War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1580: The Witch's Advice and the Soviet Wine Cellar

Early in the morning of October 10, with Wei Ran's farewell, Sui Sui, along with 26 Hela international students and 14 Hela bodyguards, all the Golden Fleece members except Sui Xin who was still in the country, plus the dog Belia and two big-eared foxes, boarded an Il-14 transport plane painted with various little fat sheep, which was about to fly to Inta.

At this point, the only ones left were Wei Ran and Liubov who was taking classes with Apoli, and the seven little girls in leather pants who were there to decorate Baba Yaga's appearance.

"Boss, do you want me to drive for you?"

The gangster leader with flowing short hair asked enthusiastically, holding the pink waist belt around her waist with both hands.

Without even waiting for Wei Ran to agree or refuse, this little girl who used her brains for her looks had already been extremely discerning. At the same time that Wei Ran pressed the car key, she opened the driver's door and got in, like a high-end female version of Captain Jia.

Seeing this, Wei Ran climbed into the back seat of the car without a care, and as he closed the heavy door, he asked, "Um, what's your name? Sorry, there are too many girls living in our house recently."

"Katyusha, boss, my name is Katyusha, Katyusha Allah, my sister is Natasha Allah, the girl who caused the stun gun to go off accidentally, she is my biological sister, only one year younger than me."

The gang leader had already started the car skillfully while speaking, and at the same time she was muttering to herself, "Sure enough, Boss Victor has a bad memory just like the rumors say."

  I didn't ask so many questions.

Wei Ran grinned and asked curiously, "Your last name is also Alahe? Like Jima and Glewa?"

"That's right"

Katyusha explained as a matter of course, "Old Gleva and Old Dima have the same grandfather. Their grandfather and my grandfather are brothers."

Cousin relationship?

Wei Ran sorted out his thoughts instantly, and at the same time he trusted these unreliable hooligans to some extent. As for whether the other party got the position of captain by blood relationship, he didn't care at all.

Come on, they are a gang. If you are in the gang and don't use your connections to gain favors, then you are in the gang for nothing, right?

Wei Ran chatted with the little gangster leader all the way. He originally thought that the other party wanted to get close to him and show his affection, but he soon found out that this silly girl just wanted to drive.

Or rather, the girls under her all wanted to drive armored vehicles around the city, and the reason she came to me was simply because there were not enough cars to share with the other six.

Even while driving, the girl took out her cell phone and made a video call to her parents to show off her work, and also asked Wei Ran to say hello to her parents.

He sighed inwardly and realized that being brainless has its own happiness. After greeting the old couple in the video, Wei Ran wisely kept quiet and continued to think about his own things.

  Maybe this eccentric girl can give some useful advice?

For some reason, a sentence popped into Wei Ran's mind: "A fool may make many mistakes, but he will eventually make some good points."

With this in mind, Wei Ran waited for Katyusha to hang up the phone, and before calling her friends to continue showing off, he said, "Katyusha, there is a question I want to hear your opinion on."

"What's the problem?" Katyusha asked after turning off the screen of the new phone she had just received.

After a moment of hesitation, Wei Ran once again raised the question of "What should be in Doraemon's bellyband?"

"What are you going to put the things in there for?" Katyusha asked as she slowed down the car slightly.

"What is it for?" Wei Ran couldn't help but react, "What is it for?"

"What are you going to use the things you put in it for?" the brainless Katyusha asked as a matter of course.

"Uh," Wei Ran thought for a moment and said uncertainly, "A gift for a friend?"

"In that case, why don't you just ask your friend directly?"

Katyusha asked without thinking, "Why do you ask me about this? If you want to give Sister Aurora a gift, why don't you just ask her what she wants?"

“Well, that seems to be true.”

Wei Ran couldn't help but mutter something. He had to admit, what Katyusha said did seem to make some sense.

Rather than just thinking about it on your own or seeking advice from the "modern people" around you, it seems that it would be better to ask the people of that era what they really needed.

  What a coincidence, he just happens to have such an opportunity now

Speaking of which, ever since Alexander gave him the saber, although he could not use the metal notebook because of his low military rank, he never gave up the investigation.

Over the years, in addition to seeking help from his scumbag brother Xia Shushi, he also asked Alexander about the places where the saber and the big-bellied box of the Li brothers were found. He even specifically asked Mr. Alexander to help arrange someone to make a special trip to Ulaanbaatar to find the herdsman who sold the box gun and saber that year.

Unfortunately, not to mention the herdsmen, even the grassland where the herdsmen built their yurts has been dug up beyond recognition due to mining, and no one remembers who the grassland originally belonged to.

While Wei Ran was daydreaming, seven ostentatious civilian armored vehicles drove into the yard where the library was located in a line and parked in a row in the parking spaces against the wall.

"Boss Victor, no, Mr. Victor."

Wei Ran had just pushed open the heavy car door when one of Greva's trusted men, who was also the nominal boss of the construction company he registered, ran over.

"We found something at the construction site," said the gangster.

After glancing at the badge on the other person's neck, Wei Ran got out of the car and asked curiously, "What did you find?"

"Or you can come with me to have a look?" the thug asked. "We found a wine cellar with quite a lot of stuff in it."

"Wine cellar?" Wei Ran took the helmet handed to him and put it on his head casually, "Let's go and take a look."

There was no need to drive there. The two men walked through the electromagnetic door to the other side of the villa yard, and entered the winery through a passage created by smashing the wall on the side of the garden close to the lakeshore.

On the right side of this passage is the end of the artillery workshop, on the left side is the winery wall, and outside the wall is the lakeside highway.

They walked along the wall and passed through the factory with the statue. When the gangsters leading the way stopped, they had arrived at the foot of the dilapidated building.

In just one day, the scaffolding had been erected on the dilapidated building, and even the garbage inside had been almost cleared away, revealing the original concrete floor.

With a whistle, all the workers left the construction site, all the machines stopped running, and the construction site became quiet.

"Where are the supervisors?" Wei Ran asked before walking in.

"There"

The gangster pointed at the two-story office building not far away and said, "Just like yesterday, Mucha and the others are here to accompany them to drink. Before we get off work, even if we dig up gold here, they won't come out to take a look."

Hearing this, Wei Ran adjusted the safety helmet on his head and followed the gangster into the dangerous building.

Today, the building has been demolished to the point where only the frame remains. Even the red covering on the outside of the frame has been stripped off to a considerable extent, leaving only the reinforced concrete skeleton inside.

"Is this also a reinforced concrete structure?" Wei Ran stopped in surprise.

"right"

The gangster walking in front of Wei Ran explained, "I heard from Mrs. Tkach yesterday that these reinforced concrete structures seemed to have been reinforced during the Cold War. We asked someone to conduct an assessment and inspection, and the quality is pretty good, but the red brick structure and the roof are no longer good."

After chatting for a while, the gangster took him to the corner on the other side of the building.

Wei Ran vaguely remembered that this place was not only overgrown with weeds, but also piled with a large amount of construction waste.

Today, all of this has been cleared away, revealing a concrete ramp extending downwards.

"This place was filled with rubble before," the gangster said, pointing to a pile of stones on an open space not far away.

Following the direction of the other person's finger, across a green net, this piece of wasteland was already filled with various construction materials. The shed that was originally used to store the rescued brewing equipment had also been reinforced, but no one knew where the rusty equipment had gone, and instead, there was cement piled up from generations.

"The equipment has been temporarily transported to the shooting range outside our village."

The thug next to him explained with great insight, "We have arranged another group of people to remove the rust from the scrap copper and iron. The place is big enough and won't disturb anyone."

“Let’s go in and have a look”

Wei Ran smiled and walked down the slope with a step in the middle. At the same time, the gangster handed him an industrial breathing mask as prepared.

After putting on his mask and walking into the brightly lit underground wine cellar, the first thing Wei Ran saw was a row of four 37mm caliber 61K automatic anti-aircraft guns. According to Soviet standards, this was exactly an anti-aircraft company.

Walking a little closer, Wei Ran took the work gloves handed to him by the gangster next to him, put them on, and checked them carefully.

It can be seen that these four cannons are well preserved. Under the thick dust, not only are the gun bodies painted green, but there is also thick and long-solidified oil mud on each movable structure, and even the muzzles are wrapped with thick oilcloth.

The breech block was opened with some difficulty, and the barrel was almost completely covered with muddy butter. After a round of inspection, the only thing that was aged was the rubber on the tires. Even so, the lines on the tires and the circle of white paint on the side were still clearly visible.

Just from these details, it can be seen that these four anti-aircraft guns have probably never been used in actual combat since they were deployed here, and have not even fired any shells.

The reason they were deployed here was, of course, to protect the artillery factory next to it and, by the way, the winery. Of course, the reverse was also true.

As for the fact that they have never engaged in actual combat, there is no need to explain. This is Kazan. No matter whether it is the little mustache back then or the Ozawa Mamiya today, even if they get together and take drugs, I am afraid they would not dare to think that they can fight here.

Of course, even if they are not used, it will not work without anti-aircraft firepower. Presumably, this is why these artillery pieces appear here.

Later, with the end of the war, Kazan, which was originally a rear area, naturally no longer had a need for air defense, and these artillery pieces were probably pushed into the underground wine cellar. At most, some air defense exercises were carried out during the Cold War.

Having said that, the fact that these four guns were placed directly facing the gate shows to some extent that the Soviet workers at that time did not let their guard down.

"Are there any cannonballs?"

Wei Ran asked while observing the surroundings. This "L"-shaped "underground wine cellar" is not small. The height is nearly four meters, and the area inside is also thousands of square meters. And judging from the direction, it is obviously located directly below the open space next to the wall of the lake. Of course, there are a lot of sundries in it, just like the gangster next to him said. Just what he saw, in addition to the four cannons, there were also SKS rifles and even older Mosin-Nagant rifles, as well as a few AK rifles on the iron gun rack against the wall not far away.

And deeper inside, there were more shelves covered with canvas or filled with dusty miscellaneous items.

"No, I checked it myself, there are no shells or bullets, but there are a few of these things."

As the gangster behind him spoke, he had already opened a few wooden boxes next to him, revealing several large tin cans.

Turning his head, Wei Ran recognized it at a glance. It was the BDSH5 type smoke generator commonly found on the back of Soviet tanks.

Ideally, the smoke screen created by just opening two of these inconspicuous tin cans could easily cover the winery, the villa next to it, and the library further away. Obviously, this was also prepared for air defense.

"Is there anything else here?" Wei Ran looked up and asked.

"We also found some vodka and a lot of wine bottles," the gangster said, having already lifted the canvas on a shelf against the wall.

On the rusty iron shelves, wine bottles are lying diagonally on wooden pallets.

The wine in most of these bottles is still relatively clear, but the outside is covered with dust and the labels are covered with black mold spots.

Looking at them with interest, I found empty wine bottles of different styles and colors on the shelves.

The bottles either had no trademarks or only had handwritten labels, but the labels were moldy and only one or two letters could be seen.

Continuing to walk inside, on the shelves at the end of this underground wine cellar, there are, as expected, boxes and shelves of gas masks, which were indispensable in every air-raid shelter during the Soviet Cold War.

“I knew this was it.”

Looking at the ventilation duct not far away that seemed to lead to the surface, Wei Ran muttered something unclearly.

"Mr. Victor, what should we do with these things?" the gangster asked at this time.

"Except for the vodka and wine bottles, take away everything else and then clean up this place."

Wei Ran walked out while casually arranging, “Contact Mrs. Tkach with the four anti-aircraft guns and ask her how to deal with it.

If she doesn't need it, ask Mr. Culp. Clear it out anyway. Also, where is the surface part of this vent?"

"Outside the Wall"

The gangster quickly answered, and at the end he asked, "What if Mr. Culp doesn't need it either?"

"Then send it to the shooting range in your village as a decoration. Remember to block the ventilation holes in the cellar with concrete. If necessary, you can directly install fresh air in the future."

Wei Ran made the arrangement without thinking. For the sake of his own life and the tip of the metal feather pen, he would not keep these things at home.

Of course, he had to admit that he was attracted by this spacious underground wine cellar. If he could move his studio here, at least he wouldn't have to be in the basement of the library, which was now almost becoming a KTV and game room for girls.

"I'll arrange for people to move the things here after dark."

The gangster responded smartly, then asked worriedly, "Mr. Victor, what are those tin cans? They won't explode."

"That's a smoke screen generator. If it's accidentally detonated, it won't cause an explosion, but it will release a lot of smoke, which will definitely cause panic."

Wei Ran instructed, "Be careful when transporting it. Find a dump truck, put it on, cover it with sand, and then transport it out."

"I'll arrange it right away!" the gangster said quickly.

"Are there any other discoveries?" Wei Ran asked back.

"No, that's all."

The gangster quickly said, "We have checked the other buildings, and they are basically emptied."

"That's it," Wei Ran said as he walked out.

Not to mention Sui Sui, if it weren't for this underground nuclear-proof bunker that was obviously built by the winery itself during the Cold War, even he wouldn't have much interest in this winery now.

After walking out of the underground wine cellar and shaking off the moldy smell and dust on his body, Wei Ran passed through the dilapidated building waiting for renovation, returned the dust mask and safety helmet to the gangster, and went back to the house next door alone.

After a while, the seven little girls changed their clothes into their usual pink Adidas three-stripe shoes and light sports shoes because their boss was not there. They were now gathered by the fountain at the entrance, smoking cigarettes, basking in the sun and playing with their mobile phones.

It was rare that Sui Sui's fashion sense would fail. Wei Ran was too lazy to ask these little girls which outfit she thought looked good. He walked into the villa alone and went straight to the attic where few people went.

In addition to the villa's power supply, network and surveillance main switch, the attic also houses Baba Yaga's security weapons and bulletproof vests, as well as a safe that was built into the wall when the place was renovated.

Of course, there was nothing valuable in this safe. Originally, there were some antique ammunition in it that only Wei Ran could use. Later, when the basement of the library could be used, even those ammunition were moved to the studio there.

Today, this huge safe only contains a saber in a wooden box and a Lock and Lock box with a pennant.

After taking these two things, Wei Ran locked the safe door again, turned around, went downstairs and walked out of the villa.

"Katyusha"

Wei Ran greeted the gangster leader who was painting the nails of the black-faced sheep Shaun.

"Yes! What do you want, boss?" Katyusha, the leader of the gangsters riding on a sheep, immediately asked enthusiastically.

"If you guys have free time, go help Mrs. Samantha run the library's coffee bar."

Wei Ran said with a smile, "If you don't want to go, you guys can discuss it later and send a few people to drive the armored vehicle to the door of the basement."

"Anything to transport?"

The girl suspected to be Katyusha's sister, the one named Natasha, immediately rushed to say, "Boss! Me! I'll help you drive!"

"Idiot, call the boss!"

The gang leader put away the pink nail polish that came from nowhere, and reminded them while picking at the wool and grass debris stained on her crotch in an unpresentable manner.

“No need to transport anything”

Wei Ran shook his head helplessly and said as he walked over there, "I'm going to do something inside. You guys help me guard the door. No one can be let in until I come out."

"Leave it to us!" Katyusha promised confidently.

After looking sympathetically at Shaun the Sheep whose three hooves were painted with pink nail polish, Wei Ran walked into the basement of the library carrying the wooden box containing the saber and locked the heavy explosion-proof door from the inside.

Almost at the same time he entered the studio, the seven little girls immediately drove all seven armored vehicles in the yard over and blocked the entrance and exit of the basement tightly.

That’s not all. When these little girls, who were afraid of poking a hole in the sky, got out of the car, they put on pink bulletproof vests and took their precious stun guns.

"Sister, should we change into the leather jackets that Sister Aurora prepared for us?" asked Natasha, the girl who had gone off the rails, while fiddling with the stun gun in her hand.

"Don't point that thing at me"

Katyusha slapped her sister on the back of the head without any hesitation, and then said, "Forget it, I don't plan to wear that pole dancer's outfit.

And Boss Greva has called all the gangs and pickpocket junkies around here, and the only idiots who recognize us are our pink tracksuits and witch logos.”

"But what should we do when Sister Aurora comes back?"

Another little girl asked, "I don't want to wear that leather jacket either. I farted at the airport and the smell hasn't even gone away when I changed my clothes just now."

"Just say that Boss Victor allowed us to change!"

Katyusha said without thinking, "Boss Greva said that Boss Victor is an easy-going person and he will help us."

"Didn't you just forbid us to call him Boss? Ouch!"

Before the girl who was in trouble could finish her words, the hollow back of her head once again had an incredible encounter with the palm of the gang leader's hand.

Before he could finish teaching this brainless sister a lesson, Apoli also walked over from a distance.

"What are you doing?" Apoli asked curiously.

"Mr. Victor asked us to guard the basement door and not let anyone in," Katyusha introduced.

"Me too?" Apoli asked with a smile. He came here simply because he thought something unexpected had happened here.

“Of course not”

Katyusha answered without thinking, "It won't work even if Boss Greva or Boss Tima comes."

"Smart girl, work hard and Victor will give you a bonus." Apoli smiled with satisfaction, but simply turned around and left.