Chapter 13

In the early morning, Dongku suddenly opened his eyes, listened quietly to the surroundings, then rubbed his still slightly aching head and sat up.

Thinking about the delicious smoked salmon, the four or five-pound Ohua fish, and the bowl made of birch bark filled with horse milk wine from last night; the slightly sweet, faintly fragrant horse milk wine that made this Northeasterner drink several bowls in a row, until he and the hospitable Ewenki people were all drunk and staggering, barely managing to return to the yurt, Dongku couldn't help but smile. This was the first time he had been so relaxed and indulged since joining the army.

At that moment, listening to the ancient and majestic music played by the "pengnuhua" (harmonica) and "wentuwen" (hand drum), watching the enthusiastic dance of men, women, and children, Dongku put down all his burdens and raised the horse milk wine without refusal. This boldness won the respect of the Ewenki people, who were known for their drinking and making friends through drinking. Although there was a language barrier, it didn't stop the tribe from treating Dongku and his companions as true friends.

Rubbing his temples, Dongku saw the guns standing in the corner, the two large coat-made holsters among them, and the golden bullets and grenades. He couldn't help but praise them. Seeing such eye-catching steel guns, no one showed a greedy look, even though their Hanyang-made and some old Russian M1891 rifles were far inferior to the Type 38 Arisaka rifles, they didn't overly focus on these guns.

Turning around, Dongku looked at Shunzi, Mengzi, Dogdan, and Shanzi, who were still drunk. After a moment's thought, he left the bed, picked up a Type 38 Arisaka rifle, and walked out.

The cold air rushed into his lungs as he lifted the deer skin, making his body feel cold and his breath pause.

"Phew..."

Exhaling a breath, his body felt refreshed, and Dongku stepped out of the yurt.

Looking around, Dongku felt a warm feeling. Morigen was feeding the horses near a yurt a few dozen meters away, and some Ewenki men and women were busy in the distance. There was no one around them, clearly not wanting to disturb them.

Seeing Dongku come out, Morigen put down the hay in his hands, came over, and said warmly, "Brother Dongku, you're awake. The steamed meat is ready; Brother Dongku, come and eat some."

"Ha ha..."

Dongku laughed heartily and said, "Brother Morigen, your Chinese is really good. I'm still a bit drunk, so I'll eat later. I have something to ask Brother Morigen."

"Brother Dongku, you have a good drinking capacity. We can continue tonight." Morigen paused and then said, "Brother Dongku, go ahead and ask."

"Brother Morigen, how many mature hunters are there in the tribe?"

Morigen said without hesitation, "There are forty-three, Brother Dongku..."

Before Morigen could finish, Dongku raised his hand and threw the Type 38 Arisaka rifle to him.

"This is..."

Morigen caught the gun, puzzled, and looked at Dongku.

"Brother Morigen, take a look. Can this gun be used for hunting?"

Morigen raised the gun, aimed at the distance a few times, tried pulling the bolt, and then turned to say, "Brother Dongku, this gun is better than ours. It can definitely be used for hunting."

"If it can be used, that's good. Prepare a few horses and go get the gifts we prepared for you."

"Gifts..."

Morigen didn't quite understand what Dongku meant but didn't ask more. Seeing Liu Zhong emerge from another yurt, he greeted him and handed the gun back to Dongku, then went to prepare the horses.

"Brother Dongku, you really have a good drinking capacity."

Liu Zhong stretched his neck and praised.

"You're not bad either; you drank more than two pounds." Dongku smiled and said, "Let Morigen follow us. There are over a hundred guns, and they'll rust after the summer. It's better to give them to the Ewenki people. We'll keep a few dozen, and we can wrap the guns in wild boar fat to protect them."

"Alright!" Liu Zhong was very happy. This was something he wanted to do but didn't know how to bring up. After all, without Dongku, they wouldn't have gotten any of these guns, and they had already attributed all the guns to Dongku.

"They were driven here by the Japanese. If they had good guns, they could have resisted for a while, instead of being reduced to just over forty hunters..." Liu Zhong sighed.

On the mountain ridge, Dongku, Liu Zhong, Mengzi, Sun Tao, Liu Hai, and Huzi, along with Morigen and a young hunter named Balebatu, each rode a horse, and they brought two extra empty horses, quickly heading towards Heikoufeng.

With the horses, their speed was very fast, and they reached Heikoufeng by noon.

Morigen and Liu Zhong quietly scouted the surroundings and then entered Heikoufeng.

Seeing the pile of guns and ammunition, Morigen and Balebatu were stunned...

Liu Zhong, Mengzi, and Liu Hai led five horses, left twenty Type 38 Arisaka rifles and some ammunition, and headed to Dongdaoling to find Diquzi.

Sun Tao took Balebatu and followed the route they had fled to retrieve the discarded guns and grenades. Dongku took Morigen and Huzi back to where they first met...

"Erqi... we killed all the Japanese, you can rest in peace..." Huzi cried, using the stones they found to bury Erqi, who had been lucky enough to escape the wolves.

Dongku didn't help, just stood by and watched Huzi cry and work. Morigen stood quietly on the side, eyes closed, murmuring, as if reciting a funeral oration.

After about ten minutes, they took the re-covered sheepskin coats and dogskin hats and headed back the way they came.

At the explosion site, Huzi jumped off the horse and immediately found the buried guns.

Seeing Huzi pull the frozen rifles out of the snow, Morigen was thoroughly amazed.

"How many yellow-skinned dogs did they kill?" Morigen muttered to himself as he tied the rifles.

"Brother Morigen, these are forty-four rifles and about five thousand rounds of ammunition. When Balebatu and the others return, there will be a few more rifles. This way, each of you will have a rifle and a hundred rounds of ammunition, enough for a while. If you encounter the Japanese again, you'll have the strength to fight, instead of being driven away."

Morigen finally understood what Dongku meant by gifts. It was the steel guns they relied on for survival, and there were so many. Morigen was extremely grateful, stood there, and with the highest Ewenki etiquette, bowed deeply to Dongku, saying, "I won't say thank you, but you and Brother Liu Zhong will always be our best friends."

"Brother Morigen, don't be so formal. This is also making the best use of things. These guns will be most valuable in your hands. With these guns, you can better protect your yurts and your families."

Morigen's heart was warm, but he wasn't good with words. He resolved to find a way to help this generous Brother Dongku to repay this great favor. Although he wasn't the leader, he was the heir and would have the opportunity to repay.

After they packed up all the weapons, Dongku kept the platoon leader's Nambu pistol, command knife, and a Czech light machine gun, and gave the rest to Morigen. When the three of them led the horses back to Heikoufeng, Sun Tao and Balebatu were already waiting.

Sun Tao, with his excellent memory, found all thirteen lost guns, even the grenades, despite the snow covering the footprints and the escape route. They also went to Cuocaotang and dug out many bullets and grenades from the ice, but the guns were frozen and deformed by wild boars, only useful as spare parts.

After the five of them met up, they didn't stop and returned to the yurt by midnight.

When Morigen woke everyone up and showed them the guns, the entire Ewenki settlement was in an uproar.

So, a night of singing and dancing without sleep was inevitable, and of course, Dongku got drunk again.

The next morning, Dongku took Huzi into the forest to prepare for the fire seed cultivation.

Huzi watched Dongku use a knife to shave the oak wood board, not understanding what Brother Dongku was doing, but he followed Dogdan and helped.

They worked all day, and by the evening when Liu Zhong and the others returned, Dongku had finished shaving the ski boards and had the tips bent over the fire, pressing them under stone slabs and slowly drying them.

Everyone was puzzled, but since Dongku didn't explain, no one asked. They all believed Brother Dongku had a purpose, perhaps this was one of the assessment items he mentioned.

The next morning, a few agile people put their feet into the loops made from Japanese belts, and everyone learned from Dongku that these were called ski boards, tools for walking and running on snow.

So, on a flat slope not far from the camp, one by one, people tumbled down the slope, making the watching children laugh uncontrollably, bursting into happy laughter from time to time.

While Dongku was cultivating the fire seed for his goal, far away in Leshan Town, outside the mountains, Captain Matsui Tsuru, responsible for the security around Huto, had a grim face, squinting his triangular eyes, and listened quietly to the reports of several army squad leaders.

"Shankou Yushui is definitely dead. What do you think, is the opponent the Chinese Anti-Japanese United Army or the Red Russians?"

"Report, Lieutenant, I think it's the Red Russians."

A second lieutenant squad leader said loudly.

"Reason?"

"Report, Lieutenant, the reason is that a full-strength standard squad of Imperial soldiers could not be annihilated by the Chinese Anti-Japanese United Army. The Chinese Anti-Japanese United Army's weapons are mostly M1891s and Hanyang-made rifles, with no more than twenty rounds per person, which cannot match our standard squad of a hundred rounds per person, four light machine guns, and two grenade launchers. Therefore, only the Red Russians have this capability."

"Report, Lieutenant."

Another platoon leader stood at attention and said loudly, "Shankou couldn't even send a radio message, so he must have been ambushed."

"Soga..."

Matsui's triangular eyes narrowed.

After a moment, Matsui ordered grimly, "All the search teams outside the mountains are to withdraw and build the fortifications first. The search task will be handed over to Li Changhao, who will be in full charge."

"Hai!"

The adjutant stood at attention, turned, and left to convey the order.

Matsui thought sending the Korean puppet army and security battalions was a good strategy, but he didn't realize this move actually gave Dongku an opportunity.

Dongku was teaching Morigen how to make and use ski boards. He believed that soon, this horse-riding nation would gain a new title: the flying soldiers of the snow.

After shaving a pole, Dongku turned to look at the few people who were already getting the hang of it and nodded in satisfaction. After all, these people were born and raised in Heilongjiang and were naturally familiar with snow, unlike southerners who rarely saw snow and would take at least a week of professional training to pass.

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