War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 589: Everyone in the Tunnel
In the damp and dark tunnel, the singing of the crowd echoed repeatedly in the mud and sand falling down.

It was also in this singing that the fear caused by the shelling gradually dissipated, and calm hope appeared on the young faces one after another.

Wei Ran didn't know how many times he sang that song, and how long time passed. In the end, as the bombardment outside the tunnel as an accompaniment ended, everyone stopped singing in hoarse voices.

"Let me introduce to you"

While speaking, Chen Qi had already relit the extinguished oil lamp with a match, and then untied the water bottle on his waist and handed it to Wei Ran, "This is Comrade Wei Ran, a shooter who was transferred to our place recently."

"Comrade Wei Ran, hello!" The little soldier with a broken voice who fought with Wei Ran was the first to salute and then extended his hand to Wei Ran.

Hastily raised his hand to return a not-so-standard salute, and Wei Ran hurriedly shook hands with the calloused hands of the other party.

This little soldier looked at least four or five years younger than himself. What was quite special was that he not only had a wooden handle slingshot hanging around his neck, but also a telescope.If the former is just a child's toy, then the latter is not ordinary. Although it is just a telescope, it is not a piece of equipment that everyone can have.

"He is Zhao Shengli from the reconnaissance squad"

Chen Qi introduced at the side, "Although he is small, he can sing out of tune, but he sounds like a mocking bird, and he runs so fast that even American machine guns can't catch up with him."

"You have a nice name"

Wei Ran couldn't help sighing, once upon a time, in the Battle of Stalingrad, a tank soldier also commented on his Russian name with the same words.

"It's the name the captain gave me."

Zhao Shengli's face was full of smiles from the beginning to the end, "I used to have a nickname, which was given to me by the landlord. It was called Zhao Ganniu. Later, our regiment leader led a large army to punish the landlord. I didn’t need to herd cattle anymore, so I joined the army, and the head of the regiment said my name was not good, so he named me Shengli, and it was not liberated at that time.”

"How old were you when you joined the army?" Wei Ran asked in surprise.

Zhao Shengli replied proudly, "In 47, I was only 15 years old at that time."

"Although Comrade Shengli is not very old, he is a veteran in our army. I have to call him squad leader."

Chen Qi helped to introduce, and handed the rolled cigarettes to a veteran soldier who seemed to be 40 years old, with a thin figure and sunken cheeks. After Wei Ran saluted and shook hands with him, this Cai introduced, "However, the oldest person is our Squad Leader Sun. He is an old Red Army soldier who has gone through the Long March!"

"What are you talking about?" Squad leader Sun waved his hands nonchalantly, "I'm just a fire cook."

Having said that, Squad Leader Sun opened the wicker basket beside him, took out a golden cornmeal pancake from it, and squeezed out a small lump of pickled vegetables and handed it to Wei Ran, "You must not have eaten, right? Drink first." Drool, eat something."

"I have, I have something to eat." Wei Ran quickly patted the bag of dry food hanging on his chest, "I'll just drink some water."

"You little comrade, why are you still seeing outsiders? Take it!" Squad leader Sun couldn't help but stuff corn bread and pickles into Wei Ran's hands.

"Thank you, thank you." Wei Ran expressed his gratitude in a rather uncomfortable way. Compared with the fried noodles in the dry food bag, the cornmeal pancakes and pickles are really good things.

"Yo! You still say thank you? Is this little comrade a cultural person like Chen Qi?" Squad leader Sun happily teased Wei Ran while smoking a cigarette.

"I'm not a cultural person"

As Chen Qi said, he handed the second rolled cigarette to a shirtless soldier who looked about the same age as Wei Ran, "Comrade Lin Yuehua is a man of culture, he is the monitor of the reconnaissance squad, and Bei Han spoke very well." gone."

"Squad Leader Lin!" Wei Ran hurriedly saluted.

"Don't you also speak American?"

The shirtless Lin Yuehua first exposed Chen Qi's bottom, then shook hands with Wei Ran politely, "Hello, Comrade Wei Ran. I heard that you can shoot accurately. Would you like to come to our reconnaissance squad?"

"I"

Just as Wei Ran uttered a word, the little soldier in charge of delivering the message before the bombardment started opened the sack curtain of the tunnel, "Squad Leader Lin, the company commander is looking for you!"

"understood"

Lin Yuehua stood up while speaking, patted Wei Ran on the shoulder and said, "We'll talk when we come back."

Before Wei Ran could say anything more, Lin Yuehua had already got out of the tunnel with a submachine gun and a coat.

Until this time, Wei Ran had time to unscrew the kettle that Chen Qi handed him just now and fill it up.

Returning the kettle to the other party, Wei Ran asked curiously, "This wounded man."

"He is Zhicheng with a machine gun"

Chen Qi introduced familiarly, "During the day, I was shot by the Americans and broke his ribs. It's not serious. I just gave him an injection before you came back. Let him sleep for a while. That's right!"

Chen Qi put the kettle aside, lowered his head and opened the medical box that had never left him, took out Wei Ran's pen from it and handed it over, "Your pen, I have finished writing the letter."

"Keep it for use first." Wei Ran thought for a while, then simply took out the camera from the metal book under the cover of the canvas bag and handed it to Chen Qi.

"What is this for?" Chen Qi asked without knowing why.

"I might have to find a place to hide later. You can take this camera and take some pictures for everyone when you are not busy. Return it to me with the pen when I come back. By the way, do you need it?" Shall I teach you how to use it?"

"It's not necessary, but this thing"

"take it"

Wei Ran couldn't help but handed the camera to Chen Qi, "If you think it's cumbersome, put it in the tunnel first, it doesn't matter if it breaks, I guess there must be many people who want to take a photo and send it home."

"That's fine, then I'll take it first." Chen Qi took the camera beamingly, "Shengli, I'll take a picture of you first after dawn."

"What are you doing taking pictures of me?"

The little soldier Zhao Shengli said nonchalantly, "My parents are long gone, and I don't even know who to send the photos to."

"Bullshit!"

Chen Qi frowned and said, "Take a better photo, and if I have time to print it, I'll send it back to my wife, and ask her to find a wife for you."

Zhao Shengli retorted with a blushing face, "We can't arrange a marriage! You are"

"What is it!"

Squad leader Sun slapped Zhao Shengli on the back of the head not lightly, "You are old and young, and you really plan to beat your bachelor so that your old Zhao family will have no successor?"

"As long as the American devils can be driven away, there will be no future, and I am not the only one surnamed Zhao."

Zhao Shengli took out half a pack of Lucky Strike cigarettes he had seized from his pocket. He took a sip from the oil lamp and lit it. Hurry back and talk about other things, in case it doesn’t work.”

"Nonsense!" Squad leader Sun slapped Zhao Shengli on the back of the head again, "I'm still here, and it's not your turn to wait in line."

Chen Qi also scratched the back of the little soldier's head, "That's it, you can find some clean clothes and change into it when the sun rises."

"Chen Qi, think of a way to wash out one more picture"

Squad leader Sun said with a smile, "I have a niece who is about the same age as this kid, and I will send it back to my mother-in-law and ask her to ask my niece. Take a photo and send it."

"Just in case"

"Just in case there is a fart!"

Squad leader Sun smoked the smoke and said, "You still have a long time to live, we will definitely be able to drive the American devils back, and then we will carry guns and bring big red flowers across the Yalu River to go back.

A few hundred miles away across the river is my house. When the time comes, you go home with me first, and I will give you pork stewed vermicelli.If you are delicious, you can stay in our village and be a son-in-law. "

"I shouldn't be the son-in-law who barges in!" Zhao Shengli's dissatisfied complaint immediately made the remaining people in the pit burst into laughter.

Before the laughter stopped, Squad Leader Lin of the reconnaissance squad also went back and forth and went back to the tunnel, "There is a mission, Comrade Wei Ran, Comrade Shengli, come with me."

"Yes!"

Zhao Shengli, who was still flushed a moment ago, immediately handed the unfinished cigarettes to Squad Leader Sun, and walked out of the tunnel with an American M1 carbine on his waist.

Seeing this, Wei Ran immediately picked up his rifle and chased him out.

Outside the tunnel, apart from Lin Yuehua, the leader of the reconnaissance squad, there were two other soldiers in military uniforms. Even the weapons in their hands were an M1 carbine and a Garand rifle.

In addition, at their feet, there is a basket head, which contains not only a few American-style backpacks, but also a few engineering shovels.

"The five of us have to go around behind the American positions to grab a tongue and come back. The total time is only 24 hours." Squad leader Lin motioned everyone to squat down against the trench, and whispered the task content.

"Just the five of us this time?" Zhao Shengli asked in a low voice.

"There are too many people and the goal is too big, five of us are enough." Squad leader Lin looked at Wei Ran after finishing speaking, "The company commander said that you have a good grasp, so he specially asked me to take you with him."

Does the company commander know this?
Wei Ran muttered to himself, knowing that this was probably arranged by the metal book, but it was exactly what he wanted, so he immediately nodded confidently.

"It's not that you have to try not to shoot"

As Squad Leader Lin said, he raised his head and pointed to the head of the basket next to him, "As usual, you don't need to bring dry food bags, and each person takes two extra landmines. You can't make a trip in vain."

Before the words fell, everyone took a heavy backpack from the basket and carried it on their shoulders, and then each carried an engineering shovel or a short-handled pickaxe.

Weighing the engineer shovel in his hand, Wei Ran took off the [-]-jin dry food bag and handed it to Squad Leader Sun who had just emerged from the tunnel.Then he took a pack of rifle bullets, a jug full of water, and a few captured American-style compressed biscuits from Squad Leader Lin.

Everything was ready, there was no farewell, let alone any extra words, Wei Ran followed behind Zhao Shengli, along an inconspicuous path in the night, avoiding the searchlights and flares of the Americans, and quietly left the position.

In the faint rustling voice, the five people walked farther and farther under the leadership of Squad Leader Lin, and finally got into a not-so-dense miscellaneous forest. rear.

Wei Ran, who was following at the end of the team, secretly took out the compass in the metal book to look at the direction, then turned over and glanced at the watch fixed on the compass. It was already around four o'clock in the morning. There was only over an hour left before dawn.

In other words, they either returned to the position with the caught tongue within an hour, or they had to wait until the sky darkened again before returning.

Obviously, after the exchange of fire just now, now is the stage when both sides are most vigilant. At this time, it is definitely unrealistic to go to the front line of the Americans to catch their tongues. Their only option is to go around the rear of the US military positions.

This also indicates that they may have to lurk behind the Americans for more than ten hours before returning with the tongue they caught.

Pressing his guess in the bottom of his heart, Wei Ran quickened his pace and caught up with Zhao Shengli who had already opened some distance.

(End of this chapter)