Seeing that Burke refused his request without hesitation, Sokov was not discouraged. His eyes rolled and he thought of other solutions in his mind. He smiled: "Col. Burke, in fact, I have always admired Marshal Manstein and wanted to know more about him. Since you are his adjutant, I must know him very well. I wonder if you would like to sit down and drink with me while telling me something about Marshal."
"What, do you worship our Marshal Manstein?" When Berk heard Sokov say this, the first thing he thought of was that he had auditory hallucinations. But when he saw the Russian officers and soldiers around him showed a look of astonishment on his face, he realized that he had heard it wrong. Sokov did say so. He asked tentatively: "Can I ask, why do you admire him?"
"He is an amazing military genius," Sokov said shamelessly in order to dispel the other party's doubts: "Sevastopol is an unconquered fortress in the mind of our Supreme Command. Many German generals proved this with their failure. But with the emergence of Marshal Manstein, this view was completely overturned. Under his command, your army easily seized this fortress that was claimed to never fall, making him the conqueror of the unforgettable Sevastopol."
When Burke heard Sokov's exquisite words and praised Manstein, he couldn't help but smile with a smug smile on his face. Sokov praised Manstein so much that he was honored as Manstein's adjutant. Therefore, when Sokov invited him to sit down and drink again, he did not refuse, but sat at the table happily.
Sokov couldn't help but smile when he saw that the other party had hit his trick. He picked up the silver wine pot, poured half a cup of vodka into the glass in front of the other party, and said with a smile: "Col. Burke, please try our best vodka."
Burke picked up the wine glass, took a sip, closed his eyes and felt it for a moment, then opened his eyes and said, "It's really a good wine."
"Col. Burke, let's chat while drinking." Sokov picked up the wine glass, touched the other party gently, and then asked, "What would you think if the commander of the Sixth Army was not Paulus, but Marshal Manstein?"
Hearing Sokov's question, Burke put down the wine glass in his hand, picked up a biscuit on the plate on the table, took a few bites, and said, "If Marshal Manstein came to command the Sixth Army, they would definitely not be annihilated by you. Instead, judging from the extent of your marshal's grasp of the situation on the battlefield, he could have successfully jumped out with his troops before your encirclement was closed.
Take a step back and say that even if you accidentally fall into your siege, General Hort and other troops will take active action and successfully break through your siege."
The Soviet commanders and fighters standing aside were filled with anger when they heard Burke's arrogant statement. If they hadn't seen Sokov drinking with the other party calmly, someone would have slapped him.
But what everyone did not expect was that after Colonel Burke finished speaking, Sokov shook his head and said, "Col. Burke, you are wrong. If the commander of the Sixth Army commander in the Battle of Stalingrad was Marshal Manstein, our army could not defend Stalingrad at all, let alone the encirclement and annihilation of the Sixth Army later."
Sokov's words were shocking. Not to mention that Burke was stunned on the spot, even the commanders and fighters next to him were stunned. They never dreamed that Sokov would make such dangerous remarks. If someone else said such words, there would be only one fate waiting for him, that was to be sent to a military court.
But Sokov's words aroused Burke's great curiosity. He asked with interest: "General Sokov, why do you think that if Marshal Manstein commanded the Sixth Army, we would have the possibility of capturing Stalingrad?"
"Col. Burke, don't think that I deliberately said good things about Marshal Manstein to please you. Listen to me and analyze them slowly." Sokov saw that he had successfully attracted Burke's attention, so he continued to say: "If Marshal Manstein came to command the battle, after your army crossed the Don River, he would definitely not draw General Hort's Fourth Armored Army to attack the haunted Caucasus, but instead concentrate all his troops to rush towards Stalingrad. You must know that at that time, basically all of our troops were in the Don River Basin, resisting your attack with all his strength.
Although I was commanding a unit stationed in Mamayevgang at that time, in the battle level of millions of people, the thousands of people I commanded, no matter how strong the fortifications were, could not stop your thunder attack."
Burke agreed with Sokov's words very much. After the Sixth Army was completely wiped out, there was a saying in Manstein's headquarters that if the marshal himself commanded the war himself, the final winner would not be the Soviet army anymore. Stalingrad, which was beaten into ruins, must have fallen into the hands of the German army.
Seeing that Burke agreed with his statement, Sokov continued: "There is nothing wrong with Paulus' tactics. He was planning to separate the old and new cities of Stalingrad by occupying the commanding heights of Mamayev, and to separate the old and new cities of Stalingrad, and to cut off our army's defense line in the city. But what he did not expect was that the Mamayev hill I was holding onto was something he could not conquer.
If Marshal Manstein was replaced, he would definitely adjust his tactics in time and shift the focus of his attack from Mamayev to other directions. For example, frontal feint attack and two wings detour are not the tactics you often use? As long as the 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, meet in the rear of Mamayev, control the central ferry of the city, and cut off the connection between the city and the outside. If this is really done, then the defenders in the city will soon be wiped out by you because they have no ammunition and food..."
Burke was attracted by Sokov's ingenious remarks, so that when the prisoners of war arrived at the exchange site, he was not interested in asking, but gave it to Lieutenant Kahn to take charge. Sokov made a gesture to the leader of the 564th Regiment beside him, signaling him to send someone to help the wounded return to the position quickly.
Hundreds of people rushed out of the position, which scared Burke. He asked Sokov alertly: "General Sokov, what are you doing?"
Seeing that Burke was frightened, Sokov quickly comforted him and said, "Sir 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 pick them up. Don't worry, with me here, your safety can definitely be guaranteed."
The soldiers walked into the prisoner-of-war team, took the stretcher of the seriously injured lying from the hands of the lightly wounded, and accelerated their pace towards their own trenches. As for the lightly wounded, 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 and with the help of the soldiers, they all returned to the defense zone smoothly, Sokov couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, and quickly said perfunctory words, then sent Burke and his men away.
Looking at the backs of Burke and others gradually moving away, Sokov shouted to the guard platoon standing around him: "What are you still standing here stupidly? Why don't you run quickly? Do you want to get shots from German shells?"
Samoilov made a gesture to the two soldiers next to him, stepped forward to hold Sokov, and then shouted loudly: "Retreat quickly, retreat quickly, retreat back to the trenches."
Hearing Samoilov's order, all the soldiers ran wildly. Everyone was determined to run back to their positions quickly and avoid enemy shelling. As for the tables and benches with wine and food, no one cared about them.
As soon as a group of people ran back to the trenches, the sound of shells shaking through the air came from the air. Then, a series of shells landed at the exchange site not long ago. Sokov was sitting on the table and stool where he chatted with the German colonel, and was blown into pieces in an instant.
Sokov, who entered the position, guessed that the enemy's next shelling position must be the trench where his men were. He quickly shouted at the top of his voice: "Retreat to the second line of defense immediately, and retreat quickly!"
Fortunately, Sokov's order was issued in time. When he and the soldiers of the guard platoon retreated into the second line of defense along the traffic trench, the German shells fell down like raindrops, and immediately covered the entire front line of positions. The trenches that Sokov and his friends were staying not long ago were suddenly shrouded in flames and smoke.
Chapter completed!