When the patrol set off again, the girl named Kolya finally got on the sledge with Slava's persuasion. During the rest of the patrol, the girl also kept calling her in a low voice after getting permission.
The separated brothers and sisters and the wife named Zhenya. The guerrillas, including Wei Ran, also searched more and more seriously for all the places along the way that looked like they could hide people.
However, when they searched to the edge of the forest again, the string of corpses hanging from the barrel of a T-34 tank made Koliya sluggish.
"That's...that's Mrs. Zhenya and her son"
Kolya struggled to jump off the sledge and was about to run out of the forest. Immediately afterwards, she was tightly held by two guerrillas.
"My younger brothers and sisters! Those two children are my younger brothers and sisters!" Kolya knelt on the ground weakly, staring intently at the two young corpses hanging at the front of the barrel.
Slava sighed and waved to the guerrillas behind him, who immediately pulled Kolya back onto the sledge, then simply turned around and walked towards the camp.
Until Kolya's desperate cries could no longer be heard in his ears, Slava tremblingly took out a pipe from his arms, shiveringly stuffed some tobacco into it, and with difficulty lit a match.
Click it on.
In the steaming light blue smoke, Slava looked at the tank just a dozen meters away outside the forest without saying anything for a long time. Wei Ran, who had been standing behind him the whole time, silently raised his camera, taking in the sunset outside the forest.
The golden farmland, the tank with the body hanging in it, and Slava, who was silent with his back turned, were all included in the frame.
When the shutter sound sounded, Slava shivered subconsciously, and then asked in a hoarse cigarette voice, "What's the use of taking these pictures?"
Wei Ran put down the camera and said hard-heartedly, "We must let future generations know what happened here and what the Germans did here."
"Ah..."
Slava snorted noncommittally and said abruptly after a moment, "Last summer, Shula and I were both crew members of that tank."
"That one?"
Wei Ran couldn't help but look at the tank with four corpses hanging from the barrel. On the turret of this tank, the propaganda slogan "For the Soviets" could still be vaguely seen, but now this sentence was written in red paint.
The slogan has been covered with a conspicuous black swastika.
"I was the driver of the tank at the time, and Shula was its electromechanical operator."
Slava slowly sat down against a thick pine tree, "In the early stages of the Battle of Minsk, we failed.
When we retreated here with the large army, there was a problem with the tank's gearbox, and later the engine couldn't start."
After a moment of pause, Slava continued, "Our comrade commander ordered me to take Shula to escort the wounded to escape into the forest. But he and the loader stayed, and they used the tank to hold them back and catch up.
The enemy helped us buy time to escape into the forest. But we also got separated from most of them, and this guerrilla group was formed later."
"them..."
"You're still in that tank. At least you don't have to worry about being eaten by crows or wild dogs, right?"
Slava showed a sad smile when he said this, "I would rather stay with them at that time, even if I don't do anything, just die with them, it is better than being a deserter, it is better than living to experience these things.
many."
"So living is more painful and difficult than dying. At least you didn't choose to escape but continued to fight, right? So from this point of view, you are as much a hero as the people in the tank."
Slava smiled bitterly and shook his head, "Are all reporters so good at comforting people?"
"Maybe I just saw too many tragedies."
Wei Ran took out the flask in the metal book and unscrewed it and took a sip of the gin he had put in before handing it to Slava, "Take a sip, this is my own inventory."
"It seems you are a damn rich man." Slava looked at the gold nugget on the lid of the wine bottle, raised his neck and took a sip.
Taking the wine bottle from Slava, Wei Ran took one last look at the corpses hanging on the barrel, changed the subject and asked, "Tell me about the freight station you are planning to capture."
Slava also took one last look at the very familiar tank outside the forest, and walked back while explaining, "The freight station is less than ten kilometers away from here. It used to be just a small village. Because it is far from the railway line
Close enough that the Germans turned it into a freight station.
Except for the Jews killed by the Germans and the survivors who escaped from there, the rest became slaves working for the freight station. In addition, there were about a hundred Germans and an armored train there.
.”
"Where did Koliya escape from?" Wei Ran asked subconsciously.
"She should have escaped from the village across the railway line, where Germans were also stationed."
Slava paused and continued, "But Ivan and his brother, the young man who was put on Alissa's plane when you first came here, and the little guy named Sergey,
All three of them are from the village where the freight station is located."
When Wei Ran heard this, he wisely did not continue to ask. Looking at the collapsed Kolya, he knew that the experiences of Ivan and his brother at that time were probably not much better than hers.
He silently followed Slava back to the camp, and the whole day's patrol work came to an end. But what puzzled him was that until the sun went down and the old people started distributing dinner, he didn't see it being sent one step ahead.
Kolya, who had returned, but Shura, who had not been seen all day, walked into the shack where Slava lived with two middle-aged men wearing Soviet Red Army uniforms.
What also puzzled him was more than that. When he woke up again the next morning, Ivan and his little friend Sergei were waiting for him at the door each carrying a Mosin-Nagant rifle.
Even the boat cap was put on Ivan's head again.
"Victor, do you have any bullets?" Ivan asked in a low voice while showing off the Mosin-Nagant rifle assigned to him, "Five, no, two, just two bullets will do!"
"Where did you get the rifle?" Wei Ran asked in surprise.
"Teacher Gianna sent it to us this morning"
While explaining, Sergey also made a gesture of aiming a gun, and at the same time made a "pop" sound from his mouth.
"Teacher Gianna sent it to you?"
Wei Ran subconsciously looked around, only to find that not only Ivan and Sergey, but also the old men picking wild fruits and mushrooms in the forest or the women washing clothes, all had rifles on their shoulders or in their hands.
"Gianna, what's going on?"
Weiran ignored Ivan who was pestering him for bullets, and trotted up to Jaina who was packing her things and asked, "Do you plan to let these children, women and old people go with you to attack the German freight station?"
"How can it be"
Jaina shook her head and motioned for Wei Ran to sit aside, and then explained, "Tonight we are going to take down the German freight station. During this period, the camp can only rely on these women and children, so at least
They need to have weapons for self-protection."
"Tonight?" Wei Ran was stunned, "So urgent?"
Jaina opened her mouth, hesitated for a moment and then explained, "It's really urgent. We need to capture the freight station as soon as possible. This will not only replenish enough supplies for the three guerrillas, but also get the medicines we urgently need."
"When exactly will we set off?" Wei Ran asked, suppressing the uneasiness in his heart.
“After dinner”
Jaina gave a relatively accurate time, "You can take a good rest during the day today."
"Have they set off for patrol?" Wei Ran asked again.
"Shura has already set off with some people." Jaina pointed to the distance, "But Uncle Slava is still there. You can go to his shack and ask."
"Then I'll ask him," Wei Ran said, and walked towards the shack where Slava lived.
After he knocked on the door and explained his purpose, Uncle Slava also let him into the warm shack and explained with a smile, "Victor, don't worry, we only need to be responsible for blocking the armored train tonight.
There is no need to participate in the operations at the freight terminal."
"Can you tell me more specifically?" Wei Ran asked tentatively, "Of course, if you need to keep it secret, just pretend I haven't asked."
"Nothing needs to be kept secret"
Uncle Slava picked up a handful of pine nuts and laid out a winding curve on the table. Then he piled three points with pine nuts on this curve, and then pointed to the middle point and explained, "
Our task tonight is to wait for the armored train to support the train blocked by another guerrilla group, and then cut off its return railway."
"that is it?"
"This is also not an easy job"
Uncle Slava used a few pine nuts to pile up a point on the other side of the winding curve. "This is the village where Kolya escaped yesterday. After we cut off the railway line, the Germans here are the most powerful."
What we have to do is to buy as much time as possible for the two sides to fight under their offensive."
"What about these two points?" Wei Ran asked, pointing to the points piled with pine nuts at both ends of the curve.
"The point on the left represents the freight station ten kilometers away. At that time, another guerrilla group with a much larger number than us will be responsible for attacking there. Their leader is called Antip."
Slava explained in detail, "The point on the right represents the location where the third guerrilla group stopped the train. There are forests on both sides of the railway there, and it is more than 30 kilometers away from the freight station. It is the most suitable place to take action. This is
The leader of this guerrilla group is named Ofdey. Although they only have more than fifty people, they have two 45mm anti-tank guns."
Having said this, Slava paused, "This time everyone has a big appetite. We are going to take over the village across the railway and rescue all the people there. Antip and the others are going to take over the freight station, Ovje
Yi Ze is going to keep that train."
“But it’s also very dangerous.”
Wei Ran couldn't help but remind him, "Three teams, three goals. Once any one fails to complete the set goal, the other two teams will probably be affected."
Slava nodded first, then asked, "On the other hand, as long as any one of us completes the set goal, it will be considered a success, right?"
"Well... that's right to think so." Wei Ran hesitated for a moment, but ultimately did not express his inner speculation.
Slava smiled and said, "Okay, Comrade Victor, if you want to join us in the evening, go and have a good rest now!"
Leaving Slava's shack with some doubts, Weiran was blocked again by Ivan and Sergey before he could go far.
"Victor, can you help us find two bullets?" Ivan continued to plead.
Wei Ran asked knowingly, "Teacher Gianna didn't give you bullets?"
"No one has sent it yet," Ivan said with a grimace, giving an answer that Wei Ran already knew.
"Since no one has fired bullets, why do you want bullets?"
"I...I just want two bullets"
Ivan scratched the back of his head, "I can't wait until night, but we won't fight out. We just want to practice the speed of loading. Shula told us that a qualified guerrilla must not only shoot accurately, but also shoot
It’s fast, and...”
Before he could finish speaking, Wei Ran reminded with a smile, "Ivan, believe it or not, if I give you bullets, or even let Teacher Jaina know that you are looking for bullets from me, then not only will the military cap on your head be
It will be taken back again, and even the gun in your hand will be taken away."
Ivan and Sergey looked at each other with pale faces. The two little brothers quickly waved their hands, "Then let's wait for night, wait for night!"
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! "Are you not going to catch fish or dig shacks today?" Seeing that the two of them had no idea of asking for bullets, Wei Ran also changed the subject.
"Teacher Gianna asked us to have a good rest during the day today." Sergey said with a grimace, "But none of us can sleep."
Hearing this, Wei Ran looked at Teacher Gianna in the distance, lowered his voice and asked, "Have you seen Koliya who was sent back by the guerrillas on a sledge yesterday afternoon? Do you know where she went?"
Ivan and Sergey were both stunned, then shook their heads in unison and gave two answers: "I haven't seen it" and "I don't know".
Although it was obvious at a glance that these two little guys were lying, Wei Ran did not pursue the question further. Instead, he walked towards his shack and said, "Let's go. Since you can't sleep, go to my shack. Although I can't help you."
You don’t have bullets, but I can help you clean your rifle.”
Ivan and Sergey looked at each other, waved their hands in unison and said, "No, no, no."
As soon as the words were spoken, the two little guys ran away with rifles that were a little too long for them.
Shaking his head dumbfounded, Wei Ran simply returned to his shack, took apart the Bobosha submachine gun that Slava gave him yesterday and carefully wiped it, while secretly analyzing his guess.
Obviously, there are secrets in this camp that they don't know, or that Slava and others don't want outsiders to know. And their eagerness to cause trouble with the Germans is obviously related to the secret that they deliberately concealed.
But this brings up another question, what kind of secret is it that they must hide even from themselves, journalists in name only?
On the other hand, where did the girl named Kolya who was rescued yesterday go?
Ivan and his partner Sergey chose to lie to themselves because Teacher Gianna had warned them in advance that they could not tell them, or because they could not tell anyone else?
