War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1720 Beluga

During the more than five hours of the return journey, the internal communication channel was particularly lively with small talk about "the sweet stories that Bob had to tell about his Indian nurse girlfriend in Guam", which was enough to have a huge impact on single men.

Everyone, including Wei Ran, joined in the conversation and started talking about their girlfriends.

"So your girlfriend cheated on you?"

When Brad talked about his girlfriend, Captain Charles couldn't help but exclaim.

“She was my high school classmate.”

Brad said nonchalantly, "That bitch slept with my friend not long after I joined the Army."

"Didn't you take revenge on them?" asked Bob.

"By the time I knew about this, she had already given birth to a daughter for my friend."

Brad said nonchalantly, "I didn't retaliate against them, but I discussed her bed skills with my friends and that former friend at the party all night long."

After everyone laughed, Arthur kindly asked, "Brad, so you are single now? Do you want me to introduce you to some beautiful girls?"

“I already have a new girlfriend”

Brad responded with a smile on the intercom, "It's a German woman who fled to England."

"Is it a wart?" Jack asked subconsciously.

"Not a wart-killer"

Brad said, "She was a member of the KPD and she went to England secretly for treatment because of her injury. I was also injured at that time."

"So why don't you go and accompany your girlfriend?" Wei Ran asked curiously.

"She has returned to fight in Germany"

Brad spread his hands. "I don't speak German, so I can't go with her, so I came here. I'm afraid the war will be over when we meet next time."

“Your girlfriends are all very special.”

Baker couldn’t help but say, “Brad’s girlfriend is a KPD, Bob’s girlfriend is an Indian girl, and Victor’s girlfriend and Arthur’s girlfriend are both Eurasian.

And, of course, there's Jack, whose girlfriend looks exactly like his left hand."

Amidst a new round of laughter and Jack's cursing, Arthur said with a hint of worry, "I don't know how long my girlfriend and I can hold on. Her father is a Japanese immigrant. Although both she and her father have been released from the isolation camp, her father has always been against us being together. He has always hoped that his daughter would marry a Japanese immigrant."

"He couldn't control his tiny penis and found an American wife."

Brad in the tail turret said nonchalantly, "You don't need to sleep with her father, so just care about her attitude."

"She was willing to marry me, but she always wanted me to quit the war"

Arthur replied, "She said she didn't want to see me flying a bomber over another of her hometowns."

"So what do you say?" Wei Ran asked.

"I'm here after all"

Arthur replied rather tangledly, "She has at least two hometowns, but I only have one. I forgot to mention that her father is from Tokyo."

"It looks like you won't be able to hold out for long."

Captain Charles said, "But it doesn't matter. If you break up, I can let my wife introduce you to a beautiful and well-educated young girl."

"Then it's settled"

Arthur forced a smile and said, "This is not bad. At least I don't have to dream about buying a house with a large living room every day."

"Charles, how about asking your wife to introduce me to a beautiful and well-educated young girl?" said Jack, the only single guy on the entire plane.

"You already have your left hand, and you still have your right hand, Jack, you should be content."

Baker's ridicule once again filled the internal communication channel and the cabin with laughter.

Amid the laughter and joy of the singles who were the only ones injured and wished they could drop another incendiary bomb, the sky outside the porthole gradually brightened. The unscathed Dumbo bomber returned smoothly to Saipan and landed on the runway of the airport amid the turbulence and with Wei Ran pressing the shutter again and again.

They let the ground crew direct them to park at the parking space assigned to them. When they left Dumbo one after another, they noticed that its outer skin was stained with some ash from the sky above Tokyo.

Charles wiped the fuselage, looked at the ashes on his gloves and said, "It's time for our Dumbo to take a bath."

“It seems we are flying too low.”

Baker also wiped the fuselage with his hand, and then said happily, "Brad, you and Victor may be our lucky stars. We actually came back unscathed."

"And there isn't a single bullet hole on his body," Gunner Dean said loudly while scratching his crotch. "You guys are really lucky!"

"Dumbo is the lucky star for all of us!"

Wei Ran secretly nudged Brad, who was in a daze, with his elbow. "Friends, how about I take a group photo of you?"

"We really need to take a picture!"

Charles said, smearing the ashes on his hand on Gunner Jerry's face, "Okay, man, now you are also in the battle."

“That’s a good suggestion.”

As the co-pilot Baker spoke, he also smeared the ashes in his hand on Robert's face.

Following closely, gunners Martin and Steven, as well as Dean and honest man Ryan, and even Wei Ran and Brad were not spared, their faces were covered with ashes from the sky above Tokyo.

"Look at me!"

Wei Ran waited for the crew members who had had enough fun to line up and took the Coke that Steven and Martin had prepared in advance. Then he raised the camera towards them and included Brad who was pulled in into the frame.

Just as he pressed the shutter button towards the crew members who shouted "Danbo!" in unison, a jeep drove over from a distance.

Without waiting for the soldier who got off the car to speak, Charles enthusiastically asked him to help replace Wei Ran who was hiding behind the camera, and asked him to come to the crew team, shout "Danbo!" again, and take a new photo.

While returning the camera to Wei Ran, the soldier who drove over saluted and informed Charles and others to attend the meeting immediately.

Watching them leave in two jeeps, Wei Ran and Brad, with the help of the gunners and the honest man Ryan, removed the heavy aerial camera from the bomb bay and placed it on the jeeps.

"This is all the film we shot yesterday evening."

Gunner Martin said this as he handed a small canvas bag containing a dozen rolls of film to Wei Ran.

"I'll wash it out as soon as possible," Wei Ran promised as he took the packet.

"Victor, this is for you."

Robert, the ground crew gunner, handed over a safety pin pull ring ribbon and the film that the departure guard had given him. "Keep the ribbon as a souvenir. I took it off the cluster incendiary bomb that you wrote the Chinese characters on. I've been keeping it for you."

"This is really the best gift I have ever received," Wei Ran took the ribbon and said seriously, "I'm telling the truth."

"I'm glad you said that." Robert and Wei Ran bumped their fists. "Anyway, welcome back alive."

"Thank you," Wei Ran said sincerely.

"So who is the bomber this time?" The honest Ryan asked at this time.

"he"

Brad pointed at Wei Ran and said, "Although it was his first time to drop a bomb, he is very talented as a bomber. He blocked off a large area with incendiary bombs."

"A talented bombardier will kill more people"

Ryan said almost subconsciously, "This is not a good thing, Victor. You may live with nightmares for the rest of your life."

With an inconspicuous glance at Brad who was distracted again, Wei Ran put the ribbon Robert had just given him on the huge keychain and responded, "Ryan, if I were a bomber, I would only become a nightmare for all the living people on the ground. If they want to become my nightmare, they have to at least shoot me down first."

“I wish I had heard this sooner.”

Brad and Ryan said almost in unison, and then the two bombardiers smiled at each other, obviously they had thought of something.

"Gombardiers, you have done a very good job."

Steven came over, clinked his Coke with everyone else's, and gloated, "Earlier than you guys, several bombers came back early. I heard they didn't even fly to Tokyo."

"Didn't fly to Tokyo?" Brad was stunned. "Mechanical failure?"

"Brain malfunction"

Jerry snorted, "The crew got scared, so they turned back halfway."

"Afraid? Why are you afraid?" Wei Ran and Brad asked in unison.

"They thought they were flying too low and would definitely be shot down in Tokyo, so they returned early."

Dean scoffed, "I heard that the captains of those bombers have been taken away. They might be court-martialed."

"Several more bombers were damaged"

Martin said as he distributed cigarettes to everyone, "The worst was on the White Whale. I heard that their bombardier had half his neck cut off by shrapnel from an anti-aircraft gun. Because the porthole was broken, their crew had to lower the flight altitude. Even so, they were almost frozen after landing."

"what did you just say?"

Brad and Wei Ran were both stunned for a moment, and asked in unison, "White Whale? The Moby Dick of the 313th Squadron?"

"Yes, it's them." Ryan said confidently, "Martin and I even took photos of their plane."

"Gentlemen, I'm afraid we'll have to go over and do an interview right away. See you tonight."

As Wei Ran spoke, he was the first to react and swiftly jumped onto the jeep assigned to him and Brad.

"Yes, that's right. We need to interview them right away. We'll talk in the evening."

Brad said this, and he took out a sealed film tube filled with happy pills from his pocket and stuffed it into Martin's pocket, then he stepped into the jeep which had already started.

Without waiting for Brad to sit firmly, Wei Ran stepped on the accelerator and drove the car along the edge of the runway towards the tent where Grant was guarding, diagonally opposite the airport.

"Have you thought about what to do?" Wei Ran asked while continuing to increase the speed of the car.

"At least Grant needs comfort at this time"

Brad said, "The crew members are as important as family members. Grant must need comfort right now."

Hearing this, Wei Ran opened his mouth and didn't ask any more questions. He just increased the speed of the car to the maximum by shifting gears again and again.

They circled to the other end of the airport amid the roar of landing bombers. From a distance, Wei Ran and Brad noticed the Beluga bomber that was undergoing emergency repairs.

There was a not-so-big damage on the nose of the plane, and there were also some bullet holes of varying sizes on the fuselage and wings.

On the ground below the fuselage, there were even dark red bloodstains that had not been cleaned up in time. At this time, the ground crew was busy carrying out emergency repairs. From this small detail, both Wei Ran, who was familiar with the historical process, and Brad, an experienced veteran, subconsciously thought of another thing - there would be a new bombing mission soon.

After parking the car at the door of the tent at the edge of the airport, Wei Ran and Brad found that there was no one inside or outside the tent. "Do you want to stay and wait for Grant?" Wei Ran asked.

"No, let's go back to the cabin," said Brad.

Hearing this, Wei Ran didn't say much, but immediately stepped on the accelerator and turned the car around and drove towards the wooden house.

"Victor, you should develop the film first." Brad said, "I will go find Grant and see if I can help him."

"Alright"

Wei Ran nodded, jumped out of the car carrying the canvas bag containing all the films, and then carried down the heavy aerial camera.

Before he even entered the cabin, Brad had already moved to the driver's seat and drove the jeep away.

Shaking his head helplessly, Wei Ran could only move the aerial camera back to the wooden house by himself. Then he took out the backpack and started the boring work of developing the film.

Before he could finish his work, gunner Martin and honest man Ryan also came to his door on a motorcycle.

"Where's Brad?" Martin came in and asked.

“He’s out.”

Wei Ran replied, "Why are you here?"

"We originally wanted to invite you two to our dinner party."

Martin said, "Victor, what happened? You guys seemed very worried just now?"

"Feel sorry"

Wei Ran, who was still developing the film, shook his head, "It's not that I want to keep it secret, but I don't have the right to explain this to you."

"So this has something to do with Brad?"

Ryan asked. He was just an honest man, but he was definitely not a fool, and a fool could not do the job of a bombardier.

"Wait for him to come back"

Wei Ran pointed to the bed and table not far away and said, "Please sit wherever you like. If you are willing and it is convenient, you can also call Steven and the others over."

"They have to keep an eye on Dumbo's maintenance"

Ryan sat down at the table. "Is there anything we can do to help?"

"Do you two know how to develop film?" Wei Ran asked.

"I'm sorry, but I can't," Martin said.

"Neither do I," Ryan shook his head, "It looks like there's nothing we can do to help."

"I can"

Before he finished speaking, Grant had already walked into the cabin alone, "Is Brad not here?"

“He just went out.”

Wei Ran answered again, "I don't know where he went."

"Are you Gunner Grant on Moby Dick?" Martin was the first to recognize Grant.

"Martin? Are you Ryan? The honest man Ryan? Why are you here?" Grant asked curiously.

“They are the crew members I interviewed”

Wei Ran said, "They are waiting for me to develop their individual photos. What about you? Grant, do you have something to do with Brad?"

"It's not urgent. I'll help you develop the film." Grant said as he took off the upper body of his uniform and walked over with his bare chest.

"Please help me develop these films." Wei Ran handed the films taken by Martin and Ryan to Grant.

The latter was not polite at all. He walked to Brad's bedside as if he knew the place well, opened the box with Brad's name on it, and picked out various flushing equipment and chemicals from it.

"Is this the crew Brad used to serve on?"

Before Grant could start working, Martin opened his mouth and asked.

Wei Ran and Grant looked back and found that this guy had pushed open the small curtain on the inside of the box lid with his fingers. He and Ryan were looking at Brad's photos. Obviously, they saw the photo of Brad and Grant.

"That's right"

Grant said nonchalantly, "That was the crew he served in. He is also my brother. He did take a photo with the big cigar."

"I told him he looked like someone I've seen before somewhere. You two brothers look so alike!"

Martin said this subconsciously, and at the same time found the answer to the question that Wei Ran had no right to explain.

"You followed Dumbo to Tokyo?"

Grant asked Wei Ran, and at the same time glanced at the aerial camera on the table not far away.

"That's right"

Wei Ran answered absentmindedly. He was now more curious about where Brad had gone.

“Leave the rest to me.”

Grant did not continue to ask about this topic, but said, "You can eat something and then take a nap."

"Thank you"

Wei Ran did not refuse the other party's kindness. After developing the box of film in his hand and hanging it up to dry, he washed his hands hastily and sat down at the table, wolfing down the food brought by Martin and the others.

Perhaps they saw something, so Martin and the honest Ryan did not stay for long. They left the cabin on their motorcycles, using the excuse of going back to see if the crew had any new orders.

"So my brother Brad also went to Tokyo on Dumbo?" Grant didn't ask until this time.

"How did you guess it?" Wei Ran asked while eating with his back to Grant.

"He was my older brother, and I idolized him until I joined the military."

Grant explained, "And I just developed the picture you took of him in the tail turret."

“I was so careless”

Wei Ran paused, raised his head and took a sip of cold beer and asked, "Is the White Whale injured?"

"That's right"

Grant said, "Our bombardier is dead. A piece of shrapnel hit him in the neck."

"Is everyone else okay?" Wei Ran asked.

"It's not a big problem, just a little hypothermia, I'm fine now."

Grant paused here and said, "There will be bombing missions later, but we don't have bombardiers."

"So you need a home run hitter?" Wei Ran asked.

This time, Grant did not fall into silence. After a long time, he said, "The White Whale really needs an excellent bombardier."

"Brigadier General Thomas Ball will send you a new bombardier," Wei Ran reminded.

"We might miss the next bombing mission"

Grant paused, turned his head and looked at Wei Ran and said, "I also want to let that idiot who always kisses the Statue of Liberty know that he is not a home runner."

"Reasons established"

Wei Ran snapped his fingers, "Now we need to see how to get him on board the White Whale in a reasonable way."

"If he already knew that the bombardier of the White Whale had an accident, I guess he has already thought of a way." Grant said confidently, "He can always think of various ways to deal with this kind of thing."

"You two brothers have a really good relationship," Wei Ran said with a smile.

This time, Grant didn't say anything, but just carefully helped Wei Ran develop one film after another.

Around noon, Brad drove back to the cabin in a jeep. He ran in excitedly and saw Grant who was helping Wei Ran dry the film, and Wei Ran who was already fast asleep on the bed.

"Did you do it?" Grant asked helplessly.

"certainly"

Brad had no intention of hiding anything from the other party and said blatantly, "I bribed the supervisor with $50, a box of morphine, and a signed cigar that Jumbo gave me."

"You take that cigar."

"It's fake. It's a cigar signed by me. I have a lot of cigars like this."

Brad pulled out a cigarette from his arms, bit off one end roughly, and lit it in his mouth. "So from now on, I'm the bombardier of the White Whale."

"Thank you," Grant said.

"Go and accompany your crew."

Brad rummaged through his bag, pulled out a small tube of cigars and handed it to the other party, "We will go to your base tent after dark and wait for the mission."

"Did anything happen to Dumbo yesterday?" Grant asked, taking the cigar.

Hearing this, Brad was stunned for a moment. Before he could say anything, Grant was already holding the cigar and walked out while saying, "I told you a long time ago that you are not a home run hitter."

"Thanks, but someone has already told me about this," Brad said happily.

"Victor?"

"He's a natural bombardier," Brad said.

"I hope he won't have nightmares like you all the time." After saying that, Grant walked out of the cabin, rode away on a motorcycle.

Turning his head to look at Wei Ran, Brad smiled, took a few deep breaths, and murmured to himself, "I hope you don't have a nightmare."

"Don't worry, I won't." Wei Ran replied abruptly.

"You didn't sleep?"

"I was woken up by you two brothers." Wei Ran turned over, "So next time we go to recruit nuclear weapons on the White Whale?"

"That's right!"

Brad nodded, "Moby Dick!"

(End of this chapter)