War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1726 Philadelphia BBQ

Amid Grant's roar in the internal communication, the White Whale bomber began to climb, and Wei Ran also heard the intermittent roar of the machine gun coming from the direction of the tail turret.

Pulling off his headphones, Wei Ran moved along the slightly inclined cabin towards the front cockpit as if he was climbing a ladder.

After struggling to pass through two bomb bays and the cylindrical passage, he also saw Brad who was struggling to save himself.

"Where's the injury?"

While Wei Ran was asking, he had already pulled Brad up from his seat and dragged him to the back of the passenger seat, which was at least relatively spacious.

"Leg. Shrapnel is in my thigh, in the back." Brad gasped and replied, "Vic, Victor, you better be a veterinarian."

"You're in luck"

As Wei Ran said this, he turned Brad over and saw that there was something embedded in his right thigh. But it was not shrapnel, but a piece of glass.

"You're lucky. What hit you wasn't shrapnel, but fragments of porthole glass."

Wei Ran said, turning his head and asking, "Where is the first aid kit?"

"there!"

The co-pilot, Paul, raised his hand and pointed, then shouted, "Grant? Did you shoot it down?"

"We shot them down! But there are more flying over from a distance. Climb! We need to get to a higher position to get rid of them!"

Grant answered in a roar, but at this time, neither Wei Ran nor Brad could hear it at all because they were not connected to the internal communication.

"Grant, Grant, is he still alive?" Brad, lying on the floor, shouted nervously.

"Alive! He's still alive and just shot down a plane!" Jonathan, the radio operator not far away, responded loudly.

"Find a place to hold on"

While Wei Ran was reminding Brad, he had already placed a tube of morphine around the wound and then used a tourniquet to tie the proximal end of the wound.

"Grant asked how Brad was doing!" Jonathan shouted.

"I can't die!"

Wei Ran said loudly, "And I'm going to treat him to a barbecue soon!"

Before he finished speaking, Wei Ran, who was sitting on Brad's butt, had already taken out a 1911 pistol from the metal notebook under the cover of his clothes, and repeatedly pulled out three bullets by pulling the slide.

"No, no, no, Victor, try it another way!" Brad shouted in panic, obviously realizing something.

"Be patient"

Wei Ran said as he handed a roll of gauze to Brad, "Bite it."

"Victor, you're an asshole! Asshole vet! No, no, no! Just help me tie it up! Stop! Stop now!"

While Brad was cursing and begging, Wei Ran had already torn open his pants around the wound. He then hit the cartridge case twice with the handle of the pistol, then held the bullet with the muzzle of the gun and pulled it out with difficulty.

"We don't have any suturing equipment in our first aid kit, and we can't do it under our current conditions. This is the only way I can help you stop the bleeding. As long as we can fly back as soon as possible, I guarantee you will survive."

As Wei Ran said this, he had already poured gunpowder on Brad's wound. Brad seemed to have sensed something, and he didn't care about cursing at this time. He quickly put the gauze roll into his mouth and bit it, and closed his eyes at the same time.

Wei Ran didn't expect that this guy was so afraid of pain. He poured all the gunpowder in three bullets around the wound. He threw away the bullet shells, took out a Zippo lighter from his pocket, which he had forgotten who he had taken from, lit it and put it around Brad's wound.

"call--"

As the propellant burned, Brad, who was sitting under Wei Ran's butt, let out a shrill scream and struggled hard - Wei Ran's movements were too fast and the anesthetic had just taken effect!

Amid the familiar burning smell, the wound with a piece of exposed glass was successfully burned closed.

Trying to loosen the tourniquet, Wei Ran secretly breathed a sigh of relief, then tightened the tourniquet again, "Bill, remind me every 10 minutes!"

"No problem! How's he doing?" asked the navigator Bill.

"It smells delicious!" Wei Ran replied jokingly, "But he will definitely survive and will not be disabled."

"Grant! The arsonist said Brad smelled great!"

Bill immediately shouted over the intercom, "But he will definitely survive and he won't be disabled!"

"It looks like the home run will have a new nickname too."

Captain Tom was also adjusting the tense temperature, "What do you think of barbecue?"

"Philadelphia barbecue!" added the co-pilot, Paul.

"I have no objection!" Navigator Bill ignored Brad who was shaking and giving the middle finger, and shouted, "Grant said he has no objection either!"

"I have no objection either!" wireless operator Jonathan also said.

"I wouldn't mind that either. Good evening, Mr. Philly BBQ."

Mechanic Philip leaned forward and waved enthusiastically at Brad, who still had the strength to give the middle finger. A series of laughter was heard in the cabin again.

"I brought a flight jacket this time," Captain Tom said, "Victor, please put it on Brad."

"Borrow a sleeve"

As Wei Ran spoke, he took off the B3 flight suit hanging on the back of the other person's seat, almost violently tore off a sleeve, then covered Brad with the remaining part, and helped him lift his injured leg slightly and place it on a piece of equipment in the cabin.

Then he tore off his torn sleeves, sat in the bombardier's position, wrapped them around his feet, and stepped on the broken part that had just been pierced by shrapnel.

This method was at best better than nothing, and before long, his feet were almost numb from the cold, but the damage was even greater.

Seeing that the entire piece of glass was completely shattered, Wei Ran had no choice but to return to Brad's side and lie down to the upwind of him to help him block the cold wind as much as possible.

A moment later, as the bomber began to maintain its current altitude, Grant hurried over from the tail of the plane.

"How's he doing?!" Grant shouted.

"You still have the strength to give me the middle finger!"

Wei Ran responded with a shout, and Brad also gave him a middle finger.

Seeing this, Grant breathed a sigh of relief and followed Wei Ran's example, lying on the other side of Brad and using his body to block the cold wind.

"I guess you are in need of a nuclear woman now," Philip said loudly.

"A clean nuclear recruiting woman," Brad responded weakly.

"Did he say anything?" Philip asked.

"He said he wants a clean nuclear woman," Grant helplessly repeated it loudly, and laughter was heard again in the cabin.

But at this time, everyone, whether it was Wei Ran, Brad or Grant, knew that they had to keep chatting with Brad to keep him awake for the next few hours, otherwise once he fell asleep, he might never wake up again.

At the same time, every 10 minutes, Wei Ran had to help him briefly loosen the tourniquet near the wound, otherwise his leg would probably be crippled.

During this long ordeal, as time passed, Brad's condition became increasingly weaker, and his responses to the people around him became increasingly slow.

Fortunately, it was already bright outside the porthole and Saipan was already in sight.

"Jonathan?" Wei Ran asked loudly.

"The tower has been notified!" Radio operator Jonathan obviously knew what Wei Ran wanted to ask, "The ambulance is waiting!"

"Brad, hold on a little longer!" Wei Ran shouted.

"Martina! Martina Kruger!"

Jonathan, the radio operator, suddenly shouted, "Brad! A woman named Martina Kruger has found Saipan, and she wants to see you!"

Almost as soon as he called out the name, Brad, who had been dazed, also woke up a little, then shook his head and said, "No, it's impossible, how could she?"

"She's waiting for you at the airport!" Jonathan continued to shout, "You'll be able to see her soon!"

"Really?" Brad looked at Jonathan with difficulty.

"Why would I lie to you!" Jonathan yelled, "And I don't even know who this person is!"

"She she is"

Before Brad could finish his words, the White Whale bomber had already begun to lower its altitude.

Just a few minutes later the bomber began to taxi, and fortunately, Brad was still alive.

Almost at the same time the bomber stopped, medical staff rushed over not far away and started giving Brad a blood transfusion as quickly as possible.

Watching Brad being taken into the ambulance accompanied by Grant, Wei Ran breathed a sigh of relief, then shivered uncontrollably. His own condition was not very good either.

"So there is no woman named Martina Kruger?" Captain Tom, who was also almost frozen, asked as he walked down the bomber with difficulty.

"No." Jonathan, the radio operator, shook his head. "How could it be possible?"

"I hope he can survive," said the co-pilot Paul who came down a little later with a worried look on his face.

"I actually have some bad news." Jonathan said, but looked up at Wei Ran.

"What's wrong?" Wei Ran's heart sank involuntarily. He already had a bad feeling.

"What happened?" Philip and Bill asked, and then gunners Lewis, George and Val also gathered around.

"The Dumbo crew also participated in the bombing."

Radio operator Jonathan paused and said, "But they may not come back."

"What did you say?" Wei Ran subconsciously looked in the direction of the Dumbo crew.

"Before we were attacked, I heard a call from Jack, Dumbo's radio operator."

Jonathan said, "Their cockpit was hit, he was calling for help, and their plane has probably crashed."

"I'll go check out their crew."

As Wei Ran spoke, he had already jumped into a jeep, rubbed his cold face and hands vigorously, started the car with difficulty, and drove to the other side of the airport.

"Hey! Victor! No, arsonist, why are you here?"

From a distance, the gunners Martin, Robert, and Jerry who stayed behind greeted him warmly, "We thought you participated in the bombing last night."

“I did attend”

Wei Ran smiled with difficulty, "But the White Whale left early, haven't they returned yet?"

"Not yet, but I guess it will be soon," said Jerry.

"Is Dean participating in the mission today?" Wei Ran continued to ask.

"That's right"

Robert responded, "Victor, do you have any good news?" "Nothing, I just want to see if everyone is back." Wei Ran made an excuse, "By the way, I want to ask if you have any film that needs to be developed."

"We did take quite a few photos. Wait a moment."

Martin said as he quickly ran into the tent. Soon he brought out rolls of film one after another and handed them to Wei Ran. "These are all the photos we took, some on the ground and some in the sky. I was going to send them to you. Speaking of which, where is Brad?"

“Where else can he go?”

Wei Ran shook his head in a helpless manner, "I have to hurry back to develop the film, I'll come back later to look at it."

Halfway through his words, Wei Ran also breathed a sigh of relief and allowed the rising white light to completely devour him.

"Thanks."

Wei Ran murmured gratefully that this time Metal Book finally felt sorry for him and didn't let him take on the task of announcing the death.

"what did you just say?"

Before the white light faded, he heard Brad's voice.

"It's nothing, nothing." Wei Ran rubbed his eyes hard while speaking.

When he regained his vision, he found himself sitting in the cab of an American jeep. On the passenger seat was a copy of the Tokyo Daily newspaper, dated October 1945, 10.

The day in the newspaper is a Sunday. Although I don’t know if it is at this moment, at least it is a sunny day today.

Outside the car, Brad stood against the sun, with his iconic suitcase at his feet and a Kodak Gold Award camera in his hand.

"I didn't expect you to come here to recruit nuclear workers as a military reporter."

Brad said, already throwing the box at his feet onto the car, "Where are we going next?"

"I can speak Japanese, so it's normal for me to work here." Wei Ran said as a matter of course, "Where do you want to go?"

"Tokyo, of course it's Tokyo!" Brad said, "Even though they can't come, at least I'm here, right?"

"Do you know where we are now?" Wei Ran continued to ask.

"What happened to the Yokosuka base where the Seventh Fleet is stationed?"

Brad asked in confusion, "Victor, no no no, Arsonist, although we haven't seen each other for almost six months, can't you just say whatever you want to say?"

“So it’s Yokosuka.”

Wei Ran muttered to himself, then waved his hand and said, "What I mean is, this place is dozens of kilometers away from Tokyo. Are you sure you don't need to rest and eat something before rushing over?"

“Of course not.”

Brad said, "Victor, I don't have much time. To be exact, I only have one day today, and then I will leave."

"Where are you going?" Wei Ran asked as he stepped on the accelerator to slightly increase the speed of the car. "I should say, Philly BBQ, where are you going next?"

"America, of course America."

Brad said, "One of the reasons I came here is to meet you as promised, and then I will take the transport plane back."

"To see your girlfriend?"

"We are already planning to hold our wedding in England. Besides wanting to visit Tokyo, I also came here to invite you to attend my wedding with Martina," Brad said without apology.

"When?" Wei Ran asked casually.

"On New Year's Day," Brad said with a smile, "if you have time, bring your mixed-race girlfriend to our wedding."

"If there is a chance, we will participate," Wei Ran agreed casually. He didn't believe that the living ancestor had the ability to copy a Sui Sui for him.

"Are we heading towards Tokyo now?" Brad asked.

“The general direction is not wrong”

Wei Ran pointed at the sun behind him and said, "I didn't expect you to survive."

“Thanks for the BBQ set”

Brad shuddered with lingering fear and handed Wei Ran a cigar. "I heard from Grant that you were transferred on the day I was injured?"

"yes"

As Wei Ran lit up his cigar, he became more and more skilled at following the lies that Metal Notebook had told him, "I haven't seen you all since then. Are they all doing well?"

"No one survived Dumbo"

Brad sighed. "I mean, no one who participated in the bombing mission that day survived. The plane was found, but they were all dead."

"Where are Martin and the others?" Wei Ran asked.

"Martin and Robert, and Jerry, retired after the surrender, and now they run a hotel and restaurant in California together."

Brad smiled as he said this, the name is “Dumbo Inn and Dumbo Restaurant.”

"At least we survived," Wei Ran breathed a sigh of relief, "Where's the White Whale?"

"The crew of the Moby Dick all survived, and they are all retired."

Brad said comfortably, "Tom and Paul continue to serve as captains at United Airlines. Of course, the planes they fly now are like human cans, so I guess they don't need bombardiers anymore."

"What about the others?" Wei Ran asked with a smile.

"Bill worked at National Geographic, Jonathan was a high school physics teacher in their local area, and Philip had a car repair shop right here in Philadelphia."

Brad introduced happily, "Gunner Lewis, George, and Val all work in his repair shop."

"I guess his auto repair shop must be called Moby Dick," Wei Ran said with a smile.

"You guessed it right"

Brad took a long puff of his cigar. "Moby Dick's repair shop is doing pretty good business, and they also sell Harley motorcycles."

"Grant, and Grant." Wei Ran urged, "How is he?"

"That idiot!"

Brad cursed helplessly, "You would never have guessed that that idiot joined the New York Times. He is now a stupid reporter."

"Reporter? A reporter from the New York Times?"

"Not only that, just yesterday, I sent him on a transport plane to China. At that time, you were interviewing outside and hadn't returned yet."

Brad said with a growing headache, "He was going to China to be a frontline reporter, and that fool who didn't care about his life actually said that he was influenced by me.

I even asked that French guy who took over the business to testify. I don’t understand how I influenced him. Why doesn’t he learn from me and go home to run a pawn shop?”

"You mean, he went to China?"

Wei Ran asked in astonishment. He had never thought that there was such a "fate". Fate? Maybe it was fate, or maybe it was an unfortunate fate.

"He should be there by now, I mean, if the transport plane he was on hadn't been shot down."

Brad shook his head helplessly. "Now I'm beginning to worry whether that French must-eater can bless him to come back alive."

“At worst, we can just blow up that French must-eat,” Wei Ran said, suppressing the yearning in his heart.

"That's what I told him," Brad said worriedly, "He better come back alive."

"I didn't expect that he would go to China"

Wei Ran sighed, "Fortunately, everyone is still alive. What about you? Brad, what are you doing now?"

“Running the pawn shop my father left behind”

Brad said, "After I married Martina, she agreed to run the pawn shop with me."

In just a few words, Wei Ran had already driven out of the Yokosuka base, which was in a state of disrepair, and headed towards Tokyo, which was in an even greater state of disrepair.

"You remember all those rolls of film we took with our aerial cameras?"

Brad started a new topic while curiously looking at the nuclear recruiting girls being hugged by American soldiers on the roadside.

"Remember," Wei Ran nodded, "Do you need to park? The girls here are very clean, and the recruitment officials helped organize them."

"Forget it. I'm getting married." Brad said with regret. "Let's talk about those films. A month ago, those airmail films were mailed to my home."

"All of them?"

"They are all here, and I have already washed them."

Brad said, "We picked the perfect one together and had everyone who was still alive sign it, including Grant."

"Is it a gift for me?" Wei Ran asked with interest.

"certainly"

Brad said as he pulled the suitcase behind him over, opened it a crack, pulled out a large file bag from it and shook it, "Stop the car, I'll drive, you just need to help me with directions."

Upon hearing this, Wei Ran slammed the brakes in the middle of the road, jumped out of the car, exchanged places with the other party, and took over the large file bag.

Pulling out a black-and-white photo as big as an A3 paper, Wei Ran couldn't help but raise his eyebrows, and his face was already full of smiles.

This was taken by him in the bomb bay when they bombed Nagoya for the first time. In the black and white photo, a beautiful cross of flames was burning on the ground, and several E46 cluster incendiary bombs were falling towards the ground. Also appearing in the camera were two bottles of Tabasco hot sauce.

Turning to the back of the photo, there are signatures left by all the living people. In the middle of these signatures, there is a message:

To our friend Victor the Arsonist, may you never be haunted by nightmares, and may you become the ultimate nightmare for your enemies on land when you take off - in the name of the Bombardier.

"Thank you, I like this gift very much." Wei Ran stuffed the photo back into the file bag.

“We knew you would like it.”

Brad paused and continued, "Because of my injury, I was unable to go to the European battlefield as a reporter, but at least I never had nightmares again. Victor, I should thank you and Grant, that idiot, for this matter. Of course, I should also thank my fiancée Martina."

"So should I call you Home Run or Philadelphia BBQ from now on?" Wei Ran asked meaningfully.

"If the war isn't over or starts again, then I'm a home run."

Brad smiled and replied, "But now, at least the war that concerns us is over, so let's just call it Philly BBQ. Although I really, really, really hate this disgusting nickname."

"Okay, Philly BBQ," Wei Ran said, spreading his hands.

"Okay arsonist," Brad said in the same tone and action, and then the two of them laughed in tacit understanding.

But in that laughter, there was relief that the war was over but most of the friends were still alive, Brad's worry about Grant, Wei Ran's regret that he could not follow Grant to the Chinese battlefield, and more

Looking forward to the upcoming self-driving tour in Tokyo.

It's still this copy that says happy, but it's a pity that it's the US military.