In the mine, the clay stove that burned all night continued to emit warm and dim light, as well as a rather pleasant aroma of rosin.

Beside the fire, four wounded men slept head to toe on thick pine needles, forming a square shape around them.

In the corner of the wounded square, Wei Ran was sleeping soundly with his head on the saddle.

In another corner not far away, a little girl named Yang Shiyi was taking the temperatures of four sleeping wounded people one after another.

This is the task assigned to her by Wei Ran. In addition, she is also responsible for feeding and drinking the four wounded.

In the position between the other two "corners", Hu Bazhi, with the help of Miss Hongxia, used the mule skins that he had stripped off in the Japanese camp before and the materials on hand to sew the necessary pieces for this cold winter.

Prepared jingang shoes.

A section away from the mine tunnel, in the "living room" where three large animals stood, the eldest girl of the Sun family held an ax and was carefully chopping the firewood brought back from outside.

At the entrance of the mine, the second girl of the Sun family was hiding behind the door, looking at the situation outside vigilantly through a specially dug observation window.

It was already the afternoon of the second day after Wei Ran and others returned. The snow outside the mine had stopped before dawn, but the wind was getting stronger and stronger, and the temperature outside was getting lower and lower.

In the morning, when Wei Ran, Hu Bazhi and the four girls went out to chop wood, they could see in the distance a pack of wolves driving the seriously injured silly roe deer into the wolf trough.

This mine is undoubtedly a good place for cats to winter. With the vicious reputation accumulated by the wolves outside over the years, no one will wander here after being full.

Even because there are those prey that the wolves drove into the wolf trough and froze to death, as long as they take a little risk, 80% of the people hiding here will not be so nervous about food.

But even so, the people hiding in the mine were still so worried that they couldn't calm down at all.

They were not worried about wolves sneaking in, nor were they even worried about whether there were any Japanese in the bandits' den a few ridges away.

What worries them is that in addition to the missing Cui Big Beard, there are four wounded people, especially Zhao Jinyu's injury.

After all, a bullet opened a hole in his abdominal cavity. Although the hole was not big, there was still a risk of infection, especially since his high fever never went down.

"Ah sneeze!"

In the quiet mine tunnel, Yang Shiyi couldn't help but sneeze, and then continued to shake the temperature needle she had just taken out from Zhao Jinyu's armpit, and clamped it under Tian Xiaohu's armpit.

"Woke you up?"

When Yang Shiyi saw Wei Ran getting up with a yawn, she immediately asked apologetically.

"It's okay"

Wei Ran waved his hand, "Is it still burning?"

"It's burning, it's 38 and a half degrees."

Yang Shiyi said worriedly while folding a freshly washed towel a few times and placing it on Zhao Jinyu's forehead.

He came closer and turned on the flashlight to look at Zhao Jinyu's face. Wei Ran calmed down and let himself wake up completely. Then he carefully opened the bandage on his abdominal wound and got closer to smell it.

Fortunately, there was no bad smell coming from the wound, which made him somewhat relieved.

"Shiyi, you do the operation next." Wei Ran took a step back, pointed the flashlight at the wound on Zhao Jinyu's abdomen and said.

"good"

However, Yang Shiyi, who was fifteen or sixteen years old, was extraordinarily calm. After washing her hands carefully, she opened the medical bag.

"Seeing that Wei Ran was not going to say anything, Yang Shiyi immediately picked up a bottle of iodine and a small enamel tray. After pouring a small amount of iodine into it, she picked up a small piece of absorbent cotton with tweezers and dipped it in iodine carefully.

Apply it on the sutured wound on Zhao Jinyu's abdomen and around it.

Wei Ran taught her these things when she was changing the dressings on Zhao Jinyu and others before going to bed. She even treated the wounds of Zhao Jinyu and Tian Xiaohu with her own hands.

After a few hours of operation again, the little girl's movements have become much more proficient, which makes Wei Ran particularly satisfied.

As he watched, Yang Shiyi carefully applied iodine and removed iodine around the wound, then carefully covered it with a thin layer of dressing, sprinkled some sulfa powder around it, and then bandaged it again.

"You did a good job. Let's change the dressings on the other two wounds and the other wounded." Wei Ran encouraged him in time.

Hearing this, Yang Shiyi nodded immediately and continued working under the beam of Wei Ran's flashlight.

"Can Brother Jinyu survive?" Tian Xiaohu asked at this time.

"Yes, definitely."

While Wei Ran was talking, he pulled out the thermometer needle from the other party's armpit and took a look at it. Fortunately, Tian Xiaohu didn't have a fever.

"Do we have enough medicine?" Tian Xiaohu continued to ask.

“enough”

Wei Ran still replied confidently, "We have three or four Japanese medical kits. The medicines in them..."

"Isn't there enough medicine in it?"

Tian Xiaohu didn't wait for Wei Ran to finish and asked, "We have four injured patients now. Even if we have four medicine boxes, how many days will they last?"

Before Wei Ran could say anything, Tian Xiaohu continued to ask, "There are three big animals outside, and the daily fodder is enough for both young and old. How many more days can we eat?"

After a moment of silence, Wei Ran put the thermometer needle back into the medicine box and said, "If you have something to say, Squad Leader Xiaohu, why don't you just say it."

"Sickness is a burden"

Tian Xiaohu glanced at Yang Shiyi who was changing Zhao Jinyu's dressing, then looked away and continued, "Zhao Jinyu is a burden, I am a burden, Brother Shen and the others, including the three big animals who do not work, are all burdens. This

It’s getting colder day by day, so many burdens can drag you down to death.”

"You can't say that"

Hu Bazhi, who was working not far away, said, "Isn't it just a few mouths and a few big animals? How can I make you hungry?"

"Where's the medicine?"

Tian Xiaohu asked, "Brother Hu is a hunter. He can catch prey to fill his stomach. Can you find life-saving medicine?"

"At worst, I'll drive my mule to see the doctor tonight!" Hu Bazhi said, "I know..."

"You know shit!"

Tian Xiaohu said angrily, "Where are you going to invite me? All the villagers in the surrounding villages have been driven into human circles by the Japanese. Are you going to the city?"

This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Let’s not talk about whether people dare to come, but you are not afraid of attracting the Japanese? When there are so many of us, how many of us do you think can escape?"

"What are the plans of Squad Leader Xiaohu?"

Wei Ran looked directly at the other party and asked. He could already tell that this overly young squad leader might have some ideas.

"Before departure, Captain Zhao also gave me a letter."

As Tian Xiaohu said this, he reached into his arms with difficulty, took out an envelope and handed it to Wei Ran.

After taking the envelope, he found the words "My dear sister Jinlan personally expresses my gratitude" written on it with a brush. In addition, there was also a string of Mongolian characters that he couldn't understand. Looking at one side of the envelope, there was nothing there at all. Sealed, you can directly see the contents of the letter inside.

"The captain told me that if we can't find Commander Zhao, we should find a place to hide those things and go back quickly.

If you can't find them when you go back, just look for a place to look for them. If..."

"What if? Tell me?" Hu Bazhi couldn't help but urge.

"If we come to a dead end and don't know what to do next, just give this letter to Brother Jinyu and follow his arrangements." Tian Xiaohu said through gritted teeth.

For a moment, the cave fell into silence. Whether it was Wei Ran who was like a human spirit, Hu Bazhi who pursed his lips, and even Yang Shiyi, everyone had realized something.

"Brother Wei, if you are literate, please open that letter and read it." Tian Xiaohu sighed, "I guess the captain wants to send us away."

"Why?" Hu Bazhi asked in confusion, and his tone couldn't help but contain the resentment of not being trusted.

"Why?"

The wounded man named Shen sighed, "In order for us to survive, what else can you do? Brother Wei, please open the letter quickly and see what the captain wrote."

After a slight hesitation, Wei Ran took out the envelope from the envelope in his hand and unfolded it.

There were only three pieces of yellowed paper in this letter. On the first two pieces of paper, there were strings of Mongolian characters written on them that he could not understand.

On the last piece of paper, there were lines of traditional Chinese characters written on it.

"I can't understand the first two pages," Wei Ran paused and said, "Let me read the content on the last page."

"Read it, read it quickly." Tian Xiaohu urged.

"comrades"

Wei Ran cleared his voice that had become hoarse for some reason, "Since the beginning of winter, the situation of the anti-Japanese struggle has become increasingly severe, and we, the anti-Japanese soldiers, have reached the most dangerous moment.

When you read this letter, I have already moved my comrades from the first guerrilla team and are preparing to continue the guerrilla struggle.

Before departure, I have handed over the flag of the first team to Comrade Zhao Jinyu for preservation. Next, your task is to protect the flag and protect yourself.

Wait until next spring, if I and other comrades in the first team are dead, you will re-establish the first guerrilla team, with Comrade Tian Xiaohu as the captain, and the remaining comrades will be appointed by Captain Tian Xiaohu according to the situation.

Remember, you are not deserters, you are the seeds of the first guerrilla team. I have reported this decision to Commander Zhao in the name of the captain of the first guerrilla team. As long as you are here, as long as the flag is there, the first guerrilla team will be there.

Protect the flag, protect yourself, and protect the family letters left behind by everyone. This is your most important task this winter.

I have another letter for my sister Jin Lan. If Jin Yu does not survive, you can take this letter to Shanxi to find your sister for help as a natal family member."

After reading a few words on the letter paper, Wei Ran glanced at the address written at the end and the red seal stamp with "Zhao Jinge Seal" written on it. After thinking for a while, he combined the letter paper and the two Mongolian letters.

The letters were folded together in their original order and stuffed back into the envelope.

"What should we do now?" Wei Ran asked after returning the envelope to Tian Xiaohu.

"This is making us deserters!" Another wounded man couldn't help but clenched his fists. Wei Ran already knew that his surname was Li, a very common surname in later generations.

"What if?"

The wounded man surnamed Shen was particularly calm, "We are not deserters, is it possible that we can still carry guns to fight the Japanese?"
To be continued...