It is not a simple matter to use intelligence personnel lurking within the German army to investigate whether the German army has seized gold in Belarus. Sokov originally thought he would get a reply within two days at most, but nearly a week later, he still did not receive a call from the front army headquarters.
Although the gold matter has not been further discussed, various defensive measures in the defense zone have been put in place. Sidorin reported to Sokov and Ponedelin: "...Now we have deployed thirty artillery pieces and sixty heavy machine guns on six highlands, which can completely block the entire swamp..."
Before he could finish speaking, Koshkin ran in from outside and reported nervously: "Comrade Commander, the commander of the front army is here!"
"The commander of the front army is here?!" Sokov suddenly jumped up from his seat: "Where is he?"
"It's right outside, about to come in."
Sokov walked quickly towards the door, intending to go out to meet Rokossovsky.
Unexpectedly, as soon as I walked to the door, I almost bumped into someone who came in. The visitor quickly grabbed Sokov's arms, stabilized his body, and then asked: "Misha, where are you going in a hurry?"
Just by hearing the sound, Sokov knew that the person blocking his way was Rokossovsky, whom he planned to greet. He quickly stood at attention and raised his hand in salute: "Hello, Comrade General! I just heard that you Here I am, I was planning to go out to greet you, but unexpectedly you came in first."
Rokossovsky walked toward the house and asked, "How are you doing with your defense arrangements here?"
"It's roughly in place." Sokov fell half a step behind and followed Rokossovsky inside, saying, "Before you came, the chief of staff was reporting to me on the deployment situation."
Rokossovsky nodded, came to the table and shook hands with Ponedelin and Sidorin, then sat down and looked up at Sidorin and said: "Colonel Sidorin, continue your report, I think Let’s hear how your defense arrangements are going.”
Seeing that Rokossovsky wanted to know about the defense deployment, Sidorin was worried that if he continued what he had just said, Rokossovsky would definitely ask a lot of questions, so he started talking again.
After listening to Sidorin's story, Rokossovsky nodded with satisfaction and said: "Misha, although you have not been the commander for a long time, you have arranged your work in an orderly manner. It seems that I stood out from the crowd. We made the right decision to appoint you as the commander of the 48th Group Army."
Hearing Rokossovsky's compliment, Sokov didn't know how to respond and could only grin.
"At the beginning of next month, a military meeting attended by the army chiefs will be held to discuss our next course of action." Rokossovsky said to Sokov: "All three of you will attend then."
"Yes, Comrade General!"
"By the way, there is one more thing, I almost forgot." Rokossovsky continued: "The intelligence personnel lurking within the German army in Belarus have sent back information. During the German occupation of Belarus, although hundreds of Tons of gold and gold and silver jewelry were shipped back to Germany, but they were all looted in our country. No records of large quantities of gold have been found."
When Sokov heard what Rokossovsky said, his eyes suddenly lit up, and he immediately said to Rokossovsky: "Comrade General, so to speak, the gold that sank into the swamp is still lying intact. In the swamp?”
"That's right," Rokossovsky nodded and said, "That batch of gold must still be lying quietly in the swamp, waiting for our people to discover it."
"Comrade General," Sokov waited for Rokossovsky to finish and asked tentatively: "Then when should we salvage this batch of gold?"
"Don't be anxious, Misha." But Rokossovsky didn't seem to be very interested in salvaging gold: "Since this batch of gold has been lying in the swamp for three years, let them lie there for two or three more years." Month, there shouldn’t be much of a problem. After we drive the Germans away from Belarus, there will naturally be dedicated personnel responsible for salvaging this batch of gold."
Sokov couldn't help but feel a little disappointed when he learned that other departments were responsible for salvaging gold. You know, there is a huge difference between just providing clues and the credit for finding this batch of gold.
He thought that Timofe was the only insider at present, and if salvage work was to be carried out, he would be absolutely indispensable. Thinking of this, he said to Rokossovsky: "Comrade General, how will Timofey, who knows the location of the sunken gold, arrange for him?"
"Let him come with me." Rokossovsky said: "I will send someone back to Moscow, and then let him report to the banking system. If gold can really be found, his future will be unlimited. of."
"Okay, then order someone to call him over immediately."
Sokov said, picked up the phone on the table, dialed a number, and said into the phone: "Is it Lieutenant Colonel Miresiev? I am Sokov, bring Timofey to me immediately. Come!"
Ten minutes later, Milesiev hurriedly walked in from outside.
As soon as he entered the door, he said excitedly: "Comrade Commander, I brought Timofey!"
The next moment, he saw Rokossovsky standing next to Sokov. He was so frightened that he quickly raised his hand to his forehead and saluted him: "Hello... hello, Comrade Commander of the Front Army! I'm sorry, I just said Didn’t see you!”
"It doesn't matter, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel." Naturally Rokossovsky would not blame him for such a trivial matter, but asked directly: "Where is Comrade Timofey?"
"It's right outside the door. I'll tell him to come in right away!" After saying that, Miresiev ran to the door and shouted outside: "Timofey, come in."
Following Miresiev's shout, the short Timofey walked in from outside.
"Are you Timofey?" Rokossovsky looked at him and asked.
"Yes, Comrade General." Timofe did not expect to see Rokossovsky here, and looked particularly flustered: "I, I am Timofe!"
"I heard that you participated in the gold transfer work of the Minsk State Bank, right?"
"Yes, Comrade General."
"You encountered bombing by enemy planes and interception by the German army on the way, so you had to choose to sink the gold into the swamp. Am I right?"
Listening to the questions and answers between Rokossovsky and Timofey, Sokov couldn't help but secretly laugh. He felt that the conversation between the two was a bit like a lawyer questioning a witness in court. However, out of politeness, he suppressed his smile and stood by quietly listening to the conversation between the two.
After some questioning, Rokossovsky was able to confirm that what Timofe said was completely true. He turned to Sokov and said: "Misha, I have finished asking what I should ask. I think what Comrade Timofey said is true. I plan to take him back to the front headquarters and then send a plane to take him to Moscow. Assist relevant departments in carrying out the subsequent gold search work."
Timofe did not expect that Rokossovsky would send him to Moscow after questioning him, which surprised him. Rokossovsky also specifically asked for his opinion: "How about it, Comrade Timofey, are you willing to work in Moscow?"
For Timofey, being able to stay away from the front line was a good choice, especially when he was arranged to return to work in the banking system, which made him even more overjoyed. He nodded vigorously to Rokossovsky and said in a positive tone: "Comrade General, I obey your arrangements. I will go wherever you ask me to go."
After seeing off Rokossovsky and Timofey, Ponedelin suddenly said thoughtfully: "Comrade Commander, I feel something is wrong."
"What's wrong?!" Sokov asked.
"Since it has been confirmed that the gold that sank into the swamp is still there, why did General Rokossovsky not agree to organize a salvage immediately?" Ponedelin said: "Also, he said that within two or three months, After driving away all the enemies in Belarus, the relevant departments will carry out salvage operations. Does this mean that our army will launch an attack on the enemy within a month, and the main attack direction is here?"
Sokov did not expect that Ponedelin could guess the truth of the matter from Rokossovsky's words. However, choosing to attack the German army in the swamp area is still a top secret. Even if this combat plan is proposed by himself, it cannot be disclosed to anyone until the time is ripe.
Seeing the silence, Sidorin thought that he did not agree with Ponedelin's statement, so he said: "Comrade Deputy Commander, I think it is completely impossible to launch an attack in our defense zone."
Seeing that Sokov and Ponejelin's eyes were fixed on him, he continued: "Look at where we are. The huge swamp separates us from the German defense line. If we launch from this direction How can heavy equipment such as tanks and artillery pass through this vast swamp during the attack?"
"Without the support of tanks and artillery, our commanders and fighters, even if they make huge sacrifices, will not be able to expand the results after passing through this swamp. They may only start a tug-of-war with the enemy on the edge of the swamp. In the end, they will become a new one." Little Land' campaign."
The small battle that Sidorin mentioned refers to the breakout operation in Leningrad. At the beginning of the year before last, in order to break the German encirclement, the troops of the Leningrad Front forcibly crossed the Neva River and occupied a narrow area on the right bank of the river, and prepared to use this as the starting point for the attack to break through the German encirclement.
However, how could the German army surrounding the city allow the Soviet army to successfully break through, so they assembled heavy troops to attack this area, trying to eliminate the Soviet army's landing site on the right bank.
For the Leningrad Front Army, this was the only hope. Naturally, it was impossible for the landing ground that they had finally occupied to be reoccupied by the Germans, so they continuously put new forces in the city into this area to fight.
The two sides fought a year-long tug-of-war here. Although the German army did not drive the Soviet army into the Neva River, the Soviet army could not take a step forward from here. It was not until the beginning of 1943 that the Soviet army opened a gap in the German encirclement. This landing site, known as "Little Land", was completely abandoned. However, the Soviet casualties here had reached tens of thousands.
"Don't worry, Comrade Chief of Staff, even if we launch an attack in this area, the situation in Leningrad will not happen." Sokov comforted Sidorin and said: "The reason why friendly forces were unable to open up a situation in a small area was , simply because the terrain there was too narrow, no matter how many troops there were, they couldn't deploy, and as a result, the offensive battle became a fueling tactic, and they paid huge casualties in vain."
"Although the terrain here is full of swamps, it is not good for our attack, and it is also bad for the German defense. After this period of observation, I think you also know that the German army opposite has no decent defensive positions at all. As long as Our warriors can pass through swamps, and even without the support of tanks and artillery, we can still break through the enemy's defenses and advance deeper into their defenses."
Seeing that Sokov was speaking eloquently, Sidorin suddenly had a bold idea in his mind: "Comrade Commander, have you got any gossip that our army will launch an attack on the enemy from the swamp area?"
"What kind of gossip can I get?!" The combat plan is still top secret. Sokov naturally cannot reveal it to him. He can only say vaguely: "When Comrade General came here just now, he just said that the meeting will be held next month. A military meeting was held to discuss the next direction of action of the front army. You were also present at the time, did you hear him mention any offensive plans or anything like that?"
Having said this, Sokov paused intentionally and glanced at Sidorin and Ponedelin to see how they would react to this matter.
Ponejelin nodded and said: "Yes, Comrade Commander is right. When General Rokossovsky first came here, in addition to asking about gold, he casually mentioned that there will be a meeting early next month. The military meeting did not disclose any information related to the attack."
Ponejelin's words made Sidorin a little confused. He tried hard to recall everything Rokossovsky said when he was here, and found that there seemed to be no mention of anything related to the attack. Could it be that What Sokov said was all his speculation?
"Comrade Commander," Sidorin asked tentatively: "What you just said were all your own guesses based on the intelligence you have?"
In this case, how can Sokov tell the truth? He can only follow the other person's intention and say: "Yes, it is a possibility that I have speculated based on the various intelligence currently available. But my The speculation may not be accurate. You must know that General Batov's 65th Army is still attacking in the direction of Palic all the time. Maybe the superiors will choose that direction as the main attack direction."
Regarding Sokov's statement, Ponedelin agreed: "Yes, the terrain in the direction of Parich is dry and there is no river blocking it, which is conducive to the use of large-scale armored forces by our army. According to my judgment, It is very likely that the superiors will choose the main attack direction here."
"So, the superiors will not choose our area as the main attack direction." Although he knew that the superiors would not choose his area as the main attack direction in the next stage, Xidorin felt a little disappointed, but at the same time he also Fortunately, this will not be used as the main attack direction, because in this way, the casualties of the troops can be greatly reduced. When the main attacking force is unable to continue fighting due to heavy casualties, this force of yours can be put into the battlefield as a reserve force to complete the final battle.
