War Photographer's Notebook

"Go and have a look." On the edge of the waterfall, Squad Leader Dao said without thinking.

"do not move"

Wei Ran said, holding down Squad Leader Dao who was about to get up, and quickly tore open the fabric of the wound on Squad Leader Dao's thigh.

Fortunately, the first thing that the bullet hit seemed to be the hatchet seized from Nahan hanging on the waist of the knife squad leader, and it left a crescent-shaped gap on its thick blade.

Although this thick enough blade did not completely stop the 7.62mm medium-power bullet, it blocked most of the potential energy, allowing it to penetrate into the thigh less than two centimeters, leaving a bruise and A wound less than five centimeters long.

Although the wound looked hideous and terrifying, like a child's open mouth, it luckily did not damage any bones or major arteries, and even the slightly deformed bullet and the blade the size of a little fingernail The fragments are all visible to the naked eye in the wound.

"I'll help you take out the bullet and bandage it first."

Wei Ran gave some extra instructions, and when the knife squad leader bit down on the handle of the dagger, he immediately tore open his only remaining medical bag, padded his fingers with a piece of dressing, and pulled out the bullet and the piece of iron as if by force. It was dug out.

"Be patient"

Wei Ran waited for a moment and saw that there was no heavy bleeding from the wound. He immediately covered the wound with a dressing. Then he tore open the waterproof outer packaging of the first aid kit, pressed the relatively clean inside on the dressing pad, and quickly applied the bandage. Tightly bandaged with a triangle bandage.

"Let's go together"

The squad leader Dao, who was already in pain and sweating, picked up the bullet head that Wei Ran had just dug out and looked at it. He put it into his pocket, struggled to stand up and said, "The baby's cry is too close. It's not here." It’s safe, we have to move.”

"Can I leave?"

While Wei Ran was talking, he had already put on his backpack again, and by the way, he also planted a few American anti-personnel mines next to the dressing pad he had just discarded.

"It doesn't matter," said the sword squad leader, who had already picked up his weapon again.

The two of them covered each other and left the minefield they had just entered, and followed the cry for less than a hundred meters. Then in the mist, they saw Nahan, who was crying with one of his legs pressed down by the body of a calf.

"It's really him," Squad Leader Dao muttered, and then said, "I'll go and rescue him."

"I'll do it." Before Wei Ran could finish his words, he had already put down his backpack and weapons.

"I'd better go"

While speaking, the knife squad leader had already taken off his backpack and took off the life-saving hatchet from his waist. He limped towards Nahan and said, "I'm injured. If there is someone at this time, The enemy will definitely not be as agile as you when they come over, so cover me."

After saying that, he bent over and touched it carefully.

Upon seeing this, Wei Ran immediately put on his quieter submachine gun and moved closer. While he was alert to his surroundings, he did not forget to observe the situation on the side of Squad Leader Dao.

Although it was obscured by the fog, because the distance was not far, he could see clearly that one of the calf's hoofs had been blown to pieces, and there were large wounds on its belly and face. The towels that were originally secured with handcuffs fell off.

Without getting too close, he could tell by just looking at the few remaining traces at the scene that the one that had just killed the calf was most likely an earth-made mine that was not too powerful.

Nahan was still able to cry so vigorously at this time, thanks to the fact that he was riding on a cow before. In other words, this little calf helped him avoid a considerable amount of damage.

After some observation, the knife squad leader first removed a few landmines around the calf's body, and then struggled to lift the calf's butt, allowing the helpless Nahan to climb out on his own.

"Don't move, let me check."

The knife squad leader switched to Vietnamese. After a quick inspection, he switched to Chinese and whispered, "His leg is broken. It should have been broken by a cow. The sole of his foot was also blown through by shrapnel."

"Are you going to save him?"

Wei Ran asked in a low voice. At this time, squad leader Dao was also injured. It would be a burden for them to bring such an injured child.

"Save it!" Squad Leader Dao made the decision without much hesitation.

Before Wei Ran could say anything, the sound of dogs barking came again in the distance. Upon seeing this, the squad leader immediately took out a bullet from his bag and pointed it at the enemy, then took out a first aid kit and threw it to Wei Ran.

After receiving the first aid kit, Wei Ran took advantage of the opponent's laying skills and roughly bandaged Nahan's shrapnel-pierced feet as quickly as possible. As for his fractures, he didn't have time to clean them up now.

"If you want to survive, you have to stay quiet no matter how much it hurts. If we are discovered, you won't survive."

As Wei Ran said this, he had already folded the towel that was originally around his neck and handed it to Nahan.

The child was smart. He stretched out his little hand stained with cow blood and took the towel. He opened his mouth and bit it tightly, frowning and enduring the pain from the wound.

Without wasting too much time, Wei Ran put the child on his shoulders, carried the weapon, and left the minefield with the knife squad leader.

Deliberately avoiding the approaching barking of dogs, Wei Ran walked without forgetting to drop the captured American landmines one by one.

It had only been three to five minutes since these landmines were laid, and he heard the unique huge noise and subsequent screams when the mines exploded towards the enemy.

There is no doubt that this kind of positive feedback makes Weiran work harder to deploy landmines that were originally for nothing.

When he scattered all the captured American landmines, the knife squad leader who was walking in front raised his finger to the low mountain beside him and whispered, "Let's climb over that mountain and lure the dogs behind. "

"Your leg"

"Has little effect"

As the squad leader Dao said, he was already climbing hard towards the top of the mountain, leaning on a wooden stick he picked up halfway.

"Oh!"

At this moment, there was another not-so-big explosion behind him, followed by screams.

This urging was undoubtedly more useful than anything else. Captain Dao immediately gritted his teeth and speeded up.

Climbing the rugged rocks all the way up, when approaching the halfway point of the mountain, Squad Leader Dao signaled Wei Ran to carry Nahan and continue walking up, but he himself took out a roll of nylon thread from his bag and pulled out a few strands at random. A harmless but extremely bluffing trip wire.

"Put me down, I can walk by myself."

Just when Wei Ran stopped and was about to wait for the squad leader, Nahan, who was being carried on his shoulders, mustered up the courage to whisper.

Hearing this, Wei Ran thought about it and put the other person down, pointed to the top of his head and said in Vietnamese, "Climb up and wait for us at the top of the mountain. If you can't climb, stop. If you fall, no one will Go save you."

Hearing this, Nahan gritted his teeth and nodded, put the tooth-marked towel around his dirty neck, and climbed up the mountain carefully but quickly dragging his injured leg.

"You go up first, and I'll do it."

As Wei Ran spoke, he had already taken the nylon spool from the knife squad leader's hand and continued to pull a few trip wires randomly.

"Give them another piece of pie"

The squad leader said, taking out the last one he carried from his bag and handing it to Wei Ran towards the enemy.

After taking the directional mine, Weiran moved back a few meters, tied the directional mine to the trunk of a large tree covered by shrubs, and then pulled on a particularly concealed trip wire.

After finally clearing away his footprints, Wei Ran turned around and ran to the top of the mountain. He supported Captain Dao with one hand and Nahan's cloth belt with the other, leading them quickly to the top of the mountain.

After climbing up to the top of the mountain with difficulty, Wei Ran didn't dare to rest at all. He immediately cut a piece of bamboo from nearby and made a few emergency splints. Nahan bit the towel again and helped him while he tried to hold back the screams. Completed reduction of fractured lower leg.

While he was busy tying the splint and reprocessing Nahan's foot that was penetrated by the fragment, the knife squad leader had already tied his Bayi Bar to a small tree, tied the trigger with a rope, and then tied it to a small tree. The other end of the rope was tied with a raincoat held up by bamboo pieces.

"Ta-ta-ta! Ta-ta-ta!"

After everything was ready, the knife squad leader decisively pulled the trigger and fired several bursts of bullets aimlessly at the foot of the mountain.

Seeing Wei Ran looking over, he also explained, "Hai Dongqing and the others haven't gone far yet, we must attract the enemy."

As he spoke, he had already hung the raincoat, which was stretched like a kite, on the branches of the small tree with a rope.

Just taking a look at it, Wei Ran figured it out. At this time, the raincoat was like a kite. When the wind started, it would trigger the trigger to fire. Even if there was no wind, when it rained, the raincoat would accumulate accumulated in it. After enough rain, the trigger will still be driven to fire the bullet.

What made him even more unexpected was that the squad leader took out a drum magazine for the Type 81 light machine gun from his backpack and replaced it with the gun.

"Walk"

The squad leader finally planted a few Type 72 anti-infantry mines around the rifle, and immediately stood up with a stick.

"Where do we go next?"

As Wei Ran spoke, he reversed the Type 56 chest strap that belonged to Xiao Xifeng and put it on his back waist. Then he stuffed his own Bayi Bar into his backpack and picked up the submachine gun again.

"Follow the ridge to the west"

The squad leader raised his finger and pointed in the direction, "Take them in a circle and find a place to put this little burden down, and then we will retreat immediately."

Before he finished speaking, he added, "I have almost nothing left in my backpack. Give me the radio."

Wei Ran subconsciously glanced at the gunshot wound on the opponent's leg, and finally took out the radio from his backpack and handed it to Squad Leader Dao.

At this point, except for the last few compressed biscuits, the last raincoat facing the enemy, and the water bottle, there were only a few magazines left in his backpack.

By the time he put Nahan on his back again, Squad Leader Dao had already turned on the radio and shouted hurriedly in Vietnamese, "Report! I found those Chinese people. They are on the top of the mountain where I just shot. I'm afraid there are more than a dozen of them." Personal! Asking for support! Asking for support!”

"go!"

As the squad leader Dao said, he had turned off the power of the radio station. He was holding a submachine gun in one hand and a stick in the other, and started limping along the side of the ridge. Across this low mountain, Wei Ran could hear explosions and faint screams coming from the thick fog on the other side from time to time.

When they were walking down the ridge and almost reaching the bottom of the valley, accompanied by a gust of mountain wind, the sound of intensive gunfire from the Bayi Army's continuous firing came from the direction of the top of the mountain behind them.

The two looked at each other, and the masked Captain Dao quickened his pace again and trudged down to the bottom of the valley.

Under the cover of the thick fog in the valley, the gunshots and explosions behind them became farther and farther away, and their pace gradually slowed down.

Near noon, almost when the fog was about to dissipate, the sky was filled with a thick layer of lead clouds, and soon after it started pouring rain. Even in this valley, it rained heavily in a very short time. A dangerous temporary flood channel was created.

"Up the mountain"

Captain Dao, who was about to take a rest, took another step, leading Wei Ran and Nahan, who was being carried by Wei Ran, up the slope on the other side of the valley. Amidst the squeaking welcome words of the wild monkeys, , found a cliff sheltered from wind and rain.

“You can take a rest before the rain stops.”

As the squad leader said, he used a stick to fly away a venomous snake that looked like a deadly threat, and then found a stone and sat down.

However, before Wei Ran could respond, faint sounds of conversation could be heard from the direction behind them, which was also halfway up the mountain.

Looking at each other with Squad Leader Dao, Wei Ran immediately took off his backpack, took his submachine gun, and walked over under the cover of the rain and vegetation. Squad Leader Dao also took up his gun and hid under the ground without any delay. behind the tree.

As the distance got closer, Wei Ran gradually saw clearly that the conversation just now came from three militiamen carrying 56 and a half. They all wore bamboo hats, black clothes and black trousers and carried backpacks. There seems to be something else in the backpack.

"There is a cliff ahead, let's go there to take shelter from the rain."

One of the militiamen carrying a 56 raised his hand and pointed to the rain shelter that the three guards had just chosen.

"Aren't we going to look for the Chinese on that mountain?" Another black dog asked.

"Just what we have in our hands?"

The militiaman walking at the end clapped the 56 and a half in his hand and said, "Let's find a place to take shelter from the rain. Maybe we can catch a few more snakes."

“I’m so sorry”

Wei Ran muttered secretly, then slowly raised the submachine gun in his hand and gently opened the safety.

After patiently placing the three men at a distance of less than 20 meters, he gently raised the muzzle of the gun and changed the target's chest to their faces.

"Crack! Crack! Crack!"

After three consecutive gunshots, the three militiamen were each shot in the face. Without any resistance at all, they threw their heads up and fell into a ball.

After continuing to wait for a while, when no one appeared behind him, he carefully circled around to inspect the three corpses.

Not long after, the knife squad leader also came over. He just took a look and squatted down with difficulty. He lowered his voice and said, "You're here just in time. Take off your clothes and hide them in your backpack first."

With just one sentence, Wei Ran understood the other party's plan and immediately took off the clothes of the three people and checked their backpacks.

The first two baskets contained several birds that were about the same size as domestic chickens but had exceptionally beautiful feathers. The only ones contained birds with all their legs and feet broken, as well as some colorful bird eggs and a few quilts. A poisonous snake in a woven bag.

The last basket contained various small animal traps and a small barbed wire cage containing many large rats.

“Good luck”

Wei Ran and Squad Leader Dao almost uttered the same sigh at the same time. Obviously, they all thought of the same thing.

"Since there are hunters here, there must be a village nearby."

The squad leader Dao said in a low voice, "When the rain subsides, let's put that child down."

Hearing this, Wei Ran nodded, "I'll deal with these corpses first, you go back first."

Squad Leader Dao did not reject Wei Ran's kindness, turned around and limped back.

When the opponent's figure was covered by vegetation, Wei Ran immediately took out the engineer's shovel from the metal book, found a position behind a bush, risked digging a shallow pit, and stripped the three corpses down to their underwear. He dragged it in and buried it, and then picked out the one that looked the largest size from the clothes he had just taken off and put it on.

Unfortunately, when he wore this dress, not only were the sleeves shorter, but the trouser legs were also almost ten centimeters shorter, so that it looked like he was wearing a pair of cropped trousers.

Seeing this, he simply took out his bayonet and cut off the trouser legs at the waist, turning them into a pair of shorts that were not that short.

Finally, he hid the three backpacks and the three 56s in the bushes, and the hospital bed was covered with five-leaf camouflage again. Wei Ran was not in a hurry to go back, but instead explored again in the direction where the three came from. After a while, a grenade was used to lay a warning trip mine.

When he returned to the cliff again, Squad Leader Dao had taken off his mask and was sharing a piece of compressed biscuit with Nahan.

"Is it dangerous to let him see your face?" Wei Ran asked straightforwardly in Chinese.

"Just to let him see it"

Squad Leader Dao motioned Wei Ran to sit down and whispered, "After he is caught by the militia, he will definitely ask him to identify where he found us and what we look like. But what he said is clear, the more those militiamen will believe it, by the way, you Is there any more pie?”

“There’s one last thing left.”

Wei Ran patted the backpack on hand. This big cake naturally refers to the most powerful "enemy here" they have at hand.

"If this kid can lure the militiamen over, we'll treat them to a meal. Then we'll take advantage of the chaos, put on their clothes, and go back on the main road."

Hearing this, Wei Ran nodded, and then suddenly said, "Let that child have some value so that he won't be killed, right?"

The squad leader Dao smiled, but did not explain anything. He just murmured to himself, "This battle has nothing to do with the child. Spare his life."

Hearing this, Wei Ran wisely closed his mouth. But Squad Leader Dao glanced at Nahan, who was still holding a compressed biscuit and wolfing down the biscuits not far away, and continued to murmur to himself, "My son's name is Dao Yuanyue. He was a big fat brother Jin who weighed 7 pounds and taels when he was born. !”

The squad leader Dao said with an inexplicable brilliance in his eyes, "Yuan Yue has been fair and fat since he was a child. He is fairer than my mother-in-law and I. Our neighbor even made an appointment with Yuan Yue to have a baby.

Their fat golden girl, with big black eyes and a big smile, pestered our brother who was assisting Vietnam every day to ask for bean flour candy. If he didn't give it to her, she wouldn't go home. "

But at this point, Squad Leader Dao shivered hard in the cool wind mixed with raindrops, and asked himself depressedly, "What do you think is wrong with two such young children? Those white-eyed wolves, those who were drinking together before , a wolf cub with a good brother, why are they willing to shoot cannonballs at children? Those children are not as tall as submachine guns, what is wrong with them? "

"Yes, what's wrong with the child?" Wei Ran shook his head. He also couldn't find an answer to this question.

"I thought about fighting, taking revenge, fighting them for a lifetime, and taking revenge for a lifetime, but how could this revenge be completed?

If you look at that kid again, he doesn't have enough to eat, and the one who stutters him is thinking of you, wagging his tail and chasing you. What happens when he grows up? Does he want revenge or remember us? Can he remember the food we gave him? "

Subconsciously glancing at Nahan, who had already eaten all the compressed biscuits but was twiddling his fingers, Wei Ran shook his head again, "I don't know."

The squad leader of Dao rubbed his face, "I don't know. I asked him just now. This kid also has his own destiny. He said that his father is an American and his mother is a guerrilla. For the sake of his mother being a guerrilla, , let him live."

"Then let him live."

Wei Ran gently patted the other party's shoulder, took out a compressed biscuit from his pocket, broke it open and gave half of it to the other party. Then, he took out the seized wine bottle with vodka, "Here. One bite?"

"Take a sip." The squad leader took the wine bottle and took a sip, then handed it over.

"You can keep it"

Wei Ran waved his hand, waited for the latter to stuff the flask into his pocket, and then changed the subject and asked, "Squad leader, what are your plans in the future?"

"After what?" The knife squad leader paused, "After the army is discharged?"

"After I go back this time," Wei Ran temporarily changed the time frame.

"If I can go back alive, I have to come again."

The squad leader calculated seriously, "When I go back, I will have to retire in a few months. I will definitely have to retire. Even the instructor has talked to me a long time ago. He said that I have to retire if I don't have enough culture. This is a hard target. Who can There is nothing we can do.”

"so."

"I plan to apply for another trip after I go back."

Squad Leader Dao looked at the direction they were escaping from in the distance, and said seriously, "As a squad leader, I didn't lead the team well, and I didn't serve as a guide well. Cha Yongfang stayed here, and He Yong stayed here too. I have to lead them." go back.

Didn't you know that Cha Yongfang's mother-in-law is about to give birth, and he expects that his next family leave will coincide with the one-month-old of his child. "

Wei Ran was stunned when he heard this, took a deep breath and said seriously, "I'll be with you then!"

"you?"

The knife squad leader smiled, patted Wei Ran on the shoulder and said, "Just stay in the team and work hard. I asked the instructor, and he said that you are educated enough to stay. From now on, you will be the squad leader of the sharp knife squad." is you.

Wei Ran, you have to strive for your best, lead a sharp knife squad, perform more meritorious service and kill more enemies, and strive to become a regiment leader. What a glorious thing it is. "

"I"

Wei Ran opened his mouth, "Let's wait until you and I find Squad Leader Cha and Xiao Xifeng together."

Hearing this, Squad Leader Dao smiled, ended this distant topic and said, "We'll talk about these things later. Take advantage of the heavy rain and get some sleep. We might have to travel at night again."

Wei Ran sighed silently. In the end, Wei Ran didn't say anything more. He just lay down with his gun and backpack on his back. He stared blankly at the rain curtain, secretly guessing whether Lu Yao and others had contacted Platoon Leader Luo. They Did anyone survive.