War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1641 The Unfinished Fourth Act

When the white light faded, Wei Ran found himself once again in Edelweiss Clara's dream farm, sitting at the small table again.

  Amid the rustling sound, he also saw the metal feather pen writing a new line of words on the paper:

Act Four

Role: Anti-Japanese fighter Wei Ran

Return mission: Escort the wounded and intelligence to escape the encirclement

  It’s not over yet?

As Wei Ran sighed with inexplicable relief, he also saw something that could be used this time in the thick white light.

However, contrary to his expectations, the things he could use this time were particularly special. In addition to Robert's camera bag, the Long March shoulder pole and the British Army kettle that had appeared in the previous scenes, this time he was also generously given a Mauser bayonet, a Soviet cloak and German marching boots, and even the PPSh submachine gun and the German medical kit!

Is this a good thing or a bad thing?

Before he could figure it out, as the white light faded, he first smelled the unique smell of the humus layer, followed by the unique buzzing sound of mosquitoes flapping their wings and the sound of flowing water.

When his vision returned to normal, the first thing he saw was a burning bonfire just one meter away in front of him.

Above the bonfire, there was an enamel pot with a strong Soviet style and what seemed to be a set of enamel kettles. Both containers were filled with boiling water.

On the other side of the campfire, no more than five meters away, was a gurgling stream.

Looking around, I saw that the biting black horse was tied to the trunk of a birch tree full of yellow leaves by the stream.

On the trunks of several other trees not far away, Hu Bazhi's big white mule and two other big black horses were tied. He could even recognize that the two horses were the mounts of the two awesome sons of Manager Cao!

Looking at myself again, I saw that I was wearing a pair of cloth shoes with the soles almost worn through.

He was wearing a straw yellow singlet with patches on patches, and the Nine Dragon Belt was still tied around his waist. The Nine Dragon Belt not only held a box gun, but also a set of food-cutting knives that Hu Bazhi had given him that year, fixed in a homemade leather holster.

He walked quickly to the side of the biting horse and took a look. The biting black horse was still in good spirits, and the Type 44 cavalry rifle of the devil was still sticking out of its gun bag.

In the bulging saddlebag, in addition to some fine feed for the horses, there was also an empty Japanese lunch box, a stack of letters, and five or six Soviet lemon grenades wrapped with fine cotton thread.

Looking at the other two black horses, one of them had a horse quadruple rifle in its gun bag, while the other had a Dagu factory submachine gun and several magazines full of bullets hidden in its saddle bag.

However, on the sled pulled by the big white mule, there was not only another machine gun, but also a saber that Wei Ran was very familiar with.

Most importantly, there was a man lying on the sled whom he had never seen before. This man had an unshaven beard and a pale face, and even his breathing was extremely weak.

Lifting the Japanese military blanket covering him, Wei Ran couldn't help but sigh.

The injured man's body was covered with wounds of varying sizes that had already been treated, and his left leg had been amputated from the middle of his calf.

  But even so, he was still not out of danger. Who was he? Who was the owner of the three animals? Hu Bazhi or Zhao Jinyu?

While Wei Ran was secretly pondering, he did not hesitate at all to help the unconscious wounded man cover himself with a blanket and then stepped away. He took out the things that could be used this time from the metal book and quickly checked them.

The news was mixed. There was no spare film in the camera bag except for the film in the camera itself, and the water bottle was also empty.

But the box gun that came with the Long March shoulder pole and even the drum magazine of the PPSh were all filled with bullets.

But in the medical box, there was neither precious penicillin nor plasma powder, and even the medicines were not very complete.

It can be said that in this huge medicine box, apart from a complete set of surgical instruments, there are only a few bottles of anesthetics.

After putting away the medicine box and finally taking out the Mauser bayonet to check the sharp edge, Wei Ran decisively kicked off the tattered cloth shoes on his feet, put on the pair of German marching boots, and stuffed the food knife that was originally fixed on the Kowloon belt into the boot shaft.

Just at this moment, there was a rustling sound coming from the direction of the stream. Wei Ran reacted very quickly and hid behind a nearby pine tree. At the same time, he pulled out the box gun attached to his Kowloon belt.

"Where's Brother Wei?"

Almost at the same time, he also heard Zhao Jinyu's muttering.

"Here it is."

Wei Ran greeted him, responded while putting away his gun, and after pausing for a second, he walked out from behind the tree trunk.

It has been a long time since we last met. Zhao Jinyu has grown a beard and is holding a bunch of plump forest frogs and a big fish as long as his arm.

Fortunately, he seemed to be in good health, and his outfit was similar to mine.

  Looking at the two people following behind him, they were Qiu Yongwu and Xiao Sier!

The two young men looked much stronger. Qiu Yongwu was holding a Japanese canvas bucket in his hand, which was filled with some herbs that Wei Ran knew or didn't know.

Xiao Si'er was carrying a lot of firewood on a stick, and he had a saw on his waist.

"How are the injured comrades doing?"

As Zhao Jinyu was talking, she slammed the prey in her hand against the tree trunk, then threw the fish to her feet and put the bunch of stunned frogs into an enamel pot of boiling water to blanch them.

"Still in a coma"

Wei Ran sighed, "He needs to receive formal treatment as soon as possible."

"Then we can only wait until we get back."

As Zhao Jinyu spoke, she had already picked up the forest frog, then picked up the enamel pot, poured out the boiling water inside and walked towards the stream.

"I'll boil some more herbs for him, maybe it will be helpful."

As Qiu Yongwu spoke, he took out a not-so-big casserole from the corner of the sled with great familiarity.

"You guys keep busy first, I'll go look around."

As Xiao Si'er said this, he had already put down the firewood he had brought back, and instead pulled out the horse's rifle from the gun bag of a black horse and put it on his shoulder. He also carried a canvas bucket with him as he went into the woods.

"How many days will it take us to get out?" Wei Ran said, picking up the fish and walking to the stream, taking out the Mauser bayonet and starting to scrape the scales and gut the fish.

"It will take at least four or five days."

While washing the frogs, Zhao Jinyu asked, "Brother Wei, how long do you think he can hold on?"

"Hard to say"

Wei Ran shook his head. It was really hard to say. If he could be injected with penicillin, he would have a great chance of surviving. But right now, he might die of the infection at any time.

"Let's continue walking after dinner," Zhao Jinyu sighed, her tone filled with fatigue and unconcealable anxiety.

“I don’t know how the others are doing.” Wei Ran also sighed and intentionally changed the topic.

"Who are you talking about?" Zhao Jinyu asked.

"Who else could it be?" Wei Ran continued to lead the other party to reveal something on this topic in a matter-of-fact tone.

"You haven't been in touch with them for a long time, right?" Zhao Jinyu asked back.

"yes"

Wei Ran sighed, "It's been a while. If you know, just tell me one by one."

"Who to start with?" Zhao Jinyu asked after a moment of silence.

"Let's start with Li Wangchuan. Do you have any news about him?"

"Have"

Zhao Jinyu nodded, and a smile appeared on her face. "According to my sister's letter, after his injury healed, he married my brother-in-law's sister, Miss Qinghe. The old man of the Ma family gave it to Xiaobai. Xiaobai, do you remember it?"

"Remember, Bai Yuguang, your brother-in-law's groom back then."

"Yes, that's him."

Zhao Jinyu stopped what he was doing, put the cleaned frogs in the enamel pot, wiped his hands casually on his pants, and took out a pack of cigarettes.

After taking out a cigarette and putting it into Wei Ran's mouth and lighting it for him, he lit one for himself and continued in the midst of puffing smoke, "My sister found a wife for Xiao Bai, and the old man of the Ma family even allowed them to get married in the old house of the Ma family. Lao Bai also attended at that time, but guess what happened?"

"Tell me? Are you keeping it a secret?" Wei Ran, who was busy processing the fish, asked back with a smile. "On the night of the wedding, Brother Li and Sister Qinghe took Xiaobai and his wife away." Zhao Jinyu said with great joy.

"Run away? Where did he run to?" Wei Ran asked in surprise, and subconsciously thought of the previous dream.

"Yan'an"

Zhao Jinyu smiled and said, "After they arrived there, they wrote to my sister, and we have kept in touch with each other through letters over the years.

According to what Brother Wangchuan said in the letter, he and Xiaobai joined the New Fourth Army's cavalry regiment, and they have been wanting to invite me to join their cavalry regiment for years."

"What are your plans?" Wei Ran asked curiously.

“No plans”

Zhao Jinyu answered calmly, "It's a tough time here. If I leave now, I won't be doing justice to the Little Tiger Class."

Having said this, Zhao Jinyu suddenly stopped. Wei Ran couldn't help but shudder. He stopped what he was doing and turned to look over.

"Squad leader Xiaohu died"

Zhao Jinyu wiped his unshaven face and said, "Sister Hongxia didn't survive either. They were both killed by the Japanese when they were leading the team to move."

"Is there anything else?" Wei Ran asked, suppressing the bitterness in his throat.

"My eldest brother Zhao Jinge and my second brother Zhao Jinshan are also gone."

Zhao Jinyu took a puff of his cigarette and said, "Boss Qiu, Boss Qiu has also died."

"Hu"

"Brother Hu is still alive"

Zhao Jinyu forced a smile and said, "Do you still remember that Oroqen girl?"

"Unakan?" Wei Ran asked with tense nerves. He really didn't want to hear any more bad news.

"right"

Zhao Jinyu nodded and finally said some good news, "Brother Hu and Una Kan are married. Now Brother Hu is the captain and he has 50 to 60 people under him."

"What about you?" Wei Ran asked abruptly, "What's your situation now?"

"During the years when you went to Maozi to study medicine, Shiyi and I got married."

Zhao Jinyu's bearded face showed a hint of tenderness. "I estimate that by the time of the winter solstice, our first child will be born."

"Where is she now?" Wei Ran asked subconsciously, "Is she safe?"

"It's safe. Very safe."

Zhao Jinyu subconsciously lowered her voice, "She is still in Boli now. She has handed over all the business to her cousin. She is now concentrating on taking care of the baby."

"Why don't you go back to accompany me instead of coming here to take risks?" Wei Ran couldn't help but said in a joking tone.

"Someone has to do this suicidal thing"

Zhao Jinyu pointed at Qiu Yongwu who was busy boiling medicine by the campfire behind him, and lowered her voice a little, "I don't feel comfortable letting those two little brothers run this route by themselves. The Japanese have been getting more and more crazy recently.

If the wounded were not so badly injured that I was worried they might be left behind, I would not want you to take the risk."

"That's what you said"

Wei Ran rinsed the cleaned fish in the stream, and walked back with it while saying, "I learned all these skills just for this moment."

Hearing this, Zhao Jinyu just smiled and didn't say anything. Perhaps, in his heart, there is another way to measure "value".

Soon, the enamel pot was filled with water again and the wood frogs and chopped fish were cooked. Zhao Jinyu also took out a small gourd from the saddle bag of a black horse, squeezed out a pinch of salt and threw it into the pot.

“The two horses.”

“It’s those two horses.”

Zhao Jinyu nodded and replied, "After we went to Shanxi, these two horses have been in Shiyi's care. I borrowed them since I started running this route with them.

And that big white mule, that's Brother Hu's. The conditions there are even more difficult, and raising an animal is too much of a burden, so he just gave it to us."

"How long have you been running this route?" Wei Ran asked.

Taking advantage of this topic, he also asked Zhao Jinyu for more details, such as it was early September 1942 at this moment, and that this place belonged to Hulunbuir, a place called Arong Banner.

For another example, he also vaguely learned from indirect clues that since the last time he crossed the river, he was sent to the Russians to study medicine through Yang Shiyi's relationship.

Zhao Jinyu, with the help of the Yang family's caravan, took Qiu Yongwu and Xiao Si'er across the border frequently, working as a postman, messenger and courier for the Anti-Japanese United Army.

At the moment, their mission is to send the seriously injured person on the sled to a safe rear area for treatment, and it seems that they also need to pass on an important piece of information.

When the topic came to this point, Xiao Sier came back carrying a small canvas bucket full of hawthorn fruits.

"The devils haven't caught up yet."

As Xiao Si'er was speaking, he had already walked to the stream and was washing the wild fruits in the canvas bucket.

After he carried the canvas bucket filled with water and wild fruits back to the campfire, he picked up some hawthorn leaves that seemed to have been picked specially from the bucket and threw them into the enamel pot as tea. Then he asked everyone to take out their kettles and start pouring water.

"If you don't catch up, you'll leave early."

Zhao Jinyu said worriedly, "Let's go after we finish eating. The Japanese have very sharp noses, and we can't afford to delay our wounded."

"No, let's eat on the way."

Yongwu, who had just given the wounded some herbal soup, said, "I think his condition is a bit dangerous."

"Do you still have those medicines?" Zhao Jinyu asked.

"We still have the Zhibao Pill and the rhino horn, but the rest have been used up long ago."

As Yongwu spoke, he took out a tin box that looked very familiar to Wei Ran from his arms and opened it to show Zhao Jinyu.

"If he can use it, then use it," Zhao Jinyu said, "just treat it as a dead horse."

"boom!"

Before Zhao Jinyu could finish her words, a dull explosion suddenly came from a far distance.

"laugh--"

Almost at the same time, Xiao Si'er reacted very quickly and put out the campfire in the middle with the water used to wash wild fruits in the canvas bucket.

“I’m afraid we’ll have to eat later.”

Zhao Jinyu stood up as he spoke, "Let's go, the Japanese have caught up with us, Brother Wei, please set another trap for them."

"become"

While speaking, Wei Ran had already walked to the side of the biting horse, took out a lemon grenade from his bag, and began to set it up beside the embers of the extinguished campfire.

At the same time, Zhao Jinyu and the other two immediately packed up the rest of their things.

To Wei Ran's surprise, the people riding the two black horses were Yongwu and Xiao Si'er, and the one driving the mule sled was Zhao Jinyu, who was a cavalryman.

  Can this escape the encirclement?

Wei Ran couldn't help but murmur, he already had a bad feeling in his heart.