Wei Ran asked the young lama in Chinese. At the same time, he was afraid that the other party would not understand, so he made some gestures with his hands.
The little lama was extraordinarily generous and handed over the weapon in his hand without thinking.
After taking the heavy wooden gun case, Wei Ran noticed before he had time to open it that the leather strap of the gun case had only a section less than 10 centimeters long. Even this little bit had been cut out in advance.
Gaps spaced two centimeters apart.
Obviously, this gun sling may have been a Red Army soldier's only ration.
Compared to the gun sling, which is used to keep the gun hungry, the holster on the gun body used to secure the 20-round capacity magazine is in particularly good condition.
Gently opening the lid of the wooden gun box, Wei Ran pulled out a well-maintained pistol from inside.
Just from the style of the selector dial, he could tell at a glance that it was a Mauser 712 rapid-fire pistol, a "genuine selector" with a 10-round capacity magazine!
In today's era, this pistol is undisputed elite equipment for most of the armed forces in China.
But how could such elite equipment be abandoned on this vast grassland?
Suppressing the doubts in his heart, Wei Ran put the weapon back into the wooden gun case and gave it back to the little lama.
The latter took the gun and said something in Zang language that Wei Ran could not understand. Then he put the gun in a bamboo basket and pressed it on his robe.
"Take me to find where I found it."
Wei Ran pointed at the box cannon, then pointed at the bird eggs in the copper ladle, and finally pointed in the direction that the little lama pointed just now.
Hearing this, the little lama nodded immediately, picked up a furoshiki, turned around and walked in the direction he just pointed.
Behind him, Wei Ran thought for a while and took the box gun and stuck it on his waist. If there were really waterfowl later, this gun might have a chance to play some role.
The little lama didn't care about this at all. He almost never had any idle time along the way. He was either picking up a few withered grass or digging a wild vegetable. He looked like he was strolling in the garden, as if this man-eating grassland belonged to him.
It’s the same as the vegetable patch in my backyard.
After following him from meadow to meadow for more than half an hour, the little lama stopped without warning and pointed to a meadow in the distance with the wooden stick wrapped in rags.
nest.
Looking at the wooden stick in the opponent's hand, the grass nest as big as a basin is floating on the water, surrounded by several grass stems to prevent it from being washed away. In the depression in the middle of the grass nest, there are also
The little lama left a bird egg waiting to hatch.
He turned around and smiled apologetically at the little lama, who shook his head with a smile, and then continued walking with him.
After walking on the meadow and swamp for another ten minutes, when Wei Ran was already panting from exhaustion and his eyes were darkening, the little lama finally stopped and pointed in the direction again.
In fact, this time, even without his guidance, Wei Ran had already followed the strong smell of corpses and found the scenery that the other party wanted him to see.
Just next to the edge of another meadow, there was a body floating on the water.
Even though the two sides were separated by more than ten meters, Wei Ran could still smell the corpse smell coming from the other side.
After hesitating for a moment, he finally took a step forward, used his cane to explore the path under his feet, carefully moved to the meadow, and approached the body step by step.
As he got closer, the smell of corpses became stronger, but he could also see clearly that until the Red Army soldier died, his right hand was holding a cowhide bullet belt that had been soaked in water and turned smelly.
Did he...want to throw this cartridge belt ashore...
Wei Ran understood something in a daze. When he was about to be swallowed by the swamp in despair, the only thing he could do for this well-equipped Red Army soldier was to throw his weapon on the meadow and wait for others to come.
Soldiers can pick it up and use it to kill enemies.
So he was alone at the time? Maybe that's it...
Wei Ran looked at the soaked cowhide bullet belt and secretly calculated the time it would take for the other party to sacrifice. At the same time, he silently took out his camera, half-knelt down and bent over his waist, and took a photo of the other party.
Putting away the camera, he carefully dragged the body, which had begun to swell, to the meadow little by little - this was the only thing he could do for the other party.
Helping the unknown Red Army soldier lie down on the damp grass, Wei Ran gently took out the bullet carrying belt, which was called the "Kowloon Belt" in this era, from his hand.
Wei Ran couldn't help but sigh as he opened each small compartment of this soaked bullet belt that was filled with a strong odor.
There are only less than 20 rounds of bullets in these 12 compartments in total. The remaining compartments are filled with magazines filled with empty shells and a few rusty magazine clips tied together with hemp rope.
.
In addition to these, there is also a party membership card with a copper plate in the cartridge belt.
Unfortunately, long-term blistering has made the personal information on this party membership card blurry, so that he even hopes to know the name of this Red Army soldier.
In the end, he put the party membership card that would almost turn into pulp at any time back into the bullet belt, only took out a 20-round magazine, and pressed the remaining bullets into his pocket.
"Thank you for leaving the weapons. Leave the rest to us..."
Wei Ran murmured to himself and put the bullet belt on the opponent's chest again, turned around and left the small meadow, returning to the little lama's side.
"Revolution! Resist Japan!" the little lama said firmly, patting his chest.
"Revolution! Resist Japan!"
While Wei Ran responded to the other party with the same words, he finally turned to look at the body of the unknown Red Army soldier. Wei Ran raised his finger and pointed in the direction of the high ground where they came from.
The little lama nodded, carried the wild vegetables and dry grass he had collected earlier in his fur bag, and walked back.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! When passing by the grass nest with a bird egg still left on it along the way, Wei Ran stopped and waved to the other party to go back first, but he himself collected it from a distance
Some weeds lay down less than five meters away from the grass nest, carefully camouflaging themselves.
As if he saw what Wei Ran wanted to do, the little lama patted his furoshiki, pointed in the direction of the small plateau again, and then took steps again.
When the other party walked away, Wei Ran, who was lying in the mud, raised his head and glanced at the gloomy sky, then stopped still, patiently waiting for the birds to return to their nests.
As time went by, the sky darkened little by little, and bonfires were lit on the high ground in the distance. However, not even a drop of rain fell from the gloomy sky. On the contrary, the wind became more and more biting. This
The wind blew away the stench of the swamp and caused ripples on the water's surface, making the green grass bend down one after another.
After an unknown amount of time, just when the bonfire on the high ground in the distance became more and more conspicuous as the sky became darker and darker, Wei Ran also heard the sound of flapping wings in the strong wind.
Slowly pulling out the cannon from the gun case, before Wei Ran had time to lower the nose of the aircraft, he discovered that the waterfowl that flew into the grass nest was only the size of a magpie, except for its long legs.
After looking at the box gun in his hand, Wei Ran finally stuffed it back into the gun box, then slowly grabbed the wooden stick at hand and continued to wait patiently.
As time went by, the sky became darker and darker, the temperature became lower and lower, and the unknown water bird also buried its head in its wings with confidence and prepared to rest.
At this time, Wei Ran began to move very slowly, and with a little patience, he narrowed the distance between him and the grass nest. At the same time, the wooden stick he was holding tightly in his hand also slowly raised.
.
"Snapped!"
In the splashing water, the water bird let out a mournful cry after suffering a heavy blow, but in the midst of this cry, the wooden stick hit it hard again.
"Snapped!"
Wei Ran hit the water bird hard with the third stick, and then he lay down on the cold and wet grass panting heavily. These few blows had exhausted his strength, and he couldn't help but feel in front of him.
It turns black in bursts.
After resting for a while, he carefully climbed to the edge of the grass nest, picked up the water bird and stuffed it into his arms. Then he groped for the remaining egg and stuffed it into his mouth.
Following his memory, Wei Ran took everything including the pistol and the grass nest. Taking advantage of the last hint of sky, he carefully stepped on the remaining footprints and returned to the small highland.
"Comrade Wei Ran, you are back!" Squad Leader Liu, who was far away and heard the noise, greeted loudly.
"The little lama has been stopping us from looking for you. We can't understand what he said. Everyone is worried about you." The little warrior Li Zhuang also said.
"Comrade Wei Ran, are you in any danger?" Nurse Ji asked with concern.
"It's okay, I'm okay."
Wei Ran spit out the egg in his mouth into his hand first, and then said hurriedly, "Thanks to the little lama, I caught a bird!"
With that said, he handed the bird egg to Squad Leader Liu who was "in charge of the spoon", and then took out the long-legged water bird from his arms.
"I really caught a bird!"
Everyone immediately gathered around excitedly, but Wei Ran took out the straw nest the size of a washbasin from his arms, "Not only are there birds, but there are also bird nests. This is enough for us to weave several pairs of straw sandals."
.”
"It's really yours!"
Captain Liu took the bird's nest that was still warm and said excitedly, "This water bird is indeed not big, but it is very precious to this person who is still alive."
"Squad Leader Liu," Wei Ran said seriously, "Let's eat it tonight to replenish everyone's strength, otherwise..."
Otherwise, Wei Ran did not continue talking, but what happened to the patient Jiang Yu last night was still fresh in his mind. How could Squad Leader Liu not remember it?
"Okay! Then let's eat it!" Captain Liu made the decision with a wave of his hand.
"besides"
Wei Ran took advantage of the other party's efforts to pluck the feathers of the water bird, took out the shell gun attached to his waist, and placed it together with the magazine on the upside-down basket, "This is what the little lama discovered..."
He then recounted the corpse of the Red Army soldier he had seen, as well as his guesses.
Monitor Liu, who was still busy plucking the waterfowl, didn't say anything, but moved his hands faster. Even the others fell into silence again.
After a while, the water bird was also disemboweled. With the busy work of Squad Leader Liu, the water bird, the washed internal organs and even the small intestines were all put into the copper ladle and cooked together.
With a silent sigh, Wei Ran found out his own shoe stretcher for wearing straw sandals, and knitted the straw sandals according to the method taught to him by the people around him yesterday, trying to complete the required number of language tasks as quickly as possible.
In this unspeakable silence, although the clouds above the head are getting thicker and thicker, no raindrops have fallen from the beginning to the end. All that can be heard in the ears is the crackling sound of burning firewood and the intertwining of straw ropes.
There was a loud friction sound, and it seemed that everyone had lost the desire to talk.
Although this was only the second night for Wei Ran, it was a rare night without rain. What was also rare was that everyone drank enough waterfowl, wild vegetables and egg drop soup this night.
only...
Until all the clean rainwater in the kettle was finally drunk, and until Squad Leader Liu stopped adding any fuel in order to save firewood, the water bird in the pot was not assigned to anyone's enamel jar.
Gently covering the mismatched enamel lid, Squad Leader Liu put the copper ladle into the bamboo basket, "Tomorrow morning, we will be able to drink broth again. With this water bird here, we will definitely be able to go out!"
"
"I don't know how far we are from the main force."
Zhang Erwa tried on the woven thatched vest and said, "Most of the teams in front have dug up all the wild vegetables. It is getting harder and harder to find something to eat these days."
"And when it gets a little dark, my eyes can't see clearly," Li Zhuang added while putting the finishing touches on the thatch vest he was weaving.
It’s the same as what’s said in elementary school textbooks...
Wei Ran sighed silently. He knew that these soldiers had suffered from night blindness due to long-term lack of vitamin A.
The simplest way to treat this disease is to supplement vitamin A, but in this era of lack of medical treatment and medicine, the most realistic way to supplement vitamin A is to eat a lot of meat, egg yolks, and animal livers.
However, this most realistic method is also the most unrealistic at this moment.
I wish game meat really contained more nutrients...
Wei Ran, who was also weaving straw sandals, had never been so willing to believe in the "wild game tonic theory", but... But these optimistic warriors, who gathered around the campfire and just drank a meal of water, were already full.
The satisfied young warriors, their bodies really need nutrition.
While he was thinking wildly, Nurse Ji also said worriedly, "I don't know if it will rain tonight. If it doesn't rain today, we will have to drink smelly water tomorrow."
"Just drink! We revolutionary fighters still..."
“Don’t drink smelly water”
Squad leader Liu, who was also playing with straw sandals, said categorically, "How many strong young men lost their lives because they drank dirty water and started swinging? If it doesn't rain tonight, even if you die of thirst tomorrow, you won't be able to drink a sip of dirty water! This is an order!"
"
"yes!"
The other people immediately straightened their backs and responded. Even the little lama, who didn't understand Chinese at all, straightened his backs and shouted seriously "Imperial!"
"Comrade Wei Ran, try this vest!"
As Zhang Erwa spoke, he handed Wei Ran the vest he had just tried on.
"You can keep it for yourself, I don't need it." Wei Ran waved his hand repeatedly.
"Wear what you are told to wear."
Zhang Erwa had already forced the vest onto Wei Ran as he spoke, "Among us, you and Squad Leader Liu are the only ones wearing single clothes right now. If you don't wear them, we won't be the ones to carry them when you get sick from the cold? So just wear it."
"
"That's right!"
As he spoke, Li Zhuang had already handed the vest he had knitted to Squad Leader Liu, "Squad Leader, you set an example for Comrade Wei Ran!"
"right!"
Wei Ran smiled and echoed, "Squad Leader Liu, if you wear this vest, I will wear it. If you don't wear it, then I won't wear it either."
"You, comrade, are you going to kill my army?" Squad Leader Liu said, dumbfounded.
"So do you want to wear something or not?"
Wei Ran asked back, almost as if he was cheating, "If you wear it, I will wear it. If you don't wear it, I won't wear it anymore. At worst, I will let you carry me if I get sick."
As soon as these words were spoken, Li Zhuang, Zhang Erwa, and Nurse Ji, who was wearing a brown linen vest, also persuaded Squad Leader Liu to put on the vest.
"Okay, then I'll put on this vest!" Squad Leader Liu said, finally picking up the vest that wasn't actually very warm and putting it on.
On this windy and rainless night, Wei Ran knitted another pair of straw sandals before going to bed, and used them as pillows to sleep on the grass beside the embers of the campfire.
When snoring sounded one after another, Squad Leader Liu got up gently and covered everyone with the tattered blanket that was barely dried during the day. He himself lay huddled on the windward vent, blocking the back with his body.
There are four bamboo baskets placed side by side, and the cold wind cannot be blocked by the bamboo baskets.
Soon after, the little lama Jiangpa Kelsang, who was lying at the bottom of the wind, quietly got up, unfolded his woolen shawl, and gently covered everyone - including Squad Leader Liu.
This night, Wei Ran felt extraordinarily warm, and did not feel any chill that was enough to wake him up from his dream. However, in his dream all night, he tried to push a man with a box cannon in his hand and half of his body into the mud.
The Red Army soldiers inside couldn't pull him out, and they couldn't even ask him what his name was.
