Almost at the same time that Konon finished speaking, Markla came over and slapped him hard on the face. Then he grabbed his collar and pulled him off the sleigh and pushed him into the snow.
Taking advantage of Konon's struggle, Markla easily confiscated the gun from the opponent's waist, slapped his other half hard on the face again, then grabbed a ball of snow and pressed it on the former's slapped face.
With a red face, he said in a cold tone, "Konon, put away your childish prejudice. First of all, the retreating Germans at least did not seize Finnish land like the Soviet Union. Instead, they helped us regain the land that was lost to the Soviet Union.
occupied land.
Secondly, those German soldiers were once indeed our friends, but now they are our enemies. My son Karl and I, as well as Victor from Vipuri, which you occupied, will annihilate the invasion just as we did a few years ago.
Like the Soviets, they killed those German soldiers.
Finally, you can never expect us to consider you and the Soviet Union behind you as friends. Beyond that, if you want to gain our respect, at least talk and act like a sensible adult. At least not
Draw a gun on someone riding on the same sleigh.
Can you understand what I say? Answer me, can you understand what I say?"
Reporter Konon, who had been stunned by Mark's yelling, came to his senses and said with some disappointment, "I...I understand, I understand..."
"this is the last time"
Makla grabbed Konon by the collar and pulled him up, "If I see you trying to point a gun at any of us, including the two animals, I will personally strip you naked and tie you to a tree.
Go ahead and make you freeze like a guidepost like the Soviets who invaded Finland in 1939!"
Pushing Conon back to the sleigh, Markla released the opponent's neck collar, then removed the magazine of the opponent's pistol and returned it to Conon, "You still have one bullet in your pistol. If needed,
When you fight, I will return the magazine to you. If you think it's unfair, you can shoot me with the last bullet.
If you have no objection, just write your diary honestly on the sled. Before we catch up with the escaping German armored vehicle and destroy it, shut your mouth and don't ask any more stupid questions!"
Amidst the falling snow, the dense coniferous forest was filled with unspeakable silence. Konon, who had two palm prints on his face, sat on the snow-covered sleigh and panted violently. After a long time,
The young reporter said to himself as if he was neurotic, "I am a Leningrader, a resident of Leningrad who was besieged by the Germans and you Finns for 900 days from 1941 to the beginning of this year!
During those 900 days, my mother starved to death, and my fiancée was taken to the bottom of the lake by aerial bombs dropped from the sky above Lake Ladoga, leaving not even a body behind."
Having said this, Konon unbuttoned his coat, took off the hat and scarf on his head, pointed at the bullet marks on his chest and the scars on his neck, face, and head with his hand that seemed to have been burned by fire, and said calmly,
"These are all left by the Germans. I survived the siege of Leningrad on less than two hundred grams of bread and mice a day. I chose to be a reporter instead of what I did when Leningrad was besieged.
Fight with an anti-tank gun.
What do you think I am for? Because it is easier for reporters to survive? Or do you think my camera is more powerful and can kill more French silkworms than your anti-tank gun?"
The Markla father and son, who had different stances, did not respond to Konon, who was a little broken. Instead, they seemed not to hear and concentrated on taking care of the two reindeer that had been running for several hours.
Seeing the deadlock between the two sides, Wei Ran sighed, picked up the ax on the sleigh and handed it to Conon, "If you have the strength to shout here, why not go chop some while the stove on the sleigh is still out?"
When you come back, I can calm you down."
Conon tried hard to calm down. After a long time, he took the axe. He jumped off the sleigh and walked through the thick snow to the edge of a lying pine tree. He swung the ax in his hand fiercely, as if to break it.
It was like venting all his hatred towards the Germans on that dead tree.
Young Karl mocked in a low voice, "Is that Soviet idiot planning to build a house? If he wants to chop such thick wood into firewood, we may have to wait for a day."
"Take care of that foul mouth of yours that always causes trouble!" Mark pulled the former and gave him a hard blow on the back of the head. "We are all victims of the war. Who can have it any better than the other?"
Karl curled his lips, changed positions with his father Markla, put the sack of beans to the mouth of the second reindeer, and said rather unconvincingly, "At least the Germans..."
"Pah!" Markla's third slap hit his son's face, "If you say one more nonsense, go back!"
Karl squeezed the sack in his hand tightly, and finally shut his mouth honestly. Wei Ran, who had been watching, shook his head secretly, stood up and walked a little farther away from the sleigh, then hid behind a pine tree and took out a metal book
The telescope inside looked towards the end of the rutted mark.
In the field of vision of the telescope, thick pine trees stood quietly on the snowy field. The heavy goose feather snow falling from their heads increased their load little by little. Further away, several foxes jumped into the air with great effort and turned their bodies dexterously.
With the tip of his nose pointed downward, he poked hard into the thick snow, looking for rodents hiding under the snow.
Continuing to move his gaze forward, the ruts were completely covered by the rolling pine forest, making it impossible for him to know the size of the enemy he was looking for.
With a soft "creak" sound, Markla, carrying a submachine gun on his back, came from the direction of the sleigh, and Wei Ran retracted his telescope in time.
"Did you find anything?" As Markla spoke, he took out a cigarette-sized piece of smoked venison from his pocket and handed it to Wei Ran.
Taking the dry and hard meat strips and stuffing them into his mouth, Wei Ran shook his head, "I can't see anything, it's all blocked."
"Over the mountain in front is Lake Yeris," Markla said in a low voice.
"Yerris Lake?" Wei Ran stopped chewing the meat strips and looked at Markla in confusion.
“On the other side of Lake Yerris is Muonio”
Markla lowered his voice again, and his tone became more relaxed, "As long as you pass through Muonio and continue a few kilometers west, you can enter Sweden."
"So you want to..."
"I don't want anything"
Markla took back the topic before Weiran finished speaking, "Karl is only 19 years old. Although he has a bad mouth, he still has a long way to go in the future. Just like the retreating Germans, even if they enter Sweden
It's a long way to go back home.
However, I don’t want my son to waste his life in this hellish place of ice and snow. I believe that those German fathers probably don’t want their children to die in this hellish place either.”
Although this middle-aged man with a frosty face said that he didn't think about anything, Wei Ran could taste the decision he had made from the last sentence.
The former, on the other hand, seemed to feel that he did not have enough bargaining chips to convince Wei Ran, and continued to add, "Whether it is the Soviets or the Germans, neither of these two guests can really be regarded as friends. They are just talking about Finland and the Finns."
It's just a useful chess piece. The only difference may be that the Germans happen to be standing in the same trench as us."
"Makra, do you need me to do anything?" Wei Ran asked in a very formal manner.
“Nothing needs to be done”
Markla hesitated for a moment, saw Wei Ran looking at him with stern eyes, and finally couldn't help but said, "Try not to let our anti-tank guns come into use, try to keep Konon alive, that's it, that's enough
.”
Wei Ran glanced at Konon, who was still working hard on the other side of the sleigh wielding an axe, and Karl, who was concentrating on taking care of the reindeer. After a moment of silence, he nodded solemnly towards Markla.
Seeing this, Markla's weathered face showed a satisfied smile, "Okay, let's set off. When we get to Muonio, maybe we have a chance to go to the sauna."
"Not always"
Wei Ran had no hope at all. The last time he was sent here with the same identity, he was even called out even after he had stripped naked and got into the sauna tent. I'm afraid it won't be much better this time.
With anticipation for the hot steam, Markla waved Karl in the distance to get in the car, and then took over the driving job himself, calling to the two panting reindeer, following the ruts on the snow, and continued slowly.
go ahead.
This time, the sled was much quieter. Conon, who was wrapped in wolf skin, finally stopped asking questions, and even Karl closed his lethal mouth.
Especially when Wei Ran secretly took out four Snickers bars wrapped in oven paper from the food box and gave them to them under the cover of the wolfskin blanket he was wearing. Konon, who was still in a confrontation just now, and Konon, who were just a few years younger than him,
Karl, after a brief moment of embarrassment and Wei Ran's intentional guidance, started to discuss various desserts from the Soviet Union and Finland. Even Markla, who was driving, curiously asked about those sweet and sour-sounding desserts.
How are Snickers bars made?
Faced with this rather difficult problem, Wei Ran, who had been secretly murmuring that "foodies know no national boundaries", made up a method that at least sounded extremely simple without even thinking about it. As for whether it was feasible, who could tell?
Regardless of that?
"After the war is over, if I am still alive, I will open a dessert shop in Leningrad as Victor said."
Conon licked the remaining chocolate on the oven paper with unfulfilled interest, "I have a hunch that this kind of thing will definitely be very popular, especially in Leningrad, which has been suffering from hunger for more than two years. Everyone will definitely be willing to buy some to keep at home.
"
"I don't think you can make it taste as good."
Karl, who had a habit of being venomous, seemed to have thought of something, and he generously handed the half of the uneaten portion to Conon, "This half will be my investment. If you really make it, remember
Give me ten dollars back."
Conon looked at the half Snickers bar in his hand in surprise, carefully wrapped it in oven paper and put it in his pocket. At the same time, he said seriously, "If I can make it, I will pay you back ten yuan every day!"
Karl licked the remaining chocolate at the corner of his mouth, "Then it's settled!"
