Seeing that Burke rejected his request without hesitation, Sokov was not discouraged. He rolled his eyes and thought of other methods in his mind. He chuckled: "Colonel Burke, actually I have always admired Mann." Marshal Stein, I would like to know more about him. Since you are his adjutant, you must know him very well. I wonder if you would like to sit down and have a drink with me while telling me something about the marshal. listen."
"What, you admire our Marshal Manstein?" When Burke heard what Sokov said, the first thing he thought in his mind was that he was hearing hallucinations, but he saw the expressions of astonishment on the faces of the Russian officers and soldiers around him. Only then did he realize that he had heard correctly. Sokov had indeed said that. He asked tentatively: "Can I ask why you admire him?"
"He is an amazing military genius," Sokov said shamelessly in order to dispel the other party's doubts: "Sevastopol is an unconquerable fortress in the eyes of our Supreme Command. Many German generals Their failure proved this. But with the emergence of Marshal Manstein, this view was completely overturned. Under his command, your army easily captured this so-called never-ending The fall of the fortress made him the unmitigated conqueror of Sevastopol."
Hearing Sokov's generous words of praise for Manstein, Burke couldn't help but smile proudly on his face. Sokov praised Manstein so much, and he was honored to serve as Manstein's adjutant. So when Sokov invited him to sit down for a drink again, he did not refuse, but happily sat at the table.
Seeing that the other party fell into his trap, Sokov couldn't help but smile. He picked up the silver flagon, poured a small glass of vodka into the glass in front of the other party, and said with a smile: "Colonel Burke, please try our best vodka."
Burke picked up the wine glass, took a sip gently, closed his eyes and felt it for a moment, then opened his eyes and said, "It is indeed a good wine."
"Colonel Burke, let's chat while drinking." Sokov picked up the wine glass, touched it lightly with the other party, and then asked: "Do you think if the commander of the Sixth Army was not Paulus? But it’s Marshal Manstein, so what kind of situation will it be?”
Hearing Sokov's question, Burke put down the wine glass in his hand, picked up a biscuit on the plate on the table, took two bites, and said: "If Marshal Manstein were to command the Sixth Army, then They will definitely not be annihilated by you. But judging from the Marshal's grasp of the battlefield situation, he can successfully jump out with his troops before your encirclement is closed.
To take a step back, even if I accidentally fell into your encirclement. When General Huote and other troops launch a rescue operation, they will also take active action and successfully break through your encirclement. "
The Soviet commanders and soldiers standing aside were filled with anger when they heard Burke's arrogant statement. If he hadn't seen Sokov drinking with the other party calmly, someone would have slapped him long ago.
But what everyone did not expect was that after Colonel Burke finished speaking, Sokov shook his head and said: "Colonel Burke, you are wrong. If during the Battle of Stalingrad, the commander of the Sixth Army It’s Marshal Manstein, and our army can’t hold Stalingrad at all, let alone encircle and annihilate the Sixth Army later.”
Sokov's words were shocking. Not to mention that Burke was stunned on the spot. Even the commanders and soldiers next to him were stunned. They never dreamed that Sokov would make such dangerous remarks. . If another person said this, there would be only one fate waiting for him, and that would be to be sent to a military court.
But Sokov's words aroused Burke's great curiosity. He asked with great interest: "General Sokov, why do you think that if Marshal Manstein commanded the Sixth Army, we would have the possibility of capturing Stalingrad?"
"Colonel Burke, please don't think that I deliberately say good things about Marshal Manstein just to please you. Listen to me and I will analyze it for you slowly." Sokov saw that he had successfully attracted Burke's attention. He continued: "If Marshal Manstein were to command the battle, after your army crosses the Don River, you will definitely not deploy General Hoth's Fourth Armored Group to attack the damn Caucasus. Instead, you will concentrate all your forces on the Caucasus." The troops rushed towards Stalingrad. You must know that at that time, basically all the troops of our army were in the Don River Basin, fully resisting your attack.
Although I commanded a troop stationed at Mamayev Heights at the time, in a battle-level battle involving millions of people, the thousands of people I commanded, no matter how solid the fortifications they relied on, could not stop your thunder. hit. "
Burke fully agreed with Sokov's words. After the Sixth Army was completely wiped out, there was a saying in Manstein's headquarters that if the marshal himself had personally directed this battle, the final winner might not be the Soviet army. And Stalingrad, which was reduced to ruins, must have fallen into the hands of the German army.
Seeing that Burke agreed with his statement, Sokov continued: "There is actually nothing wrong with Paulus' tactics. He planned to separate the old and new cities of Stalingrad by occupying the commanding heights of Mamayev Hill. , to separate our army's defense line in the city. But what he didn't expect was that he could not conquer the Mamayev Hill that I was holding on to.
If Marshal Manstein were replaced, he would definitely adjust his tactics in time and shift the focus of the attack from Mamayev Heights to other directions. For example, feinting from the front and taking detours from both wings, aren't they common tactics you use? As long as the roundabout troops on both wings can break through our army's defense and reach the bank of the Volga River, they can go north or south along the river, join forces behind Mamayev Hill, control the city's central ferry, and cut off the city from the outside. connect. If you really do this, then the defenders in the city will soon be annihilated by you because they will run out of ammunition and food..."
Burke was so attracted by Sokov's ingenious remarks that when the prisoner-of-war team arrived at the exchange location, he was not interested in asking, and instead left it to Lieutenant Kahn to take charge. When Burke was unaware, Sokov made a gesture to the commander of the 564th Regiment on the side, indicating that he would send someone to help the wounded return to their positions quickly.
Hundreds of people poured out of the position, which startled Burke. He asked Sokov alertly: "General Sokov, what are you doing?"
Seeing that Burke was frightened, Sokov quickly comforted him and said: "Mr. Colonel, don't worry. I saw that the wounded were unable to move, so I ordered the troops on the position to come out to meet them. Don't worry, I'm here. , your safety can absolutely be guaranteed."
The soldiers walked into the ranks of prisoners of war, took the stretchers with the seriously wounded from the hands of the lightly wounded, and walked quickly towards their trenches. As for the lightly wounded, because their burden was reduced, their marching speed naturally accelerated. In less than a quarter of an hour, all the released wounded entered the Soviet defense zone.
Seeing that the rescued wounded had successfully returned to the defense zone with the help of the soldiers, Sokov couldn't help but secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and with a few perfunctory words, he sent Burke and his men away.
Looking at the retreating figures of Burke and others, Sokov shouted to the guard platoon standing around him: "What are you doing standing here stupidly? Why don't you run faster? Do you want to be hit by German shells?" ?”
Samoilov made a gesture to the two soldiers next to him, stepped forward to hold Sokov, and then shouted loudly: "Retreat, retreat, retreat to the trench."
After hearing Samoylov's order, all the soldiers started running wildly. Everyone just wanted to run back to the position quickly to avoid the enemy's bombardment. As for the tables and benches with wine and food, no one cared about them at all.
As soon as a group of people ran back to the trenches, there was the scream of artillery shells piercing the air. Then, a series of shells landed at the exchange place not long ago. The table and stool where Sokov once sat and chatted with the German colonel were blown to pieces in an instant.
After entering the position, Sokov guessed that the enemy's next shelling position must be the trench where his group was, and he shouted at the top of his lungs: "Retreat to the second line of defense immediately, retreat quickly!"
Fortunately, Sokov's order was issued in time. When he and the soldiers of the guard platoon withdrew into the second line of defense along the communication trench, the German artillery shells fell like raindrops, immediately covering the entire front-line position. Soon Sokov and the others The trench he had been in before was suddenly shrouded in flames and smoke.
"It's so dangerous." Seeing that the position in front was covered by enemy artillery fire, Samoilov said with lingering fear: "Comrade Commander, if you hadn't ordered us to withdraw to the second line of defense in time, but continued to stay, In the trenches, the losses are probably heavy at this point.”
