War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1723 Arsonist

On the evening of March 1945, 3, Wei Ran estimated the time and drove alone to the crew base of the Beluga.

At this time, Brad was holding up a Kodak tank camera to take a photo of the crew that was missing the bombardier.

“Let me take the photo.”

Wei Ran raised his camera and said, "Brad, I mean, home run, you should stand with them."

"Thank you"

Brad did not refuse. He stood in the crew very calmly and allowed Wei Ran to press the shutter towards them.

"Who is the gunner today?" Wei Ran asked after putting away his camera.

"It's my turn today," said the young gunner Val. "It's been my turn for a long time."

"Victor, are you going to be a bomber today?" Brad asked abruptly, "Let them see your talent."

"Of course, it's my honor." Wei Ran said with a smile.

"So what are you waiting for, bombardier? Come over and take a photo with us."

Captain Tom greeted them warmly, then shouted to a member of the crew next door, holding up the camera handed to him by Brad, and took a photo of them.

"Let this French warrior protect you one more time," Grant said, taking off the gold coin from his neck and handing it to Brad.

"Leave it to you. I told you I don't need him anymore."

Brad, who did not return home all night last night and did not return to the cabin during the day today, seemed to have become much more free and easy. He simply refused the gold coins handed to him by Grant, and then helped Wei Ran install the aerial camera into the bracket in the bomb bay.

At the same time, Wei Ran pointed his camera at Val, the gunner on this bombing mission, and the cluster incendiary bombs that he used as postcards.

"Roger Oliver says hello to you all."

"Would you like to leave any greetings?"

Co-pilot Paul said, and just like last time, he handed Wei Ran a ribbon that served as a lucky charm, and a piece of chalk.

"certainly"

Wei Ran took the chalk and wrote his blessing in Japanese, English and traditional Chinese characters on a cluster incendiary bomb, "Osaka BBQ, delicious and cheap, with a variety of flavors."

"Victor, you should be a chef." Co-pilot Paul looked at the English message on the cluster incendiary bomb and joked, "Also, do you know Japanese?"

"I'm a journalist," Wei Ran answered as a matter of course, as if journalists had to know several languages.

"From now on you are a bombardier"

Paul and Wei Ran bumped their fists. "Let's see your bomb throwing skills. Brad told us last night that you are very talented at being a bomb thrower."

"And I've never seen a bombardier bring hot sauce with his bombs," Grant joked.

"Maybe we should make hot sauce our bombing specialty, at least until the war is over."

As he spoke, mechanic Philip had already taken out a bottle of Tabasco hot sauce from his pocket.

“It seems we have the same idea.”

As the navigator Bill spoke, he also took out a small bottle from his arms. He prepared a bottle of McCormick brand pepper.

“So we are the same crew.”

Before he finished speaking, Jonathan, the radio operator, also pulled out a small bottle from his pocket and said, "I also prepared Mc's seasoning powder, but I prefer cinnamon."

"I'm from Texan, so I prepared red pepper, of course, Mc's seasoning." As he spoke, Captain Tom also took out a small glass bottle from his arms.

"You think I'm not prepared?"

The co-pilot Paul proudly took out a paper box from his pocket and said, "I prepared a box of marshmallows. Don't you guys want to roast marshmallows?"

"I prefer cheese," said Val, the gunner on duty, as he took out a bag of cheese. "I bribed those niggers to get this."

"So are we going to Osaka for a barbecue party this time?" Wei Ran asked with a smile.

“Of course, Osaka BBQ!”

As the mechanic Philip said this, he handed the seasoning he had prepared to Brad. Soon after, the others also handed some of the seasoning they had prepared to Brad, who had a look of horror on his face.

"Home run, your job is to take pictures, but you are not allowed to eat."

Gunner Anthony said, and actually gave him a can of beer, "How can there be a BBQ without beer."

"Well, we have enough weight."

Captain Tom clapped his hands, "It's almost time, everyone hurry up and board the plane, we have to rush to the kitchen in Osaka."

"Moby Dick!" Gunner Val cheered.

"Moby Dick!"

The rest of the people cheered in unison, and after fist-bumping or hugging each other, they boarded the White Whale bomber one after another, following the cluster incendiary bombs that were already filled with blessings.

After a somewhat long wait until the sky was almost completely dark, the Beluga finally got the chance to take off.

Before the flight stabilized, the co-pilot Paul asked on the internal communication, "Val, what's the situation?"

"Everything is normal," replied Val in the tail turret.

Brad

"everything is normal"

Brad responded, "I was in the kitchen taking pictures of those spices, Victor, and I suddenly understand your taste, which makes this bombing a lot more interesting."

"Mr. Downey, please note that we are attending the Osaka BBQ." Wei Ran's serious response immediately caused laughter in the internal communication.

"Gentlemen, our bombardiers this time don't have nicknames yet, that won't do."

Jonathan, the radio operator, reminded, "Victor needs a nickname, just like a pirate captain must wear a black eye patch. This is a very important thing."

"Victor, you must have had a nickname when you were in Guam, right?" Brad asked.

"Have"

Wei Ran replied reluctantly, "At that time, I was a medical soldier, and my nickname was Veterinarian."

"It seems you saved a lot of people," said Captain Tom.

"I at least sawed off a lot of arms and legs"

"Obviously, the nickname Veterinarian is not appropriate for the party we're about to attend."

Mechanic Philip said, "We have to give the bombardier a resounding nickname, at least not worse than the veterinarian in the medical corps."

"Does it have to have a nickname?"

Wei Ran asked with a smile on his face, but found that the "man with a machine" ignored him and instead started to discuss enthusiastically what nickname to give him.

Seeing this, Wei Ran didn't say anything more. He could see that this experienced crew was trying to divert the attention of the tail gunner Val.

He also remembered that Val and the previous bombardier Roger were very good friends.

“So take the vote!”

Just when they were halfway through the voyage, these funny guys finally figured out a few nicknames.

"Michelin chef, who agrees?" Philip asked, and then was booed by everyone including Wei Ran.

"I think Hephaestus is better," suggested mechanic Philip.

"That's a cripple," said Jonathan, the radio operator, and everyone once again booed and laughed at the nickname that Wei Ran was quite satisfied with. "So let's call him Ronson," said Bill, the navigator. "Ronson lighter, or zippo is also good, Victor, which one do you like?"

"I"

"Victor is not a tank"

Co-pilot Paul's veto once again drew laughter and boos at Bill's proposal.

"How about calling him Flint?" Brad also made his suggestion.

"What's the difference between it and a lighter?" navigator Bill joked.

"Or you can call him a flamethrower," Captain Tom joked.

"Why don't we just use Molotov cocktail as his nickname?"

Val in the tail turret asked, "Victor probably won't have the chance to participate in this kind of arson again! Friends, how is the arsonist?"

"This sounds like a good nickname for a villain, at least it's much better than a Molotov cocktail or a lighter!" Brad immediately expressed his support.

“Arsonist is really good”

Jonathan, the radio operator, followed suit, "Victor, what do you think?"

"I don't think it's very good," Wei Ran said unhappily, but he found that there seemed to be no voice of his or others in the headphones.

"Victor gave his consent by default"

Radio operator Jonathan said with glee, and Wei Ran also realized that he had been manually muted by the other party!

"In that case, our bombardiers have a new nickname from now on."

Captain Tom paused and shouted "arsonist" along with the people around him.

"Arsonists are arsonists"

Wei Ran shook his head helplessly. This crappy name was just like the word "veterinarian". He couldn't just refuse to use it.

"We have less than an hour to reach the target airspace."

Navigator Bill reminded, "Gentlemen, especially the arsonist, we're relying on you later."

"To make our arsonists live up to their names"

Captain Tom said, "We will approach from 5000 feet. Victor, no, the arsonist, and the home run behind, you two have to cooperate well. I hope that the seasonings we brought can be seen in those photos."

"Don't worry," Brad promised, "I'm ready."

"I'm ready too," Wei Ran responded, and raised his camera to take a group photo of the crew members in the cockpit.

As everyone waited patiently, Osaka became closer and more visible—this was not the first time the Moby Dick had arrived, and Osaka was already thriving at this time.

"Let's fly to the edge and burn the areas that are not lit," suggested Co-pilot Paul.

"Arsonist, get ready to drop the bomb," Captain Tom reminded.

"receive"

"You should say the arsonist received it"

"Arsonist received" Wei Ran's unpleasant response immediately made everyone laugh.

As they got closer, the turbulence caused by the flames on the surface began to cause the fuselage to bump in the air.

"Arsonist! It's your turn!"

"Roger that!"

As Wei Ran responded loudly, the bomb bays opened one after another and he focused his attention on the sight.

Slightly controlling the plane to the side and aiming at a dark sky, Wei Ran decisively began to drop bombs.

At the same time, in the bomb bay filled with heat, smoke and burning smell, Brad shook out the seasonings in the bag, letting them fly to the ground along with the cluster incendiary bombs, and pressed the remote shutter at the same time.

Without waiting for the bomb to hit the ground, the hatch was closed and the cabin began to be re-pressurized, and the burning smell also drifted into the cockpit.

Almost at the same time when Captain Tom and others took over the driving, Brad had already rushed to the tail turret, squeezed together with Val, and pointed the camera out of the porthole.

Almost at the same time as the White Whale circled away, Brad pressed the shutter, engraving the city outside in flames on the silver halide film.

"Val, tell them that the arsonist has set fire to a large area, which seems to be a large number of flammable buildings." Brad said, holding up the binoculars he brought with him.

Upon hearing this, Val immediately began to convey his message and congratulate the arsonist.

"Home run is right"

Navigator Bill praised, "Arsonist, you are a natural bombardier."

"The White Whale is also an excellent crew," Wei Ran responded with a smile, "Of course, it would be even better if you could give me a better nickname."

“That’s the best nickname.”

Co-pilot Paul took off his headphones and said with a smile, "Vie Arsonist, I thought you would hesitate."

"Why hesitate?" Wei Ran also took off his headphones and raised his voice.

"It seems that he is really a natural bombardier!" Captain Tom, who had also taken off his headphones, praised loudly, and then put them back on at the same time as Paul.

"When we bombed Tokyo, our last bombardier, Roger, got scared."

On the intercom, radio operator Jonathan said, "Don't worry, I disconnected Val's communication."

"What is he afraid of?" Wei Ran asked.

“He thought it was too cruel.”

Mechanic Philip explained, "He hesitated and didn't drop the bomb for a long time. At that time, just like now, our cabin was full of the smell of burning, but he hesitated."

"Then the flak fragments shattered the porthole and hit him."

Navigator Bill said, "It almost hit Paul and me, but Tom finally pressed the bomb release button, and we immediately started to return."

“We almost froze to death on the way back.”

Tom recalled with lingering fear, "We didn't have enough fuel, and it was almost entirely thanks to God's blessing that we were able to return to Saipan."

"But you don't seem to blame him," Wei Ran couldn't help but say.

“We certainly don’t blame him.”

The co-pilot Paul said with a smile, "As a bombardier, looking at the city burning in flames below, it is not a mistake to drop bombs or not. The bombardier has the best view on the bomber, but it also means that he can see the most brutal scene, so we don't blame him."

"But we don't want the same thing for his replacement bomber."

Tom said, "Whether it is considered conscience or not, the White Whale cannot become the laughing stock of the 313th Squadron. The White Whale needs honor."

"Then Grant recommended his brother Brad."

Philip said with a smile, "Home Run is an excellent pitcher, and he lives up to his name."

"And you too"

Captain Tom said, "Arsonist, welcome to the crew of the Moby Dick."

"That's right, welcome to the White Whale crew." The others followed suit.

I have to sadly inform you all that due to some unspeakable reasons, I plan to stop updating for a while, and the next update may be next year.

I wish you all will have a monthly salary of tens of millions next year, be surrounded by girls, have a stack of real estate certificates in your hands, a basket of car keys, and be a member of all the porn sites.