War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1122 The heart is very dirty
Under the turbulent aurora, while Wei Ran was arranging the traps, Mesut also set up a tent around a pine tree with a thick calf, and then lit a bonfire in the tin bucket as quickly as possible. Pushed the two sleds together with Ihor into the tent.

Slowly tied all the exhausted seven reindeer to the sleigh cart left outside, Wei Ran checked their wounds and fed them with fodder, and then got into the tent.

After such a delay, Mesut had already cleared the snow from the tent, and was using chopped wood sticks to hang Ihor's clothes that had been frozen into armor by the campfire to dry.

Glancing at Yihor who was lying on the sleigh, his face flushed and comatose, Wei Ran silently lit the firewood poured with kerosene in the second tin bucket, and waited patiently for the fire to stabilize before setting it up. A jug full of snow.

Before the pot of water boiled, Mesut winked at Wei Ran, and then got out of the tent.

After a while, Wei Ran also followed, took the cigarette handed by the other party, put on the filter and lit it, followed the other party, stepped on the knee-deep snow, and walked about ten meters to the downwind vent .

"Ihor can't go with us"

Mesut said straight to the point, "Not only will it become a drag on us, but with his current physical condition, he probably won't last long at all."

"So what are you going to do?" Wei Ran casually kicked back the question while puffing.

Hearing this, Mesut hesitated for a moment and then said, "If I remember correctly, there is an east-west river not too far ahead of us, and along this river to the west, we can reach Su A north-south tributary of the upper reaches of the Haya Tunguska River, and along this tributary to the north, you can return to the camp."

"You are really familiar with the rivers near here." Wei Ran praised noncommittally.

"There is a map in Sergey's room"

Mesut exhaled a puff of wind-blown smoke, tapped his temple and said, "It took me four months to memorize almost the entire map in my head."

"So you plan to send it back to the camp?" Wei Ran brought the topic back.

Mesut sighed, "That's the only way it can survive".

"Actually, your plan is not to go south along the Yenisei River, right?" Wei Ran said abruptly.

Hearing this, Mesut glanced at Wei Ran, and then at the tent in the distance. After hesitating for a long time, until the cigarette almost burned to the filter tip made of antlers, he bit the filter tip and blew hard. That cigarette butt, which was not as long as a fingernail, fell into the thick snow in a parabola, and then nodded, "Of course not, I never planned to go too far south."

"Can you tell me about your detailed plan?" Wei Ran asked calmly.

"I am going to go to the west bank of the Yenisei River when the time is right, and go west as far as the polar night can cover."

Mesut calmly explained, "No matter how good our Russian is, without the cover of severe cold, wilderness and polar night, we will soon be exposed, the only way to leave the Soviet Union alive and escape to Finland alive , that is, go all the way west over the wilderness, cross a straight-line distance of more than [-] kilometers, and enter Finland in the Arctic Circle.”

"Do you know what you're talking about?"

Wei Ran frowned and looked at the other party. He could already hear that this crazy escape plan was indeed Mesut's real idea, and with Ihor's physical condition, it was indeed impossible to complete this journey alive.

"The biggest difficulty is just crossing the Ural Mountains"

The extremely calm Mesut seemed to be prepared to say, "Crossing the Ural Mountains is indeed difficult, but it is much easier than serving the remaining 20 years in prison alive.

Victor, I want to go home, to see if my factory is bankrupt, to see if my wife and my children are still alive. "

"Mesut, you will die on the road."

Wei Ran looked into the other person's eyes, and reminded him very seriously, "Maybe I can go back after serving a few more years in prison?"

"I'm not sure if I'm going to die on the road, but I'm sure I'm going to die in the mine."

Mesut paused, "And we've already traveled so far, isn't it too late to say this now?"

"So how do you talk about moving Ihor?" Wei Ran asked, changing the subject.

"After his fever subsides, let him choose."

Mesut spread his hands, turned and walked towards the tent, and finally said in German, "Even if we go all the way south along the Yenisei River, he will not survive."

The two of them got into the tent one after the other, and the clothes that were placed beside the campfire bucket with wooden sticks had steamed up, and in the kettle on the other tin bucket with charcoal fire, those clothes that were The compacted snow has also melted, but Ihor is still in a high fever and semi-comatose state.

Seeing this, Mesut opened his wooden box. After some hesitation, he took out a bottle of veterinary medicine not too confidently, poured out a white tablet from it, broke it, and stuffed half of it into Ihor's chest. mouth, and then turned out the enamel jar and poured some water to help it feed the pills.

Obviously, the next step is to wait for Ihor to wake up and fully regain consciousness before moving forward. Fortunately, what they need most now is time and food.

Waiting patiently for the melted snow water in the kettle to boil completely, Wei Ran slowly replaced the iron pot, dug a large piece of animal fat into it, and stir-fried the fresh venison shank cut into pieces, then put the old The three kinds of potatoes, onions and carrots were randomly chopped and thrown in together.

Cooking and serving the dishes like a fool, Wei Ran lay on his back on his sleigh, secretly thinking about the route that Mesut just asked.

He could vaguely see that what Mesut said this time should be the truth.

It can even be said that the German prisoner of war probably planned to let Ihorn flee south to attract attention from the very beginning, and he took the opportunity to go west and leave here according to his real escape plan.

If you look at it this way, in the abandoned mine, Mesut deliberately left his notebook behind, perhaps to interfere with the direction of the search?
So this strict German had already anticipated what would happen after Ihor, who was acting as a bait, was caught?So does Ehor know?Wei Ran couldn't help but look at the devil prisoner of war on another sleigh cart opposite.

I'm afraid Ihor is also aware of Mesut's plan, or rather, it must have expected that Mesut will use it as a bait, and it probably has its own preparations and plans.

It's a pity that the unplanned encounter with the wolves not long ago and Ihor's unexpected injury completely overturned most of the two people's plans.

So what is Ihor's backhand?Could it be those mine explosives?Probably not, those things also appeared unplanned.

After some thinking to no avail, Ihor also opened his eyes while the stew in the pot was cooking.

"Thank you for not abandoning me," Ihor said hoarsely after getting up.

"We should thank you for saving us with mine explosives"

Seeing that Wei Ran didn't speak, Mesut responded proactively. At the same time, he unscrewed a canned fruit he found in the hunter's hut. After unscrewing, he poured out half a cup of sugar water and a few pieces of apples, and then added some heat to it. Water, then handed it to Ihor.

"Thank you"

Ihor took a few sips from the enamel cup, and then said, "Tell me about the next situation."

“The situation is very bad”

Mesut shook his head. "First, we don't know if the explosion will attract attention. Second, we're not sure if the pack of wolves is still following us. Third, your leg is broken, and we still There is a lack of reindeer to switch carts."

"Is there no good news?" Ihor asked with a pale face.

"Of course there is good news"

Spreading his hands, Mesut pointed at the meat that Wei Ran cut from the reindeer killed by wolves and said, "At least we have enough food for half a month without any problem."

"Can we still escape?" Ihor asked almost desperately.

"It's hard to say." Mesut shook his head. "Looking at the current situation, it may only be a matter of time before we are caught."

After he finished speaking, the tent also fell silent. For a while, all the three of them could hear were the slight sound of the firewood burning in the tin bucket, and the occasional neighing of the reindeer outside the tent.

“Anyway, let’s eat first”

As Mesut said, he lifted the lid of the pot, filled a large pot of stew, and handed it to Ihor with a few slices of bread that he had personally baked in the mine before.

After finishing the meal in silence, and after Ihor drank the glass of sugar water that was poured for him before the meal, he finally spoke, "Mesut, why don't you just say it, what are you going to do next?"

"In order for you to survive, I hope you can return to the labor camp." Mesut seemed to have been waiting for the other party to say this sentence, and gave a particularly straightforward answer.

"What did you say?" Ihor obviously didn't expect Mesut to be so straightforward.

"Keep following us and you will die."

Mesut patted his leg, and said very sincerely, "Ihor, only in this way can you survive. Besides, you are injured, as long as you insist on chasing reindeer, you will definitely survive. Maybe you can Taking advantage of this fracture, I don’t have to go to work in the mine anymore.”

"So I didn't have a choice, right?" Ihor said.

"You can put all the blame on me"

Mesut pointed to the box that served as a seat in the tent, and even the Winchester lever-action rifle. "You can take these things with you if you need them. Of course, you can also shoot me."

After a long silence, Ihor took a deep breath, "I understand."

Hearing this, Mesut also breathed a sigh of relief, motioned Wei Ran to take out the map, briefly explained the route to send Ihor back, and then added, "I will send you to that river, and then you only need to A day's drive north in the sledge will bring you back to the mouth of the river near the hunter's lodge."

Ihor nodded silently, lying on the sled car as if resigned to his fate, staring blankly at the top of the tent.

This night, the three rarely communicated with each other, and Mesut also took the initiative to take up the work of the night watch.

After guarding the tent and resting for only five or six hours, Mesut, who was on guard at night, woke up Wei Ran and Yihor who were lying on the tent.During this night, the German guy actually made a walking stick for Ihor.

Maybe it's because the veterinary medicine is really strong. It's only been a few hours, and Ihor's fever has subsided. Although his broken leg is not completely aligned, unfortunately, there is no sign of redness and swelling. .

Helping the little devil prisoner put on the clothes that had been dried, Wei Ran and Mesut silently packed up the tent and put reindeer on the three sleigh carts.Mesut even put an extra reindeer on Ihor's sledge.

After everything was ready, the three sleigh carts left the camp and ran southward after Wei Ran collected the traps around him.

Sure enough, the three sleigh carts lined up for less than half an hour before they found a river.

Mesut, who was in the lead, didn't slow down at all, so he yelled at the reindeer to go west along the river, and hurried to the river leading to the labor camp.

After two hours of incomparable silence, a wider frozen river appeared directly in front of them, and Mesut at the front also yelled at the reindeer to stop.

Mesut raised his finger and pointed to the river, "Follow this river to the north, and you will be able to return to the labor camp."

"I need some supplies that belong to you," said Ihor, who was driving the sleigh himself.

"What do you need?" Mesut asked immediately.

"I don't need shotguns and bullets, but I need canned meat and venison from your sleigh."

Ehold paused and said, "There is also the map in Victor's arms, a piece of canvas for the tent, and those concentrated fodder. I may not be able to rush back to the labor camp tonight. I don't want to freeze to death or starve to death halfway. Or encounter wolves again."

Hearing this, Mesut and Wei Ran looked at each other, and happily put the supplies needed by each other on Ihor's sleigh.

After receiving these supplies, Ihor asked, "Which direction are you going to run next?"

"Go west, go to the Yenisei River, and then go south along the Yenisei River." Mesut answered.

"I'd say we got separated while chasing reindeer"

Ihor said, "I'd say you followed the other branch of the river near the mine to find the reindeer."

"If I can escape back to Germany alive, I will go to recruit and go to your home to see." Mesut made a promise, "I will take good care of your family before you go back. If alive."

"Let's go." After Ihor finished speaking, he shook the reins happily and ran along the river to the north.

Waiting until the opponent's back and the kerosene lamp used for lighting were completely blocked by the winding river, Mesut signaled Wei Ran to wait in place, and immediately rushed to the forest on the west bank of the river shaking the reins.

However, he only ran into the forest for a distance of less than a few hundred meters, and ran back calling out to the reindeer, beckoning Wei Ran to run along the river they came from, and ran to the direction where they camped before !
This German guy has a really dirty heart.
Wei Ran, who was walking behind, murmured secretly with great satisfaction, and at the same time did not forget to blow out the kerosene lamp hanging on the tail of the sled.

However, he didn't know that at almost the same time, Ihor, who was yelling at the sled and heading north alone along the river, was holding a mine explosive equipped with a detonator and a fuse, with a stern expression on his face. Steering the sleigh, he turned around in a circle on the river, turned on the spot and ran to the south!
When passing by the intersection of the river, Ihor glanced at the ruts left by Mesut, but just gritted his teeth, and continued walking along the flat river, yelling at the reins.

Returning to the labor camp just like that, he was almost certain that he would never survive.At the same time, he also knew that if he continued to follow Mesut and Wei Ran, he would definitely not be able to survive.

That being the case, escaping alone has become its only choice at present.

such a pity.
Ihor touched his splinted calf and sighed regretfully. It and Mesut originally had a mutual cooperation and mutual utilization relationship.

It originally planned to use the opponent as bait at a critical moment, but all these plans were ruined by that damn wolf pack!

Right now, his only thought is to go south alone while Mesut and Wei Ran are running west, and then look for an opportunity to go west to the Yenisei River, and then follow the countless discussions and plans before, along the The Yenisei River finds the Trans-Siberian Railway.

He is confident that as long as he rushes to the Far East along this railway, he can return to the recruitment he has been dreaming of!

However, when Ihor, who fell into a feeling of homesickness, steered the sleigh across the river junction and ran southward for only five or six kilometers, he didn't notice at all that in the dense forest on the west side of the river, a Under the tall pine tree, there is a small tent, and there are more than a dozen sled dogs lying around the tent!

"Ugh-"

Just as Ihor's sleigh was speeding past, a sled dog that had been lying on the door of the tent immediately let out a threatening whimper.Immediately afterwards, the other dozen sled dogs also stood up one after another, arching their backs towards the river.

A moment later, Panin, the warehouse guard with frostbite on his face, came out of the tent vigilantly with an SKS semi-automatic rifle wrapped in a white cloth strip.

After listening attentively, Panin decisively put away the tent, quickly put out the bonfire and jumped into the sleigh car, yelling at the dogs to stand up, letting them run to the goal by themselves!
In less than 2 minutes, this sleigh car, which was about the size of a deck chair, rushed out of the dense forest. Immediately afterwards, he saw a river and fresh sled marks on the river!
Without hesitation at all, Panin, who had already lost his target these days, immediately yelled at the dogs to speed up, and at the same time reloaded the rifle in his hand and opened the safety.

As for who runs faster, reindeer or sled dogs, it mainly depends on how deep the snow is and how high the load is.At least for now, the dozen or so dogs who have rested for several hours are full of energy, and running along the sled tracks is much easier than running in the forest.What's more, the sled carts they are pulling together don't really have much load.

So it didn't take much time at all, Panin saw a sleigh cart pulled by three reindeer appearing in front of him.

At the same time he found Ihor, Ihor also heard a dog barking faintly behind him.

Looking back hastily, Ihor did not hesitate at all, he lifted the glass lampshade of the kerosene lamp, blocked the wind with a blanket, and successfully ignited the fuse of the explosive before the kerosene lamp was blown out.

Stuffing this and the dynamite into the glove, Ihor stretched his hand out of the sleigh, and stuffed the dynamite and the outer glove into the snow.

Immediately afterwards, he shook the reins vigorously, desperately yelling at the three reindeer to speed up.

After all, there was a distance between the two sides and the sky was dark. Naturally, Panin didn't notice the small movements of the sleigh in front of him. He just yelled at the dogs to speed up, thinking about passing the other party and at the same time confirming whether he wanted to looking for someone.

"boom!"

Just at this time, a dull explosion sounded less than five meters in front of his sleigh, and the snow, ice and even the gushing lake water that were engulfed by the shock wave all smashed over.

He only had time to block it with the rifle in his hand and the thick deerskin sleeve, and then, amidst the wailing of the dogs, he felt the biting chill pouring down the boots!

Almost subconsciously, he took a deep breath, flapped his hands trying to grab something, and at the same time pedaled the sled hard with both hands.

With this strength, he finally managed to grab the edge of the cracked ice layer and did not fall completely, but his sleigh, as well as the dog on the sled, were dead or wounded, and even if they were still alive, they were about to be killed. The drowned sleigh was dragged to the bottom of the river!

Gritting his teeth, Panin ignored the buzzing of his ears, pulled out the hunting knife on his waist, and at the same time let go of the rifle placed on the ice, and hopped to the side of the dogs, helping them cut the leather reins .

While he was busy rescuing the sled dogs, Ihor also yelled at the reindeer frightened by the explosion, controlled them to slow down, and then had time to look behind him.

Seeing that no one was chasing him, he immediately steered the sleigh to turn around, and climbed up cautiously.

However, before he could see clearly what the man who had just climbed onto the shore looked like, two sled dogs, soaked all over their bodies, rushed over fiercely, and one of them bit the neck of a reindeer fiercely, while The other one jumped onto the sleigh cart!Opened his mouth towards Ihor's neck!
(End of this chapter)