War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1127 Mesut's Last Request

Another raging snowstorm, another tent built around a pine tree firmly nailed to the frozen ground by pitons.

The difference from before is that there are six more fluffy dogs in the tent this time, and Mesut, who was lying on the sled, encountered an extremely similar catastrophe as Ihor hundreds of kilometers away-a broken leg Broken foot, completely lost the possibility to move on.

On the tin barrel burning with charcoal fire, the oats and fish that were traded not long ago were boiled in a not too big iron pot.

Beside the charcoal fire barrel, a pair of felt boots are propped upside down on a baking rack made from tree branches, and there are also two smelly foot wraps.

On the other side of the charcoal fire barrel, Wei Ran, who was wearing a wolf fur blanket, was holding a Mosin Nagant rifle in his arms, half leaning on the small sleigh cart, and he was holding a gun made of antlers in his mouth. Filter tip, smoking the last cigarette left in his silver cigarette case.

This is already the second day of the blizzard. According to European habits, by this time the next day, it will be Christmas Eve before Christmas.

But obviously, even if we wait until this time tomorrow, there is a high probability that Comrade Stalin will not approve that strange old man who likes to drill chimneys to come to Siberia, where countless Soviet secrets are hidden. Not even a single feather for Christmas.

Of course, if Santa Claus really came, the drowsy Wei Ran would immediately rob him of his leather bag and sleigh, to see if he could find a set of medical equipment that could support a blood vessel suturing operation .

There is no other reason, the worst situation still appeared on Mesut's body, the animal trap that was as big as a washbasin not only broke his arm bones, but also injured blood vessels after all.

So it was only a day, and the elbow of his injured hand was already swollen.

For this reason, Wei Ran had to tightly wrap his hand, which was fixed by a splint, with a white sheet that he hadn't had time to use, and then hung it high with a rope, and hung an additional piece of animal skin wrapped in ice and snow, Apply a cold compress to the swollen area.

From time to time, he had to loosen the leather rope tied at the armpit of this arm to prevent the arm from being completely necrotic due to insufficient blood supply.

Every four hours, he also needs to inject a small amount of veterinary anti-inflammatory drugs into Mesut.

Apart from cutting off the arm and risking burning it to stop the bleeding, which is a crude and highly likely method of death, all this is the only thing he can do right now.

When Santa Claus and Comrade Stalin can't count on it, Wei Ran's greatest wish at the moment is that the snowstorm can stop quickly, so that he can take Mesut back to the stone house as soon as possible.

Wei Ran didn't know if there were any medical equipment in that house.But the Nenets must have known where to get medical equipment—if they wanted to help.

He couldn't help touching the bear skin under his buttocks. Wei Ran knew that this bear skin and the two reindeer outside the tent were probably the only bargaining chips to save Mesut, provided that Mesut could return alive. In that stone house.

At this time, he took the risk to go back in the snowstorm, but Wei Ran didn't dare to bet that the remaining six dogs were his only hope to go back.In case something happened in this blizzard, he wasn't sure he'd be able to find the house by his nose.

"Aren't you going to go yet?"

With one arm hanging, Mesut stared blankly at the gas lamp emitting ice-blue glare on the tree trunk, and faintly asked the question he asked when he was awake last time.

"The blizzard hasn't stopped yet." Wei Ran replied casually, "Are you hungry? How about something to eat?"

"Thank you"

Mesut responded vaguely, stubbornly leaning on his intact hand and leg, and got up from the sleigh by himself.

After a while, Wei Ran first brought him a wooden box, then filled an enamel jar with fish porridge and placed it on top, and stuffed Mesut's own wooden spoon into his good hand.

"Have you ever climbed a mountain?" Mesut asked casually after eating a spoonful of fish porridge.

"crawl over"

While Wei Ran responded slowly to the other party, he couldn't help shivering. He couldn't help but think of the hellish Savage Mountain and those friends who defended their homes and the country.

"How many meters is the tallest mountain you have climbed?"

Mesut seemed to be a little interested, and his voice was a little louder, "Have you ever climbed the snow belt all year round?"

"no"

Wei Ran shook his head, "I have never climbed a snow-capped mountain. The mountains I have climbed are in the subtropics. Even the top of the mountain has no snow, only heavy rain, jungle, and leeches that can suck people dry. But I am in winter in Finland."

"That's different"

Mesut shook his head without waiting for Wei Ran to finish, "Climbing a snow-capped mountain is different from winter in Finland. The air on the mountain is thinner and the terrain is steeper. Be especially careful of avalanches. Sometimes, even if it's just the vibration caused by hitting a piton , will"

"What are you going to say?" Wei Ran finally raised his head.

Mesut smiled, put down his spoon and said seriously, "You have to cross the Ural Mountains by yourself. I have never been there. I don't know the specific conditions of this mountain range, and I don't know the highest altitude. So I can only teach you some Definitely use the knowledge you need to try to keep you alive."

"Don't worry about that"

Wei Ran picked up the enamel jar and poured himself a bowl of thick oatmeal, then took out a wooden spoon and said vaguely while eating, "I never planned to cross the Ural Mountains from the beginning. Originally, after I heard your plan, I planned to separate from you at the Ob River."

"You also have your own plan?" Mesut asked with great interest.

"I plan to go south along the Ob River. If I'm lucky, I might be able to reach Tomsk before the end of winter."

Wei Ran, who was originally weaving lies and hopes, spread his hands confidently, "Of course, if we are willing to take risks, we can actually wait until summer, go north along the Ob River to the Ob Bay, and then find a chance to get on a route to Europe." Boat."

"actually."

"It doesn't matter whether you go south or north along the Ob River, whether you take a boat or climb over snow-capped mountains, it doesn't matter whether you or me." Wei Ran looked at the other party, and said seriously in German, "First of all, we must survive, and then It’s a chance to try it out.”

"Okay." Mesut hesitated for a moment, then added "Thank you" in German.

"Let's eat"

Wei Ran took the initiative to end the topic, and Mesut, who was hesitant to speak, opened his mouth, but finally did not continue to ask some inner questions.

That night, Mesut, who barely ate something, slept soundly. Even the blizzard outside the tent was much smaller in the middle of the night.

Without daring to delay any further, Wei Ran immediately put reindeer or sled dogs on the sled, and connected the two sled cars together with a rope.

First he patched Mesut who was lying on the sled, then covered the wolf fur blanket and the canvas for the tent, and tied a few extra ropes, then he got into the small sleigh cart and yelled The dogs started to work hard, turned around and went back the same way.

Although he had already traveled this road once, it was not easy for him. After all, the reindeer sleigh carrying Mesut not only ran slowly, but was basically unmanned.

In addition, after all, the two dogs pulling the cart were missing, but the corpses of two more dogs riding in the cart, so when the two sleigh carts drove back to the stone house, it was already a short period of time on December 12th. It's daytime.

Regardless of patting away the accumulated wind and snow on his body, Wei Ran only had time to poke a stick through the gap of the sled into the snow to prevent the dogs from running around, so he stumbled to the door and smashed the thick wooden door bang.

Of course he was in a hurry. After a long day of running, tired people, dogs, and reindeer were all secondary. The most important problem was that Mesut had already developed a high fever and lost consciousness!
Soon, although the heavy door was not opened, the window, which was only the size of a washbasin, was pushed open from the inside, and the Nenets woman with a big belly stretched out a pair of guns from the window. Holding the shotgun, he asked cautiously in unfamiliar Russian, "Why are you back?"

"My partner stepped in a trap and he needed a doctor to amputate his leg."

Wei Ran raised his hands and continued, "If there are medical equipment, I can also operate on him."

"Are you a doctor?" There was a trace of undisguised suspicion in the woman's tone.

"Veterinarian!" Wei Ran responded bluntly.

After a little hesitation, the woman with a big belly finally drew back the shotgun, reached out and closed the window again.

A moment later, the heavy wooden door opened from the inside, and the woman with the big belly also had a Nagant revolver in her hand.

Under the watchful eyes of this vigilant woman, Wei Ran cut the rope on the sleigh as fast as he could, then lifted off the canvas and wolf fur blanket, and carried Mesut into the warm stone house.

Rejecting the woman's suggestion to put Mesut on the bed, Wei Ran put Mesut on the floor some distance from the door, then ran out again, hugging the wolf fur blanket and the bear skin Come in.

First spread the wolfskin blanket on the floor for Mesut to lie on, Wei Ran shook off the heavy bearskin blanket, and then fetched the Mosin Nagant rifle, binoculars and even their own from here not long ago The Winchester lever rifles were all strapped to the long table one by one.

"Two sled dogs died"

Wei Ran took a step back, looked at the other party and said, "These things, including the two reindeer outside, can be exchanged for a doctor who can perform amputations, or surgical instruments."

Looking at Wei Ran seriously, the woman with a big belly finally put away the Nagant revolver in her hand, and asked while walking out with the animal skin blanket on, "How did you get hurt?"

"beast trap"

Wei Ran separated a distance of two meters from the other party, and explained what happened while walking out.

Just after he finished speaking, the woman with a big belly also opened the door of the small wooden house where the dogs lived, and shouted something in a Nenets language that Wei Ran could not understand.

Soon, a sled dog came out wagging its head and tail.Although the sled dog has a motley coat, its two ears are black and the other white. On the hard leather collar around its neck, there is a small leather bag the size of a cigarette case.

Glancing at Wei Ran who was two or three meters away from her, the woman touched the dog's head, reached out and took a small object carved with antlers from the inside of the door and put it in the small leather bag, then patted the dog's head again, shouted in Nenets.

Upon receiving the signal, the dog ran out immediately, and disappeared before the woman closed the wooden door with the dog hole.

"Go in and wait"

The woman said as she walked in, "My husband went out before dawn, I'm afraid you have to wait."

After a short pause, the woman continued, "The nearest doctor that can be found near here is on the railway site. Even if you hang up all the sled dogs and run, it will take three hours to get back."

"Railway construction site?" Wei Ran's heart sank, he knew which railway the other party was talking about, he knew it too well!
He especially remembered that when he was in Mine No. 52, the big-breasted nurse Irene was dispatched to that terrifying polar construction site to participate in the construction of the railway because of her various schemes.In the end, she was able to get out of there alive by copulating and becoming pregnant.

On the way from crossing the Yenisei River, he has actually been trying his best to avoid getting too close to the railway line that tries to connect the Yenisei River and the Ob River-he doesn't want to be dragged into the Railway workers, even if he might meet a big-breasted nurse eager to give birth to a baby there, he still doesn't want to go.

but now
Wei Ran swallowed secretly, looked at the stone house behind him subconsciously, and asked naturally, "It's been too long, do you have medical equipment here? Even veterinary ones are fine."

"no"

The Nenets woman with a big belly shook her head as she walked into the stone house, "On this tundra, the only people who can use those things are those from Moscow."

Hearing this, Wei Ran couldn't help grinning.The Muscovites in this woman's mouth actually refer to all the "outsiders" who came from Europe.

Whether it is a hemorrhoid criminal, a thief who violated the Sansui Law, or a war criminal captured from various battlefields.

As long as the nomadic tribes are not native to this tundra, they will be labeled as "Muscovites". Such a person seems to symbolize civilization, but in fact it is a label sent by the civilized world to transform Siberia and itself.

"Aren't you from Moscow too?" the woman asked without looking back as she walked into the stone house.

"Did I travel so far from Moscow to hunt here?" Wei Ran asked helplessly.

"Perhaps we should build the railway," the pregnant woman said meaningfully.

Before Wei Ran could speak, the woman said again, "Whether it's hunting or building railways, we don't care about these, as long as you"

"All my weapons are on the table"

As Wei Ran spoke, he took out the Finnish knife from his boot and placed it on the table with various chips.

Picking up this exquisitely crafted knife and looking at it, the Nenets woman put it back on the table, supported her stomach and sat down on the chair by the fireplace with difficulty, picked up a fluffy animal skin and continued. Sew, while not forgetting to say, "If your companions don't need to take care of them, help drive the sled dogs back to their kennels. There's a pail of meat for them on the other side of the fireplace."

Hearing this, Wei Ran simply picked up the bucket of frozen meat from an unknown animal and walked out of the stone house. After feeding it to the hard-working dogs, he untied the rope and let them enter the wooden shed. The two reindeer were tied to the stump beside the wooden house.

When he returned to the house, he already had a kerosene lamp in his hand.Patiently pumped up the gas lamp and ignited it, and the ice blue light instantly completely illuminated the interior of the slightly dim but warm stone house, leaving only the long strip of shadows cast by the chimney in the middle, just right It covered the unfinished wooden boat behind it.

Walking to the side of Mesut, Wei Ran hung his injured hand on the beam with a rope, and then applied a lump of ice and snow wrapped in animal skin to the swollen wound and his forehead .

"What's the date today?" Mesut seemed to regain consciousness after all this trouble, and asked weakly in German.

Looking at the Nenets woman who was busy sewing a robe not far away, Wei Ran replied in German, "Mesut, Merry Christmas."

"Merry Chrismas"

Mesut looked at the umbrella-shaped beam above his head, then at the kerosene lamp hanging on the beam, and murmured, "We are back here again."

"yes"

Wei Ran paused, and then said, "You have to persevere, it will take about three or four hours for a doctor to come."

"And then sent back to the labor camp?" Mesut's pale face was already full of bitterness.

After a moment of silence, Wei Ran said, "Before that, you may have an arm cut off."

"Victor, help me bring in that box with a layer of canvas nailed on the outside," Mesut begged abruptly.

"Wait a mininute"

Wei Ran stood up after speaking, walked out of the stone house again, and brought the wooden box designated by the other party from the sleigh cart.

Open the wooden box under the sign of the other party. Apart from a few bottles of veterinary medicine, a large bottle of animal fat, and a few cans, there is only one glass box wrapped in a wooden box and wrapped in layers of animal skin. syringe.

After Wei Ran took out these things one by one and put them aside, Mesut continued, "There is a canvas pull ring at the bottom of the box, pick it up."

Hearing this, Wei Ran, who had discovered the pull ring just now, immediately hooked it with his fingers, and opened a nearly tightly seamed wooden board at the bottom of the box first.

What he didn't expect was that there were not only a few pieces of light yellow letter paper and two photos placed under the wooden board, but also two slender grooves were cut out on the wooden board at the bottom of the box, on which were placed Holding a pencil and a pen that Wei Ran is very familiar with.This was my birthday present to Mesut!

"I thought you put it in the mine." Wei Ran said with a smile.

"I secretly hid"

Mesut's tone was rather smug, "Victor, help me sit up, I want to write a letter to my wife, son, and Mr. Kahler while I am still awake."

Hearing this, Wei Ran, who was going to take a look at the two photos, immediately helped Mesut up, let him sit on the wooden chair beside the long table, and then put the letter paper and the other party's prepared letter at the bottom of the box The two photos were handed over to each other.

Finally, he picked up the pen that belonged to him and unscrewed the pen barrel. Wei Ran took off his gloves and gripped the frozen ink sac tightly. Taking advantage of his body temperature to melt the ink, he pointed to one of the frayed photos and asked, "Is this yours?" wife and children?"

"right"

Mesut picked up the photo and said with a smile, "This is my wife Jordan and my son Mesut Jr. This was taken at the gate of my factory less than two weeks after he was born and sent to me. I haven't seen my child yet."

"What about this one?"

Wei Ran pointed to another relatively better-preserved photo and asked, in this photo was a bearded old man smoking a pipe, and a thin girl, the photo was taken on a pier, the background of the photo was There is also a transport ship.

"That's Captain Culler and his daughter, haven't you seen them?"

"I'm asking, when was this picture taken." Wei Ran asked with a normal expression.

"a long time ago"

Mesut laughed at himself, "It was given to me by Kahler when I came back from my last vacation. He asked me to introduce their father and daughter to Jordan during my next vacation. He also invited my wife Went to Finland as a guest with the kids, and then we were sent here."

"They must still be alive." Wei Ran sighed, screwed on the barrel of the fountain pen whose ink sac was slightly melted, and handed it to the other party.

Taking advantage of his writing time, Wei Ran also placed the cans on the long table one by one, and then dug out two vodka bottles that he didn't want to throw away, and carefully dried them by the charcoal fire in the fireplace The remaining moisture and liquor inside.

After getting permission from the Nenets woman, Wei Ran dug out his enamel jar, put the candle block used to wax the sled and skis into it, and heated it with an enamel pot.

Taking advantage of the melting time of the wax block, Wei Ran picked up two finger-thick wooden sticks from the pile of firewood by the fireplace, and carefully sharpened them with his own Finnish knife on the table.

When he finished his work, the wax blocks had all melted, and Mesut also finished writing three letters that were no different from suicide notes, rolled them up, stuffed them into two vodka bottles, and handed them to Wei Ran.

"These two letters are for my Jordan and my child." Mesut handed the wine bottle containing the two letters to Wei Ran.

Taking the wine bottle, Wei Ran wrapped the freshly cut wooden stick with a torn white sheet to plug the bottle mouth, then put on gloves, soaked a cloth strip in hot wax oil, and wrapped it carefully Then he borrowed a piece of sewing thread from the Nenets woman who had been watching and tied it tightly, turned it upside down and dipped it in an enamel jar filled with wax oil. , then set it aside.

"This is for Captain Kahler." Mesut handed over the second wine bottle with an envelope, and let Wei Ran help seal the bottle as before.

"Then run away by yourself"

Mesut said again, "If you can, please kill me. It's better to die at the hands of friends than to die at the guns of labor camp guards, isn't it?
And I don't want to be sent back to the labor camp anymore. Not only is it closer to home to die here, but I can also enjoy a grave to myself. "

After a short pause, Mesut looked at Wei Ran seriously, "My friend, help me one last time."

(End of this chapter)