When night enveloped the desolate desert, the temperature that 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 thrown a burning match 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 several open cans on the burning flames. Carlo once again asked the question he asked not long ago, "Victor, you really don't Do you know where this place is?"
"I really don't know"
Wei Ran replied helplessly. Through the insinuations during the chat, he had confirmed that he was indeed there. At the end of the Second Battle of Gubije, or to be more precise, it was the night of December 4, 1941, when the Italian 132nd Aries Armored Division rushed to the rescue of Gubije on the order of Rommel!
Before Wei Ran met Carlo and others, they had already encountered the British interception, and Carlo and others were the most peripheral and most advanced scouts on the official battlefield.
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 rush 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 the flank, even if the battle over Gubijing is over, we may not be much safer."
"At worst, surrender," Panetong said nonchalantly, "Maybe we can survive under the British. Drink red wine on the territory."
Pierre, who had his arm splinted, licked his lips and said, "Even if there is no red wine, you can have olive oil. It's better to have a piece of white bread."
“But all we have now are 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.”< /p>
“I have almost forgotten the taste of pasta”
Pane walked to the campfire and gathered together, “For half a month, what I received was not canned tuna. It's just 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, and I originally planned to do so after this battle. , if we could get some pasta, we would eat together, that would be a pity."
"A few"
Wei Ran, who had been silent, shook his water bottle, " "Compared with pasta, should we be more concerned about drinking water?"
"Don't worry," Carlo reassured optimistically, "We will be able to drink water when we go back tomorrow. It's nothing for one night." ."
"Hopefully"Wei Ran responded with a strange expression. The return mission this time included finding water. According to the urine 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 campfire were also steaming while they were rattling. Wei Ran took a bite of the canned beef with the title of "Mussolini's Butt" and put it in his mouth to taste.
To his surprise, this canned food was not unpalatable except that it was not salty enough. The taste was also similar to the starch-rich cheap lunch meat that he had eaten in high school. There is not much difference between canned food, except that the taste is looser and greasier at best.
Curious, Wei Ran picked up a piece of hot tuna meat, and before it could reach his mouth, Wei Ran smelled a strong fishy smell. Wei Ran tried to take a bite, but the more he chewed, the more disgusting he became. Finally, he couldn't swallow it and simply spit it out.
"You lucky ones who are shipping companies 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 canned meat again. However, even though he just took out the mouthful of fish meat, the stench like a biological and chemical weapon still lingered. , and even the taste of what was put into the mouth changed.
Having completely lost his appetite after 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."
Not added in Panetong. With a hidden teasing smile, Wei Ran left the sandpit 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.
What surprised and delighted him was that 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 sidearms, including the food box. Got it!
"Since the notebook has been replaced with metal cover, why are there more restrictions?"
Wei Ran muttered to himself as he played with the Rolleiflex twin-lens reflex camera in its protective case, The camera can be taken out, but the film that was loaded into it is gone again, but he clearly remembers that when he came back from the Baiyangdian battlefield last time, he clearly remembered that the film that was loaded into it was still there.
"According to previous experience, will we encounter someone with a camera next?" Wei Ran muttered secretly, put away the camera in his hand and the anti-tank gun beside him, and then took a telescope to look at Look around.
"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 most Quickly, he picked up the hot can and put it aside, while Panetong next to him followed closely 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.road.
"It's getting closer!" Weiran rolled and climbed down the short hill, "We must get out of here as soon as possible, the other party has at least four or five cars!"
"Let's go!"
Carlo poked the last piece of beef with his fork and stuffed it into his mouth. Then he didn't even have time to dig out the lunch box under the yellow sand. He helped Pierre, whose legs and feet were not convenient, to go. Tuk-tuk ride above the sand pit.
After the three of them got on the bus, Weiran, who ran down the mountain, started his motorcycle and asked, "Where are we going?"
"To the south!"
Carlo said without thinking, "Their patrol focus is not in 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 , determined the direction with the help of the Big Dipper, not even daring 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 them, Panetong and the most seriously injured Pierre were facing the left and right directions respectively, while Carlo, holding a submachine gun, was watching behind him vigilantly.
Almost at the same time that Wei Ran was driving a 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. They didn't dare to stop for a moment and headed due south. They ran like this for two or three hours. As the temperature got lower and lower, strong winds gradually began to blow in the desert.
This is good news, at least their unique three-track mark can be somewhat concealed, but the bad news is that Pierre developed a high fever at some point.
“Hide behind the sand dune ahead!” 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, did not dare to open his mouth. 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?"
Paneton took off his clothes and covered Pierre, and at the same time said matter-of-factly, "This kind of three-wheeled motorcycle you drive Only the transportation company has the most. They must be chasing you to find the transportation company and destroy our logistics supplies."
"Find the transportation company?" Wei Ran shook his head, "I'm afraid we don't even know ourselves now. "Where is it?"
"Let's wait until daybreak, if we haven't been buried in the sand, to think about it again," Carlo said as he jumped off the cargo hopper, "I'll go and watch on the sand dunes." Come on, you guys find a way to dig a sand pit under the tricycle."
"I'll do it," Wei Ran said first, "Panetong, go to the sand dune in front and look around. Is there any fire or the 101st Division that Carlo said?"
Paneton nodded after hearing this and limped towards another one not far away.dune.
It wasn't until he started to climb up the sand dune in one step or another that Wei Ran reached out and touched Pierre's hot forehead and the large burns on his legs, and then took out his hand under the cover of night. He took out a syringe from the medical kit and gave him an injection of penicillin as quickly as possible.
Putting away the medical kit again, Wei Ran 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 behind, Panetong limped back against the wind, half-kneeling on the edge of the cargo truck and said, "There is nothing in front, except sand dunes and mountains. No matter how far it is, "It's completely unclear."
"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 away from the 101st Division. Far away, let's listen carefully tonight. If there are sounds of firefights around us, we might be able to find our way back by following the sounds."
"That's all we can do."
Wei. After Ran finished speaking, he quickly imitated the other party's example and put his head under the cargo compartment 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 suffering like this for most of the night, the strong wind finally stopped completely. Everyone who had been frozen to death trembled and dug a shallow hole in the sand, and then poured some into it. The fuel was difficult to light 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 rut marks when they came disappeared together with the enemy. , and throughout the night, they didn't hear any firefight around them!