War Photographer's Notebook

Near the backup trench surrounded by a minefield on the side of the mountain top, Nahan, who was tied to a tree trunk, did not cry or make any fuss, but kept quiet.

Some distance apart, Lu Yao, Xiao Xifeng and Li Dazhai were sleeping soundly against the tree trunks, replenishing the energy consumed by traveling all night last night.

Squad Leader Cha and Hai Dongqing, one was hiding in a tree, and the other was hiding on the other side of the mountain where Nahan was chewing sugar cane, using binoculars to keep an eye on the situation down the mountain.

At the foot of the mountain where Hai Dongqing held up the telescope to observe, but couldn't see anything because of the fog, squad leader Wei Ran and Dao had already quietly touched it through the cover of the farm work in the terraced fields and the thick fog. At the foot of the mountain, I took a close look at the garrison camp some distance away from the village.

This camp doesn't look too big, but it is backed by a mountain and the terrain is much higher than the surrounding areas. In front of it is an unobstructed terraced field with nothing planted.

But in more detail, the two of them could not see it because of the fog. However, this morning, there were already more than a dozen trucks driving in and out, making it extremely busy.

At this time, it was already about 9:30 in the morning. If they wait any longer, the fog in the mountains will dissipate. They may have the opportunity to see the details of the military camp clearly, but they may also lose the ability to grasp their tongues and even A chance to get out of here.

Just at this moment, a 28-inch large bicycle appeared in the thick fog. The rider was a soldier wearing a rubber raincoat, and he seemed to be wearing a military uniform underneath. Fortunately, there were no other cars or vehicles behind him. Accompanying companions.

"It's up to him," Squad Leader Dao made the decision in a low voice, "I'll control the car."

"Okay" Wei Ran softly agreed to the other party's arrangement.

In less than ten seconds, the bicycle came in front of the two of them amid the noise of clanging. As we got closer, we could see a fishing rod tied to the back seat of this man's bicycle, and two additional Soviet-style lunch boxes hanging on it.

Almost in no particular order, the two of them moved. The knife squad leader who rushed out accurately inserted the barrel of the submachine gun in his hand into the spoke gap of the rear wheel of the bicycle, and pinned the wheel neatly.

Amidst the loud noises, before the people in the car had time to scream, Wei Ran, who also ran out, pressed an electric baton on his neck from behind. Then, before he could tremble and fall, he was brutally beaten. He was pulled from the car and dragged into the grass.

She quickly stuffed a ball of socks into his mouth and tied it tightly with a belt. Wei Ran then took out the handcuffs and cuffed his hands together behind his back, but at the same time he also noticed that something seemed wrong.

With a strong body odor, excessive body hair, white skin and a relatively tall build, this prisoner turned out to be a white man!

He turned to look at the squad leader next to him. In just a short while, he had already taken off the fishing rod and lunch box from the bicycle, and threw the bicycle into the drainage ditch filled with turbid rainwater on the other side of the dirt road.

"It's a foreigner." Wei Ran showed the color of the other person's arm.

"As long as he's a human being, let's go!"

Before he finished speaking, Captain Dao had already picked up the lunch box and grabbed the prisoner's elbow. Together with Wei Ran, he pulled him across the dirt road, once again using the cover of crops and fog to avoid the villagers working in the terraced fields. , quietly climbed up the terraces like steps.

Soon, the two of them returned to the top of the mountain and met Hai Dongqing, who had been on guard.

"Why did you catch a foreign Japanese?" Hai Dongqing looked at the masked prisoner with wonder.

"I didn't notice it until I caught it. Try asking."

After the sword squad leader finished speaking, he had already dragged the prisoner to the top of the mountain and hid in the shadow of a crooked-neck tree.

"Do you speak Vietnamese?"

The squad leader pulled out the smelly socks from the prisoner's mouth through the mask and asked, while he gently stepped on the prisoner's knee socket with his foot, forcing him to kneel to the ground.

However, the prisoner actually responded with a Russian sentence, "Friends, who are you?"

"He's an old man," Hai Dongqing said in surprise.

"Do you understand?" Squad Leader Dao turned around and asked, "Just in time, ask him for me."

"I don't understand"

Hai Dongqing waved his hand quickly, "I can tell that he is a fool, but I don't know Soviet dialect. It would be great if Wang Beizhan was here. He can speak Soviet dialect, so I learned a few words from him."

"That's okay."

"It's okay, monitor, I can speak Russian."

Before he finished speaking, Lu Yao, who was sleeping just now, had already walked over, with Xiao Xifeng behind him.

"How do you ask?" Lu Yao asked after Wei Ran stopped him from trying to lift the prisoner's mask.

"Let me do it." Wei Ran gestured to the other party to take a few steps back, "I can speak Russian too."

"You know how to do this?" Squad Leader Cha, who also rushed over, asked curiously.

“Know a little”

Wei Ran smiled and said in Russian, "Since you didn't scream, at least it means you are smart and want to survive, so how about you answer whatever I ask?"

"You speak Russian very well. Who did you learn it from?" the hooded prisoner asked.

"Pay attention to your identity, you are the prisoner." Wei Ran reminded.

"What are you asking?" The prisoner was silent for a moment before choosing to cooperate.

"What's your name and why are you here?"

"Ivan, just call me Ivan. I am the technical advisor sent here." The prisoner answered the first question quite happily.

Too lazy to tell whether the name of this shitty street was real or fake, Wei Ran continued to ask while rummaging through the other person's body, "Tell me about that military camp. What's there?"

"I ask for it according to the day!"

Before Ivan could finish his nonsense, Wei Ran pinched his wrist joints and pressed his chin firmly with his other hand.

Under the stimulation of severe pain, Ivan, who couldn't scream, couldn't help but start struggling. Upon seeing this, Monitor Cha and others subconsciously did something. Even Lu Yao, who could understand Russian, was ready to say something.

"Let him handle it by himself." Squad Leader Dao chose to side with Wei Ran at this time.

After the small punishment, Wei Ran loosened his grip on his hand and his chin, and reminded with a smile, "Comrade Ivan, you have to know that only living prisoners are eligible to enjoy prisoner of war treatment, and only dead people are entitled to prisoner of war treatment." Deserve to be left in a minefield crawling with flies and maggots.”

"This is an abusive war."

"Yes, that's right."

Wei Ran replied cheerfully while slapping the other person's cheek, "I am the platoon leader of the 316st Battalion, 148nd Company and rd Platoon of the th Regiment of the th Division of the Yuehan People's Army. I am going to make a fortune, so I brought my brother I have captured you and am going to sell you to the Chinese. So Comrade Ivan, can you answer my question now?"

Wei Ran's ridiculous fabrication first made Lu Yao, who could understand Russian, reveal an uncontrollable smile on his face.

After a moment, Ivan seemed to have understood the current situation and reluctantly said, "There is an ammunition depot and an artillery position, which contains a large number of mortar shells, cannon shells and hail rockets. , and there is another one equipped for you, China."

"They are Chinese"

Wei Ran corrected him seriously, "As I said, I am the platoon leader of the 316st Battalion, 148nd Company and rd Platoon of the th Regiment of the th Division of the Yuehan People's Army, Ruan Zhejie."

"All right"

Ivan's tone became increasingly helpless, "There is also a heavy artillery battalion equipped with their Chinese-produced M-46 cannon and a rocket launcher battalion hidden here.

In addition, this is also an artillery and rocket launcher technical school. I am responsible for teaching them the use and maintenance of rocket launchers. "

"Are these weapons and equipment hidden in the ammunition depot?" Wei Ran asked.

"The ammunition depot is not that big. It is said that it used to be just a railway tunnel, but it was abandoned before the railway was built here. Later they expanded it to reach its current size."

Ivan replied cheerfully, "The ammunition I just mentioned is all inside, but those weapons are just outside the ammunition depot, in the jungle on the left."

"Where were you going to ride your bike just now?"

Wei Ran continued to ask, and by the way found a wine bottle from the other party's arms, unscrewed the lid and smelled it. As expected, it contained vodka.

"Go to a nearby village to buy milk. I will go back to teach the artillerymen in the afternoon." Ivan replied immediately.

"Going to buy milk with a fishing rod and a lunch box and vodka?"

Seeing that Ivan was silent, Wei Ran smiled and recited what he had just asked in his native language.

As for the little lie that the other party just told, it was nothing more than a hint that someone would look for him if he disappeared for too long.

"When the fog clears, we should be able to observe it from this distance." Lu Yao followed.

Hearing this, the squad leader pondered for a moment, stood up and walked towards Nahan, who was still being helped not far away, "I'll go check with that child, but don't come over yet."

Watching Squad Leader Dao leave, Hai Dongqing pointed at Ivan, who was wearing a mask on his head, "What should I do with this old guy?"

"This tongue is of great value. If possible, take it back with you." Squad Leader Cha expressed his opinion. At the same time, Wei Ran blocked Ivan's mouth with his smelly socks and belt again.

After a while, Squad Leader Dao also came back, motioning for everyone to go further with him, lying down behind a bush on the top of the hill and whispering, "I asked the kid, what the old man said is basically true. The kid before I went there to help out, and those rocket launchers and cannons were hidden in the woods outside the ammunition depot."

"When shall we take action?" Squad Leader Cha asked.

"Let's wait until evening"

Squad Leader Dao thought for a while and said, "It will be convenient to evacuate then. While there is still time, you all should take a rest and I will guard him."

"Knife squad leader, let's take a break too."

Li Dazhai said in a low voice, "I have just slept for a while. You should also take a rest. I will rely on you when I get back." "That's fine."

Squad Leader Knife did not refuse the other party's kindness. Everyone returned to the tree where the captive Ivan was tied. They first shared the fairly generous rice and meat dishes in the two lunch boxes seized from Ivan, and then They each found a place and lay down wrapped in raincoats. Li Dazhai also took the binoculars he got from Squad Leader Cha and lurked in a bush on the top of the mountain, vigilantly observing the vigilantes in the terraces on the other side of the mountain. The villagers are getting clearer.

After eating an extra half of a dampened compressed biscuit, Wei Ran took a few sips of sour plum soup, wrapped himself in his raincoat, rested his head on his backpack, closed his eyes, and soon fell asleep.

When he woke up again, the fog had long since dissipated, the sky had darkened, and even the top of his head was raining as usual.

Under the cover of the sky, everyone crawled to the other side of the mountain. At this time, they could clearly see the small village shrouded in rain at the bottom of the mountain, as well as the ammunition depot further away.

Especially at the door of the ammunition depot, there were several trucks parked in a long line.

"Take some photos for me," Lu Yao said, already handing the camera to Wei Ran.

Hearing this, Wei Ran took the camera and crawled away. After hiding it again, he first pressed the shutter towards Lu Yao who was still preparing, and then towards Captain Dao and others who were on guard around him. shutter.

In the end, he greedily captured all these people in the lens and pressed the shutter again. He immediately put on the Nikon camera in the metal book, took another group photo, and pointed the lens at the foot of the mountain.

After a while, Xiao Xifeng turned on the 884 radio station he carried on his back, and Lu Yao also turned on the 861 command unit on his body.

Thanks to the excellent performance of the throat shock microphone of this command aircraft, not to mention Wei Ran who was some distance away did not know what Lu Yao said while holding the rangefinder, and even the expression on his face lying next to him The squad leader seemed to be envious and couldn't hear clearly.

But soon, accompanied by a whistle, several artillery shells hit the terraces dozens of meters in front of the ammunition depot.

These rounds of artillery shells also immediately alerted the enemies near the ammunition depot and the surrounding villagers.

In the lens of the camera held by Wei Ran, the villagers immediately dropped their things and ran towards the village risking their lives, while the vaguely visible enemies hurriedly directed the trucks at the door to get out of the way, trying to move them away. The rocket launchers and cannons parked outside in the jungle were moved to the ammunition depot.

However, before those trucks could drive away, several artillery shells hit them!

In the deafening explosion, the ammunition detonated on the truck exploded into billowing smoke and shock waves that pushed the rain curtain.

As Wei Ran pressed the shutter one after another, more and more shells hit the door of the ammunition depot!

Long live the artillery!

At this moment, Wei Ran just wanted to shout. He had lost count of how many battlefields he had been to and how many battles he had participated in, but this was the first time he had witnessed "the artillery fire cleaning" at such a close range and in such safety!

"boom!"

In an explosion that was different from the dense exploding of artillery shells, a cloud of black smoke and accompanying fire came out of the ammunition depot hole some distance away from them! Then, the flaming cave entrance collapsed, and a second explosion occurred from inside! Like a mortar, it collapsed into a large number of fragments.

Amidst the continuous bombardment, the ammunition depot was finally completely detonated. Even the mountain he was on seemed to have collapsed due to the internal explosion!

At this moment, the location where the artillery hit also began to extend, densely covering the jungle where it was suspected that, no, there must be cannons and rocket launchers hidden!

Because, as he pressed the shutter again and again, he clearly saw the truck exploding in all directions in the flames! As well as various metal debris thrown up by the shock wave and fell into the terraces!

At this moment, even if they were yelling here, I'm afraid no one would hear them. The rumbling sound of the cannons and the faint trembling under their feet were enough to cover up all the movements!

In less than ten minutes of shelling, at least more than ten tons of ammunition were dropped, and the ammunition depot was transformed into a sea of ​​fire that could not be extinguished even in the rain! This area was truly reduced to a scorched earth!

"Blay! Prepare to retreat!" Squad Leader Dao shouted into Wei Ran's ear.

Hearing this, Wei Ran immediately took out a previously captured enemy weapon from his backpack, unfolded it and placed it under the trunk of a big tree and began to pull the trip wire.

At the same time, Squad Leader Dao also began to call Lu Yao and others to evacuate to the other side of the mountain.

After hastily setting up the first directional mine, he immediately ducked and retreated to the other side of the mountain.

After such a short delay, the knife squad leader had already freed Nahan from the tree trunk and used his half-sized calf to carry the captive Ivan who was tied to the back of the calf.

At this time, the person holding the cow was Hai Dongqing, and at the cow's tail, Li Dazhai was responsible for grabbing Nahan's neck collar and pushing him forward.

Passing through the minefield as quickly as possible along the way they came, Squad Leader Cha did not forget to place another directional mine when passing through the dug trap.

At this time, the shelling on the other side of the mountain had stopped, and Xiao Xifeng had already turned off the radio station.

There is no doubt that the next trouble they will face is how to go back - taking the prisoners back.

In the gradually getting dark, the outside of the jungle was extremely lively, but inside the jungle, Captain Dao seemed to have a pair of eyes that could see at night, leading them to walk exactly on the path they came from.

"We can't go back the way we came."

Squad Leader Dao waited for Wei Ran to catch up and said in a low voice, "Their artillery positions and ammunition depots have just been shelled. There will definitely be a large number of militiamen and patrols searching the mountain. We have to go far away."

"How to go?" Wei Ran asked in a low voice.

"Avoid those villages"

The squad leader said in a low voice, "Let's walk in the jungle. Although it's a little further, it's safer."

"Listen to you"

Wei Ran said simply, of course he had to listen to the other party. Although he had a compass in his hand, he never saw the map, let alone his specific location.

As if obtaining Wei Ran's consent was the same as obtaining the consent of the others, Squad Leader Dao then changed direction and led everyone on a road that had not been traveled before.

"When you were sleeping during the day, I came here and walked through in advance. There were no mines."

The squad leader Dao explained in a low voice, and then increased his speed again.

Fortunately, this time they had a half-sized calf in their team. Not only did the calf carry the captive Ivan, but it also had the strength to help carry Lu Yao's rucksack, which undoubtedly increased their speed.

But at the same time, the path this calf took also left obvious traces. But judging from the calm look on the squad leader's face, it was obvious that he was not worried about this matter.

At the end of the team, Squad Leader Cha and Hai Dongqing also dropped an anti-infantry mine every now and then, or used grenades to pull tripwires and hide them in dense grass or even vines.

These mines can not only block possible pursuers, but also serve as early warning, at least letting them know if any enemies are coming.

We walked like this continuously for two hours. The rain above our heads neither increased nor weakened, but the sky had completely darkened.

At this time, even if the squad leader wanted to continue walking, he would have to use lighting tools. However, this old squad leader who didn't seem to like to talk unexpectedly gave them another surprise!

He actually led them to find a cave in the jungle that was not big, but big enough for all of them to hide in!

"come in"

After Hai Dongqing tied the buffalo to the tree trunk outside, Captain Dao called everyone into the cave, which was not big but filled with a strong stench.

After getting permission from the squad leader, Lu Yao turned on his flashlight, which was only the size of a pen, and was startled. Just inside the cave, there is a fat anaconda coiled up!

The source of the fishy smell in the cave was the anaconda's body - it seemed to have been shot with a submachine gun, and it didn't seem to last long.

"I beat it to death during the day. You can carry it out."

The squad leader said calmly, "Let's rest here and set off at dawn."

As he said that, he picked up the hatchet that originally belonged to Nahan, turned around and walked out of the cave again.

Upon seeing this, Wei Ran and others looked at each other and handed over the task of guarding Nahan and capturing Ivan to Lu Yao, who seemed to be a little afraid of snakes. The others worked together to drag the body of the anaconda outside the cave.

Just as they finished their work, the squad leader also brought a large bundle of banana leaves. Following that, he cut down a lot of shrubs to cover the entrance of the small cave.

Until this time, Squad Leader Dao also took out a metal flashlight and turned it on, pointing the dim beam of light at the rock wall at the end of the cave.

"Squad leader Cha, you are on the first post, Wei Ran, you have worked so hard to stand on the second post, and Comrade Hai Dongqing is on the last post."

As the squad leader spoke, he took off his already soaked camouflage uniform, then took out his lighter and cleaned up the leech hanging on his body.

"Yes!"

Squad Leader Cha simply agreed. He also cleaned up the locusts on his body a little, put on the autumn clothes and long trousers in his bag, put on the American windbreaker provided by Lu Yao and his own raincoat, and then carried the gun and drill. Out of this cave.

"Let's all take a break, eat something, and then have a good sleep."

As Squad Leader Dao spoke, he had already wrung out the water from the camouflage uniform that Squad Leader Cha had just taken off and hung it on the surrounding rocks.

"Will those people come here?" Lu Yao asked worriedly.

"Did you say what I asked you to say when you were guiding the artillery?" Squad Leader Dao asked a question.

"said!"

Lu Yao nodded immediately, rolled up his sleeves and looked at the time on his watch, "In 12 minutes, five additional rounds will be fired as planned."

"Okay, go to sleep."

The squad leader replied confidently, "Those white-eyed wolves have no time to come to us tonight."

Hearing this, Lu Yao opened his mouth and suppressed the curiosity in his heart and stopped asking any more questions.

In contrast, Wei Ran had already guessed the other party's intention.

This experienced old scout had probably calculated that the monkey soldiers would go to the ammunition depot after dark to check the situation and pick up junk. Even if it doesn't work well, some high-ranking official will come over and visit the scene in person.

At this time, if you add five rounds of artillery shells, you won't catch up or hit anyone.

Tsk tsk tsk!

Wei Ran couldn't help but grin. Those white-eyed wolves probably didn't have the intention to come to them tonight. They were probably looking for the artillery scouts who were still hiding there on the hills around the village!

What? No artillery reconnaissance?

Without artillery reconnaissance, how could we explain the five shells that were fired 12 minutes later?