War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1621 Total Annihilation

“Beep! Beep, beep!”

Amid the sharp and rapid whistle, Wei Ran quickly ran back to the west wing, picked up the saber on the table and the cavalry rifle hanging on the wall, and ran to the backyard.

Fortunately, the horse that bit the man was still tied here, and the saddle and other items had been placed in the stone trough in advance.

Nodding to the nearby groom Lao Bai as a token of his gratitude, Wei Ran prepared the saddle as quickly as possible and said, "Uncle Bai, I gave all the film I took of you last time to Guardian Han! He will be able to develop the photos when he returns!"

"Hey! Good!"

Lao Bai responded with full energy, took out four or five cleanly washed carrots from the saddle bag on his shoulder and stuffed them into Wei Ran's saddle bag, "Eat them as snacks!"

"Thank you!"

As Wei Ran was speaking, he had already fastened the saddle straps, and after climbing onto the horse swiftly, he shouted to the biting horse that had just snatched a carrot from Lao Bai's hand and ran towards the gathering threshing ground outside.

Because he had prepared in advance, he arrived early this time.

Soon, cavalrymen came from the stables. Some of them rode their horses to line up behind Wei Ran, while others formed another part of the square behind Zhao Jinyu who followed closely.

After some secret observation, Wei Ran also noticed that there were less than 30 people left in the pistol team led by him, and even the total number of this special agent company was only over . Obviously, this team still hadn't recovered from the last gas war.

After a short wait, Captain Ma rode to the front of the square. In a flash, Captain Ma had become much thinner, and there was a scar on his face that stretched from his brow to his neck. In line with the scar, there was also a medal on his chest.

"Gawads!"

"Clang! clang! clang!" The only three or four hundred cavalrymen left in the regiment struck their stirrups with their swords in unison.

“The time for revenge has come”

As Captain Ma spoke, he raised his saber, "Brigade Commander orders, no prisoners!"

"Kill! Kill! Kill!" The cavalry, who had been suppressed for who knows how long, roared in unison.

"rush!"

  At Captain Ma's command, he was the first to ride out on horseback!

Needless to say, several cavalry companies followed Captain Ma out of the camp, crossed the river and headed straight for the battlefield in the distance.

  Another fight to the death?

How long will the fight to the death last?

Li Sui'an undoubtedly survived, but what about Zhao Jinyu? Will he survive? And what about the people around him?

While Wei Ran was daydreaming, the cavalry team began a forced march under the command of Captain Ma.

Naturally, there was no answer to those wild thoughts. After running for nearly an hour, the cavalry team stopped at the order of Captain Ma.

"Everyone disperse and rest where you are!"

Captain Ma's adjutant issued a new order, but Captain Ma himself called several company commanders together, and they each held up their pocket watches and discussed something in a low voice.

The rest of the cavalry did not dare to delay and quickly dismounted, some used a small iron-toothed rake to comb the horse's hide, some fetched water from the nearby river, wet the towels and put them on the horses' necks.

Of course, there are also people like Zhao Jinyu and Wei Ran, who start braiding horsetails immediately after cooling down their war horses, or take out whetstones and after careful grinding, cut and cut on the horse manure to "enchant" it.

At this moment, everyone was very clear that their current rest was to allow the horses to recover their strength and prepare for the upcoming charge.

Wei Ran imitated the cavalrymen around him and chopped the horse manure back and forth with his saber a few times. After looking around, he simply put the saber in his hand into a small puddle of water that smelled bad.

This method is indeed disgusting, but Wei Ran knows clearly that in this age when everyone is short of antibiotics, this method is absolutely lethal.

"What do you think I should do?"

Zhao Jinyu also chopped his saber into the puddle, sat down next to Wei Ran, shared a cigarette with him and asked in a low voice.

"What should we do?" Wei Ran asked knowingly.

"I plan to go back to find my elder and second brothers, and I also want to find squad leader Xiaohu and elder brother Hu." Zhao Jinyu took out a pack of matches to help Wei light a cigarette, then lit one for himself, and asked vaguely, "What about you? Don't you want to?"

"What are you worried about?" Wei Ran did not answer the other party's question, but asked a new question instead.

“No worries”

Zhao Jinyu shook her head. "I just don't know how to start. My brother-in-law takes good care of me. I don't know if it would be considered desertion if I leave now. What if something happens to my brother-in-law after I leave? I... I will..."

"beep--!"

Before Zhao Jinyu could finish expressing her worries, the adjutant of Captain Ma blew the whistle. Immediately, everyone around them grabbed their swords and jumped on their horses.

Seeing Wei Ran looking at her, Zhao Jinyu smiled helplessly, "Go back. Go back alive first, and we'll talk about it later."

"You must go back alive." Wei Ran responded with a low voice and a blessing, then looked at Captain Ma.

"Gawads"

As Captain Ma spoke, all the cavalrymen straightened their chests.

"This time our opponent is the Japanese cavalry. There are two battalions, six or seven hundred men. Our regiment will be responsible for outflanking them!"

Captain Ma rode on his horse and shouted, "Kill! No prisoners, no matter how hard you try! Guys, are you afraid?"

"Don't be afraid!" the cavalry shouted in unison.

"Boom!" Just at this moment, a cannon shot was heard in the distance.

"The time has come, let's open the Sky Gate!" Captain Ma shouted and rushed out first.

"Open the gate of heaven!"

Everyone shouted and rode their horses forward, surrounding Captain Ma.

This time, after running for less than five minutes, they saw the Japanese cavalry.

At this time, the two cavalry brigades that had just been ambushed dispersed and slowed down their horses. Especially the machine gun squad at the back, they were shouting at the horses to lie down for support, and were busy setting up machine guns, grenade launchers and even mortars!

"kill!"

  Captain Ma shouted loudly, and everyone immediately increased their speed and rushed towards the Japanese cavalry!

“Da da da da—!”

  Amidst the dense and chaotic gunfire, the pistol team led by Wei Ran opened fire first, covering the newly set up machine guns, grenade launchers and even mortar positions with overlapping fan-shaped barrages!

After emptying the bullets from the magazine of the box gun in the metal book, Wei Ran put away his gun and immediately pulled out the box gun on his waist and fired another fan-shaped shot at the Japanese cavalry that was already close at hand.

"Da da da--"

Amid the somewhat lonely and dense sound of gunfire, four or five Japanese war horses in front fell to the ground one after another. Those Japanese soldiers who had just taken out their guns and were about to fire back were either dragged by the horses or pinned to the ground amid exclamations and screams.

Before they could stuff all the box guns in their hands into their backpacks, the two cavalry units had a head-on collision!

"puff!"

Wei Ran's first slash was on the lower back of a Japanese cavalryman. When he sheathed his sword, he also slashed the head of the next Japanese warhorse, easily cutting off half of the horse's nose.

Stimulated by the severe pain, the warhorse immediately raised its front hooves and threw the cavalryman on its back off.

  Before its front hooves could land, Zhao Jinyu, who was riding over from the other side, cut open the horse's belly with a knife!

After working together to eliminate one enemy, the two men rushed towards the next enemy with sabers in their hands.

"clang!"

Wei Ran, who was fighting in an extremely dirty way, collided with the saber of a Japanese cavalryman in an almost head-on manner, and took the opportunity to spit a mouthful of phlegm in the opponent's face!

"Pooh!"

Under this sudden insulting blow, the Japanese cavalryman was stunned for a moment and subconsciously tried to wipe off the sticky substance on his face that had covered one of his eyes.

But by the time he reacted, Wei Ran had already raised his saber and slashed the arm of the next Japanese soldier. On the other side, Zhao Jinyu also took the opportunity to kill the Japanese soldier who had been hit by Wei Ran's phlegm.

After a brief confrontation, both sides broke through each other's cavalry line. However, almost at the same time, another cavalry team rushed out in front of Wei Ran and others, also shouting "Open the Heaven Gate!"

At the moment when the two sides crossed each other, the shouts of killing, the sound of sabers clashing, and the neighing of war horses were heard again behind them!

There was no need for any command at all. Everyone turned their horses around almost at the same time, especially the pistol team. They all took out the magazines they had prepared in advance and loaded them into the box guns.

"rush!"

Captain Ma's adjutant shouted and blew the whistle, and immediately, the cavalry began the second round of charge!

  This time, it was still the special forces company charging in the front, and it was still the first to fire with their continuous box guns or even machine guns!

Amid the still dense gunfire, the Japanese cavalry, who had just experienced another round of fighting, had no time to catch their breath, and some even had no time to turn their horses around, before Wei Ran and others had already rushed to the front, chasing the bullets!

This charge was obviously much simpler and easier than the first round. As the sabers were swung again and again, the Japanese cavalry who had just turned their horses around did not react most of the time. Or even if they reacted and raised their sabers to fight back, their strength was obviously much weaker.

"clang!"

In another collision between sabers, the saber in Wei Ran's hand knocked the opponent's saber away with almost overwhelming force.

Without even finishing off the opponent, he used the reaction force of the collision to raise the blade and slashed across the neck of the next Japanese soldier who had his back facing him.

  Before the head that was spinning and rolling off the shoulders hit the ground, this group of Japanese cavalry was pierced again. At the same time, the friendly troops that had just crossed paths with Wei Ran and others rushed back again, crossed paths again, and pounced on the enemy whose formation was scattered again!

"beep--!"

  At the whistle of the regiment commander's adjutant, everyone turned around again, and the pistol team raised their box guns loaded with bullets again!

"Da da da--!"

Under the new round of fire suppression, the Japanese cavalry, which had suffered serious casualties, had already shown signs of escaping, but how could this pocket formation, which had been created with great difficulty, allow them to escape?

  Under the desperate gaze of these Japanese cavalrymen who were rushing to prepare for a new round of hacking and killing but had no chance to run, a team of cavalrymen with sabers in hand appeared in the direction they came from!

In the third round of close combat, a desperate Japanese soldier jumped off his horse and pounced directly onto the vicious horse that Wei Ran was riding.

"puff!"

Although Wei Ran had not expected such a fighting style, it did not prevent him from holding the saber horizontally in front of him and using the already mottled and jagged blade to press against the neck of the Japanese soldier who was charging at him and pull it horizontally.

"laugh--"

There was a splashing sound right next to his ear, and the warm and smelly blood sprayed Wei Ran's chest, neck and even face red. The Japanese soldier whose neck was cut was also pushed out by Wei Ran.

  In just a moment, the next Japanese cavalryman had already raised his saber and was ready to stab Wei Ran in the chest! But Wei Ran's eyes were covered with blood!

"boom!"

  Just at this moment, Zhao Jinyu raised the box gun and pulled the trigger, hitting the forehead of the Japanese soldier with incredible accuracy!

Under the impact of the bullet, the Japanese soldier lay back with his head raised, and the saber in his hand slipped to the ground when he was less than three or four meters away from Wei Ran, and stuck diagonally on the yellow sand.

  By the time Wei Ran wiped the blood from his eyes, they had already defeated the Japanese cavalry again!

"Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!"

At the sound of Ma Jintao's whistle, the cavalry team, which had charged back and forth three times, finally stopped after letting the friendly forces on the opposite side pass.

"Raise your guns!" Ma Jintao roared and gave the order.

After a burst of noise, the blood-soaked cavalrymen took off the Type 38 cavalry rifles that were captured from the Japanese. Only Wei Ran took out a camera instead of a cavalry rifle.

Compared to his carefully cared-for camera, the carbines in the hands of most of the other soldiers were rusted due to lack of necessary care and maintenance.

For quite a few of them, the stocks had cracked in the middle along the glue line at the beginning of manufacturing, so that they had to be tied and fixed with leather, nails or cloth strips.

But even so, they can still make a splash!

Almost at the moment when the friendly forces that had just passed by once again pierced through the remaining cavalry of the Japanese, with a whistle, everyone immediately pulled the trigger, and at the same time Wei Ran pressed the shutter, a volley of gunfire was fired that should have been eliminated in the war long ago.

This definitely saves more bullets than machine gun suppression. After just one round of gunfire, there were less than 50 Japanese cavalrymen still on horseback.

"boom--!"

After a volley of gunfire came from the diagonal opposite, the remaining forty or fifty Japanese cavalrymen were shot one after another, leaving only their horses still standing there at a loss.

It was not until all the Japanese cavalry were wiped out and only dozens of Japanese war horses were left in the middle of the battlefield that Wei Ran felt the pain in his legs and arms.

But compared to the pain, he noticed more that even with the assistance of the friendly forces on the opposite side, after this round of fighting, their cavalry regiment only had at most two hundred cavalrymen left.

What's worse is that he didn't find the captain Ma who gave him the boots among the more than 200 people, nor did he find his adjutant.

Obviously, the other cavalry soldiers around also noticed this.

After a brief panic, Ma Jintao urged his horse forward and said, "Special Agent Company! Find the regiment commander and the adjutant! The rest of you, clean up the battlefield and rescue your comrades!"

"Yes!"

Everyone responded in unison and urged their horses to rush towards the battlefield less than a hundred meters away.

Enduring the pain all over his body, Wei Ran dismounted and loaded both Ming and An box guns with bullets. Then he walked towards the corpses on the ground with his saber in hand.

"puff!"

Wei Ran stabbed a Japanese cavalryman in the neck, who had half of his shoulder chopped off and also had knife wounds on his legs.

Continuing to walk forward, he stopped beside a cavalryman, reached out his hand to feel his breath, and listened to his heartbeat. Seeing no response, he sighed, stood up and continued walking forward.

There were as many as six or seven hundred bodies of both our own and the enemy lying on the ground. It was a tragic scene that was difficult to describe.

After one hour of hard work, they finally carried their comrades away from the battlefield after repeatedly finishing off the enemy with blows, trying to sniff out their breath, or listening to their heartbeats.

During this period, the special forces company finally found their commander and his adjutant.

Fortunately, although the captain's arm was cut off at the elbow and his calf was broken after falling off his horse, he was still alive.

Unfortunately, his adjutant did not survive. A Japanese saber was stuck in his abdomen. Until his death, the pistol in his hand, which had been emptied of bullets, was pressed against the broken chest of the Japanese cavalryman he was holding in his arms.

"Gawa, take a picture of him."

Captain Ma said to Wei Ran, who had just helped him stop the bleeding of his broken arm and was now aligning his broken bones, "Xiao Yu has been following me since he was 16, um——!"

Amid Captain Ma's screams, Wei Ran helped him align the broken bones in the skin and flesh of his calf, and after kneading them for a while to make sure they were aligned, he found four Japanese saber scabbards to use as splints and helped Captain Ma fix them.

"My niece is pregnant with Xiaoyu's child"

Captain Ma, whose face turned pale from the pain, sighed in near despair, "How am I going to explain myself when I get back! Alas!"

"Captain, I'll take a picture of him." Wei Ran promised seriously, "I'll go right away."

"Jintao, from now on, you are the acting commander." Commander Ma said blankly while looking in the direction of Adjutant Yu.

"Yes!" Ma Jintao accepted the order seriously, but there was no joy of promotion on his face at all.

After leaving the new and old captains Ma in a panic, Wei Ran raised his camera and pressed the shutter towards Adjutant Yu, taking a picture of him and the enemy he had killed. He then personally helped him push away the enemy's body and carefully pulled out the saber from Adjutant Yu's body.

"Go with peace of mind." Wei Ran helped Adjutant Yu close his eyes while muttering to himself.

In this battle, they completely wiped out the Japanese cavalry, but they also paid a huge price. But compared with the pain of losing his comrades and the joy of victory, Zhao Jinyu became more and more confused.

This is undoubtedly the most difficult time for the cavalry regiment, and he really couldn't bring himself to ask to leave the cavalry regiment at this time.

At the edge of the battlefield, Zhao Jinyu, who was guarding the spoils, fiddled with the grenade launcher that he had just received after a fair distribution with his brothers, as well as the grenade launcher filled with two Japanese octopus bags. He couldn't help but think of the battle in the Baishan Black Water.

“I can’t say this.”

With a bitter and conflicted face, Zhao Jinyu looked at his comrades who were busy collecting corpses in the distance. Finally, he sighed helplessly, opened the wooden gun box at his waist, and pulled out a box gun.

This box gun belongs to Li Sui'an. It was left to him by the other party before Li Sui'an was sent away.

In Li Sui'an's words, if he did not survive the way to the Ma family, he would have to trouble Zhao Jinyu to send the gun back for him after driving away the Japanese.

  wait a little longer

Zhao Jinyu put the box gun back into the gun case and buttoned it up, but he himself didn't know what he was waiting for.