When night enveloped the desolate desert, the temperature, which was not even warm, suddenly dropped to below zero.
In a sand pit next to the foot of the mountain, Carlo skillfully filled several empty lunch boxes with dry yellow sand, and then poured fuel into them. While Panetong carried the oil drum further away, he had already filled the empty lunch boxes with dry yellow sand.
A lighted match was thrown into the lunch box.
Suddenly, balls of constantly beating flames steamed out of the lunch box, providing much-needed warmth to everyone sitting around.
Everyone was busy placing the opened cans on the burning flames. Carlo once again asked the question he asked not long ago, "Victor, do you really not know where this place is?"
"I really do not know"
Wei Ran replied helplessly. Through the insinuations he had just chatted with, he had determined that he was indeed at the end of the Second Battle of Gubijing, or to be more precise, on the night of December 4, 1941, the Italian First Army
The day the 132nd Aries Armored Division rushed to the rescue of Gubijing on the order of Rommel!
Before Wei Ran met Carlo and others, they had already been intercepted by the British, and Carlo and others were the scouts at the outermost edge of the formal battlefield and the most advanced ones.
Although Wei Ran saved the three of them, because of his panic, the three of them didn't realize that they were lost until they were preparing to have dinner.
"We have to find a way to get back as soon as possible."
Carlo said worriedly, "It's okay if we run to the rear, but if we run to the British's rear or flanks, even if the battle at Gubi Well ends, we may not be much safer."
"At worst, surrender," Panetong said nonchalantly, "Maybe we can drink red wine on the British territory."
Pierre, who had his arm splinted, licked his lips and said, "Even if there is no red wine, olive oil will do. It's best to have a piece of white bread."
"But now we only have these stinky cans of tuna." Carlo tapped the skin of the cans helplessly with the fork in his hand. "Of course, there is also Mussolini's butt that will never be eaten."
“I almost forgot what pasta tasted like”
Panet walked to the campfire and gathered together, "For half a month in a row, I have received either canned tuna or canned sardines."
"I received biscuits for half a month," Pierre said with some nostalgia, "but I was lucky enough to receive a can of tomatoes. I originally planned to eat them together if we could receive pasta after the battle.
Pity."
"a few"
Wei Ran, who had been silent all this time, shook his kettle and said, "Compared with pasta, should we be more concerned about drinking water?"
"Don't worry," Carlo reassured optimistically, "We'll be able to drink water when we go back tomorrow, it won't be a problem for one night."
"I hope so," Wei Ran responded with a strange expression. This return mission included finding water. According to the urinary properties of the metal book, it might not be easy for them to replenish fresh water.
While everyone was chatting, the cans placed on the bonfire were also steaming with a roar. Wei Ran took a mouthful of the canned beef known as "Mussolini's butt" and put it into his mouth to taste.
To his surprise, apart from not being salty enough, this canned food was not unpalatable, and the taste was not much different from the starch-rich cheap canned luncheon meat that he had eaten in high school.
At best, it just tastes looser and greasier.
Curiously, Wei Ran picked up a piece of hot tuna meat, and before it was put into his mouth, Wei Ran smelled a strong fishy smell. He tried to take a bite, but the more Wei Ran chewed, the more disgusting he became. In the end, he couldn't swallow it, so he simply
Spit it out.
"You guys who are lucky enough to be transporters will definitely not be used to eating these things." Panetong poked a piece of tuna meat and stuffed it into his mouth, chewing it while teasing Wei Ran, who almost couldn't help but retching.
Wei Ran grinned awkwardly and honestly picked up a piece of beef can again. However, even though he had just spit out the mouthful of fish, the stench like a biochemical weapon still lingered in his mouth.
The taste inside also changed.
Having completely lost his appetite due to these two mouthfuls, Wei Ran simply stood up and said, "I'll go to the top of the mountain to take a look, lest the British guys catch up."
Under Panetong's undisguised teasing smile, Wei Ran left the sand pit and climbed up the nearby stone mountain. Then he chose a place that was protected from the wind and began to take things out of the metal book.
To his surprise and joy, this time he could finally take out the anti-tank gun and medical box, but he couldn't take out the semi-automatic rifle or even his own sidearm, including the food box!
"Since the notebook has been replaced with metal cover, why are there more restrictions?"
Wei Ran played with the Rolleiflex twin-lens reflex camera in its protective case and muttered to himself. The camera could be taken out, but the film that had been put in it was gone again, but he clearly remembered that he came back from the Aiyangdian battlefield last time.
When he did it, he clearly remembered that the film he put in was still there.
"According to previous experience, will we encounter someone with a camera next?" Wei Ran muttered to himself, put away the camera in his hand and the anti-tank gun beside him, and then looked around with a telescope.
"It's broken!" Wei Ran frowned. In the direction they came from, there were several dim car lights dancing back and forth on the undulating terrain!
"Put out the fire and get in the car!" Wei Ran put away the telescope, turned around and shouted down the mountain, "There seems to be a car behind us!"
Hearing this, Carlo reacted the fastest. He picked up the hot can and put it aside. Panetong next to him followed up and used his shoes to push the surrounding yellow sand to bury the bonfire that had just been lit.
.
"What's going on now?" Carlo asked Wei Ran in a low voice.
"It's getting closer!" Weiran rolled down the short hill, "We must get out of here as soon as possible. There are at least four or five cars on the other side!"
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! "Let's go!"
Carlo poked the last piece of beef with his fork and stuffed it into his mouth. Then, without even having time to dig out the lunch box under the yellow sand, he helped Pierre, whose legs and feet were not very convenient, to walk to the three-wheeled motorcycle above the sand pit.
After the three of them got on the car, Wei Ran, who ran down the mountain, started his motorcycle and asked, "Where are we going?"
"Go south!"
Carlo said without thinking, "Their patrol focus is not on the south, and as far as I know, the 101st Division should be south of us."
Wei Ran raised his head and glanced at the stars in the sky, and determined the direction with the help of the Big Dipper. He didn't even dare to turn on the car lights, let alone hit the accelerator, and slowly started to leave the low mountain where he was hiding.
In the cargo compartment behind him, Panetong and the most seriously injured Pierre were holding their heads to the left and right, while Carlo, holding a submachine gun, was watching behind him vigilantly.
Almost at the same time that Wei Ran was driving his three-wheeled motorcycle around a sand dune, Carlo also saw the flash of car lights at the end of his sight.
"Run faster!" Carlo urged without looking back.
Hearing this, Wei Ran immediately turned the accelerator to the bottom. He did not dare to stop for a moment and headed due south. He ran like this for two or three hours. As the temperature became lower and lower, the desert gradually began to blow.
A strong wind.
This was moderately good news, at least their distinctive three-track tracks could be somewhat concealed, but the bad news was that Pierre had developed a high fever at some point.
"Hide behind the sand dune in front!" Carlo shouted to Wei Ran against the wind mixed with a large amount of fine sand.
Wei Ran, who had already put on his goggles, didn't dare to open his mouth at all. He raised his hand to signal, then turned the handlebar and stopped on the leeward side of the sand dune.
"Why are those British guys chasing us?" Wei Ran turned off the engine and asked in confusion.
"Why else?"
Panetong took off his clothes and covered Pierre, and at the same time said matter-of-factly, "Only the transport company has the most three-wheeled motorcycles you drive. They must be chasing you to find the transport company and destroy our logistics."
supply."
"Find the transport company?" Wei Ran shook his head, "I'm afraid we don't even know where we are now."
"Let's wait until daybreak to consider these things, if we haven't been buried in the sand yet." Carlo said as he jumped off the cargo truck, "I'll go and watch on the sand dune, and you guys can find a way to dig some sand under the tricycle."
Get out of here."
"Let me do it," Wei Ran said first, "Panetong, go to the sand dune in front and see if there are any fires or the 101st Division that Carlo mentioned."
Panetong nodded upon hearing this and limped towards another sand dune not far away.
It wasn't until he started to climb up the sand dune in three steps that Wei Ran reached out and touched Pierre's hot forehead and the large burns on his legs. Then, under the cover of night, he took out the medical kit and dug it out.
He took a syringe and gave him an injection of penicillin as quickly as possible.
After putting away the medical kit again, Weiran took out a wooden slat from the cargo bed, dug a shallow hole under the truck bed, and then helped Pierre in.
Almost in front and back, Panetong also limped back against the wind, half-kneeling on the edge of the cargo truck and said, "There is nothing in front, except for sand dunes, which are mountains. If you are further away, you can't see clearly at all."
.”
"Can you recognize where we are?" Wei Ran asked, covering his mouth.
The former shook his head when he heard this, and replied while burying his body in the still warm sand, "Neither Carlo nor I have been here before, but I guess it's not too far from the 101st Division. Let's listen carefully tonight
Stay tuned, if there are sounds of firefights around you, you might be able to find your way back by following the sounds."
"It can only be the"
After Wei Ran finished speaking, he quickly imitated the other party's example and put his head under the cargo bed of the three-wheeled motorcycle. Then he buried his body and limbs as much as possible in the sand that had been exposed to the sun all day, trying to keep his body warm.
After enduring most of the night, the strong wind finally stopped completely. Everyone, who had been freezing to death, dug a shallow hole in the sand, poured some fuel into it, and started lighting it with difficulty.
Make a bonfire.
Under the constant jumping flames, everyone's bodies gradually recovered, and at the same time, the sky gradually turned white. But what made them despair was that not only the ruts when they came disappeared together with the enemy, but also throughout the night
