War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1396 Worry

At around 1 o'clock in the night, the panting Wei Ran finally couldn't bear the exhaustion of his body, so he put the knife squad leader down and sat on a big rock by the roadside, breathing heavily.

At this time, the moonlight above the head had long been obscured by dark clouds, and the pattering rain had fallen again, giving the invisible night an unconcealable chill.

Using the cover of his backpack to take out the British kettle from the metal book, Wei Ran took a sip and handed it to Squad Leader Dao.

"I'm not thirsty, you can drink." Squad Leader Dao didn't ask where the kettle came from, and in the dark night, he couldn't see the shape of the kettle clearly.

"Drink something"

Wei Ran stuffed the kettle into the other person's arms, "It's going to rain soon. We're not short of water."

Hearing this, Squad Leader Dao took the kettle and took a sip.

"Wei Ran, do you think that child survived?" Squad Leader Dao asked confusedly.

"Survived," Wei Ran gave an unequivocal answer.

"Just survive"

Before he finished speaking, he had already slung the rifle on his shoulder, lifted up the 28-bar in the mud pit to support the feet, and untied the bags tied with ropes on the shelf at the rear of the car.

"What are you doing so late?"

Before the village chief's rhetorical questions had even ended, Wei Ran had already violently pulled his neck and broken his spine.

After squinting and observing, and after confirming that there were no other cars behind the bicycle, Wei Ran gently patted Squad Leader Dao on the shoulder, turned off the safety of the submachine gun in his hand and handed it to him.

After thinking for a moment, he understood the purpose of bringing these two things. Obviously, that military uniform may be the only thing that can prove the identity of the captive Ivan, and the small bottle contains the blood sample used to verify the blood type of the captive Ivan in advance when calling for help.

Soon, accompanied by a clanking noise, a 28-inch bicycle rode over from the direction they came from. The light came from the electric light on the front of the bike.

Taking the hint, Squad Leader Dao also put down his submachine gun and replaced it with a more convenient and flexible silent pistol.

In other words, even if the village chief can successfully call for help, the captive Ivan may not survive. Now that they have intercepted him again, if Ivan is still alive, he might as well bet on the probability that the Soviet Union will not disintegrate.

The two looked at each other, and Wei Ran immediately pulled out the submachine gun from his backpack, turned on the safety, and hid in the grass on the side of the road with Captain Dao one after another.

“Only one white person”

Squad Leader Dao sighed, but he believed Wei Ran's "guess" so easily.

Wei Ran opened his mouth and was about to say something when the rain began to get heavier, but what was even more terrible was that an extremely dim light turned on behind them in the direction they came from.

While answering the village chief's question, Wei Ran took off his raincoat and the Soviet-made SKS semi-automatic rifle he was carrying, and then dragged the body into the bushes on the roadside and hid it.

"How do you know? Kaba!"

After thinking for a while, he put on the raincoat he used to wrap things on himself, and shared his analyzed guesses with the knife squad leader who seemed to have thought of the same thing.

"Caught a white man wearing our military uniform"

The captured man immediately explained in Vietnamese, "Tonight, there were gunshots and explosions in the mountains behind our village, so we sent militiamen to the mountains overnight to arrest people."

Before the man could scream or scream, Wei Ran had already put the cold Mauser bayonet on his neck and whispered in Vietnamese, "Be honest."

"The wound on the buttocks was wrapped with gauze, and a wet medical bag was also found. Our local doctor used the contents of the medical bag to re-bandage him."

"Have the handcuffs on his hands been unlocked?" Wei Ran asked suddenly.

While Wei Ran pulled out the opponent's cloth rope belt and tied his hands and feet together, he asked in Vietnamese like a rake, "Are you an agent sent by China?!"

"Where are the wounds?" Wei Ran asked, "When you found him, had his wounds been treated?"

"No! Sir! I am Wu Ming, the head of Ganzhu Village."

Almost at the moment when the car passed directly in front, he jumped out of the grass, ran two steps to catch up with the bike, grabbed one of the cyclist's arms, threw him over his shoulder, and pushed him down. He collapsed on the muddy dirt road.

Waiting patiently for the car lights to get closer and closer, Wei Ran, who was bare-handed, slowly took off his bamboo hat and got ready.

"Caught?" Wei Ran asked deliberately in a bossy tone.

"Not too possible"

Squad Leader Dao took the raincoat from Wei Ran and subconsciously made a guess that even he himself didn't believe.

After opening it layer by layer, the package contained the increasingly difficult military uniform worn by the prisoner Ivan and a small glass bottle.

The village chief named Wu Ming revealed a piece of information that neither Wei Ran nor Squad Leader Dao expected, "He was bitten by a poisonous snake and was shot in the butt. We have ways to remove the snake venom, but his wound He bleeds whenever he moves, and is now unconscious.

“I’ll contact you later”

"Let's go, let's go get help for him." Squad Leader Dao said with a smile.

The village chief said immediately, "When we found him, he was holding a Chinese folding submachine gun and several grenades."

Under the threat of life and death, the man's body froze and stopped struggling. It was only then that his bicycle fell into the mud with a crash.

Wei Ran flicked the sword-shaped bayonet of the semi-automatic rifle while calmly analyzing, "I guess he discovered the bodies of Squad Leader Cha and Xiao Xifeng."

Of course, this also shows that the condition of captive Ivan is probably very serious, not to mention that he has been poisoned by snake venom.

The local doctor we invited said he didn't dare to move, and asked me to go to the town overnight to find the troops for help. Sir, please send someone quickly."

"Is it possible that Squad Leader Cha is still alive?"

He took out the flashlight and turned it on with his hand covering the lamp head. With the faint light between his fingers, Wei Ran discovered that the glass bottle that seemed to be used to hold medicine was actually filled with dark red viscous blood.

Wei Ran pretended to be hasty and said, "You only found a white man? Didn't you find anything else? What weapons does he have on him?"

"Go down and ask me how I know."

"Are you going to be the village chief?"

While Wei Ran was talking, he was already holding the 28-inch front wheel of the permanent car with his legs, and was correcting the handlebar that had just fallen off to its original direction.

"That person is Nahan, the militiaman." Squad Leader Dao smiled and gave Wei Ran a new identity.

"Get in the car, village chief"

Wei Ran made a joke as if he was having fun. He kicked off his legs to get into the car and stepped on one of the pedals. Then he reached out and tore off the wire of the electric motorcycle lamp and threw it into the grass on the roadside. .

Seeing this, the squad leader also put up his backpack again with some effort and sat sideways on the spacious back seat of the heavy-duty 28-carriage truck.

"Where should we go for help?"

Wei Ran asked in a low voice in the increasingly heavy rain as he pedaled on the muddy dirt road.

"There is a town about ten miles ahead."

The squad leader Dao replied very familiarly, "There must be a lot of enemies stationed there and we can't get through, so we have to go into the mountains before then. With this car here, we can go into the mountains in advance and find a place to rest."

"What if we can pass through that town?" Wei Ran asked unwillingly.

"If you can go through it, you can find a road that we helped build back then. If you continue along that road, you will reach Panlong River. Going downstream along the river, you will reach Ha Giang City. But there are too many white-eyed wolves patrolling that road. .”

The knife squad leader tightened his raincoat and reminded, "So don't ask for trouble. Let's go into the mountains before we get to the town."

Hearing this, Wei Ran responded, working harder and harder, even standing up and pedaling furiously.

Although the road is not good, riding a bicycle is much faster and easier than running with someone on your back.

Unfortunately, within half an hour, the squad leader patted him on the back to signal him to stop.

"Turn around the corner and you'll find the town."

The squad leader said as he got off the back seat, "We should go into the mountains, remember to hide the car."

Hearing this, Wei Ran simply picked up his bicycle and followed Squad Leader Dao into the paddy field on the side of the road in the dark and rain.

They found a spot where there were few seedlings and lay the bicycle down in the water. The two of them bent over and carefully crossed the paddy field and then got into a corn field.

When they passed through the cornfield and reached the edge of the mountain, the squad leader rummaged around in his backpack, took out a metal flashlight, covered it with a thick red cloth, covered the lamp head with his hand, and let out light through his fingers. The faint light carried Wei Yan into the jungle.

"This is the first mountain"

The squad leader Knife whispered as he walked, "There will be a cave after we climb over. Let's go in and rest."

"Are you familiar with this place?" Wei Ran couldn't help but asked in a low voice.

"Um"

The squad leader replied dryly, but did not give any further detailed explanation.

Seeing this, Wei Ran stopped asking any more questions and followed the other party obediently, following the faint light leaking out from between the other party's fingers, climbing step by step towards the top of the mountain.

Under the cover of heavy rain and dense tree canopy, when the two of them climbed to the top of the mountain, they came down the other side of the mountain. Finally, under the leadership of Squad Leader Dao, they got into a narrow place that was more like an animal cave than a cave. In the cave.

The depth of this cave is only two or three meters, and the height is so high that a person cannot straighten his waist or even his legs. Even the width is only less than two meters.

But in such a small cave, Squad Leader Dao dug out a pack of candles and a bucket of 761 compressed biscuits from the deepest stone crack.

When he opened the barrel of compressed biscuits, in addition to taking out two biscuits, he also took out a first aid kit, several non-staple food cans, and several 56-pound magazines.

Seeing Wei Ran looking at him with a strange expression, Squad Leader Dao took out a lighter, lit a candle and placed it in a crack on the rock wall. With the weak candlelight, he turned over the stone and explained, "Last time I came here to catch my tongue. They were seized during the trip, and I found this cave on my way back, so I hid these things here.”

Before he finished speaking, he opened another stone slab, pulled out another biscuit barrel from underneath, and continued to explain, "There used to be a coffin in this hole. It is probably someone's cemetery in the town."

"coffin."

"It has long been burned as firewood"

While Squad Leader Dao was speaking, he had already opened the second iron bucket. What was placed inside was a series of Type 58 anti-infantry mines.

Without any command, Wei Ran took over the two landmines and placed them on a small piece of platform they had just passed when going down the mountain. By the time he returned to the coffin cave, Squad Leader Knife had already lit a few candles in an empty biscuit barrel, and placed a can of stir-fry and assorted meats on top to slowly heat it.

Because of the few candles inside, this small biscuit barrel did not dare to heat the cans directly above it, and it also provided a vital warmth to the two people who were soaked.

Handing the kettle that he had taken out before getting into the coffin hole to the squad leader, Wei Ran turned around and spread his raincoat on a bush outside the hole, and made a basin-sized depression in the middle.

Immediately afterwards, he hung the raincoat of the knife squad leader at the entrance of the cave, blocking the light that was not bright in the first place.

It wasn't until everything was done that he sat down on the edge of the biscuit barrel again, tore open a first aid kit, and helped the squad leader rebandage the slightly bleeding wound.

"Take a three-hour break"

The squad leader rolled up his cuffs and said in a low voice while winding up the Dongfeng brand watch, "Then we can climb at least two mountains while it's foggy. Then maybe we can use the command plane to contact Platoon Leader Luo." On."

"Squad leader, where did you get this watch?" Wei Ran asked abruptly.

Looking up at Wei Ran, Squad Leader Dao was silent for a moment and then said, "The leader gave it to me."

"he"

"Eat something," the squad leader said, handing over a piece of compressed biscuit.

Seeing that the other party obviously didn't want to say more, Wei Ran didn't continue to ask. He took the biscuits and put them aside. Then he took off his clothes, shoes and socks, wrung out the water and hung them on the rock wall. He concentrated on cleaning up with a lighter. There seemed to be endless leech on my body.

After a moment of waiting, the box of canned meat-stir-fried assorted vegetables gradually began to steam under the heat of the candle. The two of them each picked up the compressed biscuits, tore open the package, dipped the canned soup into their mouths, and took a rare bite. Hot meal.

After filling his stomach, Wei Ran took off the cup and poured in the remaining water in the kettle, while Squad Leader Dao threw two fruit candies into it.

After getting up and walking out of the cave, Wei Ran saw that the raincoat spread on the bushes outside was full of water. He immediately pressed the kettle in and filled it up, not forgetting to look at the entrance of the cave behind him.

Only after he was sure that no light was exposed, he got back in and placed the kettle filled with water on the biscuit barrel that had become hot to the touch.

"It would be great if that old guy could survive."

The knife squad leader leaned against the rock wall and said abruptly, "If we find an opportunity in the future, we can ask him where the bodies of Zha Yongfang and Xiao Xifeng are."

"If there is a chance in the future, I will look for it with you." Wei Ran replied, "Go to the back hill of Ganzhu Village to look for it."

"Before departure, Platoon Leader Luo told me that as long as this mission is performed well, he will help me win second-class personal merit when I return."

The knife squad leader sighed and said, "With this credit, I might be able to stay. At worst, I can still stay in the cooking class. If I go back now, I really can't keep him."

"The task of guiding the artillery is completed," Wei Ran said with his head lowered.

“I didn’t take the person back with me.”

The squad leader Dao smiled bitterly, "Two people were lost, one squad leader and one correspondent, and the college student's foot was also injured."

"That's not your fault," Wei Ran said seriously.

"I am the squad leader, and I lead the way."

The squad leader said worriedly, "What's more, we still don't know whether Lu Yao and Hai Dongqing survived."

Hearing this, Wei Ran couldn't help but be startled, yes, I don't know if Lu Yao and the others survived. He had almost subconsciously and almost wishfully thought that Lu Yao and the others were safe, but...

Especially when he thought about the paratrooper knife and paratrooper pot belonging to Lu Yao among the relics of later generations, his inner uneasiness became heavier and heavier.

If Lu Yao had not survived, if Hai Dongqing and Li Dazhai who protected Lu Yao had not survived, even if Platoon Leader Luo and others had not survived,

Thinking of this, Wei Ran raised his head and glanced at the worried Squad Leader Dao. If such a worst result really happened, it would be too cruel for Squad Leader Dao. It would be even more uncomfortable than killing him.

Subconsciously looking in the direction of the hole that was covered by the raincoat, Wei Ran and Squad Leader Dao said almost at the same time, "You should rest for a while first."

The squad leader Dao smiled and said, "Let's all go to bed, and don't keep vigil."

"Okay, I'll go out and set up a warning mine."

Wei Ran said, picked up another anti-infantry mine, bent down and walked out of the cave, and placed it in the bushes on the side of the cave.

After getting back into the cave, the two of them lay down against the rock wall across the warm biscuit barrel.

I don’t know how long it took, but the tired Wei Ran was the first to fall asleep under the influence of sleep. But the squad leader Dao on the other side slowly sat up, leaning against the rock wall with a submachine gun in his arms, listening intently outside the cave. movement.

When Wei Ran was woken up by Squad Leader Dao again, he noticed that there was a warm kettle in his arms. The kettle's sleeve was also wrapped with a green towel.

Not only that, but around the biscuit barrel next to him, there were also a pair of dried socks and his Jiefang shoes propped up on wooden sticks.

“Have something to eat and get ready to go.”

While squad leader Dao greeted Wei Ran, he also handed over a piece of compressed biscuit and half a bunch of not-too-large bananas.

"Where did you get it?" Wei Ran said as he broke open a banana and took a bite.

"There is a banana forest in the valley, and on the other side of the banana forest is an almost deserted village."

As the squad leader said, he picked up the can skin on the biscuit barrel, poured out the water inside, and shook out a few unknown bird eggs that were only one circle larger than the thumb joint.

"You haven't slept all night?" Wei Ran continued to ask.

"Sleeping." Squad Leader Dao smiled, "I woke up an hour earlier than you. Come on, eat quickly. We'll set off after eating."

"You eat too," Wei Ran said, dividing out half of the eggs and pushing them to Squad Leader Dao.

The latter did not refuse Wei Ran's kindness. He picked up a bird egg that was smaller than a quail egg and threw it into his mouth without even peeling it.

After finishing breakfast in two or three, they each took a few extra mines, put uneaten bananas and raincoats into their backpacks, put on their bamboo hats and set off.

"Next is the second mountain"

The squad leader pointed straight ahead and said, "Go through the banana forest and then through the village to go up the mountain. However, this mountain is not easy to climb. It is high and steep. The good thing is that when we climb to the top of the mountain, we can try to use the command Please contact Platoon Commander Luo."

Having said this, the knife squad leader paused and added worriedly, "If they are still alive."

"They must be alive"

Wei Ran muttered as if he was brainwashing himself, and followed Squad Leader Dao out of the jungle in the thick fog. After passing through a banana forest, he lay down on the edge of a field.

The sky was slightly bright at this time, but it was early five o'clock in the morning. Not far ahead, there was a small village. Although Wei Ran couldn't see exactly how many buildings and people there were in the village, he could hear the noise coming from the village. The sound of buffalo coming and the barking of dogs.

"No matter who you meet later, don't rush to draw your gun. It's time to say hello." Said the squad leader, he had already stood up and pressed the bamboo hat, then took off his liberation shoes and socks and handed them to Wei Ran, waiting for him to hand them over. When putting it into the backpack, I rolled up my trouser legs again.

Waiting for the other party to follow suit and take over the semi-automatic rifle seized from the village chief last night, Wei Ran took off his shoes and socks, lowered his bamboo hat slightly, followed the other party down the field bank, and walked through the fields. Walking along the paddy field with rice seedlings, we walked onto a field path close to the village.

Along this field path, the two of them speeded up their pace slightly and walked toward another mountain a few hundred meters away, while paying attention to their surroundings.

However, just when they were still two or three hundred meters away from the foot of the mountain, a car with a red cross printed on it also drove from a distance, slowly driving towards the village. Not only that, but behind this ambulance Behind, there was a truck.

"Don't panic, salute after me later."

The squad leader Dao reminded him in a low voice, walked to the roadside calmly and stood on the ridge of the field.

When the ambulance almost passed in front of the two of them, Squad Leader Dao also shouted "Salute!" in Vietnamese with great enthusiasm!

Before he finished speaking, he and Wei Ran standing next to him raised their hands in salute in unison. The ambulance also honked its horn in response and drove towards the village without stopping.

While the two of them were waiting, the truck behind them also honked its horn and drove past the two people who were saluting.

But what they didn't expect was that behind the truck, a third vehicle drove over in the thick fog, a 151 Jeep produced in the United States.

In addition to the driver and the co-pilot, who were holding the American M60 machine gun, there was also an officer sitting in the back seat with a cigarette in his mouth. Next to the officer, there was another man who looked about sixteen years old. A seven-year-old beautiful girl with most of her body in the former's arms.

"Pause"

Just as the car was about to drive past the two saluting people, the officer holding the girl signaled the driver to stop.

"What are you doing?" the officer asked in Vietnamese.

"report!"

The knife squad leader also replied loudly in Vietnamese, "We are going to go into the mountains to catch some wild animals, make meat porridge for the wounded to replenish their health, and also see if any Chinese people sneak over!"

"Is this you."

"It's my nephew Nahan!" Squad Leader Dao replied loudly, "He is also a militiaman! He can go to the front line at any time!"

"it is good!"

The officer was obviously satisfied with Squad Leader Dao's answer. He took his hand out of the young girl's arms, reached into his pocket, took out a pack of Dachongjiu produced in China and threw it to Wei Ran, "I I’ll be in the hospital all day today, if you hunt any wild animals, send them to me!”

"Yes! Sir!" Squad Leader Dao almost shouted at the top of his lungs and gave an excited answer.

"let's go"

The officer, who thought he was handsome, sat down again and issued the order. Under the watchful eyes of Squad Leader Dao and Wei Ran, he got into the jeep and got into the thick fog with another truck waiting behind him.

"Quick! Mine!"

As soon as Squad Leader Dao opened his mouth, Wei Ran had already run to the waterlogged section not far away. He took out four Type 58 anti-infantry mines from his backpack and buried them in the mud at a 45-degree angle to the road. .

"Whose stupid son still gives us a pack of cigarettes?"

Squad Leader Dao said, already lighting a cigarette as he walked, and then handed the cigarette case to Wei Ran, "Let's smoke a cigarette to refresh ourselves while we go into the forest."

"That silly boy just now was very impressive," Wei Ran said as he took the cigarette and lit one.

"If it weren't for the lack of manpower, I would have to capture him and take him back." Squad Leader Dao took a puff of his cigarette, "I didn't expect there was a field hospital here. There was nothing there last time I came back."

"It won't hurt to take this piece of information back," Wei Ran said with a smile.

The squad leader looked back thoughtfully at the hospital shrouded in thick fog. He smacked the cigarette in his hand and urged Wei Ran to speed up his pace.

(End of this chapter)