In the mine tunnel, which was illuminated by several carbide lamps as bright as day, Zhao Jinyu, who was lying by the stove, still had not regained consciousness. Hu Bazhi, who was not far away, was still using the few remaining mule skins with the help of Miss Hongxia.
Make Jintan shoes.
Even Yang Shiyi, the youngest, can already change the dressing of the wounded by herself in an orderly manner.
At the very edge of the mine tunnel, Wei Ran sat cross-legged on a Japanese waterproof canvas and was busy with his work.
In front of him was the canvas map, and on top of it were letters home written by him.
What he has to do is to put ten extra silver dollars in each envelope - even if he doesn't know whether there is a chance in this time and space to deliver these letters to the corresponding person.
This was already the evening of the third day they decided to leave. According to the previous agreement, if Cui Bearded hadn't come back after dark, then they should leave here.
In the past two days, Wei Ran not only helped the two wounded men, the Sun sisters, and even Miss Hongxia write a letter home that they didn't know when they would be delivered, but also helped everyone take photos.
He took a single photo and a group photo including himself.
In the same two days, everyone was making careful preparations for the next escape.
Miss Hongxia and her Sun sisters stewed all the mule meat until it was soft and boneless, and filled lunch boxes one by one. They also collected a sack of charcoal.
Hu Bazhi not only sewed pairs of Jintan shoes to stay in the mine, but also asked Wei Ran to leave a letter to Cui Dabeard, asking him to take these Jintan shoes with him when he came back here.
Distribute it to the Anti-Union fighters.
"How's the weather outside?"
Just when Wei Ran carefully wrapped all the letters containing silver coins in the canvas map, Tian Xiaohu also asked.
"Sister Shiyi, go take a look." said Hongxia, who was busy making the last few pairs of Jingtan shoes with Hu Bazhi.
Their workload in the past two days has been quite heavy. In order to rush to make these Jingtan shoes, her and the Sun sisters' hands have been worn and full of blood blisters.
"I'll go right away!"
Before Yang Shiyi finished speaking, she had already picked up the flashlight and ran straight towards the exit of the mine.
"No wait," Tian Xiaohu said, suppressing the anxiety in his heart, "Let's leave tonight!"
"Who's in the car with whom?" Hu Ba asked a seemingly insignificant question without raising his finger.
"If Hongxia girl can drive a car, let her drive the Sun sisters and Shiyi sisters. The four of them together don't have much weight."
"How can you not! What's so difficult about handling animals!" Miss Hongxia responded confidently.
"That will save you trouble."
Tian Xiaohu said with a smile, "There are four injured and sick people left, two of us per car. You two can divide it up. Brother Wei, we have two cars with guns."
"Ready"
Wei Ran said, "Each of these two cars has a flower machine and a 38-meter cover. Brother Hu and I also have a box cannon."
"Bring the Japanese grenade too!"
Hu Bazhi suggested, "I remember there were still a few cannonballs when I checked yesterday. Maybe they can help."
"I will bring it with me when the time comes."
Wei Ran responded with all his heart. It was just a grenade with five shells. Anyway, there was a sledge truck, so those things didn't account for much.
"The flag, map, and letter should all be left on Brother Jinyu, right?" Tian Xiaohu continued.
Hearing this, Wei Ran sighed silently. This was already obvious. Tian Xiaohu wanted to ensure that Zhao Jinyu at least survived.
"no problem"
Wei Ran responded happily before Hu Bazhi spoke, and at the same time winked at Hu Bazhi who was about to say something.
Just at this moment, Yang Shiyi also ran back with a flashlight, "It's starting to rain again, the snow is big!"
"Is it getting dark yet?" Hu Bazhi asked first.
"You can still see the treetops on the mountain ridge opposite," Yang Shiyi replied immediately.
"We have to wait a little longer," Hu Bazhi made a judgment based on his experience as a hunter.
"In this case, why not have a full meal first!" Miss Hongxia suggested timely.
"It's time to have a full meal!" Tian Xiaohu agreed, "Have a good meal!"
"Then you wait!"
As Miss Hongxia said this, she put down the Jingtan shoes that were about to be finished and quickly started working on them.
This meal is quite simple. The rice seized from the Japanese had been simmered more than half an hour ago. All you have to do is pour the extra soft mule meat and the broth with a layer of grease into it.
They are alive together.
Thanks to the sufficient seasonings, objectively speaking, this meal is actually quite good except for the lack of rice and more meat.
"What are your plans for later?"
Hu Bazhi held an almost pointed lunch box and approached Wei Ran and asked in a low voice.
"Let Jinyu and Squad Leader Xiaohu ride in the same car"
Wei Ran, who was holding a cigarette in his hand, replied in a low voice, "You are far more familiar with this forest than I am, so it is up to you to lead them in front with the sledge truck."
"What about you?" Hu Bazhi asked in a low voice.
"I pulled Xiao Shen and Xiao Li to break up."
Wei Ran's voice was lowered, "Let the girls' sledge truck be in the middle. Brother Hu, your task is heavy, but you must lead the way."
"Don't worry"
Hu Bazhi, whose focus was invisibly diverted, patted his chest and made a promise.
"You take this"
Wei Ran pointed to the letter wrapped in a canvas map next to him, "Listen to Squad Leader Xiaohu, I will put these in..."
"I am illiterate, but I am not stupid."
Hu Bazhi shoveled the stewed mule meat into his mouth and whispered in a low voice, "You helped write those letters, so you can keep them yourself. When you run out alive, you can find a way to deliver the letters yourself. I won't
Take this crappy job."
Hearing this, Wei Ran opened his mouth, and finally nodded helplessly, "That's okay, then I'll take it myself."
Hu Bazhi lowered his voice and asked, "Do you think you can trust that girl Shiyi?"
"Do you have any other ideas?"
Wei Ran asked back, and at the same time he sighed secretly in his heart. Not to mention Hu Bazhi, he himself couldn't do anything about it now.
Everything else is fine, but Zhao Jinyu's high fever has never gone away, and he has never regained consciousness. With his half-hearted veterinary skills, there is really nothing he can do at the moment.
"Nothing"
Hu Bazhi whispered in a vague voice, "She is the one who got the seed after all. If she dares to deceive us, I will have to chop her!"
Hearing this, Wei Ran didn't say anything. He just took out the knife that the other party gave him and cut the mule meat in the lunch box into smaller pieces. Then he took out the pair of antler chopsticks and took a big bite.
He pushed it into his mouth with big mouthfuls.
For a moment, the only sound left in the mine tunnel that was illuminated by the carbide lamp was the clatter of bowls and chopsticks.
After eating and drinking, everyone rested for a while, carried the wounded and walked out silently.
After careful observation, Wei Ran opened the iron fence door that was almost buried in the snow. Before he could clearly see the situation outside, the howling mountain wind blew in his face carrying large snowflakes.
After squinting his eyes and looking at it, Wei Ran took off the blanket wrapped in the oil lamp and hung it on the trunk of the birch tree at the door.
Almost immediately, the Sun sisters and Miss Hongxia led out their only three large animals.
While they were calming down the animals, Wei Ran hurried back and moved out the three sledges. While the girls were harnessing the carts, he made pine needles prepared in advance and three sludge mixed with horse dung and mule dung.
He took out the brazier and placed it on the sledge truck.
Hu Bazhi, who followed closely behind, also moved a sack of charcoal that had been burned in advance and several bundles of firewood that had been chopped in advance onto the sledge truck.
After lighting the brazier, everyone moved out all the other things and even the bedding. Finally, they carried the four wounded people into the car, covered them with blankets or cotton-padded clothes taken from the Japanese soldiers, and stuffed them into each arms.
Bring a hot pot or kettle filled with hot water.
"Try not to shoot"
Wei Ran said, handing a flower machine and a Sanba Gai to Xiao Shen and Xiao Li who were lying on the sledge truck.
"We are not new recruits."
While Xiao Li was talking, he had already taken the 38 big cover, and Xiao Shen, who was sitting next to him, had taken the flower mechanism.
Hearing this, Wei Ran just smiled, put on the Japanese's waterproof canvas as a raincoat, turned around, closed the iron gate, tied it with an iron chain, and buried it with snow. Then he sat on the sledge and waited.
The first two sledges started running, and then they calmly shouted to the big black horse to follow them.
Behind him, Xiao Li, who had severe frostbite on his feet but recovered luckily, held the 38-year-old blanket in his arms and wrapped it in a Japanese blanket. Xiao Shen, who had a broken arm and a leg, gathered around the sledge.
The newly lit brazier in the middle was chatting quietly.
These two wounded people are also the first two anti-Japanese war casualty numbers that Wei Ran has come into contact with. Xiao Li’s full name is Li Hai, an ordinary name that couldn’t be more ordinary. From the letter home that Wei Ran wrote for him, Wei Ran
Ran roughly knew that Li Hai also had a younger brother named Li Shan. Li Shan had fled with his uncle to the pass several years ago and had no news of him.
The letter home that he asked Wei Ran to write on his behalf was for his brother, whom he had heard nothing from and didn't even know whether he was alive or dead.
He remembered very clearly that Li Hai told his brother in that letter where the bodies of his parents were buried after they were killed by the Japanese. And if he is still alive and has the ability, he must remember to avenge his parents.
The sentence "I don't know where my brother is" followed by the few words in the letter made the letter without even a delivery address look like a will filled with despair.
In contrast, the letter written by another wounded man was extremely long.
The full name of the injured Xiao Shen is Shen Baoying. Although this young man is only 21 or 2 years old, according to his own introduction in the chat, he was kidnapped by a gangster during the 14th Five-Year Plan period. Unfortunately, his family couldn't get it.
The money was redeemed for him, and the big shopkeeper saw that he was still smart, so he simply kept him around to work.
Unexpectedly, the bandit leader's momentary kindness actually saved Shen Baoying. When he became famous among the bandits and gained trust and was allowed to return home, he happened to encounter the Japanese setting fire to their village——
It was similar to what Wei Ran had experienced in Gaoliangtun, which was not far from the Temple of Wealth.
Impulsively, Shen Baoying took out the box of cannons that the big shopkeeper had rewarded him with and fired at the Japanese. However, he was chased by the Japanese all the way without any accident. In the end, Zhao Jinyu's brother Zhao Jinshan rescued him.
Shen Baoying's letter from home only contained names one after another, a total of one hundred and forty-two names, or names similar to "Fat Second Aunt", "Fifth Great Grandpa", and a given name.
It is the detailed address of "Shenjia Village" and a time node like "Mid-Autumn Festival in the 24th year of the Republic of China" that should represent harmony.
Suppressing the uncontrollable hatred caused by thinking of the two letters, Wei Ran shook the reins hard and urged the big black horse to go a little faster.
Perhaps it was too cold, or perhaps it was too windy and snowy, but the three sledge trucks encountered neither people nor wolves, so they left Langcaozigou very smoothly.
"There is a bright light on the top of Shopkeeper Cao Da's hill," Xiao Li said on the sledge truck, pointing to the dim light in the distance.
"The big shopkeeper on the hilltop now probably doesn't have the surname Cao!" Xiao Shen joked.
"What's your surname?" Xiao Li hugged the gun tightly in his arms, "Don't run into us at this time."
"Don't talk about this." Xiao Shen subconsciously tightened his grip on the submachine gun in his hand, "We have to drag a few Japs on our backs before we die."
"I've killed enough money," Xiao Li said happily, "I even made three extra bucks."
"I haven't collected enough yet." Xiao Shen took a puff of cigarette, "The special code is still short of 1,136."
"There are still many little devils."
After Xiao Li finished speaking, he sighed and said with suppressed despair, "When will the special code be finished..."
“I don’t know how the captain and the others are doing.”
Xiao Shen also sighed, as if even the cigarette in his mouth had lost its taste.
For a moment, all the three people could hear were the sound of the cold wind, the sound of falling snowflakes, and the crunching of horses' hooves on the thick snow.
In this desperate silence, three or two sledges were walking in the wind and snow under the leadership of Hu Bazhi.
A layer of frost gradually accumulated on their bodies, on the animals and even on the sledges, which took away their body temperature all the time, so that they had to stop every now and then to clean themselves, the animals and the sledges before they could continue on the road.
We kept walking like this all night. As the sky gradually became brighter, the wind that had been blowing all night stopped first, but the snow never stopped.
"We've been walking all night, we have to find a place to rest."
Hu Bazhi turned around and said, "The animals won't be able to bear it if we go any further."
"Where are we going to rest?" Wei Ran and Hongxia girl, who were chasing after each other in a car, asked in unison. They were all extremely cold.
"Front"
Hu Bazhi pointed with the whip in his hand, "There is a leeward mountain col ahead. Let's go there to rest, and then continue walking after we have rested enough."
"Brother Hu, how far is it from the Anti-Japanese Alliance camp?" Wei Ran asked abruptly.
"That's far away." Hu Bazhi raised his finger and pointed in the direction, "We're not going that way."
"I don't know if there will be a chance to see Captain Zhao again."
Wei Ran, Tian Xiaohu and others, who were also looking in that direction, almost let out the same sigh in their hearts.
