War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1619: Bloodstained Sabre

Amid the noisy and dense sound of horse hooves, the organized cavalry left their garrison and rushed straight to the other side, trampling on the Yellow River water that was filled with a lot of silt.

Without waiting to reach the shore, the leading cavalrymen dispersed and sped up, galloping after the big flag held by Bai Yuguang.

No one talked about the specific battle plan, and no one mentioned how to fight, but the faces of all the cavalrymen around were filled with a strong desire to fight.

They ran like this for about forty minutes. When everyone stopped following the command of Captain Ma, Wei Ran saw soldiers busy digging trenches in the distance, and heard the faint sound of gunfire coming from the direction of Huaiyang City in the distance.

Is this a fight?

Wei Ran was stunned for a moment, and then he heard Captain Ma shout "Stop".

At the command of the regiment commander, the special forces company closest to him was the first to be taken off the horse by Ma Jintao.

"Rest where you are," Ma Jintao ordered, "Distribute bullets to each squad."

"Yes!" Several soldiers in the company responded to the order one after another.

Without waiting for Ma Jintao to leave, Li Sui'an and Zhao Jinyu each took out boxes of bullets from their bags and gave each person 20 rounds of rifle bullets, and gave each member of the pistol team an additional 40 rounds of pistol bullets.

Watching Captain Ma Jintao leave, Wei Ran took his own bullets and stuffed them into the Kowloon Belt, while at the same time secretly thinking about how to fight the next battle.

Before he could figure it out, Bai Yuguang came with several cavalrymen and a mule cart to distribute new weapons to everyone - grenades, two wooden-handled grenades per person.

I don’t know if it can be considered special treatment, but when it was Wei Ran, Li Sui’an and Zhao Jinyu’s turn to receive grenades, Bai Yuguang gave each of them an extra grenade.

After putting all three grenades in the Kowloon Belt, Wei Ran couldn't help but secretly wonder how to fight this battle and what kind of enemy he would face.

"Listen up, everyone in the Pistol Team!"

At this time, Li Sui'an raised his voice to remind them, "Once the fight starts, you all run separately. Whip them hard and run fast. Don't crowd together!"

"Qiang! Qiang! Qiang!"

These dismounted cavalrymen raised their sabers in tacit understanding and knocked the thick backs of the sabers against their comrades around them.

"Braid up your ponytails!"

Zhao Jinyu also shouted, "Listen up, everyone in the company! Take off all the unused items on the horses! When the fight starts, run as fast as you can! When the whistle comes, fire a round with your spears first, and when you get close, switch to sabers and chop them down!"

"Qiang! Qiang! Qiang!"

The cavalrymen once again knocked the backs of their swords against each other in response, then each of them took off the saddlebags from their horses, rolled up their travel bags and saddlebags, and piled them together.

However, just as they had finished their preparations, Captain Ma brought new orders, asking them to rest on the spot and be ready to provide support at any time.

This order did not make the cavalrymen relax, but instead made them more vigilant.

They followed Zhao Jinyu's orders and braided their ponytails while whispering to each other. Some soldiers lit up their tobacco pipes, some shared some liquor they had gotten from somewhere, and some gathered together to sharpen their sabers.

There were also some cavalrymen who were hugging the big heads of their war horses and intimately sharing the same piece of cake and radishes that they had dug up from somewhere.

Of course, there are also some who just lie down on the ground, use rolled-up knapsacks as pillows, close their eyes and fall asleep, snoring almost in the blink of an eye.

As for Wei Ran, he found an opportunity to take out his camera and took pictures of every scene before the battle.

However, no one expected that they would wait from dawn to dusk, and waited until Old Liu from the kitchen team, Bai Yuguang's father and several members of the kitchen team drove mule carts to bring them food and fodder, but they still did not get the chance to fight.

"I don't know whether we succeeded in taking it down or not," Zhao Jinyu muttered while feeding the horse.

"Didn't you see that the regiment in front was digging trenches?"

Li Sui'an was chewing on the hot steamed bread that had just been delivered to him and pointing towards the distance. The steamed bread was made of cornmeal and mixed with bran, and there were a few pitiful slices of pickles in it.

"A positional war?"

Zhao Jinyu muttered in disappointment, "How long will the fight last?"

His question was destined to be unanswerable by anyone, and Wei Ran, the only person who knew the approximate answer, had already finished his hot steamed bread in a few bites, fed the biting horse with hay, and then lay down again with his sack as a pillow.

"Brother Wei, what do you think?"

"Since we are not asked to dig trenches, let's take a nap."

Wei Ran reminded, "Don't wait for us to dig trenches. If we do that, you won't have a chance to sleep."

"makes sense"

Zhao Jinyu reacted belatedly, pulled his own knapsack over, and lay down next to Wei Ran and Li Sui'an on the other side. He looked at the stars gradually appearing above his head, smacked his lips and said, "It would be nice if I could have a drink of wine."

"Want to drink?" Wei Ran asked with a smile.

"It's just a thought," Li Sui'an said self-deprecatingly, "I can't drink wine, but I have plenty of horse urine."

"Not always"

Wei Ran lowered his voice slightly when he said this, pretended to reach his hand into the rolled-up sack as a cover, took out the British Army kettle from the metal book and shook it.

That living ancestor still had some humanity. Although he withheld the contents of the three oil barrels, he filled the kettle with sorghum wine from Hu Bazhi's family.

"Shh-"

Before Zhao Jinyu and Li Sui'an could speak, Wei Ran made a gesture to keep quiet, and then waved to Bai Yuguang who happened to pass by. He waited until the three of them gathered around before he unscrewed the wine jug.

"One bite per person?" Wei Ran suggested.

"One bite at a time!" Zhao Jinyu said first, "You go first!"

Hearing this, Wei Ran smiled, put the kettle to his mouth, took a sip, and then handed it to the other party.

Zhao Jinyu also took a sip, then handed the kettle to Li Sui'an. After Li Sui'an took a sip, he passed it to Bai Yuguang.

"You drink a sip too, and I'll secretly share the rest with everyone. Remember to return the kettle to me." Wei Ran said in a low voice.

Hearing this, Bai Yuguang nodded immediately, took a small sip, and then held the kettle and started sharing.

About ten minutes later, when the kettle was returned, there was no trace of alcohol in it.

With this only sip of wine, Wei Ran began to snore soon after putting away the kettle - just like the old soldiers around him.

In his senses, this restful sleep did not last long as he was awakened by the sound of a whistle.

"Get on the horse! Get on the horse!" Before he could see everything around him clearly, he heard the shouts and urgings of Company Commander Ma and Bai Yuguang.

After patting his face to make himself fully awake, Wei Ran checked the weapons on his body, ran quickly to the side of the biting horse, grabbed the saddle, and rode on it.

"Cover your face!" Ma Jintao issued a new order. The cavalrymen of the special forces company who had mounted their horses one after another took out the white towels around their necks, wet them with water from the kettle, covered their mouths and noses with them, and tied a knot at the back of their heads.

Even if no one explained, Wei Ran could guess that this wet towel was not just to cover up the flying dust and sand, but was more likely their only means to fight against the chemical gas attack that the Japanese were very likely to use.

Only after he tied the towel and urged the horse to run did Wei Ran have time to observe his surroundings.

The sky was already slightly bright by this time, and although the skyline was already blood red, the sun had not yet had time to jump out even a little bit.

He rode his horse across the trenches that had been dug all night, and the cool breeze blowing in his face took away the last bit of sleepiness in his body.

"Draw the knife!"

Amid the rumbling sound of horse hooves, Ma Jintao, who was riding in the front, shouted, and the many cavalrymen behind him also hurriedly drew out their sabers, which had been sharpened just last night and were now slightly rusty.

Next, without any orders or reminders, everyone dispersed, lowered their bodies, and tried to stick close to the horse's back - all of these could more or less increase the chance of survival and reduce the possibility of being shot.

As the drum-like sound of horse hooves became more and more urgent, the horses also sped up, and correspondingly, the sounds of fighting in the distance became clearer and clearer.

"boom!"

Before he could see the enemy clearly, a shell hit Wei Ran at a distance of no more than 50 meters away.

Amidst the flying mud and minced meat, a company of four cavalrymen and their horses remained there forever.

Seeing this, Wei Ran immediately whipped the horse hard a few times, urging it to increase its speed again.

"The gate of heaven is open! The gate of heaven is open!"

Amid the roars that came one after another, he finally saw the enemy in the morning mist!

The Japs' tanks and armored vehicles, the Japs charging with their Type 38 rifles equipped with bayonets, and even the puppet troops being driven to the front. There were also suppressive fire from the side operating machine guns and grenade launchers.

Before they could take a closer look, machine gun fire had already begun to spread towards them. The barrage of tracer bullets only took a light sweep, and the horses immediately fell to the ground.

  But at this moment, it is impossible to stop. Not only can it not stop, but it even needs to speed up, even if...

Even if the enemy in front is a tank!

“Da da da da—!”

Amid the long sound of gunfire, Wei Ran first emptied the 20 rounds of bullets in the magazine of the box gun in the metal notebook. Then he pulled a grenade from his waist, bit the trigger and pulled it hard, then threw it at the tank and the surrounding devils.

Without waiting for the grenade to fall to the ground, he had already grasped the saddle and leaned his body forward. While passing by the Japanese soldiers, he easily deflected the Type 38 rifle that was stabbing at him, cut off half of the opponent's arm, and stabbed the next Japanese soldier in the chest.

If the machine gun that narrowly hit them just now was the death zone for the cavalry, then when the cavalry re-entered the infantry's charging team, it would be hell for the infantry.

At this time, in order to avoid accidental injuries, the Japanese machine guns did not dare to shoot at them easily, but the cavalry had no such concerns.

Without the deadly threat of machine guns, cold weapons, with the help of high speed, finally have the possibility of defeating hot weapons!

"boom!"

Not until the saber in Wei Ran's hand had slashed across the body of the fifth Japanese soldier did the grenade he had just thrown finally explode.

Unfortunately, the hastily thrown grenade was some distance away from the tank. Its explosion not only took the lives of several Japanese soldiers nearby, but also did not stop the small tank that had already driven far away.

Wei Ran was not discouraged. He still had two grenades on his belt and there were several Japanese tanks in front of him!

  As he was fighting, the biting horse seemed to get excited as well. It used its body to trample on the Japanese soldiers who were unable to dodge it, and as if to provoke him, it brainlessly rushed towards another tank not far away!

"grass!"

Seeing this, Wei Ran hurriedly pulled out the second grenade, bit the firing line from a distance and pulled it hard.

But this time, he didn't rush to throw it out. Instead, he urged the biting horse to rush towards the tank that was not even as big as Alto at a faster speed!

Seeing the distance getting closer and the grenade in his hand about to explode, the biting horse leaped with all his might at the same time as Wei Ran let go of the grenade, easily jumping over the tank, and when he landed, he knocked away a Japanese soldier who was holding a Type 38 rifle and was about to fire.

"boom!"

This time, the grenade that exploded almost close to the tank finally exerted its deadly power.

But at this moment, Wei Ran had no time to look back at the results of the battle - the saber in his hand had already cut the neck of a Japanese soldier.

Not only him, but also Zhao Jinyu who was a little further away, Li Sui'an, Bai Yuguang and even Captain Ma who were further away, and all the other cavalrymen who had crossed the machine gun death line, were increasing their horse speed and charging into the Japanese array while vigorously waving their sabers, reaping one sinful life after another.

Amid the hoarse roars, the Japanese were chopped to the ground from time to time.

Amid the occasional gunshots, cavalrymen would fall off their horses, or even die almost at the same time as their horses.

Amid the successive explosions, grenades were thrown everywhere, either killing the Japanese or delaying the advance of the tanks.

There were even people who jumped up from their horses holding smoking grenades, allowing bullets to hit their chests, but still gritted their teeth and jumped onto the Japanese tanks, stuffing their hands and feet into the gaps and tracks that were big enough to crush them into meat paste, and also pushed the smoking grenades in as well.

Some cavalrymen even rushed towards the enemy's machine gun fire and grenade launcher teams at the cost of their comrades' casualties, and with their desperate courage, they either trampled and hacked them to death, or dropped grenades and died together with them.

Finally, this organized cavalry regiment and even cavalry brigade broke through the Japanese charge formation from all directions.

  Finally, the dead and wounded Japanese soldiers hurriedly gathered their strength before more and more cavalry rushed over, abandoned the puppet troops who served as cannon fodder and began to retreat!

Without any orders, the cavalrymen, who were blood-thirsty, rushed forward immediately, withstanding the enemy's suppressive firepower and using their horses to close in on the firepower to launch a new round of hacking and killing.

However, at this moment, when people were shouting and horses were neighing and guns were firing, the Japanese took advantage of the chaos and fired grenades in the direction of their retreat.

Wei Ran is definitely familiar with this type of weapon used by the Japanese. Because of his familiarity, he is also vigilant enough. So when he heard the faint "bang bang" sound from you, he was already on edge.

  As he watched in fear and haste, the grenades immediately emitted clouds of deadly yellow smoke when they hit the vicinity of the cavalry charge line!

When he came to his senses and took a second look, all the horses that were stained by the yellow smoke were frightened, and the cavalrymen on the horses covered their mouths, noses, eyes and even any exposed skin, and fell off their horses with hoarse screams.

"I'll fuck you, uncle!"

Wei Ran cursed with red eyes, pulled out the box gun attached to the back of the Kowloon belt, and emptied the magazine again at the retreating Japanese.

"Retreat! Retreat!"

Just at this moment, Ma Jintao, Bai Yuguang, and even Li Suian and Zhao Jinyu, also roared out new orders.

Gritting his teeth, Wei Ran put the empty box gun back on the Kowloon Belt and shouted at his horse to ride away before more deadly yellow smoke covered the area. At the same time, he was also looking for the figures of Li Sui'an, Zhao Jinyu and others.

But soon, he realized something was wrong. He saw Li Sui'an, but the other party was lying on the horse's back and almost fell off. Even the chestnut horse he was riding was shaky and seemed about to fail to run.

What made him even more worried was that Zhao Jinyu, who had just escaped from the deadly yellow smoke area, seemed to have Bai Yuguang lying on his horse's back, his life or death unknown!

  Something happened to these two people!

When Wei Ran realized this, his heart sank to the bottom.

But even so, he still controlled his horse and galloped to Li Sui'an's side, grabbed his belt and pulled him hard onto the back of the biting horse.

"What's going on?"

Wei Ran roared into the other's ear and urged the overloaded biting horse to run faster.

  But Li Sui'an

When he tried to open his mouth, a mouthful of blood gushed out, staining the white towel covering his face red!