Călărășeuca. The latter assassination is directly attributable to Bărbuță's unit. As early as January 19, the rebels had formed a Bessarabian Directorate, stemming from the Bessarabian National Union, with both of them provisionally located in Kamianets. At that moment in time, the Directorate is known to have comprised five men: Tokan, Ivan Stepanovych Dunger, M. F. Liskun, Evhen V. Lisak, and I. I. Mardariev. Three days later, one of the groups involved issued an appeal to the international community, including both Soviet Russia and the UNR, which referred to the sufferings of the "Bessarabian people" and to the Directorate as a legitimate government of Bessarabia. A similar text warned that all those "campaigning against the Directorate and against freedom from the Romanian