War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1503 Desperate Situation

"Pah, pah, pah"

The condensed water droplets under the tarpaulin hit the copper ladle that had long since stopped burning, making a series of light noises.

"pat"

Another drop of water happened to hit Wei Ran's eyelids and successfully woke him up.

Wei Ran, who was sitting on a bamboo hat with his back leaning against a bamboo basket, squinted his eyes and looked at the bright morning sun outside the tent. He yawned, turned his head and looked at Nurse Ji who was still lying on the bamboo basket, and the little lama and Li Zhuang who were also leaning against the bamboo basket.

Fortunately, the breathing of the three people was very even, which made him feel somewhat relieved.

He took out the kettle filled with boiling water last night from his arms, stood up carefully, checked the other side of the bamboo basket and saw that the wooden stick used to fix the bamboo basket was not tilted, then he tiptoed out of the tent.

He didn't know when the rain stopped last night. He only remembered that before the last piece of firewood burned out, the four of them dried the water stains on their feet, first smeared the wounds with spores from horse dung bags, and then covered them with horse oil.

After that, everyone held a kettle full of boiling water, and soon fell asleep one after another.

Perhaps it was the herbs cooked by the little lama, or perhaps it was the kettle in his arms, but Wei Ran slept very comfortably last night even though he was sweating all over.

He squinted his eyes to look at the rising sun which was more than a fist's distance above the horizon, and subconsciously looked in the direction he was heading.

In the near distance, there are meadows and swamps as flat as a plain, but at the end of the field of vision, the surface seems to be slightly undulating.

  just

Wei Ran glanced at his comrades in the tent. He was not sure how Nurse Ji's physical recovery was, and he was even less sure how far they could walk today.

Looking around, he saw nothing valuable except for the occasional wooden sticks that served as road signs.

After a while, there was movement in the tent.

"Are you awake?"

Wei Ran squatted at the door of the tent and said with a smile, "It's a sunny day today, Nurse Ji, how do you feel?"

Hearing this, Nurse Ji, who had already sat up with the help of the little lama and Li Zhuang, touched her forehead and said, "It seems that the fever has subsided, but I don't have much strength."

After saying this, Nurse Ji started coughing.

"Eat some jerky later and you'll have strength!"

As Li Zhuang was talking, he had already found the lunch box and took out eight pieces of jerky from it, saying, "Let's not celebrate today. Let's have two pieces each and eat as much as we want!"

Li Zhuang's heroic look immediately made everyone laugh. Nurse Ji took the jerky that belonged to her and put one of them into her coat pocket. Then she looked at the little lama and asked, "Little lama, what did you feed me last night? Why is it so bitter?"

After she finished speaking, Li Zhuang immediately picked up the half herb that was left over from last night and shook it towards the little lama.

"Zhu Na"

The little lama immediately replied in Zang language, "It is Zhuna, Zhuna!".

  What is Zhuna?

Wei Ran and the others looked at each other. Nurse Ji took the half herb from Li Zhuang's hand, looked at it, then shook her head and said regretfully, "I don't know it either. I haven't studied Chinese medicine."

"Whatever it is, this thing tastes really special." Li Zhuang smacked his lips, "It's bitter, spicy, and makes my nose sting."

“It’s really special”

Wei Ran took his own piece of dried meat and took a big bite, then he unscrewed the kettle and took a big gulp of water.

“As long as it works”

Li Zhuang said as he returned the remaining half of the herb to the little lama and took a big bite of the dried meat. "Eat quickly, and leave as soon as you're done. Let's try to walk as much distance as possible while the weather is good."

"Are you okay?" Wei Ran asked Li Zhuang.

"What can happen to me?" Li Zhuang, whose nose was still running, patted his chest and looked at the little lama.

Fortunately, the little lama's face looked rosy and he didn't look like anything was wrong.

  It's Nurse Ji.

Wei Ran and Li Zhuang looked at each other, and they both went out on the pretext that the tent was too small.

"Nurse Ji probably doesn't have the strength to walk anymore."

Li Zhuang observed the surroundings and said, "But this is not a good place to rest, and we don't have time to rest."

"What are you going to do?" Wei Ran asked in a low voice while chewing the dried meat.

"I want the little lama to carry the pole later."

Li Zhuang thought for a moment and said, "You carry Nurse Ji on your back and walk behind. If you feel tired, just let us know and we can take turns."

"I have no opinion"

Wei Ran said cheerfully that there was no question of who was at a disadvantage and who was at an advantage. Although the person walking in front did not have to carry anything, he still had to run the risk of being swallowed by the quagmire at any time.

"Then it's settled"

"As long as Nurse Ji has no objection," Wei Ran reminded.

"I will convince her," Li Zhuang said confidently.

After talking about this topic, the two of them finished eating the dried meat in their hands. Li Zhuang turned around and went into the tent, and told Nurse Ji the result of his discussion with Wei Ran.

"I disagree!"

Nurse Ji immediately said, "How can you carry me? Just keep going. Don't worry about me. I'll stay here and take a rest. I can walk out by myself."

"My mission is to get you all out."

Li Zhuang said seriously, "Nurse Ji, there are many soldiers outside waiting for you to treat their wounds and save their lives. It's okay if you are willing to sacrifice yourself, but do you want to watch so many soldiers outside on the grass die due to lack of medical treatment?"

"I"

"The instructor taught you medical skills because he certainly hoped that you would use them to cure illnesses and save lives."

Wei Ran looked at Nurse Ji and said, "There is no value in dying here. Only by getting out alive and saving more people can we live up to the sacrifices of Comrade Wang Zhen and Comrade Zhao Wanya."

"Then I'll walk by myself. I can walk by myself." Nurse Ji insisted.

"You'll slow us down if you don't tell me"

Before Li Zhuang could speak, Wei Ran said, "If you have an accident on the road and fail to make it out alive, it won't make much sense for us to make it out alive."

"Then it's settled!"

Li Zhuang made the decision before Nurse Ji opened her mouth. "Come on, pack your things. We're leaving now!"

Without giving Nurse Ji a chance to speak, Wei Ran and Li Zhuang started to work.

This time, because he wanted the little lama to help carry the load, Li Zhuang specially put all the heavier weapons into the bamboo basket originally carried by Nurse Ji, and carried it himself.

Similarly, Wei Ran, who was responsible for carrying Nurse Ji on his back, also took out his camera and hung it around his neck.

In this way, the little lama only had to carry the pots, pans, raincoats, blankets, and the belongings of Squad Leader Liu and Nurse Ji.

After some preparation, Li Zhuang took a step forward and shouted loudly, "Cooking squad, roll call! Li Zhuang! Yes! Ji Chunlan!"

"Yes!" Nurse Ji, who was already lying on Wei Ran's back and was tied to his body with a leg bandage by Wei Ran, mustered up her strength and responded as loudly as possible.

"Jianpa Kelsang!"

"Have!"

While responding, the little lama first put a small piece of herb about the size of a little finger joint to Nurse Ji's mouth for her to eat, and then picked up the shoulder pole assigned to him.

"Wei Ran!"

"Yes!" Wei Ran, who was carrying Nurse Ji on his back, responded while putting the hat on Nurse Ji's head.

"Let's go!" Li Zhuang gave the order, then bit off a piece of dried meat and chewed it in big mouthfuls.

"Yes," the three of them gave a unanimous response and started walking. However, this time, Wei Ran, who was carrying Nurse Ji on his back, walked at the end of the team.

However, after walking less than 50 meters, the quagmire had already reached everyone's knees.

I walked less than 50 meters forward and the water level was almost approaching my hips.

"Wei Ran, hurry up and make the little lama stop."

Nurse Ji, who was lying on Wei Ran's back, said anxiously, "The things in my bag must not get wet. The little lama's burden is almost soaked in water."

"Sergeant Li, little lama!" Wei Ran immediately called out to the two people in front.

"What's wrong?" Li Zhuang, who was walking in front, immediately turned around and asked.

"Nurse Ji is worried that her medicine jars and Squad Leader Liu's things will get soaked in water," Wei Ran explained.

“That’s easy.”

Li Zhuang signaled the little lama to stand up straight, took out Nurse Ji's shoulder bag from the basket, and then took out a few horsehide ropes left over from making leather shoes.

While Li Zhuang was busy, the medicine bottle containing the horse dung bag and the glass medicine bottle belonging to Squad Leader Liu were tied together with a leather rope and firmly tied to the iron hook at one end of the carrying pole.

Then, he took out a pair of iron-footed horses left by Squad Leader Liu, buckled them on the copper lunch box of Nurse Liu, and tied it tightly with a leather rope. He then tied it together with the German lunch box full of dried meat to the iron hook on the other side of the carrying pole.

This was not the end. He then took out the oil lamp and the kerosene bottle and placed them in the bamboo basket he was carrying.

"Now you can rest assured." Li Zhuang turned and gave Nurse Ji a big smile, "It will definitely not get wet, and you can see it anytime."

Hearing this, Nurse Ji nodded weakly and silently chewed the piece of herb in her mouth that didn't taste good.

"I can lift it," the little lama muttered to himself in Zang language.

"The little lama is about to cry," Wei Ran said jokingly, "Why don't you give him some more things."

"Alright!"

Li Zhuang smiled, took out two anti-Japanese swords from the bamboo basket behind him and put them into the basket carried by the little lama. Suddenly, the little lama smiled again.

They started walking again, and the further they went, the deeper the quagmire became, making every step extremely difficult.

Fortunately, just when the water surface was about to hit the things hanging on the pole hook, the water level finally began to drop gradually.

Until the foul-smelling mud was no longer able to cover his knees, Wei Ran clearly felt that Nurse Ji, who was lying on his back, breathed a sigh of relief and fell into a deep sleep.

  This is the scene from the metal book painting.

Wei Ran looked at the back of the little lama in front of him and couldn't help but wonder secretly, in this time and space without himself, who was carrying Nurse Ji on his back, and who was carrying the burden in front.

Looking down at the camera hanging around his neck, Wei Ran did not waste the last film - he had promised Zhang Erwa that he would take another picture when he walked out of the grass.

  But can I get out?

Wei Ran looked at the end of his vision. There was nothing there except the meadow and the shimmering mud. The environment here was not much different from hell.

The mud under their feet was icy cold, but the sun above their heads was particularly dazzling, and the strong ultraviolet rays made their exposed skin turn red.

He reached out and touched Nurse Ji's forehead, and the scorching temperature made him even more desperate.

Bending down, Wei Ran dug up a lump of mud and smeared it on his arms, cheeks and neck. Then he dug up another lump of mud and carefully smeared it on Nurse Ji's forehead, face, neck and calves.

The mud not only helps her cool down, but most importantly, it keeps away swarms of mosquitoes.

They walked like this for more than two hours. Seeing the sun rise to its highest point, Li Zhuang, who was at the front, finally chose to stop on a meadow and rest for a while.

They carefully let Nurse Ji sit on the bamboo hat against the bamboo basket, and Wei Ran and the other two immediately used wooden sticks to prop up the oilcloth to block the scorching sun.

"How is Nurse Ji?" Li Zhuang asked in a low voice.

“I have a high fever again.”

Wei Ran said worriedly that the only thing he could do was to wet a legging and tie it on Nurse Ji's forehead to help her cool down. The little lama took out the herb he dug last night, broke off a few roots and put them into Nurse Ji's mouth - this was also the only thing he could do.

“Eat something”

Li Zhuang took the lunch box off the shoulder pole hook, opened it, took out a few pieces of dried meat from it, and gave one to each person.

“Leave immediately after eating”

Li Zhuang bit into the dried meat in his hand and said, "I'll carry Nurse Ji on my back while you explore the way ahead."

"it is good"

Wei Ran responded and ate the dried meat he was assigned as quickly as possible. He also gave Nurse Ji a few sips of water that was hot from the sun, and immediately put on the bamboo basket full of heavy weapons, oil lamps and other items.

They set out again, with the little lama carrying the shoulder pole still walking in the middle. Wei Ran finally took on the task of exploring the way for the first time, and by the way, he also put away the heavy camera around his neck.

Although he could always see road signs that served as wooden sticks along the way, from time to time, the stick in his hand would still find the bottomless quagmire.

As time passed, the sun above our heads gradually set, and the temperature finally dropped. Even the mosquitoes hid somewhere unknown because of the increasingly low temperature.

As a gust of cold wind blew, Wei Ran couldn't help but shiver. He stopped temporarily and tied the cloth rope buckle of his thatched vest.

“Don’t stop”

Li Zhuang, who was walking at the end and carrying Nurse Ji on his back, said, "Keep going forward. Turn on the light if you can't see anymore."

"it is good"

Wei Ran responded but did not rush to leave. Instead, he took off the blanket that had been exposed to the sun for a day from the shoulder pole carried by the little lama and draped it over Nurse Ji.

"Everyone eat another piece of jerky," Li Zhuang said as he grasped the edge of the blanket.

Hearing this, Wei Ran immediately opened the lunch box, took out three pieces of dried meat, stuffed one into the little lama's mouth, and stuffed another into Li Zhuang's mouth.

  As for Nurse Ji, she was already unconscious, how could she have the energy to eat?

Without wasting any more time, Wei Ran pulled out the wooden stick stuck in the mud and started walking while chewing the dried meat.

On the seemingly endless grass, a group of people left behind a winding track made of stirred black mud in the last rays of the setting sun.

When the sun set into the horizon and the tracks became blurred, Wei Ran stopped again and lit the oil lamp with the help of the little lama.

After traveling all night these past few days, the kerosene in the oil bottle was only enough to be filled up one last time, and that might be their last chance to get out of the grassland.

Fortunately, before the sun set, he noticed that not far ahead, there was an area where the terrain seemed to be slightly higher, but it would probably take at least one or two hours to get there.

"Rumble--"

The evil God obviously didn't want them to find a place to rest so easily. Almost at the same time when the oil lamp was lit, a flash of lightning connecting the sky and the earth appeared in the distance.

"Hurry up!" Li Zhuang, who was walking at the end, urged anxiously, and Wei Ran immediately quickened his pace.

"Wow—"

In less than five minutes, the heavy rain finally poured down on us.

Adjusting the brightness of the oil lamp to maximum, Wei Ran untied the leggings around his waist and threw them to the little lama behind him.

After taking the rope, the little lama also untied the rope around his waist and threw it to Li Zhuang behind him.

  When the hell is this going to end?

Wei Ran grasped the rope of his hat tightly, squinted his eyes and looked at the rain curtain that was occasionally lit up by lightning. He couldn't help but feel a wave of despair rising in his heart, a despair that seemed to have no end.

He couldn't remember how many days he had walked, how far he had walked, and how many more days and how far he had to walk. The only thing he knew was that he was heading in the right direction.

  let's go

Wei Ran took a trembling step forward, took out the kettle, tore off the cup, and reached outside his hat. While absorbing the cold and abundant rain water, he took the second and third steps.

"Gulp, gulp, gulp."

Wei Ran drank half a cup of icy rain water that froze his teeth, stretched the cup forward again, and at the same time took the fourth, fifth, and sixth steps.

Step by step, meadow by meadow, mud by mud. Gradually, Wei Ran felt his body getting colder and colder, and his steps getting heavier and heavier.

Fortunately, the rope tied to his belt was still being pulled by the person behind him.

Fortunately, they were getting closer and closer to the high ground, and the mud under their feet was becoming shallower and shallower.

Fortunately, the oil lamp was still burning.

Fortunately, everyone finally reached the high ground on this cold and rainy night.

"Nurse Ji"

Wei Ran threw away the bamboo basket, walked to Li Zhuang who was also shaking, and reached out to touch Nurse Ji's forehead.

The scorching temperature where his palm touched made him feel relieved. Fortunately, Nurse Ji was still alive.

"Tap. Plop!"

Li Zhuang knelt down weakly on the ground before he could finish his words, then fell into Wei Ran's arms, and then he also threw him to the ground.

"Right away. Right away."

Wei Ran climbed up with difficulty with the help of the little lama. The two of them spread out the oilcloth with great difficulty and put up a low tent to shelter from the wind and rain.

After untying Nurse Ji from Li Zhuang, Wei Ran and the little lama worked together to pull her and Li Zhuang into the tent one by one.

"Make a fire, we need to make a fire!" the little lama shouted anxiously in Zang language.

"Make a fire! Yes! Make a fire!"

Wei Ran responded in Chinese, which the other party could not understand, and at the same time took out things from the three bamboo baskets one by one.

Pulling out his anti-Japanese sword, Wei Ran chopped the three bamboo baskets open one by one without thinking.

Seeing this, the little lama hurriedly took out the kettle and other things and placed them outside the tent to collect water. Then he took out the half piece of "Zhu Na" from his arms, chopped it up together with the two pieces of dried meat with a knife, and threw it into the cup filled with water, ready to go.

Amid the sound of heavy rain, Wei Ran chopped the three bamboo baskets and his own hat into bamboo strips. He then took out a simple candle he had made with horse oil and rags, and lit it with a kerosene lamp.

After blowing out the kerosene lamp, Wei Ran took out the oil bottle and poured the last bit of kerosene in it into the oil tank of the kerosene lamp. Then he smashed the coarse porcelain oil bottle with a big knife.

The moment he brought the horse oil candle closer, the last trace of kerosene attached to the oil bottle fragments was easily ignited, and Wei Ran immediately covered them with the wet bamboo strips.

Without waiting for the smoke to rise, he poured the melted horse oil in the enamel pot on it.

Suddenly, the smoke became more intense and had a pungent smell.

"call!"

At a certain moment, the rising smoke ignited, and the small tent was finally illuminated by the flickering flames.

Without any pause or cheering, the little lama immediately placed the prepared cups, enamel pots, kettles, etc. on the edge of the campfire.

Wei Ran also picked up the anti-Japanese sword again and cut off the hooks on both sides of the carrying pole, then split the carrying pole into pieces. Even the two shoe frames they used to make straw sandals were used as firewood by him.

He knew clearly that at this moment, they had no choice but to save themselves by this desperate measure - because everyone had caught a cold and started to have a high fever.

“We might all die here.”

The young lama spoke in Zang language, but there was no anxiety or despair in that young voice. Instead, it sounded particularly calm.

"Yeah, we might all die here."

Wei Ran repeated the sentence in Chinese, but at the same time he found the tattered blanket that was originally used to set up the tent, propped it up with a wooden stick, and blocked the tent opening that was leaking wind and rain.

"I do not regret"

The little lama continued to speak in Zang language, "I don't regret catching up with you, even if I have to die here."

"I don't regret it either," Wei Ran murmured to himself, "even if I have to die here."

“I’ve never shot a gun before.”

The little lama pulled out the empty box gun from his waist, aimed at the small bonfire, and said to himself in Zang language, "Before I die, I want to try firing a gun. I don't even know how to use a gun.

The singing monks often said that King Gesar did not like people who killed.

But if saving more Rams requires killing, then I am willing to shoot and kill.

  Even if.

I would be willing to shoot King Gesar!"

Wei Ran was stunned when he heard this, and sat down with the help of the bamboo basket. After searching for a while, he found a magazine of bullets in Nurse Ji's bag.

These bullets were found by Wei Ran from the body of the Red Army soldier when the little lama found the box gun and Wei Ran followed him.

“I’ll teach you.”

Wei Ran sat down shakily beside the campfire, took the box gun from the little lama's hand, taught him how to load the bullets, how to open and adjust the rate of fire and the safety, and also taught him how to push the bullets into the chamber.

"If you want to aim, you need to have three points in a straight line"

As Wei Ran spoke, he pointed at his eyes, then at the rear sight and the front sight, drew a straight line, and then pointed outside, with a "pop" sound coming out of his mouth.

The little lama who dared to kill gods for his Ram nodded ignorantly, took the pistol handed to him by Wei Ran, and let him teach him to hold the pistol handle, but also stopped him from putting his finger on the trigger.

Wei Ran took off his almost worn-out leather shoes and hung them on the tattered blanket blocking the entrance of the tent, then loaded a bullet into the little lama's pistol.

“Aim for it”

Wei Ran said, pointing at the little lama's eyes, then at the rear sight and front sight of the box gun, and then patiently taught him how to hold the gun and correct his posture. Finally, he opened the safety and gently moved the little lama's index finger to the trigger.

“Shoot!”

Wei Ran said this and tapped the little lama's fingers gently.

"boom!"

Amid the crisp sound of gunfire, a slightly rusty bullet casing fell at his feet. The little lama also uttered a cry of surprise in the steaming smoke. Even the leather shoe that originally belonged to Wei Ran was easily holed by the bullet.

“I can shoot now!”

The little lama excitedly chanted in Zang language, "I am also a Red Army soldier, I ...

The little lama hadn't even finished his words when his body limply fell to the side, and was supported by Wei Ran, preventing him from falling into the campfire.

After feeling the little lama's breath with trepidation, Wei Ran heaved a sigh of relief, thank goodness that he was still alive.

Wei Ran gently laid the little lama down, bit his tongue hard to stay awake, and patiently maintained the campfire.

Fortunately, before he burned his last bamboo hat, the wooden handles of two anti-Japanese swords and even his own thatched vest, the water in the surrounding kettles was finally able to boil.

He first stuffed a kettle wrapped in rags into each person's arms so that they could hold it to keep warm. Wei Ran then took out four small enamel bowls, poured out the herbal and dried meat soup that had been simmering in the cups, and fed it into the three people's mouths one by one.

He drank his last sip, and the bonfire burned out completely, without even a spark left.

At this point, the only things left in the tent were the candles made from horse oil and the oil lamp, which were still emitting light and warmth.

Fighting back the dizziness and weakness, Wei Ran first dragged Nurse Ji to the place where the bonfire had been lit before and let her sit on the charcoal ashes that were still warm. Then he dragged Li Zhuang and the little lama over to share the last bit of warmth.

"I won't let you die. You must get out alive."

Wei Ran kept muttering like a neurotic as he stuffed soft-boiled meat particles mixed with the herb "Zhuna" into the three people's mouths. He then poured them a few gulps of hot water and asked them to swallow the food and herbs in their mouths.

Then, he used all his strength to wring out the other two blankets and wrapped them around the three people. Then, his eyes went dark and he lost consciousness.

"You must survive," Wei Ran prayed devoutly before falling into coma.