After giving the task to Batov and Fedyuninsky, Rokossovsky felt a little sleepy and rested on the table. As soon as I closed my eyes, I heard someone walk in from outside.

He looked up and found that the person who came was actually General Vinogradov, the Minister of Intelligence, so he looked at the other party and asked curiously: "General Vinogradov, is there something wrong?" ”

"Comrade Marshal," Vinogradov replied respectfully, "we have just captured a German spy. ”

"German spy?!" When Rokossovsky heard this, he suddenly fell asleep and hurriedly asked: "How did you catch it?" ”

Vinogradov grinned, and then said: "It is said that this spy himself died, and he actually stole someone else's wallet on the bus, and was caught red-handed by the owner. When we checked his luggage, we found that the suitcase he was carrying contained a radio station, a codebook and a large amount of US dollars, and it seemed that he was preparing to escape......"

"General Vinogradov, something is wrong." After listening to the report, Rokossovsky showed a thoughtful expression on his face: "According to what you said, this spy carries a radio station with him on the bus, he should try his best to keep a low profile, how can he steal someone else's wallet?" I think there's a problem. ”

"Comrade Marshal," Rokossovsky reminded him that something was wrong, and that something was wrong, where would a spy steal from a bus with a radio on him? It seemed that he was not thinking about it, there must be something in this that he ignored, and he quickly asked, "Then what should we do?" ”

"Since the man you have captured has a radio and a codebook with him, you can be sure that he is a German spy." Rokossovsky said thoughtfully: "I think the person who has the problem may be the so-called 'lost owner', and you should interrogate the lost owner and find out what happened at that time." ”

Vinogradov's gaze casually glanced at the phone on the table, and a look of embarrassment appeared on his face, and he was considering whether to borrow the phone here to call his subordinates to find out about the lost owner.

Rokossovsky saw the embarrassment of the other party, so he nodded into the telephone and said: "You can call the comrades who handled this case here, and I also want to know what is going on by the way." ”

Vinogradov picked up the phone, dialed a number, identified himself to the other party, and asked bluntly: "Where is the owner who claimed that the wallet was stolen?" I don't know what the other party said, his face turned pale, and he couldn't say a word, "I know!" Then he put down the phone.

Rokossovsky smiled faintly, and then asked: "Is it that the lost owner has disappeared?" ”

Hearing Rokossovsky say this, Vinogradov's face couldn't help but show a look of surprise: "Comrade Marshal, how do you know? ”

Rokossovsky naturally wouldn't tell the other party that the reason why he knew that the lost owner was missing was because he had seen too many spy wars in later generations, and he was very familiar with such a bridge. He did not explain to Vinogradov, but said to himself: "I think that the lost owner may also be a spy, and the reason why he exposed the spy with the radio station was to divert our attention so that he could better hide himself." ”

"So how do we find the other spy?" Vinogradov asked with some flusteredness.

"Can you tell me what kind of person the owner is?" Seeing that there was nothing to do at the moment, Rokossovsky did not mind being a detective himself and helping Vinogradov dig up this German spy. "Is it male or female, fat or thin, are there any obvious characteristics?"

Vinogradov thought for a moment, then replied: "The owner is an old man in his fifties, wearing a gray trench coat and a black bowler hat. That's all I know, Comrade Marshal, and if I want to know more detailed information, I think it may be necessary to interrogate the captured spies. ”

"It's useless, General Vinogradov." Rokossovsky immediately waved his hand to deny his statement: "This unlucky spy probably didn't realize until now that he was betrayed by his accomplices. And I'm sure the so-called 'lost owner' knows the spy, and the spy doesn't know the other person at all. So to figure out what's going on, you'll need to find the passengers who are in the same car with them. ”

"You are right, Comrade Marshal." Vinogradov, who was already in despair, heard Rokossovsky say this, and his eyes suddenly lit up: "I immediately arranged for people to look for the passengers on the bus and ask them about the situation at that time. ”

"Comrade General," Rokossovsky told Vinogradov before leaving his office: "report to me as soon as there is any latest news!" ”

"Understood." After raising his hand and saluting Rokossovsky, Vinogradov turned and walked out of the office.

Soon after Vinogradov's departure, Bogolyubov walked in, and he asked Rokossovsky curiously: "Comrade Marshal, General Vinogradov came to you, is there anything wrong?" ”

"They caught a German spy, and General Vinogradov had come to report it to me." Rokossovsky, having briefly briefed Bogolyubov about the situation, asked rhetorically: "Chief of Staff, is there anything going on?" ”

"That's right, as a result of the combined strikes of the Air Force and Navy, the shelling of the siege forces by the German ships has completely stopped." Bogolyubov reported: "The troops attacking from the south of the city have now successfully entered the city. ”

"Good." Rokossovsky was very satisfied with this result, and he nodded and said: "As long as our siege forces are no longer under enemy naval fire, we can take Danzig in two days at most." ”

"Comrade Marshal, the base camp is still waiting for news of our capture of Danzig and Gdynia." Bogolyubov asked tentatively: "Since you think that we can capture Danzig and Gdynia in two days, do you need to report the current progress to the base camp?" ”

"I don't think so." The capture of Danzig and Gdynia in two days was only Rokossovsky's own speculation, and in case something unexpected happened along the way, the time to seize these two cities might be postponed, so he did not want to report the time of the capture of the cities to the High Command prematurely, so as not to cause unnecessary trouble. "It's not too late to report the results of the battle after our troops have completely taken control of these two cities, and maybe the Supreme Commander himself will have a cannon salute fired for us in Red Square to celebrate."

While the two were talking, the phone on the desk suddenly rang. Rokossovsky picked up the microphone and put it to his ear and said, "I'm Rokossovsky, where are you?" ”

"Comrade Marshal," Vinogradov's surprised voice came from the earpiece: "A middle-aged woman came to us to report that she had found a suspicious person. After careful interrogation by the case-handling staff, the old man she mentioned was the 'lost owner' we were looking for. ”

"Oh, news so soon?" Rokossovsky was also surprised that Vinogradov was able to obtain useful information in such a short time, and he hurriedly asked: "Where is the informant?" ”

"She's in my office." Vinogradov asked respectfully: "Comrade Marshal, would you like to meet her?" ”

"I'll go right over." After Rokossovsky finished speaking, he immediately put down the phone and said to Bogolyubov, who was standing in front of his office: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I will go to the office of General Vinogradov, and I will be in charge of you here." If there's something you can't handle, remember to give me a call. ”

Rokossovsky hurried to Vinogradov's office and saw a middle-aged woman with a bloated body and a black floral headscarf wrapped around her head. Seeing Rokossovsky's arrival, Vinogradov hurriedly stepped forward to greet him, and after shaking hands, he pointed to the woman and said: "This is Aunt Olgana, who reported to us and found a suspicious person." ”

When Rokossovsky sat down behind his desk, Vinogradov politely said to Olgana: "Comrade Olgana, take what you just said, and say it again to Comrade Marshal." ”

Although Olgana looked reluctant, she repeated what she had said to Rokossovsky according to Vinogradov's meaning: "My name is Olgana, I am from Smolensk, and I married a Polish husband and moved to this city......"

"Olgana," Vinogradov interrupted with some embarrassment, "Tell me about the encounter with that suspicious person." ”

"This morning, I took the ration card distributed to me and went to the designated store to buy food." "I was in line and there was an old man in a trench coat and a top hat standing behind me. We waited for about half an hour, and it was finally our turn, when the old man suddenly exclaimed, 'Hell, I forgot my ration card at home.' ’

I said to him, out of kindness, 'Go back and get it, I'll wait for you here to prove that you're here.' ’”

From Olgana's description, Rokossovsky sensed that there must be something wrong with the old man, and hurriedly asked: "Has the old man gone back?" ”

"Of course," said Olgana with a vigorous nod, "he went home to get his ration card, but I waited a long time until I got my food and came home, and I didn't see him again." ”

"Is that what you think he's suspicious?" Rokossovsky asked briefly.

"How can that?" "I bought the groceries, waited for a while, didn't see him show up, and then went back with my things to take the bus home." There was a bus parked on the platform, but it wasn't going to my house, so I stood on the platform and waited for the bus. At this time, I heard a noise in the car, so I looked at the car curiously, but I was surprised to find the old man yelling that his wallet had been stolen. But after listening for a while, I knew that the old man was lying. ”

Hearing Olgana mention the bus and the wallet, Rokossovsky, realizing that there was something wrong with the old man, hurriedly asked: "Comrade Olgana, why do you think the old man is lying?" ”

"It's obvious." Olgana glanced at Rokossovsky and continued: "He said that his wallet was stolen and that there was a ration card for the whole family in it. But I knew very well that he didn't have any ration cards at all, otherwise he wouldn't have left under the pretext of going home to get the ration cards when he was almost in line. ”

By this time, the answer was already coming out, but Rokossovsky, for the sake of prudence, seriously asked: "Are you sure that he didn't have a ration card on him when he was queuing outside the store?" ”

"Not really," said Organa in the affirmative, "he took out his wallet and rummaged through it, and there was no ration card in it. But in the car, he said that his ration card was stolen, isn't this a lie? ”

"Comrade Olgana, can you tell me." Rokossovsky asked with some anxiety: "After the thief was taken away by our fighters, where did the old man go?" ”

"I don't know," said Olgana, shaking her head, "I saw the soldier on duty take the man out of the car, and was about to say a few words to the old man, but found that he was missing. I think that man must have been framed by the old man, and he should report what he saw to the relevant departments, so he came here. ”

"You did the right thing, Comrade Olgana. Your vigilance is high, and that's something we can learn from. After Rokossovsky finished praising the other party, he instructed Vinogradov: "General Vinogradov, I will tell the relevant departments later, and reward Comrade Olgana with a new ration card, valid for three months." ”

Rokossovsky is well aware that in this particular period, a ration card is more important than money. Sure enough, when Olgana heard about the reward given to her, an expression of surprise appeared on her face, she quickly stood up, bowed to Rokossovsky repeatedly, and said gratefully: "Thank you, Comrade Chief, my whole family and I are grateful for your great kindness. ”

"You're welcome, you deserve it." Although it was confirmed that there was something wrong with the old man, it was only known that he was wearing a trench coat and a top hat, and if he had changed his clothes, the soldiers who had captured him might pass by him, and he would not have been able to recognize him, so Rokossovsky asked Olgana again: "I have one more thing I want to trouble you, can you tell us what the old man looks like, what his physical characteristics are, how tall and how old he is?" ”

When Rokossovsky said this, he sighed secretly in his heart, thinking that the troops had just occupied this place, and order had not been fully restored, and without the assistance of the police department, it would be undoubtedly a needle in the bottom of the sea to find this old man. He only hoped that through Olganin's description, he could learn more about the old man.