48 Hours a Day - Chapter 67

Chapter 67

Chapter 67: The Mannerheim Line Welcomes You IX

[Found a Finnish guerilla base . Game points: +5 . For more information, check out the character panel…]

Zhang Heng had only heard the sound of the notification when he spotted the little wooden cottages in the forest . Before he could take a good look at it, someone had already pointed a gun at his back!

Zhang Heng was pretty sure that whoever it was, the trigger would be inevitably pulled this time . Just before he could, however, the sniper shouted at him! Startled, the shooter flinched, preventing the killing from happening . However, he did not take him sights off Zhang Heng .

The calvary finally had finally arrived!

It was the Finnish, allies of the sniper! Soon after that, a few more came over to help her . One of them stayed back to look after her while the rest proceeded to chop some wood to make a simple stretcher to carry her back to the base .

The man with the machine gun picked up the Soviet clothes on the floor and tossed them to Zhang Heng . However, the soldier had taken away the inner coat, only leaving him the outer jacket made out of goatskin . Zhang Heng said nothing and simply put it on .

He could see that the members of the guerilla resistance did not trust him at all . If it were not for the female sniper, they would have killed him without even thinking twice . Fortunately for Zhang Heng, they took care of their own first, realizing the sniper needed immediate medical attention . Knowing that there was no time to waste, they carried her back to their camp right away, even with Zhang Heng, the stranger, following behind .

After walking through thick snow and ice for an hour and a half, they finally arrived at base camp . Two fighters carried the stretcher and entered the small wooden house on the left . As for Zhang Heng, he was being locked inside another cottage . As Zhang Heng’s eyes adjusted to the dark confinement space, he saw the entire place filled with lumber . He realized he must be in a wood storage house .

His captors locked the room right away after they made him go inside . They even frisked him and confiscated everything they deemed a threat . His inner coat, machine gun, backpack, cellphone, and wallet were all taken from him . Through the cracks of the wooden walls, Zhang Heng saw that few of the fighters were checking out his Huawei cellphone .

In this era, cellphones had not been invented yet . After curiously playing with it for a long time, none of them could figure out how to turn the curious device on . One of them even hit it on a tree . Compared to the somewhat unpopular cellphone, everyone wanted to own the wallet .

Even the most ordinary of wallets from the modern era would be considered a masterpiece in 1944 . Besides, Zhang Heng’s wallet cost a few hundred Yuan . And for the inner coat, the soldier that pointed the machine gun at Zhang Heng was already wearing it . His burly and muscular body turned the tiny garment into a skin-tight shirt .

The weirdest part was, no one laid their hands on the analog watch . Logically, watches like that should worth quite a bit in this era . As if invisible, it seemed like none of them noticed it .

Zhang Heng soon learned that this was a rather large base camp . Originally a lumber mill, the guerillas had converted it into their base of operations . Hidden deep within the secluded forest, they became almost undetectable by their enemies . Through the tiny gap, Zhang Heng saw that there were seven of them . It was late at night, and most of them were asleep in the other cottages .

The guerillas were infamously most active at night . They would launch surprise attacks at their Soviet counterparts while they were fast asleep . Zhang Heng once watched a documentary, where an ex-guerrilla shared his experiences . They claimed that the Soviets would lose their will to fight once the guerillas hit them in the dark . The few Soviet soldiers sitting around the campfire watched their allies being killed right before their eyes and did nothing about it .

Judging by the size of this camp, there were at least 40 to 50 souls living here . In order to prevent another gross misunderstanding, Zhang Heng decided that he should stop peeking at them . He then looked for a corner, lay on the ground, and closed his eyes .

Around 20 minutes later, two guerillas opened the door and entered the storage . This time, they weren’t pointing their guns at Zhang Heng . After what seemed like an instruction to him in Finnish, they moved him to another unit . Of course, Zhang Heng would not be so dumb as to incriminate himself, so, he simply did what they asked him to do .

The wooden house that he entered this time was different than the storage unit . This cottage looked more like a real living space, equipped with a wooden bed, chairs, tables, and a cozy looking fireplace . A man with thick mustache sat behind the table .

He put away the map on the table as he saw Zhang Heng entering the room . He then used his hand as a signal for him to sit down .

Zhang Heng guessed that this man probably was the commander of the guerilla armies . There was also another person standing at the window and smoking . Zhang Heng could not clearly see who this person was since the back was turned . All he knew was that the person was a woman in her thirties or forties .

Once Zhang Heng sat down, the mustached man demanded him to talk .

“I must apologize . I don’t know how to speak in your language . ”

For good measure, Zhang Heng repeated the sentence in Mandarin, English, and Japanese . Still, the man could not understand what he was trying to say . After some time, he grew impatient . Suddenly, the woman that was smoking broke her silence .

“Are you a spy from the Soviet Union?” asked the woman in English .

She was the first person that could communicate with him ever since he took this quest! He finally could let out a sigh of relief . The thing that worried him the most was the communication barrier he had suffered since apparating here . Without efficient communication, he would be unable to take control of his current situation . At least, he could now defend himself .

“Kliment Voroshilov might be stupid, but I don’t think he is dumb enough to send us a Chinese spy that doesn’t speak Finnish . ”

“I’m not too sure about that . After all, some people can’t even differentiate between a loaf of bread and a bomb,” said the woman as she stubbed out the cigarette .

This time, she turned around and looked at Zhang Feng . This woman must have been incredibly gorgeous when she was younger . Or, should I say, still rather dazzling for her age . Some simply had the power to defy the physics of the chronometer . After that, she looked at the man with the mustache . The man only smiled and left the house after .

“Ah Ji is not a bad person . This is a very critical period . He’s responsible for all those under him . ”

“I can understand that,” said Zhang Heng .

“No . You can’t, and I can’t either . His country is being invaded by enemies right now . To protect his motherland, he is willing to do whatever it takes, even if it means going to hell itself . What you see is what you get, ‘guv . I’m a volunteer from England . I should inform you that I am different from these people . I don’t wish to see bloodshed . For me to help you, I will need you to tell me the truth,” said the woman while drawing another stick of Craven A .

As she bent down, Zhang Heng took a glimpse at her cleavage . He had to say; this woman was really something . If he was indeed a spy of the Soviet Union, he would have definitely spilled all the beans . Unfortunately, the truth was concealed within the most ridiculous of answers . In this war, Zhang Heng was indeed an outsider who had nothing to do with it .