War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1602 This is just the beginning

In the snowy forest, a black horse was struggling to move forward on the soft snow. On the saddle of the horse was a hemp rope as thick as a thumb.

Behind the horse, at the other end of the hemp rope, was tied to the middle of a ski pole.

At this time, Wei Ran, with his feet on skis, was riding on the rope with his back to the horse, relying entirely on the ski pole across his thighs to pull him, just like riding a monkey car on a ski resort, allowing the horse to pull him "backwards".

"Crack!"

Wei Ran, who was almost squatting on the skis, loaded the cavalry rifle in his hand with bullets. Then he used the other ski pole in his hand, wrapped the gun strap around it, and placed it on the skis. While shaking slightly, he aimed at the mule sled that was vaguely visible behind him.

"boom!"

He seized the opportunity and pulled the trigger, then grabbed the whip tucked under his armpit and whipped it behind him without looking back.

With a crisp "snap" sound, the tip of the cowhide whip hit the black horse's butt neither lightly nor heavily. The horse quickened its pace again in pain, dragging the "single-person sled" behind it to increase its speed.

Clamping the whip again, Wei Ran glanced at the mule that fell to the ground at the sound of gunfire, and the enemies around him who were hiding hastily and preparing to open fire. He slowly put the rifle on his shoulder, then turned around flexibly, holding the ski pole tied with a rope in one hand, and holding the whip again with the other hand and swinging it a few times.

Suddenly, the black horse quickened its pace again while neighing, pulling him faster and faster, and disappeared again before the Japanese stopped their sled, set up their machine guns and opened fire.

At this moment, he was almost certain that the Japanese army searching the mountain behind him did not notice Cui Da Huzi's sled, otherwise they would not have kept chasing him.

On the other hand, he was also particularly glad that he had knocked down the two dogs first, and he was even more fortunate that these Japs who appeared here for some unknown reason did not seem to bring more dogs with them.

More importantly, the weather changed at this time. Although it didn't snow, the wind began to blow and became colder and stronger.

These small advantages gradually helped a historian piece together the possibility of escape.

But, he didn't know that at this moment, behind the Japanese pursuers, there was Zhao Jinyu who was following him from a distance and was ready to rescue him.

However, Zhao Jinyu did not rush to take action. Instead, while following Wei Ran from a distance, he also broke off a few pieces of horseshoe mushrooms from several birch trees.

After breaking the horseshoe mushrooms into fist-sized pieces, he took out a bunch of mushrooms from his saddlebag.

Actually, this thing was left behind by Hu Bazhi before he went back to report the news. The reason why he brought this thing with him was to prevent himself from being blocked by wolves again before leaving Langcaozigou.

Because of this, he simply took up the only two strings of bombs he had, and now was the time to use them.

Zhao Jinyu poked a slit in the horseshoe mushroom with a knife, cut off a small piece of firecrackers, poked the fuse into the slit of the horseshoe mushroom with a small wooden stick and knocked it tightly. Then he carefully hung it in the crown of a pine tree and lit the horseshoe mushroom block so that it could burn slowly for a long enough time.

After moving sideways for less than a hundred meters, he used the same trick again and hung a dozen bombs.

After moving another hundred meters and hanging the last piece of the firecracker, Zhao Jinyu first installed a new magazine on the machine gun hanging on the saddle, and then once again took off the large knife from Tian Xiaohu.

After carefully touching the notched blade, Zhao Jinyu took out a wine gourd from his arms and took a big sip of the homemade sorghum wine from Hu Bazhi's family.

"puff!"

Zhao Jinyu sprayed the wine onto the blade. Amid the wine mist and aroma, a fleeting brilliant rainbow appeared.

"Choo Choo Choo!"

Under Zhao Jinyu's whip, the black horse stretched out its thick and long hooves and ran freely in the cold wind carrying snowflakes.

Zhao Jinyu, on the other hand, had already slumped sideways, completely hiding his slender body behind the horse's body.

At the same time, he emerged from the horse's belly and looked ahead and to the sides in the wind and snow.

Soon, he saw the Japanese, puppet soldiers and bandits riding on sleds or snowshoes.

With a slight pull of one side of the reins, the dark horse that had finally found its master changed direction slightly, almost running horizontally alongside the pursuers' buttocks, from one end to the other!

"Ta-ta-ta-ta!"

Almost at the same time, Zhao Jinyu also pulled the trigger!

Amid the piercing sound of gunfire, the dense barrage of bullets from the machine gun hidden under the horse's belly instantly enveloped the pursuers and mules and horses who had turned around to watch, or who had already realized that something was wrong!

Almost at the same time when the magazine of this submachine gun was emptied, Zhao Jinyu, with his great skill and courage, turned over and returned to the horse's back, swung the large knife in his hand, and "swish!" slashed across the neck of a Japanese soldier who had already raised his gun. With the blood and the smell of wine, he put it on the shoulder of another Japanese soldier. With the help of the horse's momentum, he easily broke one of his arms and took away half of his ear!

"Da da da!"

  When Zhao Jinyu swung the big knife again, he also pulled out the box gun from his waist, pulled the trigger and fired a second round of rapid shots!

It was not until this time that the Japanese soldiers who were originally defenseless behind them finally reacted.

But at this time, Zhao Jinyu, who was about to empty the magazine of his box gun, had already let the big knife fall on the face of a Japanese soldier again.

Even the big black horse that had found its way onto the right path was grinning with its teeth bared, galloping as fast as it could - maybe it had also found the meaning of its life, who knows.

When the bullets in the box gun were emptied, Zhao Jinyu threw away the large knife in his hand, reached out to grab the horse box in the gun bag, and without pulling it out completely, he pulled the trigger and emptied the magazine.

Under these successive attacks, the rear of the mountain search team was immediately covered with casualties. Correspondingly, Zhao Jinyu's thighs, stomach, and even shoulders were either penetrated by stray bullets or left with frightening blood grooves.

"Choo Choo Choo!"

Zhao Jinyu endured the pain and waved the whip, urging the black horse under him to gallop through the woods. With the cover of the surrounding trees, he dodged the increasing number of bullets behind him and ran in circles into the distance.

Glancing down at his thigh that had just been hit by a bullet, Zhao Jinyu first replaced the magazines for his submachine gun, box gun, and horse box, then he gritted his teeth, untied the scarf he had torn out of the marching blanket, tore it open, and used it to strangle the wounds on his thigh and shoulder.

He carefully unbuttoned his clothes and looked at the wound on his stomach. A trace of despair appeared on his face. The bullet passed through the space between his nine-dragon belt and his belly.

Although the bullet, which was like a blind cat catching a dead mouse, did not hit any magazine, it tore the muscles in his abdomen so much that he could feel his intestines flowing out of the wound.

Trying to touch the wound, Zhao Jinyu's face showed a moment of panic.

But soon, he tightened his Kowloon belt, bent down with difficulty and took out the last two Japanese grenades from his saddlebag. After pulling out the safety pins, he smashed them against each other and threw them to both sides.

"Boom! Boom!"

After a few seemingly long seconds, the fragments and shock waves produced by the grenade explosion easily shook off the snow on several surrounding trees, helping to hide Zhao Jinyu's back.

Of course, the snow curtain that was quickly blown away by the wind could not cover the obvious horseshoe prints on the knee-deep snow.

However, the Japanese soldiers who had just been ambushed did not panic. They sent out more than a dozen sleds in an orderly manner and chased after them along the horseshoe prints.

His risk-of-life raid naturally had an impact on Wei Ran. If nothing else, at least a considerable amount of the pursuers' attention was diverted, and even some of the people in charge of the pursuit stopped.

This was a rare opportunity, so Wei Ran immediately stopped his horse and fired a grenade behind him as quickly as possible!

"Tom!"

As soon as the small shell flew out of the grenade launcher, he reached out and slapped the horse's butt hard.

"Boom!" When the grenade exploded, Wei Ran had been dragged away from the spot by the horse.

Of course he heard the gunshots coming from behind the Japanese, but he didn't know that it was Zhao Jinyu who took the risk to come back.

At this moment, he just hoped that he had not bet on the wrong direction and was not trapped in this forest by the Japanese.

  Can't go on any further

Wei Ran muttered to himself as he tightened the rope and moved closer to the horse. Then he grabbed the saddle and put away the skis on his feet, hanging his entire body weight on the saddle. He stepped on a passing birch tree to gain leverage and climbed onto the horse. He immediately grabbed the reins and turned the horse right.

The reason why he didn't go forward was because he clearly remembered that not only was there a ridge ahead, but the trees on the other side of the ridge were also sparser, which was naturally more difficult to hide his tracks.

More importantly, who knows if there are already Japanese soldiers waiting to make dumplings behind that ridge?

He suddenly changed direction, and the enemies chasing him naturally changed direction as well.

After taking a look at the pursuers looming behind him, Wei Ran looked up at the sky.

He was waiting, waiting for Cui Da Huzi and the other man to run further away, waiting for strong winds and heavy snow to cover their tracks, or even until it just got dark.

Shaking the reins again, Wei Ran took off the cavalry rifle from his back and put it back on the gun belt, continuing to keep the pursuers behind him in suspense from a distance.

At this time, he still had four Japanese anti-personnel grenades and two flares, plus the last Japanese hand grenade.

He did have a lot of pistol and rifle bullets. Given the current situation, optimistically speaking, they would be enough for him to fight guerrilla warfare for one or two days, or even two or three days.

  After dark, we must serve those devils well!

Wei Ran gritted his teeth and made up his mind, continuing to circle in the deep mountains and forests with the pursuers behind him, but he did not notice the faint sound of marijuana bombs exploding in the distance behind him, and he did not know that Zhao Jinyu had been injured.

What he and Zhao Jinyu didn't even know was that after Cui Da Huzi drove the mule sled carrying supplies over one ridge after another, he did not find Commander Zhao.

As they chased each other, time passed by, the sky gradually became dark, and snowflakes of neither big nor small began to float overhead again. However, the wind gradually stopped, and for a moment, the only sound in the deep mountains and forests was the sound of falling snowflakes.

Glancing at the enemy behind him who seemed to have given up pursuit, Wei Ran let the black horse continue to move forward slowly until the snowflakes became bigger and bigger, and then he stopped next to a pine tree.

He calmly took out his anti-Japanese sword and cut some pine branches and spread them on the snow for the black horse to step on. He then took off the animal skin blanket behind the saddle, carefully swept away the ice and snow on the horse's body, and then put it on.

This was not the end. Next, he unrolled a Japanese military blanket and spread it on the ground, then sprinkled some concentrated feed and coarse salt on it.

"Take a good rest here"

Wei Ran patted the horse's neck gently, pulled out the cavalry rifle from the gun bag and put it on his back, stepped on the skis and said, "If I can come back alive, if you are still alive by then, we will leave this forest together."

After saying that, Wei Ran took out the medical kit that he had not had time to give to Cui Da Huzi and hung it on the tree trunk. Then he hung the machine gun on it as well. Then he pushed hard with his ski poles and started a counterattack in the heavy snow under the dim sky.

After running back in circles for about ten minutes, he noticed the enemy's sleds moving back.

There was no rush to take action. Wei Ran hid behind a pine tree and observed and followed secretly.

In less than half an hour, the mule sleds stopped at the foot of a leeward ridge.

With the help or service of the puppet army, the Japanese soldiers cleared a space in the snow, put their guns together, and lit a bunch of long bonfires.

In addition to providing heating for the tents on both sides, these bonfires also had a row of lunch boxes placed on top of them with sticks.

Looking up at the large snowflakes falling above his head, Wei Ran, who had not eaten or drunk anything for the whole day, took out a small piece of dried meat that Hu Bazhi had given him from his arms and stuffed it into his mouth. Then he covered his mouth with his hand again and hid behind the tree to observe carefully.

About half an hour later, Wei Ran, who had already figured out the positions of the light and dark sentries, saw that the Japanese's lunch boxes had been taken away, and then he calmly pulled out the grenade launcher and the Japanese backpack he had been carrying.

He took out a grenade and weighed it, then pulled out the safety pin. He then made a careful distance estimate before stuffing the grenade into the grenade launcher and aiming at the largest campfire in the middle of the camp.

  After some preparation, Wei Ran pulled the trigger hard!

"Tom!"

  As soon as the grenade was fired, the Japanese soldiers two or three hundred meters away realized that something was wrong when they heard that unique, extremely familiar sound!

There was no need to be reminded at all, those veterans who reacted very quickly dropped the lunch boxes in their hands and lay down on the spot!

"boom!"

Amid the extremely clear sound of explosion in the snowy night, although the first grenade fired by Wei Ran did not hit the bonfire, it hit a single-soldier tent not far away and exploded successfully.

During the explosion, he had already fired the second grenade!

"boom!"

In the second explosion that followed, a bonfire was finally hit. Immediately, the sparks from the explosion fell on the tents, people, and even mules and horses.

"Tom!"

Amid the exclamations and screams, Wei Ran, who had already fired his third lethal grenade, had already decisively escaped.

"boom!"

  With another explosion, the grenade hit accurately into the pile of animals that had just taken off their sleds and were gathering together to replenish salt!

Suddenly, some were killed, some were injured, and some were frightened by the explosion and ran away without a trace. Some even rushed into the crowd in a panic, knocked over lunch boxes, kicked apart tents, and even stepped on the campfire.

In the midst of this chaos, some of the Japanese were busy suppressing the situation by firing in the direction where Wei Ran had just been, some were busy extinguishing the burning tents and blankets, and some were busy treating their injured companions.

As for the puppet troops and the bandits who led the way, some of them had already started to have evil thoughts when they saw that the situation was not good.

"boom!"

Wei Ran pulled the trigger at this moment, and with the help of the reflection of the bonfires, he accurately hit a medical worker who seemed to be treating a wounded soldier.

He was not greedy. After his successful attack, he left immediately and rushed to a nearby valley on his skis, taking with him possible pursuers.

Unfortunately, he ran into the valley, but the Japanese behind him were extremely vigilant and did not catch up with him.

Seeing this, Wei Ran stopped indifferently, found a place sheltered from the wind, slowly filled the pocket warmer with fuel again, relit it and put it in his arms, then changed direction and approached the pursuers' camp again on his skis.

At this time, the snow was still falling slowly and steadily, and the Japanese soldiers seemed to have set up camp again and expanded their defense range.

  not enough.

Wei Ran muttered something in a low voice, hiding his body and observing carefully.

Speaking of which, being a member of the Imperial Army in that era was not a good job. The Japanese soldiers in the middle of the camp gathered around a campfire to keep warm and eat and drink, while the puppet soldiers at the edge of the camp had no food to eat, and the only things they had to keep warm were the pine torches they held in their hands.

But that crappy thing is good enough to ensure that I can live a hundred years and burn until I die of old age on this snowy night. How much extra heat can it provide?

After waiting for a while, Wei Ran set up the grenade launcher again and used the white line on the launcher to search for the target.

These Japanese devils and puppet troops were not stupid. After the last round of bombing, they knew to tie the mules and horses separately.

  just

However, the mules and horses were separated, while the wounded were crowded together. He could even use the campfire surrounding the wounded to clearly see the three medical workers shuttling among the wounded.

"He's really stubborn."

Wei Ran muttered something incoherently, slowly adjusted the direction of the grenade launcher, and after patiently waiting for a moment, he finally aimed at the three medical workers who were gathered together to warm themselves by the fire.

"Tom!"

This time, after Wei Ran fired the grenade, he didn't even look at the results. He turned around and ran on his skis, and quietly changed his position before the Japanese grenade launchers and machine guns opened fire.

Looking at the Japanese camp again, he couldn't help but laugh. The grenade just now hit the campfire where the three medical workers were gathered. There was no doubt that the three of them were killed in the explosion. Even their bodies seemed to have been ignited by the exploded campfire.

Seeing that the Japanese once again sent people to run towards this side, Wei Ran calmly took out the last lethal grenade and aimed at the person in the camp who seemed to be giving orders.

  After a slight hesitation, he did not put the grenade in. Instead, he took off the rifle on his back, aimed at the man and pulled the trigger!

"boom!"

The clear sound of gunfire immediately allowed the pursuers to determine Wei Ran's approximate location, but the person Wei Ran was aiming at also fell into the bonfire beside him, holding his stomach.

  This is just the beginning.

Wei Ran muttered silently, put away his weapon quickly and neatly, and disappeared into the snowy night on his skis, leaving only two shallow ski marks, trying his best to lure the enemies chasing him.