War Photographer's Notebook

In the jungle next to the rice fields outside Mansi Town, Wei Ran stared at the temple in the town that was on fire. After a moment of silence, he asked along the topic, "Tell me, how important is the temple?"

Zhou Guochang was stunned for a moment, then clenched his fists and explained, "Wudian is a Buddhist country, and temples are not just belief for them.

Those temples distributed in various towns and even villages also undertake various functions such as schools, hospitals, inns, public security and even warehouse storage and law.There is a saying in Free Electricity, if you take care of the monk temple here, you will get free electricity. "

Speaking of this in one breath, Zhou Guochang pointed to the thick smoke steaming from Mansi Town, "The temple in Mansi was blown up, and before the monks and local villagers repaired the temple and the Buddha statues inside, they couldn't get more out of it." More energy to help the soldiers of the expeditionary force.

Even, because of that stupid pig named Aung San, many free electricity people even regarded the devils as friends before the oxygen light was occupied, and helped them fight against our expeditionary army. "

"People who believe in religion have more or less brain problems."

Wei Ran raised his chin in the direction of the town, changed the subject and said, "The residents of Manxi Town have already started running out."

With just a few words, the two of them could vaguely see that people in distant towns started to drive buffaloes and leave the town with their belongings.

"They went to hide in the surrounding mountains"

Zhou Guochang sighed, "Without villagers in Manxi Town, it means that there will be no supplies. In the next few days, not only the rice from the residents' homes will be transported into the mountains to hide, but also the rice that is about to mature will be taken away by them. rush in the harvest."

"You seem to be very familiar with it," Wei Ran replied absent-mindedly.

"We have seen this kind of thing many times on the way from Oxygen Light. What is more terrifying than this is that their own people robbed their own people, and even robbed temples."

In Zhou Guochang's tone, there was exhaustion and despair that did not match his age, "Those devils are very shrewd, they are waiting, and when the people here are about to harvest all the rice, they will come out and take away the whole year's harvest. Take the buffaloes used to cultivate the land, and by the way, the temples, those Buddha statues that were not damaged by the fire, and those women who did not have time to escape."

"So, there are actually not many devils in Manxi Town now?" Wei Ran said abruptly.

Zhou Guochang was stunned when he heard the words, "It seems to be true, but they must be hiding nearby."

"It's probably hidden in the village called Nanhaidang in the south, but there must not be many people. After all, the main force of the 288th regiment is still behind."

Wei Ran said with almost certainty, "They must know about the bombing here today. Now that they know, they will definitely not leave too many people waiting to be bombed in Mansi Town."

"But you didn't just kill"

"You can't leave alone"

Wei Ran thought for a while, and said ambiguously, "I even doubt that the two people I killed were probably the other two of the four people chasing you that you and Mr. Luke met before."

"You mean they rushed to Manxi Town ahead of time?" Zhou Guochang widened his eyes. …

"if not?"

Wei Ran asked back, "Rush to Mansi Town ahead of time to see if you and Mr. Luke have rushed there. If so, contact more people to arrest you. If not, stay and observe the bombing effect. Of course, these are all my guesses. But what is certain is that there are definitely not many devils in Mansi Town now."

"Then shall I ask those villagers?" Zhou Guochang asked, pointing to more and more villagers running out of the town.

"Not for now"

Wei Ran waved his hand, "It's too conspicuous to walk against the flow of people at this time, and it's easy to be exposed. Although we guess that there are not many plainclothes devils there, there is no need to take risks. Now let's wait, if we can meet Squad Leader Liang For them, we'd better go directly to Mo's village."

"Or let's go find them?" Zhou Guochang made a somewhat whimsical suggestion.

"How to find it?"

At the same time that Wei Ran asked back, he had already picked up his back basket and walked towards the donkey hidden deep in the jungle, and then began to take things out, "You keep an eye on the outside, except to pay attention to whether there is anyone coming towards us Besides running over, keep an eye on it, if Squad Leader Liang and the others come out, don’t let them start the fire.”

"Leave it to me!" Zhou Guochang looked at the basket eagerly after finishing speaking, "Well, can I have another sticky rice?"

"hold"

Wei Ran happily stuffed a portion of glutinous rice into the opponent's hand. Thanks to the burmese coins and gold and silver rings he had looted from the two devils, he bought a lot of good things before he left Mansi Town. Things, those glutinous rice wrapped in banana leaves, can only be regarded as snacks at best.

The most important thing here, apart from the coarse salt contained in the half-meter-long bamboo tube that is as thick as the rim of a teacup, is the brown sugar boiled by local villagers with sugar cane juice that he bought the most.

He untied the two German lunch boxes that Squad Leader Liang hadn't let him touch before. After Wei Ran opened one of them, he found that the lunch box was only half full of brown sugar, and on the tray of the lunch box, there was still Two silver dollars wrapped in layers of coarse cloth and a horn comb also wrapped in layers of coarse cloth.

Pick up this comb and look at it carefully. There are two small characters "Changqing" engraved on it.

"I don't even say I hold it myself, I still believe me."

While muttering, Wei Ran carefully wrapped the ox horn comb and put it back on the tray, then unwrapped the banana leaf that wrapped the brown sugar, and poured the coagulated brown sugar inside.

It wasn't until the lunch box was filled with brown sugar that he put on the tray and the lid, and hung it on the donkey again.

Reaching out to pick up the second lunch box and opening it, Wei Ran was stunned by the contents.

In this lunch box, an old-fashioned folding razor and a bar of soap are placed in the upper tray, while a booklet bound with cotton thread is placed in the main space of the lower layer, and the outside of the booklet is wrapped in a layer of yellow of waxed paper.

Gently take it out and open it, which records in detail the cost and items of each purchase, as well as how many ingredients are used for each meal, how many people are served, and even, behind each record, except for Liang Yimin In addition to the three-character signature, there is also a conspicuous red fingerprint as a proof. …

After re-wrapping the booklet, Wei Ran took out a roll of silver dollars rolled up in paper and a stack of burmese coins wrapped in hand rolls from the lunch box, weighed them, and then put them back together with the booklet in its original position.

So far, there are only two writing brushes that are not as long as tachyons, two double-ended gun oil pots, and a small bamboo tube that is only as long as a cigarette and as thick as a banana.

He took out a double-ended gun oil pot and looked at it. The words "washing brush oil" and "ink" were written on it with neat red and white two-color brush writing.

Another one was pulled out, but there was no writing on the gun oil pot, only the two lids were painted red and white.

He shook it resolutely, and then unscrewed it to take a look. Although it was indeed filled with red and white paint, the oil pot itself was not like a bullet hidden inside that would shoot out something it shouldn't have. sound.

Returning the two oil pots back to their original shape and putting them back into the lunch box, Wei Ran finally picked up the small bamboo tube and unscrewed it, only to find that besides a shaft and two sewing needles, there was only an extra piece of ink inside.

After a little thought, Wei Ran dug out a bunch of trophies such as gold rings and jade buddha cards that he didn't spend out of his pocket and threw them into the lunch box.He re-covered the tray with the razor and the lid of the lunch box, and hung it on the donkey again. By the way, he also untied the devil lunch box that was originally hung with the two German lunch boxes.

Fortunately, there was nothing in the lunch box except a handful of soybeans. Seeing this, Wei Ran simply dug out a pair of new socks from his bag, put the brown sugar in them, and put an extra layer on them. put it in.

After setting these things up, he put the coarse salt in the bamboo tube into the pannier full of kitchen utensils. Wei Ran re-examined the pannier he bought. Now, there are only a few items wrapped in banana leaves. In addition to the glutinous rice, there are also a machete issued by the British army, a Gurkha machete from no one knows where, and two new sickles.

Of course, at the bottom of the back basket, there are still those towels, soaps and shaving supplies that were bought at random, as well as two pairs of unworn British army shorts and a rolled up beauty poster. Of course, there is also a small half bag of rice, and the When passing through the sugarcane field, I cut down a few sugarcane.

Stuffing those towels, soap, razors and other things into his backpack, Wei Ran took out the Gurkha machete and waved it with great interest.

Before he went to study in Russia, he had been thinking about buying one, but he never thought that it would be realized here in the end.

It's a pity that he has lost his heart for this thing for a long time now, so after feeling fresh, he happily gave it to Zhou Guochang together with the matching leather case, anyway, he can't take this thing with him at all Even if he could bring it back to the world that belonged to him, it would be of no use at all.

Although he didn't care about it, Zhou Guochang was extremely happy. He even threw away the wooden knife box fixed at his waist and the rusty hatchet after receiving the strange-looking scimitar.

Seeing this, Wei Ran just smiled and said nothing, but silently mixed the half bag of rice he bought with the half bag that was originally on the donkey. …

After trying the weight of the bag of rice, Wei Ran finally heaved a sigh of relief. He didn't know if these things were enough for these people to walk out of Savage Mountain alive, but he knew that if there was more, the donkey beside him might not be able to carry it. .

When he was secretly calculating how long these supplies would last them in Savage Mountain, Zhou Guochang, who was in charge of the sentry, shouted in surprise, "Quick! Come! I seem to have seen Uncle Liang and Mr. Luke!"

Hearing this, Wei Ran immediately stood up, ran quickly to the edge of the jungle, and followed Zhou Guochang's guidance to look over.

"Is it them? Is that them?" Zhou Guochang asked, pointing to the distance.

Although there was some distance between them, both Wei Ran and Zhou Guochang could clearly see that the three of them seemed to be running towards Manxi Town with two carrying one!
"Looking good here!"

Before Wei Ran finished speaking, he turned around and ran to the side of the donkey, removed the wooden frame from its body, turned over and rode on it, grabbed the reins and ran towards Squad Leader Liang and the others!
As the distance between the two sides gradually narrowed, after confirming that the three people were indeed them, Wei Ran immediately licked the donkey's mouth with the rein indistinctly.

Stimulated by the pain, the hard-working little donkey immediately let out ahhhhh.

And the ugly but loud enough braying of the donkey immediately attracted the attention of the three people, and immediately made them turn around.

After Wei Ran led the donkey through a paddy field, he immediately saw that Luke was lying on a simple stretcher made of rattan and bamboo poles, with a wet donkey on his forehead. sock.

"What's the matter with him?" Wei Ran hurried over and asked.

"I fainted this morning!" Tan Shouzheng explained panting, "It's like his forehead is on fire. I said throw him away, but Squad Leader Liang refused."

"fever"

Squad leader Liang, who was equally tired, also panted while explaining, "It rained all night yesterday, and his wound is a little suppurated."

Hearing this, Wei Ran handed the donkey to Tan Shouzheng, and immediately after untying the bandage on Luke's arm, he immediately smelled a stinky smell. He even saw a broken belly hanging from the edge of the wound. The leech!
"Go back with me first"

Wei Momo bomb flew the leech, but then he didn't even need to bandage it. He picked up Luke, who had a high fever, and put it on the back of the donkey, and led them through the paddy field again and hid in the jungle.

"Uncle Luke! What's the matter with you?" Zhou Guochang came up to him from a distance and asked anxiously. He even carefully stretched out his finger to test the breath of the businessman Luke.

"I can't die for a while"

Wei Ran helped explain, and cut down two banana leaves and spread them on the ground, allowing Tan Shouzheng and Zhou Guochang to lift Luke down and put them on top.

"Why are you later than us?"

Wei Ran asked while rummaging through the first aid kit, but unfortunately, considering that Luke was injured, the only two first aid kits were given to Squad Leader Liang, but at this time he really couldn't find anything useful .

"Yesterday we had flash floods"

Tan Shouzheng took a big bite of the glutinous rice that Zhou Guochang handed over, and explained vaguely, "In order to bypass a river, we almost turned over a mountain. Guochang, you also have a submachine gun?"...

"We picked up a devil who was drowned by a flash flood"

Zhou Guochang explained briefly, and then asked worriedly, "How is he?"

"Wound infection"

Wei Ran stood up and said, "We need to rush to Mo's village as soon as possible, only the hospital there can save him."

"Where's Mansi?"

Squad leader Liang held the glutinous rice balls and asked, "Did you buy these in Mansi Town? There"

"The Brits there have long since run away"

Wei Ran glanced in the direction of Manxi Town, "The devil's plane just bombed there, and the temple in Manxi Town is already on fire."

"We also quickened our pace when we heard the plane flying past."

Squad leader Liang hammered his thigh, and shook his head helplessly, "It's still a step too late, it would have been better if there hadn't been that rain."

"It's not bad to think about it the other way around," Wei Ran comforted, "If we had arrived yesterday, we might be killed by the bomb now."

Speaking of which, Wei Ran also briefly recounted his experience in Mansi Town, and showed all the things he bought by the way.

"In this case, let's go to Mo's village now."

Squad leader Liang carefully looked at the contents of the three lunch boxes hanging on the donkey, and by the way, took out the few soybeans left in the devil's lunch box and fed them to the donkey.

"Go now?" Tan Shouzheng was taken aback, "Yes"

"As long as the devil's plane doesn't come again"

Zhou Guochang shivered involuntarily, and said thoughtfully, "We have encountered this situation before, when the devils deliberately waited for more than an hour after bombing a town, and then began to shoot the refugees who were about to flee with planes. , After those beasts flew away, the whole road was stained red with blood."

Squad leader Liang lit up the pipe and pot in silence, frowned and looked at Luke who was still in a coma, and said after a moment of silence, "Let's go now, when we hear the noise, we will run to the woods by the side of the road."

Hearing this, Tan Shouzheng opened his mouth, and seeing Wei Ran was silent at the side, he finally closed his mouth and swallowed back what he wanted to say.

"I'll carry him!" Zhou Guochang said in a panic.

"Squad Leader Liang" Wei Ran stood up, pointed to the two cauldrons and said, "Otherwise"

"no!"

Squad leader Liang shook his head without even thinking about it, "Don't throw away the pot! Shouzheng, we both carry the panniers, Guochang, you carry the rice bag, Wei Ran, you are responsible for carrying those quinines. This way Luke can be put in the The donkey is on, and the total distance is less than 10 miles, so I am not tired!"

"I'll recite it! I can recite it!" Zhou Guochang nodded hastily.

Seeing this, Wei Ran shook his head helplessly, helped everyone carry the three panniers on their shoulders, evenly distributed the contents inside each other, and wrapped them tightly with their own waterproof canvas, while his own In the backpack, because two lunch boxes containing life-saving medicine were stuffed, the British army shorts that I picked up not long ago had to be loosely tied to the buckle of the backpack like a curtain of two farts.

Finally, Luke who was in a coma was tied to the back of the donkey carrying two big black pots in the way of riding upside down with his face on the donkey's buttocks. A group of five people left the jungle again, bypassed Mansi Town, and walked along the muddy dirt road. He quickened his pace and rushed to the direction of Mo's Village, three or four kilometers away from the true north. …

Along the way, Wei Ran, the only one who didn't carry a heavy load, put on the British uniform and put on his boots again, and blatantly walked in the front with a submachine gun in his hand.

And his fully armed appearance is indeed useful. At least those who are also fleeing around him subconsciously keep a sufficient distance from them, and this also speeds up their progress invisibly.

Almost trotting through the refugees with numb faces, Wei Ran and the others not only had to stare at the surroundings, but also had to be alert to threats from above at all times, and at the same time, they had to look for the best bunker to avoid air attacks along the way.

Walking all the way and looking nervous all the way, when hillsides and dense forests finally appeared on both sides of the road, there were many fewer refugees fleeing on the same road, and Wei Ran and others were somewhat relieved.

However, at precisely this time, there was a clear and crisp gunshot directly in front of him!And the panic calls that followed!

"Hide!"

Wei Ran immediately raised his arms. Seeing this, Tan Shouzheng was about to pick up his submachine gun subconsciously, but soon, under the big slap from Squad Leader Liang, he quickly led the donkey into the roadside. in the woods.

"I gonna go see"

Wei Ran handed the backpack containing the medicine to Squad Leader Liang, and quickly walked a few steps forward against the crowd, but then, he saw a strange scene.

In the middle of this mountain road less than two meters wide, a middle-aged man with blond hair and blue eyes held a Webley revolver in one hand and a beautifully decorated Burmese knife in the other. A young monk sitting cross-legged on the muddy floor gestured around, looking at him, it seemed that he was about to chop off the head of the little monk at any moment.

And behind this middle-aged white man, there are three Asian men wearing expeditionary uniforms.

These three men were holding Enfield rifles in their hands, and wore British helmets on their heads for fear that others would not be able to distinguish them. The leader was holding a horn made of iron, and he was saying something in Burmese. .

Looking behind the calm young monk, apart from a black donkey carrying two bamboo baskets, there was also an old man who had been shot in the chest and was lying on his back in the muddy water.Beside the old man, there was Lihua Daiyu who watched a girl who was at most fifteen or sixteen years old crying.

At this moment, the blond middle-aged man used the Burmese knife in his hand to remove the blanket covering the bamboo basket of the black donkey, and then two gas tank-sized Buddha statues with exquisite decorations were revealed. .

"That's a nice catch!"

The middle-aged man said loudly in English with a greedy expression, "These two works of art are mine now, and so is that girl!"

Before he could finish speaking, the three young men dressed as expeditionary troops shouted something together in Burmese.

But even so, the young monk sitting cross-legged still had a calm expression on his face. He didn't even close his eyes, just looked at the blond middle-aged man with a smile.

“This is really authentic English with a French flavor”

Wei Ran raised his submachine gun while speaking, and without hesitation pointed at the three expeditionary soldiers who had a fake look and pulled the trigger! …

"Da-da-da! Da-da-da!"

Two bursts of shots were fired in a row, and the three expeditionary soldiers who were still shouting at the top of their voices immediately fell to the ground. At the same time, Wei Ran also changed into the titanium alloy pistol in the metal book, and walked forward. At the same time, he aimed at the middle-aged man who subconsciously hugged his head and pulled the trigger!
"Boom!"

After two bullets were fired in a row, the middle-aged man landed with a revolver and a Burmese knife one after another, and a cloud of blood burst out from the wrists of his two hands.

Amidst the screams that followed, Wei Ran stepped over the old man's body, moved his gun while continuing to walk, and shot each of the three expeditionary soldiers in the head.

When he raised his gun, there was only a familiar young monk between him and the blond middle-aged man, plus a distance of less than two meters.

"Guochang! Come and help!"

Wei Ran turned his head and shouted at the top of his voice, then stretched out his hand to pick up the little monk who was looking at him in astonishment, walked to the side of the screaming middle-aged man and squatted down.

"Are you robbing?" Wei Ran asked with a smile, but at the same time as he spoke, the Mauser bayonet in his hand had passed through the middle-aged man's palm, nailing him to the muddy ground.

Unexpectedly, the answer to this questioning method was piercing and screaming, but Wei Ran didn't seem to be keen on the answer to the question, he just stepped on the opponent's finger slowly, and slowly moved the bayonet again. Pulled out.

"Let go. Let me go!" the middle-aged man wailed and cried.

"So you are robbing?" Wei Ran asked again, and at the same time pierced his other palm with a bayonet.

Amidst the new round of screams, Zhou Guochang also ran over with a submachine gun.

"Ask what happened to that little monk." Wei Ran asked while pulling out his bayonet.

Zhou Guochang grinned, and quickly communicated in Burmese with the little monk who had closed his eyes and clasped his hands together.

After a while, he switched to Chinese and explained, "According to little master Sehao, this foreigner said that he is a British police officer, and those three people are subordinates of his Chinese Expeditionary Army. He wants to collect money on the spot to fight against the devils." .”

"Hmph! If we had such complete British equipment, we would have beaten the shit out of the little devil a long time ago."

Squad leader Liang, who came up a little later, had torn off the British shorts of a corpse while speaking, revealing the very Japanese-style loincloth inside.Immediately afterwards, he tore off the top of the corpse, and found a metal piece with Japanese writing on it from the armpit.

This piece of metal is called a "recognition ticket" according to the name of the devil, but to put it bluntly, it is a dog tag for identification.

Although the usage is the same, it is not hung around the neck like the American or German style, but is straddled diagonally under the ribs like a super small satchel.

"These bastards!"

Squad leader Liang gritted his teeth and cursed, and then personally tore off the clothes of the three corpses, leaving only the loincloths. He called Zhou Guochang for help, and tied them to a tree by the side of the road.After a while, Tan Shouzheng also walked over leading the donkey.

"It's your turn to answer the question"

Wei Ran picked up the blond middle-aged man, put the tip of the Mauser bayonet on his shoulder and asked, "What's your name, what country are you from, who asked you to come here to do these things, yours What is the purpose. The sooner you finish answering the question, the sooner I can stop."

"Giller!" The middle-aged man immediately wailed and replied, "I'm French, yes"

"Since you are French, please answer in French." Wei Ran reminded in French, the tip of the knife in his hand had penetrated into his shoulder to a depth of about one centimeter.

Hearing this, the man who claimed to be Jiller immediately changed into French and said, "I was caught by the recruiters in the free electricity two months ago. They asked me to pretend to be a British police officer to cause chaos. The three were killed by you." The person who controls me is specially controlling me! Stop it! Stop it! My shoulder is about to be pierced through!"

"Next Question"

"Is there anyone else here?" Wei Ran, who didn't stop at all, asked in a flat tone.

"It's gone! It's gone! The others retreated before the plane bombed!" Giller paused and wailed loudly. "There are two more in Muncie Town! They are responsible for spreading rumors!"

"Next question." Wei Ran deliberately twisted the handle of the bayonet, "When did the British escape?"

"I don't know! I don't know!" Gilles screamed in pain and broke out in a cold sweat. "I was brought here two days ago."

"Thank you" Wei Ran thanked him inexplicably, then pulled out the bayonet and pulled it horizontally, cutting Jill's left and right cheeks.