War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1596 Killing One More Earns One More

"Click! Click!"

Accompanied by a few crisp sounds of joints and the subsequent screams, the two young masters of the Cao family, who had been stripped of all their clothes, had one knee joint of each leg mysteriously dislocated for no reason.

"Click!"

There was another crisp sound, and one of the Second Young Master's arms was dislocated. As for his balls that were kicked and broken, Wei Ran swore that he really forgot to help the other party get treatment.

"You two put on their outfits."

Wei Ran, who was changing the dressings for the two unconscious Anti-Japanese Allied Forces fighters, said, "Maybe he thinks you are the young masters."

Hearing this, Tian Xiaohu and Zhao Jinyu's eyes lit up, and they picked up the two young masters' clothes and put them on.

However, Tian Xiaohu paused when he picked up the young master's mink coat, and then handed it to Wei Ran, "Brother Wei, you wear this outfit. I... I can't ride a horse."

"You don't know how to ride a horse?" Wei Ran looked at the other person suspiciously.

"It's okay to ride a mule slowly, but I can't ride a horse fast." Tian Xiaohu explained.

"Next time you lie, don't look away from other people's eyes"

Wei Ran bluntly exposed the other party's little thoughts, "Just wear it. The three of us are one. The bandits may not shoot at Master Cao, but the devils don't care."

Hearing this, Tian Xiaohu opened his mouth, but finally put on Young Master Cao's mink coat obediently, then changed into his suede trousers and deerskin boots, and put on the shiny mink hat.

After handing the replaced simple leather hat to Miss Hongxia, Tian Xiaohu put the cotton coat he took off together with the supplies they were going to transport.

While the two of them were changing clothes, Wei Ran turned up the brightness of the oil lamp, placed the Robert camera with a wide-angle lens in the corner next to the God of Wealth, and pressed the shutter.

He didn't expect to be able to capture anything in such a dim environment, but he still hoped to record something.

"Without further ado, let's go!"

As Tian Xiaohu said this, he had already put the letter with the feather stuck on it and a Japanese grenade into his arms. Seeing this, Zhao Jinyu also subconsciously pressed the small red flag in his arms.

"Brother Wei, you and Brother Jinyu ride the horses, and I'll ride the mule."

As Tian Xiaohu spoke, he had already taken the submachine gun and magazine bag handed to him by Zhao Jinyu and threw them over his shoulder. Then he picked up his own Type 38 rifle, led the mule and was the first to go out.

"Let me do this"

Seeing that Zhao Jinyu kept glancing at the black horse with the horse box, Wei Ran simply hung the two grenade launchers and the two Japanese backpacks full of grenades on the saddle of the black horse that once belonged to the second young master, and led it to catch up with Tian Xiaohu.

"You...you must come back alive."

Miss Hongxia said worriedly as Zhao Jinyu also held the reins, "I will take good care of the wounded and the prisoners. You must come back."

"They won't be coming back," the young master said with almost certainty, and there was even a hint of gloating in his tone.

"Clap clap clap!"

Miss Hongxia, who was already in a very irritable mood, didn't waste any words and slapped the young master four times in the face. The young master's originally handsome face was visibly covered with hand prints.

"If you keep gossiping, I'll pull out your dog teeth!"

Miss Hongxia threatened in a sharp tone, but in the end she felt unsatisfied, so she took off her sandals and slapped the young master hard on the mouth again.

When the young master was beaten until his head was swollen like a pig, Wei Ran and the other two had already led the horses and mules back to the other side of Langcaozigou, and climbed up the ridge on horseback in the direction where the young master of the Cao family had just appeared.

At the moment, the snow was even heavier. Fortunately, since the three of them were riding on animals, their progress was not too slow.

"Sergeant Xiaohu, do you know where the lair of Manager Cao is?" Zhao Jinyu asked curiously while fiddling with the beautiful horse box.

“Been there once”

Tian Xiaohu said, "By following the squad leader, I mean following your second brother. We went there blindfolded."

"What are you going to do?" Zhao Jinyu asked curiously.

"Winning over Cao Dazhanggui's anti-Japanese resistance"

Tian Xiaohu said, "That happened last year. Manager Cao didn't want to have a conflict with the devils."

"Then do you know the way?" Zhao Jinyu continued to ask.

"Why not?"

Tian Xiaohu said confidently, "Your second brother has already led us to explore this area thoroughly. We have dealt with many bandits nearby in the past few years."

"That"

"Why do you have so many questions?"

Xiaohu shook the reins and said, "Now is not the time to chat, we have to hurry. If the devils and bandits go far away, they won't be able to hear the noise we make."

Hearing this, Zhao Jinyu hurriedly shook the reins, urging the big black horse under him to run faster.

Under the leadership of Tian Xiaohu, and with Wei Ran taking out the canvas map from time to time for reference, they soon arrived at a ridge.

Although the ridge is surrounded by dense forests, the top of the mountain is bare, which makes Wei Ran subconsciously think of the Mediterranean hairstyle of his physics teacher in high school.

After tying the horses in the woods, Tian Xiaohu led them to the edge of the clearing. Hiding in the nest of a pine tree, he pointed across and whispered, "The top of the beam across is the lair of Cao the Great Manager. My squad leader and I have secretly come here to keep an eye on it before."

"Jin Yu, let me use the telescope." Wei Ran said in a low voice.

Hearing this, Zhao Jinyu hurriedly handed over the Soviet telescope that belonged to the eldest young master.

He took the telescope, stood up and looked towards the opposite side. However, due to the wind and snow, he could only vaguely see five or six houses scattered around halfway up the mountain near the top.

Even so, there was still smoke coming out of the chimneys of the houses and lanterns hanging on the doorsteps.

"Manager Cao occupied a mine tunnel that was used by Mr. Xu to mine gold."

Tian Xiaohu explained in a low voice, "Although the gold in the mine tunnel has been mined out long ago, the tunnel is interconnected and no one knows how many entrances and exits there are. The only visible entrance is inside the highest wooden house halfway up the mountain."

"Have you been in there?" Wei Ran asked in a low voice while measuring the distance, taking advantage of the brief opportunity when the cold wind blew away the snow curtain.

"I went in once, following the squad leader." Tian Xiaohu replied in a low voice, "But I was just at the entrance of the cave, I never went inside."

"It should be within reach," Wei Ran muttered in a low voice.

"What did you say?" Tian Xiaohu asked.

"nothing"

As Wei Ran spoke, he had already taken off the bearskin gloves on his hands. Seeing this, Zhao Jinyu, who was standing next to him, immediately took out the sheepskin gloves that belonged to the eldest young master from her bosom and handed them to him.

Without being polite to the other party, Wei Ran took the gloves and put them on, then took off the two grenade launchers on his shoulders, and then opened the two Japanese backpacks containing grenades.

"This devil's grenade launcher is actually easy to use"

Wei Ran started teaching on the spot at this time, "How far do you want to hit it? Just turn the wheel to the corresponding distance, just like looking at the rod of a scale."

As he spoke, he pointed to the level on the barrel and said, "There are two things to do to hit the target accurately. One is to calculate the distance accurately, and the other is to find the right angle, keep the bubble in its current position, and then use this white line to aim."

"Is it done now?" Tian Xiaohu asked, as if it was not difficult at all.

“This is how it is on flat ground”

Wei Ran pointed to the buildings faintly visible on the opposite hill in the snow and wind, "But there is a height difference between us and them, so..."

  "Brother Wei, what is a height difference?" Tian Xiaohu asked blankly.

"They are just not on the same level. Our hill is higher than the halfway point of that hill. If the shells were fired at the distance we just mentioned, they would definitely fly over."

As he spoke, Wei Ran had already taken out two grenades and gave them to the two of them. He then took out the safety of another grenade and stuffed it into the grenade launcher. "Let's try firing a few rounds first. Although I know how to use it, I may not be able to hit the target accurately."

As he said this, he turned the adjustment wheel and said, "The distance between these two hills is about 300 to 350 meters. Our side is higher, so we will shoot at 300 meters."

Before he finished speaking, he had already stepped on the auxiliary hoe of the grenade launcher with one foot, grasped the barrel with his hand to find the right angle, and then pulled the leather rope on the trigger and pressed down hard.

"Boom!" Accompanied by a muffled sound and a ringing sound, the shell flew out in a parabola under the gaze of Zhao Jinyu and Ting Xiaohu.

"boom!"

After about two or three seconds of waiting, there was a loud "boom" from the opposite hillside.

“Good luck”

Wei Ran muttered to himself. The grenade he had just thrown hit the part of the building complex on the opposite hillside closest to the foot of the mountain. Although it didn't seem to have damaged any building, it was considered lucky that the first shot could hit here.

"If we adjust it back ten meters, we will probably be able to bomb it accurately."

Wei Ran said as he slightly turned the adjustment wheel, saying, "Both of you should not be idle, fight together."

Coming back to his senses, Tian Xiaohu reacted very quickly and picked up another grenade launcher. He imitated Wei Ran's way of getting into position and stepping on it with his foot. Then he adjusted the range like copying homework and was about to put the shell in.

"The safety pin hasn't been pulled out yet," Wei Ran reminded, then pulled the trigger again and fired the second shell.

"Oh oh oh!"

Tian Xiaohu hurriedly took out the shells, but let Zhao Jinyu snatch the grenade launcher. He stuffed the shells prepared in advance into it, aimed at the opposite hill and fired the first Japanese shell in his life.

"Boom! Boom!"

"It's my turn!"

Almost at the same time as the shell fired by Zhao Jinyu exploded, Tian Xiaohu, who had finally prepared the shell, took advantage of the former's daze, snatched the grenade launcher from his hand, imitated him, and once again assumed the same posture, and fired the shell just as smoothly.

"boom!"

  What the three of them didn't expect was that Tian Xiaohu's shell hit something with such extreme accuracy that even through the flying snow, they could clearly see a fireball rising from the opposite hillside!

"Keep fighting!"

After Wei Ran finished speaking, he fired another artillery shell. It was not until this time that the bandits on the opposite hillside finally started to fight back.

However, with such heavy snow and wind, it might be possible to see the opposite hill clearly, but it was pure dream to see whether there was anyone on the opposite hill or where the shells were coming from.

Especially with the position chosen by Wei Ran, when they stand up they can see the opposite side, but when they squat down they can only see the top of the mountain opposite.

Seeing that the two brothers had already started to take turns using the grenade launcher, Wei Ran asked, "Which direction is our camp located in?"

"Over there!" Tian Xiaohu immediately raised his hand and pointed in a direction.

Seeing this, Wei Ran took the only two flares he had, and took two more flares that should not be used at this time and put them in his arms. Then he crouched down with the grenade launcher and moved a distance away, aiming in the direction of the camp, and fired the four grenades alternately.

Seeing the flickering light appearing in the snow, Wei Ran put the slightly hot grenade launcher into a canvas cover and then put it on his shoulder.

"What? You don't want to fight anymore?" Tian Xiaohu asked in a low voice after he came back.

"Don't hit it so fast. Also, try to hit it as accurately as possible."

Wei Ran gave instructions in a low voice. His intention, besides giving the two brothers Tian Xiaohu and Zhao Jinyu a chance to practice, was naturally to buy some time for the people in the bandit's den - to buy time for them to seek help.

After all, their goal is to attract the Japanese, not to suppress the bandits. If this thing is broken by the bandits, then there will be no fun.

After his explanation, Zhao Jinyu and Tian Xiaohu also slowed down, and they slowly attacked the opposite hill one after another, but it seemed that they still hadn't found the bandits' lair.

After about five or six minutes, seeing that there were only two grenades left in one of the bags, a few figures finally appeared to ride out of the bandit's den on horseback.

Seeing this, Wei Ran immediately told the two brothers to pack up and retreat.

"We're not going to fight anymore?"

Zhao Jinyu asked rather reluctantly, he hadn't had enough yet.

"Hit, hit in a different direction."

As Wei Ran spoke, he had already picked up the last backpack full of grenades, hung it on the horse's back, climbed on the horse and walked under the upper beam.

"Where are we going?" asked Tian Xiaohu who caught up on horseback.

"Go and kill the person who leaked the information." Wei Ran's simple and clear explanation confused the two people behind him.

"This place is not far away. If we kill the informant, the people in the bandit den will definitely hear it. Then they will send more people to ask for help. They will also be sure that the main force is preparing to attack their bandit den."

"Why do you do that to them?"

"They are going to hibernate soon, so they must be robbing people for money." Wei Ran's matter-of-fact explanation immediately made the two men look enlightened.

Without further ado, the three of them immediately urged their mounts to speed up.

It took them no more than 15 minutes from the time they went up the mountain to the time they came down, but the horseshoe prints they made when they came up had almost been covered up.

After urging the horse to gallop around the ridge for a while, Wei Ran pulled the reins before entering the shooting field of the bandits' nest on the opposite side. He picked up the submachine gun hanging on the horse's back, aimed at the direction where the horseman had just disappeared, and pulled the trigger.

After a moment's reaction, Zhao Jinyu and Tian Xiaohu came to their senses, each drew out their weapons and fired half a magazine. Especially Zhao Jinyu, he even drew out the horse box he had been eyeing for a long time and fired a few random shots.

Seeing Wei Ran put down his submachine gun and replaced it with the enemy's cavalry rifle and his own box gun, he immediately pulled out his box gun and started firing randomly. Tian Xiaohu even pulled out the Nagant revolver in his arms and fired a few shots first, and then fired a few more shots with the Type 38 rifle.

Although this commotion did waste a lot of ammunition, the noise created by these three people had magnified the bandits on the hillside a few hundred meters away to a scale that was just about the same as the main force of the "Anti-Japanese United Army".

As expected, the bandits on the mountainside immediately arranged for people to leave from other exits of the mine to report the news, while the rest of them fired indiscriminately at Wei Ran and others in the heavy snow.

"Took the bait"

Wei Ran put away his gun and said, "Squad Leader Xiaohu, before the messenger gets far away, quickly shout a few times to identify yourself and tell Cao the shopkeeper to surrender immediately."

Hearing this, Tian Xiaohu fired a shot quite skillfully, and then shouted loudly, "Listen up, you gangsters on the opposite side! I am Tian Xiaohu from the third squad of the first guerrilla team of the Anti-Japanese United Army! We have surrounded your broken hilltop! If you know what's good for you, quickly let the shopkeeper Cao come out and surrender! Our captain Zhao is waiting here!"

He was shouting at the top of his lungs, but the gang members on the hillside more than 300 meters away certainly couldn't hear him clearly. However, the people who had just nearly died under the fierce fire heard him clearly and subconsciously urged the mules under them to run faster.

After shouting for about five or six minutes, Wei Ran whispered, "That's enough. Let's place the ground guns here."

Hearing this, Tian Xiaohu stopped immediately and worked together with Zhao Jinyu to place all the ground guns in various places.

This so-called ground gun is nothing more than a gun barrel less than half a meter long with a T-shaped wooden handle.

The barrel is filled with black powder and iron sand, and the back is fired with a percussion cap. Although the T-shaped wooden handle is difficult to hold and fire, it is very convenient to tie it to any place. It doesn't even have a trigger, but instead has a fairly sensitive pull rope.

On the other hand, even judging by Wei Ran's experience, the positions of the guns placed by these two people, especially Tian Xiaohu, were definitely tricky. He even built a small platform with accumulated snow in front of one of the gun barrels without any instruction, and then placed a Japanese grenade with the safety pin pulled out on it!

  Wei Ran could almost imagine how powerful this thing would be when it was fired!

"Bang bang bang!"

After Wei Ran and the other two had camouflaged the bullets they brought, they immediately raised their box guns and fired a few more shots at the top of their heads.

This time, Tian Xiaohu didn't need any reminder at all. He shouted a few more times at the top of his voice, then turned over and rode on the mule. The three of them ran in the direction where the bandit who reported the news disappeared.

However, the three men did not run far. They just hid on the top of a ridge about two or three hundred meters away and stopped to hide their bodies and horses.

"Do you think Manager Cao and those devils will come?" Zhao Jinyu, dressed in a mink coat, asked quietly while hiding under a pine tree.

“Definitely coming”

Tian Xiaohu snorted, "If Manager Cao doesn't come back, his kiln will be smashed by us. Besides, the only ones who can attack Manager Cao are our Anti-Japanese United Army. Those devils are not here to visit relatives, so of course they will come non-stop."

"I don't know if Brother Hu will run into the Japanese."

Zhao Jinyu sighed worriedly, and inevitably began to worry about the friend he had just met. Then he couldn't help asking, "If the Japanese come later, where should we run to?"

"That depends on how many Japanese soldiers come," Wei Ran said slowly.

“If there are few people, just lead them around in circles in the mountains.”

Tian Xiaohu said, "After it gets dark, we'll get rid of them and deliver the letter."

"What if there are a lot of people?" Zhao Jinyu couldn't help but ask.

“That’s easy.”

Tian Xiaohu smiled calmly, "Then let's find a way to die together with them. Every time we kill one more, we gain one more!"