War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1592: The Wolves and the Women's Screams

Outside the dugout, cold snowflakes larger than fingernails began to float in the sky again since someone had no idea what was going on.

Also, no one knew when, Old Zhang had already brought the soldiers and prepared big mules for them to use for the journey.

"A big mule is prepared for each of you"

While tying the goods to the mules, Old Zhang said, "You four little brothers, make sure to ensure the safety of the wounded and the goods."

"Yes!" As the acting squad leader, Tian Xiaohu stood at attention and saluted, responding straightforwardly.

"Do you have anything else to say?" Old Zhang turned around and looked at Zhao Jinge.

The latter thought for a moment, took out a ball of red cloth from his arms and handed it to Tian Xiaohu, and said very seriously, "Xiaohu, our flag is here, and the First Guerrilla Team is here. No matter what, you have to survive and bring them along with you."

Tian Xiaohu was stunned for a moment, solemnly took the corner of the team flag and put it in his arms, and saluted Zhao Jinge again.

"lets go"

As Old Zhang said this, he personally handed a kerosene lamp to Tian Xiaohu, and at the same time continued to ask, "Who will drive the car?"

"Me! Let me do it!"

Hu Bazhi rushed to speak, and ran to a tree hole not far away, rubbed the bottom of the pot hard with his hand, and then carefully smeared the black ash from the bottom of the pot near the eyes of the big white mule.

"This big white mule is afraid of light during the day"

While working, Hu Bazhi explained in a very experienced way, "Apply some black around his eyes, so he can see more clearly during the day."

Hearing this, the Zhao brothers looked at each other. It seemed that they also knew this method, but they didn't expect that Hu Bazhi also knew it.

Soon, the two wounded were lifted onto a sled pulled by a large white mule. The sled was covered with a thick layer of pine needles, and a layer of straw mat was placed on top of the pine needles.

After the two wounded soldiers were lying down, the soldiers covered them with a tattered quilt with patches on patches. Into the quilt, they also stuffed several Japanese kettles filled with hot water.

In addition to the two wounded soldiers, the sled also contained half a frozen mule rib and two fat mule legs, as well as half of the captured cotton coats and cotton shoes and the Japanese backpacks.

Finally, he covered these things tightly with two pieces of the Japanese waterproof tent cloth and a tattered white bed sheet. Hu Bazhi also stepped on the skis and took the reins of the big white mule.

Wei Ran, Zhao Jinyu and Tian Xiaohu also stepped on their skis, each leading a mule.

Their mules all carried wooden racks on their backs, on which were tied either bundles of various rifles and the only two Type 99 rifles that were not very useful, or various ammunition packed in the Japanese backpacks.

Even the grenade launcher and all the grenades that Zhao Jinge had asked Wei Ran to teach them how to use, as well as two large lunch boxes of mule oil that had been boiled not long ago, were hanging on the mule's back.

Without much delay or communication, the four of them lined up in a line and left the camp hidden in the dense forest. In the dark night, they led the mule and walked step by step into the wind and snow.

“I don’t know when I’ll see them again.”

Old Zhang stood in the snow, puffing on his pipe as he spoke, but there was no reluctance in his tone, instead it was full of ease.

"I hope it's after we drive the Japanese away." Zhao Jinge smiled, and a hint of wishful thinking appeared on his face full of frostbite.

"Squad leader, how far are we going?"

In the heavy snow, Zhao Jinyu, standing on skis and letting the mule pull him forward, asked with a hint of excitement, "Can we come back tonight? How many people are there in our army? Ten thousand."

"Shut up!"

Tian Xiaohu, the anti-Japanese fighter walking in the front, shouted in a low voice, "If you keep asking questions, I'll turn back!"

"He's just an acting squad leader, why are you so proud?"

Zhao Jinyu muttered in a low voice in dissatisfaction. He was indeed dissatisfied. He was several years older than Tian Xiaohu, and his brother was the captain with the highest rank.

He originally thought that even if he could not become the acting squad leader, it would be Brother Wei or Brother Hu who would fill this "vacancy", at least he would not have such a "younger brother" weighing on him.

"We have to pass several big hills on the way. Are you afraid that the guns we have are not enough to honor them?" Tian Xiaohu asked unhappily.

"I"

"Shut up!"

The young Tian Xiaohu scolded again, then shook the reins, urging the big mule to speed up.

"Don't make any more noises"

Hu Bazhi came up behind Zhao Jinyu and whispered, "This is all Cao's territory. If he catches us, none of us will survive. If things go wrong, your brother and the others will be implicated as well."

Hearing this, Zhao Jinyu opened his mouth, then subconsciously touched the wooden gun box at his waist, and finally nodded and calmed down.

In the increasingly heavy snow, everything behind the group was finally swallowed up by the darkness. Looking back, all they could see was the silvery snow and the snowflakes mixed in the howling cold wind.

"Stop for a moment"

After an unknown amount of time, Tian Xiaohu, who was walking in the front, suddenly called a halt to the team. He turned flexibly on his skis and slid in front of Wei Ran. He said very politely, "Brother Wei, please help check on Brother Shen and the others. Langcaozigou is ahead. We can't stop once we enter Langcaozigou. We have to run for most of the night before we can get out."

"Why can't we stop?" Zhao Jinyu couldn't help but ask.

“Langcaozigou is not called this place for nothing”

It was Hu Bazhi who answered the question, "This place has been full of big water bubbles since the beginning of summer, and when winter starts to freeze, from the first snowfall, the wolves will drive their prey into this valley, surround them, and let the prey freeze to death in it.

When it is cold in winter and there is no food to be found, this wolf will bring the pack here, dig out the prey that has frozen to death here and eat them until the beginning of next spring, just like a food trough for the wolf pack.

If anyone dares to attack this place at this time, the wolves around here will have to fight to the death. "

"Why are we afraid of this when we have guns?" Zhao Jinyu patted the box on his waist and ran away.

"The bureau where Cao Dazhang Panzi lived was separated from Langcaozigou by two mountain ridges."

Tian Xiaohu glanced at Wei Ran who was busy checking the wounded on the sled, and said in a low voice, "I don't know if the wolves will be scared away if we fire the gun here. Cao Dazhang Panzi will definitely lead his people to come over and leave us to feed the wolves."

"So he was hiding here," Hu Bazhi couldn't help but mutter.

Before Zhao Jinyu could continue asking, Tian Xiaohu asked someone else, "Brother Wei, how are they doing?"

“Not a big problem”

Wei Ran paused and added, "I mean, the situation hasn't gotten worse, but it hasn't gotten better either."

"Then let's run faster and find a place to rest after we pass through Langcaozigou." Tian Xiaohu breathed a sigh of relief and made arrangements.

"How long will it take us to get there?" Wei Ran asked as he covered the two injured men tightly again, "I mean until we get to our destination."

"If the snow keeps falling this hard, I estimate we'll be there by the second half of tomorrow night."

"Then let's go quickly."

As Wei Ran spoke, he had already pulled out a Japanese Type 38 rifle from his horse's back, and then he pulled out a Japanese bayonet from the sack and mounted it on the muzzle of the gun.

Seeing this, Tian Xiaohu followed suit and replaced the Ma Sihuan rifle he was carrying with a Type 38 rifle which was more suitable for bayonet fighting, and also installed a bayonet on it.

"What are you doing?" Zhao Jinyu asked in confusion.

"If a wolf targets us and we can't shoot, we'll have to rely on bayonet fighting." Tian Xiaohu explained as a matter of course.

"If I had known this would happen, I would have brought my bow and arrows with me."

Hu Bazhi couldn't help smacking his lips as he and Zhao Jinyu attached bayonets to the Type 38 rifles they were carrying on their shoulders.

Everything was ready, and Tian Xiaohu lit the kerosene lamp that the old squad leader had given him before departure, adjusted the brightness to maximum, and hung it around the neck of his mule.

It is said that we have entered Langcaozi Valley, but in fact we have not entered the bottom of the valley. Instead, we are walking quietly but quickly along a narrow path covered with snow halfway up the mountain.

But no matter how prepared they were, not long after, accompanied by a low and unpleasant wolf howl, there were also some shadows flashing from time to time in the surrounding dense forest. Almost subconsciously, the four of them all raised their vigilance.

"clang!"

Just at this moment, Tian Xiaohu took out half a piece of broken gong, about the size of a pizza corner, from the edge of the shelf of the mule. Holding the rope of the broken gong in one hand, he let it collide with the bayonet of the rifle in the other hand, making a hoarse knocking sound.

I don’t know if it was an agreement made in advance, but after the noise, the shadows around seemed to have regained some of their rare rationality.

Seeing that they still hadn't dispersed, everyone didn't dare to let down their guard. They all followed Tian Xiaohu and shook the reins to speed up. The latter also hit the broken gong piece with his bayonet from time to time.

In this increasingly difficult to maintain balance, the dark shadows around them were getting closer and closer, the four mules were becoming more and more restless, and Tian Xiaohu was hitting the broken gong more and more frequently.

At the end of the team, seeing the wolves getting closer and closer to Wei Ran, Hu Bazhi suddenly turned on the flashlight that he had seized and given to him. Suddenly, a bright beam of light was aimed at the wolf that had bent its back behind Wei Ran.

The sudden appearance of the bright light startled the wolf, and also scared the surrounding wolves that were about to complete the encirclement, and they all dispersed the encirclement a lot.

"ignition"

As Tian Xiaohu spoke, he had already pulled out a torch from the sled. Seeing this, the others also pulled out their torches.

The torch is basically a branch with a pine torch on it, with the burning torch part tied with a layer of oil-soaked rags and a circle of pine branches.

Soon, the four of them lit torches. As the flames rose and the cold wind blew, the pine branches also splashed out a large number of sparks and spread around.

Stimulated by the flames and the smell of charcoal, the surrounding wolves became calmer and the two sides returned to a stalemate of some kind.

But everyone knew that these torches would not last long. It was not because the torches did not burn long enough, but because the wolves' fear of fire could not last long.

Because of this, everyone pulled the reins tighter, urging the four mules to speed up. However, Hu Bazhi sat on the sled at this time and pinned his torch to the other side of the sled.

Then he took out a bomb from his sack.

These so-called grenade bombs are not children's toys like the sky-high rockets. At least the ones in Hu Bazhi's hands are each the size of a 40mm grenade.

Wei Ran had no doubt that this thing could be a simple grenade if it was thrown into paste, rolled in iron sand, and finally wrapped in waste paper and rags!

"The noise made by Ma Leizi might be louder than the sound of a gunshot," Wei Ran couldn't help but remind.

"I know"

As Hu Bazhi spoke, he had already pulled out his food-cutting knife and carefully dug out the sealing mud at the tail of the ma Lei Zi. He then tore off a piece of birch bark and rolled it into a ball, loosely sealing the bottom.

Without any pause, he handed the bomb to Wei Ran.

The latter took the firecracker without hesitation, leaned over the torch, lit the fuse and threw it behind him.

"Tom!"

With an explosion that was not loud, not even an explosion, the bomb turned into a huge Northeast flower, violently spewing out a large ball of flame and a miniature mushroom cloud.

As expected, the noise scared the surrounding wolves, causing them to howl and run away.

"How many more?" Wei Ran asked with a smile.

"Nine." Hu Bazhi patted the sack at his feet.

"Use it sparingly, you can still get it back." Wei Ran kindly reminded.

"The wolves are afraid of the smell of gunpowder, so they dare not come over for a while."

Hu Bazhi explained confidently that he was an experienced hunter and knew how to deal with these beasts.

For the next section of the journey, the wolves that were still following behind became much quieter and more cautious. Accordingly, Wei Ran and the others also sped up a lot, and their bodies naturally became more tired - even though they were on skis and being pulled by mules.

An unknown amount of time had passed, but when the dog-skin hats of the four of them were covered with large flakes of frost due to the water vapor brought out by their breathing, and when Hu Bazhi had thrown out the last bomb that only made a flash about half an hour ago, the sky finally brightened.

However, the wolves that had been following him all the way finally lost their patience because Hu Bazhi could no longer throw big flowers for them to admire.

"Prepare!"

Wei Ran called out, holding his rifle in both hands and aiming at the wolves that were about to pounce. He had already seen that the wolves had been waiting until they reached the end of the Wolf Trough and needed to climb up the slope. This was their hunting ground.

“Oooooooh!”

Accompanied by a low wolf howl coming from behind, three wolves pounced on Wei Ran together!

"puff!"

Wei Ran thrust his bayonet accurately into the chest of the wolf that was pouncing on his neck.

Before he could draw out his bayonet, the second wolf pounced on him, knocked him to the ground with an almost ramming motion, and opened its bloody mouth to bite his neck!

Seeing this, Wei Ran immediately took out the anti-Japanese sword and placed it across his neck!

"clang!"

With a teeth-grinding knocking sound, the wolf bit the knife hard!

Without even waiting for the wolf to let go and scream, Wei Ran had already violently pulled the blade and pushed it forward, directly slicing the wolf's jaw and cutting off its tongue!

Without waiting for the anti-Japanese sword to be completely pulled out, he put it back into the metal book, then gradually grasped the wolf's mouth with his hands, turned over and rode on it, sat down on its soft but shriveled belly, and pressed all his body weight on it.

However, before he could deal with the wolf that almost bit through his neck, the third wolf pounced on the mule next to him!

  Perhaps the larger mule was their target all along!

"puff!"

  What Wei Ran didn't expect was that before the wolf could succeed, the big mule suddenly kicked up and kicked the wolf hard in the stomach with its hoof, kicking it far away, and it almost spun and hit a birch tree hard!

"Boom!"

Amid the dull sound of impact, the snow accumulated on the birch tree fell down. Wei Ran finally freed himself, grabbed the wolf's head with both hands, and twisted and pulled hard, breaking its neck.

"boom!"

  Before he could let go of the wolf's neck, a gunshot suddenly rang out from the other side of the ridge!

Immediately afterwards, both the people who were frightened and the wolves who were also frightened and were about to run away subconsciously heard a scream from the woman!

“Oooooooh!”

After a slightly unwilling wolf howl, the wolves that had followed them all night suddenly fled in all directions and disappeared in the boundless snow.

It was not until this time that Wei Ran realized that the wolf had just scratched his face with three bloody scratches.

Looking at the rest of the people, Hu Bazhi was calm and composed, holding a ski pole in each of his hands. At his feet lay a wolf that was still twitching, with a Japanese bayonet stuck in its chest.

At this time, Zhao Jinyu and Tian Xiaohu were standing back to back, each holding a Type 38 rifle in their hands. However, judging from their appearance and the snow on their bayonets, it seemed that there were no wolves attacking them just now.

"Did you hear what happened just now?" Hu Bazhi asked in a low voice.

“I heard it”

As Tian Xiaohu spoke, he blew out the oil lamp hanging on the mule, and then tore off a piece of patched white coarse cloth from the mule's back and covered the largest mule with it.

Seeing this, Wei Ran and the other two immediately followed suit and each found a coarse white sheet on their mule and draped it over the mule.

"It seemed like a woman shouted just now," Zhao Jinyu said in a low voice uncertainly.

“Yes.”

As Wei Ran spoke, he had already tied the mule to the branch of a birch tree, and he and Hu Bazhi said in unison, "Wait a minute, I'll go take a look."

"No, wait a minute, I'll go take a look." Tian Xiaohu and Zhao Jinyu said in unison.

"You two should just stop going."

Wei Ran whispered, "Squad leader, you are the only one who knows the way. If anything happens to you, we will have to go back."

Without waiting for Tian Xiaohu to speak, nor for Zhao Jinyu to speak, Wei Ran continued, "Brother Zhao, you have to protect the squad leader and the wounded."

After saying that, Wei Ran put on his gloves again, held the ski poles, and climbed towards the top of the ridge at the same time as Hu Bazhi.

"Sergeant, what should we do?" Zhao Jinyu had already pulled out the box gun from his waist while speaking.

Glancing at Wei Ran's back with worry, Tian Xiaohu whispered, "Get on top of the fire, and then hide."

After a short pause, Tian Xiaohu added, "Brother Zhao, if...if I am honored..."

"What are you talking about!" Zhao Jinyu panicked.

"Listen to me"

Tian Xiaohu said, "If I am honored, you must take the flag in my arms. With the flag, the First Guerrilla Team is also there. There is also a letter in my arms. There is a letter written by the captain to General Zhao. I must protect it well."

"I"

"Except Commander Zhao, no one can read the letter. This is an order!" Tian Xiaohu said in a serious voice.

"Yes!" Zhao Jinyu made the promise seriously, like a real anti-Japanese fighter.