Under the leadership of Saleh, the three vehicles circled around the stone mountain in front of them, which was only 40 to 50 meters high.
When the car parked in the shadow on the northwest side of this stone mountain, everywhere you looked, in addition to a few trees of unknown species, there were also many desert plants and a small area of obvious artificial growth sparsely growing on the surface.
Planted watermelons.
Near the foot of the mountain, the most conspicuous things were some simple stone houses, as well as a group of goats and camels. He even saw a few fennec foxes that were obviously kept as pets, surrounding the tall and thin people.
Saluki dogs having fun.
Of course, there is also a well located in the center of these houses, and around the well, there are nomads wearing gray robes with AK rifles and even rocket launchers in their hands.
Under Wei Ran's slightly nervous gaze, Saleh was the first to open the door of the off-road vehicle, took off his hat and sunglasses, and waved enthusiastically to the alert Berbers.
Obviously, both sides were very familiar with each other. After seeing Saleh, the Berbers immediately raised their weapons and cheered.
"Soliman, do all the Berbers in the desert have a weapon?" Wei Ran, who had also opened the car door, asked the young man who had just jumped out of the truck.
"of course not"
Soliman called on Weiran to help him unload a plastic basket full of Coca-Cola and two large boxes of bullets from the bed of the truck, and then moved down five or six bags of flour. Then he explained with a smile, "This tribe is
Special case."
"Tell me more details?"
"sure"
Soliman shouted a few words in Arabic that Wei Ran couldn't understand, and immediately two Berbers in robes ran over carrying AK rifles and happily took over what they had just moved.
Materials.
It was only then that Soliman explained, "This place is very close to the border. When my father and I were doing smuggling business, we always brought cargo here and relied on these Berber camels to transport it to Libya. Of course,
, we occasionally use this place as a warehouse.”
"Rely on them?"
Wei Ran looked at the happy Berbers again. There seemed to be less than 50 Berbers at most, but there seemed to be at least sixty or seventy camels.
"Don't underestimate them," Soliman said very seriously, "They are the real masters of this desert."
"These people have always lived here?" Wei Ran asked as he followed the other person towards the center of the tribe.
"of course not"
Soliman simply answered this question superficially, without any in-depth explanation. Obviously, this should be a "trade secret" of their smuggling business.
Seeing this, Wei Ran stopped asking further questions in this regard. While helping Mr. Edward get off the off-road vehicle, he also changed the subject, "Where is the jeep you mentioned just now?"
"Don't worry, you'll see it soon."
Soliman gave it away with a smile, and with Wei Ran and Edward who looked novel, he caught up with Saleh who was walking in the front.
Surrounded by the Berbers, everyone walked into an open space surrounded by gauze cloth.
Obviously, this is the "reception room" of this tribe. Although there is still soft sand under the feet, the surrounding tulle and the canopy above block the fine sand blown by the wind.
Due to the shielding of the mountains, it is obviously much cooler here, but the Berber people around are even more enthusiastic than the sun in the sky.
Soon, several young Berbers brought the slaughtered watermelons on stainless steel trays, and outside the gauze wall that could not block the view at all, several Berbers had already begun to kill the sheep.
Although I couldn't understand what Saleh and the Berber tribe leader were talking about, it didn't delay Wei Ran and Edward from eating watermelon, let alone a few cute fennec foxes with their big ears.
The wet nose came closer and waited to eat the watermelon rind.
Taking a bite of the watermelon flesh that was so sweet that it almost hit his throat, Wei Ran spit it out into the palm of his hand and tried to hand it to a more courageous fennec fox, but he didn't expect that this little thing, which was smaller than a cat, didn't know what his eyes were.
Unfortunately, I still had a better appetite, so I actually bit his shoelace and started to pull it while shaking my head.
Wei Ran fed the watermelon pulp in his palm to another fennec fox that looked smarter. Wei Ran turned to Soliman who was also teasing the small animal next to him and asked, "How about we go take a look at that jeep?"
Soliman looked up and looked around, picked up a corner of watermelon and stood up, "Okay, I'll take you to see it."
"Mr. Edward, would you like to go and take a look? There is a jeep here from World War II."
"During World War II?"
Edward immediately threw away the watermelon rind in his hand, "Of course! Victor, is this the investigation clue you found?"
"Maybe"
Wei Ran gave an ambiguous answer, got up and followed Soliman out of the "reception room" that was ventilated everywhere.
Under the leadership of Soliman, the group of three people walked quietly to the well located in the center of the stone houses.
It was only then that Wei Ran noticed that there was a Willys Jeep chassis frame set up at a 45-degree angle on the edge of the well, which was nearly two meters in diameter!
Next to the well, there was half a 200-liter oil drum obviously used to fetch water. But what was even more exaggerated was that after the wire rope tied to the oil drum passed through the trailer hitch eye on the front of the chassis, another
One end was tied to a dirty camel not far away.
On the edge of the well, there is even a sink carved out of stone with a capacity as large as a bathtub.
"Want to take a bath?" Soliman asked abruptly.
Before Wei Ran could respond, he had already thrown the half oil drum into the well.
With the sound of "crash" and the splashing water at the bottom of the well, the camel that was originally lying on the sand stood up, spitting and cursing.
Soliman swayed the wire rope hanging in the well from side to side. When the rusty oil drum at the bottom of the well was filled with water, he immediately slapped the camel gently on the butt.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Under the tug of the camel, the wire rope gradually straightened, and then the oil drum filled with water from the bottom of the well was easily lifted up.
With a "swish" sound, the cool well water flowed accurately into the stone water tank beside the well as Soliman shook the wire rope again. The camel also came back with a "squeak" sound.
After feeding the camel the watermelon rind in his hand, Soliman washed his hands in the stone trough and then asked, "Did you see it?"
"The chassis frame of the Willys Jeep" Wei Ran shook his head helplessly, and then asked, "Where are the other things?"
"Over there"
Soliman wiped his hands haphazardly on his shorts, continued walking forward with Wei Ran and Edward, and finally stopped under a date palm tree.
Under the shadow of this tree, Wei Ran finally saw the body of the Willys Jeep. Although the hood was missing and the paint on the body was already mottled, but even so, it still attracted attention.
The place.
Behind the driver and passenger, on a rusty vehicle mount, there is still a twin Vickers K-type machine gun, and even the 100-round magazine capacity of the two machine guns is still there.
When the three of them arrived, there were still several children playing simulation driving and machine gun firing games in the car shell.
Although this child's game is too childish in the eyes of three adults "from big cities", looking at their skillful actions of disassembling and assembling bullet discs, you can tell that this "entertainment facility" may have accompanied them as they grew up.
.
Compared to this eye-catching World War II weapon, Weiran squatted at the front of the car and dug out the yellow sand that almost buried the radiator grille on the front of the car.
As expected, three radiator grilles on the left side of the front of the car were removed. Although the right one was intact, it had a pair of metal brackets on the edge.
There is no doubt that this bracket is used to install an external water cooler, but after such a long time, the water cooler has undoubtedly been removed and used for other purposes.
After walking around the car shell, Wei Ran even picked up one of the children in a light blue robe and carefully inspected the two Vickers K-type machine guns.
"Victor, what are you looking for?" Edward standing aside asked curiously.
"Production Date"
Wei Ran scratched the brand on the machine gun with his fingernail, "The gun was produced in 1940. It's a pity that the jeep was dismantled too much. Otherwise, we might have found more valuable clues."
"Do you think this has something to do with my grandfather?" Edward asked.
"Who knows?"
Wei Ran reloaded the two machine guns with empty ammunition trays, stepped away from the car shell that was half buried in the yellow sand, and smoothly and playfully held the child under the armpit, and put him back to the machine gunner.
location, and then explained slowly and casually, "This is not close to the front line of the Mediterranean battlefield, but this car was undoubtedly the equipment of the British army at that time, so it is difficult to say whether it has anything to do with your grandfather's incident. However, this car
The presence of the Jeep itself here speaks volumes."
"What does that mean?" Edward continued to ask, and at the same time, he took out a metal pipe from his pocket, took out the cigar inside, and then took out a cigar cutter.
"This was not the main battlefield at that time, which meant that the main British troops would not come here."
Wei Ran waved his hand and declined the cigar offered by the other party. He stood under the shade of a tree and continued, "The only people I can think of who can be sent here are the British Team L."
"Team L?" Edward put the cigar in his mouth and asked doubtfully, "What is Team L?"
"Have you always heard of SAS?" Wei Ran asked Edward.
"Of course I've heard of it"
Edward used a lighter to light the cypress stick in his hand and said nonchalantly, "The Mr. Matt who is always with Charlotte once served in that army."
"Mr. Matt is from SAS?" Wei Ran asked in surprise.
"Once upon a time, that's all."
Edward corrected him while lighting his cigar, "He retired a few years ago due to rheumatism, and has been working for Mr. Charlotte since then. Victor, let's continue with your guesses."
Does Charlotte still need a bodyguard? His worth seems...
Wei Ran suppressed the doubts in his heart and continued his previous train of thought, "Whether it was Team L or SAS, in the North African battlefield at that time, they couldn't be here for vacation, right?"
Edward couldn't help but smile and joked, "Even if they wanted to take a vacation, they wouldn't come to a place like this."
Wei Ran spread his hands and said with almost certainty, "So there must be military targets here or nearby that are worthy of their dispatch."
"What military target?" Edward, who had already caught up with the train of thought, asked again like a shameless stickler.
"have no idea"
Weiran gave the obvious answer with an innocent face, "But at least it has been proven that there must be World War II German military facilities nearby that are worthy of their dispatch, right?"
Having said this, Wei Ran raised his hand and pointed in a random direction, "Considering that this is only a straight line distance of forty or fifty kilometers from the location where your grandfather was captured, we might as well make a few assumptions."
"What hypothesis?" Edward asked.
"Before all assumptions, let's assume that the Jeep is directly related to your grandfather."
Wei Ran paused and then continued, "The first hypothesis is that the British soldiers driving this jeep came here before your grandfather was captured. Mr. Edward, when was your grandfather captured?
Captive?"
"September 27, 1941" Edward gave an accurate time without thinking.
"Have you ever said which British army he was captured by?" Wei Ran asked, but Edward shook his head in return.
"No matter which army he was captured by"
Wei Ran kicked the jeep's shell, "According to my understanding, the first time the British L Team was clearly recorded as performing a special operations mission seemed to be in November 1941.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! But unfortunately, I don’t know if it was because of Mr. Churchill’s blessing that they actually encountered a severe storm in this desert that only happens once in 30 years. Not only did the combat mission end in failure
, and even lost two-thirds of the team members at one time.
Although we cannot tell whether it was Team L who was driving this Jeep at that time, we can at least judge based on the time when Team L first performed a special operations mission. The probability that this Jeep came here before your grandfather was captured is not
not tall."
"Since the probability is not high..."
"Anyway, it proves that this car most likely came here after your grandfather was captured." Wei Ran concluded before Edward could finish his words.
Upon hearing this, Edward shrugged indifferently, "What about other hypotheses?"
"The major premise remains unchanged"
Wei Ran said with a smile, "The second hypothesis is that this car was abandoned here when the British soldiers who captured your grandfather were on their way back to their base."
"Victor, just tell us the conclusion." Edward urged.
"At least I haven't seen a description of this place in the work notes left by your grandfather, and it's obviously your first time here."
"I know" Edward puffed out a cloud of smoke, "so the probability of this hypothesis is not high."
"Communicating with smart people is easy"
Wei Ran complimented the other party perfunctorily, then said in a relaxed tone, "After ruling out the first two hypotheses, the probability that this jeep came here after your grandfather was captured is much higher.
.”
"But what does that mean?"
"I remember when we first met, you told me that your grandfather spent a year in prison in Cairo after being captured? And then suddenly he became an employee of BP?"
"That's true," Edward affirmed Wei Ran's memory.
"Then what price did he pay to leave prison?" Wei Ran asked abruptly.
"At what price?" Edward was stunned, then replied, "My grandfather never mentioned the price he paid."
This old guy is lying!
After Wei Ran made a judgment based on the other party's tone of voice, facial expressions and some small movements, he patted the car casing next to him with a normal expression, "Maybe this military vehicle is for the price your grandfather paid.
"
"Is this...is this too coincidental?" Edward asked in astonishment.
"What a coincidence?"
Wei Ran asked as he walked back, "Mr. Edward, this is only forty or fifty kilometers away from the place where your grandfather was captured. And don't forget, although we are now guests in the Berber tribe,
But this place is also deep in the desert, and within a radius of a hundred kilometers, this may be the only place where you can see some plants.
In other words, if the price your grandfather paid to avoid jail and still have a job was anywhere near where he was captured, those British people who came here to pay the price your grandfather paid
Soldiers, there is a high probability that they will pass by and rest here, right?"
"What if this place has nothing to do with what happened to my grandfather?" Edward asked abruptly.
Wei Ran was not in a hurry to answer Edward's question. Instead, he turned to look at Soliman, who had been following him. "Soliman, do you know when this jeep appeared here?"
"It has been here as long as the leader of this tribe can remember."
Soliman pointed at the children behind him who were aiming their twin machine guns at their backs, and continued with a smile, "Baha, the guy in our store, once asked the patriarch who only spoke Berber.
According to the patriarch's description, when he was the age of those children, the machine gun in the car still had bullets in the magazine. At that time, they even used the two machine guns to defend against the Bedouins who came to seize the territory.
people."
"How old is that clan leader?" Wei Ran asked.
"I guess he's at least seventy years old, right?" Soliman replied uncertainly.
"So he should have been born in the years before and after World War II."
After Wei Ran made his judgment, he translated the conversation between the two of them to Mr. Edward, and then said, "So the topic comes back again. Taken together, even if the person who drove this jeep here was
It has nothing to do with your grandfather, so there must have been German military facilities nearby that were worthy of Britain sending soldiers here."
"Hasn't this conclusion been stated at the earliest?" Edward reminded impatiently.
“It is true”
Wei Ran nodded, but asked abruptly, "So Mr. Edward, do you think your grandfather might have been captured on the way to the German military facility that could attract the British? Or, maybe he himself
Are they the staff at that military base?"
When Wei Ran said this guess, Edward's eyebrows trembled obviously. Immediately afterwards, the old man used the action of smoking a cigar to conceal his inner activities, and continued to say in an impatient tone, "Okay.
Victor, what I am paying you to find is what happened to my grandfather and where his colleagues went. You just need to give me a satisfactory answer as soon as possible."
"Of course, I will reply to you as soon as possible."
Watching Edward quicken his pace, a gentle smile appeared on Wei Ran's face. The assumption he just made was not to deceive Mr. Edward.
After all, it was only a straight line distance of 40 kilometers. In his opinion, any World War II military equipment that appeared nearby might be inseparable from Edward's grandfather.
With this in mind, Wei Ran turned to look at Soliman and asked in Russian, "Soliman, are there any military facilities or military equipment abandoned during World War II around here?"
"How large a range are you talking about?" Soliman asked.
"Let me think about it... one hundred... no, one hundred and fifty kilometers." Wei Ran looked at the scorching sun above his head, pointed to the southwest and said, "To the west, south and these two
An area of 150 kilometers between directions.”
"I'm afraid we have to ask the leader of this tribe."
Soliman spread his arms, "Our smuggling business only goes as far as here. The rest of the way is basically completed by the camels of the Berbers. They are more familiar with the surrounding environment than we are."
"So Mr. Saleh shouldn't just come here to rest, right?" Wei Ran asked abruptly.
Soliman smiled and nodded candidly, "Of course, we will need a guide who is familiar with the surrounding desert."
No wonder...
Wei Ran nodded secretly. When he was on the road, he had wondered why Saleh had to make a small circle to come here, but now he could explain it clearly.
Changing the topic at will, Wei Ran and Soliman followed Edward and slowly returned to the "reception room" surrounded by gauze walls in the shadow of the mountain.
Sitting back in the same position where he had just sat, Wei Ran picked up a particularly enthusiastic fennec fox and played with its overly large ears while chatting with Edward about topics that had nothing to do with his grandfather.
Soliman also came close to Saleh and whispered something into his ear. Then he came back and sat on the other side of Wei Ran. He also picked up a fennec fox and put it on his lap to help him gently.
He gently scratched his soft belly.
During the slightly boring wait, several Berbers wearing black turbans brought over roasted lamb and a steaming pottery tagine, and then several flatbread-like dishes.
Noodles and several plates of something like hand-caught mutton rice were distributed to everyone.
"Feel free to eat something. This is authentic Berber food that you can't find in Cairo."
Saleh, who had been chatting with the tribe leader just now, greeted, "After filling our stomachs, we will simply rest here for a while before setting off."
"Are you going to continue wasting time here?" Edward asked subconsciously.
“This is not a waste of time”
Wei Ran, who was wiping his hands with a wet tissue, answered the question for Saleh, "We can take a nap here so that we can be more energetic in the afternoon."
"Get some sleep?" Edward was stunned, "I don't have the habit of sleeping at noon."
“You can experience it”
While Wei Ran was talking, he had already picked up a piece of grilled lamb chops and threw it to the little foxes running around to fight for it. Then he actually took out a pair of lamb chops in a bamboo box from his own bag.
With his chopsticks, he picked up the large plate of something that looked like finger food and shoveled it into his mouth.
With his "city man" operation, he was stunned to see the Berbers around him who were holding rice balls with their hands and feeding them to their mouths, as well as Soliman who was also holding barley rice balls with his hands and feeding them to his mouth.
.
"Lend me your spoon"
Soliman responded quickly and sucked his greasy fingers, and unceremoniously picked up the small stainless steel spoon in the exquisite box next to Wei Ran.
"Can you lend me that fork?" As Edward spoke, he also took away the last piece of cutlery left in the box.
"Isn't there a spoon in the pot?"
Wei Ran mumbled something vaguely, stretched out his chopsticks and accurately picked up a large mouthful of tender lamb from the hot tagine pot and put it into his mouth.
－－－－－－Digression－－－－－
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