Sokov spent a week on the train, and his mood inevitably became irritable. After all, he and Yakov looked at each other most of the time every day. The topics they could talk about were almost the same, and the journey became boring.
Yakov was obviously aware of this. He looked away from the window and said nonchalantly: "Misha, this journey is really long. I don't know who arranged it for us to take the train."
Rush back to Moscow."
After a pause, Yakov asked Sokov tentatively: "Misha, how about we call Bashilashvili and then Bezikov, and the four of us can play cards together, so that we can spend more time."
Some."
"Okay." Sokov was indeed bored. Although he couldn't play cards, he still agreed to Yakov's suggestion. At least there were more people in the box and it would be more lively: "Then let Bezikov bring Bashilashwi
Li called me over. Even if we don’t play cards, we can just chat.”
Hearing what Sokov said, Yakov was stunned for a moment, then thought of a possibility, and asked tentatively: "Misha, you won't tell me that you don't know how to play cards, right?"
Sokov laughed dryly and replied awkwardly: "Yeah, I never play cards."
"Well, then I understand." Yakov learned that Sokov couldn't play cards, so he changed his mind: "Then I'll ask Bashilashvili to come over and play chess. Even if you don't know how, you can learn next to me.
How did we get there?"
"I can play chess." Although Sokov can't play cards, he can play chess. After all, when he had nothing to do, he went to the chess academy with a few friends and watched others play chess. He watched it many times.
I know a little bit, and I have nothing to do anyway, so I can test my level: "Let Bashilashvili come over and play chess."
"Bezikov!" Yakov opened the door and shouted outside.
Soon, Bezikov appeared in front of Yakov: "Comrade General, do you have any instructions?"
"Comrade Major," Yakov said politely, "please call Bashilashvili over and tell him that we are ready to play chess with him."
"Okay, Comrade General." When he learned that Yakov wanted to play chess with Bashilashvili, Bezikov readily agreed: 'I'll call him right away.'
A few minutes later, Bashilashvili appeared in the box with a box of chess flags under his arm.
When Basilashvili opened the flag box and poured out the chess pieces inside, Sokov couldn't help but his eyes lit up because he saw that these exquisite chess pieces were all made of ivory: "My God, Basilashvili...
Shilashvili, your chess pieces are all made of ivory!"
"That's right, Comrade General." Regarding Sokov's statement, Bashilashvili did not deny it, but replied truthfully: "This is what my grandfather left behind, and it is made of mammoth ivory.
"
Sokov picked up a chess piece, looked at it over and over, and said to himself that Chinese ivory was generally used for decorations, but Bashilashvili's grandfather actually used ivory to make chess pieces, which was a waste of natural resources.
Bashilashvili saw that Sokov couldn't put down the chess pieces he had brought. Although he was reluctant to part with them, for the sake of his own future, he decided to reluctantly part with them. He bit the bullet and said: "Comrade General, if you like this
If it’s chess, I’ll give it to you.”
Hearing that Bashilashvili planned to give this chess set to him, Sokov couldn't help but feel ecstatic. Just when he was about to accept the gift, he saw the expression on Bashilashvili's face.
It seemed a bit unnatural. He was a smart man and he understood immediately that the other party was not sincere in giving him this chess set, but just wanted to use it to please himself.
After thinking about this, Sokov could only change his mind. He waved his hands and said: "Bashilashvili, thank you for your kindness. But this chess set was left by your grandfather, and you should leave it to you."
How can you give it away casually if you have descendants?" He said this to prevent Bashilashvili from passing it on to Yakov later if he didn't want it.
Sure enough, Bashilashvili had an expression of relief on his face when he heard what Sokov said. This shows how important this ivory chess set is to him.
Yakov was originally envious of this chess set, but when he heard what Sokov said, he couldn't win over others, so he could only follow Sokov's wishes and said: "Yes, Bashilashvili,
This is something left by your grandfather. You should keep it well and pass it on to your children a hundred years from now."
After placing the chess pieces, Bashilashvili looked up at Sokov and Yakov and asked: "I wonder which comrade general wants to play a game with me."
Sokov didn't wait for Yakov to speak, and said first: "Yasha, I haven't played chess for many years. I'm afraid I'm no match for Bashilashvili. Why don't you play a few games with Bashilashvili first and let him
I'm looking for a feeling."
"Okay, then I will play two sets with Bashilashvili first." Yakov said cheerfully: "Misha, if you want to play, just tell me and I will make room for you.
"
Yakov moved first with the white chess piece, and Bashilashvili responded. The two played chess very fast. In less than five minutes, both sides lost half of their pieces. I wonder if it was because of Yakov's high level.
, or Bashilashvili intended to give in, his two pawns quickly reached the bottom square, and were upgraded to a "queen" who could move horizontally, straight, or diagonally on the chessboard, with an unlimited number of squares, and quickly
The victory was sealed.
When the two re-arranged the chessboard, Bashilashvili said flatteringly: "Comrade General, your chess skills are so good that I have no power to fight back."
Hearing Bashilashvili's compliment, Yakov chuckled and then walked away again holding white.
After Sokov's observation just now, he found that Bashilashvili's chess skills were obviously better than Yakov's, but he deliberately lost chess to win Yakov's favor.
The second game between the two went slower than the first game, and they soon fell into a stalemate. Yakov found that the opponent's attack was so fierce that he was a little overwhelmed, so he began to think hard about how to deal with it. His expression was relaxed.
But Bashilashvili started chatting with Sokov: "General Sokov, there is the famous Amber Room in St. Petersburg. Have you ever visited it?"
"Bashilashvili, I want to remind you: there is no St. Petersburg today, there is only a heroic city called Leningrad." After reminding Bashilashvili, Sokov continued: "As for the
The Amber Room was snatched away by the Germans shortly after the war broke out, and its whereabouts are still unknown."
"What, the Amber Room was robbed by the Germans?" Bashilashvili heard Sokov say this, with a shocked expression on his face: "Is this true?"
"Of course it's true." Yakov raised his head and said: "When the German army besieged Leningrad, even though the local staff used wallpaper to hide the true face of the Amber Room, the Nazi soldiers still discovered it. They dismantled and packed the Amber Room.
, it was soon transported back to Königsberg by train and was once displayed in the exhibition hall of the Königsberg Museum. But when our army was about to capture Königsberg, the Germans once again disassembled and packed the Amber Room and prepared to ship it
Back to Berlin. However, because the speed of our army's attack exceeded the Germans' imagination, our army occupied Königsberg before their plan to transport the Amber Room could be implemented. But regrettably, after our army entered the city,
A careful search was conducted, but the whereabouts of the Amber Room were still not found."
Bashilashvili looked at Yakov and asked in surprise: "Then where did the Amber Room go?"
"There are many legends about the Amber Room." Yakov said: "The first theory is that during the artillery preparations for the offensive, artillery shells hit the room where the Amber Room was stored in Königsberg, causing the destruction of this precious cultural relic.
In the flames of war. This theory is that before Königsberg was captured, the castle where the Amber Room was stored had caught fire. After the city was captured, the castle continued to burn for three days, and the Amber Room was burned in the fire."
After listening to Yakov's explanation of the first possibility, Bashilashvili couldn't wait to ask: "What about the second possibility?"
"The Amber Room was dismantled and packed into boxes. Before it could be transported away, our troops rushed into the city. The Germans had to hide the wooden boxes containing the Amber Room in the basement of the castle," Yakov said.
: "But where is this basement? So far, we haven't found it."
When he learned that the whereabouts of the Amber Room were unknown, Bashilashvili became emotional: "I lived in St. Petersburg from the time I was born to the time I left Russia. I had visited Ekaterina's manor many times to visit the Amber Room. I originally wanted to
This time I can go back to China and take a look at this miraculous Amber Room, but unexpectedly it has disappeared."
"Yeah, it's missing, which is a pity." Yakov agreed.
When Sokov heard that the Amber Room was transported away from Leningrad by the Germans, he was quite surprised. Why was it not transported directly to Berlin, but to Königsberg in East Prussia? Later he found out that that place
It is rich in amber and beeswax. The German emperor ordered the craftsmen there to use local materials to build this Amber Room.
"Comrade General, I would like to ask." Bashilashvili was silent for a moment, then summoned up the courage to ask: "After you occupied Königsberg, did you conduct a search of the city? Maybe the Amber Room was hidden by the Germans.
Somewhere in the city.”
"Bashilashvili, the force entering Königsberg is the Third Belarusian Front, and I am the deputy chief of staff of this force." Yakov said to Bashilashvili: "I can tell you responsibly,
In order to retrieve the Amber Room, our country specially dispatched a huge team to conduct a blanket search in Königsberg. However, this team searched all local manors, castles, noble mansions, and basements and still found nothing. And
The most likely insider, Dr. Rohde, the museum curator in charge of storing the Amber Room at the time, also died mysteriously in a house on the outskirts of Königsberg before the search team was about to find him."
"Ah, the director of the museum died mysteriously?" Bashilashvili said in surprise: "Why do I smell a conspiracy?"
"I think so too." Sokov interjected: "Maybe in order to prevent us from getting the Amber Room, the Germans deliberately silenced the people who knew the inside story. And this unlucky museum director happened to be the insider who wanted to be silenced.
one."
"I remember that the Amber Room weighs several tons. Even if it is disassembled and packed, it will probably occupy a large area. If it is to be moved, it will definitely require a lot of manpower." Bashilashvili explained his point of view to the two people: "Maybe
We should start with the officers and soldiers carrying the boxes, maybe we can get useful information from them."
Sokov couldn't help laughing when he heard what Bashilashvili said. Bashilashvili didn't understand why Sokov was laughing, so he cast a suspicious look at him.
After Sokov stopped smiling, he said to Bashilashvili: "Bashilashvili, if you were the German commander and wanted to keep the secret of the Amber Room, what would you do?"
Hearing Sokov's question, Bashilashvili fell into deep thought.
After a while, he said: "Only the dead can truly keep secrets in the world. If I were the German commander responsible for hiding the Amber Room, I would definitely draw a treasure map and give it to a trustworthy person to take away.
, and silence all the insiders, including myself. In this way, no one will know where I hid the Amber Room except the person who got the treasure map."
When Sokov heard what Bashilashvili said, he couldn't help but take a breath. He didn't expect Bashilashvili to be so ruthless. In order to keep the secret, he would even silence himself. Maybe the real reason for the disappearance of the Amber Room was
The German commander responsible for this incident also silenced himself, so the whereabouts of the Amber Room became an unsolved mystery in history.
"Misha." Yakov looked at Sokov and asked: "Do you think what Bashilashvili said is possible?"
"Yasha, what do you say?" Faced with Yakov's question, Sokov said hesitantly: "If you want to make the Amber Room disappear permanently, in addition to destroying it directly, you have to hide it in a
A place where no one can find it, and all the insiders will be silenced. Dead people cannot speak, so even if our personnel find the bodies of these insiders, we will not be able to get any useful clues from them."
"So the Amber Room will never be found again?" Yakov asked with some disappointment.
Although Sokov had seen the Amber Room in later generations, it was imitated by Russia in the 1990s. After decades of searching for the original Amber Room, there was still no clue. Therefore, he answered the question raised by Yakov in the affirmative.
He said in a tone of voice: "Yasha, from the current signs, it is unlikely that we will find the Amber Room. If our descendants want to see the Amber Room, they may only be able to see the Amber Room we copied based on historical documents."