Near the junction of Jinta County in Gansu Province and Ejina Banner in Inner Mongolia, there is a small mountain called Wolf Heart Mountain, which contains an ammunition depot of the troops. Despite its location in the vast Gobi, the mountain is surrounded by a rare "oasis" in the Gobi. This "oasis" is about hundreds of acres in size, with red willows and weeds everywhere. In the center of the oasis there are three barracks, and within the barracks is a company. The company's main task was to guard the ammunition depot. A small river flowed next to the barracks. The river is full of crystal clear water all year round. I was a soldier here in the mid-1970s.
First, man and wolf confront each other, and the white belly returns to the group
That winter, several of my comrades and I found two wolf cubs on our way back to the barracks. They all have a striking patch of white hair on their stomachs. Out of curiosity and pity for the two wolf cubs who were shivering in the cold wind, the recruit Little Plum took off his cotton coat, put the two cute little wolf cubs in the army coat that still had human warmth, wrapped them up and carried them to the barracks.
After dinner, because of the cold, the comrades did not want to go out unless there was something very important. Dakang, a veteran who returned from the toilet, inadvertently found that there were many green highlights not far from the camp, moving from far and near to the camp. Dakang herded sheep at home before joining the army, and with his long experience of shepherding sheep, he knew that the shining bright spot was the eyes of a wolf. Suddenly, his heart beat harder, and he couldn't help but shout, "No, the wolf is coming." When the comrades-in-arms heard the shouts, they all came out of the barracks and stood in unison. The wolves are getting closer and closer.
The wolves did not rush into the camp, and they stopped advancing about 60 meters from the camp. I saw a tall, bright-haired wolf, holding its head and burrowing into a pile of grass, "whoosh, whoosh," howling a few times in a row, so miserable that I couldn't bear to hear it. The howl quickly cut through the silent night sky of the Gobi. Soon the pack of wolves grew from a dozen to two dozen. They are aggressive and frightening. What was even more unexpected was that several extremely capable wolves took advantage of the fact that people were not paying attention to the opportunity behind them, secretly sneaked into the camp through the back door of the gang house, infiltrated the barracks, and took away the ordnance in the barracks. He then ran into the pack of wolves about 60 metres from the barracks. The wolves raised their guns high with their mouths high, as if demonstrating to the officers and men. This gives rise to the association that wolves are extremely unpleasant: how do wolves know that the house has a back door and can lead to the camp? How does the wolf know which room has weapons in it? How do wolves know that weapons are important? Why don't you steal anything else, just a weapon? All this undoubtedly tells people that wolves are by no means idle people, and if they want to give wolves a hard time, the officers and soldiers must be retaliated against by wolves sooner or later, and they must suffer great losses.
The platoon commander Wang, known as a bearing brain, thought of this first, and he immediately reported to the company commander that Xiao Li was holding a wolf cub in the afternoon. The company commander ordered Xiao Li to send the two wolf cubs back. He arranged for two large sharpshooters to have submachine guns on the left and right sides of Xiao Li, and Xiao Li held two cute white-bellied wolf cubs in the middle and walked towards the wolves with two sharpshooters. The three of them walked about 40 meters and stopped 20 meters away from the wolves, and Xiao Li put the wolf cub on the ground and turned back. Two large sharpshooters with submachine guns in their hands were still facing the wolves and retreated step by step. However, those two indisputable little wolf cubs may not be willing to leave Xiao Li's warm embrace, and they can't stand the attack of the cold of the Gobi winter night. When Xiao Li put them down and turned back, they did not go to find their parents, but still chased Xiao Li to the camp without leaving. The she-wolf over there was desperate to die, standing upright and howling. It was as if it was in pain. As a result, the two little wolf cubs followed Xiao Li and the three of them back to the camp.
The wolves over there stared at the officers and soldiers, none of them could be killed, and there was a great tendency not to repay the wolf cubs. What should I do? If the wolf cubs cannot be returned, a vicious battle between man and wolf will be inevitable. At that time, people did not know what ecological balance, did not know how to protect animals, and only knew that the early return of wolf cubs was for the safety of officers and soldiers. In this way, the human-wolf confrontation lasted for more than a dozen minutes, and a Sichuan warrior named An Mingmin took out two net pockets from the barracks, loaded the two wolf cubs into two net pockets, and then tied the two net pockets together. He also let Xiao Li hold it, and An Mingmin took a stone and followed, and as usual, the two large sharpshooters with submachine guns put two wolf cubs on the ground at about forty meters as usual, and then pressed the stones on the knot. Then the four men returned, two of them still facing the wolves with submachine guns, retreating step by step.
When the four returned to the crowd, the wolves swarmed. Quickly bite through the net pocket and take away the wolf cub. After that, the wolves did not disperse immediately, but stopped where they had just confronted the officers and soldiers. They jumped and jumped, as if to thank the officers and men. Especially the she-wolf, sitting on the ground with two front paws propped up, quietly observing the officers and men of the camp. It took a while for it to suddenly raise its head, howl at the distant night sky, and lead the wolves to disappear into the mountains.
The wolves left, and the warriors came to the place where the wolves had stayed, where the ordnance they had taken was still there, and the wolves, after getting the wolf cubs, let them return to Zhao.
Second, accidentally injure the white belly, take good care of it
In the blink of an eye, more than a year has passed, and the officers and men of the whole company have almost forgotten the thrilling man-wolf confrontation. Towards the end of shooting training, there was a target test. Setting up a range in the Gobi Desert is by no means the same as considering whether it will harm people and animals in the interior, where there can be a range everywhere. However, another unexpected thing happened. In the past, when shooting targets, all wild animals heard the sound of gunshots and ran away. This time, the target was found to be two wolves curiously watching from a distance away. They run this side for a while, and then they run that side, scurrying around in the red willow bushes more than 300 meters away from people, making people vaguely feel their existence. This situation did not attract the attention of the officers and men.
Suddenly, a very miserable howl was heard, followed by a second and a third. The sound was mournful, as if it were a cry for help. The company commander ordered a moratorium on target shooting, and the soldiers searched the red willow bushes and reported the situation in time. After a while, Xiao Li was seen coming with a badly injured wolf. I saw that the wolf was bleeding and stained Xiao Li's military clothes red. The company commander told Xiao Li and the hygienist to go to the barracks to bandage the wolf's wounds. After they left, the people who returned with Xiao Li said that the wolf was injured by a bullet and that they found the wolf more than 100 meters behind the target. The wolf was the same wolf that had been carried back to the barracks last winter, and there was a patch of white hair on its stomach.
Some people say that it is not worth interrupting a target for a wolf for half an hour, and some people say that a wild wolf is injured if it is injured. The company commander said that since Xiao Li was so fond of wolves, let him save the wolf again, anyway, he did not miss us too much.
After a while, the hygienist returned, took out the bullet from the wolf's stomach, gave the wolf some medicine, and bandaged it. Xiao Li was feeding it with the piglet that died yesterday. He also said that the wolf was the same wolf that had been carried back to the barracks the previous winter, and there was a patch of white hair on its stomach, which Xiao Li affectionately called "white belly." He could see that the wolf was very grateful to Xiao Li, and the tears were flowing. At this time, we all suddenly remembered that this time the rescue of the wolf had let Xiao Li meet again. No wonder that when they heard the troops shooting targets, the other wolves fled without a trace, while the two wolves were scurrying around like children.
This time, the wolves did not stir up the crowd because they were in the barracks, and they wanted to make a big fuss. In this way, the injured wolf was carefully cared for by Xiao Li, and after two days, the injury was almost better. After that, Xiao Li let it run. It didn't take long for everyone to forget about it again.
Third, get lost in firewood, and repay the favor with a white belly
As winter drew to another year, when the company's firewood was almost burned out, the company commander decided to send a few people to fetch a cart of firewood. The place where the firewood was collected was about three or four hundred miles from the station, and it was a red willow forest of dozens of acres that had all dried up. Presumably a few years ago, the grass and trees there must have been surprisingly lush. For some reason, they are all now dry. Many of their torsos are flattened and wide, not as round as most plants. Most of them are as tall as a person. Saying that it is firewood is actually to load firewood, and there is no need to bring an axe or a machete or anything like that. With a shake of your hand, those dead red willows can be broken from the ground. In a few moments, it will be filled with a large liberation car.
This time to collect firewood, the driver is a new driver, he has never been to the firewood field, the road is very unfamiliar, all rely on two or three people who have gone to the firewood to show the way. There were five or six people sitting in the car, including Xiao Li. When I went there, it went smoothly, and I found the firewood field without much effort. However, when he returned to the company with firewood, he encountered trouble. The driver does not touch the road, two or three have come not very familiar with the road, they come every time they come to sit in the car or sleep, or small talk, do not bother to remember the way, just a little impression. Running around, I couldn't find my way. After running for a while, I didn't dare to run again, because there was not much oil left. If you run any longer, it won't be long before the oil will be finished, and once the oil runs out, the lives of these people will be difficult to protect.
Then something incredible happened. A wolf appeared like a wolf falling from the sky, drilling out of the ground, and transforming from a magician. A wolf appeared in front of the car, and everyone was not afraid. Because one is that everyone is in the car, the wolf cannot hurt people at all; the other is that there is only one wolf, not a pack of wolves, and it poses no threat to people. At this time, the whole worry of several people is that they will not find the way, and they are anxious about it. The few people who had been here each expressed their opinions, and from time to time there were a few arguments. This one said it should go in this direction, the one said it should go in that direction, and no one paid attention to the wolf.
This wolf is also really a little strange, it does not show a ferocious, want to hurt people, and is not afraid of people hurting it and immediately runs away, but runs forward for a while, then turns back to look at the car, sees the car parked in place, and runs back to the front of the car. Then, run forward a bit, then turn around and look back at the car, and then run back. This was repeated several times, and people did not have the heart to pay attention to it. When the wolf saw that the man ignored it, he shouted, but the voice was not fierce, and the body kept standing upright, with two hind legs standing up and the front legs extending upwards. At first, everyone didn't know what performance the wolf was doing, but later, Xiao Li, who was sitting on the firewood pile of the carriage, suddenly turned his head and found the wolf's white belly, so he shouted "white belly" loudly. Then he said, "The white-bellied child has come to lead the way." It turned out that Xiao Li had been sitting facing the back of the car, so he didn't notice the wolf's performance in front of the car, until everyone talked about the situation of the wolf in front of the car, and he turned his head to see the wolf. After he said this, everyone immediately understood. No wonder the wolf ran forward for a while and then turned his head to look at the car.
The car found its way under the guidance of wolves. After that, the wolf left the human vision and disappeared into the vast Gobi. Cars were running wild in the direction of the barracks, where there was no need to think about car accidents at all. Seeing that it was about to get dark, everyone was like an arrow in their hearts, and they all wanted to rush back to the company before dark.
Fourth, repay the favor again and bring relief
Suddenly, the car stopped and couldn't drive anymore because the oil in the tank had dried. There are still more than 100 miles away from the company, so what should we do? Everyone was in a hurry, and some people proposed to simply send two people on foot to the company. As soon as his voice fell, he was immediately denied by everyone, and those who walked faster would have more than ten hours to reach the company, and once they got lost in the middle, they would never be able to walk out of the Gobi Desert. Several people were at a loss. Then someone else said, "Let's wait here, and if the company commander doesn't see us back, he'll send a car to pick us up." Then someone retorted: "The car that picked us up couldn't have taken this road exactly." Even if you take this road, the Gobi Desert has no road everywhere, and you can see that the road in front of you is not hundreds of meters, but also tens of meters. They passed from our left or right, and it was difficult to see us at night. That is to say, even if you look for us, the chances of finding it are very low. ”
Soon it was night. Because of the cold, everyone got out of the car, walked back and forth on the ground, and then there was a fire, saying that if the company commander sent someone to find us, there was a fire as the target. At this time, everyone was cold and hungry. Suddenly, Xiao Li came up with a sentence: "If the white belly can come, it will be good." Let it send a letter to the company commander and bring people in. No one thought that Xiao Li's words were really in his words. After about ten minutes, the white-bellied child really came.
Here's the thing. Everyone sat around the fire, and everyone's face was full of helplessness. Almost no one said anything, only Xiao Li came up with words that were both hypothetical and hopeful. Ten minutes later, someone noticed a slight movement next to him, so he looked toward the place where there was movement, and through the light of the fire, he saw that it was seven or eight meters away from the fire, and the white belly put down a gun and quietly left. As if afraid of shocking people. After the white-bellied child left, everyone felt inexplicable, and they didn't know where the wolf stole a gun and put it here. What does that mean? Just when everyone was puzzled, The platoon leader led Dakang and another warrior to ride to the fire.
The platoon leader saw the gun not far away and asked, "Why is the gun here?" Before the few people who were collecting firewood could answer, the driver asked, "How do you know we're here?" ”
The platoon leader said: "A wolf quietly entered the camp and grabbed a gun, but did not run away immediately, but just put the gun down in front of the camp gate and howled a few times to attract people's attention." When it saw that the people in the company had found it, it walked for a while with its gun in hand, and then looked back at everyone. Some people said that it was counted if they were killed with a gun, but the company commander would not let it, and the company commander said that it didn't look like this wolf was going to steal the gun, follow it to see what it really meant, and chase the gun back. So he sent the three of us on horseback to chase the gun behind the wolf and told us not to hurt it. It is strange to say that when we chase it, it always keeps so far away from us, we chase fast, it runs fast, we chase slowly, it runs slowly. All the way here. ”
After listening to the wang platoon leader, Xiao Li woke up like a dream: "Bai Belly saved us again." "When the king platoon leader knew that the car ran out of gas, they were also grateful to the wolf.
After about an hour or so, the commander of the Wang platoon urged the horse to rush back to the company, and was assigned by the company commander to drive the oil with another driver. After another hour or so, the firewood collectors and rescuers returned to the company safely.