On the desolate Suhaya Tunguska River, three six-wheeled bicycles with dazzling headlights on were twenty or thirty meters apart from each other, slowly rolling over the flat snow, heading towards their destination with difficulty.
is moving forward.
In the warm car, Suisui had already taken off her boots, curled up on the flat passenger seat and dozed off. At her feet, the dog Beria, who was acting as a footrest, was also lying on her back.
He snored.
Since leaving the Yenisei River, they have been walking along this river for five or six hours. At this time, what they can see around them is the larch forest with no edge at all, and only the car lights sweeping through the forest.
, the occasional flash of green eyes, and the howl of wolves mixed in the cold wind.
Fortunately, at this time, the river outside the car window finally forked in the shape of a Mercedes-Benz logo. And on the branch of the river, there was another branch that was more than two hundred meters long and seventy or eighty meters wide.
An island in the middle of the river covered with larch trees.
Although the island in the middle of the river was covered with thick ice and snow like the frozen river, when the headlights of the three cars shone on it, both Wei Ran and the Katenka sisters noticed the construction on the island at a glance.
The sentry tower looks particularly solid.
The height of this sentry tower can be fifteen or six meters. Although the lower part cannot be seen clearly due to the cover of trees and snow, the top of the sentry tower seems to have the function of a lighthouse, with a full circle of windows.
I took out my binoculars and took a look. There seemed to be abandoned searchlights still inside those windows.
And those searchlights seemed to be aimed at the forest glade on the north bank of the river fork.
After moving the car slightly so that the headlights were pointed at this open space, one could barely see a snow-covered pier and a relatively gentle slope.
As for what else is behind this pier and deep in this forest glade, due to the height, you can only see clearly by driving up.
"Are you here?" Suisui, who was dozing off, asked vaguely while stretching and yawning.
"arrive"
As Wei Ran spoke, he put away his binoculars and drove his big bicycle down the slope to the open space on the shore.
The area of the open space guarding the river bank is not too large, only a hundred meters square when fully calculated. However, at the end of the northwest corner of the open space, there are still two outlines that can still be seen, with a width of only six or seven meters, all the way to the northwest corner
The logging road extends for who knows how far.
The main reason that made him so certain that this was a logging road was the scattered remaining wooden fences on the roadside.
"Is there nothing around here?" Suisui, who had already put on her boots, pressed her face against the double-layered insulated car window and asked with difficulty concealing her disappointment while looking out.
"It's probably still inside."
As Wei Ran spoke, he gently stepped on the accelerator and drove slowly along one of the roads deep into the forest. Suisui, who was sitting in the passenger seat, also widened his eyes.
After driving along this road for two to three hundred meters, a larger forest glade suddenly appeared.
"There is a house!" Suisui was the first to shout, and at the same time, her hand pointed to the left front of the car.
Turning the front of the car slightly, as the headlights swept across, the four people in the three cars also saw everything in this forest glade. There were not only buildings here, but more than one building!
Although the view was not complete due to the cover of snow, it was still possible to tell that these wreckage were standard tundra cabins, about one meter above the ground, with walls made of overlapping thigh-thick logs.
, and a stone chimney.
It's a pity that too much time has passed, and both the thick log walls and the stone chimneys are all incomplete and have collapsed.
After a rough count, there are sixteen or seventeen wooden house remains that can be distinguished in this open space, arranged in three horizontal and vertical rows. At the edge of the open space, you can also see the remains of wooden houses that have grown together with the trees.
A circle of barbed wire.
To the west of this clearing, there are two other logging roads. Follow one of the logging roads a hundred meters deeper, and you will find a large forest that is two hundred meters wide, and you can't even see the end of it at a glance.
space.
After all, more than half a century has passed. Just like the two clearings I just passed by, although this clearing is not filled with waist-thick mature trees on both sides, there are still many shrubs and wild trees that cannot be covered by snow.
of secondary forest.
After turning the car back to the open space where the remains of the wooden house remained, and parking the three cars side by side, Anfisa opened the car window, poked the muzzle of the AK12 that Weiran had given her before, pointed it at the night sky and pulled the trigger.
"Da da!" After two consecutive gunshots, the wild animals peeping in the surrounding woods also dispersed, temporarily lending this homeland to Wei Ran and others.
After a while, the Katenka sisters got into the carriage of Wei Ran and Suisui, and sat down at the dining table without even being greeted, making it clear that they were waiting for the meal.
As for exploring this abandoned labor camp, there was no rush. They had been walking for nearly ten hours since setting off from Turukhansk. Apart from simply eating some canned instant noodles and the like, they also
But I haven’t even had a proper meal.
Seeing that Suisui, who had not yet fully woken up, was not going to help, Wei Ran shook his head helplessly, rummaged through the boxes and found an earthen jar as big as a volleyball, opened the seal, and placed it on the gas stove.
These earthen jars are considered "Soviet specialties" launched by the Aurora Tavern in the small town of Tula. However, after being improved by Su Lie, the Chinese team leader who helped Suisui lead the team, and his little girlfriend, in addition to being very Soviet, the earthen jars contained
In addition to the characteristic beef stew with potatoes and butter, we also introduce various flavors such as tomato stewed beef brisket, braised various meats, pork belly and chicken, which are more suitable for Chinese tastes.
Although these things are nominally launched by Aurora Tavern, they are also popular among polar drivers.
But in fact, these "socialist crock dishes" were actually Su Lie's (Chapter 752 Chinese) uncle who opened a restaurant. He asked his chefs to cook them together, and then took a transport plane to the town of Tula with tourists.
For sale. No need to guess, the profits from this earthenware dish must go to Suisui and Aurora Tavern.
While the main course solidified in the earthen pot was heating and melting, Wei Ran didn't forget to steam a few hard big ribs on another stove.
Finally, after making an extra pot of tea and pouring a cup for each of the three girls, Wei Ran sat down next to Suisui with a plate of cut watermelon, which was also prepared by Suisui.
"How are we going to find it later?" Suisui poked a piece of watermelon with a toothpick and asked while eating it.
"What the hell?" Wei Ran yawned, "After dinner, go to bed, set an alarm clock, and wait until daybreak."
Suisui then remembered that she and her dog Beria were the only ones sleeping along the way, "That's okay, I'll stand guard for you later."
"Don't take Beria's job."
Anfisa said jokingly, and Beria, whose name was called, subconsciously raised her head and opened her mouth, allowing Anfisa to throw a piece of watermelon into its mouth.
Although it was said that we would talk after dawn, Wei Ran still took out his tablet computer, called up the photo of the notes, compared it with the hand-drawn map of the labor camp, and together with the three girls, they identified the remains of the wooden house not far away from the car window.
It's the building in the hand-drawn map, and the house where Mesut, a German prisoner of war, lived.
When the pork belly and chicken in the crock pot were thoroughly boiled and bubbling, Wei Yan threw in the carrots, green peppers and a handful of enoki mushrooms that had been chopped in advance.
After a moment of waiting, steaming crock pot vegetables and steamed soft ribs were brought to the table one after another. Suisui also dug out a can of pickles and opened it, even Gouzi Bei squatting at the table.
Leah also gestured with her eyes, while drool flowed from the corner of her mouth involuntarily.
Each opened a can of cold beer, and the four of them filled their stomachs while chatting. Beria also got the remaining crock pot vegetables and leba as she wished.
After drinking and eating, the Katenka sisters got into their cars and prepared to rest. Weiran and Suisui also got into the rest cabin. After setting the alarm clock, they safely left the vigilance work to squatting in the driver's seat.
Beria on.
When Wei Ran and Suisui were woken up by the alarm clock, it was finally dawn outside the window. Even the raging cold wind was blocked by the surrounding forest and could not even blow the snowflakes on the ground.
"boom!"
The neatly dressed Wei Ran took out his Nagant revolver and stuck it out the window and fired a shot. After waiting for a while, he opened the car door and was the first to walk out with a survival shotgun.
Immediately afterwards, Suisui held Beria's hand, letting the Katenka sisters holding rifles protect her in the middle, and followed Wei Ran.
Stepping on the wide ruts that were deliberately made by tires last night, four people and one dog carefully observed the remains of each wooden house.
Although these wooden houses are generally not large in area, they are small and well-equipped inside. In some relatively complete houses, you can also see a fireplace that seems to have been transformed from an iron oil drum, as well as bunk beds and hanging wooden beds.
Oil lamps, pots and pans and other abandoned debris on the wooden walls.
"This place looks much smaller than the No. 52 Mine we have been to," Suisui couldn't help but say.
"Mine No. 52 is a correctional camp," Wei Ran paused and said, "It is also the so-called Gulag, so it is naturally much larger in scale."
"Where's this?" Suisui asked, pointing around.
"In terms of scale, this logging camp can only be regarded as a labor camp, the same as the collective farms in the Soviet era."
Wei Ran thought for a while and introduced in a way that the other party could understand, "There were Soviet lumberjacks working here originally, but because of the lack of manpower, they applied to transfer some prisoners of war to come over for labor reform and supplement the much-needed labor force.
.
Frankly speaking, those who have the opportunity to undergo labor reform, whether they are sent to such wilderness or to the farms of Belarus or Ukeran at that time, will have good fortune.
As long as they undergo labor reform, their remuneration is generally good, and they can still receive wages, get holidays, and most of them even have the opportunity to join the party.
Even the militiamen who guarded them and the Soviets who worked with them mostly did not regard them as criminals with heinous crimes. Especially in a place like this, which is too far away from the front line, the Soviets here really didn't care about the Germans or nuclear recruiters.
Regardless of how bad they feel, this is why some prisoners of war refuse to be repatriated and choose to stay.
Of course, except for war criminals, their conditions will be relatively harsh and they will be guarded more closely."
"So what are you looking for?"
"evidence"
"Evidence? What evidence?" Suisui couldn't help but ask.
"The evidence used here is the evidence of war criminals," Wei Ran stopped and said, "The Second Lieutenant Mesut I am looking for this time disappeared in November 1951. This time is very special."
"Special?" Suisui became more and more confused. Even the Katenka sisters curiously opened their ears and prepared to listen to the story.
"East Germany was established in October 1949"
Wei Ran explained patiently, "After the founding of East Germany, most of the German prisoners of war were repatriated to build their democratic republic. At the end of this year, there were only about 85,000 German prisoners of war left in the entire Soviet Union.
Six thousand people, the rest went back to their hometowns.
The reason why these more than 80,000 people were retained was because there was conclusive evidence and they were convicted of war crimes and sentenced to more than 25 years in prison and forced labor."
"Just like the male protagonist in that movie?" Suisui said subconsciously, "So the male protagonist in that movie is also a war criminal?"
"How else could he be sentenced to 25 years in prison?"
Wei Ran spread his hands, "Of course, in fact, after West Germany's Prime Minister Conrad visited the Soviet Union in 1955, the remaining more than 80,000 war criminals were actually pardoned by drunken corn cobs. All of them were still alive and
All German prisoners of war who were willing to leave returned to Germany before the end of 1956."
"So what you're saying is that Mesut is actually a war criminal?" Suisui asked after she realized what she was doing, "Where's the kid? Where's the kid you mentioned on the way?"
"The situation with the Japanese is somewhat different."
Wei Ran said objectively, "Although the Japs have committed many war crimes in China, and a considerable number of the Japs sent to the Soviet Union were Kwantung Army captured from China.
But in fact, the repatriation of Japanese prisoners of war in the Soviet Union began in December 1947. It was almost like picking cattle. First there were those who were weak and sick, then there were those who were disabled while working, and there were also those who had performed well and had joined the party and were willing to do so.
Go back and spread the red faith.
This kind of repatriation work lasted until April 1950. There were a total of 251 ships, and a total of about 460,000 Japanese were sent back to their hometowns. Of course, these are not all."
"Where are the rest?" Anfisa, who was listening to the excitement, asked the question Suisui wanted to ask, "Are they all frozen to death?"
"At most, a small number of them froze to death, mainly because the Cold War started in 1950, and the Korean War also started, and the Japanese and the Soviet Union had not yet established diplomatic relations at that time."
Wei Ran said with a smile, "In short, due to the international situation, the Soviet Union suspended the repatriation work and delayed it until the end of 1953 before restarting it."
"So most of them actually went back?" Suisui asked, unable to hide her disappointment.
"Can't"
Wei Ran nodded regretfully, "Although due to natural conditions and lack of supplies, whether it is German prisoners of war, Japanese prisoners of war, or prisoners of war from other shitty countries, it is inevitable that some of them will die if they have poor resistance, or some will not listen to advice.
But it is by no means as exaggerated as what is said on the Internet that hundreds of thousands died and only a few thousand people were left. Objectively speaking, the Soviet Union still cherishes these cheap labor forces."
After hearing this, Suisui concluded, "So, the reason why the Mesut you are looking for is being held here is because he may be a war criminal.
And the reason why the surviving nuclear recruiter was imprisoned here was because the repatriation work was suspended due to the international situation, so he was unable to go back?"
“That’s pretty much it”
Wei Ran paused and continued, "It's a pity that this place was abandoned too early. This lumberyard is too small. I'm afraid the information about this place would not be found before the collapse of the Soviet Union. Otherwise, there would be no need to go to such trouble."
"Tell me what you are looking for and we will help you!" Suisui volunteered.
"Hard to say"
Wei Ran used his bark to pull away the remaining snow on the rotten door panel, carefully observed the door handle and door frame and said, "In short, it looks like things that only appear in a prison, such as shackles and so on."
Hearing this, Suisui immediately looked at the sentry tower on the island in the middle of the river behind her. After looking at each other with the Katenka sisters, she handed Beria's traction rope to Wei Ran, "Let's go to that sentry tower.
Look, be careful yourself."
"Don't go up hastily"
Wei Ran took the traction rope and reminded, "It's been more than half a century, and it's this damn place again. A gust of wind could blow it over."
"Do not worry!"
Suisui obviously had her own plan. She called the Katenka sisters and quickly got into a large bicycle and drove to the fork of the river a few hundred meters away.
Ignoring these three girls who were unlikely to be of much help, Wei Ran finally found a special building in the corner of the forest on the northernmost side of the clearing after searching on his own.
The reason why this building is special is that half of the house is a wooden building that has been crushed by snow, but the other half next to it is a stone building with four walls still remaining.
This stone building, which looks to be more than 20 square meters, is built directly on a stone ground slightly higher than the surface, and the floor is not raised like the other half of the wooden building.
In addition, the chimney built next to the stone wall is also thicker than what was seen before.
Walking around to the door and looking inside, Wei Ran took out the engineering shovel from the metal book and carefully scraped away the snow on the surface. After confirming that the ground was also stone, he stepped in and roughly cleared the surrounding snow.
After a while.
As the snow on various abandoned objects was shoveled and thrown outside the stone wall by engineers, some rusty objects were gradually revealed.
The most conspicuous thing in this room is the large fireplace made of stones and mud in the corner, and the vise fixed on a log table placed diagonally against the wall that seems to be ready to collapse at any time.
.
Under the log table, there are several iron anvils of different shapes, but covered with thick rust, and a pile of horseshoes stuck together with rust. Even on the wall, there are some that can only be found in a blacksmith shop.
It’s something you might just have a chance to see.
Beside the large fireplace, there was a small pile of black cinders against the wall. There was even a rusty shovel poking on top of the cinders.
Obviously, the reason why this room is made of stone walls is probably related to the fact that this is a blacksmith shop that requires frequent fires.
After temporarily leaving this room with only the walls remaining, Wei Ran searched against the hand-drawn map he had copied, and easily found a circle of remaining wooden fences at the edge of the forest less than 20 meters away.
Looking back at the remains of the stone-walled building, he compared it with the hand-drawn map again and found the location of the stables and the warehouse.
After such a long time, all that can be seen from the stable is a piece of rotten wood that is almost integrated with the ground and completely covered by snow.
On the other hand, the location of the warehouse is also a house built on a stone floor. Unlike the building that looks like a blacksmith shop, this house has neither a fireplace nor a window. Even the remaining iron door is wrapped inside and out.
There was a layer of iron sheet that seemed to have been cut from an oil drum.
Not only that, although this room, which also has stone walls, has not been raised off the ground, its foundation is much higher. Looking in from the only door, you can still see the remaining floor on the ground and nearly one meter high under the floor.
of hanging in the air.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Unfortunately, except for a few places against the wall, the space under the floor is still intact, and most of the rest has been buried by snow and collapsed roofs.
draw.
Wei Ran, who didn't dare to risk going in and was just here to show off, turned around and walked back.
Although the gain on his side was not big, the gain on Suisui's side was not small. The girl didn't even leave the warm bicycle at all, but directly raised a drone and personally controlled it.
Went to the sentry tower on the island in the middle of the river.
With the help of this drone, even though Wei Ran came back on snowshoes, he could clearly see through the screen that in the abandoned sentry tower, in addition to two movable searchlights,
There are also four large speakers on the top of the guard tower.
Not only that, when the drone flew about five or six hundred meters north along the tributary, it also discovered another pier on the left bank, as well as a coniferous forest that had been cut down on both sides of the river and appeared to be bare.
There was no need to discuss it. After Suisui took back the drone, four people and one dog immediately drove three large bicycles out of the abandoned camp, drove to the river island first, and stopped at the sentry tower.
below.
This may not seem like much when viewed from a distance, but when the three cars parked under the sentry tower, they discovered that the base of the tower was probably 10 meters in diameter, and the iron gate at the entrance was still covered with iron.
The chain was tightly wound.
"boom!"
To be cautious, Wei Ran stuck his hand out of the car window as usual and pulled the trigger to fire a bullet.
After waiting for a while, he put on his snowshoes again, opened the car door, and walked out first with a shotgun. Suisui led Beria behind him.
As for the Katenka sisters, they did not leave the big bicycle this time. Instead, they got out of the skylight, holding guns to guard against wild beasts that might come out from other directions.
Walking all the way to the bottom of the sentry tower, Wei Ran glanced at the padlock on the chain and signaled Suisui to stand farther away, and then he loaded the shotgun with a single-point bullet.
"boom!"
After the dull gunfire, the Soviet padlock that had been strong for who knows how many years shattered into pieces, and even the rusty iron chain fell apart several sections.
After loading another bullet into the shotgun, Wei Ran walked up the steps and opened the iron door wrapped in iron chains.
However, what he didn't expect was that behind the iron door, there was an extra thick wooden door that was also in quite good condition.
As the wooden door that was not locked at all was pushed open, he also saw various unrelated things in this abandoned sentry tower.
Under the beam of the flashlight, on the first floor of the sentry tower, there were several greasy and lead-sealed 200-liter oil drums against the wall, as well as two small gasoline generators produced by the Japanese in 2015 and a
This is a rusty Minsk brand fuel generator produced by the Soviet Union in 1947.
In addition to oil drums and generators, there are two iron boats in the room on this floor, as well as various types of bear traps hanging all over the walls.
If Ji Ma were here at this moment, he would be able to explain to Wei Ran clearly and logically just by using these different shapes of animal traps, which ones are used to catch wolves, which ones are used to catch bears, and which ones are specially designed for catching wolves.
Used to catch foxes.
Looking at Suisui behind him, Wei Ran carefully walked into the room on the first floor of the sentry tower and used the muzzle of his gun to lift off the canvas covering the wall.
Under this greasy canvas, there were two high-pressure water pumps and things like water pants. In addition, there was a large roll of fishing nets.
When you see these things, you no longer need to guess. It seems that someone not only uses this place as a poaching base, but also uses it as a base for digging mammoth tusks in the summer.
This kind of livelihood is not only available in Inta, but also in the small towns of Yakutsk and Tula that I have been to, and there is no shortage here.
Although there are slight differences due to different latitudes, basically, except for the period around the polar night, they have something to do throughout the year, especially when the polar day appears, which is also their busiest time.
"It seems like you can't find anything of value here," Suisui said with disappointment.
"I'll go up and have a look," Wei Ran said, carefully climbing up to the second floor on the still solid cement steps.
The second floor of the sentry tower seemed to have been re-laid with flooring for reinforcement, and the road leading upstairs was blocked. But because of this, nothing related to the abandoned camp not far away could be found.
.
Without any effort to continue climbing up, Wei Ran turned around and went downstairs, wrapped the iron chain around the iron door again, waved Suisui back to the big bicycle, left the island in the middle of the river, and drove to another one due north.
pier.
This time they had just driven the car ashore, and the four of them noticed at a glance that there were slightly raised bulges on the ground near the edge of the open space, as well as stone tombstones that could not be completely covered by the snow!
"Finally we found the right place," Wei Ran and Suisui muttered in unison in the big bicycle.
