War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 850 Anonymous 1487
In the early morning of the next day, the sun had not had time to disperse the thick fog in the jungle. Several security members headed by Brother Yang had already climbed to the top of the mountain with the chainsaw and electric pick brought by helicopter yesterday, and found a sufficient In a flat location, the overgrown tropical trees and shrubs, and even large and small stones were cleaned up in an orderly manner, and a platform sufficient for helicopters to take off and land was opened up at the fastest speed, as well as a mountain road leading to the middle of the mountain.

At the same time, at the edge of the jungle close to Mo's village, there were also a few strong men carrying eight one-bar bars. They led the mules, donkeys, and even buffaloes bought from the village in groups of three, along the road that Wei Ran and others had bought at the beginning. The path when entering the mountain entered the jungle, and then each went in a different direction.

When the first ray of sunlight in the morning shone on the proposed landing site on the top of the mountain, a helicopter also flew in circles into the jungle from other directions, and landed lightly on the newly opened landing site on the top of the mountain.

As the cabin door opened, Mr. Zhou came out of the cabin first, stood at the cabin door and waved to everyone to come forward to help.

Seeing this, no matter whether it was Squad Leader Yang, Wei Ran and the others, they all gathered around and helped the other party remove various sacrifices from the cabin.

"You prepared this?" Wei Ran asked Qin Ershi loudly amidst the noise of the propellers.

"no!"

While Qin Ershi responded loudly, he pointed at Mr. Zhou who was carrying a pig's head with its tail dangling in the distance, "I guess he arranged it!"

Hearing this, Wei Ran didn't ask any more questions, and together with Xia Shushi, he lifted out a long altar and walked to the side.

After busy cleaning out the things in the cabin, Qin Ershi, Wei Ran and others greeted each other, then got into the cabin alone, and followed the helicopter away.

"Mr. Wei Dayi"

Mr. Zhou in a Tang suit walked up to Wei Ran before the helicopter flew away, bowed solemnly.

"Mr. Zhou doesn't have to be like this"

Wei Ran quickly pulled Xia Shushi aside, supported Mr. Zhou and said, "This is what every Chinese person should do. I can't afford your bow."

"affordable"

Zhou Qiguang looked at the wild grass and green bamboos around him and sighed, "I'm ashamed to say that since my father passed away, except my second uncle who was still healthy more than ten years ago, he went to that temple every year to serve Master Sehao. Zhu Xiang, our family has never been here again."

Hearing this, Wei Ran and Xia Shushi naturally didn't want to say anything, they just changed the subject and said, "It's not too late, Mr. Zhou, let's go and have a look in that cave."

"Yes! Go and see!"

As Mr. Zhou said, he quickened his pace. Under the leadership of Wei Ran and Xia Shushi, he walked to the entrance of the cave along the barely cleared mountain road.

When he saw the red emerald stone tablet, Mr. Zhou fumbled for the words on the stone tablet and said, "I remember this tablet."

"Have you seen it before?" Xia Shushi asked in surprise.

"I've seen it, I've seen it when I was a child."

While speaking, Mr. Zhou took out a P44 jug from the shoulder bag on his waist that Wei Ran and Xia Shushi had seen and even opened in the UK, and poured the wine that had been stored in it for an unknown period of time on the altar In the celadon bowl on the table, recalled, "It was about 60s. I just went to school. At that time, our family had not left the free electricity."

Mr. Zhou put the kettle back in his bag, bowed respectfully to the stele, lit three sticks of incense and put them in the incense burner, bowed again, then stepped back a few steps and continued, "At that time, my father and I The two uncles and master Sehao run a small emerald mine together. This stele was cut out of the stone they unearthed from the emerald mine, transported to Mo's village by boat, and then raised by master Sehao. It's like moving into a temple."

Speaking of this, Mr. Zhou touched the big characters on the stone tablet and said, "These characters were written by Uncle Shouzheng. Although I don't remember him anymore, I still remember that there was such a character hanging in the temple at that time. The first time I came here, my father said that the calligraphy was written by Uncle Shouzheng.

At that time, every time I asked why I didn't see Uncle Shouzheng, my father always said that he was busy, busy standing guard. "

After receiving the cigarette Xia Shushi handed over, Mr. Zhou, who was lost in memory, let Wei Ran light it for him, and slowly sat under the camphor tree and continued, "I remember very clearly that it was Master Sehao who cut that monument. I took out that picture myself, and I wanted to touch the seal on that picture, but my father slapped me."

Mr. Zhou sighed, turned around and said, "If I remember correctly, the other side of this monument is also engraved with words."

"What characters are engraved?" Xia Shushi subconsciously asked.

"Can not remember"

Mr. Zhou shook his head, and said rather dumbfoundingly, "I just remember that when this stele was finally carved, my father, master Sehao, and a few native friends of the two of them first used large stones at night The elephant loaded the stele into the boat, and then my father took a few natives and followed the boat downstream. Master Sehao also set off overnight with his elephant.

At that time, I cried in that temple all afternoon, and they didn't take me there. Later, my father thought I was too noisy, and the night before departure, he couldn't help but whipped me with a belt.After they left that time, it was almost a week before they came back. "

With a cigarette in his mouth, Mr. Zhou took out the water bottle he just put in again from his pocket, "But when my father came back, he sent me, my mother, and my second uncle and aunt to the boat to England. In the UK, after waiting for several months, my dad rushed over.

I remember that he was covered in wounds at that time, and the only things he was carrying were this kettle and the pistol you saw earlier.The other things in that box suddenly appeared in my father's study after a long time. "

"Chinese anti-Chinese movement?" Xia Shushi asked in an almost affirmative tone.

"probably."

Mr. Zhou sighed, "Since then, the civil war in Wudian has never stopped. Later, when my two aunts brought my cousins ​​back to Wudian to settle down, it is said that they were almost kidnapped. Since then, I'm even more reluctant to come to free electricity, this ghost place!"

In the memories and sighs of Mr. Zhou, the helicopter also went back and forth, and even circled the mountainside halfway before landing. From a distance, the camera was aimed at Mr. Zhou, Wei Ran and Xia Shushi.

After the helicopter landed steadily on the platform on the top of the mountain and put down Qin Ershi and the film crew, it took off again, circling and flying to the world outside the jungle.

There was no so-called interview session, and no one was responsible for the introduction, except for the elder brother who was carrying the camera, including the reporter, Mr. Zhou, who was over half a century old, and everyone who arrived one after another by helicopter, They all helped together, and worked together to widen the mountain road from the top of the mountain to the entrance of the cave, and cleared the overgrown vegetation and large and small pieces of gravel at the entrance of the cave.

Amidst the bustle of the crowd, a solid wooden altar table was placed firmly in front of the towering tombstone. On the altar table, there were also incense burners still inserted with incense sticks, as well as the three sacrifices just brought in and a set of altars. Plates of various fruits and snacks.

At nine o'clock in the morning, after discussing with Mr. Zhou, Qin Ershi walked alone in front of the altar, respectfully lit a handful of incense and worshiped, then took out a piece of yellow paper, and read aloud the temporary writing on it as if there was no one else around. Good tribute:
The princes were born in troubled times and were unyielding. They sacrificed their lives to resist foreign humiliation without regret.Sincerely feel the merits of bloody fighting, only then can the world be safe and sound.Today, three small gifts of vegetarian wine are being raised, and the heroes will be honored and returned to their homeland.It's been a long time since Hunxi has returned to fight!The soul is back, please return now!

When Qin Ershi burned the sacrificial oration in his hand with the white candle on the table, and after the light ashes fell to the ground, he held incense and worshiped devoutly again.

At the same time, Mr. Zhou, who was over half a century old, also lit two firecrackers hanging on the camphor tree.

Amid the sound of crackling firecrackers, everyone present bowed and saluted one after another. Brother Yang and his subordinates standing outside the camera lens raised the Bayi bars in their hands in a uniform manner, and performed 12 gun salutes with concentration. .

When the sound of firecrackers and gunshots stopped, Qin Ershi, Xia Shushi, and Mr. Zhou each took up the large bowls on the altar table, and lightly poured the clear liquor inside under the camphor tree at the entrance of the cave.

Waiting patiently until half of the incense sticks in the incense burner were burned, and following an order, everyone headed by Squad Leader Yang started their chainsaws. Pulleys and cables are fixed on it.

After digging out the altar that was also made of emerald ore and lifting it to the side together, everyone immediately wrapped straw mats around the stele, wrapped it carefully with slings, and connected the chain hoists on both sides.

Amidst the rattling sound of the chains, the slings tied to the huge stone tablet gradually tightened, and it was finally uprooted easily.

Pushed entirely by manpower, the pulled out stele slowly lay down, finally revealing a hole sealed by cement and stones.

Everyone except the photographer chanted and carried it together, and moved the heavy stone tablet to the position where the altar table had just been put down, and untied the slings and straw mats tied on it.

"Wow!"

Taking advantage of the time it takes to open the hole, Wei Ran and Xia Shushi each poured a bucket of water on the back of the stele. While the crowd watched, they picked up a brand new bristle brush and carefully cleaned the growth on the stele. moss etc.

Gradually, the inscriptions, at most the size of a little fingernail, appeared one after another with the washing of the water. By the way, the center of the stele was also exposed. Emerald stone veins.

"List of the Fifth Army of the National Revolution who died in action"

Xia Shushi was the first to read the writing on the top of the stele, but he couldn't read the following words at all.

Anonymous 1
Anonymous 2
Anonymous 3
On the entire stone tablet, there are densely carved "Anonymous", and under each "Anonymous", there is a number that may only be used for distinction.

Everyone's eyes moved down slowly, and when they saw the last anonymous person on the lowermost edge of the stele, the number added under "Anonymous" had become "1377"!
Finally, after this Anonymous 1377, finally there are names that a pair of parents gave each child with various beautiful meanings when they were born.

"Long Guoping, Chen Huayi, Yu Mingbo, Wei Keda, Deng Yunfu"

Xia Shushi read one name after another, but the people around him already had goosebumps. Even if they had names, there were a total of one hundred and twelve!
Among the people present, some people were very clear that these names were once just horizontal and vertical letters on a steel helmet.

After a long time, with a hoarse voice, Xia Shushi struggled to read out the last two names engraved: "Liang Yimin and Tan Shouzheng".

He picked up a towel and wiped the bottom edge of the tombstone, but there were seven palm-sized characters: Go home!Must go home!

"We're late," Qin Ershi murmured hoarsely.But the rest of the people around fell into silence.

"The hole is open!"

In this oppressive atmosphere, Brother Yang, who had been leading people to work at the entrance of the cave just now, yelled.

Hearing this, everyone got up and walked towards the not-so-big cave entrance.

As strong flashlights shone into the cave one by one, what everyone saw was a cave reinforced with cement.And in the cave, one after another, layer upon layer, almost filling all the space, there are countless white porcelain urns!
Kneeling at the entrance of the cave, Mr. Zhou carefully took out the first urn, and gently wiped off the floating soil on it.

On the lid of the white porcelain, the words "Fifth Army of the National Revolution, Anonymous 1487" were engraved at the beginning of firing, and the still solid white sealing mud can be seen at the connection between the lid and the tank body.

"Fifth Army of the National Revolution, Anonymous 1487"

Mr. Zhou solemnly read out the identity of the expeditionary army soldier beyond the records of the stele, and then solemnly handed it to Qin Ershi behind him with both hands, and then Qin Ershi passed it to Xia Shushi, Wei Ran, and later The people who lined up spontaneously were finally sent to the edge of the pool surrounded by bamboo forests.

A large canopy was erected here early with black cloth. When these urns were delivered here, a few female staff members who came from China immediately fetched water from the waterfall and dipped them in towels. Carefully wiped off the floating soil accumulated on the white porcelain urns, and then sent them one by one to the side to wipe off the water stains on their bodies, and carefully wrapped them with a red flag that has long been no longer in use. Every 12 people As a group, it was placed in a transfer box with shock-absorbing foam.

In the busyness of everyone, a total of 1487 urns were cleaned out and sent under the canopy by the pool for three full days, washed clean, packed and sealed, waiting to be transported away together.

Thanks to the protection of the fortified cave, none of the urns broke.However, due to the proximity of the hole, or perhaps due to changes in humidity, the sealing mud on the lid and tank body has fallen off.

But it was also by this opportunity that everyone discovered that almost every jar whose seal had come off, after lifting the lid, could see some relics contained in a bamboo tube.

Some of these relics are just a few metal buttons that still have some traces of flame burns, some are simple pipe pots made of bullet casings, some have an incomplete pocket watch, or are simply some unburned pieces of cloth .

In the cave that was emptied, everyone also found the tombstone engraved with "Tomb of Liang Yimin, 22nd Division of the Fifth Army, Yicheng's benefactor" and the grave bag next to it, as well as the only white porcelain urn with the exact name written on it.

"The tomb of Qin Shouzheng, the cook of the 22nd Division of the Qianwu Army, Maungnian, the righteous brother"

Qin Ershi read out the words engraved on the lid of the last urn, then raised his head and asked in puzzlement, "What does Maang Nianqian mean?"

"Mao is an honorific name in Burmese"

Mr. Zhou explained, "The name Nianqian is a bit special. It has a certain commemorative meaning, which can be understood as peace or an end to war. I remember my father once said when he was alive that after Uncle Shouzheng became the abbot of the temple, for the convenience of The event used to be under the pseudonym Maung Nianqian, but this name was given to him by Master Sehao."

Carefully sending out the urn of Tan Shouzheng, the last expeditionary soldier in the cave, everyone walked to the unfinished Buddha statue.There are several bamboo baskets lined up here, some of which contain cooking utensils used by squad leader Liang and others, and some contain weapons such as flower organs snatched from the devils, and so on.

In addition, there is also a rough pottery jar that Wei Ran is very familiar with.

The mud seal of this jar is still intact, and the eight red characters written in paint can still be seen on the rough-made altar-"On the day of returning home, let's raise a glass and drink together."

(End of this chapter)