The translator soon came to the command cabin, picked up the letter that Knobelsdorf handed to him, and translated it word for word: "General Knobelsdorf, I am Sokov, your honorable army. General Wolf's body is now in the hands of our army. Although you and I are enemies, I still hope that General Hornadorf can be buried in peace, so I propose an exchange between the two parties. My conditions are simple, You will exchange 300 captured officers and soldiers of our army (including wounded) for the body of General Hornadorf. Signed: Major General Sokov."
After Knobelsdorff waited for the translator to finish reading the letter, he waved his hand to indicate that the other party could leave. He walked back and forth in the command cabin with his hands behind his back, thinking quickly in his mind whether he needed to report this matter to Manstein?
After repeatedly weighing the relationship, he felt that he should report the matter to Manstein. He came to the telephone and ordered the communications staff to help him get through Manstein's call.
After the call was connected, Knobelsdorf immediately said into the phone: "Your Excellency, Marshal, the Russians just sent me a letter."
"A letter?" Manstein asked in surprise: "What letter? Are they ready to surrender to us?"
"That's not true." Knobelsdorff quickly defended: "The Russians said that General Hornadorf's body is in their hands and they need us to exchange prisoners of war with them."
"Absurd, simply absurd." Manstein felt that Knobelsdorf must have been deceived by the Russians, and he said with hatred: "You didn't see his body with your own eyes, how do you know what the Russians said? Is it true or false?”
"Marshal, I think what the Russians said is true." Knobelsdorf explained: "The person who came to deliver the message was a captured second lieutenant of the Sixth Armored Division. He said that he had seen Huo Huo with his own eyes. General Nadolph’s body.”
"General Knobelsdorf," Manstein asked with a sneer: "Did the second lieutenant who sent you the message tell you what the number of the Russian unit that obtained General Hornadorf's body was?"
"It's clear, Marshal." Knobelsdorff replied respectfully: "It's the 188th Infantry Division of the Russian 27th Army."
"27th Army?" Hearing this familiar number, Manstein felt a headache: "It can't be the 27th Army commanded by Sokov, right?"
"It is Sokov's troops." Knobelsdorf said while the iron was hot: "He wrote a letter to me and to you respectively, both about exchanging prisoners of war for the body of General Hornadorf."
"How many Russians did the 48th Armored Corps capture in recent battles?"
"I don't know the specific numbers." Knobelsdorff was not very interested in how many prisoners his troops had captured. He only considered how many more cities he had captured. Therefore, when he heard Manstein's question, he could not give an accurate answer: "I think there are still about five or six thousand people."
"You just said that Sokov sent someone to deliver a letter to me. Where is the letter now?"
"It's in my hand."
"Send someone to deliver it to me immediately." After Manstein said this, he felt that his expression was not accurate enough, and quickly added: "Ask the second lieutenant who came back from the Russians to deliver the letter to me. come over."
After Knobelsdorf hung up the phone, he immediately called a staff officer and told him: "Send Lieutenant Kahn to Marshal Manstein immediately. I will leave it to you to take care of his life."
"Yes, Your Excellency, Commander." The staff officer straightened his body and replied, "I will send him to the marshal safely."
Twenty minutes later, the military staff brought Second Lieutenant Kahn to Manstein's station. After checking the IDs of the two men, an officer said coldly: "Hand over your guns."
Second Lieutenant Kahn has not been wearing weapons since he came back, so there is no need to hand over weapons at this moment. When the staff officer who accompanied him heard what the officer said, he couldn't help but resisted and said: "We were ordered to see Mr. Marshal, you have no right."
Unexpectedly, the officer ignored him at all and said with a straight face: "Please hand over your pistol." The staff officer had no choice but to take out his pistol and hand it over.
The officer led the two men outside Manstein's command cabin. He turned to them and said, "Wait here." After saying that, he stepped up the small stairs, entered the command cabin, and reported to Manstein. went.
After a while, the officer came out and asked the two of them: "Which of you is the messenger?"
Kahn quickly stepped forward and replied, "It's me."
The officer glanced at Kahn, then shook his head at him and said, "Let's go." Seeing that the staff officer also wanted to follow, the officer quickly reached out to stop him: "I'm sorry, the marshal only wants to see the person who sent the message."
Kahn followed the officer into the command cabin and saw Manstein sitting in a chair smoking a cigar. He quickly stepped forward to salute and loudly announced his name, rank and position in the army.
Unexpectedly, Manstein reached out and interrupted him before he finished speaking: "Okay, I'm not interested in your identity. Where is Sokov's letter?"
"Here, Your Excellency Marshal." Kahn took out Sokov's letter from his coat pocket and was about to hand it to Manstein when he was stopped by a colonel's adjutant. The adjutant took the letter from Kahn's hand, turned around and walked out of the command cabin.
Seeing his adjutant leave, Manstein asked slowly: "Second Lieutenant, did you really see the body of General Hornerdorf with your own eyes?"
"Yes, Marshal, I saw it with my own eyes." Kahn said while gesturing: "His chest was blown to pieces, and part of his clothes were burned."
After learning that Hornadorf's body was indeed in the hands of the Russians, Manstein put the cigar in his hand in the ashtray on the table, stood up, walked to Kahn, and asked: "The Russians How were the remains of General Hornerdorf treated? Was he left on the road outside for anyone to see?"
"No, Your Excellency Marshal." Kahn replied: "Major General Sokov said that although they have a hostile relationship with us, they should still maintain the necessary respect for senior officers like General Hornadorf. Therefore, He specially ordered someone to make a coffin and placed General Hornadorf in the coffin."
After listening to Kahn's story and knowing that Sokov had kept Hornadorff's body under observation, Manstein couldn't help but smile and nodded, and his affection for Sokov increased a bit.
The officer holding Sokov's letter returned to the command cabin after leaving for a few minutes, and handed Sokov's letter and a translated content to Manstein. Manstein took the things from the adjutant's hand and looked at them carefully.
After reading Sokov's letter, Manstein raised his head and said to Kahn: "Second Lieutenant, Sokov did not mention the time and place of the exchange in his letter?"
"That's it, Marshal." Kahn explained to Manstein: "General Sokov was worried that his proposal would not be accepted by you, so he did not leave any contact information. But before I left, he He once told me that if we agree to the exchange, then I will act as a messenger and travel to and from the positions of both parties."
"Second Lieutenant, I now officially appoint you as my special envoy to be responsible for liaison between us and the Russians." Manstein said to Kahn: "You go to the Russians immediately and tell them that I agree to the exchange. But they need to provide a time and place for the exchange of remains and prisoners of war."
"Understood, Marshal, I will return to the Russian position immediately." Kahn said cautiously: "But we are fighting with them, and I am worried that if we pass directly through the war zone, my life may be in danger. My personal life and death is a small matter, if I will never redeem myself for delaying His Excellency the Marshal's important matter."
The translator soon came to the command cabin, picked up the letter that Knobelsdorf handed to him, and translated it word for word: "General Knobelsdorf, I am Sokov, your honorable army. General Wolf's body is now in the hands of our army. Although you and I are enemies, I still hope that General Hornadorf can be buried in peace, so I propose an exchange between the two parties. My conditions are simple, You will exchange 300 captured officers and soldiers of our army (including wounded) for the body of General Hornadorf. Signed: Major General Sokov."
After Knobelsdorff waited for the translator to finish reading the letter, he waved his hand to indicate that the other party could leave. He walked back and forth in the command cabin with his hands behind his back, thinking quickly in his mind whether he needed to report this matter to Manstein?
After repeatedly weighing the relationship, he felt that he should report the matter to Manstein. He came to the telephone and ordered the communications staff to help him get through Manstein's call.
After the call was connected, Knobelsdorf immediately said into the phone: "Your Excellency, Marshal, the Russians just sent me a letter."
"A letter?" Manstein asked in surprise: "What letter? Are they ready to surrender to us?"
"That's not true." Knobelsdorff quickly defended: "The Russians said that General Hornadorf's body is in their hands and they need us to exchange prisoners of war with them."
"Absurd, simply absurd." Manstein felt that Knobelsdorf must have been deceived by the Russians, and he said with hatred: "You didn't see his body with your own eyes, how do you know what the Russians said? Is it true or false?”
"Marshal, I think what the Russians said is true." Knobelsdorf explained: "The person who came to deliver the message was a captured second lieutenant of the Sixth Armored Division. He said that he had seen Huo Huo with his own eyes. General Nadolph’s body.”
"General Knobelsdorf," Manstein asked with a sneer: "Did the second lieutenant who sent you the message tell you what the number of the Russian unit that obtained General Hornadorf's body was?"
"It's clear, Marshal." Knobelsdorff replied respectfully: "It's the 188th Infantry Division of the Russian 27th Army."
"27th Army?" Hearing this familiar number, Manstein felt a headache: "It can't be the 27th Army commanded by Sokov, right?"
"It is Sokov's troops." Knobelsdorf said while the iron was hot: "He wrote a letter to me and to you respectively, both about exchanging prisoners of war for the body of General Hornadorf."
"How many Russians did the 48th Armored Corps capture in recent battles?"
"I don't know the specific numbers." Knobelsdorff was not very interested in how many prisoners his troops had captured. He only considered how many more cities he had captured. Therefore, when he heard Manstein's question, he could not give an accurate answer: "I think there are still about five or six thousand people."
"You just said that Sokov sent someone to deliver a letter to me. Where is the letter now?"
"It's in my hand."
"Send someone to deliver it to me immediately." After Manstein said this, he felt that his expression was not accurate enough, and quickly added: "Ask the second lieutenant who came back from the Russians to deliver the letter to me. come over."
After Knobelsdorf hung up the phone, he immediately called a staff officer and told him: "Send Lieutenant Kahn to Marshal Manstein immediately. I will leave it to you to take care of his life."
"Yes, Your Excellency, Commander." The staff officer straightened his body and replied, "I will send him to the marshal safely."
Twenty minutes later, the military staff brought Second Lieutenant Kahn to Manstein's station. After checking the IDs of the two men, an officer said coldly: "Hand over your guns."
Second Lieutenant Kahn has not been wearing weapons since he came back, so there is no need to hand over weapons at this moment. When the staff officer who accompanied him heard what the officer said, he couldn't help but resisted and said: "We were ordered to see Mr. Marshal, you have no right."
Unexpectedly, the officer ignored him at all and said with a straight face: "Please hand over your pistol." The staff officer had no choice but to take out his pistol and hand it over.
The officer led the two men outside Manstein's command cabin. He turned to them and said, "Wait here." After saying that, he stepped up the small stairs, entered the command cabin, and reported to Manstein. went.
After a while, the officer came out and asked the two of them: "Which of you is the messenger?"
Kahn quickly stepped forward and replied, "It's me."
The officer glanced at Kahn, then shook his head at him and said, "Let's go." Seeing that the staff officer also wanted to follow, the officer quickly reached out to stop him: "I'm sorry, the marshal only wants to see the person who sent the message."
Kahn followed the officer into the command cabin and saw Manstein sitting in a chair smoking a cigar. He quickly stepped forward to salute and loudly announced his name, rank and position in the army.
Unexpectedly, Manstein reached out and interrupted him before he finished speaking: "Okay, I'm not interested in your identity. Where is Sokov's letter?"
"Here, Your Excellency Marshal." Kahn took out Sokov's letter from his coat pocket and was about to hand it to Manstein when he was stopped by a colonel's adjutant. The adjutant took the letter from Kahn's hand, turned around and walked out of the command cabin.
Seeing his adjutant leave, Manstein asked slowly: "Second Lieutenant, did you really see the body of General Hornerdorf with your own eyes?"
"Yes, Marshal, I saw it with my own eyes." Kahn said while gesturing: "His chest was blown to pieces, and part of his clothes were burned."
