War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1727 Tang Gewu

During the chat, and under Wei Ran's guidance, Brad drove the jeep with a pass for the U.S. military Yokosuka base to Tokyo unimpeded.

There were no decent road signs here, but both Brad and Wei Ran were extremely sure that this was Tokyo.

No matter how prosperous Tokyo was before the war or in the new century after the war, or how it was known as the East, now there is only a vast expanse of scorched earth.

Driving on the remaining, and in some sense exceptionally clean, roads, Brad slowed down the car, and he and Wei Ran, who was sitting in the passenger seat, each looked at the unobstructed scenery on both sides.

Most of the buildings that can be seen here have collapsed and been destroyed by the fire. Even the few that are in better quality are only left with a few ruins and charred frames.

Even though several months had passed since the war, Wei Ran could still smell the faint smell of burnt smoke, as well as a slight stench that had been aging for half a year and still refused to dissipate from beneath the charred bricks and rubble.

Among the rubble, one can still see broken bodies that have been turned into skeletons due to lack of time to clean up, as well as some scattered workers who are cleaning up the ruins.

These people originally wanted to run over to drive away the car when they saw it approaching, but when they saw it was an American jeep with two people in American military uniforms sitting in the jeep, they immediately stopped far away, bent down and bowed repeatedly, lowered their heads and made way for the car to move to the side of the road.

“This is the first time I’ve been to a place I’ve bombed.”

After driving past the staff, Brad stopped the car in the middle of the road, stood up, held up the camera, and said while pressing the shutter around, "This feels special, arsonist, no, Victor.

Before I came here, I thought the scenes here would give me nightmares, but now I find that I don’t have any discomfort.”

"Why do you say that?"

As Wei Ran spoke, he jumped out of the car, but happened to see a small skull scattered on the side of the road.

“All this before my eyes”

Brad also jumped out of the car and walked to the side of the front of the car, pointing at the ruins around him, and even pointing at the Japanese soldiers standing in the distance bowing towards them, "These are the lives of the Dumbo crew and all those who didn't survive until the end of the war. How could I have a nightmare?"

"what about this?"

Wei Ran said, kicking the broken trumpet skull to the other party, "He may be innocent."

"The parents and children of those crew members who didn't survive the Dumbo flight are also innocent."

Brad said this and passed the skull to Wei Ran again.

"Bang!" Wei Ran accidentally stepped on the skull and broke it into pieces.

"It seems you don't have nightmares either."

Brad took out a cigar from his pocket and handed it to Wei Ran, then he took out another one and roughly bit off a piece with his teeth and spit it out, then he lit it and said, "I won't blame myself for what happened, they brought this upon themselves.

I just didn't expect that the incendiary bombs we dropped would be so destructive.

If I had a choice, I wouldn't want such weapons to be used on the battlefield again.

But if I had no choice, I probably wouldn't refuse to use such a weapon as a bombardier."

At this point, Brad handed the lighter to Wei Ran, "Just look at the man who bowed to us and you'll know that these weapons are very useful."

“Indeed, it is very useful.”

Wei Ran took the lighter and lit the cigar that the other party gave him. "We originally agreed to come here to find some clean nuclear girls to join us in bombing. Unfortunately, it seems that they are too clean now."

“It’s really too clean”

Brad shook his head, walked to the side of the road, unbuckled his belt, and said while peeing with a cigar in his mouth, "Besides, I'm going to marry Martina soon, and I won't fool around anymore. Besides, we still lost some friends after all."

“Is this also the reason why they couldn’t come here?”

Wei Ran raised his camera and took pictures of the empty streets around him while asking, "I mean, those friends who are still alive."

"I guess so"

Brad said, "The war didn't leave me with any good impressions except friendship. Even friendship is not so complete. Those who have become friends will never appear again. Even if you want to take a photo of them, it is impossible.

Even after I took the photos, I didn’t want to look at them again. To be honest, those broken friendships became my nightmares.”

"Then stay away from war"

Wei Ran said as he walked back to the passenger seat, "The scenery here is all the same, there's nothing to take pictures of."

"There really isn't much to photograph. I was thinking of going to Nagoya and Kobe, but forget it."

Brad fastened his belt, turned around and stepped into the driver's seat. He drove the car forward and said, "Visually, it's far less shocking than the flames we saw when the bombs were dropped."

"So you want to do it again?" Wei Ran asked with a smile.

“I’m not sure I’d survive if it happened again.”

Brad turned the car around while running over the skull that Wei Ran accidentally crushed on the ground. "But those who didn't survive might have a chance to survive. Who knows?"

"You're not planning to go to China to find Grant, are you?" Wei Ran asked suspiciously.

"No, no, no, I probably don't have time for that."

Brad stepped on the accelerator and said, "I have to accompany my Martina, she is pregnant. And Grant is not a child anymore, I believe he can definitely come back alive.

Compared to these, Victor, remember to come to our wedding, which is on New Year's Day, but you'd better rush over to help me on Christmas."

"Why choose this time?" Wei Ran asked as he picked up the file bag containing photos that the other party had just given him.

"Because Martina's due date is before Christmas."

Brad said thankfully, "Martina was pregnant before I left England and returned to the United States, but she didn't know it at the time. Thanks to the pregnancy status brought to her by the child, she was able to escape the final stage of the war and leave Germany one step ahead of time."

“I will be there on time.”

Wei Ran made the promise again, and at the same time glanced at the tattoo on the base of his thumb inconspicuously.

This time he had fought a great battle to heal his soul. Now that this man was in a state of confusion, it was natural that he would want to die. He wanted to see what this living ancestor would do next.

"We'll take a photo together then. By the way, I have a small gift for you."

Brad said as he rummaged through his pocket, took out an old safety pin pull ring and handed it to Wei Ran.

"This is."

"The streamers left by the USS Liberty bomber I was on during the European battlefield."

Brad said, "I was going to leave it here, but now I've changed my mind. Victor, I'll give it to you, in the name of the bombardier."

"Thank you, thank you." Wei Ran reached out to take the ribbon, and a strong white light appeared in front of his eyes.

"Get married, get married, get married." Wei Ran muttered to himself over and over again.

"Who is Mary?"

Before the white light faded, he heard a voice asking doubtfully, "Arsonist, do you have a new girlfriend?"

"Mary? I just spoke in Chinese. Are you trying to use an English pun on me?"

Wei Ran cursed inwardly, but at the same time he couldn't help but shiver. He felt the biting cold.

He blinked hard, and when he saw everything around him clearly, he was stunned.

At this time, he was sitting in an M1950-style hexagonal tent of the US Army. In the middle of the tent, there was a tin barrel with burning charcoal. There was also a hissing gas lamp on the stacked ammunition boxes next to it.

Looking at the person who just spoke, Wei Ran, who wanted to embarrass his living ancestor just a moment ago, now wanted to call him living father. The person sitting opposite him turned out to be Grant!

"Victor, who is Mary?"

Grant, who was lying on a simple folding bed, asked curiously, "I heard you shouting this name in your dream."

"You heard wrong." Wei Ran sat up while speaking. He had just been lying on a simple camp bed.

"No, no, no, I didn't hear it wrong."

Grant said, "I have been a reporter for many years, and I am very sensitive to information. Although you just arrived, you did call Mary. If I remember correctly, your wife's name is not Mary."

"You indeed heard it wrong. I was talking about the wedding." Wei Ran explained while looking at the other person and himself.

Grant at this time looked to be about 47 or years old. Like himself, he was wearing a thick M windbreaker and matching winter pants and thick high-waisted leather boots. There was also a white scarf around his neck, while he had a red one around his neck.

"You dreamed about my brother Brad's wedding?" Grant said. "We actually talked about it before bed."

"Yeah." Wei Ran said vaguely.

"I really had no way to get there in China at that time."

Grant spread his hands regretfully, "I can't let him get married again. Martina and that cute little Curtis will kill me."

"Curtis is such a good name." Wei Ran twitched his lips.

"Don't talk about this anymore," Wei Ran waved his hand, "I'm not here to listen to your confession. When can you go home?"

“Soon, I guess.”

Grant replied, "Today MacArthur promised the soldiers of the 24th Division that the war would be over before Christmas. We should probably go home soon. But you, Victor, why were you sent here at this time?"

"How should I know?" Wei Ran responded casually, but he felt a chill in his heart.

He was going there to bomb Tokyo, but he didn't expect to be sent to this battlefield! He didn't expect that he would be sent to this battlefield as an American soldier.

This is really fucked up.

There was more to the mess than that, he had already realized from what Grant had just said.

This should be November 1950, 11, the day when Mac was bragging, and this special code was equivalent to just running headfirst into FLAG's crotch!

Looking at the sky outside, he felt like crying. It was almost dark!

"Where are we now?" Wei Ran asked anxiously.

"Of course it's the headquarters of the 1st Cavalry Division. Why do you ask such a question?" Grant asked curiously.

"Of course I know this is the base of the 1st Cavalry Division. I mean the more detailed location." Wei Ran said, "After all, I am also a reporter. I have to know some basic information."

"That direction"

Grant raised his hand and pointed outside the tent. "That place is called the Taedong River on the map. The 1st Cavalry Division is stationed here as a reserve. It's considered to be behind the battle line, so don't worry, we are safe."

"Safe? Safe as hell!"

Wei Ran cursed inwardly and was about to say something when he saw an American soldier driving a jeep with a canvas top parked outside the tent. "Grant!"

The soldier, who looked particularly young and was carrying a messenger bag, had already entered the tent while he was talking. He asked enthusiastically, "Do you have any letters to send?"

"Of course, wait for me!"

Grant said as he opened a box beside the bed.

Wei Ran recognized it at a glance. It was the box that Brad used.

Today, this slightly old box has the name Brad Downey, the emblem of the 3rd Bomber Division and a golden bomb printed on the outside of the lid.

It also bears the name Grant Downey, the emblem of the 313th Bomb Wing, and a white whale.

"Are you still using this box?" Wei Ran asked, suppressing his uneasiness.

"In 1945, when I decided to go to China, my brother gave me this box, along with his camera."

As Grant spoke, he took out an envelope from the box, then took a ribbon from the curtain on the inside of the lid and put it into the envelope. He sealed it with glue and handed it to the soldier.

"Sorry to have kept you waiting," Grant said politely.

"It's okay, Grant, can you take a picture of me when I get back?"

the young soldier asked, "It's almost Christmas and I want to send it to my mom."

"Of course," Grant agreed readily.

Watching the soldier leave with the letter, Wei Ran asked curiously, "What does that ribbon mean?"

"My brother and I agreed on a secret code: when I was about to return, I would send him a ribbon with the letter.

My mother would read the letters I sent back several times. If she knew I was going back soon, she would definitely lose sleep for several days." Grant explained with a smile.

"Where did you get these ribbons?" Wei Ran asked a seemingly irrelevant question.

"These are all left behind by the White Whale."

Grant smiled and made way for him. “There are no secrets in there. If you’re curious, just take a look.”

"Then I won't be polite."

Wei Ran sat beside the box, pointed at the ribbons on the curtain inside the lid and asked, "What are these?"

"Of course," Grant nodded, "They are all left over from those years. I have kept them all."

As he spoke, he pulled out the gold coin lucky charm from his collar and shook it, "Compared to this, these ribbons are my lucky charms."

I hope they keep you alive.

Wei Ran muttered something in vain and took a quick glance at the things in the box.

The box still contains photos of Brad and General LeMay, as well as photos of him, Grant, and even their parents in front of the pawn shop, and photos of Brad's family of three.

There are also photos of Brad and the Grant brothers, photos of Brad and the crew of the White Whale, and photos of him and a woman wearing a plain cheongsam and holding a leather camera.

In the box, there were the developing equipment that I had seen before, as well as a large number of spare films, batteries, and flash bulbs.

Wei Ran also saw a stack of letter papers and envelopes, a 1911 pistol with the muzzle pointed downwards, and even a Kodak Gold Medal camera and a Hasselblad 1600F camera.

"Who is this woman?"

Wei Ran finally pointed at the woman in the photo wearing a cheongsam and holding a camera and asked.

"Her name is Yang Minhua"

When Grant said this, the name "Yang Minhua" was actually used in Chinese, but when he said this name, a look of regret and loneliness flashed across his face.

"she"

"she died"

Grant shook his head. "Last spring, in the mountain city of Huaxia, she died in my arms. She was shot by a secret agent."

"you"

"I am neutral, but she is religious."

Grant's tone became more and more regretful. "I couldn't save her. I didn't even have the chance to tell her that I had fallen in love with her."

"So you came here?" Wei Ran asked subconsciously.

"I'm still neutral!"

Grant said almost subconsciously, "I picked up the camera for justice and freedom."

"For justice and freedom?" Wei Ran sighed, "That's Brad's answer."

“That’s my answer now too.”

Grant sighed, "I didn't have the opportunity to look at this war from the other side's perspective, so I will try to faithfully record everything I saw and let those who see the photos think about what happened here."

At this point, Grant reached out and picked up the Hasselblad camera from the box, "I bought this for her around Christmas two years ago when I returned to the United States for a job report.

I. I was going to give it to her on her birthday, but before I could, she…”

"So what are you doing here?" Wei Ran asked again.

"Do you remember the assumptions you made back then?" Grant asked.

"Remember," Wei Ran nodded, "if one day the United States launched an invasion."

"I am not sure yet whether this is an aggressive war initiated by the United States"

Grant handed the Hasselblad camera to Wei Ran, "But MacArthur obviously used some lies to deceive many rookies to come here to work.

Those young people don’t know what war is, and they are even less willing to understand their enemies. They are even unwilling to embark on a war, and instead have this or that purpose that has nothing to do with war.”

"So what are you going to do?" Wei Ran asked as he took the camera.

"No matter who is right in this war, I may still board a bomber, but no longer as a gunner."

Grant smiled calmly at Wei Ran, "I will pick up the camera and use it to record everything that happens on the battlefield. I will use this camera."

"Just use this one?" Wei Ran looked at the Hasselblad camera in his hand.

"Yes, use it."

Grant said, "Before that, Victor, take a picture for me with it."

"This 80mm lens was created for art, and it should not be used to photograph war." Although Wei Ran said this, he still picked up the camera, pointed it at Grant, and pressed the shutter.

"I didn't want her to use this camera to photograph the war."

Grant took the camera that Wei Ran handed back to him and said, "But she stayed in the war, so there is nothing wrong with me using this camera and this lens to continue explaining the war.

Maybe

Maybe I can see her through this lens.”

“I don’t want to advise you anything.”

Wei Ran sighed, and was slightly relieved. He then switched to Chinese and asked, "Grant, do you speak Chinese?"

Grant was stunned for a moment, then he changed his voice to Chinese with a slight Sichuan and Chongqing accent and said, "Of course, she taught me Chinese. She was my translator at first."

At this point, Grant cleared his throat and continued in Chinese, "My name is Tang Gewu, and I'm an American journalist."

"That's a good name. Who...she...I mean, Ms. Yang gave it to you?"

"That's right"

Grant nodded. "She said it was a suitable name for a reporter."

"Will you surrender?" Wei Ran continued to ask in Chinese, "I mean, you know how to surrender, right?"

"I would even say the PLA treated prisoners well"

Grant said abruptly. The bright smile on his face suddenly froze at that moment. Then he burst into tears and sat back on the camp bed in pain. "That was... that was her last sentence."

“It’s a small world”

Wei Ran sighed and muttered to himself, and got out of the tent that was particularly bulging due to the wind rope. While feeling around, he carefully felt the temperature outside the tent, which was at least 20 to 30 degrees below zero.

"It's your turn"

Grant followed him out of the tent a moment later. "Victor, what on earth are you doing here? You didn't bring any luggage, not even your camera, but you found me."

"I am here to serve as your assistant"

Wei Ran answered casually, "I'll be your translator and guide, as well as your driver and bodyguard."

"you?"

"Of course, I'll stay with you until you get home."

As Wei Ran spoke, he took out two cigars from his coat pocket. "I can speak Chinese and Chaoshan. Even Tuerqi, Greek, German and French are no problem. I can definitely help you."

“You know so much.”

Grant mumbled something incoherent, then asked firmly, "So Brad hired you?"

"Hiring me? He's not qualified to hire me."

Wei Ran smiled and gave one of the cigars to the other person, "He knelt down and begged me with tears in his eyes."

"Didn't you take a picture?"

Grant asked while roughly biting off one end of his cigar and laughing. His heartless smile that hid his sadness and vulnerability was very similar to Brad's former self.

"At the time, I didn't even have a paintbrush, let alone a camera, otherwise I could at least paint it."

As Wei Ran spoke, he also bit off one end of the cigar, took the Zippo lighter handed to him by the other party and lit it. By the way, this cigar of fairly good quality was inevitably tainted with the unique smell of kerosene.

Like

Just like the Hasselblad 1600F camera that should never have appeared on the battlefield, and the 80mm lens it used, all of which were stained with the smell of gunpowder that could never be washed off.