Red Moscow

"I say Bashilashvili, don't perfuse us here." As soon as Bashilashvili finished speaking, Yakov said in a joking tone: "Even if you really take away the Tsar's 1,600 tons of gold It’s all picked up, and we won’t ask you for even an ounce.”

Hearing Yakov's joke, Bashilashvili grinned and said immediately: "Okay, let me tell the truth. I did go to the area where the gold sank a few years ago. But because of the long gap, , In addition, I went there in the summer and could not find a suitable reference object. I searched for more than two months, but found nothing, and finally had to return to the Northeast in despair."

"How did you find it?" Sokov asked tentatively: "Didn't you bring a few divers over and go deep into the bottom of the lake to check?"

"Of course I took the divers there." Bashilashvili said: "After half a month of searching, I locked in a general area, found a boat, and took several divers to the area. The divers went into the water We searched the bottom of the lake for more than a month, but in the end nothing was found, not only the wreckage of the sled, but also the carriage containing the gold.”

Although Bashilashvili said that his expedition to Lake Baikal ended up with nothing, Yakov still asked reluctantly: "Bashilashvili, are you sure you didn't find the wrong location? After all, you came from last time." It was more than 20 years ago when I passed here. You must know that people's memory of a strange area is short-lived, and you were still in the process of escaping at the time, so it is inevitable to misremember the location. "

Although Yakov said this in a joking tone, Bashilashvili's expression unexpectedly became serious: "General Yakov, to tell you the truth, in order to confirm whether the place we are looking for is correct. , I once dived to the bottom of Lake Baikal with divers. Under the water, I saw thousands of skeletons, which should be the remains of the soldiers and civilians who fled with me."

Having said that, it is obviously inappropriate to say that Bashilashvili has not found a place.

There was silence in the box for a while, then Sokov asked: "Bashilashvili, I wonder how many skeletons you saw at the bottom of the lake?"

"Countless." Bashilashvili shook his head and said: "We roughly estimated at that time that the area where the remains were distributed was about one or two square kilometers. The carriage containing the gold should be in this area. But so Unfortunately, we searched this area for more than a month and found nothing."

Seeing the disappointed expression on Bashilashvili's face, Sokov comforted him and said: "Bashilashvili, don't be sad. Although you didn't find the gold, it's not a bad thing. At least you know where the gold is." Approximate location. If you return to Moscow with us and tell the relevant parties the general area where the gold is located, then you will not only be able to return to the country and settle down, but you will also enjoy some special treatment."

"Yes, I thought so too." Bashilashvili turned his attention to Yakov next to him: "So after you took control of Fengtian, I tried every means to get acquainted with General Yakov, hoping to use his relationship , to achieve my goal of returning to my motherland."

"Bashilashvili, your choice is correct." Sokov nodded towards Bashilashvili and continued: "If you were looking for me instead of Yakov, you might still be here now. Just wait and see. Since Yakov personally arranged for you to take this train back to Moscow this time, your wish to return to your country and settle down will be fulfilled."

Hearing what Sokov said, Bashilashvili was stunned for a moment, then turned to look at Yakov, and asked in confusion: "General Sokov, I don't understand. Your military rank is not General Biyakov." Is it much higher? Why can General Yakov do what you can’t do?”

Sokov and Yakov looked at each other and smiled, and then said: "Bashilashvili, because Yakov's identity is quite special, for confidentiality reasons, I can't tell you for the time being. If you want to know his true identity , you will have a chance to know after we arrive in Moscow and settle you down."

Bashilashvili is also a smart man. After hearing what Sokov said, he realized that Yakov's identity was not simple. Since the other party said he wanted to keep it secret, even if he asked further, he might not get the answer he wanted, so he didn't ask any further. Instead, he stood up and said: "Two comrades, generals, I have something to do and I can't accompany you for the time being. If you have anything, just send someone to my box to find me, and I will come over to see you."

After Bashilashvili left, Yakov asked Sokov: "Misha, tell me, after Bashilashvili really tells the general area where the gold is located, how will my father treat him?"

"Now that the war has just ended, everything in the country is in ruins, and there are many places that need money." Sokov said: "If the information provided by Bashilashvili can really help us find the lost Tsarist gold , which can greatly alleviate the current financial pressure. This is a great achievement. I don’t know about other rewards, but a medal will definitely not escape you.”

"Misha, you are right." Yakov agreed with Sokov's statement: "If the information he provided can really help us find gold, then it will be an amazing achievement. Just give him a I think a medal is far from enough."

The two chatted for a while, then each lay on their own beds to rest.

When I woke up, it was almost dark outside.

At this time, there was a voice from the front at the door. Sokov stepped forward to open the door and saw Bezikov standing outside.

"Comrade Commander." Seeing that the person who opened the door was Sokov, Bezikov said quickly: "I came here in the afternoon and saw that you were all resting, so I didn't bother you. It's evening now, I think you should If you are hungry, ask the conductor to bring you food." After that, he stood a little to the side and made way for the conductor pushing the small dining car behind him.

Sokov quickly greeted the other party warmly: "Come in, comrade conductor."

The conductor pushed the small dining car into the compartment, took down the food on the dining car one by one and placed it on the coffee table. After doing all this, he bowed and said: "Two comrades, generals, after you have finished eating, put the tableware on the table. I will come over to clean it up around ten o'clock. I wish you a good appetite!"

Just as the conductor was about to leave, Sokov stopped him and asked: "Comrade conductor, where are we?"

"In half an hour, the train will pass through the Tunguska River." After the conductor said this, he asked: "Do you allow me to leave?"

"It's allowed, of course it's allowed." Sokov nodded to the conductor and said, "Go and do your work."

After seeing off the conductor, Sokov asked Bezikov who was standing at the door: "Comrade Major, would you like to come in and have something to eat together?"

"Thank you, Comrade Commander, I have already eaten." After declining Sokov's kindness, Bezikov exited the box and closed the door.

"Yasha, get up and eat." Sokov walked to Yakov's window and gently shook his shoulders with his hand: "Hey, hey, don't sleep."

Yakov sat up, rubbed his eyes, and asked, "Where are we?"

"The conductor said that our train will pass through the Tunguska River in half an hour."

"What, are we going to the Tunguska River?" Yakov, who was still sleepy, suddenly became energetic when he heard the name of the Tunguska River: "Misha, do you know what happened in Tunguska?"

"I know, of course I know." Sokov nodded and said: "At 7 o'clock in the morning on June 30, 1908, an explosion occurred in the Tunguska River in Siberia. The explosion destroyed 2,000 square kilometers of conifers in the area. Lin, knocking down about 80 million trees. The scientific community generally believes that the Tunguska explosion was caused by a rocky asteroid about 65 meters in diameter."

After hearing this, Yakov showed a surprised expression on his face: "Misha, I really didn't expect that you actually know about this."

Sokov continued: "In 1908, our country was in turmoil and its science and technology was extremely backward. After the Tunguska explosion, we could not organize a scientific expedition. After 1917, the Soviets had just been established and were busy restoring the domestic economy and Order, there is no time to care about what is happening in the Tunguska region.

It was not until 1927 that a research team led by Leonid Kulik, a Soviet mineralogy and meteorite expert, finally visited the area. When they arrived there, they saw an astonishing post-catastrophe landscape: a meteorite impact crater with a span of about 50 meters. The surrounding 30 kilometers were covered with scorched earth after the fire. Beyond that, thousands of square kilometers of trees fell in all directions. Kulik dug several meters near the impact crater and unexpectedly found no trace of the meteorite. "

This time it was Yakov's turn to be surprised: "What, no trace of the meteorite was found. How was the explosion caused? You know, the super bombs of the US allies that can destroy a city with one blow may not be able to achieve this effect.”

"Who knows." Sokov shrugged his shoulders, spread his hands, and said helplessly: "I'm not a scientist, how can I know. Besides, for today's scientists, the Tunguska explosion is still a unsolved puzzle."

In fact, he knew very well that, let alone 1945, even in the 21st century, the truth about the Tunguska explosion had not been found. It is nothing more than starting from the original "meteor impact theory" and adding "antimatter theory", "comet impact theory", "ice body theory", etc. It sounds very suitable, but after careful study, it is found that there are many loopholes in the hypothesis.

"Okay, stop guessing about what happened decades ago." Sokov greeted Yakov and said, "Eat quickly, otherwise it will be cold."

"Misha," Yakov picked up the champagne on the table, opened the lid, filled Sokov's and his own glasses, and continued: "Do you think if our superiors sent us to Lake Baikal to look for gold, we would be able to find it? ?”

Regarding Yakov's question, Sokov just smiled lightly. Later generations would have no way to find the missing gold. With the technological level of this era, trying to find the Tsar's gold was tantamount to finding a needle in a haystack. However, he didn't want to throw cold water on the other party, so he picked up the glass and changed the subject and said: "Let's drink to the fact that we can return to Moscow alive!"

After Yakov and Sokov clinked glasses, they drank the champagne in the glass and asked unwillingly: "Misha, you haven't answered my question yet. If the superiors really want to send the two of us to look for gold, , do you think we can find gold?”

"Yasha, I didn't want to talk about this. Since you asked, I'll just talk about it casually." Sokov looked at Yakov and asked: "Do you know how big the area of ​​Lake Baikal is and how deep the lake is? How many?"

Sokov's question stopped Yakov. Just as he scratched the back of his head and thought hard about the question, Sokov continued: "Lake Baikal is located in southern Eastern Siberia, between the Republic of Buryatia and Iraq. Within the territory of Irkutsk Oblast, it is located between 51°29′~55°46′ north latitude and 103°41′~109°57′ east longitude. The total volume of the lake is 23.6 trillion cubic meters, and the deepest point reaches 1637 meters (2015 ), is the deepest lake in the world and the largest freshwater lake in Eurasia. The lake is 636 kilometers long, with an average width of 48 kilometers and an area of ​​31,500 square kilometers. It was formed by stratigraphic fault collapse. The lake surface elevation is 455 meters, with an average The water depth is 730 meters.”

"What, the average water depth is 730 meters?" Hearing Sokov tell this string of data, Yakov was dumbfounded: "In such a deep lake, ordinary divers cannot dive that deep. If you want to find gold, you must find Some more professional divers.”

"Yasha, I think you didn't understand what I meant." Sokov added: "At such a deep depth, let alone divers, even if our submarine dives, it will probably be overwhelmed by the huge water pressure. Crush it. So let’s not say that we don’t know the specific location of the gold. Even if we know the location, it is of no use at all. With our current technical level, we cannot salvage the gold.”

"But didn't Bashilashvili just say that he and the divers dived to the bottom of the lake and saw pieces of corpses at the bottom of the lake?" Yakov said with some displeasure: "Didn't everything he just said happen to be true? Did you lie to us?"

"It's not like you're lying to us." Sokov replied: "It's one thing to see the skeletons where they dived, but whether they can reach that location is another thing. So even if he said that , it doesn’t count as deceiving us.”

"Oh my God." Yakov said angrily: "So, not to mention that we only know the general range, even if we know the specific coordinates, there is no way to fish this batch of gold out of the bottom of Lake Baikal? "

"That's right, Yasha." Sokov said: "But we can report this matter to your father. As for whether to salvage this batch of gold in the future, it will be up to him to make the decision. In this way, we Helped Bashilashvili with the matter of returning to the country, and also reported the matter about gold."