War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1742 Charge and Countercharge

On the first night after arriving at this position, except for the initial night attack, Wei Ran unexpectedly slept well.

When he was woken up by the cold, it was just dawn outside the bunker.

Wei Ran lifted the slightly damp blanket and tiptoed out. He also noticed that there were many people sitting or lying in this winding trench, and even some corpses that had not been cleaned up yesterday evening.

Of course, there are also sentinels who are on guard all night.

I stepped on the platform and looked carefully outside the trench. The corpses left by the enemy's night attack yesterday were still lying there. Further away, on several tanks that had become wreckage, there were a few shiny black crows.

As for the direction of the enemy's position further away, it was still a little dark and it was so vague that it could not be seen clearly.

Leaving the platform and returning to the trench, Wei Ran squatted beside a corpse not far away, opened the ammunition box on his waist and took a look, then took out two Mauser bullets and stuffed them into the ammunition box on his waist.

Pulling the corpse up and leaning it against the wall of the trench, Wei Ran walked along the winding trench and finally entered the forest along a communication trench.

At this time, many people here had already started preparing for breakfast. In addition, he also saw several simple medical tents and a tent that he didn't know if it was a command post.

Wisely not going over, Wei Ran chose a tree that looked pleasing to the eye and urinated on it. Only then did he finally have the chance to take out the Rollei twin-lens reflex camera from the metal notebook and check it.

Fortunately, the twin-lens reflex camera had already been loaded with an unused roll of film. He put away the camera and turned back. When he returned to the bunker, he found Yu Yanlin, with dark circles under his eyes, sitting outside the bunker. He was using a piece of white chalk to write the phrase "Battlefield Post Office" in French, German, and Chinese on a piece of wood that was more than one meter long and only two palms wide.

"You're awake," Wei Ran said and looked inside the bunker. Sure enough, Clemont was busy making coffee.

"Where did you go just now?" Yu Yanlin said as he handed the chalk to Wei Ran.

"I went to the back to pee"

Wei Ran said, reaching out to take the chalk, and wrote phrases with the same meaning in Italian and English on the remaining space on the board, "When did you go to bed last night?"

“I went to bed quite late”

Yu Yanlin said with a hint of helplessness, "That foreign medicine soup is too refreshing."

"Didn't you go to Germany to study a long time ago?" Wei Ran asked curiously, "How come you still can't get used to it after all these years?"

“I don’t drink that at all.”

Yu Yanlin used a shovel to dig a hole next to the bunker and motioned Wei Ran to put the wooden sign in. While covering the hole with dirt, he said, "Besides, my family is not a wealthy one. How can we have the spare money to drink those things?"

He had just finished speaking when Clemont, who was still in the bunker, leaned out most of his body and greeted them enthusiastically, "Victor, Louis, the coffee is ready, come in and have a cup!"

"so I."

“Let’s have a drink”

Wei Ran reminded him in Chinese, "There might be a fight during the day, so stay alert."

Hearing this, Yu Yanlin thought about it and decided to follow him into the bunker and took the small cup of coffee that Clermont gave him.

"Brother Wei, do you think there will be a fight today?" Yu Yanlin asked in French while holding a cup of coffee.

“There will definitely be a fight.”

Wei Ran said, "Either they rush over, or we rush over, then."

"Clemont! Where is Clemont! Clemont the postman! Clemont the translator!"

Before Wei Ran could finish his words, a French voice was heard outside the bunker. Then, a middle-aged man who looked to be about fifty years old bent over and looked in. "You are here. I found you by the smell of coffee. Clemont, the captain needs you to translate. Also, give me a cup of coffee."

"You came at the right time"

Clemont said as he bent down and got out of the shelter. He handed the cup of coffee he hadn't had time to drink to the other person, then turned around and said, "I'll be busy for a while. By the way, this is my girlfriend Estelle's father. His name is Gerard."

After that, Clemont walked away and said, "They are my friends Victor and Louis."

"Hello, boys."

Gerard, who was squatting at the door of the bunker, greeted Wei Ran and Yu Yanlin enthusiastically.

"Good morning, Uncle Gerard."

Wei Ran also went out with his cup in hand and clinked cups with the other person, then asked, "What happened?"

"Maybe there are some new orders that need to be conveyed."

Gerard pointed in the direction he came from, "I guess the war might start soon."

After saying that, Gerard drank the coffee in the cup, then looked at Wei Ran and Yu Yanlin who came out a little later, "Are you Chinese?"

"That's right," Yu Yanlin replied in French.

“You all speak French very well”

Gerard smiled and praised, "Yesterday Clement told me that he met two Chinese people who could speak many languages. I guess it must be you."

“We have been recruited by him”

Wei Ran said as he glanced at the red cross on the other person's cuff, "Are you a doctor?"

"That's right"

Gerard explained with a smile, "Before coming here, I ran a private practice in Paris. Hopefully, kids, I won't see you at my post once the war begins."

"Thank you for your blessing," Yu Yanlin responded a little nervously. He obviously understood the other party's hint.

"Okay, I have to get back to work."

Gerard handed the silver eggshell cup in his hand to Yu Yanlin, "I hope we can have coffee together again."

"There will be a chance"

Wei Ran and Yu Yanlin said in unison, and then watched Gerard run back the same way he came.

"My employer is about the same age as him," said Yu Yanlin.

"Is he also in the Paris Commune Camp?" Wei Ran asked after drinking the coffee in the cup.

"He is dead"

Yu Yanlin sighed, "Soon after we entered Spain, we were discovered by Franco's men. He led the pursuers away, saying that we were younger than him and could play a greater role on the battlefield, so he could die on the way, but he hoped that we would at least die on the battlefield fighting Faxus."

"I would rather you live until the end of the war"

Wei Ran patted the other person's shoulder and said, "After the war here is over, after we drive away the Faxusi here, we will return to China to drive away the Faxusi who are invading us."

“It doesn’t matter if I die here.”

Yu Yanlin showed a simple and bright smile, "I believe that our brothers and sisters and our comrades will take up arms to fight those little devils. I also believe that even if I die in Spain, there will be more internationalist fighters going to China to fight against the French."

"So you are a party member?" Wei Ran asked after a moment's silence.

“Not yet”

Yu Yanlin smiled and said, "Maybe when I get back, what about you? Brother Wei, are you a party member?"

"Just like you"

Wei Ran also smiled and said, "I also hope that when I go back it will be..."

Before he could finish his words, Wei Ran heard the whistle of a shell cutting through the air and reacted with his muscles faster than his brain, almost knocking Yu Yanlin into the bunker.

"boom!"

Before the two of them fell to the mud inside the bunker, a shell hit the trench not far from them. Immediately afterwards, they heard screams and wails coming from outside.

"Are you okay?" Wei Ran asked loudly as he got up.

"It's okay! I'm okay!"

Yu Yanlin covered the back of his head which had just been hit and shouted in response, saying that the explosion was too close and both of their ears were buzzing.

After just two sentences of communication, the sound of increasingly dense artillery fire could be heard outside the bunker, and more and more dirt was shaken off the top of the head inside the bunker due to the explosion.

"The other side is about to launch an attack!"

While Wei Ran was shouting to remind the other party, he was busy taking the coffee cups in his and Yu Yanlin's hands and throwing them into Clemont's backpack next to him, "Remember to put on the bayonet this time!"

"Why?!" Yu Yanlin asked almost subconsciously.

"It's clear in the daytime! And they might rush into the trenches!"

Before Wei Ran finished his words, he turned around, pulled out the bayonet from his waist and mounted it on the muzzle of the Spanish Mauser, then pulled the bolt to load the bullet and prepared himself.

"Do you have a pistol?" Wei Ran asked loudly.

"no!"

"Do you know how to use it?" Wei Ran continued to shout during the bombardment.

"Yes! I have used it."

"Take this!"

Before the other party could finish speaking, Wei Ran had already taken out a Nagant revolver from the metal book and handed it to him, "If an enemy rushes into the trench, throw away the rifle and use this! Pull the trigger hard to fire! Use force!"

"Got it!" Yu Yanlin shouted in response.

Wei Ran naturally had his considerations when he chose to give this pistol to the other party. For such a rookie, the 1911 that required pulling the slide to load the gun was a bit too complicated, while the box gun that could fire continuously was a bit too dangerous.

In comparison, the single-shot, double-action Nagant revolver is undoubtedly much safer.

Of course, when he was thinking about these things, the trenches outside the bunker were already in chaos, with some of them even firing back at the enemy on the opposite side, whether it existed or not, under artillery fire.

Reaching out and pulling in a soldier who didn't even have a gun but was running in the trench, Wei Ran shouted, "What are you running around for!"

"Injured! Someone is injured!"

The bespectacled man, who looked to be in his 30s, shouted back in French, "I'm going to save them!"

Before he could finish his words, the man had already broken free from Wei Ran and ventured out again.

"Hey"

"Boom!" Before Wei Ran could catch the other person again, another explosion was heard not far away, and the man who had just run out was pushed back to the door of the bunker by the shock wave.

But in just a moment, dark red blood flowed from the corners of his mouth, and his chest seemed to collapse.

"Cough cough."

The man whose name Wei Ran didn't even have time to know turned his head with difficulty to look at the sign with "Fighting Post Office" next to the bunker. He looked at Wei Ran with expectation, and then used all his strength to move one hand to his chest.

However, before he could say anything, his hands lost their strength and fell on his collapsed chest.

"boom!"

There was another explosion very close by. A large amount of soil was shaken off the inside of the bunker in the violent tremor. At the same time, more soil fell down on his head, almost burying the internationalist fighter who had just died.

With a weak sigh, Wei Ran, who had been blocking the entrance of the bunker, leaned out most of his body, pulled the soldier back in, then unbuttoned his coat and took out the things inside.

This was a canvas pocket that was only the size of a file bag in later generations. It was not closed, so Wei Ran recognized it at a glance. It was the flag.

After exchanging a glance with Yu Yanlin, who looked a little flustered, Wei Ran opened the cloth bag and took a look.

Inside was the neatly folded tricolor flag and a sealed envelope.

I picked up the envelope and took a quick look at it. The address on it finally pointed to Marseille, France, and the recipient was a woman named Jeanne.

While the shelling outside was still going on, Wei Ran unfolded the flag as quickly as possible and took a look at it.

"Fight for your freedom and ours" has been written on it in French and German, and a three-pointed star has been pinned on the other side.

Before the two men could say anything, the artillery fire from the opposite side stopped.

"Get out! They're coming!"

As Wei Ran spoke, he stuffed the flag back into the canvas pocket and threw it into the corner of the bunker, onto Clemont's backpack, and ran out, passing the soldier who had turned into a corpse.

There was no time to check on the wounded in the surrounding trenches. Wei Ran stepped onto the platform as quickly as possible and looked out through the firing hole.

At this time, the opposite side had begun to advance towards this side under the cover of several tanks.

There was a French Renault FT-17, a Truvia-A4 that looked like a drunk Renault conceived for Franco, a dirt tank that looked like it was made from a tractor, an Italian L3, and a German Panzer I hiding in the back.

"Fire!"

At the far end of the trench there was a loud shout in French, followed by a whistle.

As the order was given, the sound of rifle, machine gun, submachine gun and even pistol firing was heard along the trench line.

After looking at Yu Yanlin who was standing not far away and also holding a gun, Wei Ran withdrew his attention and calmly extended the muzzle of his rifle, aiming at the small Italian tank that was being suppressed by a machine gun.

"boom!"

Along with the sound of gunfire which had become inconspicuous, the half-head that accidentally popped out of the small tank was blown off by the bullet. The driver of the tank seemed to be frightened and subconsciously controlled the tank to run a little faster. Apparently, he accidentally stepped on the accelerator.

Wei Ran, who had already reloaded his ammunition, ignored the small tank that was almost rushing towards him. On the contrary, a small mistake made by the tank driver exposed a fatal flaw for the soldiers following behind him - their cover was gone.

Almost at the same time that Wei Ran pulled the trigger at the side steel plate of the earth tank diagonally in front of him, a Lewis machine gun not far away also opened fire, covering the soldiers in front of Wei Ran who had lost their cover with dense bullets.

It was not until this time that the driver of the small tank finally realized what was happening and stopped the tank, and then tried to steer the tank backwards.

"Click"

Wei Ran loaded the rifle in his hand with the third bullet, aimed at the observation window of the small tank that was close at hand, and pulled the trigger.

"boom!"

A provocative and crisp gunshot was heard, and Wei Ran loaded the bullet into the gun as quickly as possible, aiming at the top of the tank and getting ready.

"Yanlin!"

Wei Ran shouted, "Shoot at the observation window of the tank in front of me! Keep shooting!"

"it is good!"

Yu Yanlin next to him responded immediately, moved the muzzle of the gun towards the observation window of the small tank which was less than a hundred meters away, and pulled the trigger.

After this yet another provocation, the driver of the little tank finally decided to do something!

There is no point in retreating or advancing at this time, he needs to activate the machine gun of this tank!

"boom!"

Almost at the moment when he moved sideways into the arms of the corpse next to him and accidentally exposed half of his head, Wei Ran decisively pulled the trigger and clearly saw the blood mist brought about by the bullet impact.

"Hit something else!"

Wei Ran shouted in Chinese to remind Yu Yanlin. At the same time, he moved the muzzle of the gun slightly and pulled the trigger again at the earth tank that was still moving slowly towards the trench line.

Of course, he was not the only one firing at the tanks. Under the concentrated fire of so many forces, the rest of the tanks also became silent one after another.

At this time, the distance between the two sides had been shortened to within 100 meters. Under the machine gun fire, most of the enemies that rushed up chose to lie on the ground. The few who hid behind the tank bunkers threw Spanish or Italian grenades towards the positions here.

Aiming at the gap in the chassis of the tank in front of him, Wei Ran pulled the trigger again, pushing the last bullet in his body into the magazine, and shouted, "Yanlin! How many bullets do you have left?!"

"There's only what's left in the gun!" Yu Yanlin said, and pulled the trigger again.

"Don't shoot yet! Leave at least two bullets!" Wei Ran reminded, "Go and search the surrounding corpses! Collect some bullets!"

"it is good!"

Yu Yanlin immediately put down the weapon in his hand, crouched down and ran towards the wounded and dead soldiers not far away, collecting weapons and ammunition that the two of them could use as quickly as possible.

Soon, he brought back a few magazines and handed them to Wei Ran. When he ran back the second time, he had a Spanish imitation MP28 submachine gun in his hand, and in the other hand, he held two grenades.

"Brother Wei, look what I found!" Yu Yanlin ran back and asked.

“Good luck”

While Wei Ran was speaking, he had already taken the Spanish-made barrel grenade and the Polish-made defensive grenade from the other party's hands.

"Do you want to use the flower machine?" Yu Yanlin asked.

"You can keep it for later use."

Wei Ran waved his hand, "Wait until they are close before shooting. Don't hold on to them. Be careful to save bullets. Also, continue to look for bullets now."

"Yes!"

Yu Yanlin responded seriously, then took out the revolver that Wei Ran had given him not long ago and returned it to him. Then, holding the submachine gun, he crouched and ran towards the corpse farther away.

After such a short delay, the enemy on the opposite side began to crawl forward under the cover of the machine guns behind them.

If there is no effective counterattack, trench warfare may have to take place.

"boom!"

After knocking down another soldier who had climbed up under the cover of a machine gun, Wei Ran slightly turned sideways and reloaded the gun chamber with bullets.

At this moment, because of the cover of the small tank not far away, he happened to be in the blind spot of the opposite machine gun, allowing him to attack the enemies diagonally in front of him almost without restriction before those enemies crossed the tank.

Amid the sound of gunfire, he was the first to complete the task of killing at least 10 enemies with hot weapons as required by the return mission. The enemies finally crossed the tanks and began to suppress him and the trenches around him.

Crouching down and hiding back in the trench, Wei Ran threw his rifle aside, picked up a stone and threw it out with force, then immediately pulled out the ring of the Polish defensive grenade, swung his arm and threw it out again with force.

He counted silently for about three seconds, and almost at the same time as the defensive grenade he had just thrown out exploded, he threw out the second grenade again.

At the same time, Yu Yanlin also ran back. At this time, he had a spare magazine for the submachine gun in his hand, and he also took out a second Polish defensive grenade and several additional rifle magazines.

"Give me the grenade!"

As Wei Ran was speaking, he had already stepped back onto the platform. He then saw the enemies who had just stood up being covered by the explosion of the second grenade he had thrown out during the explosion, and then falling to the ground again.

"Don't press the bullet"

Wei Ran urged, "Hold your chopper and your machine gun and get ready. When I tell you to hit, just show up and hit the fan until you miss!"

"it is good!"

Yu Yanlin agreed immediately, and Wei Ran also took out the box gun and adjusted it to the continuous fire mode.

After just a short wait, the enemies climbed up again under the cover of machine guns, and their weapons were changed to grenades.

"beat!"

As Wei Ran spoke, he deliberately slowed down a beat to give the enemies some time to pull out the safety ring of the grenade. Then he put the box gun in his hand flat and fired a fan-shaped shot together with Yu Yanlin, who was only one meter away from him.

After this round of risky and calculated attacks, machine guns suddenly began to suppress them, forcing the two of them to retreat back into the trenches.

"Are you hurt?!"

Wei Ran and Yu Yanlin shouted at each other in unison.

"No!" The two gave each other answers again.

Under the cover of clothes, Wei Ran took out a 20-round magazine from the Long March shoulder pole and replaced it with the box gun. When he was about to stand up, he found a grenade that looked about the same size as a Pulse bottle flying straight in from above his head!

"grass!"

Wei Ran felt a chill run through his head. Without thinking, he grabbed the grenade, which weighed at least a pound, and threw it back almost like a slam dunk!

"boom!"

After the dull explosion, he felt the trench tremble, his ears were buzzing and he could no longer hear any other sound. The soil on the top of the trench behind him was blown up and almost buried him.

Waving at Yu Yanlin who seemed to be shouting something at him, the temporarily deafened Wei Ran staggered around and lay down on the side of the trench that was almost "bursting" due to the explosion, holding the box gun with a 20-round magazine horizontally, and fired another dense fan-shaped fire.

Almost at the same time when his magazine was empty, several Soviet-made T26 tanks drove out from the forest on the other side of the trench behind him and began to fire machine guns across the trench.

Under such close-range crushing, the enemies who had already rushed to the vicinity of the trenches immediately began to retreat in panic.

At the same time, a few T-26 tanks also drove across the simple bridge over the trenches and entered the battlefield.

"Charge! Charge! Charge!" Someone in the distance issued an order to counterattack, and then blew a whistle.

For a moment, all the surviving soldiers in the trench rushed forward with various weapons, led by the tanks.