War Photographer's Notebook

In the light rain, the big rooster raised in the temple woke up the hangover crowd with a loud voice.

"Go to see Squad Leader Liang today, and bring Mr. Luke back by the way?" Tan Shouzheng suggested lying on his back on the mat, staring at the wooden beams on the roof.

"You have to leave early," Zhou Guochang and the young monk Sehao said in unison.

“Definitely go early”

Tan Shouzheng yawned, changed the subject and asked, "Wei Ran, did you bring two jars of wine?"

"Yes, do you want to bring it?" Wei Ran nodded, "There is still more than half of the altar that was opened yesterday."

"Take it"

Tan Shouzheng thought for a while, and continued, "However, let's not open that jar of wine, how about putting it in that cave? When there is no more war in the country, we will open it again when there is a chance to send them home." That altar of wine is for everyone to practice."

"In this case, let's bring some extra wine to Squad Leader Liang." Zhou Guochang, who was also staring at the roof, suggested.

"Get up, everyone, drink a bowl of oil tea and let's go!" Tan Shouzheng was the first to sit up before he finished speaking, and staggered towards the outside of the temple.

Just like in Savage Mountain, he worked together to cook a pot of camellia to fill his stomach, but Tan Shouzheng rummaged through the box and found a P44 kettle that was issued in small quantities by the British Army.

"Do you still keep it?" Zhou Guochang asked with a smile.

"Of course I keep it." Tan Shouzheng said with a smile.

"What charades are you playing?" Wei Ran looked at the two in confusion.

"When I was playing Bamo, Zhou Guochang stole a pot of wine from somewhere and gave it to me." Tan Shouzheng had already unscrewed the metal pot lid while speaking, "He told me it was British wine, I still remember it now , that wine smells like gasoline, it seems like it’s called a fart.”

"whisky"

Zhou Guochang found his canvas bag while he was talking, took out a stainless steel m1942 water bottle that was once issued by the US military, and handed it to Tan Shouzheng, "At that time, he often brewed rice wine secretly, and I deliberately stole the British officer's wine and his The replacement, even the kettle, was stolen from the British officer."

"Are you keeping it too?" Tan Shouzheng took the water bottle and returned the water bottle in his hand to the other party.

"Didn't it be agreed at the time that the water bottle will be replaced next time we drink together?" Zhou Guochang said with a smile.

"Yeah, it was agreed at the time"

Tan Shouzheng smiled, and said in a playful manner, "It's because I drank the fart that I traded with you that I lost an arm."

"Can you blame me for this?" Zhou Guochang said angrily.

"Thanks to your jug ​​of wine"

Tan Shouzheng poured wine into the exchanged stainless steel jug with wine raisins and said, "At that time, I lost my foot and only lost one arm. Otherwise, my head would be blown. Wei Ran, Sehao, you look for it quickly Put some wine in a jug, let's drink on the way."

Hearing this, Wei Ran turned around and found the English enamel kettle that was used as a pillow last night.Not long after, the little monk Sehao also found an enamel kettle and a funnel made of iron sheets by the way.

When Tan Shouzheng filled the water bottles of the three of them with the leftover wine from yesterday's drink, Tan Shouzheng found three more enamel water bottles and filled them with wine. …

“Bring some more food”

Before the little monk Sehao could finish his sentence, he got into the chicken coop not far away, and caught two big roosters and a duck among the flying feathers.

"Master Sehao has done a good job with this monk." Tan Shouzheng joked gloatingly, "I heard that he has a crush on a girl from Manxi Town."

"No wonder"

Wei Ran looked happily at the little monk who was busy catching chickens, "Shouzheng, I heard that you are going to become the abbot of this temple?"

"Have this plan"

Tan Shouzheng nodded, looked at the dragon boat flowers in the distance and said, "More than [-] people. A group of people are buried here. They can't leave, go back, or wake up.

I am a soldier in the cooking squad, so I should be in charge of their food and drink.Burn a few pieces of yellow paper for them during the holidays, sprinkle a few glasses of rice wine from time to time, no matter what, someone must take care of them, this kind of thing can't be done by Master Sehao, he has already helped us a lot.

On the other hand, I heard from Master Sehao that being an abbot is actually quite good, and you don’t have to do anything. Usually, the village will often send some food and drink over. "

"I will come here often in the future," Zhou Guochang assured, patting his chest.

"You came to see me for a drink?"

Tan Shouzheng said jokingly, but no matter the tone, expression or mentality, there was a maturity and vicissitudes that did not match his age.

"Not only drinking, but also eating." Zhou Guochang said with a smile.

"Yesterday, the little master said that you are going to transfer them all to that cave?" Wei Ran looked at the field of flowers and asked.

"Have this plan"

Tan Shouzheng nodded, "Wait a little longer, wait for the situation to stabilize, and take this matter slowly."

"I will help you," Zhou Guochang expressed his attitude seriously.

"I'm not polite when I need your help"

Tan Shouzheng picked up the jug filled with wine, carefully sealed the jars that still had a lot of wine left, and then dug out several enamel jugs, filled them with water and a bag of rice, and carefully put them into bamboo baskets .

When Wei Ran and Zhou Guochang repacked another jar of wine that was brought down yesterday into a bamboo basket and hung it on the donkey's back, little master Sehao, who is called a monk of wine and meat, also put the chickens and ducks he caught into a bamboo basket. In the cage, and I didn't forget to cover it with a layer of tattered monk's robes.

At the same time, Tan Shouzheng also put some vegetables grown in the temple into the bamboo basket containing wine and rice, and then asked Wei Ran and Zhou Guochang to help hang it on the donkey's back, but he turned around and walked in. The innermost room of the temple.

Not long after, when he came out again, he had already put on a set of expeditionary force British uniform without military rank, and on the arm of his uniform, there was also a slightly worn armband of the c-theater zone.

The only difference is that this armband seems to have been infected by blood, so it is inevitable that it will have black stains that cannot be washed off.

"Go, go."

Tan Shouzheng patted the wooden gun case on his waist while talking, and said with nostalgia, "I remember this gun still belongs to Mr. Luke."

"How about a change?"

While Zhou Guochang was speaking, he picked up an almost identical wooden gun case from the jeep, "This gun belongs to me, and it's also from Canada. I'll exchange it for the one in your hand."…

Hearing this, Tan Shouzheng happily took off the gun case and handed it to the other party.Then he took the opponent's gun case and straddled his shoulders.

"Let's take our weapons too. We haven't fought wars these years, and there have been more beasts in the Savage Mountain." The little monk Sehao hadn't finished speaking, and he had already lifted the altar tablecloth at the foot of the Buddha statue, and pulled out two Enfields from it. Rifle, and some clips.

"You should be a monk." Wei Ran murmured dumbfoundedly, and reached out to take the rifle handed over by the other party.

Everything was ready, a group of four people and a donkey walked along the road they had walked, avoiding the villagers and entering Savage Mountain.

Compared with rushing around back then, this time they only had a calm look on their faces, and their words were mostly about the memories of that time, as well as their regrets.

After traveling tirelessly all the way, at dusk, everyone also saw the cave where they stayed the first night after entering Savage Mountain.

Now, there is a small door made of bamboo at the entrance of this cave.Although the door was not locked, it was tied tightly with a rope.

After little master Sehao untied the rope on the bamboo door, Wei Ran also led the donkey through the not-so-big hole.After a while, Master Sehao who came in familiarly lit a few oil lamps hanging on the rock wall.

When the mixed yellow light completely illuminated the cave, Wei Ran was surprised to find that compared with the original, although the unfinished Buddha statue still hadn't finished the final cut, but near the entrance of the cave, there were more He set up a stove, and on the stove, there was a large iron pot with 20 seals that Wei Ran and others were very familiar with, and there were bundles of firewood hanging on the top of the stove.

Continuing to go in, on the side of the unfinished Buddha statue near the rock wall, there are two more tombs repaired side by side.

Although these two tombs are not big, there are some tributes in front of each of them, and on the stone tombstone, the identity of the person buried in the tomb is clearly engraved-"Tomb of Liang Yimin, the 22nd division of the fifth army, the teacher Yicheng." , and "Mr. Luke Campbell."

Apart from the two tombs in this cave, in front of the unfinished Buddha statue, there are also a few bamboo baskets that Wei Ran and others are very familiar with hanging in the air with iron chains.

These bamboo baskets were all wrapped with buoyant bags from the life raft of the Devil's plane, and on each bamboo basket were fixed a few pairs of dilapidated straw sandals.

"This is Squad Leader Liang's back basket"

Tan Shouzheng said one by one, "The bamboo basket next to it contains the things we put in Squad Leader Liang's tomb, and Master Sehao took them all back."

Before he could finish speaking, little master Sehao had already taken off the pannier that belonged to Squad Leader Liang.Seeing this, Wei Ran and Zhou Guochang came back to their senses and immediately helped to take down the bamboo basket next to them.

"Pick off the other one too," Tan Shouzheng said while comforting the donkey.

Hearing this, Wei Ran and Zhou Guochang simply took down the remaining panniers, one by one unwrapping the rainproof cloth wrapped on them.

"You put all these things here?"

Wei Ran asked in surprise, there are only six backpacks in total, except for the two introduced by Tan Shouzheng just now, the remaining four are filled with barrels of kerosene, two American medical backpacks and countless mosquito repellent oils , anti-leech powder and quinine drugs. …

The remaining two panniers were filled with neatly stacked clothes and machine guns that came from nowhere!
"Except for the weapons, the rest are all prepared by little master Sehao."

Tan Shouzheng explained with a smile, "He's always worried that there will be wars in Burma, and that he will have to go to the Savage Mountain again, so he prepared these things."

"After I return to vulgarity, I plan to raise an elephant."

Master Sehao said a little shyly, "I know a mahout who works in a lumber field. His elephant will give birth soon, and I will buy one then."

"He didn't just want to buy an elephant"

Qin Shouzheng winked and joked, "He's planning to marry the mahout's daughter, and he bought a piece of land not far south of the temple to build a house."

"How old is little master Sehao?" Zhou Guochang asked deliberately.

"19 years old"

Qin Shouzheng rushed to answer this question, "He got a lot of rewards for helping to preserve two Buddha statues and relics in the temple in Manxi Town."

"Come on open these things"

Little Master Sehao pointed to the waterproof bag buried with Squad Leader Liang and urged, obviously trying to divert the topic that he didn't know how to deal with.

"Yes, yes, take it apart." Zhou Guochang said with a smile.

"I took the relics that were put here at the beginning, and I didn't move the rest." Little Master Sehao said while untying the rope that bound the waterproof bag, "Your things are all here."

"I knew I put myself in it"

Zhou Guochang made a joke, stretched out his hand from the waterproof bag and took out his devil lunch box, opened it, and said with extra comfort, "Those burmese coins are now waste paper, and these silver dollars and gold bars, let's share them. "

"You keep it"

Tan Shouzheng waved his hand, but did not take anything from the waterproof bag, "I don't need food and drink in this electricity-free temple. I've already taken some of Squad Leader Liang's stuff. Just leave it here."

"In that case, let's keep these films here too."

Wei Ran took a look at the lunch box of the British army that he put in by himself, but he didn't open it to check the film rolls inside, but just stuffed it in again.

"Do you want these gold bars and silver dollars?" Zhou Guochang asked thinking about the yellow and white things in his hand.

"Give it to little master, he is going to marry a wife." Tan Shouzheng joked about little master Sehao again.

"that's right!"

Zhou Guochang saw that Wei Ran waved his hand to refuse, and immediately stuffed those few gold bars and those silver dollars into the young monk's hands without any explanation, "Take it as our congratulatory gift."

"I"

"Take it," Zhou Guochang insisted, "you can keep this money and spend it."

"Stop wasting time on money matters"

Tan Shouzheng patted the donkey's buttocks, "Come here and help, and bring down this jar of wine. Then we will cook a good meal as before, Wei Ran, what about the guy in the basket of Squad Leader Liang?"

Before the three of Wei Ran could respond, Tan Shouzheng took out a coated gun oil pot from his pocket and unscrewed it with his teeth, then took out a writing brush, dipped it in red paint, and put it on the clay jar. On the board, wrote "on the day of returning home, raise a glass and drink together" eight red letters. …

After he put away the gun oil pot and writing brush, Wei Ran also untied Squad Leader Liang's pannier, and took out the pots and pans one by one.

Even Tan Shouzheng, who had been prepared for a long time, pulled out a bamboo tube full of soy sauce and a bamboo tube full of meat oil from the back basket he brought.

At the same time, Zhou Guochang also took out the enamel jugs filled with wine, filled the thick porcelain wrists placed in front of the tombstones of Squad Leader Liang and Mr. Luke, and finally lit the white pots brought by Wei Ran. Candles and yellow paper.

In the slightly choking smoke, enough rice was steamed in the 20-inch cauldron at the entrance of the cave, and the small pot under the command of Qin Shouzheng and operated by Wei Ran also began to fry the same rice. side dishes.

However, without squad leader Liang, the crucial chef, even if they brought more ingredients and seasonings, even if they had more time and energy, they could no longer make the original taste.

"Take a sip"

Tan Shouzheng was the first to raise the stainless steel kettle full of wine, "I hope there will never be a war in the future."

"I hope Guochang will find his family soon." Sehao expressed his wish while holding an enamel water bottle.

"I hope I can drink little master Sehao's wedding wine soon." Zhou Guochang smiled and raised the kettle.

"I hope every expeditionary soldier can go home early." Wei Ran also raised the kettle in his hand.

"Yes, go home! I hope everyone can go home soon!" Tan Shouzheng nodded vigorously, "Cheers!"

"Cheers!" The three of Wei Ran responded in unison, bumping together the water bottles of different styles in their hands.

When the warm wine was poured into his mouth, Wei Ran clearly heard a crisp shutter sound, and his eyes were also filled with rich white light.