Chapter 1993 Finding the missing gold

  Sokov felt that what Sidolin said was very reasonable, so he laughed and got up and went to the next room. He was going to find a place where no one was around to call Asiya, so as not to worry about speaking in front of everyone.

  After the call was connected, Assia's angry voice came from the receiver: "Are you willing to call me?"

   "Asiya, I'm really sorry just now." Sokov said apologetically, "I shouldn't have questioned you..."

   "Okay, there's no need to talk." Assia didn't wait for Sokov to finish, and interrupted him, "How is your injury? Does it affect your walking?"

   "Don't worry, the injury will heal soon." Sokov said with a smile: "Marshal Zhukov came to inspect the defense area a few days ago. I walked with him for two or three hours, and there was no problem at all."

   "You still have to be more careful, don't get hurt again." Assia said: "If you get hurt again, I'm afraid you won't be as lucky as last time."

   "Well, I see."

   "It's nothing, so I hung up. I've been very busy at work recently."

"Oh."

   "Remember to call home when you have time, I am at home every night."

"OK."

"Bye!"

  Sokov held the microphone from which the blind voice came, and after a while, he returned to the war room.

  Seeing Sokov coming in, Sidolin asked with a half-smile, "The call is over."

  Sokov didn't answer, but just nodded, and seeing that Ponegerin was not in the room, he asked casually, "Where did the deputy commander go?"

"Colonel Kirillov called and said there was something wrong." Sidolin said, "He went out after answering the phone." Perhaps because he was worried about Sokov, he added specifically, "I think It shouldn't be a big deal, otherwise he wouldn't have left without saying hello."

   Koshkin walked in from the outside and said to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, Lieutenant Colonel Milesyev, head of the 25th Guards Regiment, wants to see you. Let him in?"

  Milesiev is the first regiment-level commander personally appointed by Sokov after he became the commander of the 48th Army. According to Sokov's thinking: he came to find him, he must have encountered some troubles at work, there is no reason to disappear.

  Thinking of this, he said to Koshkin: "Let him in."

   Soon, Koshkin walked in with Milesyev.

   After Milesiev saluted, Sokov did not go around in circles with him, but asked bluntly: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, did you come to see me because you encountered any difficulties in your work?"

   "No, Comrade Commander." Unexpectedly, Milesyev said unexpectedly: "I have something very important to report to you, so I rushed here."

"whats the matter?"

"It's like this, Comrade Commander." Milesyev explained: "There is a soldier in my regiment who was an employee of the State Bank of Minsk before the war. Eighty tons of gold transferred..."

  As soon as he heard about the transfer of the gold in the vault, Sokov immediately became interested: "And then?"

   "Comrade Commander, I was about to speak." Milesiev said with some embarrassment, "But I was interrupted by you."

   "Keep talking."

"When we retreated to the vicinity, we were bombed by enemy planes, and the road ahead was blocked by roundabout German troops." Milesiev said: "Under the circumstances at that time, continue to follow the original plan to move towards Moscow." Transferring gold was already an impossible task. The bank leader who led the team decided to hide this batch of gold and dig it out after the German army was driven away.

   However, due to the urgent situation, there was no time left for them to dig a hole, so the bank leader ordered someone to throw the gold into the swamp. After all this was done, the bank leaders continued on their way with empty cars, lest the Germans discover their hidden gold. "

  After listening to Milesyev's narration, Sokov turned his head and said to Sidolin: "Comrade Chief of Staff, guess what I thought of after listening to the lieutenant colonel's narration?"

  Sidorin pondered for a while, then smiled and said: "Comrade Commander, if I guess correctly, you are thinking of the missing Tsar's Gold."

"That's right, I did think of the missing Tsar's Gold." Sokov said: "After the Aurora's gunshot, a large amount of Tsar's Gold was indeed missing. That batch of gold mysteriously disappeared in the Siberian snowfield.”

Sidolin nodded and added: "Kolchak's army was wiped out when they crossed Lake Baikal. Kolchak himself was betrayed by the Czech army and handed over to our army. Since then, the whereabouts of the gold has become a mystery. Our ZF It is believed that part of the gold may have sunk into Lake Baikal, and the rest fell into the hands of Kolchak's allies, but unfortunately there is not enough evidence for the other party to admit the fact."

   "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel," Sokov said to Milesiev, "What happened to the bank leader? Did he report to his superiors about sinking a batch of gold in the swamp?"

"No, Comrade Commander." Milesiev shook his head and said, "I heard from the bank employee that they were bombed by German planes again during the transfer process, and the bank leaders and most of the people were bombed. died, and he was also injured, and fainted on the spot. After waking up, he found that there were corpses all around, and there was no living person, so he struggled to escape into the forest and hid there for two days. When he encountered a fleeing refugee army, he followed and returned to the rear."

   "Then did he report the matter of gold to relevant parties?"

"No." Milesyev shook his head again, and said: "He fled to Smolensk with the refugees, and it didn't take long for the city to fall into the hands of the Germans, and he lived there incognito. He kept the secret about gold in his heart."

   "Is he a recruit or a veteran?" Sidolin asked unexpectedly.

   "It's a veteran, Comrade Chief of Staff." Milesyev said: "When our army liberated Smolensk, he joined the army and was already a veteran."

Sidolin waited for Milesyev to finish, and raised his question again: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I am very curious about one thing. Since he is not a recruit, why did he stay in the army for so long and did not reveal this secret? Tell anyone. But after you became the head of the regiment, he couldn't wait to tell you the secret, wouldn't there be some conspiracy in it?"

"No, Comrade Chief of Staff." Seeing that Sidolin had doubts about the soldier who provided the news, Milesyev quickly explained to him: "I am also a Belarusian. After the war broke out, I retreated to the rear with the troops. The soldier who provided the information was named Timofey. He was my former neighbor and we had a good relationship. He saw that I was the commander of the 25th Guards Regiment, so he told me this secret. I think this matter is of great importance , it is necessary to report to you in person, so I’m here.”

   "You did a good job, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel." Sokov nodded at the other party and said, "If this information is true, I believe it won't be long before you will have an extra star on your shoulder."

   Today's Milesyev is a lieutenant colonel with two bars and two stars, and the extra star is a colonel. So hearing Sokov say this, his eyes brightened with excitement: "Comrade Commander, I can assure you that this information is absolutely true. If we send people to search, we will be able to find the sinking The gold in the swamp."

   "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel," Sidolin asked, "do you know where the gold sank?"

   "I only know the approximate location." Milesyev walked to the table, pointed to the map on the table and asked, "Is that okay?"

After getting permission, he looked down at the map for a while, then pointed to a location, and said to Sokov and Sidolin: "The vehicle loaded with gold at that time retreated along this road to the rear. Due to the bombing of the aircraft, the convoy deviated from the original course of action, passed through this swamp area, and sank the gold into the swamp under the emergency."

After listening to Milesiev, Sokov couldn't help frowning: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, does that soldier still remember the exact location? You know, this swamp is not small, and a comprehensive search is required. , is not an easy task.”

"Comrade Commander is right." Sidolin added from the side: "Moreover, there are still some areas in the swamp that are in the defense zone of the friendly army. If we want to search, it is not enough for us to dispatch troops, and we need the cooperation of the friendly army. Row."

Ponedelin came in from the outside at this moment, and seeing Sokov and Sidolin and Melesiev gathered around the table, he thought they were discussing some battle plan, so he couldn't help asking: "Comrade commander?" What are you guys talking about?"

  Sokov turned his head and saw Ponejielin coming back, and hurriedly greeted him: "Comrade Deputy Commander, you came back just in time, we have something to discuss with you."

"whats the matter?"

"Here, look here." Sokov pointed to the golden silent area, and said to Ponejielin: "Comrade Deputy Commander, Lieutenant Colonel Milesyev told me that there was a soldier under his command, It turned out to be employees of the National Minsk Bank. Shortly after the war broke out, they were ordered to transfer a batch of gold to the rear. However, because they were bombed by enemy planes on the road and intercepted by enemy troops, the leader of the bank ordered someone to take the gold they carried to the rear. Gold, all thrown into the nearby swamp."

  Pornegelin couldn't help interjecting when he heard this: "Comrade Commander, you won't tell me that the place where the gold sank happens to be within our defense zone, right?"

"It can be said that way." Unexpectedly, Sokov nodded unexpectedly: "But some areas are within the defense zone of the friendly army. If we want to search for the gold that sank in the swamp, we need to take a joint approach with the friendly army. action."

Knowing that if you want to search for gold, you need to cooperate with friendly forces, Ponegerin asked cautiously: "Do you know the specific area? You know, the area of ​​the swamp is so large. If you don't have a specific location, even if you spend thousands If people look for it, it may be difficult to find this batch of gold.”

   "That's right, that's what I'm thinking about." Sokov continued, "I plan to report this matter to the Front Army Command, and they will come forward to cooperate with us and our friendly forces..."

   "Wait a minute, Comrade Commander." Unexpectedly, Sukov hadn't finished speaking when he was interrupted by Ponejielin raising his hand: "Is this news reliable?"

"Reliable, completely reliable, Comrade Deputy Commander." Seeing that Ponedelin questioned the authenticity of the matter, Milesyev quickly explained: "The soldier who provided me with information was involved in the Transportation work. He is my neighbor and has a good friendship with me. I believe he will never deceive me about this kind of thing. "

After Ponedelin learned what he needed to know, he nodded at Sokov and said, "Comrade Commander, since Lieutenant Colonel Milesyev can guarantee that this matter is true, I think you can report it to the Front Army Command." Report, ask them to come forward and coordinate our cooperation with our friendly forces."

  Now that everyone has reached a consensus, Sokov did not hesitate, and immediately picked up the phone to call the Front Army Command. He knew that Rokossovsky was still in Moscow at the moment. The call was made to Chief of Staff Ma Linin. Although the commander was not there, Ma Li Ning could decide many things.

  Receiving a call from Sokov, Malinin was a little surprised: "Comrade Sokov, do you know about that?"

Hearing Malinin's question, Sokov was taken aback for a moment, then realized that what the other party was talking about was about the battle plan, and quickly nodded and replied in affirmation: "That's right, Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army, Comrade General has already called me to tell me about this matter." .”

"Did you call to verify the accuracy of the news?" Malinin asked himself without waiting for Sokov to speak, and said, "You can rest assured about this, since the commander has personally called to inform you, that The battle plan will certainly be implemented. As soon as the commander returns from Moscow, we will begin preparations for the battle."

   "Uh, Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army, in fact, I called you today not because of this plan." Sokov said with some embarrassment: "It's about something else."

   "Other things?" Ma Lining asked a little puzzled: "What?"

"It's like this, Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army." Sokov glanced at Milesiev standing next to him, and said into the microphone: "One of my regiment commanders reported to me that he has a soldier under him." Before the war, he was an employee of the National Bank of Belarus. Shortly after the war broke out, he was ordered to transfer the gold in the vault. Unexpectedly, he was bombed and intercepted by the German army on the way. In order to prevent the gold from falling into the hands of the Germans, they had to Don't sink the gold into the nearby swamp."

Malinin is also a smart man. When he heard this, he immediately realized that since Sokov called him, he must have something to do with this batch of gold, so he tentatively asked: "Comrade Sokov, where did this batch of gold sink? Is it in your defense zone?"

   "There are still some within the range of the friendly forces." Sokov said straight to the point: "Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army, I called you just to ask you to come forward and coordinate the search work between us and the friendly forces."

   "How much gold is in this batch?"

   "180 tons!"

This amount made Malinin gasp: "How did such a large amount of gold sink into the swamp?" He was worried that Sokov would not understand what he meant, and explained specifically: "It was thrown into the swamp piece by piece. Or sunk in a bog in a wooden box?"

Sokov really didn't know how to throw the gold into the swamp. He quickly covered the microphone with his hand, looked at Milesiev and asked, "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, should this batch of gold be scattered into the swamp, or should it be stored in the swamp?" Throw it in a wooden box?"

   "Of course it was packed in a wooden box and thrown away."

"Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army," Sokov said into the microphone after figuring out how the gold was thrown into the swamp, "the gold was thrown into the swamp in wooden boxes, which means that our search work has become easier." .”

Sokov’s statement is correct. If gold is thrown into the swamp one by one, even if you know the exact location, it may not be easy to fish out so many gold bricks one by one. matter. But if it is packed in a wooden box, things will be much simpler, and it will be very easy to salvage.

  (end of this chapter)