War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1633 Going in Circles

In the warm but dim dugout, the mist was mixed with the aroma of the Japanese's soap and accompanied by the sound of splashing water. The Qiu family brothers and sisters who were queuing up to have Zhao Jinyu help shave their hair and furry beards were already naked and each of them was holding a white towel given by the Japanese to wipe the dirt accumulated on their bodies.

As Wei Ran poured basins of dirty water out of the dugout and replaced them with clean hot water, the four brothers of the Qiu family also saw themselves becoming clean.

However, the chilblains on their bodies and the red spots caused by flea and bedbug bites became more obvious after washing away the dirt on their bodies.

While they were queuing to find Hu Bazhi to apply frostbite cream, Wei Ran and Zhao Jinyu also carried all the pine needles and sedge grass on the earthen kang, and even the tattered clothes and jackets that their four little brothers had taken off, to the outside of the dugout and spread them on the snow to let the low temperature help kill the biting bugs and unhatched insect eggs inside.

It was also during this busy period that they learned from the Qiu brothers' stories that they had met Zhao Jinge and others several years ago.

At that time, Zhao Jinge led the Anti-Japanese Allied Forces to kill many Japanese devils. Later, because of the Japanese encirclement and suppression, the Anti-Japanese Allied Forces led by Zhao Jinge had no choice but to move to guerrilla warfare in order not to bring danger to their village. The villagers of that village took the initiative to ask that six or seven seriously injured Anti-Japanese Allied Forces soldiers be left behind to be taken care of by them.

In order to avoid being discovered by the Japanese invaders, the people in this village organized themselves and dug a shack here at the beginning of spring to accommodate the wounded. The four brothers of the Qiu family were the ones who were assigned to take care of the wounded.

According to Boss Qiu, his father and Xiao Si'er's father were both hunters in the village. They were responsible for delivering meals to the wounded and also for keeping watch around the dugout.

In particular, Xiao Si'er, who seemed to have a particularly upright character, was actually a natural sharpshooter. The shot he fired at Wei Ran was fired by Xiao Si'er with that broken gun from two or three hundred meters away.

The father of the brothers Yongwen and Yongwu was a local doctor. The taciturn Yongwu, in particular, had already learned all his father's medical skills despite his young age. According to the assignment at the time, Yongwen was responsible for finding medicine in the mountains, while Yongwu stayed in the shack to take care of the wounded and boil and change medicine for them.

Originally, all this was the perfect arrangement.

But shortly after Zhao Jinge and others left, the Japanese and puppet troops surrounded their village and forced them to hand over the Anti-Japanese Allied Forces fighters who might be hiding there.

That was just an excuse. In the end, most of the elderly and children in the village died at the hands of the Japanese invaders.

Most of the remaining young and middle-aged men were killed or injured because they resisted with their hunting rifles or even farm tools.

The few who survived were captured and sent to the Japanese's circle of people or the mines controlled by them.

Even their village was burned down completely - just like Gaoliang Village near the God of Wealth Temple.

Without the support of the village, those Anti-Japanese Allied Forces fighters who were already seriously injured died of illness one after another, leaving only a few rifles and a small amount of bullets for the four brothers.

Since then, the four brothers of the Qiu family, who had no idea where to go, believed they had joined the Anti-Japanese Allied Forces, and tried hard to stay alive while waiting for Zhao Jinge to bring people back.

They even relied on those few broken guns, and every now and then they would shoot a few shots at the passing Japanese, puppet troops, and even bandits from a distance and run away, but they never dared to go back to their village to take a look again.

These four brothers had actually endured such a dark and gloomy life for nearly three years! In other words, they were only thirteen or fourteen years old at the time!

It was through their matter-of-fact narration that Wei Ran and the other two realized a problem. The time when Zhao Jinge and others led the team to leave was actually after they were injured and followed Yang Shiyi to find his uncle!

  In other words.

Zhao Jinyu took out the triangular team flag from his arms. In other words, this flag might just be an excuse for them to leave the battlefield and survive.

This belated truth was undoubtedly painful for Zhao Jinyu, and he became more and more certain that he was a deserter.

But compared to all these, another thing that made everyone, including Wei Ran, sigh helplessly was that the wounded who were left here actually included Lao Zhang, the deputy captain of the First Guerrilla Team!

During the extremely long silence, Hu Bazhi, who had applied homemade frostbite cream to the frostbite of the four brothers of the Qiu family, stood up and walked out. When he came back, he had a wolfskin bag filled with various leatherwork tools in his hand.

Just like when he first encountered the Anti-Japanese Allied Forces outside the Temple of the God of Wealth, Hu Bazhi sat on a bench next to the clay stove, urgently sewing leather hats, hand muffs and boots with leather cut from animal skin blankets.

Zhao Jinyu, who also didn't know what to say, gritted her teeth and carried back all the frozen pine needles, dry grass, and tattered clothes from outside. She brushed off the snow and spread them on the kang again. Then she brought back a basin of snow and sprinkled it on the ground, and swept it carefully and silently with a handful of pine branches.

"Boss Qiu, please change into these clothes." Wei Ran pointed at the Japanese cotton-padded jackets that Zhao Jinyu had just brought back, "and wear your tattered clothes outside."

Without waiting for Boss Qiu to agree or refuse, Wei Ran continued, "Keep your word, each of you will get a Type 38 rifle, and all the bullets will be yours."

"Really?!" Boss Qiu immediately asked in surprise.

"Really? How could this be fake?" Wei Ran forced a smile. "Can I take a picture of you later?"

"Photograph?"

"All the fighters of the Anti-Japanese Allied Forces had to take a photo."

Wei Ran glanced at Zhao Jinyu and Hu Bazhi, and continued with a smile, "One for each of you. I can also write a letter for you. You can write to anyone you want. I will write it for you."

“We have no home.”

Qiu Yongwu, who had been taciturn until now, said as he picked up a Type 38 rifle and pulled the bolt skillfully, "All my relatives at home were killed by the Japanese. We don't know who to write to."

"That's not a good thing," Qiu Yongwen also said, "We can't just write it and burn it for them, and then we won't even have a grave."

When he said this casual answer that sounded like a joke from hell so naturally, Wei Ran fell silent again.

After a long time, he spoke again, "Then at least take a picture."

"If we take photos, will we be considered as Anti-Japanese Allied Forces fighters?" Xiao Sier asked excitedly.

"right"

It was Zhao Jinyu who answered the question, "As long as you take a photo, you are a soldier of the Anti-Japanese Allied Forces."

"Then we're happy to do it!" Xiao Si'er said immediately, then turned around and asked, "Did I say the right thing this time?"

"That's right"

Boss Qiu also fiddled with the Type 38 rifle given to him and said, "We are happy to take pictures, and we are also happy to be soldiers of the Anti-Japanese Allied Forces."

"I"

Wei Ran took a deep breath and quickly walked towards the door of the shack as if escaping. "I'll go get the camera."

Leaving the warm yet depressing shack, Wei Ran took a few deep breaths, letting the cold air enter his lungs and taking away some of the gloom.

After a moment, he took out his camera and prepared himself. He then called the four brothers of the Qiu family out of the shack. Right at the door of the shack, he took a photo of them one by one, and also took an extra photo of them as a group.

"Does this mean we are members of the Anti-Japanese United Army?" Boss Qiu couldn't help but ask, "Can we see the photos we took?"

“Not yet”

Wei Ran said apologetically, "You have to wait until it's finished developing before you can see it."

"Then take a shower?" Xiao Sier said immediately, "I'll go boil some water for you."

"You can't wash it with water," Wei Ran said, suppressing the bitterness that was growing in his heart. "You have to use medicine to wash it."

"Then do you have any potion?" Yongwen also asked.

"No, no"

Wei Ran shook his head with difficulty, and the four brothers of the Qiu family couldn't help but reveal their disappointment, which was not hidden well, on their faces full of frostbite.

Just at this moment, Una Kan also ran back driving her reindeer sled. Seeing this, Wei Ran subconsciously raised his camera, and under the curious gaze of the four Qiu brothers, he pressed the shutter towards Una Kan.

"We picked up a few pheasants and shot a silly roe deer." Unakan said as he shouted to the reindeer to stop.

Looking at the silly roe deer, there were no gunshot wounds on its body, but there was an arrow stuck in its neck that had not been pulled out yet. There was also a not-so-big iron pot upside down on its body, and on Unakan's back was the hunting bow that belonged to Hu Bazhi.

“I also found an empty village over there.”

Unakan raised his hand and pointed in a direction. "I found an iron pot in a dilapidated house."

After saying this, the curiosity on the faces of the four brothers of the Qiu family was replaced by sadness, and the eldest brother Qiu also muttered vaguely, "That's our village."

Shaking his head at Unakan who looked surprised, Wei Ran changed the subject and said, "Let me help you kill it."

"No, I can do it myself. Please help me clean the pot."

As Unakan spoke, he jumped off the sled, pulled out a small knife from the birch bark scabbard at his waist, and began to skin and meat the animals.

With an apologetic look at the bewildered four brothers of the Qiu family, Wei Ran moved down the iron pot, which was about the size of a car tire in later generations. He pulled down some pine branches from a pine tree not far away and vigorously scrubbed the rust on the iron pot, as if he could brush away the shame.

Compared to adults like Wei Ran, the four brothers of the Qiu family, who were already adults in fact, had the optimism of youth. When they saw that neither of them needed help, after a brief moment of sadness, they simply divided the pheasants and squatted beside Una Kan, watching her slaughter the roe deer while secretly swallowing their saliva and busying themselves plucking the pheasants.

A moment later, Zhao Jinyu also came out with a tattered dustpan carrying some dust mixed with snow, and started to help.

As the four brothers of the Qiu family were expecting, Wei Ran first scrubbed the big iron pot clean, filled it with clean snow, brought it back to the cave, and placed it on the mud stove.

At this time, Hu Bazhi was still busy sewing leather hats and other things beside the clay stove, and didn't seem to care about what Wei Ran and others were doing.

Wei Ran sighed silently. He knew that Hu Bazhi was probably thinking of his family.

Amid the busyness of the crowd and the anticipation of the four brothers of the Qiu family, the internal organs that were difficult to preserve and some of the offal that was washed clean with snow were put into the pot first. The real meat that was relatively easy to preserve was buried in the snow pit at the entrance of the dugout, and some extra offal that was deliberately left behind was hung on the other side of the gate.

"There must be a wolf smelling the scent at night."

Unakan said confidently, "Then we just need to shoot a bullet or an arrow at the wolf through the crack of the door, and we will always have prey." "This method is too dangerous. Be careful when you go out." Hu Bazhi, who had been busy by the clay stove, said without raising his head.

"You can't kill me if you're far away"

Unakan retorted, "Besides, wolves are smart. They won't dare to come after being beaten a few times."

"Wolves also tend to hold grudges," Hu Bazhi reminded.

Wei Ran and Zhao Jinyu looked at each other and wisely did not join the debate between the two hunters. They just found a wooden stool and sat on the edge of the kang, helping Hu Bazhi to sew those cold-resistant items, just like they did in the past.

Seeing this, Unakan also kicked a wooden block and sat down, and started to work as well.

The four brothers of the Qiu family looked at each other, and the eldest brother Qiu pointed at the clay stove and said, "Yongwen, you stay and help watch the fire. Yongwu, you go find a broom to brush their animals."

"Boss, where am I?" Xiao Si'er asked impatiently.

"Take the rifle and let's go for a walk around." As Boss Qiu said this, he had already picked up his skis and carried a Type 38 rifle out of the dugout.

Hearing this, Xiao Si'er happily picked up the new rifle, patted the Japanese ammunition box on his belt, proudly picked up the skis, and followed Boss Qiu out of the shack that was already filled with the smell of meat.

As everyone was busy and focused, leather hats and hand muffs were sewn one after another. Hu Bazhi also mended the old boots of the four brothers of the Qiu family and installed thick wooden soles on them.

"Yongwen, Yongwu, come and try it." Hu Bazhi called out and handed two pairs of boots to the brother, "Try the hand muffs and leather hat too!"

"Thank you, Brother Hu!"

The two brothers thanked them in unison, and couldn't wait to kick off the heavy and ill-fitting Japanese boots on their feet and put on the boots that Hu Bazhi had repaired for them.

"Our boots are still more comfortable to wear!" After putting on the shoes, Yongwen walked two steps happily, and then jumped.

"And the gloves and the hat."

As Wei Ran spoke, he handed the last pair of handcuffs he had just sewn to the other party. Zhao Jinyu also put a fur hat on Yongwen's head, who had only one ear, and even helped him tie the chin strap.

At the same time, Unakan helped Yongwu put on a pair of hand muffs connected by a leather rope and a leather hat with a face protector.

"This hat is really warm. My hands are warm too. I can even separate my fingers. Oh——!"

Yongwen suddenly realized and took off the Type 38 rifle that he had been reluctant to take off his shoulder since he got it. He used his index finger to gently place the trigger guard.

"boom!"

With the sound of a sharp gunshot, Yong Wen was startled and said almost subconsciously, "I didn't catch fire either."

"Bang!" Before Yongwen could finish his words, another gunshot rang out in the shack.

"It's Boss Qiu and the others!"

Wei Ran was the first to react. He picked up his own dog-skin hat and put it on his head, and was the first to run out of the dugout.

"Come on!"

As Hu Bazhi spoke, he also put on his hat, picked up the other two pairs of boots he had just made and ran out with Zhao Jinyu.

It was not until this time that the brothers Yongwen and Yongwu reacted and rushed out with guns in hand.

Unakan, on the other hand, was not in a hurry. Instead, she filled several lunch boxes with the stewed meat in the pot. Then she carried the lunch boxes and her Ma Sihuan rifle and crawled out of the dugout, and carefully closed the door panel that was originally slightly propped up.

After such a short delay, Wei Ran and Zhao Jinyu had already rushed out on horseback. Hu Bazhi also drove the sled and followed with Yongwen and Yongwu.

After listening attentively to the gunshots coming from the direction of the crossfire for a while, Unakan shouted at her reindeer sled and ran in another direction, disappearing in the snow in the blink of an eye.

In the biting cold wind that was still carrying a few snowflakes, Wei Ran, who was riding on horseback, had already pulled out the Japanese carbine from his gun bag, loaded the bullet into the chamber, and placed it in advance.

  Following the sound of gunfire, he and Zhao Jinyu rushed up a low hill on horseback. They immediately saw that in the woods on the other side of the hill, there were many ghosts and puppet soldiers with guns!

"There are probably about 50 or 60 Japanese soldiers, and more than 100 puppet soldiers. Look ahead! There are even Japanese soldiers with big wolfhounds!"

On horseback, Zhao Jinyu spoke as he pulled out a carbine from the gun bag of his chestnut horse.

"Look behind"

Wei Ran whispered, "Those two devils were loading the dead dog onto the sled. I guess it was Boss Qiu and Little Fourth who killed it."

"What should we do? Damn it?" Zhao Jinyu asked in a low voice.

"Saving people is the most important thing. We need to lure the devils away first."

Wei Ran said calmly, "Looking at the situation, the Japanese and the puppet army are setting up a pocket formation. If we are really surrounded..."

"boom!"

He hadn't finished his words when a not-so-conspicuous gunshot came from behind the Japanese and puppet soldiers. The two Japanese who were carrying the dead dog onto the sled that Wei Ran had just noticed fell down onto the sled.

  Kill two with one shot?

Wei Ran and Zhao Jinyu looked at each other, and then a series of shouts came from the enemy's rear. Suddenly, at least one-third of the Japanese and puppet troops changed direction.

Just at this moment, accompanied by another gunshot, two more Japanese soldiers fell to the ground, and Hu Bazhi finally came over driving the sled.

"It should be Unakan"

Wei Ran said firmly, "Brother Hu, take Yongwen and Yongwu to go around and rescue Boss Qiu and Xiao Si'er. Jinyu, let's lead the Japanese away, and we have to find a way to kill the wolfhound."

"Where are they?" Hu Bazhi asked.

After glancing at the direction they came from, Wei Ran thought quickly and said, "The shack is definitely not going to work. You are familiar with the area."

“Then keep heading north.”

Hu Bazhi said simply, "Go north for about ten miles and you'll see a big river. I'll leave a mark in the birch forest on the north bank."

"It's settled then, go and save those people." Wei Ran said as he had already drawn his carbine.

Hu Bazhi did not delay and immediately shook the reins to urge the mule to run hard. Wei Ran and Zhao Jinyu also immediately aimed at a dog and pulled the trigger.

"boom!"

After two gunshots that almost overlapped, the two wolfhounds led by the Japanese soldiers kicked their four legs without even having time to scream, deleting their accounts and switching servers before their brothers around them.

As expected, this shot attracted the attention of the Japanese and puppet troops. However, before they could point their guns at Wei Ran and the other man, they had already driven their horses back and loaded their weapons with new bullets.

Hiding in the blind spot of the shooting range of the Japanese and puppet soldiers and running nearly a hundred meters in the direction of pursuit, the two men suddenly appeared again, aimed at two of the three remaining wolfhounds and pulled the trigger again.

"Bang!" After the gunshots, the Japanese were left with only a four-legged brother.

They decisively reined in their horses and turned around again, and Wei Ran and Zhao Jinyu rode their horses in different directions.

As expected, the Japanese and puppet troops once again split into two groups to pursue, some on snowshoes, some on skis, or a few on mule sleds that were easily hit by bullets, and they chased to the top of the mountain with great haste.

Compared to Wei Ran who was running away to fly a kite, Zhao Jinyu was running ahead of their pursuit, and at the right time he popped up again to fire, accurately killing the last wolfdog, and then urged his horse to run away from Hu Bazhi.

At the same time, Wei Ran was riding his horse slowly and leisurely, keeping a distance of about three to four hundred meters from the pursuers behind him. From time to time, he would change direction and ambush on high ground, patiently waiting for the Japanese and puppet troops to approach before firing a shot.

However, unlike in the past, this time he was kind enough not to kill any of the Japanese soldiers directly. Instead, he shot them in the legs every time.

Because of this, every time he hit the Japanese, it would inevitably cause a burst of screams and wails, and as a result, at least one or two Japanese and puppet soldiers would have to carry the wounded and run to their base camp.

After a series of fighting and fighting, he had sent back nearly half of the less than 20 assorted soldiers who were originally chasing Wei Ran.

After putting away the gun again, Wei Ran deliberately ran a few hundred meters more and changed direction again.

While he was waiting patiently, a moment later, about a dozen Japanese soldiers and nearly 20 puppet soldiers who had obviously just been recruited also followed his footsteps and caught up with him again.

"How did such a small number of people think they could come in and search the mountain? No, no, no, that's not right. Are they pursuers who came here with dogs and followed the scent? I don't know what's going on with Xiaohu."

Wei Ran muttered to himself as he aimed at the leading mule sled and pulled the trigger.

"boom!"

After the gunshots, the mule, which had been running out of breath, simply fell to the ground, and the three Japanese soldiers on the sled behind it, along with the crooked-handled machine gun, buckled into the mule's crotch, giving the big meat stick that could only be used for peeing a stylish French kiss on the cheek.

"boom!"

After the second gunshot, a puppet soldier fell to the ground in the snow, wailing and hugging his shot calf.

But what disappointed him, and the other puppet soldiers around him, was that the devils did not immediately arrange for the wounded to be sent back for treatment as they had done before when the devils were injured. Instead, they impatiently urged the rest of the puppet soldiers to open fire and fight back.

As more and more bullets came flying, Wei Ran, who was hiding behind a pine tree, smiled, crouched down and ran a few steps towards the blind spot in the distance, then jumped on his horse and ran towards the next ambush point that looked pleasing to the eye.

  As for the death

The seeds of worrying not about scarcity but injustice have been planted. Wei Ran believes that those puppet troops will soon have different ideas.