In the office, Rokossovsky and Subotin chatted for two hours and worked out a new plan for the next step of the work of the front.

Bogolyubov walked in and, seeing that the two were talking, did not interrupt them, but stood quietly aside. Rokossovsky caught a glimpse of Bogolyubov walking in, and looked up at him and asked: "Comrade Chief of Staff, is there something wrong?" ”

"Comrade Marshal, that's right." Bogolyubov replied: "Danzig and Gdynia have already been occupied by our troops, do you think you can report the victory to the High Command at once?" ”

"Have all the enemies fled to the swamps at the mouth of the Vistula River been destroyed?"

"Not yet, not yet." Bogolyubov did not expect Rokossovsky to ask this question, and after a moment of panic, replied: "But they are already surrounded by the 65th Army, and it is only a matter of time before they are eliminated." ”

"No, Comrade Chief of Staff, we can't let the Supreme High Command report victory until this enemy is destroyed." Rokossovsky, having rejected Bogolyubov's request, instructed him: "Inform Batov at once and tell them to speed up and destroy this enemy once and for all by noon." Perhaps, after receiving the good news, the High Command will arrange for us to fire a cannon salute tonight on Red Square to celebrate our great victories over Danzig and Gdynia. ”

Hearing Rokossovsky say this, Bogolyubov also realized that he could not be in a hurry, and quickly nodded and said: "Okay, Comrade Marshal, I will call General Batov and ask them to speed up the battle and try to solve this group of enemies as soon as possible." ”

Soon after Bogolyubov left, Lunev came to Rokossovsky's office. As soon as he walked through the door, he said excitedly: "Comrade Marshal, Bach has confessed. He made an appointment with Schrivel and Schuberg to meet at the Copernicus tavern in Koszalin on April 7, and then fled east to the area controlled by the American army. ”

"And what about fighter-bombers?" Rokossovsky didn't really care where Bach met with those engineers, he cared more about the prototype of the HO-229 fighter-bomber, where is it stored now? "And how did Bach confess?"

Hearing Rokossovsky's question, Lunev hesitated for a moment: "Comrade Marshal, I repeated what you said to Bach, but he did not react in the slightest. I think you may be mistaken, there is no such new fighter-bomber in the world. ”

If you talk about the Belonse disc, Rokossovsky feels that there is still a possibility of doubt, but the third prototype of the HO-229 built by the Germans has been on display at the National Air and Space Museum in the United States for generations to come, and this is absolutely not wrong. And Bach insisted that he didn't, proving that he was telling a lie.

Thinking of this, he stood up and walked to the wall, looked up at the map on the wall, and after looking at it for a while, turned to Lunev and said: "Comrade Lunev, Bach lied to you!" ”

Seeing Lunev's stunned look, he raised his hand and pointed back at the map on the wall, and continued: "Look at this map, it is seven or eight hundred kilometers from the city of Breslau to the city of Koshalin. Now that the traffic between the two places is interrupted, there are no cars or trains, how can you ask three engineers to walk so far to Koshalin to meet in just one week? ”

When Lunev heard Rokossovsky say this, he hurriedly walked to the wall, looked up at the map on the wall, and after gesturing with his hand for a long time, an angry expression appeared on his face: "Damn Bach, you dare to lie to me, I must not spare him." ”

Su Bojing had just heard Rokossovsky talk about Bach not long ago, and when he heard that he actually dared to deceive Lunev, he couldn't help but interject and said: "General Lunev, according to my analysis, this Bach probably thought that we would soon hand him over to the allies, so he decided to keep his biggest secret, so that when he returned to the Allies, he would be respected by his superiors because of his important use value." ”

"Reasonable, Comrade Military Commissar, your analysis is very reasonable." Subozin's words gave Lunev a wake-up call and made him feel like an empowerer: "Bach should know very well in his heart that since he has revealed his identity to us, we will definitely contact the allies through diplomatic channels, and then send someone to hand him over to the allies." Since he has this mentality, I'm afraid it won't be easy for me to extract any useful information from his mouth. ”

"General Lunev, what's wrong with you?" Seeing that Lunev was retreating, Rokossovsky said in a mocking tone: "Isn't it always the best job of your Ministry of Internal Affairs to interrogate prisoners and obtain useful information from their mouths?" Why, now that you meet a Bach, you can't do anything about him. ”

"If it's another spy or spy, I have a way to get him to confess truthfully." Lunev said thoughtfully: "But Bach is a spy sent to Germany by the Allies, and I can't take any tough measures against him, this is a troublesome matter." ”

"We have not yet informed the allies about Bach through diplomatic channels, so Bach's superiors have no idea that he has fallen into our hands." Rokossovsky was eager to learn from Bach about the whereabouts of the three engineers and the details of the HO-229 fighter-bomber, so he advised Lunev: "In order to obtain useful information for the country, you can treat him as if he were a real German." ”

When Lunev turned to leave the office, Rokossovsky stopped him again and said to him: "Comrade General, now that Koshalin is under the control of our army, you can send a few of your subordinates over to that Copernicus bar, if this bar has not been blown up and is still open for business, let people keep a close watch, and if the three engineers really come, then don't let any of them go." ”

After Lunev left, Subotin asked with some confusion: "Comrade Marshal, didn't you say that Bach was lying when he said that he met with three engineers at Koshalin's Copernicus bar?" But why did you still let General Lunev send someone to keep an eye on it? ”

"Although Bach has a high probability of lying on this matter, in any case, it is a clue that can find the three engineers, and we must not let it go easily." Rokossovsky explained to Subozin: "Anyway, the city is now in our hands, and it is easy to send someone to spy on a bar. ”

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