War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1631: Re-celebrating the New Year, a New Year that cannot be celebrated

In the cave where the air was not fresh, Hu Bazhi resolutely refused the help of Wei Ran and Zhao Jinyu, and cut up the half of the pork that had not yet thawed by himself, preparing for the "re-New Year".

"Let's make dumplings later! Dumplings stuffed with oil residue and Chinese cabbage!"

Hu Bazhi said happily, "This half-fan pig is quite fat, I think we can make a lot of oil from it!"

  After exchanging a glance with Zhao Jinyu, Wei Ran smiled feebly. The pork, the pork stewed with vermicelli and the dumplings stuffed with oil residue and Chinese cabbage that Hu Bazhi had always said he wanted to make for everyone, were nothing more than...

It's just that I'm trying to find a little motivation to live in despair.

Seeing that he was not allowed to help, Wei Ran took the initiative to start a less serious topic, "Brother Hu, did you get all these leather materials?"

“It’s not just me”

Hu Bazhi explained as he worked, "There are nearly 30 of us setting traps in this forest to catch these animals. First, we can eat meat, and second, we can make some oil to clean our guns. The skins we peel off can also be used to make clothes, hats, and boots, so we won't freeze to death."

"You usually do it?" Zhao Jinyu picked up a pair of boots curiously, "Your craftsmanship is really good."

“It’s Hongxia.”

Hu Bazhi said, "This job is basically handed over to Sister Hongxia. She is very clever and has learned all my skills."

After saying that, Hu Bazhi also asked, "Where have you been these years? Why did you come back suddenly?"

“It’s a long story.”

Zhao Jinyu sighed, looked at Wei Ran again, and began to talk about his experience and Wei Ran's experience.

Wei Ran, who was also attending the meeting, quietly lit the gas lamp at this time, raised his camera and took a photo of Unakan, the Oroqen girl who was taking care of Hongxia by the kang. He then used the viewfinder to frame Zhao Jinyu who was lost in memories, and Hu Bazhi who was busy cooking, and pressed the shutter again.

However, just when he finished taking these two photos, Tian Xiaohu hurriedly ran in with a man and a woman.

"We can't celebrate this New Year" Tian Xiaohu's words made everyone nervous.

Seeing everyone looking at him, Tian Xiaohu immediately explained, "We had a lot of robbery today. Liu Zhaozi sent a message saying that Sun Dazhang and his men are preparing to search the mountain. I guess the Japanese will come early tomorrow morning."

"What should we do?" Hu Bazhi asked immediately, "Use transfer?"

"They probably won't be able to find this place. If they do, we'll just go into the mine."

Tian Xiaohu said, looking at Wei Ran, Zhao Jinyu and Una Kan apologetically, "If the Japanese intend to search the mountain, it will take at least ten days or half a month. We will have to leave immediately, and then..."

At this point, Tian Xiaohu paused, "We need to restore contact with Captain Zhao, who will do this?"

"Let me do it," Zhao Jinyu said without thinking, "No one is more suitable than me."

"One of you is not enough"

Tian Xiaohu said as he looked at Hu Bazhi, "Brother Hu, you have to be included in this matter, double insurance, just in case..."

"Then count me in." Hu Bazhi accepted the task without thinking twice.

"There is no time to lose, we have to go now."

Tian Xiaohu said and looked at the man and woman who followed in, "Brother Huang, Hongxia will be left to you two to take care of."

"Captain, don't worry. We will definitely take good care of her." Brother Huang, whose forehead was wrapped in gauze, and his wife made the promise in unison.

"I'm still thinking about celebrating the New Year again, and I'm already preparing to make lard."

Hu Bazhi looked with regret at the pork that he had just chopped with an axe.

"Wait for you to come back"

Brother Huang said, "Everyone is waiting for you to come back. Then we can open up and celebrate the New Year again!"

"Then it's settled"

Tian Xiaohu picked up a few good citizen certificates and hurriedly picked them out while speaking faster, "Brother Hu, I'll take you with me to escort you away. When you come back, if you can't find us, go to the old shack next to the mass grave."

"What should we do with the traitor in the city?" asked Hu Bazhi.

"Let's solve it." Before Tian Xiaohu finished speaking, he had already selected several good citizen certificates and distributed them to everyone.

When he took the certificate of good conduct, Wei Ran took a quick look at it and finally understood why they wanted to rob the bandits of their certificates of good conduct.

These bandits all had beards. That was why only their eyes and noses could be seen in the photos on their good citizen certificates. For some of them, their mouths could not even be seen clearly.

"Go get the car!"

Before Tian Xiaohu finished speaking, a voice could be heard faintly from outside the cave, "Captain, hurry up! The gangsters are coming down the mountain!"

"You guys go and harness the carriage first," Wei Ran said, "I'll change the medicine for Hongxia."

"That's fine, Lao Huang, you two can come and help too!"

Tian Xiaohu called out and ran towards the cave entrance with everyone including Unakan.

Watching everyone's backs being blocked by the rock, Wei Ran took a deep breath, took out the sleigh from the metal book, opened the wooden box on it, took out all the cans of meat, canned vegetables, jars of flour and oats, and even the bear skin and reindeer skin blankets and placed them on the kang.

Finally, he even took off his warm dog-skin coat, cotton-padded jacket, cotton trousers and boots and placed them on the edge of the kang, leaving only the dog-skin hat, and began to search on the sled.

Perhaps due to the limitations of time and space, the sled did not have the German double-sided winter camouflage and mountain boots that he had obtained during the polar night in Murmansk, but it did leave him with the pair of Lapland boots.

They also gave him warm clothes, including the KWI/33 one-piece flight suit reinforced with seal skin and penguin down sleeping bag he got during the polar night in Antarctica, and the Maritza robe he got in the labor camp.

Without any hesitation, he put on the flight suit and the high-waisted Lappish boots, then put away the sled.

He certainly had his reasons for doing so. According to the nature of a certain living ancestor, things like penguin down sleeping bags would never appear in this time and space. Even if he kept them, they would probably be confiscated by that living father as soon as he left.

But there was no problem with the dog-skin pants and dog-skin jacket he was wearing. They were originally things from this time and space and most likely would not be confiscated.

  The reason why he was so willing to make these efforts was actually similar to Hu Bazhi's desire to prepare a New Year's Eve dinner not long ago. It was just to find some motivation for himself.

After changing his clothes as quickly as possible, Wei Ran put on the Kowloon belt again, hung up the box gun, fastened the dog-skin hat on his head as a souvenir, and walked out of the tunnel in the dark.

When he arrived at the entrance of the cave, Hu Bazhi and others had already harnessed the sled and were waiting for him.

It was not until this time that he noticed that Hu Bazhi's big white mule was still alive.

Without wasting time or explaining why he changed his clothes, Wei Ran first removed the bridle that was covering the mouth of the biting horse, and then turned over and rode on it.

"Let's go without further delay."

As Tian Xiaohu spoke, he pushed his ski pole hard and rushed out first.

“Follow me”

After Hu Bazhi finished speaking, he shook the reins vigorously and shouted at the big white mule pulling the sled to run.

"Unakan, you follow first, we are behind you." Zhao Jinyu said.

Unakan did not refuse, and simply shouted at the two reindeer to run away.

Riding a horse and following these people galloping through the flying snow, Wei Ran also noticed that from time to time there would be one or two people around, either on skis, driving mule sleds, or riding horses, joining the team.

He also noticed that those on horseback would throw down two ropes to pull the people on skis, and there was also an extra person sitting on the mule sleds, either holding a machine gun or a submachine gun, always on guard around.

In the end, the team had about thirty people, which was almost all the fighting force in Tian Xiaohu's hands.

After crossing several low ridges during the raid, they finally came to an icy river.

After running for more than an hour along the frozen river in the wind and snow, everyone saw a long dragon of flashing lights appearing in front of them!

"hidden!"

Tian Xiaohu immediately gave the order, "Put up the guns!"

Before he finished speaking, the small Anti-Japanese Allied Forces team of more than 30 people who had been traveling in the dark collectively turned and went into the woods beside the river. After each of them stopped their sleds, they either took out a hide water bag filled with hot water from their arms and covered the weapons in their hands, or simply placed the weapons on a covered brazier to dry them.

"Listen carefully"

Tian Xiaohu observed the lights getting closer and closer in the distance and said, "Spread out and wait for my order to fire. Once you've killed one target, run away immediately. This time, we'll run on our own in different directions! No one is allowed to be caught."

"Yes!" Everyone in the woods responded to the order in a low voice.

"Shake off your tails and go back on a snowy night. Stay hidden and don't make any noise."

Tian Xiaohu continued, "When this storm is over, I will let Old Huang and his wife come find you. We can celebrate the New Year together again while we are still alive, eating pork stewed with vermicelli and white flour dumplings stuffed with oil residue and cabbage! We will also have a lot of wine to drink!"

"Yes!"

The people around responded again. Although the voice was also low enough, it was much stronger.

  Everyone didn't have to wait long before the convoy with flashing lights came closer and closer. The people hiding in the woods across a river could vaguely recognize that the people sitting on the forty or fifty sled vehicles were basically all Japanese soldiers!

"Brother Hu, after you run along the woods for two miles, cross the river immediately and run in the opposite direction along their sled tracks." Tian Xiaohu reminded in a low voice.

"When I come back to eat dumplings, none of you can be left behind." Hu Bazhi said, suppressing his emotions.

"Don't worry," Tian Xiaohu said as he raised the box gun in his hand and pressed down the large and small machine gun heads.

"Fuck him!"

With Tian Xiaohu's shout, he was the first to pull the trigger.

  It was only less than a second late. Wei Ran, holding a box gun in each hand, pulled the trigger towards the other side of the frozen river!

Amid the dense sound of gunfire, the oil lamps hanging on the necks of the animals became almost the best guide!

"Boys! Master Sun has issued a list of winners! You will be rewarded 10 silver coins for killing a Japanese soldier!"

When Tian Xiaohu started shouting, he slapped Hu Bazhi's big white mule on the butt. The latter also shook the reins vigorously and ran into the depths of the forest with Wei Ran and others who had just emptied the magazine.

Not long after that, with Tian Xiaohu's shout, "Kill them for a reward!", the anti-Japanese fighters immediately scattered, in groups of three or five, sitting on sleds or pulling the ropes pulled by horses and running in different directions. Less than 10 seconds later, the Japanese soldiers who had subconsciously fallen down after the surprise attack also manipulated their weapons and began to counterattack.

All of a sudden, ammunition from rifles, machine guns, grenade launchers and other weapons all fell into the woods.

Undoubtedly, the surprise attack led by Tian Xiaohu just now did cause considerable casualties to the Japanese troops who rushed over after receiving the signal, but the firepower of their counterattack was also fierce.

Wei Ran had no doubt that the Japanese and that Mr. Sun would organize a dragnet search of the mountain. It might be unknown whether the Anti-Japanese Allied Forces soldiers could escape by then.

Amid the Japanese enemy's gunfire behind them, Wei Ran, Zhao Jinyu and Una Kan followed Hu Bazhi's mule sled and galloped all the way until the gunshots behind them became increasingly blurred. Then they crossed the river and came to the road covered with sled and horse hoof prints.

"Shall we go ahead?" Zhao Jinyu suggested.

"Let's go!" Wei Ran responded readily and urged the biting horse to speed up.

“It’s really Chinese New Year now.”

When passing by the big white mule, the two also heard Hu Bazhi muttering in pain.

"Brother Hu, what are you so sad about?" Zhao Jinyu asked curiously.

"Bullets? What else?"

Hu Bazhi pointed behind him with increasing pain, "We don't have many bullets. In the past few years, those machine guns have fired bursts less often than we have eaten meat.

What's more, if he runs away after the fight, he won't get anything out of it. Xiaohu! Oh! Didn't the letter brought back by the big bearded man tell him to conserve his strength? How come he forgot it the moment he turned around? "

Hearing this, Wei Ran and Zhao Jinyu, who was on the other side of the sled, looked at each other. The latter asked a different question, "How did the devils get the news and rush here?"

"What else can I do?"

Hu Bazhi cursed angrily, "The Japanese gave Sun Dazhang a radio station, and I heard they even sent a Japanese soldier and a translator to take care of it for him.

With that thing, he can contact the devils in the county town. In the past few years, we have sent many people in but have not been able to kill that bastard. "

"How about we kill the traitor on the way?"

Zhao Jinyu suggested, "Since we have the good citizen certificate, why not sneak in and kill him while we're at it."

"It's not on the right way," Hu Bazhi said very clearly, "There are two directions."

“Isn’t that better?”

Zhao Jinyu said, "Let's go around in a circle, and no one will be able to figure out our direction."

"You have other plans, right?" Hu Bazhi guessed something sharply.

"Shiyi and I haven't corresponded for some time."

Zhao Jinyu answered honestly, "I want to go ask that bastard what's going on."

"What do you think, Brother Wei?" Hu Bazhi turned his head and asked.

"Put my opinion aside"

Wei Ran raised his chin towards the front, "There seems to be light ahead again."

"Quick! Hide!"

Before Hu Bazhi finished his words, he hurriedly shouted at the mule to turn into the woods by the roadside.

They didn't have to wait long before a mule-drawn sleigh slowly came over.

There were seven or eight Japanese soldiers sitting around a brazier on the sled, but judging from their appearance, they seemed to be asleep.

After a quick look, they all realized that there seemed to be some problems with the sled. The slider on one side was gone, and it was all made up of a pair of skis temporarily tied there.

"Kill them?" Wei Ran asked in a low voice.

“Don’t make any noise”

While speaking, Hu Bazhi had already taken out a set of bows and arrows, which was his specialty.

"Shoot the driver first"

Wei Ran whispered, "Unakan, you go ahead and keep an eye on the situation and see if there are any more Japanese sled convoys behind. Jin Yu, shall we sneak over there?"

"become"

Before Zhao Jinyu finished speaking, he had already pulled out his saber from the scabbard.

"Don't be too bloody. I still want to take off some of the devil's clothes."

Wei Ran looked at the sled that was getting farther and farther away, thought for a moment and said, "Well, wait until Brother Hu kills the driver and you take over, and I'll take care of the people on the sled, and you can finish them off at any time."

"Okay," Zhao Jinyu agreed very straightforwardly.

After discussing the plan, the three of them ignored Unakan who was driving the reindeer forward in the woods, and turned around and trotted quietly to catch up with the slow sled.

"Whoosh!"

Less than 10 meters away, Hu Bazhi shot an arrow accurately through the back of the handlebar man. At the same time, Wei Ran and Zhao Jinyu also ran out of the woods.

Zhao Jinyu quickly grabbed the handlebars of the sled as he was about to fall, covered his mouth and let him fall gently to the ground, then sat on the sled herself.

Wei Ran stood on the undamaged side of the sled, grabbed a Japanese soldier's head and twisted it hard.

  The whistling of the cold wind easily covered up the crisp sound, but when Wei Ran hugged the second Japanese soldier, the other party was extremely alert and instantly woke up, and almost subconsciously kicked over the brazier between them!

"Crack!"

Wei Ran broke another neck, and then, amid the screams of several others who were awakened by the overturned braziers, he hugged the heads of two Japanese soldiers and slammed them together.

Almost at the same time, Zhao Jinyu easily killed one of them with the saber in his hand, and also slashed the neck of another Japanese soldier next to him.

Without even waiting for the blade to leave the wound on his neck, Wei Ran had already pulled back the last Japanese soldier who was about to jump out of the car, forced him to sit on the overturned charcoal fire, and hugged his neck and twisted it again.

  Why don't you feel dizzy?

Wei Ran, who had already made preparations, was stunned for a moment, then pulled over the two Japanese soldiers whose heads had just collided, and at the same time Zhao Jinyu stopped the car, he broke their necks with two "clicks".

Before he could react, and before Zhao Jinyu could even react, Wei Ran fell straight on his back with a plop on the thick snow.

  He didn't expect that the side effects of this skill task would be so strong, so strong that he even immediately remembered the great pain he had endured when he returned to the world he was familiar with after the fatal battle in Teng County!

Fortunately, this side effect came and went quickly, and it stopped before he could even scream.

At this time, Zhao Jinyu had just stopped the sled, and Hu Bazhi had just called on his big white mule to run over.

"Why are you lying on the ground? Are you okay?" Zhao Jinyu asked nervously.

"It's okay, I just slipped away."

Wei Ran waved his hand and climbed up, while thinking about what he had just learned. Of course, he couldn't help but touch his nose subconsciously. Fortunately, there was no nosebleed this time.

Although he didn't know what incredible things that living father had stuffed into his head, it didn't stop Wei Ran from stripping off the clothes of a Japanese soldier.

"Are you planning to wear this outfit into the city?" Zhao Jinyu asked curiously.

"I don't have such plans," Wei Ran said calmly, "but we will definitely need them on the road, so hurry up and take off your clothes."

Zhao Jinyu was stunned for a moment, then immediately reacted, "What a good idea! The puppet army will not check the Japanese's good citizen certificates! Brother Wei, I remember you can speak the Japanese language? Do you want to..."

"I didn't plan to go into the city to kill the traitors"

Wei Ran explained seriously, "Compared to the traitors, it is more important to get in touch as soon as possible, whether it is with Captain Zhao or Shiyi. These sets of Japanese clothes can help us save a lot of trouble on the road."

  After a brief pause, he continued his analysis, "If we don't contact Shiyi as soon as possible, what if that traitor spreads false information and tricks Shiyi and her family back in your name?

Or let's take a step back. What if the devils are guarding the traitor and waiting to catch and kill him?"

As soon as these words were spoken, Zhao Jinyu immediately panicked and hurriedly helped to strip the clothes off the Japanese soldier.

In line with the principle of not wasting, after pulling the damaged sled into the woods on the side of the road, the crowd did not forget to collect the unused coal in the iron bucket and the overturned red charcoal on his sled.

Even the mule was recruited by Hu Bazhi and helped pull his sled.

With this unexpected gain, Hu Bazhi's sled became much faster. After they met up with Unakan who was waiting in front, they immediately sped up.

"Where are we going?"

Hu Bazhi asked loudly to Unakan who was running side by side with him.

"Go north, run to Heilongjiang!"

Unakan gave a long and desperate answer loudly, "We can talk about the rest after we get to the river alive!"

"drive!"

Hu Bazhi shook the reins vigorously, urging the two mules to run faster.

After running along this road for more than an hour, Unakan and Hu Bazhi suddenly changed direction at the same time, taking Wei Ran and Zhao Jinyu away from the road and once again going into the deep mountains and forests.

"How long will this run take?"

On horseback, Zhao Jinyu couldn't help but ask Wei Ran.

"do not know"

Wei Ran sighed secretly. It was almost imaginable that they would have to frequently avoid the Japs, bandits and even towns along the way. Because of this, none of them knew how long it would take to run this road.

In fact, as Unakan just said, it is still unknown whether one can get there alive.