War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 196 Friends and Enemies

Deep in the snowy coniferous forest, the short day was once again replaced by long night.The sleigh cart pulled by two reindeer crossed the mountain pass vigilantly and with difficulty, and the people in the cart also saw a large frozen lake covered by snow.

Everyone put down their binoculars, and Markla yelled at the reindeer and ran slowly on the frozen lake.

"Macla, there seems to be something in the front right!" Wei Ran, who had been holding a telescope to observe the surrounding situation, shouted.

Hearing this, Markla immediately shook the reins and yelled at the reindeer to slow down.And Karl and Conon, who were chatting on the sleigh, also took up weapons very quickly.

As the distance got closer, the protrusions on the lake became more and more visible, and then they saw a small two-wheeled trailer that was tilted sideways.

"This is the trailer for the half-track self-propelled anti-aircraft gun!" Conon was the first to shout out the correct answer.

"be careful"

Marka reminded, yelling that the reindeer stopped far away, and waited for his son Carl to take the reins, and then walked over cautiously with a submachine gun.Behind him, Wei Ran and Ke Nong also jumped off the sled.

It wasn't until they followed Markla's footsteps to the side of the broken down trailer that they realized that one of its tires had been disconnected from the axle, and the contents of the trailer had been emptied, leaving only Some empty gasoline cans lay quietly in the carriage.

Marka took off the square box flashlight hanging on his chest and turned it on. He lay down on the thick snow carefully, puffed up his cheeks and vigorously blew away the snow on the surface. When a complete footprint appeared on the ground, he squinted his eyes and looked up again. Seeing the falling snowflakes, he turned off the flashlight and said affirmatively, "This car was discarded about an hour or two ago. On this kind of road, half-tracks can only run [-] to [-] kilometers in an hour at most."

"So we are at least fifty or sixty kilometers away from them?" Conon asked with an ugly face.

“It shouldn't be that far away”

Marka took Wei Ran and Conon back to the sleigh, and waited until Karl yelled at the reindeer to start running again, then said, "The half-tracks of the Germans are not like our reindeer sleds, they can't walk in many places, so between us and them The distance between them may not be that far.”

Conon was not very happy when he heard the words, "But even so, we don't know where they are going, so we can't take shortcuts to catch up with them."

Marka glanced at Wei Ran who was sitting across from him thinking, and asked tentatively, "Victor, what do you think?"

What can I think?
Wei Ran secretly slandered that Markla's question was undoubtedly a test for himself, wanting to see if he would say the place name Muonio.He even dared to guarantee that even if he said it, the other party would definitely take a longer detour to avoid contact with the armored vehicle that they had been tracking.

Seeing that Kenon was also looking at him, Wei Ran said absently, "The safest way now is to follow their ruts."

Marka secretly breathed a sigh of relief, pretending to put on a helpless expression, "At present, this is the only way to go, Karl, speed up a little bit!"

"It can't be any faster." Carl said distressedly, "We have been running for a day, if we speed up, the two reindeer will die of exhaustion."

Marka pondered for a moment and said, "Then chase for another hour, and then find a place to camp and rest."

Conon looked at Markla hesitantly, and finally gritted his teeth and said nothing more.

The reindeer who started running again pulled the sleigh across the ice without any haste, followed the ruts and entered the dense coniferous forest again. However, as they advanced, everyone seemed to smell the firewood burning. The smell of fireworks.

These slight abnormalities immediately attracted their attention, including Karl who was driving, everyone held their weapons vigilantly.

During the long wait, the panting reindeer finally passed through the dense forest and came to a flat area surrounded by mountains.But from a long distance, they saw the faintly visible fire.

"Muonio has an accident!" Markla picked up the submachine gun on his shoulder, and then returned the previously confiscated magazines to Conon.

As the reindeer ran, the smell of smoke and fire drifting into their noses became stronger and stronger, and they gradually saw a small village that had been turned into ruins and scorched earth.

In this small village, except for the church in the center, which is still intact, all the other wooden houses have been burned down and collapsed.The snow around the house melted in the high temperature, and then gradually froze into a layer of turbid ice mixed with coke as the fire reduced.

In the silence of the crowd, the sleigh slowly stopped under the signpost at the entrance of the village, and their attention was also attracted by the things on the signpost.

On this guidepost composed of only a wooden pole frozen in the mud and a wooden board, in addition to the words "Muonio", rows of Finnish medals are neatly nailed, among these medals Underneath, there is also a German sentence "This is a betrayal of a friend" written in black charcoal.

Seeing Conon, Wei Ran, and his son Karl looking at him, Markla sighed and said regretfully, "These should be the medals that the Germans had won in Finland, since they left the medals here ,perhaps."

About what, Markla didn't say anything in the end, but the three young people present already had their own answers.

In the unspeakable silence, Kenon handed the flashlight to Wei Ran, beckoning him to help illuminate it, while he took out his camera and took a photo of the sign.

The crowd did not board the sleigh, but let Karl lead the two panting reindeer step by step on the icy ground to the only complete building in this small village - the church which is not too big .

Before they reached the door of the church, the wooden door wrapped in animal skin was slowly opened from the inside, and the four of them subconsciously raised their weapons.It wasn't until a pastor who looked at least six 70 years old came out of the wooden door that they lowered their guns.

"Come in and get warm." The old priest didn't ask their identities, let alone where they came and where they were going, but simply greeted them to go in, and then turned around slowly, leaving only a shadow behind. It gradually elongated against the light in the church.

"Tie up the reindeer and feed them more beans."

After Marka finished speaking, he stretched out the white camouflage suit on his body, then pulled out the magazine of the submachine gun and ejected the bullets in the chamber, and then walked into the church with Wei Ran and Conon.

This church is not too big, and there are only four pews and a small table against the wall.But on that table, there were a lot of tin cans issued by the German army, as well as a few sausages, a basket of rye bread and a large piece of bacon.

And directly below the icon painting, there is an exceptionally clean fireplace. The burning flame inside is constantly jumping, which not only provides warmth for this small church, but also barely provides the light needed for lighting.

The old pastor added a few sticks of firewood to the fireplace, then picked up the iron pot beside the fire, and slowly poured a cup of boiling water for Wei Ran and the others.After Carl, who came in last, took over the not-so-big wooden cups, he walked slowly to the table to pick up a few sausages and a box of canned food, and then picked up two large pieces of bread and a large piece of bacon walked back.

While the food was being heated, Markla finally asked, "What happened here?"

The old pastor struggled to open the can, and said casually, "Not long ago, some Germans who were retreating were attacked by us nearby. Many wounded were killed, and many mules were killed. They were very angry, so in the After killing two Finnish soldiers who were caught by them, they set fire to it.

But let’s burn it, anyway, all the villagers here have already run away except me.The German chief brought me a lot of food and drink before he left. He said it was the last gift of a friend, and since then we have been enemies. "

As if thinking of something funny, a smile appeared on the old pastor's wrinkled face, "A few months ago, he brought soldiers to help me repair the leaky roof of this church. They will soon become enemies, just childish like a child with a temper tantrum. When I get angry with my best friend, I will break the toy, maybe one day, they will become friends again."

In the warm church, the old pastor was busy preparing food and drink for the crowd, while talking about everything that happened here, and the dying old man's views on this inexplicable war.

At some point, the water in the wooden cup in his hand became warm enough to drink in one gulp, but Wei Ran and the others sitting around the fireplace seemed to be frozen by the low temperature outside the church, with their heads bowed. Watching the constantly beating flames, patiently listening to the old pastor's self-talking speech.

After a long time, when the box of tin cans next to the fire was emitting continuous bubbles, the two pieces of black bread had also become burnt and fragrant in the roasting of the campfire.

Until this moment, the old pastor finally finished his speech, slowly picked up a Mauser bayonet from the fireplace, refused the help of Markla and his son, and bit by bit cut the two pieces of black bread into pieces. Four.

Then he brought four wooden bowls and divided the meat, potato pieces and soup in the tin can into four equal parts. Finally, he poured an equal amount of boiling water into each bowl and put half a sausage and a few pieces Thinly sliced ​​smoked marinated pork, then stood up tremblingly and said kindly, "Children, eat, and rest here for a night when you are full."

After a moment of silence, the young Carl asked blankly, "Father, are the Germans our friends or our enemies?"

"It used to be our friend, but now it's our enemy."

Marka looked at the sign not far from the window and murmured, "Since they nailed those medals there, since they burned this village, we are the real enemy."

(End of this chapter)