"Wait a minute, Comrade Sokov, why do I feel that something is wrong about this matter?"
Malinin's words confused Sokov: "What's wrong?"
"As far as I know, all the gold in our country's banks are gold bricks cast in accordance with international standards." Ma Lining said on the other end of the phone: "That is to say, each gold brick weighs ten kilograms, and a wooden box contains only
Ten gold bricks, that’s one hundred kilograms, plus the weight of the wooden box, it’s naturally heavier.”
"That's right," Sokov nodded and said, "Even if there are only ten gold bricks in a box, plus the weight of the wooden box, it will be more than one hundred kilograms, and it will take at least two strong men to lift it.
Gotta move.”
"Yes, that's really what I want to say. 180 tons of gold, based on a 10 kilogram gold brick, then the fleet transported 18,000 gold bricks." Malinin calculated the accounts for Sokov like an accountant:
"Pack one wooden box for every ten gold bricks, which is 1,800 boxes."
After calculating the number of gold bricks and how many boxes they had been divided into, Malinin raised his own question: "Comrade Sokov, think about it, a box weighs more than a hundred kilograms and requires at least two strong men to lift it.
I can afford it. How many people are needed to throw all 1,800 boxes of gold into the swamp in a very short period of time?"
When Sokov heard what Malinin said, he was right in his heart. To sink 1,800 wooden boxes weighing one hundred kilograms into the swamp in a very short period of time would require at least several hundred people. But the bank
It would be good to have a platoon of troops escorting the gold, so there are still many doubts about throwing the wooden box containing the gold into the swamp.
"Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army," Sokov said to Malinen apologetically, realizing that there were still many things that were not clear about this matter: "I will verify the matter again and report to you after I have fully clarified it."
"Comrade Sokov, don't be anxious." Malinin said on the phone: "Now that the commander is away, it is not too late to wait until he comes back to report this kind of thing."
After Sokov put down the phone, he immediately ordered Miresiev: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, please invite soldier Timofey here. I have many questions to ask him."
When Sokov and Malinin were talking on the phone just now, Miresiev, who was standing aside, heard a few words. He also realized his recklessness. Just hearing Timofe talk about it, he hurried to Sokov.
Kove reported that if the matter turns out to be false, he may have to bear some responsibility.
At this moment, after hearing Sokov's instructions, he quickly nodded and agreed: "Okay, Comrade Commander, I will bring him over immediately."
Ten minutes later, Miresiev appeared at the headquarters again. Along with him, there was a thin soldier, who should be the fellow countryman Timofey he mentioned.
Sure enough, the next moment he reported to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, this is my friend Timofey. Timofey, this is our commander General Sokov."
"Hello, Comrade Commander." Timofey heard what Miresiev said and hurriedly raised his hand to salute Sokov: "Soldier Timofey has been ordered to come!"
"The military salute is very standard." Sokov nodded to Timofey and said, "How many years have you been a soldier?"
"It's been two years, Comrade Commander."
"You have been a soldier for two years, so you can be considered a veteran." Sokov looked over his shoulder and asked with a smile: "Why are you still an ordinary soldier?"
Timofey didn't know how to answer Sokov's question, so he didn't say anything and just laughed awkwardly.
Sokov was eager to find out about the gold matter. He did not beat around the bush, but asked straight to the point: "Comrade Timofey, did you say that you participated in the transfer of the Minsk State Bank in June 1941?"
"Yes, Comrade Commander."
"I would like to ask, how many vehicles were involved in transferring gold at that time?"
"24 vehicles, Comrade Commander." Timofe replied without thinking.
"How many vehicles are there to transport gold?"
"14 vehicles, Comrade Commander." After Timofey answered this question, before Sokov could ask again, he took the initiative and said: "But the amount of gold on each vehicle is different."
"How is it different?"
"Some trucks contained three hundred boxes of gold, but the vehicle I was in only contained one hundred boxes."
"Why is there a difference?"
"The reason is very simple. The heavier the load of some vehicles, the more gold they can carry."
"You said that when you encountered an air raid, the bank leader who led the team ordered you to throw the gold into a nearby swamp. Is this true?"
"Yes, Comrade Commander." Timofey nodded and called back: "The bank leader did issue such an order. When the gold was thrown into the swamp, I also participated in the transport."
"You also participated in the moving?" Sokov looked at the other person's thin figure and asked teasingly: "I wonder how many of you can move a box of gold?"
Timofey raised his right hand, with the palm of his hand facing Sokov, and replied: "There are five people in total."
Sokov thought about it. Although Timofey was short in stature, it really wasn't a big problem for five people to carry a box of gold. He was silent for a moment, and then asked: "How many boxes of gold did you put in in total?"
swamp?"
"The group I was in dropped in twelve boxes of gold." Timofei said thoughtfully: "The rest were thrown in by the soldiers guarding the car."
"What about the other 13 cars?" Sokov asked: "They were also thrown away one by one like this?"
"Most of them are like this." Timofey said: "But the car containing three hundred boxes of gold did not unload it directly, but rushed directly into the swamp."
"What?" Hearing what Timofe said, Sokov couldn't help but be surprised: "Drove the car directly into the swamp?"
"Yes, Comrade Commander." Timofey nodded and continued: "The driver jumped out of the car before it rushed into the swamp. I saw with my own eyes that the vehicle filled with gold slowly sank.
Into the swamp."
A set of images appeared in Sokov's mind. One truck after another, loaded with gold, rushed into the swamp at full speed, splashing mud into the sky, and then slowly sank, and was gradually covered by the mud coming from all around.
submerged.
He knew very well that the depth of the swamp was limited. Even if the gold and the cart were to be sunk into the swamp, they would not be able to sink in the same spot. Thinking of this, he asked Timofey: "When you sink the gold, what is the distance between the carts?"
How far is it?”
Timofei recalled for a moment and said: "About thirty meters."
After listening to Timofe's words, Sokov nodded and said: "So, based on the distance between vehicles, the width of gold spreading in the swamp should be about 400 meters."
"That's right, Comrade Commander." Timofey said with certainty: "It's almost that wide a distance. Even if the area of the swamp changes, if you want to search, you can still find it easily."
Sokov then asked a few more details, and Timofey answered them carefully. After asking all the questions, Sokov nodded at the other party and said: "Comrade Timofey, you can leave.
Yes. If we really find the batch of gold you mentioned, we will definitely not treat you badly. At least the military rank and position will be adjusted accordingly."
Facing the cake Sokov drew for himself, Timofe seemed extremely excited, and his hands were shaking even as he saluted.
After seeing off Timofey, Sokov looked at Sidorin and Ponedelin and asked: "Chief of Staff, Deputy Commander, do you think what Timofey said is credible?"
Sidorin did not immediately express his position, but Ponedelin said: "Comrade Commander, based on some of the details he said, I analyzed that this matter should be true. But I am a little worried..."
"worry about what?"
"Although Timofe said he was the only survivor, he was in a coma for a period of time after all." Ponejelin expressed his doubts: "Maybe there were other survivors during his coma.
Have you left?"
"Well, it is possible." Sidorin next to him added: "In this case, we cannot rule out the possibility that these survivors will join the local guerrillas and salvage the gold that sank in the swamp at the right time.
come out."
"I think this possibility is unlikely." Ponejelin shook his head and said: "The guerrillas don't have any lifting machinery. How can they pick up the gold sinking in the mire?"
"Comrade Deputy Commander, there are always more solutions than difficulties." Sokov thought of the footage of tanks being salvaged from swamps in later videos, and he thought about the ways the guerrillas might salvage gold. He thought of the way the guerrillas might salvage gold.
He picked up a pen and drew a schematic diagram on the paper: "Look, if you find a tree nearby, hang a guide wheel for lifting things, then send people into the swamp, find a wooden box containing gold, and tie it with a rope or chain,
Just use the guide wheel to pull the wooden box out of the mire smoothly."
After reading the diagram drawn by Sokov, Ponedelin was a little surprised: "Can the gold be fished out so easily?"
"Actually, there are many ways to get gold out of the swamp." Sokov continued: "For example, drain the water in this area of water with a water pump, and the swamp will become a peatland. After the soil on the ground dries,
, just go and dig out the wooden box."
After Sokov finished talking about the two ways to take out the wooden box, he frowned again: "If the gold that sank into the swamp was only taken away by the guerrillas, it doesn't matter. After all, it is our people who are using this gold.
.But if it is discovered by the Germans and salvaged, it will be troublesome."
"Yes, if this batch of gold falls into the hands of the Germans, it will really be troublesome." Sidorin said with a serious expression: "What I am most worried about now is to report this matter to my superiors.
.Although Chief of Staff Malining is still skeptical about this matter, he will definitely report the matter to his superiors in accordance with the regulations. If the superiors really send people to look for this batch of gold, but the gold cannot be found in that place, I am afraid it will be a disaster.
There will be trouble."
"Comrade Chief of Staff, you are worrying too much." Seeing Sidorin's sad face, Sokov comforted him and said: "As far as the superior department is concerned, this batch of gold has long been lost in the war. Now we have found this
It's too late for the relevant departments to thank us for the clues about the gold shipment. Even if the gold is not found, they can't blame us, so you don't have to worry too much."
While the three of them were talking, the phone on the table rang. Everyone stared at the ringing phone, but no one answered it. Sidorin even turned to ask Sokov: "Comrade Commander, what do you mean?
Could it be a call from a superior asking about gold matters?"
"Yes or no, you will know as soon as you answer the phone."
Sidorin hesitated for a moment, then picked up the microphone and put it to his ear. After listening for only a moment, he stood up suddenly and said loudly: "Hello, Comrade General! ... Yes, he is here! ...
Do you need him to answer the phone?"
As soon as Sokov heard Sidorin's tone of voice, he knew that the person he was talking to was Rokossovsky, and he quickly reached out to pick up the phone. When he heard Rokossovsky's voice coming from the receiver
At that time, he said respectfully: "Hello, Comrade General!"
"Misha!" Rokossovsky asked tentatively: "I just received a call from Chief of Staff Malinin. It is said that you have the whereabouts of the missing gold from the Minsk State Bank?"
"Yes, Comrade General, we do have clues about gold." Sokov didn't know what Rokossovsky thought about this matter, so he could only answer cautiously: "But is the gold still there?
, we don’t know for sure.”
"Why do you say that?" Rokossovsky asked with some confusion.
"Comrade General, this war has been going on for three years, which means that the Germans have occupied Belarus for three years." Sokov said: "I am worried that during such a long time, the Germans may have discovered the missing batch of people.
gold, salvaged it and sent it to the German treasury."
"Misha, why did I hear Chief of Staff Malinin say that there was only one survivor in the team escorting the gold?" Rokossovsky said with some surprise: "Did he reveal the location of the gold to the Germans?"
"The soldier said that he was unconscious for a period of time when they were bombed by enemy planes." Sokov quickly explained to Rokossovsky: "Maybe during the period when he was unconscious, there were other
The survivors left the destroyed convoy and fled to other places. If these survivors were captured by the Germans, in order to survive, they would not rule out revealing the secrets in the swamp to the Germans and leading the enemy to find the gold."
"It seems that I need to report this matter to the High Command and ask them to use our agents lurking in Belarus to conduct a detailed investigation into whether a large amount of gold was seized during the German occupation of Belarus."
"Comrade General, I think in order to avoid detours, let our intelligence personnel lurking within the German army in Belarus conduct a thorough investigation to see if the Germans have really stolen this batch of gold." Sokov said: "In this way
, this can prevent us from doing useless work.”
"Well, yes, that's how I think about it." Rokossovsky finally said to Sokov: "If there are any new instructions from the Supreme Command, I will ask Chief of Staff Malinin to inform you as soon as possible.
.Wish you good luck!" After saying that, Sokov hung up the phone without waiting for him to speak.
Sokov put down the phone and said to Ponejelin and Sidorin: "Comrade General General just said on the phone that he will report the matter to the Supreme Command, and then the superiors will use our troops to lurk in the occupied Belarus."
Intelligence personnel within the German army have launched an investigation into this matter. Once the final results are available, Chief of Staff Malinen will notify us as soon as possible."
