The treasure of Galdan

by Andrej Andrejew

  Therefore during some of his sorties, he brought the objects to the camp and locked them in a provisional building which was due to become a hangar. Only he had a key to the building. However he was not sure what to do next. The chief engineer had clearly signalled his disinterest. His gut feeling told him to keep the finding for himself. Perhaps when Chun returned from the hospital they could discuss further approach? Or he could report it during the debriefing in Urumqi – he thought. If the others at the site learnt about it, the items would be stolen for sure or in the best case, improperly stored.

  Voronov did not hear any news about the activities of the Soviet Army in Xinjiang. Nor any details about the escalation of the Sino-Japanese conflict. At the political meetings conducted every week for the Soviet members of staff the chief engineer mentioned the fact of escalation but did not expand upon the topic. The problem was the fact that the site was connected to the outside world only by the weekly courier coming from Urumqi. The chief engineer had a small radio transmitter but it had only a range of up to 150 kilometres.

  Two or three times Voronov went to Altay to meet the Chinese engineers whom he knew from his first day in the area. They were in charge of the procurement of construction materials thus he had to agree the lists of items he needed with them. It was during one of these visits that Mr. Liu has had told him not only about the war in China but also about a persecution campaign in Kazakhstan and elsewhere in Russia. Voronov was not worried by this news. He was not aware of anything wrong in his activities and assumed it would not affect him.

  By the end of October the airstrip was ready for use. Some of the auxiliary buildings were yet to be completed but they weren’t essential. The chief engineer informed Voronov that about 4 tons of ore samples would have to be shipped by air. The plan was to distribute them between 8 flights. The planes should come from Almaty and deliver construction materials. They would leave the site with the ore samples but it had not been disclosed in which direction. To be on the safe side Voronov suggested that the very first incoming aircraft should be minimally loaded. Just to be sure that the ground of the airstrip was reliable.

  The message went to Urumqi via the courier and was radioed to Almaty.

  Almaty, October 1937

  The political atmosphere in Almaty and elsewhere in the country was tense and dangerous. The new wave of repressions that had started in July did show results. In the city alone several hundred persons had been arrested and many more interrogated. No department or institution was safe from the grip of the NKVD. This led to serious malfunction of the institutions once they were depleted of qualified staff. Among those arrested was the director of Voronov’s Institute, the party secretary got away with a reprimand. Among the army officers a substantial number were accused of being saboteurs, agent provocateurs or spies of imperialist secret services. The party bosses who were in charge of major industrial objects and some army commanders had started to send alarming signals to Moscow. If the situation continues like this – they warned – the defence and industrial capacity of the Soviet Union will suffer irreparable damage. These alerts arrived at the right ears in the spring of 1938 and in case of Yezhov, fate repeated itself in the most tragic way. He, who had denounced his boss, had been replaced by his deputy Lavrenti Beriya and transferred to a meaningless ministry. Shortly thereafter he would be arrested and executed.

  Captain Gromov was surprised about the laxity with which Voronov’s case had been handled. One point was clear enough. His superiors in the NKVD city office had told him that with the current situation in China and Xinjiang in particular they could not assign many resources for that. Voronov’s location was known and apparently he was not aware about the sword hanging over his head. Thus it should be perfectly fine to arrest him upon his return.

  What he was not aware about was the fact that the main purpose of the campaign was to eliminate the dignified party ranks that might be competition for the newly emerging class of apparatchiks. Voronov did not belong to this category and accordingly his case was not a priority. Other objectives were to quench even the thought of any dissent and to provide cheap labour to the numerous construction sites.

  The repressions also affected Lieutenant Novikov’s tiny Special Air Force Squadron. Two members of staff were arrested on charges of espionage. Then the persecution started to take on bizarre elements. One morning when Novikov arrived at the airport he noticed the maintenance crew painting over the big letters ANT on the plane fuselages with white paint. ANT stood for Andrei Nikolayevich Tupolev, the head engineer of the one of most prestigious aviation construction bureaus. He had been alleged to be a member of the Russian Fascist Party. Following his “confessions” some other prominent aviation engineers had been arrested. This was one of the reasons why later, during the first years of the Second World War the Soviet air force had little to oppose the German Luftwaffe.

  His new commander Colonel Koryakin was sitting in the office with a grim expression on his face.

  “Sit down Lieutenant!”

  “Comrade Colonel, I just can’t believe it…”

  “Don’t even ask! But wait! When Comrade Stalin learns about it, he will show these rascals how to shuffle snow!”

  Novikov and his commander were, like the majority of Soviet people at that time, too naïve in their belief that in Moscow the good and kind Comrade Stalin was not aware of what was going on. In fact it was a popular trick employed by many dictators, namely to instate a sort of head butcher on whom the population could project their wrath. Later on the hangmen could be disposed of, like worn out shoes. And Stalin was a real master in the hire, squeeze and fire tactics.

  Just that in this case the firing was implemented literally.

  “Now listen Lieutenant, the air strip at the object X25 (this was the code name of the site where Voronov worked) is ready. After tomorrow you will fly there for the first time. You will take with you the new radio equipment for the object and one passenger from Moscow. Seems to be a big shot, somebody from the Head Institute of Geological Research. On the way back to Almaty you will take about 500 kg of some geological samples. And one more thing: take the northern route via Karatal. Our air force is still operating in Xinjiang and to be on the safe side it is better not to cross with them.”

  He paused.

  “If everything goes well your next flight is scheduled for ten days later. Two folks from the department told me yesterday that you should bring the engineer Voronov back with you.”

  Novikov cringed on hearing this. “Folks from the department” was a common term for the NKVD. After having been interrogated concerning Voronov’s whereabouts he had quickly understood what that could mean. But he had kept it to himself.

  On departure day Novikov studied the map and weather report for Eastern Kazakhstan. The sky was partially overcast with moderate winds from south-west. He decided to take the straight north-east direction until Zaisan Kol lake and then turn East along the Black Irtysh river valley. Colonel Koryakin entered the pilots mess with a civilian carrying a big suitcase.

  “Lieutenant, here is your passenger Sergei Petrovich Zaycev. He is a geologist from Moscow.

  Comprade Zaycev, I am sure with Novikov you are in the best hands. Take-off is in one hour. I wish you a pleasant flight.”

  Zaycev had an amicable demeanour and as he talked it was clear he was a highly educated person.

  Novikov asked his passenger to take a seat and instructed the board technician about the flight route. Short after the take-off they climbed to 6.900 meters. After flying over the town of Taldykorgan the ground visibility became zero. Novikov changed the direction to 10° East.

  “What if the visibility at the destination is bad?” the technician asked.

  “I just need to see Zaisan Lake. From the northern shore we will take a 3° eastern turn and then just follow the direct line. After approximately 180 kilometres we will descend to 800 meters and then look for the Black Irtysh. Once we have located it, we will take two
-three circles to locate the site. When they hear us they will shoot some signal rockets.”

  “But this will only work provided we don’t face strong head winds.”

  “You seem to be a sort of congenital pessimist?”

  “Well, it's my job. Our maximal range is 2300 kilometres. In case of strong headwinds we can assume it being about 1900 kilometres. Since the distance to the destination is around 1100 kilometres we might not have enough fuel to return to Almaty should it become necessary.”

  “Then we will land at Urumqi and wait for better visibility.”

  “And if...”

  “And if on your head apple trees would grow instead of hairs then your scalp would be called an orchard”

  “Oh, Lieutenant. You guys do have it in your blood to take risks. And I have to think in dry technical terms.”

  “Fine, got it. But can we discuss problems when they arise? After all I could also ask you: what if the engines fail, what if the rudder doesn't work?”

  Approximately after two hours since take-off Novikov could see the contours of the Zaisan Lake. He descended to 4000 meters and located the mouth of Black Irtysh River on the eastern shore. He changed the direction and climbed back to 6900 meters. Twenty minutes later the hills of the Altay Mountains became visible straight to the East. The plane descended to 500 meters and Novikov started to look for the small tributary with tents and buildings on its shore. Now they were flying below the clouds but a moderate fog allowed for a maximum visibility of 3 km. A limited visibility in the mountain terrain was extremely dangerous for an approach. Nowadays a approach flight is supported by air traffic control and the airport tower. Furthermore the planes are equipped with two altitude monitoring systems: based on the outside pressure and radar-controlled. The landing is supported by computer- and radar-connected instrument approach procedure. And still some tragic accidents happen.

  Novikov’s plane had nothing but the atmospheric pressure based altimeter, a compass and his eyes. He knew that the altimeter was not completely reliable. When the atmospheric pressure changed due to weather conditions the indicated altitude could fluctuate by +/- 100 meters. Thus he always adhered to the rule of thumb of assuming the actual altitude was 150 meters under the indicated one. According to the map the highest hill in the area was 300 meters high thus the safety margin seemed to be sufficient.

  He decided to turn North-West for three or four minutes and then to turn back along the same line but ten kilometres to the East. Since nothing could be found he turned back. After five minutes he could see a signal rocket shooting in the sky from approximately three kilometres in the south-eastern direction. He headed the aircraft in that direction and could see some tents and buildings within half a minute. Along the river he recognized the air strip. At one and of the strip he could see a truck with its front lights being switched on. He knew that he should land in the direction of the truck. Novikov performed one circle, descended to 40 meters, visually estimated the distance and finally landed. The landing was uneventful except that at the end the aircraft was slow to brake and nearly slipped a few meters from the runway.

  Voronov was watching the approach and landing with a frozen heart. Having seen the wobbly rolling of the plane during the last 50 meters he decided that next time he would instruct to heavy trucks to level the runway before each take-off and landing.

  The geologist from Moscow and Novikov were greeted by the chief engineer and led into his tent for lunch.

  Urumqi, October 1937

  1

  The bazaar lane of the city was not as crowded as it used to be. The fighting in Southern Xinjiang and tense atmosphere in the city were taking its toll. Many merchants and buyers had decided to wait for calmer times to resume their business.

  Pak's shop was also closed but behind its doors a meeting was taking place.

  Being a cadre officer Chun took the lead. Following the radio message from Nanjing Radio the agents “Aquarius”, “Peony” and “Owl” have appeared at Pak's shop a day before. “Aquarius” and “Peony” were Mongols originally from Hailar and had been working for Japanese intelligence for the past two years. “Owl” was an Uzbek, originally from Bohara. After the Civil War in Russia he escaped to Xinjiang hoping to get support from the British in Kashgar but they could not help him. He had moved to Urumqi and accidentally met some former Tsarist officers heading for Manchuria. He joined them and finally arrived at Harbin where he was recruited by the Japanese. After some training they have sent him to Hami where he started to operate under the cover of a wool merchant. His fluency in Russian, Uzbek and Uigur languages has made him very valuable.

  “Did you manage to arrange the medical certificate for me?” asked Chun

  “Yes, here you go,” said Pak. “you have spent eleven days in hospital being treated for dysentery.”

  “Great, thank you. We should be ready to start the action within two days. The plan is as follows: “Owl” will hire a truck to transport the stock of wool stored in Altay to Urumqi. The truck will be left there and you “Watchmaker” (this was Pak's agent name) will hire another one. There are two Chinese in Altay working for the site. You will tell him that you have a surplus food stock which you would like to sell to the Russians. The engineer Liu will not be concerned if you make him some handsome present. Then “Peony” will stay in Altay and wait for us. Three of you will drive to the site during the night and hide the truck behind a lateral gorge approximately 400 meters from the doctor's tent. I will return to the site tomorrow with the courier truck otherwise it would be suspicious. In the evening I will remove the starters from the three vehicles available at the site thus they will not be able to pursue us. At 02:00 in the morning “Watchmaker” and “Aquarius” will climb the hill, take the stuff and bring it to the rendezvous place in the gorge. You should complete it by 04:00. At 3:00 I will approach the store building and eliminate the sentry. Then I will take samples from each of the bags stored there. Latest at 04:30 you will collect me with the truck near the store and we will immediately head for Altay. In Altay we will switch trucks and continue towards Urumqi. We will store everything here at your shop “Watchmaker” and await further instructions. Does anybody have questions?”

  “The last part is based on the best case scenario,” said Pak. “When is the sentry supposed to be released?”

  “At seven.”

  “This means they will notice everything when we will still be heading for Altay. If they will be able to fix the issues with their trucks then we will have just two hours advantage. This is not enough. We can’t rule out technical problems with our own vehicle and should this occur they will intercept us.”

  “This is true. What do you suggest?”

  “I will give you a bottle of brandy and some sleeping pills. You should convince the sentry to take a gulp. The nights became frosty, he will hardly reject. When he’s asleep, break the lock and after everything is done, place another one on the door. When the sentry will wake up he’s unlikely to report getting drunk on duty and falling asleep. And, since the lock will be back on the door they won’t raise the alarm immediately. This will give us an advantage of at least twelve hours, perhaps even the whole day.

  “Excellent! Do you have some locks for sale in your shop?” Pak showed him five or six of them. “This one looks exactly like one on the door of the store. I’ll take this one.”

  2

  Chun arrived at the site the next day and as a first step, reported to the doctor's tent. Before he entered it he noticed an aircraft parked on the airstrip. This was not foreseen and he wasn’t sure if this might affect their plan.

  The doctor checked the discharge letter from the hospital and again reprimanded Chun for being careless with drinking water. Chun admitted his stupidity and asked about the plane.

  “A big shot from Moscow has arrived,” said the doctor. “Tomorrow he will inspect the mines and after tomorrow the ore samples will be taken by air to Almaty.”

  Chun was thinking
quickly. If they managed to get the samples tonight then it would be discovered at the latest after tomorrow when they would open the store to load the plane. And what if the visitor from Moscow would like to see them before? This seemed to be rather unlikely since the mines were located further three kilometres upstream. If he were to start the inspection in the morning, he wouldn’t be back before four in the afternoon. He decided to visit Voronov and went to the airstrip.

  “Oh, how are you doing my dear?!” said Voronov seeing Chun.

  “Well, much better. But I still need to take some medicine.”

  “I was really worried. But apparently the danger is over and you can go back to work soon?”

  “Absolutely, after tomorrow I will be back at work.”

  “Is there any chance you could get started tomorrow? In the afternoon I would like to level the airstrip's ground a bit more. The plane will depart after tomorrow at ten in the morning. They will fill it with 150 litres of fuel and load with half a tone of the ore. The runway has only 180 meters of reserve and I don't want to take any chances.