Red Moscow

Sokov nodded, wondering when he should choose a time to talk to Colonel Jones. At this moment, he suddenly saw a US military officer walking in from outside, quickly came to Patton's side, bent down and whispered a few words into Patton's ear. After Patton glanced this way, he turned and said a few words to Tasini, who was sitting next to him, then got up and followed the officer out of the officers' mess.

Agelina also saw Patton's departure. She asked Sokov curiously: "Misha, where did General Patton go?"

"I don't know." Sokov guessed: "Maybe there is something important."

Patton left the officers' mess with his adjutant, and the two came to a nearby office. When the officers sitting inside saw General Patton coming in, they quickly stood up and saluted. Patton said to them: "You guys go out first!"

Upon hearing Patton's order, these officers immediately walked out of the room without any hesitation.

After he and his adjutant were alone in the room, Barton said, "Show me the information."

The adjutant quickly took out a square piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to Patton: "General, this is some information about General Sokov."

Barton snorted, took the paper from the adjutant's hand, unfolded it, and browsed quickly.

At first, he still looked disapproving, but as he watched, the expression on his face became serious. He even took off the cigar in his mouth, put it in the ashtray, and grabbed the thin piece of paper with both hands. of paper and looked over what was written on it.

The adjutant who understood the content of the information said with emotion: "General, I really didn't expect that General Sokov looked quite young, but he achieved so many meritorious deeds on the battlefield."

Patton said "Yeah" and continued: "If you look at the attitude of those Germans towards him, you can understand how terrifying he is on the battlefield."

"Fortunately he is not our enemy, otherwise we would have a headache."

Patton raised his head, looked at his adjutant, and said unconvinced: "Even though he has made so many achievements, if he and I meet on the battlefield, it is not certain who will be the final winner."

"General!" After hearing what Patton said, the adjutant quickly echoed: "I think if you meet him on the battlefield, he will definitely not be your opponent, and you will definitely be the final winner."

The adjutant's flattery put a proud expression on Barton's face. But he knew very well in his heart that if he and Sokov really met on the battlefield, the outcome of the two sides should be 50-50. He rarely said humbly: "If it's purely infantry versus infantry, maybe I'm not his opponent. But when it comes to joint operations with various arms, he may not be able to stop our military's three-dimensional offensive composed of aircraft, tanks and artillery." ”

"General, I don't quite understand. Since General Sokov has achieved so many achievements, why have we never heard of it?" the adjutant said with some confusion: "Except for Zhukov, Konev and Rokossov Apart from Marshal Ski and others, I have only heard of General Vatutin.”

Unexpectedly, when Patton heard Vatutin's name, a look of contempt appeared on his face. He snorted and said disdainfully: "In my mind, Vatutin is a idiot. That battle made the Germans think strategically. The offensive was forced to shift to strategic defense, and the Battle of Kursk, which allowed the Russians to take the initiative on the battlefield, almost ended in failure because of Vatutin's presence. "

The adjutant asked with some confusion: "General, why do you say that?"

"According to the information we have, the Russians spent several months building a large number of fortifications in the Kursk area before the battle began. Even if the Germans suddenly launched a new round of attacks, the Russians could rely on them The strong fortifications resisted to crush the German attack. However, Vatutin, who was responsible for the defense of the southern front, gave up his strong position and launched a counterattack directly against the Germans. Unexpectedly, he was defeated by the Germans and had to be defeated. Defeated steadily.

Had it not been for the Russian Supreme Command, which transferred several armies from their Steppe Front to strengthen the defense of the southern front, and at the same time, because our army landed in Sicily, forcing Mustache to transfer Manstein's 23rd Armored Corps away, this would have been impossible. This battle may have another ending. If the Russians were really defeated in the Battle of Kursk, this damn war would probably not be over yet. "

If Sokov heard what Patton said here, he would definitely be surprised, because his comments about Vatutin were roughly the same as his own, thinking that Vatutin had limited abilities and was not suitable for holding too high a position.

Patton has always been known for his loud mouth. He never kept things or people he couldn't understand in his heart, but said it directly: "I first paid attention to Vatutin when the Russians were named after their supreme commander. In the city, they annihilated Germany's most elite Sixth Army. They mobilized hundreds of thousands of troops to attack the Germans on the left bank of the Dnieper River. With their superior strength and equipment, even if the troops were commanded by a dog, The battle that everyone could win ended in a disastrous defeat.

The main reason for the failure was that the troops commanded by Vatutin took advantage of the situation and stretched the logistics supply line indefinitely. Without enough supplies, the original equipment advantages turned into disadvantages. Tanks and armored vehicles without shells and fuel were just a pile of scrap metal. In the end, they were either blown up by the Germans' aircraft and cannons, or became the trophies of the Germans. Also, when Vatutin failed to forcefully cross the Dnieper River with his troops, he asked Rokossovsky, who was originally tasked with attacking Kiev, to move north, giving him a way to attack..."

The adjutant was still wondering why Patton stared at Vatutin and kept talking. When he heard this, he immediately understood: "So that's it!"

During the landing battle in Sicily, Montgomery commanded the British 8th Army, which landed in the area from Siracusa to Pachino in the southeast of the island and advanced towards Messina; while Patton commanded the US 7th Army, which landed in the southwest of the island from Gela to Li. Land in Kata, cut the enemy in half through the center of the island, and clear the northwest corner of the island.

Unexpectedly, not long after the battle started, the British army's attack was frustrated due to the tenacious resistance of the German and Italian troops, and it was delayed in advancing forward. Montgomery privately approached Eisenhower, hoping that he could create new offensive opportunities for himself. After the two sides reached an agreement, Eisenhower ordered Patton to give up the main offensive channel to Montgomery, allowing the British army to be the main attacker, and the American army to serve as assists.

But Patton was not willing to let Montgomery play the leading role alone. He divided his troops into two groups. One group was led by Bradley and the U.S. 2nd Army supported the British army in central Sicily. The other group was led by General Case and a temporary army went straight to Sicily. The capital is Palermo. The more than 50,000 Italian defenders in Palermo did not resist the American attack, but took the initiative to lay down their weapons and surrender to Patton's troops, which greatly satisfied Patton's vanity.

Later, when the British army was blocked from attacking again, Patton adjusted the direction of the attack in time, captured Messina ahead of the British army, and led his troops to line up in the square to welcome the British army led by Montgomery into the city.

The adjutant was thinking that maybe it was because of his combat experience in Sicily that Patton put himself into the role of Rokossovsky, while Vatutin became a general with average commanding skills like Montgomery.

At the same time, in the officers' mess, Sokov sat next to Colonel Jones and said to him politely: "Mr. Colonel, I want to ask you something!"

"General Sokov!" Jones said in a polite but distant tone: "If you have anything to say, just say it."

"I want to take a prisoner of war away from your prisoner of war camp." Sokov did not go around in circles, but said bluntly: "It is the Major Peterson who just talked to me."

"Major Peterson?! You want to take Major Peterson out of the prisoner of war camp?" Jones asked in surprise: "Why?"

"When we were chatting just now, he mentioned his home to me, which is within our control area." Sokov shrugged and continued: "He said that he had been away from home for too long and he wanted to go back and visit. look."

"General Sokov, I'm just a colonel, and I can't make the decision on many things." But Jones was obviously unwilling to help, so he began to shirk responsibility: "If you really want this prisoner of war to leave with you, you You can definitely mention this to General Patton.”

Sokov thought to himself that he and General Patton had only known each other for a few hours, and their friendship was not yet at the level where they could let each other go with just one word. Moreover, Patton at this moment has offended many senior figures in the US military because of his actions after occupying Germany and some of his extreme remarks. History books record that Patton was killed in a car accident on December 21, 1945, but who knows whether the car accident was an accident or artificially arranged. If he needs Barton to rescue Peterson, it might make things worse.

"Colonel Jones," Sokov said with a smile: "As far as I know, General Patton is no longer the military administrator of Bavaria and has been transferred to the 15th Army as commander, so he has no direct jurisdiction over you. Although you are only a colonel, you have the final say in everything in this prisoner of war camp. So after some consideration, I feel that if I want Major Peterson to be freed, I can only ask for your help."

Sokov's words made Jones feel a little complacent, but he still wanted to find out why Sokov and Peterson, who were strangers to each other, took the initiative to ask him to release the other party, so he asked tentatively: "General Sokov, I would like to ask, is there any relationship between you and this Major Peterson? "

"What is my relationship with him? Didn't you just hear it?" Sokov said: "During the war, he and I had a hostile relationship. The 19th Armored Division where he was was almost completely beaten by my troops. The army was wiped out. If he hadn’t been sent to the rear for treatment because of his injuries, he might have become my prisoner.”

"Ah, you were once enemies?"

"Otherwise? During the war, apart from being hostile, can we still be considered friends?" After Sokov said this, he felt that something was wrong, and quickly added: "Of course, now that the war is over, maybe He and I had a chance to become friends.”

At this time, several German officers who were sent to fill the scene, accompanied by several guards, entered the officers' mess and found a corner to sit down. Jones glanced across them and saw Major Peterson among them, and began to think in his mind whether he should agree to Sokov's proposal and release Peterson.

Seeing that Jones had not replied to him for a long time, Sokov guessed that he must still be weighing the interests of the matter. He did not rush the other party, but stood up and said: "Mr. Colonel, you can give me an answer after you think about it. I will reply first." Go to your seat."

When she returned to her seat, Agelina asked with some urgency: "Misha, how is the situation? Has Colonel Jones agreed?"

"He is still thinking about it and will tell me when he has the answer." When Sokov said this, he was thinking that from 1949 to 1961, about three million people fled to the West from East Germany, when the borders were still open. Virtue. During these 22 years, the population of East Berlin decreased by 11%, and although the number of residents in West Berlin increased, Berlin's total population remained unchanged at 3.25 million. Even if he takes Peterson out of this prisoner of war camp, will he be able to live in the future East Germany with peace of mind? Maybe in the end, not only would he escape to West Germany, but his family would also be taken away with him.

Vaserigov raised his hand to look at his watch and whispered to Sokov: "Comrade General, General Patton has left the restaurant for more than a quarter of an hour and has not come back yet. Do you think he is somewhere to discuss dealing with us?" conspiracy?"

"Impossible, this is absolutely impossible." Sokov shook his head and said: "Not to mention that we are still allies with the US military. Even if there is no such relationship, we are participating in the inspection of the prisoner of war camp today. The US military must ensure that How can our safety be harmed behind our backs? Comrade Major, please don’t let your imagination run wild.”

After waiting for a few more minutes, Patton and his adjutant entered the restaurant.

Seeing Patton and his adjutant returning, Colonel Jones quickly ordered people to serve food and let everyone start eating. Because he had to continue patrolling the prisoner-of-war camp, he did not prepare drinks for everyone to avoid getting drunk and causing trouble.

After lunch, everyone walked outside the restaurant one after another, each found a comfortable seat, and stood there in groups chatting.

"General Sokov," Jones came to Sokov's side and said hesitantly: "After repeated thinking, I feel that it is obviously impossible to release Major Peterson today." He may be worried about what happened to Sokov. After thinking about the bad association, he quickly added, "I mean not today. After all, there is an inspection team here. If I release Major Peterson rashly, I'm afraid other people will have objections. This is how I think about it. I will wait for two days." , I will find a suitable opportunity to sign a release certificate for Major Peterson and let him leave the prisoner of war camp safely. What do you think? "

"Of course." Sokov originally mentioned the release of Peterson to Colonel Jones with the intention of giving it a try. Whether he agreed or not would have little impact on him. Unexpectedly, the other party actually agreed. Although he still had to wait for two more days, he agreed to his request after all: "Mr. Colonel, on behalf of Major Peterson, I would like to express my gratitude to you in advance."