War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 359 Above Ground and Underground ([-] in [-] Update)

At Hamburg Airport in Germany, when Wei Ran walked out slowly with a tired look on his face, he immediately saw a strong man in a suit and leather shoes, but full of beards, holding a receptionist with his name on his face. The plane board stood at the pick-up gate and looked around.

Seeing Wei Ran walking towards him, the strong man immediately threw the pick-up card on the chair behind him, and enthusiastically extended his hand to Wei Ran, "Is this Mr. Victor, a historian from Volgograd?"

"It should be me, what's my name?"

Wei Ran shook hands with the other party. The strong bearded man's hands were unexpectedly strong, and there was a large callus on his palm.

"Sauron, you can just call me Sauron." The strong man was extraordinarily enthusiastic. After introducing himself briefly, he took Wei Ran to the outside of the airport. As for the basement, he didn't even mention it. one sentence.

Led by this strong man named Sauron, the two first drove from the airport to the train station, and then took the train for two hours before arriving in Kiel.

This is not over yet. After leaving the train station, Sauron dragged Wei Ran into an old-looking Mercedes-Benz sedan and left the city straight away. He drove all the way to the northwest for more than an hour, and finally stopped at the In front of an old house near the coastline in the suburbs.

"The scenery of this place is really beautiful." Wei Ran looked at the beach in the distance and praised.

“beautiful in summer”

Sauron pointed to Keel Bay in the distance and introduced, "Especially in June, there will be sailing competitions and lively carnivals. Of course, the most important thing is that there will be many beautiful girls in bikinis on the beach. "

"Sounds like a man's paradise?" Wei Ran asked jokingly.

"Of course!" Sauron tugged at his long beard, "No man can refuse the city of Kiel in summer!"

"The scenery in winter is also very beautiful." Wei Ran withdrew his gaze and looked at the house not far away again, "Is the basement in that house?"

"right"

While speaking, Sauron took out a bright silver cross from his collar and kissed it, and then made a cross devoutly on his chest, "That basement is too scary, you must have one when you go in later." Mentally prepare."

Wei Ran glanced at Sauron with a strange look on his face, but Wei Ran nodded but didn't rush in. Instead, he walked around the house which was only 300 meters away from the sea.

On the whole, the location of this house is quite good. First of all, the terrain is a lot higher. Standing in front of the door, you can not only clearly see the beach in the distance, but also the pier and seafood market farther away. It can be seen at a glance, and behind the house, in addition to a large lawn, there is a lake in the distance.

In addition to the good location, the building itself is also exceptionally beautiful.On the left arm in front of the door is a cast iron mailbox that looks very old.On the lawn a little farther to the right, there is an anchor that is as tall as a person. Looking at the faint green rust on the anchor, the anchor is actually made of copper.

Just this anchor reminded Wei Ran of the smuggling of pure copper from the United States by German civilian ships during World War II.

Taking out his mobile phone to take a photo of the anchor, Wei Ran focused on the building itself. This long house facing the beach is at least 40 meters long. Although it has only three floors, the first floor The stone cornerstones below are almost one meter high. There are many carvings of marine elements on the cornerstones, from anchors to sea fish to sailboats, and even sea monsters with big mouths and various hollows. Come out of the European mythology pattern.

On the top of the building, in addition to a few tall chimneys, there is a weathervane in the shape of a griffin on the top of the leftmost chimney shaking with the wind.

In addition to these objects that seem to be in the same style, there is also a brand-new signboard fixed on the roof of the second floor.

Sauron came up and explained, "This place has been deserted for at least 50 years. It wasn't until some time ago that I planned to use this place to run a diving, surfing and sailing club, that I accidentally discovered that basement."

Wei Ran nodded silently, "Let's go in and have a look."

Hearing this, Sauron immediately took out a bunch of keys from his pocket, first opened the roller blinds on all the windows on the first floor that were newly installed, let the sunlight shine into the room, and finally opened the locked door.

Stepping into the spacious hall on the first floor, Wei Ran looked at the wooden floor under his feet that seemed to have been laid recently, and then cast a questioning look at Sauron, "Tell me about the changes you plan to make after reopening this place."

“Not much has actually changed”

Sauron spread his hands, "I just repaired the leaky roof and the decayed wooden floor, and added the roller blinds and the signboard you saw just now, and the rest basically remained the same."

Wei Ran looked at the wooden bar facing the door and the wooden wine rack behind the bar, then looked up at the crystal chandelier hanging above his head, and then turned his gaze to the one on the right with the remaining curtain and the old-fashioned microphone in the center A small stage, and a dining table with a velvet tablecloth and matching chairs around it.Look to the left-hand side of the bar. There are only four pool tables and an old record player on the table next to the wall.

"Can I take a stroll and take a few photos?" Wei Ran asked Sauron who was standing at the door.

"Of course." Sauron responded happily.

Hearing this, Wei Ran took out his mobile phone and took pictures of the retro layout of the lobby on the first floor of the house, and then carefully walked around each room.

On the right hand side of the bar, the room next to the small stage still maintains the appearance of the kitchen and the supporting warehouse, and there is a small door in the warehouse, and a separate wooden room outside the passage, except for a In addition to the very old heating stove, you can also see the remaining cinders on the ground and a rusty kerosene lamp hanging above the head.

Go back to the lobby on the first floor, and drill into the small door on the side of the bar. This small windowless house is surrounded by shelves against the wall, and there are even some dusty wine bottles on it.

As for the left-hand side of the bar, there is a large fireplace on the wall next to the pool tables. Through the wooden door next to the fireplace, there is also a smaller fireplace in this room, which seems to be the same as the large fireplace outside. It's just separated by a wall.

In contrast, this room is much warmer. Not only does it have a double bed that is big enough, but there is also a writing desk near the window, and there are even flower pots of different shapes on the window sill.

Returning to the lobby on the first floor, Wei Ran followed the wooden stairs on the side of the bar to the second floor, and looked at each room along the corridor. The layout of these rooms is similar, basically each room has a double bed Add a vintage dresser and set it up with a wooden wardrobe and a set of radiators.

Climb up to the third floor along the stairs at the end of the corridor. This place is slightly better than the second floor. Next to the stairs is a room similar to a living room. The furnishings inside look much more modern. At least you can see TV, refrigerators and other items up.

Next to this huge living room, in addition to the usual large kitchen, two bathrooms and even a storage room, there are five or six bedrooms and two study rooms that are farthest from the living room.

After visiting the house carefully, Wei Ran asked Sauron who was following behind him, "Take me to the basement now?"

"Let's go to the ground floor. This house has two basements."

"Two basements?"

"Let's look at the first one first, at least it looks normal." Soran returned to the lobby on the first floor, took Wei Ran into the room behind the bar, pressed the old-fashioned power switch, and waited for the light bulb above his head to light up After the dim light, an iron hook hanging on the wall was removed, and a wooden board about one meter square was lifted, revealing a hole with an aluminum alloy ladder.

"So there was a wooden ladder here, but I stepped on it and almost broke my waist." Sauron picked up a flashlight from the shelf at the same time as he spoke, and reminded him while walking down the ladder. , "There is no light down here, be careful when you come down."

Following Sauron, Wei Ran stepped on the creaking aluminum alloy ladder to enter the basement, and then saw that this small basement was full of sundries, from some long-expired cans to various fishing gear It can be said to have everything, even on one wall, there are several sets of diving suits that have been glued, two deformed surfboards and a few spear guns. At the same time, in a box in the corner, there are many rusty Gas cylinders and an air compressor.

He bent down and picked up a rusty gas cylinder wrench and knocked on the surrounding stone and concrete walls and the stone ground under his feet. The solid knocking sound proved that there was no hole on the other side. This is a bit too strong. Just the basement.

"Where's the other basement?" Wei Ran asked as he put the wrench back in place.

"In the room with the fireplace." Sauron had already climbed up on the ladder while speaking.

"Can't you just take me to that basement?"

Wei Ran muttered to himself, patiently followed the other party out of the basement, and got into the extraordinarily warm room on the left side of the bar.

To Wei Ran's surprise, this time Sauron actually lifted a metal plate less than one meter square and full of rust from the fireplace.Under the metal plate, one can still see the metal handrails next to each other in the dark hole.

"How did you find out here?" Wei Ran asked curiously.

"accident"

Sauron put the metal plate aside and explained while patting the dust from his hands, "When I was laying the floor again, I was going to clean this fireplace too, and then I found the metal plate buried in the charcoal. , You can definitely guess what happened later, after I lifted the metal plate, I found the hole below, please wait a moment."

Before the words were finished, Sauron had already climbed in along the entrance of the cave with difficulty. Soon after, bright lights lit up in the entrance of the cave, and then Wei Ran heard the former calling him to go down and have a look.

Drilling in along the hole, when his feet touched the floor, he immediately opened his eyes wide in surprise.The area of ​​this basement is slightly smaller than what you see in the photo, but even so, it looks like more than [-] square meters, and even the ceiling is more than two meters high.And the metal handrail he stepped on just now was fixed on a red brick chimney.

Going around the side of the chimney, there is a fireplace still stacked with firewood. Looking around, the layout here is exactly as he saw it in the photo. The surrounding walls, the floor under his feet, and even the ceiling above his head are all made of wood. After wrapping, a coffin was quietly resting on two chairs in the distance against the wall.

Not far from the coffin, there is a single bed and dresser, and a wardrobe that seems large and somewhat exaggerated.Even on the other side of the fireplace, there is a toilet and bathroom with a bathtub.With the thought of trying it out, I turned on the faucet in the bathroom, and there was still water flowing out!
Back near the fireplace, Wei Ran walked over to a solid wooden table with a desk lamp and looked carefully. On this table were stacks of blank manuscript paper, various outdated calculation tools, and two bottles of ink of different colors and Several pens.

And on the shelf against the wall behind it, there are two radio stations with unknown dates and models, and wooden boxes full of blank manuscript paper.

But what surprised him was that these two sets of radio stations seemed to be used only for reception, and he did not find the matching sending equipment.

Looking up at the two wires extending from the fireplace chimney to the ceiling and finally connected to the antenna of the radio station, Wei Ran tried to open the drawer of the table.

In the only three large drawers, there are classified cardboard boxes containing vulnerable accessories that may be used by various radio stations.In addition, there are two tin boxes full of pistol bullets and a pistol that looks like a hybrid.

Glancing at Sauron standing aside, Wei Ran seriously took out a pair of rubber gloves from his bag and put them on, then picked up a bullet from one of the boxes and looked at it.

There is no doubt that this bullet is a 9X19mm pistol bullet. Not only can his sidearm in the metal book be used, but there are even many weapons using this bullet during World War II that can be discharged from Berlin to the Kremlin. come out.

Putting the bullet back into the tin box, he picked up another bullet from another box. This bullet was also a common commodity at that time. Not to mention, when Mustache committed suicide with his pistol, he used the same bullet. bullets.

Putting down the bullet again, he picked up the pistol that glowed blue under the light.

Carefully remove the magazine, then gently pull the slide, and with a loud bang, a 9mm pistol bullet bounced and landed on the dusty table.

"I didn't notice that there were bullets in it last time," Sauron said in shock.

"You're lucky." Wei Ran took a look at the magazine full of bullets, and then focused on the weapon held in the other hand.

Although this pistol looks like a hybrid, it has to be admitted that the manufacturing quality is quite good, and with the help of the inscriptions and brand marks on it, Wei Ran quickly confirmed its identity. An early Radom pistol produced before the German invasion.

Was it a Pole who was hiding here?If not, how did such a pistol appear here?
Wei Ran suddenly felt that the basement was full of malice. If it was as he guessed, then the danger here would be too great. Poles, those are Poles!He would rather be sent back to Stalingrad again than hide in the same basement as the Poles.

"Victor, what's the matter?" Seeing that Wei Ran's expression was a little off, Sauron immediately asked nervously.

"Nothing." Wei Ran turned the handle of the pistol and handed it to the other party, "Take it, this is a good gun."

Sauron took the pistol in confusion, and threw it on the table, "I'm not interested in such old antiques, Victor, do you want to go and see that corpse?"

"Not in a hurry." Wei Ran shook his head, "Look at other things first."

Hearing this, Sauron indifferently bent over and picked up a plastic storage box and put it on top of him. He lifted the lid and pointed to the contents inside and said, "I found these when I first discovered this place, basically they all come from here." a desk or that dresser drawer in the distance."

He casually picked up a certificate and looked at it. It was a young woman who looked very temperamental.Picking up another certificate, it turned into a gentle man again.

After flipping through the pages, the photos in these various documents are basically the photos of these two people's various clothes issued back and forth. Of course, along with the exchange, there are also names that he can understand or not understand. , and various information including age.

After flipping through the thick pile of documents, there were only five or six unmarked gold bars with a slightly surprising weight left in this not-so-big plastic box, as well as some German marks and Soviet rubles from World War II. , and even pounds and dollars.

This is standard spy stock.
Wei Ran muttered to himself, put all the documents in his hand back into the plastic box, and carefully observed the things stored on the other shelves placed against the wall.

There is nothing special here, except for a complete set of German chain dog uniforms and a large number of German MP40 submachine guns, there are several barrels of well-preserved kerosene, a medical kit, and various tin cans and unwrapped wine.

And at the back of the shelf, there seem to be a few vents slanting upwards, but most of these vents, which are as thick as buckets, are completely nailed to death by wooden boards wrapped in iron sheets, and the only one that can be opened , There is also a lot of soil and even the corpses of mice and eggshells left by unknown animals.

After looking through almost all the inventory, Wei Ran walked to the single bed and opened the wardrobe to have a look.To his surprise, there was nothing in this wardrobe, which was big enough to fit four or five people without any problems.

And on the dressing table next to it, most of the expired cosmetics looked like they had never been used.

After thinking for a moment, Wei Ran quickly walked to the bathroom on the other side, picked up a rusty teacher's razor from the side of the sink, and looked at it.

After putting it back in place, he silently walked to the side of the coffin, and carefully lifted the lid.

However, when he saw the bones in the coffin for the first time, his doubts doubled again. The body of the bones was covered with a white dress, but under the skirt, there were clean hairs. Unusual bones, most of these bones remained intact, but there was a bullet hole the size of a peanut in the position between the brows of the skull.

After Sauron nodded in agreement, Wei Ran gently picked up the skull and observed it carefully, and then saw some residual mud between the teeth.

Putting down the skull in his hand, Wei Ran carefully inspected the pelvis of the corpse. With the knowledge he learned at the Hongqi Forest Farm, he was barely sure that it was indeed a woman's remains, and according to the teeth he saw The degree of wear and tear can also be roughly known. She should not be too old when she died.

Apparently, the skeleton had been buried directly in the soil, and then it was dug up, cleaned, put into a coffin and put into this secret basement.

"Victor, can you find anything?" Sauron asked expectantly.

Wei Ran covered the corpse with the white dress again, then closed the coffin lid and asked, "I have a question."

"What's the problem?" Sauron asked.

"Why do you want to know what's going on here?"

Hearing this, Sauron was stunned, and replied as a matter of course, "There are so many weird things in the basement of my house, and there is even a dead body. Isn't that enough reason?"

"makes sense"

Wei Ran walked towards the fireplace and said, "Sauron, to what extent do you want to investigate? This is related to the fee."

"My father can give up to 30 euros." Sauron simply gave a standard that is easy to understand for both parties, "The rest depends on whether the results you can find are worth the price."

"The Wayward Rich."

Wei Ran muttered to himself, reached out and grabbed the steel handrail on the fireplace chimney, and said while climbing up, "Let's go to the roof first."

"Go to the roof?" Sauron was stunned, and quickly followed Wei Ran out of the basement.

Climbing up to the roof with the help of the other party, Wei Ran went to the side of the weather vane in the image of a griffin for a careful inspection, and then found that the weather vane was, as he had guessed, an excellent radio antenna in disguise.

Not in a hurry to go down, Wei Ran used the cover of his backpack to take out the telescope from the metal book and aimed it at Keel Bay in the distance.

Just like how he felt when he first saw this house, because of the terrain, the view here is excellent, and the entire Keil Bay was easily included in the field of vision of the telescope by him.Even without binoculars, as long as you stand on the balcony of the room on the second floor, you can easily see every merchant ship that enters the port of Kiel.

If it were placed during World War II, this would be an excellent observation point. Any warship or even a submarine docked in the port of Kiel may not be able to escape the peeping here. Even the two unknown radio stations in the basement, It might be possible to easily monitor the radio communication information of the ship at that time. As for whether the monitored communication content can be deciphered, that is another matter.

After putting away the binoculars, after Wei Ran came down from the roof, Sauron who had been looking up at the neck immediately asked again, "Any clues?"

"There are clues, but not many."

After all, he and Sui Sui learned some knife skills for slaughtering fat sheep. Wei Ran pretended to be embarrassed and asked, "Mr. Sauron, it will take time to investigate those things in the basement. Do you have a deadline?"

"Best done by May"

Sauron pointed to the billboard on the roof, "My club will open in mid-May, and I hope to tell a good story to my clients at that time."

"There is probably enough time, is there any other request?" Wei Ran asked while recording the time in the memo.

"Confidential"

Sauron said bluntly, "This is Germany, and everything related to Naquor is illegal, so I don't want any words and pictures about this place to leak out before the results of the investigation come out."

Before Wei Ran could speak, Sauron crossed himself on his chest and said, "My father was going to entrust this matter to a French archaeologist. It is said that the gentleman has a very good reputation, but we haven't waited for our contact. That man, he was put in jail.

It was also because of this matter that we hesitated for a long time, and finally found you under the introduction of Mr. Hans.So Mr. Victor, please keep this matter a secret. "

"Don't worry, my reputation is also good, and I will definitely keep this matter a secret."

Wei Ran glanced at Sauron, who seemed to be devout, with a strange expression. He had roughly guessed who the other party wanted to contact in the first place to investigate the basement.

(End of this chapter)