War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1599 Comrade

Slowly lowering his raised hands, the bearded man did not pick up his weapon, but instead put his fist on his left shoulder and weighed it, "The upper row of piano does not look like Cao Da's plate."

“I don’t understand slang”

Wei Ran interrupted the other party's probing directly, "Either you build a shack honestly, or you speak frankly."

Hearing this, the bearded man smiled and confidently let Wei Ran take care of him. He continued to build a shack with the devils' waterproof canvas while saying, "I don't remember there being someone like you in Cao Da's bandit den."

"It doesn't matter if there's someone like me," Wei Ran hinted at the other party while shaking the box gun in his hand.

"You are indeed not a bad number."

The bearded man was very happy. "It was windy and snowy, and I couldn't recognize him in the dark."

Before Wei Ran could speak, the bearded man introduced himself, "Cui Shouchun, you can just call me Cui the Bearded Man. What's your name, sir?"

"Xia Shushi" Wei Ran made up a useful name and asked, "Brother Cui, do you know how to get out?"

"Where are you going, Brother Xia?" asked Big Beard Cui.

Hearing this, Wei Ran just smiled and did not answer the question.

Seeing this, Big Beard Cui stopped asking questions and continued to busy himself with building a shack to shelter from the wind and snow.

After a slight hesitation, Wei Ran put away the box gun in his hand under the cover of his dog-skin coat, and then cautiously collected the weapons he had just removed from the opponent, and put them all in the saddlebag of the black horse not far away.

"Where did these things come from?" Wei Ran asked again, pointing at the things hanging on the black horse.

In addition to the things that already existed, there were several sets of cotton clothes that were obviously stripped from the puppet army or the Japanese, and animal skin clothes that seemed to be stripped from the bandits. There were also two box guns, a Dagu factory machine gun, three Type 38 rifles, a Ma Sihuan rifle, and three full sets of Japanese backpacks.

In the saddlebag were a few frozen pheasants and some corn cakes that came from nowhere.

After a brief hesitation, Big Beard Cui continued to fix the two pieces of waterproof canvas the size of butt curtains while answering, "Where else can I get them? Winter is coming soon, so I have to prepare some valuable items to bring back and exchange for a few feet of cloth to make new clothes for my wife and children."

"You're not a bandit"

Wei Ran paused, then said again with more certainty, "You are more than just a bandit."

Hearing this, the bearded Cui did not continue the topic. He just picked up a small axe that was chopping on the tree trunk and said, "Whatever Xia said, you take a rest first. How about I get some firewood and light a fire to warm you up?"

"random"

Wei Ran waved his hands nonchalantly. No matter what this weird-looking, or rather deliberately acting weird, Big Beard Cui was thinking, if he wanted to leave here, he had no choice but to cooperate with him.

In addition, he and the other party knew that it was best not to shoot at this time.

Whether the people attracted by the gunfire were the Japanese, puppet troops or bandits, it seemed to be trouble for both of them.

  So where does this Big Beard Cui come from?

Wei Ran, who had some vague guesses, temporarily suppressed his doubts. While the other party was collecting firewood in the distance, he took out the sailor bag from the metal notebook, pulled out the four-meter square white parachute cloth canopy, and built a tent based on the shack built by the other party that was spacious enough to block the wind and snow.

Not long after, Cui Da Huzi came back with a big armful of pine branches. Behind him, he was also pulling a lot of dry branches on his skis.

After taking a look at the tent set up by Wei Ran, Cui Da Huzi smiled naively, spread the pine needles he brought on the ground, and simply dismantled the tent he had just set up, and spread the two pieces of Japanese canvas under the tent set up by Wei Ran.

"Where is Brother Cui from?" Wei Ran asked while helping the other party light the bonfire.

"Mulan Drops"

As Cui Da Huzi spoke, he took out several sets of cotton clothes and animal skins from the horse's back and spread them on the canvas. Then he took out the three Japanese backpacks and the two cakes in their sacks.

"Where are you from, Brother Xia?"

While Cui Da Huzi was speaking, he had already taken off the Japanese lunch box, filled it with snow, and placed it next to the bonfire that had just been lit.

Wei Ran "from Rehe" once again made up a vague origin.

Cui Da Huzi did not try to determine whether the address was real or not. He just placed the cakes slowly next to the campfire.

Seeing this, Wei Ran also took off the Japanese backpack he was carrying, took out the Japanese lunch box with braised pork rice in it and placed it next to the campfire, and also used the lunch box lid to fill some clean snow and let it melt slowly.

"When do you plan to leave, Brother Xia?"

As Cui Da Huzi was speaking, he had already lit the pipe with a wooden stick with a burning flame. After taking two puffs, he passed it to Wei Ran beside him.

"When does Brother Cui plan to leave?"

Wei Ran asked the other party back and waved his hand, then took out the cigarette box from the metal book, took out the filter, and lit a confiscated cigarette for himself.

"As soon as the wind stops, we'll leave," replied Cui Da Huzi. "Where are you going, Brother Xia?"

"Where is Brother Cui going?"

"Of course it's the mountain of our boss Cao."

"What a coincidence, I'm also going to the hill where our boss Cao lives," Wei Ran said with a smile.

"Then let's go together," Cui Da Huzi invited rather casually.

"Then let's go together."

Wei Ran also repeated the sentence, and then the two of them seemed to focus their attention on the bonfire in front of them.

At this point, they were all extremely certain in their hearts that the other party was definitely not from the same faction as Cao Dazhanggui, or at least he was definitely not of the same mind as Cao Dazhangguigui.

Even so, the two still maintained a certain tacit understanding and did not continue the topic.

After a somewhat long wait, Wei Ran was the first to boil the water in the lunch box lid. Cui Da Huzi also picked up the two pancakes and handed them all to Wei Ran, motioning him to pick one at random.

This was nothing more than an attempt of trust and goodwill. Wei Ran picked up one of the pieces at random and poured some of the boiled water into the rice that was still being heated and thawed.

"Will you drink?"

While Wei Ran was speaking, he took out the British army's kettle filled with white wine under the cover of the Japanese backpack beside him. This wine was stolen from Hu Bazhi's home.

"A whole cup!"

Big Beard Cui immediately became interested and took out a Japanese aluminum bowl and placed it next to the campfire.

He generously poured a full bowl for the other party. Wei Ran held the pancake that the other party had just given him in his mouth, took off the cup and poured some for himself, then raised it up and clinked glasses with the other party.

Sitting by the campfire, the two of them ate a bite of bread and sipped a sip of wine, savoring the kindness while silently releasing their own kindness.

Almost at the same time when they had finished the last bite of the cake, the two of them raised their glasses and clinked them with each other in tacit understanding, and drank the last sip of the wine in one gulp.

"Try this, I stole it from the devils."

As Wei Ran spoke, he took down the heated braised pork rice, gave half to the other party, and then poured him a bowl of wine.

"I haven't had such a good meal in years since the Japanese came." Big Beard Cui casually picked up two branches as chopsticks, picked up a piece of braised pork and sighed.

"Once we drive the Japanese away, we'll have meals like this every day." Wei Ran said, picking up the cup.

"Drive away the devils?"

Big Beard Cui laughed in silence, but did not continue the topic. He just picked up the glass and clinked it with Wei Ran. After taking a big gulp of wine, he shoveled the braised pork rice full of soup into his mouth.

After eating and drinking, the two did not relax their vigilance and lie down to rest. Instead, they each leaned against the trunk of a tree, sat down on cotton clothes that had been stripped from someone, took off their shoes, and dried their foot bindings and the grass stuffed in their shoes.

"Did you fire that shell during the day?"

Without warning, Cui Da Huzi asked without even looking up, and pointed at the black horse not far away, "When those two black horses were running out, did you fire those shells?"

"Yes"

Wei Ran answered casually.

"Aren't you afraid that you won't be able to escape?"

"Didn't this run out?"

Just as Big Beard Cui was about to ask again, Wei Ran suddenly looked in the direction behind him.

Subconsciously turning his head, Cui Da Huzi immediately noticed that there seemed to be flashing lights appearing in the distance.

"Hide," Cui Da Huzi said in a low voice.

After a moment of hesitation, Wei Ran put on his boots as quickly as possible, hid in the tent, then crawled out from the shadow of the trees in the corner, and finally hid behind a pine tree not far away.

At the same time, Big Beard Cui bent down, picked up the Japanese bayonet and put it back into his sleeve, then picked up the small axe and slowly chopped the firewood at his feet.

Soon, a mule-drawn sleigh with lights on came from a distance.

When there was still a distance of more than ten meters, the man on the mule sled shouted at the mule to stop, then stood up with the lantern in his hand, took off his furry leather hat and put it upside down on the mule's back.

Then, he jumped off the sled as if he had nothing better to do, then walked around the front of the mule to the other side of the sled and stepped back on it. He raised his fists over his left shoulder, shook his head backwards, and greeted loudly in his recognizable smoky voice, "Master Bodhidharma is mighty! Shan..." "Is it Zheng Xiangbian?"

Without waiting for the other party to finish, Cui Da Huzi asked loudly and confidently, "Quick, quick, quick! Come over here and warm up!"

"Big Beard?! Why are you here?!"

The driver not far away obviously recognized Cui Da Huzi. He didn't bother to be polite. He put on his fur hat, drove the mule sled and walked over.

"The devils forced us to ambush the Anti-Japanese United Army"

Cui Da Huzi pointed to the horses next to him and the spoils in the tent and said, "We were stopped by our sister. We were worried about being killed by the Japanese, so we simply killed a few puppet soldiers who were staring at us and divided the spoils back to the kiln hall."

"That's the way it should be!"

The old bandit named Zheng Xiangbian came closer to the fire and sat down where Wei Ran had sat not long ago. While warming himself by the fire, he said, "You don't know that Cao Dazhanggui is dead!"

"What? Manager Cao died?" Big Beard Cui was stunned for a moment. "Killed by the devils?"

"Hey! Where are you?"

Zheng Xiangbian slapped his thigh and said, "I heard that he was shot by the Anti-Japanese United Army. His head was blown open! His body is still lying in the Sancha Gold Rush Ditch, and there is no one to collect it!"

"Where are the four pillars?" asked Big Beard Cui.

"Some surrendered to the Japanese, some were killed by the Anti-Japanese Allied Forces, and one or two were probably about to be killed."

Zheng Xiangbian pulled out the pipe hanging from his waist, lit it, took two puffs and continued, "The mountain is in chaos now. The Japanese have occupied the Juyi Hall and arrested several concubines and daughters of Cao Da, the shopkeeper. I think they are firing a barrage of artillery fire now.

The big guys also ran away and scattered, and the rest were determined to work for the devils. "

"This is fucking ridiculous. After all this trouble, we didn't catch any members of the Anti-Japanese Allied Forces, and instead we lost our leader?" Big Beard Cui cursed.

"Not so good!"

Zheng Xiangbian folded his hands and slammed them together, "This year's red cabinets haven't been distributed yet. They're all the cheap devils and the Imperial Army."

"That being said, you've got quite a bit of points, haven't you?" said Cui Da Huzi, raising his chin towards the mule sled not far away.

"Hey! I can't go back empty-handed."

Zheng Xiangbian said proudly, "I was lucky. I took advantage of the opportunity to pick up the leaves of a few wounded Japanese soldiers and caught Miss Eleven and two girls when they ran out. The two girls said that the eldest young master had snatched them back and ran away."

"String?"

Cui Da Huzi patted the spoils beside him and said, "These things are easier to sell than those girls."

"Those three girls have never been bullied by the young masters. They are decent virgins, and each one is very pretty!"

Looking at Zheng Xiangbian, who was probably over 40 years old, he gave a thumbs up and said, "As long as we sell it to the art kiln, we can get a lot of money! Especially our Eleventh Miss, not only is she pretty, but she can speak foreign languages ​​like the Second Young Master."

"No matter what happens, I have to get out alive first."

Big Beard Cui threw a few pieces of firewood into the bonfire. "The Japanese will definitely search the mountain in the next few days. It will be difficult if we can't get out before dawn. It's better to take these things with us than to take three girls with us."

"Why don't you take it with you?" Zheng Xiangbian asked.

"If I didn't have a crush on Miss Eleven, would I be hanging out with you?" Big Beard Cui snorted.

"Take the second young master's foot-binding shoes in exchange," Zheng Xiangbian said greedily, looking at the black horse not far away, "and a few more rattles."

"Let me check the goods first." As Cui Da Huzi spoke, he patted his butt and stood up.

"It's not a loss, it's a loss with Miss Eleven!"

Zheng Xiangbian, who was walking in front, hadn't even finished his words when a small axe hit him hard on the back of his head.

"Pfft!"

Zheng Xiangbian's knees went weak and he fell to the ground. He twitched a few times and then became motionless.

"Are you so cruel?"

Wei Ran asked casually as he walked out from the shadow of the trees not far away.

"This old guy specializes in the business of beating beggars. I have long wanted to kill him."

As Cui Da Huzi said this, he had already thrown away the axe in his hand, and also threw away the Japanese bayonet hidden in his sleeve. He and Wei Ran walked to the side of the mule sled at the same time.

The sled was covered with a thick layer of straw, and on top of the straw was a quilt.

Seeing that Wei Ran had already taken out the box gun and aimed it at the sled in a tacit understanding, Cui Da Huzi carefully untied the leather rope tied to the quilt, stretched one corner of the quilt and slowly pulled it back, revealing the person under the quilt.

There were three girls with their hands and feet tied and their mouths gagged. Among these three girls, the ones on the two sides looked to be about sixteen or seventeen years old, almost the same age as Miss Hongxia. I think they are the girls from the Sun family that Miss Hongxia once mentioned.

The porcelain doll-like girl in the middle of the two girls looked even smaller, and her clothes were much more gorgeous.

"The girl in the middle is the 15th daughter born to Mr. Cao by his 11th wife. She is 15 this year."

As Big Beard Cui was speaking, he had already picked up the oil lamp hanging on the mule and was looking at the rest of the things on the sled.

At the feet of the three little girls, there were not only four leather medical kits in a row, but also six blood-stained Japanese backpacks and a wooden box containing some women's jewelry.

Almost subconsciously, Wei Ran and Cui Da Huzi had guessed that Zheng Xiangbian must have killed the Japanese medic, and most likely killed the only four medics in that squadron. He might even have killed a few wounded soldiers in order to snatch these things.

The two looked at each other, and Big Beard Cui covered the three girls who were struggling in vain, as well as the slightly tempting trophies under their feet, with the quilt again.

"Brother Cui, what are you going to do with these three girls?" Wei Ran looked at the other party tying the quilt with a leather rope again, and asked along the way.

“We’ll talk about it later.”

While stripping Zheng Xiangbian's clothes, Cui Da Huzi gave a perfunctory and vague response, then led the mule sled closer to the campfire and sat directly on the edge of the sled to warm himself by the fire. Obviously, he was still on guard against Wei Ran.

Wei Ran wisely did not continue the topic, and even wiserly sat further away from the mule sled, even though he had an indisputable advantage in weapons.

That night, the two people sitting across the campfire did not rest, nor did they have any follow-up communication. They both knew that no matter what they said at this time, the other party would not believe it. In this case, it would be better to keep quiet, stay alert, and conserve energy.

Not long after, Wei Ran and Cui Da Hu Zi, who had been guarding the campfire and trying to stay awake, also climbed up one after another when the mountain wind gradually died down.

"Brother Xia, let's ride a horse."

Big Beard Cui suggested as he threw the cotton clothes in the tent onto the sled.

"Follow Brother Cui's arrangements"

Wei Ran responded casually while folding up the parachute cloth canopy.

After a short period of busy work, Cui Da Huzi was the first to drive the mule sled slowly and shouted, "Blow out the lights."

Deliberately keeping some distance, Wei Ran also jumped on his horse and followed behind, blowing out the oil lamp hanging on the saddle.

It can be seen that Cui Da Huzi is familiar enough with this place. Even without lighting, he still accurately leads Wei Ran around the ridges and moves slowly through the dense forest.

As Wei Ran and the black horse he was riding shook off the snow on their bodies, the surrounding terrain was quietly changing.

They walked like this for at least three or four hours. When Wei Ran rode out of the woods following the silent Big Beard Cui, they found that they were back to the Sancha Creek where they had ambushed the Japanese.

"Brother Xia, you should know the way here, right?" Cui Da Huzi shouted to the sled to stop, turned and asked Wei Ran.

"Brother Cui, are you really going to the bandit's lair next?" Wei Ran, who was riding a horse, asked.

"I won't go and die at this time"

Big Beard Cui pointed in the direction where the Japanese appeared and said, "We are about to go to the city. If you are willing, brother Xia, why don't you lend me the rattle and wait until next spring."

Before he could finish his polite words, they both saw a man leading a horse out of the woods not far away.

  The man leading the horse was holding a flashlight, and there seemed to be a shadowy figure lying on the horse's back.

That horse also seems to be a dark horse!

Almost at the same time when the flashlight beam shone over, Wei Ran also raised the box gun in his hand and aimed at Cui Da Huzi.

Almost at the same time, Cui Da Huzi, who was not searched thoroughly by Wei Ran, also raised a Browning 1906 pocket pistol, which was dubbed "Five Bees" on this bloody black land - he also aimed at Wei Ran and ignored the beam of light coming over.

"Brother Wei! Is that you, Brother Wei?"

On a snowy night, the figure leading the horse behind the flashlight beam let out a cry of surprise. At the same time, Wei Ran and Cui Da Huzi also lowered the guns in their hands one after another. One retracted it into the cuffs of his wide leather coat, and the other used his dog-skin coat to retract it into the metal book.

The next second, the two people who had already guessed each other's identity, stretched out their hands to each other and held them together in the flashlight beam that was shining on them and getting closer and closer.

"Comrade"

In this icy and snowy place, the two of them simultaneously called out a name that showed they could trust each other unconditionally.