It was still the forest shrouded in mist and night, and it was still the five lone troops, including Wei Ran, who were far away from their own positions. The only difference was that the draft horse that followed them to death finally no longer had to be pulled.
It was just a sledge. But correspondingly, the supplies they carried were already very few.
And when the five of them set out to find another German artillery position, near the second shack they abandoned, a middle-aged German soldier with a sniper rifle under his arm carefully removed the gun fixed to the shack.
Lead wire on wooden door.
Behind him, there was a young soldier with a submachine gun in one hand and a wolfdog in the other, who was casually lighting a cigarette for himself.
After the middle-aged soldier took out a small piece of blood-stained gauze from the shack and handed it to him, the young soldier immediately put it to the wolfdog's nose.
Soon, the wolfdog twitched its big wet nose and chased the two of them in one direction.
"Looks like we met a professional hunter"
The middle-aged sniper in the lead gently pulled away a small piece of pine needles on the ground with his toes, glanced at the horse's hoof prints hidden underneath, and after thinking for a moment, continued, "You walk behind me, don't let it get hurt."
"I got it." The young soldier flicked the cigarette butt away and pulled the excited wolfdog to walk slower.
The nose of the middle-aged sniper walking in front seemed to be better than that of the wolfdog. Along the way, the traces that Wei Ran and Danila had covered up were almost invisible. Soon, they found the target in the night
The location where Wei Ran and others are separated from Qiao Ya.
"What's next?" asked the young soldier.
The middle-aged sniper shined his flashlight on the remaining footprints on the ground and said, "Look at this boot print."
"Are these our people?" The young soldier frowned, "No, the short boots worn by the patrol are the prints of long boots."
The middle-aged sniper bent down, followed the footprints and took a few steps forward and said, "It seems we have caught a rat running from the opposite position."
"Could it be the Soviet artillery observers?" asked the young soldier, "the group who commanded the artillery to blow up our artillery positions during the day."
"Maybe it's them"
The middle-aged soldier stood up and thought for a moment before saying, "The general direction they are heading towards is our other artillery position. Let's go and catch up."
"The other side doesn't care?" the young soldier asked, shaking the blood-stained gauze in his hand.
"The wounded take up more resources than the dead. Leave it to them. Let's move faster." Before the middle-aged sniper finished speaking, he had already taken steps to catch up.
After the young soldier let the wolf dog sniff the remaining horse hoof prints on the ground, he was immediately pulled by it to speed up.
At the same time, Wei Ran and others, who were also rushing in the night and fog, did not know that there were more people following them behind them. At this time, they were still helping Andre with the same problem - the Germans.
Where exactly is the other artillery emplacement?
"According to the requirements you just mentioned, there are only four places I can think of at the moment."
Revry took a bite of the boiled potato and said vaguely, "The nearest one is the village that was occupied by the Germans a few months ago. Most of the people in that village are lumberjacks who make a living from wood."
"Tell me about the situation there," Andre asked.
"I haven't been there in a long time"
Revry spit out a piece of potato peel and explained, "I heard from Gioia that apart from those who escaped, the rest of the village were probably either dead or captured by the Germans. Of course, some people also joined the guerrillas. However,
I haven’t been there for a long time. I don’t know the specific conditions there now.”
Andre and Daniela looked at each other and asked, "Do you know the road?"
"I know you, of course I know you!" Revry raised his finger and pointed to the right, "As long as we keep walking in this direction, we will definitely get there before dawn."
Andre gritted his teeth, "In that case, let's go to that village and have a look."
"Daniella, Andre."
But at this moment, Nurse Lano suddenly stopped the two of them, "Do you still remember the train we saw when we crossed the railway line?"
"Remember, what happened?" Daniela asked strangely.
"You must also remember that the train pulled a lot of artillery."
Nurse Llano considered it and said, "We waited for a long time at that artillery position before the Germans transported the cannons there, but it's not far from the railway line, isn't it?"
"You mean..."
Rano nodded, "I'm wondering if the artillery pieces transported on the train we saw at that time might be the ones we are looking for now, rather than the ones we blew up before."
"Even if it is, what does it mean?" Revry asked puzzledly.
"Refrie, how far is the village you just mentioned from the railway line?" Wei Ran, who had been silent just now, asked.
“some distance”
Revry simply stopped and after some calculation he replied, "It used to take me a whole day to drive a carriage from that village to the railway line."
"Is that part of the road easy to walk?" Wei Ran continued to ask.
“Not easy to walk”
Revry unscrewed the kettle and took a big gulp of cold water. "That road is only easier to walk in winter when it's frozen. At other times, it's like a mud pit by the pond. There's also a wooden bridge halfway up the road. As long as there's heavy rain in summer, it's easy to walk."
It will definitely be washed away.”
"It seems it's not that village..." Andre asked, "Tell me about the other three places."
"The other one is a clearing that was burned by a forest fire the summer before last. It is surrounded by forests on three sides, but I only know the location and have never been there. But it is said that it is not far from the railway line. When the forest fire broke out,
I remember people around me saying that even the railway line was almost affected."
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! "Where are the other two places?" Daniela asked next.
“The remaining two locations are the remains of logging camps. Both locations are on the edge of the forest, but one is on the west side of the forest and the other is on the east side of the forest. However, they both have logging roads leading to the railway line.
"
Refri raised his hand and pointed straight ahead, "But no matter where we go, we have to keep walking forward for a long time."
Andre sighed worriedly, "Then just keep moving forward."
Revry looked at the sky above his head and the increasingly heavy fog. He bent down to pick up a damp wooden stick and broke off the branches. Then he lit the kerosene lamp that had been hanging on the horse's back and used the wooden stick horizontally.
He walked in front.
This kerosene lamp, which was far less bright than a flashlight, was their only tool for traveling at night, and its weak light was more concealed. But even so, Revry still followed the advice of the sniper Danila and honestly
He was carried with a wooden stick to avoid being hit in the body by the Germans when they fired at the kerosene lamp from a distance.
"Should we find a place to take a rest?" Revry, who was walking in front, asked in a low voice. He had already heard Nurse Lanno's heavy breathing and heavy footsteps.
At the end of the day, they barely had time to stay, and they even had to eat while walking.
Daniela glanced at Nurse Lano, who was being held by her hand, and then at Andre behind them, gritted her teeth and replied, "Just keep walking."
"Take a break"
Andre sighed and said, "Let's find a dry and secluded place to rest for an hour, light a bonfire to keep our bodies warm, and eat something by the way. The German cans we seized before are good, and the nurses kept them."
It’s time to bring out the vodka.”
Daniela looked at the sweaty nurse Lano next to her, then looked to her right at Andre who nodded slightly to her, and finally agreed to his suggestion.
Soon, Revry led them to find two thick pine trees growing side by side. Everyone picked up some dead branches from nearby, dug a pit with a diameter of half a meter in the ground, and lit a bonfire.
At the same time, they also put their cloaks around, barely blocking the light of the bonfire.
"I'm sure you guys wouldn't mind if I toasted the foot wraps, right?"
While the postman Revry was speaking, he had already taken off the German boots he had received before setting off, and spread the smelly foot-binding cloth beside the bonfire.
Since there was a leader, the others naturally stopped being polite. Soon, the side of the bonfire was filled with pieces of eye-catching foot-binding cloths. At the same time, several open tin cans were also placed on the charcoal fire.
Even the draft horse was leisurely nibbling on weeds everywhere.
"I remember you are getting married?" Andre asked Daniela after taking a sip of vodka.
"If we go back this time, we will get married." Daniela hugged Nurse Lano and said.
"Ready for the ring?" Andre continued to ask.
"This..." Daniela shook her head, "I found two similar ones from the Germans and made them smaller."
"Put it on for me now." Nurse Lano stretched out her left hand as she spoke, "While there is still a chance."
"This is a moment worth witnessing." Andre took out a piece of melted chocolate from his pocket and stuffed it into his mouth. This thing was given to him by Wei Ran.
Daniela was stunned, shook her head helplessly, took off a leather rope from her neck, took off the two ordinary-looking rings worn inside, and put one of them on Nurse Lano's hand.
At the same time, Wei Ran also took out his camera and pressed the shutter, "Although I don't know if the light from the campfire can take this photo, but when we go back, I will help you take another shot."
"It's my turn now"
Nurse Lanuo took another ring with Danila's body temperature and put it on the latter's finger under the cover of the constantly beating bonfire. Later, she paused for a moment and carefully left a message for Wei Ran.
There was a photo opportunity.
"You are the most generous journalist I have ever met."
Andre leaned against the pine tree behind him and joked, "In my impression, other reporters' shutters are like bomb detonators, they are reluctant to press them."
"Victor is indeed the most generous reporter," Revry took up the topic and said, "I heard that he took a photo of all the soldiers commanded by Captain Valentin."
"The artist gave me a lot of film, otherwise I would be as cautious as pressing the detonator switch."
Wei Ran said and raised the camera again, "Well, as guests witnessing this wedding, how about we take a group photo?"
"No problem at all!"
The barefooted Andrei and Revry immediately came to the side of Daniela and Nurse Llano. Even at Revery's greeting, even the draft horse came over and lay down on the ground, spreading its face.
The long and slender face stretched between Danila and Nurse Llano, and her thick lips were raised humanly, revealing teeth mixed with grass leaves.
I took a weird photo with a horse face mixed in across the bonfire, and the canned meat placed on the bonfire was already bubbling.
The people who had just baked the foot wraps didn't even think about washing their hands. They each took out a spoon or fork from their own dry food bag and started eating the first hot meal in so many days.
"If I weren't worried about running out of battery, I could actually use the wireless station to receive a signal and play some music for you."
Andre looked at the radio station next to him with some regret, "Your wedding was too simple."
"Our wedding hasn't started yet, we just put on the rings in advance." Daniella explained in a dumbfounded way. But at the same time, everyone present knew that the so-called wedding of the two of them had actually become a wedding.
One of their beliefs in returning alive.
Taking advantage of the wedding topic, everyone not only filled their stomachs with greasy cans and toasted brown bread, but also drank less than a quarter of the pot of vodka.
And this short rest also allowed them to completely refresh themselves. As for the lack of sleep in the past few days, they can only look for opportunities to talk about it.
He re-wrapped his feet with the warm and smelly foot wrapping cloth, and each put on the same dry German leather boots. Revry used a shovel to randomly pull the surrounding soil to cover the bonfire. Everyone who had had enough rest once again
Start moving towards an unknown destination.
However, less than an hour after they left, a young German soldier, dragged by a wolfdog, found the still warm bonfire mulch and the discarded tin cans around it.
"It seems that there are only five people on the other side," the young soldier pointed at the remaining footprints around the remains of the campfire with a flashlight.
"We are almost catching up with them." The middle-aged soldier walking behind said while loading a bullet into the sniper rifle in his hand. "Speed up and try to deal with them before dawn."
"Don't we take a break?" asked the young soldier with the dog.
"Your dog doesn't feel tired, so what right do you have to think you need a rest?"
After the middle-aged sniper finished speaking, he took steps again.
"Leon, are you tired?"
The young soldier put his arms around the dog's neck and asked seriously, and then the dog helped wash his face with his big bright red tongue.
