Red Moscow

Sokov stepped out of the door of the command post, and suddenly remembered an important matter, he quickly stepped back, turned to the deputy head: "Do you have any wine here?"

"Wine?!" Hearing Sokov's question, the deputy head asked in astonishment: "Comrade Commander, what do you want wine for?"

"What to do, drink, of course."

"Aren't you going to preside over the exchange ceremony?" The chief of staff asked puzzledly, "If you drank alcohol, it wouldn't be a problem, would it?"

"I'm going to entertain the German commander who came to drink," Sokov urged, "If you have any wine, quickly bring it out. By the way, if you have anything to drink, bring it out too."

The deputy head hesitated for a moment, walked to the wall, took out a silver wine jug from the cloth bag hanging on the wall, and handed it to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, this is what I entrusted someone to bring from Moscow." I haven't had a chance to drink the wine that came."

The chief of staff was familiar with the deputy head of the regiment, so he naturally knew that his flagon was full of good wine, so he took it out to entertain the Germans. He felt worthless for him, and couldn't help but said: "Comrade deputy head, this It’s all good wine you entrusted someone to bring, how can it be used to entertain our enemies?”

The deputy head glanced at Sokov, with a bitter expression on his face: "Since Comrade Commander has issued an order, I can only carry it out unconditionally."

Sokov saw the resistance between the two, and knew that if he didn't explain the matter clearly, the two might have a bad feeling, so he smiled and explained to the two: "Do you think I really want to invite the Germans to drink? "

There were expressions of disbelief on the faces of the two of them. You said that you were going to entertain the German commander with our wine, but now you said that you didn't really want to entertain the enemy. Who are you lying to?

"I have just told you that the enemy exchanged so many wounded for Hornerdorf's body, just to delay their entry into the position, and then after they return to the defense area with the coffin, they will attack our army's position. Carry out artillery coverage." Sokov continued: "If we want to buy enough time for our wounded, we must find a way to delay the enemy. As long as the German troops who came to collect the coffins do not return, the enemy will not start shelling."

The chief of staff, who was still dissatisfied with Sokov, immediately realized that he had misunderstood Sokov when he heard this, and blushed quickly and said: "Comrade Commander, it's okay to have wine and no food, I will immediately order the cook Ben, prepare some snacks for you."

"If you want to drink, you must prepare tables and stools." The deputy head also echoed: "I will immediately arrange for someone to move the tables and stools to the exchange location."

When the head of the 564th Regiment saw Sokov appearing, he had a surprised expression on his face. He thought to himself, didn't the division commander Koyda tell him that he would preside over the exchange ceremony? Why is the commander here? Especially behind the commander, there were several soldiers carrying tables and stools, which made him even more puzzled.

After the regiment leader stepped forward to salute Sokov, he asked in surprise, "Comrade Commander, what are you doing with these things?"

Samoilov found a slightly flat place, had the table and stools arranged, and then ordered the soldiers in the cooking squad to put all kinds of food on the table one by one.

Seeing this, the head of the regiment was even more puzzled: "Comrade commander, who are you going to entertain?"

Sokov turned towards the open barrel cart that was slowly moving with the wounded in the distance, and said: "It is the German commander in that cart. I plan to treat him to a drink. Since you want to drink, I will ask your cooking team to prepare Ordered some appetizers."

"Comrade Commander," the head of the regiment showed a hint of anger when he heard Sokov say this: "That is our enemy, why did you invite them to drink? Is it appropriate?"

"It's nothing inappropriate, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel." Sokov didn't speak, and Samoilov on the side chimed in: "Have you noticed that there is something wrong with these fighters that the enemy used to exchange with us? ?"

The head of the regiment glanced at the approaching prisoner-of-war team, and said casually: "I saw that the soldiers used by the enemy to slow down us are basically all wounded."

Seeing that the head of the regiment also noticed this, Sokov then asked: "Tell me, how long will it take to transfer so many wounded and sick to your position?"

After doing some calculations in his mind, the team leader cautiously replied, "I think it will take half an hour at the earliest."

"If we were transferring the wounded, the enemy suddenly launched a heavy shelling attack on your regiment's position. How many of these wounded do you think will survive, and what heavy price will your regiment pay?"

"Comrade commander, I don't think so." The head of the regiment murmured, "If the enemy wants to launch shelling, won't they hit their own people?"

"Once the Germans have obtained Hornerdorf's body, they can definitely get out of the area covered by the artillery fire within a few minutes." Sukov said with a sneer: "And the German artillery only needs to see that their people have entered the safe area." area, they can bombard us unscrupulously.”

Sokov's words shocked the head of the regiment into a cold sweat: "Comrade Commander, I don't think the Germans would do such a despicable and shameless thing?"

"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, your idea is completely wrong." Sokov said with a serious expression, "Do you think there is anything outrageous that the Germans can't do?"

The head of the regiment understood Sokov's intentions, and immediately proposed: "Comrade commander, as soon as the wounded come over, I will immediately arrange for people to help them enter our position."

"Before coming here, I have already greeted your deputy commander and chief of staff, and they know what to do." Sokov said to the commander: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, your task is to accompany me to entertain the Germans." Commander, stall for as long as possible. It is best to wait until all the wounded are in position before letting them leave."

"Understood, Comrade Commander." The head of the regiment nodded and said, "I will definitely complete this task."

Second Lieutenant Kahn, who was coming towards the exchange location in a bucket cart, saw a familiar figure appearing among the Russians in the distance, and thought that he was delusional. He hastily rubbed his eyes vigorously, and after making sure he read correctly, he turned his head and said to the adjutant sitting in the back row: "Mr. Colonel, the commander who hosted the exchange ceremony on the Russian side seems to be Major General Sokov himself. .”

"What, Major General Sokov presided over the exchange ceremony for the Russians?" The adjutant's expression changed drastically when he heard what Kahn said: "You read it right, right?"

"You can't be wrong, Mr. Colonel." Kahn replied affirmatively: "I have met him several times, and I will never admit it wrong. You know, among the Russians, there is only one young general like him. "

"Speed ​​up." After receiving Kahn's confirmation, the adjutant immediately ordered the driver: "Hurry up and say hello to General Sokov as soon as possible."

"Mr. Colonel," the interpreter sitting next to the adjutant cautiously reminded him, "Is it dangerous for us to pass like this?"

"I believe in the character of General Sokov. Since it was agreed that the two sides would exchange, he will never let anyone threaten my safety."

A few minutes later, the barrel truck crossed the battlefield full of craters and corpses and arrived at Sokov's position. Kahn jumped out of the car first, and then came to the back to help the adjutant open the door.

After the adjutant got out of the car, he tugged at the hem of his military uniform, then walked up to Sokov, and asked with a smile on his face, "Excuse me, are you General Sokov?"

"Yes, Mr. Colonel." Sokov heard the adjutant call out his name, guessing that he might be confirming his identity, and before the translator relayed it, he said first: "I don't know who you are?"

"I am Colonel Burke." The adjutant bowed slightly and said respectfully, "I am the adjutant of Marshal Manstein. I was ordered to exchange with you."

"Colonel Burke, I think today's exchange ceremony will take a long time, how about we sit down and have a drink?" Sokov said with a smile, "I invite you to taste what authentic vodka tastes like."

Burke did respect Sokov in his heart, but that didn't mean he would agree to sit and drink with Sokov. After waiting for Sokov to finish speaking, he waved his hand with a smile and said, "General Sokov, my mission here today is to exchange your prisoners of war for General Hornadorf's body. As for drinking , I think there may be opportunities in the future.”