War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1627: Young Woman Wearing a Roe Deer Horn Hat

"get off"

Wei Ran, holding two box guns in his hands, said with a smile, and glanced at the gun that the other party threw into the snow.

Among the five guns in total, there are two Golden Hook rifles, two Ma Sihuan rifles, and an old Liao Shisan rifle. Obviously, most of these weapons are junk picked up from others.

Hearing this, the people on the sled jumped off without hesitation and even stood in a row subconsciously.

"Stand sideways to me, take off your hat, unbutton your cotton coat and shake it out." Wei Ran said with a smile, "Also, take off your cotton shoes and stand on them."

The five of them were quite decisive. They turned 90 degrees in unison, took off their hats and threw them onto the sled, then unbuttoned their cotton-padded jackets, took them off and shook them, and then took off their cotton-padded shoes, put their feet on the shoes and looked at Wei Ran pitifully.

"Put on your cotton coat and hat"

Wei Ran waved the box gun in his hand again, and the five of them quickly buttoned up their shirts and put on their cotton hats.

"Turn around and put your hands behind your back."

Wei Ran gave a new order. The five looked at each other, and one of them nodded and asked, "Master, you won't kill..."

"No," Wei Ran replied before the other party finished speaking, "I'm not asking for money or killing, I'm just trying to find out something."

Hearing this, the five of them breathed a sigh of relief, turned around obediently, faced Wei Ran, and put their hands behind their backs.

"Where are you from?"

As Wei Ran asked, he held the sled with a stick and casually checked the things on the sled.

There were quite a lot of things on the sled. Several sacks were filled with feed for livestock, and only one not-so-big cloth bag was filled with sweet potatoes and potatoes.

In addition to these things, the sled was also loaded with a bag of vermicelli, half a fan of pork, two large jars of wine, a basket of things like dried beans and eggplants, a few cabbages, a bag of flour, a jar of frozen soybean paste, a jar of pickled cabbage lumps, and a jar of salted duck eggs.

It’s not over yet. Next to the brazier, there was a circle of five aluminum lunch boxes and five aluminum kettles of different styles.

There were Japanese lunch boxes and Chinese imitations of German ones. The same was true for kettles, some were imitations of German ones, some were Japanese wooden stopper kettles, and some were dual-purpose kettles, even the Russian improved 1937 kettles.

Without exception, these lunch boxes were all filled with still warm stewed bones with soybeans and pancakes stacked on top, and the kettle was full of wine.

Do you have to bring your own food to be a bandit?

While Wei Ran was muttering to himself, he finally understood why that living ancestor was so open-minded this time. It turned out that even if he didn't give it to him, he could still seize it, right?

While he was distracted, the puppet soldier who was driving the carriage saw that the others were silent, and then he spoke up, "Mumulanda."

"Why go?"

Wei Ran asked casually, and picked up a roasted sweet potato, broke it open and took a big bite. It was called a sweet potato, but it was actually a white-fleshed sweet potato. It was not as sweet as sweet potato, but it was exceptionally fragrant.

However, after this question was asked, these puppet soldiers remained silent.

"You won't tell me, right? Then I can only kill them one by one."

"Speak, let's speak!"

Another puppet soldier said quickly, "Sun Dazhang Panzi spread the news that there will be people from Juyi Hall outside Langcaozigou tomorrow evening. We are going to rely on the kiln."

Wei Ran pretended to be curious and asked, "The Grand Master Sun from Langcaozigou? I haven't been back for a while. Who is the Grand Master Sun? Isn't that the Grand Master Cao's?"

"Sun Da Zhang Panzi used to be Cao Da Zhang Panzi's artillery chief. After Cao Da Zhang Panzi was beaten by the Anti-Japanese United Army a few years ago, Sun Da Zhang Panzi occupied the Juyi Hall outside Langcaozigou. Since then, he has been working for the emperor and the devils."

“So that’s what happened”

Wei Ran muttered something in a moderately loud voice, then continued, "Don't talk dirty to me. Why don't you serve as puppet soldiers and become bandits?"

"We are originally the subordinates of Cao Dazhang Panpan. We have to find a way to make a living during the winter, so we serve as puppet soldiers for a few days to earn a living.

Now that Sun Da is in charge, we must go back. It is much better to be a gangster and eat meat and drink wine than to be a puppet soldier and suffer the bullying of birds."

"What year is it this year? What day of the month is it?" Wei Ran continued to ask.

Although these puppet soldiers didn't know why they were asked such a basic question, they answered in unison, "The 29th year of the Republic of China, the 19th day of the first lunar month."

"Why are you open so early?" Wei Ran asked a new question.

"Sun Dazhang is catching the Anti-Japanese United Army in exchange for a reward."

Another puppet soldier replied, "It's too late to go now, and we won't even be able to have a sip of soup. If we can catch the guy named Zhao, hey! Then we can eat delicious food and drink spicy drinks in the future."

"So that's what's going on. All right, let's turn around. How do we get to Langcaozigou? I just happened to be looking for Mr. Sun to do some business with."

"Go straight along the river, and when you come to the river fork, keep to the right. It's less than five miles away." One of the puppet soldiers turned around and gave the first answer.

"How far is it?"

"It's still far from Langcaozigou. It will probably take until tomorrow afternoon to get there." Another puppet soldier took the initiative to answer, "Sir, I'll give you the mule sled and the gift. If you're in a hurry, just go there first!"

"What about you?" Wei Ran asked with a smile.

"We're not in a hurry!"

The puppet soldier nodded and said, "We will go back now. It won't be too late to go again after it snows in two days."

Wei Ran weighed the box in his hand and said, "No, since we met, it's fate. Can you guys help me with a small favor?"

"What? What help?" one of the puppet soldiers asked vigilantly.

"It's not a big deal, just pick up your guns and practice with me."

"boom!"

  Before Wei Ran could finish his words, a gunshot was heard from the opposite direction of the river!

Before the sound of gunfire reached his ears, a bullet had already grazed the gap between Wei Ran's shoulder and the dog-skin hat and hit a puppet soldier in the face!

Hey!

After Wei Ran reacted, he immediately supported himself on the sled and jumped to the other side. Like a frightened rabbit, he reacted extremely quickly and hid behind a pine tree on the side of the road.

It was not until he hid himself that the remaining four puppet soldiers reacted in unison.

As the saying goes, there are many different people. One of them jumped onto the sled, pulled out the stick, slapped the mule's butt and tried to run away. Another one reacted very quickly and picked up a Ma Sihuan rifle and was about to load it.

As for the other two puppet soldiers, one of them knelt down on the ground, kowtowed in the direction of the gunshots and shouted for mercy.

The last puppet soldier picked up a golden hook rifle and ran anxiously to another pine tree on the side of the road to hide.

  Wei Ran, who was hiding behind a tree, knew that the shot just now was definitely aimed at him, and it was very likely that the opponent intended to kill both of them with one shot!

Without having time to think about who the other party was, Wei Ran raised his box gun and pulled the trigger at the puppet soldier driving the sled vehicle!

"boom!"

On both sides of the river, two gunshots almost overlapped, and the puppet soldier driving the cart and the puppet soldier who picked up the gun and was loading it were shot in the chest. One fell off the sled and the other lay on the ground with his head raised. However, the mule pulling the sled was still moving forward slowly.

After the two gunshots, the only people left alive on this mountain road were Wei Ran and the last two puppet soldiers.

"Pity"

Wei Ran muttered something with great regret, turned the muzzle of his gun and aimed it at the puppet soldier behind the pine tree not far away. The puppet soldier who had already loaded the golden hook rifle in his hand with bullets decisively pulled the trigger again.

"boom!"

There were two more gunshots that almost completely overlapped. Wei Ran shot dead the puppet soldier who had loaded the gun in his hand with bullets. The man on the other side of the ditch shot dead the puppet soldier who had just kowtowed and was about to run away when he saw the situation was not good.

The reason why Wei Ran felt regretful was that he had originally planned to use these five brothers to complete the skill task.

The reason why he killed the puppet soldier hiding behind the tree next to him was that he blamed the other party for taking a gun - he didn't want to bet on whether the other party would shoot at the people on the other side of the river first after loading the bullets, or would shoot himself first.

After such a brief exchange of fire, Wei Ran and the people on the opposite side were fine, but these five puppet soldiers died unjustly.

"Ancestor Bodhidharma is mighty!"

Wei Ran, who was hiding behind a tree, imitated Hu Bazhi's behavior and spoke some polite words.

"Stop talking nonsense! Go chase the sled!"

To Wei Ran's surprise, the person who responded to him from the other side of the river was actually a young woman! A young woman who didn't speak Chinese very well and didn't seem to have a very good temper!

  Who the hell is this?

Wei Ran grinned, but that did not stop him from taking off his dog-skin coat and throwing it away.

  "Bang!" As expected, almost at the moment the dog-skin coat flew out, a bullet came from the opposite side!

"Girl! This is where you're wrong!" Wei Ran shouted, leaning against the tree.

"It went off accidentally!"

The woman on the other side shouted loudly without any psychological burden, "Go chase the mule!"

"I'll go if you fire another shot!" Wei Ran made the request loudly while putting on his skis.

He estimated that the opponent must not have many bullets, otherwise there would be no need to take the risk of trying a double-killing tactic just now.

And the most important thing is that he had just been counting the gunshots for the other party. According to common sense, if he fired one more shot, the other party would probably be reloaded.

"Bang!" The woman opposite fired a bullet very decisively.

  Take a gamble.

Wei Ran's mind raced as he quickly escaped from the pine tree where he was hiding. After picking up the dog-skin coat, he skied hard to speed up, constantly changing positions while rushing towards the sled that was still moving forward.

Fortunately, perhaps because she felt she had no confidence in hitting the target, the woman on the other side of the river did not continue shooting.

After chasing on his skis for about ten minutes, Wei Ran finally caught up with the stopped mule sled.

After putting away his skis and poles and looking behind him, Wei Ran had no intention of going back to take risks. He simply sat on the sled and shouted at the mule to continue on their way.

As for who the woman behind him was, whether she was an enemy or a friend, he didn't want to find out at this moment.

Compared with these, the more important thing is to get to Langcaozigou as soon as possible and find Hu Bazhi and other talents as soon as possible.

It would be best if Hu Bazhi and the others knew the woman behind them. If they were not on the same journey, there would be no burden in taking action when they meet again.

Thinking of this, he shook the reins again, urging the mule to run faster.

He didn't know that almost at the same time he caught up with the mule sled, two reindeer also dragged a not-so-big sled from the other side of the river and finally stopped beside the bodies of the puppet soldiers.

Soon after, a young girl wearing a white fur robe with a right-side opening, a roe deer horn hat on her head, and a horse hoist on her shoulder walked down from the sled.

After looking around and going to the place where Wei Ran had just been hiding, the girl bent down, picked up two Mauser pistol bullet casings, looked at them, then put them in her arms, turned and walked towards the bodies of the puppet soldiers, and searched the five bodies very skillfully.

Soon, she found several usable bullets from two of the puppet soldiers.

First, she loaded a load of bullets into the Ma Sihuan rifle wrapped with white cloth in her hand. Then, she removed the bolts of several other guns and threw them into the frozen river. Then, she stepped on the sled and shouted to the two reindeer to run slowly after the mark of the mule sled in front.

However, judging from the way she walked and stopped, she didn't seem to be in a hurry to catch up with Wei Ran in front of her.

At the same time, Wei Ran shouted at the mule sled to go faster. Out of caution, he decided to keep the distance between him and the woman behind him as large as possible.

He ran like this for more than an hour. It was getting dark, but he had no intention of stopping.

They ran in the dark for about an hour, and seeing more and more snowflakes in the cold wind, he finally called on the tired mule to leave the mountain path and go into the woods.

After walking about four or five hundred meters deep into the forest, Wei Ran found a leeward valley and stopped.

He first tied up the mule and fed it, then he collected some dry branches and firewood, broke them into small pieces and put them on the brazier. He also picked up a lunch box and placed it on the brazier, and put some snow on the lunch box lid and let it melt slowly.

After walking back about a hundred meters along the sled trail and observing for a moment to see that no one was following, Wei Ran returned to the sled with peace of mind, took out the sled from the metal book, and found the tent and set it up.

However, before he could take out the cast iron stove and light it, a woman's deliberate and forceful coughing was heard outside.

  Sure enough, there is no way to escape.

Wei Ran, who had just lit the kerosene lamp, muttered secretly, reached out and put away the sled and the airdrop box containing the cast iron stove.

"Come out with your hands raised"

The woman hiding somewhere outside said in slightly stiff Chinese, "If you don't come out, I'll shoot you to death!"

After a little hesitation, Wei Ran finally came out of the tent obediently and raised his hands. Now that he couldn't hide, he wanted to see who the other party was.

"Are you a bandit?"

The woman hiding behind the tree asked, only half of her head and her hand holding a box gun were exposed. Even the box gun had only half of the barrel exposed, and the rest was hidden in her sleeves.

"No"

While Wei Ran answered, he did not look at the other person. Instead, he looked around to see if there was anyone else nearby.

"How do I get to Langcaozigou?" the woman asked after a moment of silence. "If you dare to lie, I'll beat you to death!"

"You're going to Langcaozigou too? Who are you looking for?" Wei Ran asked immediately, "Hu?"

"Cut the nonsense!"

The young woman hiding behind the tree shouted, "Tell me! How are we going?"

"Go straight along the river, and when you come to the river fork, keep to the right. It's less than five miles away." Wei Ran answered truthfully.

"Grumpy"

After he finished speaking, the girl hiding behind the tree responded with her stomach rumbling.

"Would you like to come and eat something together?"

Wei Ran asked tentatively, and at the same time slowly changed the direction of one hand, pointing to the sled not far away and said, "There is a lunch box next to the brazier on it, with food in it, and there is wine in the kettle, all of which were seized from the puppet army. If you are hungry, you might as well eat something."

"Lie down on the ground and don't move," the woman hiding behind the tree said vigilantly.

"without"

"Shut up!" the woman yelled, then cautiously walked out from behind the tree, "If you keep talking, I'll kill you!"

  This dog temper

Wei Ran snorted helplessly. Is he sure he can kill the enemy? Of course he is sure, and it is not difficult for him, but what if the enemy is one of his own?

Anyway, this girl, who didn't sound very old, had just killed a few puppet soldiers not long ago.

For him, killing a person is easy, but if he kills the wrong person, it would be difficult to bring the dead person back to life.

"Bury your head in the snow! I'll kill you if you raise your head!" The girl gave a new order.

It's my bad luck!

Wei Ran muttered something and obediently buried his head in the cold snow, quietly listening to the other party seeming to walk to the sled and pick up the lunch box.

"I won't kill you, so don't chase me, otherwise..."

"I'll kill you!" Wei Ran said the same threat in his mind at the same time as the other party.

"There is a group of bandits around Langcaozigou. You'd better be careful. They are following the Japanese and are capturing anti-Japanese soldiers everywhere." Wei Ran turned over and reminded loudly.

However, the girl disappeared into the night, leaving only the faint sound of a deer calling in the distance.

Sitting up and brushing off the snow on his body, Wei Ran walked to the side of the sled and took a look. Then he shook his head with a helpless look. In his heart, he was already roughly certain that the girl was probably not a bad person.

The reason was simple. There were still two fragrant lunch boxes and five wine jugs left next to the brazier. Apart from that, only a sack of feed was missing. It was obvious that the other party had no intention of starving himself and the robbed mule to death.

With a nonchalant smile, Wei Ran went back into the tent and once again took out the sled and the airdrop box with the cast iron stove attached to it.

Finally, he brought in the brazier and poured the charcoal in it into the cast iron stove. Wei Ran then took a saw and got enough firewood. Then he returned to the tent which had become extremely warm. He sat on the sled, sat in front of the cast iron stove, and opened a lunch box that had already been heated and was boiling hot and was constantly emitting steam.

While he was enjoying a bite of meat bone and a bite of pancake, the girl driving the reindeer sleigh across the frozen river found a sheltered valley and stopped.

She first fed the stolen feed to the two reindeer, then returned to the sled, spread out a deerskin blanket, wrapped herself tightly in it, and immediately opened a lunch box impatiently and began to wolf it down.

In the warm tent, Wei Ran took a sip of the heated white wine, and couldn't help wondering about the origins of the woman just now.

He was sure that he had not seen the other person in the first two scenes. He could also be sure that the young girl was most likely an Oroqen based on the cute roe deer horn hat on the other person's head that he had just seen in a quick glance.

There were also some questions asked by the puppet soldiers when they were still alive. They came from Mulanda's location. It was the 1940th day of the first lunar month of the th year of the Republic of China, in other words, , probably around the end of February.

The so-called Mulanda is actually Mulan County on the banks of the Songhua River, and its straight-line distance from the Ice City is only a hundred kilometers at most.

  These were all mentioned by Xia Shushi when he was helping me collect information, but are there Oroqen people in this place?

Or to be more precise, were there any Oroqen activities in Mulan County and its surrounding areas in 1940?

The answer is actually obvious. Wei Ran can at least be sure that the young girl is definitely not a local, otherwise he probably wouldn't have to ask himself how to get to Langcaozigou.

If so, why did she go to Langcaozigou? Perhaps this is the key to the problem.