War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1722: French Must-eats

In the bomb bay of the Beluga bomber, the heat waves from the surface brought with them the smell of burnt protein. Wei Ran took out the last three bottles of hot sauce he had brought with him from his arms, held them in his hands and waited.

Perhaps only a few seconds, a dozen seconds, or even half a minute had passed. During the wait that seemed a bit long to him, the E46 cluster incendiary bombs in the bomb bay finally began to fall under Brad's control.

At the same time, Wei Ran threw the last three bottles of hot sauce in his hand and pressed the remote shutter.

Against the backdrop of the blazing flames that had already ignited the ground, and with the rapid flashing of the shutter, the bombs and three bottles of hot sauce filled with blessings fell to the ground one after another.

Wei Ran didn't know whether these little games he played to entertain himself would be recorded by the aerial camera, and if they were recorded, he didn't know whether he would have the chance to see them after returning to the world he was familiar with.

But even so, all this made him feel much better. In the bomb bay filled with hot air, there were also laughters that could not be blocked by the oxygen mask but were easily covered by the roar.

After a brief bombing, the emptied bomb bay was slowly closed as Captain Tom took over the flight, but the cabin was still filled with a strong smell of burnt protein and smoke everywhere.

I don't know if it was because of Brad's help, but this time, the bomber did not encounter any attacks from approaching, dropping bombs to flying away. The only trouble they faced was the turbulence caused by the hot wind rising from the ground.

As the bomb bay was completely closed, Wei Ran unbuckled his seat belt and ran to the tail of the plane where he had the best view. At the same time, Grant also got out.

The two looked at each other, Wei Ran patted the other's shoulder and shouted, "Tell Brad that he brought good luck to this plane! Without the gold coin!"

"I will convey it truthfully!"

Grant responded loudly, then quickly ran to the front of the fuselage, while Wei Ran also got into the tail turret, pressed the camera against the porthole glass, and greedily pressed the shutter again and again towards the burning Nagoya behind him.

As the Beluga bomber flew farther and farther away, until finally all that was left of Nagoya behind it was a patch of red light illuminating the night sky, Wei Ran finally stopped pressing the shutter.

Seeing that Grant still hadn't returned, he simply connected the headset to the internal communication, and then he could hear the conversation between them on the internal communication.

"Brad, have you counted how many times you've dropped bombs?" Captain Tom's tone was filled with undisguised joy in the internal communication.

“I didn’t count.”

Brad replied, “But this is my first time on Saipan.”

"It's a pity that Victor is not on the line, otherwise we could ask him if he took a picture of the bomb drop just now." Co-pilot Paul said, "If he did, we could at least print it out and send it to Roger's family."

"I'd also like to keep one as a souvenir," navigator Bill said.

"They said something similar when we dropped the bomb on Dumbo the night of the 9th."

Brad started to say, “They said they would pick the best one and have everyone sign it and hang it at home.”

“We might as well do that.”

Jonathan the radio operator said, "Brad, you'll have to sign your name then, too."

"As long as Victor takes the photo that satisfies us."

"Don't worry, I took enough photos, and there must be moments that you will be satisfied with." Wei Ran finally spoke up and joined the conversation.

"You finally showed up"

Mechanic Philip said, "Victor, how was the bomb drop just now?"

“They all fell where they were supposed to, and I captured them all in photos.”

Wei Ran replied, "But now the bomb bay is full of the smell of barbecue."

"What a disgusting description," said the navigator Bill. "I hope they won't provide barbecue when we get back."

"I wouldn't have thought of this if you hadn't said that, but now I'm praying that barbecue won't be on the menu," Captain Tom complained.

"Especially since Grant just said that Victor seemed to have brought some hot sauce to the bomb bay," Co-pilot Paul reminded.

"Well, thanks for the hot sauce, Victor. You've made me say goodbye to barbecue and hot sauce forever." Jonathan complained, and then laughter from everyone was heard on the internal communication.

"No matter what"

In the internal communication, Grant said meaningfully, "Thanks to the lucky home run, we didn't suffer any damage this time."

"We should thank Home Run for what he has done," Captain Tom said. "And of course, we should thank Victor, besides his hot sauce and barbecue."

“I’m not a chef,” Wei Ran joked amid a new round of laughter, “Home run is a chef.”

"Brad, it looks like you have a new nickname," Grant said. "Which one do you like?"

"I"

In the internal communication, Brad paused unnaturally for a moment, and finally said, "Let's go for a home run. I don't want to lose my appetite every time I see barbecue."

"Victor, if it's convenient, come over and take a photo with us." Co-pilot Paul invited.

“Of course it’s convenient”

Wei Ran readily agreed, then came from the tail turret to the front half of the cabin, lay in the aisle and pressed the shutter towards the people who turned around.

Immediately afterwards, Brad took his place and took a group photo of everyone in the cabin and Wei Ran.

"It seems that the Statue of Liberty doesn't have to worry about being blown up," Wei Ran said as he took the camera handed to him by Brad.

"Thank you," Brad said with a smile, visibly relieved.

Wei Ran did not return to the tail turret which did not need anyone to watch him. Instead, he stayed in the front half of the cabin, chatting loudly with everyone and sharing the cigars that Brad gave to everyone.

After a long but joyful chat, the Moby Dick finally landed smoothly at the airport of Saipan on the morning of the 12th and was welcomed by the gunners who stayed behind.

As usual, all the crew members took a group photo next to the dusty bomber. Grant also took off the gold coin hanging around his neck and handed it to Brad, "I should return it to you."

"Keep it, it's yours," Brad said. "And, Grant, Victor, thank you."

"Will you still participate in the next bombing?"

Grant hung the gold coins around his neck again and asked, "Of course, there's also lunch later."

"If you need a bombardier, I'd certainly be willing to help."

Brad said, "But forget about lunch, we need to go back and develop the photos as soon as possible."

"That's right"

Wei Ran saw what Brad was thinking, nodded and said, "We will be back before the next bombing starts."

Before he finished speaking, Brad had already taken the aerial camera that the gunners had helped to remove, and then jumped onto the jeep impatiently. After calling Wei Ran to get in, he disappeared in a flash.

"Are you scared?" Wei Ran asked.

"no"

Brad responded dryly, seemingly not planning to say anything. Seeing this, Wei Ran stopped asking questions.

However, when the two returned to the cabin assigned to them, they found that the bombardier of the Dumbo crew, the honest Ryan, was already waiting there.

"You're finally back." Ryan's expression looked a little unnatural when he saw them.

"What happened?" Wei Ran immediately realized that something was wrong.

"Steven is dead"

Ryan said, "Gunner Steven was killed in last night's bombing."

"What did you say?" Brad's face changed.

"Anti-aircraft artillery covered Dumbo's tail," Ryan said, "Steven is dead."

Taking a deep breath, Ryan said, "Victor, Brad, I'm here to ask you for the negatives of the photos. We want to send them to Steven's family."

"I'll go find it for you right away."

While speaking, Wei Ran had already stepped into the wooden house. He remembered the gunner with a cross, the word "Fa" and a chicken tattoo on his arm.

I also remember that he had a Chinese friend named Luke, and I remember even more that his sister had been waiting for Luke who had returned to China to join the war and then had no news from him.

He still remembered the blessings Steven wrote on those cluster incendiary bombs, but he didn't expect that the other side would be killed in less than 48 hours.

"Did I kill him?" Brad came in and asked to himself.

"We were just on the Moby Dick, not on Dumbo."

Wei Ran said as he was looking through the negatives, "Don't take the responsibility on yourself. If you want to do something, come and help find the negatives."

Hearing this, Brad took a deep breath, walked to Wei Ran's side, and began to search through the negatives that Grant helped him develop.

Soon, all the negatives of Dumbo were found. Without even taking a rest, the two got into the jeep driven by Ryan and rushed to the hospital on the edge of the airport.

The wounded in the bombing missions were admitted here, and the soldiers who died in the battle were also temporarily accommodated here.

These included Roger, the bombardier who died on the Moby Dick, and Steven who was sent here not long ago.

After meeting up with the Dumbo crew members who also smelled of burnt protein, Wei Ran and Brad handed the films they brought to Captain Charles, who then handed them to the soldiers responsible for taking away Steven's body.

"We agreed to do this after the war." Gunner Martin burst into tears before he finished speaking.

"Let's take one last photo with him," suggested Co-pilot Baker.

"Okay, let's take one last group photo." Captain Charles said and looked at Wei Ran and Brad.

"My pleasure"

As Wei Ran spoke, he and Brad raised the cameras hanging around their necks one after another, taking in all the crew members surrounding Steven, and then pressed the shutter button with difficulty.

Brad

Navigator Bob said, "When the photos you took with the aerial camera are developed, remember to pick out the best one for us. We are also going to sign the names of all the crew members as a souvenir, and there is also a copy for Steven."

"I'll give you the photos," Brad promised seriously.

For a moment, everyone gathered here fell silent, and they didn't know what to say.

"I killed him"

The honest man Ryan said painfully, "I wanted to shoot more accurately, I wasted too much time, I..." "We are a crew"

Mechanic Arthur patted Ryan on the shoulder and said, "From the moment Dumbo left the runway, everyone on the crew was prepared to not be able to come back alive. It's not your fault."

"What we need to do is to send more incendiary bombs to Zhaonu"

Gunner Robert said, "For Steven, for every soldier who didn't make it back to the surface alive."

"Dambo!" Brad suddenly shouted.

The members of the Dumbo crew were stunned for a moment, then put their hands together and shouted "Damba" in unison!

This is the slogan of this crew and also the slogan of revenge.

"We need a gunner now," said Charles.

"It's my turn," Martin said. "It's my turn. It's my turn. Let me go."

“That’s Martin.”

Charles said, looking at Wei Ran and Brad, "Friends, we scored ten rings."

"So are we"

Brad shook hands with the other man and hugged the honest man Ryan. "Bombardiers always have nightmares, but the nightmares don't come from the people we killed, but from our teammates who died so that we could hit the ten-ring. So even for them, we can't waste every second in the bomb sight and every bomb."

"Thank you, thank you." Ryan murmured to himself.

"I look forward to seeing you again after the next bombing, and seeing everyone in person." Brad took a step back, saluted and said.

"You too"

Charles and others also saluted and watched Wei Ran and Brad drive away from the hospital.

"It seems that you have gotten out of the nightmare of home run," Wei Ran said to himself.

"The nightmare will not end unless the war ends." Brad sighed as he looked at the bombers in the distance.

They returned to the wooden house in silence. Brad fell asleep as if he was avoiding something. Seeing this, Wei Ran shook his head and lay down on the bed as well.

When they both woke up one after another when they heard the knock on the door, it was already dark outside the window.

After opening the door, Grant came in with three servings of food and three cans of beer. "I'm here to bring you dinner. I heard."

"Dumbo's gunner Steven was killed," Wei Ran replied in a hoarse voice.

"Are you going to continue to participate in the bombing?"

Grant asked as he opened his beer, "Also, you should take a shower and change your clothes. You all smell like burning."

"What about you?" Brad took the beer and asked Wei Ran this question.

"Of course," Wei Ran answered as a matter of course.

"What about you?" Brad looked at his brother Grant again.

"For Bombardier Roger." Grant raised his beer.

"For Steven the Gunner from Dumbo"

Brad raised his beer as well. "Also to Roger the bombardier from the Moby Dick, and of course the United States of America."

"It seems that we all have sufficient reasons to stay in this war." Wei Ran raised his beer and clinked it with the two of them.

"This is not war, this is a nightmare."

Brad took a sip of beer and said, "Our nightmare, we are also the nightmare of recruiting nuclear men. Also, did you deliberately send the barbecue?"

“And Tabasco Sauce”

Grant said this, pulling out a small bottle of hot sauce from his pocket, unscrewing it and placing it on the table.

“A really appetizing dinner”

As Wei Ran spoke, he picked up the hot sauce and threw a large amount of it on his portion of barbecue steak.

"Grant, do you plan to fight until the end of the war?" Brad asked as he took the hot sauce.

“Or die in action”

Grant pulled out the gold coin from his collar and kissed it. "I believe the Statue of Liberty will not let me die here."

“The French must-eat, best not to dare”

Brad cursed vaguely, but no one knew where the resentment and regret in his curse came from.

"Grant, if."

Wei Ran paused, then asked, "I mean, if one day the United States starts a war again, will you still participate?"

"If I were still alive, of course," Grant replied as a matter of course.

"What if it's a war of aggression?"

Wei Ran reframed his question, "What if it was a war in which the United States invaded someone else?"

"What do you want to say?" Grant asked with a frown.

“Just assuming”

Wei Ran took the initiative to clink glasses with the other party, turned his head and said, "Or Brad, what about you? What would you do?"

"I've had enough of everything on the battlefield"

Brad took a sip of beer and said, "If I wasn't worried about Grant, I wouldn't have come to a place like Saipan."

"You didn't answer the question directly," Wei Ran said seriously.

"I fight for justice and freedom, always."

Brad said, "When necessary, I mean when necessary, I don't mind sitting in a bomber from another country to bomb the United States. Victor, is this positive enough?"

"Thank you," Wei Ran said, but then looked at Grant.

"I can't be as innocent and simple as my brother Brad"

Grant said, “Maybe I’ll be a journalist like you, and I might even be on an American bomber.

But I may no longer be a gunner, and I will use the camera in my hand to record everything that happens on the battlefield."

"idiot"

Brad snorted and clinked beer cans with Grant across from him, "You'd better stay away from the war at that time."

"What nonsense are you going to say?" Grant retorted.

"If there really comes a day like Victor just assumed, the Statue of Liberty will not be able to protect you."

"Why do you say that?" Wei Ran asked curiously.

"Because that French must-eater will only stand on the street holding up her ice cream and shouting"

Brad picked up a plate that had been forgotten on the table, held up a beer can in one hand, held the plate in the other, and imitated the Statue of Liberty, saying in a pretentious tone, "Hey! Come on, baby! It only costs $10, and you can do whatever you want to me tonight."

Not only do I carry a medical report with me, I also have 7 blown-up condoms ready on my head. No matter how big or small your size is, there is always one that fits you. "

"puff!"

The beer that Wei Ran had just poured into his mouth turned into thick foam and sprayed out of his mouth and nostrils. Even Grant couldn't help but cover his face and started laughing wildly.

In any case, this obscene joke, which might be considered outrageous in the United States, finally diluted the depression brought about by the dead.

But besides this, Wei Ran couldn't help but be curious about what Brad had experienced. He even felt that this bomber might be even more mentally abnormal than himself.

"No one can protect us, including the French must-eat."

Brad threw the plate in his hand aside, took another sip of beer and said angrily, "If she can really bless us, then Chris and the others..."

Halfway through his words, Brad threw the beer can in his hand out of the window in annoyance, "You guys eat, I'm going to go out for a walk."

"he"

“Chris is his captain.”

Grant said, "He was also his best friend. He gave my brother the nickname Home Run. At that time, the nickname was just because he was an excellent bomber, and there was no malice in it."

After a pause, Grant said, "On their last mission, Chris hid him in the tail turret before he had to make an emergency landing, and then drove their Liberty bomber into the yellow sand of North Africa. Only my brother survived that time."

"If the war I just imagined happens, you should really stay away from it." Wei Ran sighed.

"Let's talk about it when that day comes."

Grant said as he left the cabin carrying a beer can and handed two rolls of 135 film to Wei Ran. "Please help me develop them when you have time."

“Everyone was so happy in heaven.”

Wei Ran muttered something incoherently, picked up the grilled steak and took a big bite, then took a big gulp of cold beer.

After finishing dinner alone, Wei Ran went into the bathroom and carefully washed off the smell of the crematorium on his body. Then he began to busy himself with washing the films he had taken in the sky while following the Beluga - before it took off again and before anyone else was killed.

While he was busy, by the time the films were developed into negatives that could be seen by light, it was already midnight, but neither of the Downey brothers returned to the cabin.

"Just go back to sleep."

Wei Ran lay on the bed, talking to himself. Tomorrow evening there would be a bombing of Osaka, and he had to get enough rest to warm up Osaka.

As hot as Tokyo, as hot as Nagoya - in the name of the bombardier.

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