War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1753 Another Falling Star

After saying goodbye to Yu Yanlin and others, Wei Ran and Aaron followed the soldier out of the post office and climbed onto a Fiat pickup truck with many bullet holes on the cargo bed parked at the door.

After the two of them were seated, the soldier immediately got into the driver's seat, started the car and drove hurriedly towards the south of the city.

"Where did you get your camera?" Without waiting for the car to start moving, Aaron pointed at the Rollei hanging around Wei Ran's neck and asked curiously.

"My Trophy"

Wei Ran smiled and perfunctorily said something, then asked, "What about you? Did you come to Spain as a photographer?"

“I’m just an assistant.”

Aaron sighed, "I had a partner who was a professional journalist, but he died in Pala at the end of last month. He left his camera to me so that I can continue filming and fighting here."

Aaron pulled out a 1911 pistol from the leather holster on his waist and shook it. “My hands were originally used to hold weapons, but now I am more likely to fight with a camera.”

"Silver halide film is more powerful and lasting than bullets at certain times"

Wei Ran changed to a comfortable position and leaned against the back of the cab. He took out a cigarette box and lit one. While handing the cigarette to the other party, he asked, "You and your partner, did you take a lot of negatives?"

"certainly"

Aaron said as he took off his backpack and pulled out a film album that Wei Ran was very familiar with. He handed it over, "These are the photos we took before, but after my partner died, the film developing chemicals he was carrying were destroyed, and the photos I took after that haven't been developed yet."

As he spoke, Aaron opened his backpack and showed Wei Ran the films that had been packed into sealed tubes. "Thanks to my partner who taught me how to use the camera on the way here, I have taken a lot of photos. I just need to wait for a chance to develop them."

"Can I take a look?" Wei Ran asked, shaking the film album that the other party had just handed to him.

"Of course, I gave them all to you," Aaron said, "but most of them were taken by my partner."

Hearing this, Wei Ran opened the film album which could no longer be opened in later generations.

With the help of the still bright sunlight, he could clearly see that the images captured in these films were almost all of busy internationalist fighters.

The protagonists of these negatives were just like the ones he had seen during the days he entered this historical fragment, including men, women, young people and old people.

Some of them were holding weapons, while others were carrying out logistical work.

Some people were still alive when they were photographed, while others had already become complete or not-so-complete corpses when they were photographed.

"The first picture I took with his camera was of his dead body"

Aaron took the photo album handed over by Wei Ran and said, "At first I didn't even know what I should take pictures of. He told me that it would be enough to just take pictures of everything I saw in this anti-French war.

Then I took his camera and took the photo of his body."

"What's his name?" Wei Ran asked.

"Neil"

Aaron brought the Leica camera hanging around his neck closer and pointed to the etched signature. “Neil Mangione. He’s from Manhattan.”

"Is he a professional journalist?" Wei Ran continued to ask.

“He’s not a journalist.”

Aaron lit up a cigarette and replied, "He runs a photo studio, and I run a grocery store next door to him. I don't know how I would tell his wife about what happened to him if I could make it back alive."

"I don't know either"

Wei Ran shook his head and then took a big puff of the cigarette. There would never be a perfect answer to this question.

Next, the two of them tacitly changed the topic and talked about various speculations about the 12th Brigade.

As they chatted and Aaron made an overly optimistic guess, the car drove straight to the south of the city and eventually drove into a camp.

Unfortunately, to Wei Ran's disappointment, although the two of them came to act as translators, they did not get the opportunity to enter the headquarters. Instead, one was assigned to the Garibaldi Camp, which was mainly composed of Italian and Spanish volunteers, and the other was assigned to the André Marti Camp, which was mainly composed of French and Belgian volunteers.

Although the two were separated, their work was highly similar - following the front-line troops and being responsible for the translation and delivery of orders.

It is hard to say whether this job is good or bad. The work of Wei Ran assigned to the Garibaldi Camp is simple. He only needs to stay next to the telephone and the signalman and be ready to help with translation at any time.

"Welcome to join us"

The female communications soldier who became Wei Ran's partner shook hands with him enthusiastically and said in German, "I'm Robin, Robin Sink, from the Netherlands."

"Wei Ran, from China. Of course, you can call me Victor."

Wei Ran held the other person's hand, shook it gently, and then let go immediately, "You speak German very well."

“I also speak Belgian and some common French”

Robin, who was probably no more than 30 years old, introduced himself, "I'm a German teacher. What about you, Victor? Do you know Spanish or Italian?"

"Of course, I know all of these."

Wei Ran nodded, "I'm here to translate."

"Thank God" Robin breathed a sigh of relief.

"Is there a shortage of translators here?" Wei Ran asked curiously - even though he knew the answer.

“Very short of”

Robin said, "Whether uploading or issuing orders, we need to switch between many languages. Especially during combat, timely translation is needed."

"So this is our job?" Wei Ran asked.

"That's right"

Robin nodded. "Victor, have you ever been in a battle? If not, then you..."

“Participated”

Wei Ran answered without waiting for the other party to finish, "I participated in the battles in Forest Park and Carabanchel a few days ago."

Hearing this, Robin breathed a sigh of relief and said seriously, "I don't know when the battle will happen, but you must survive. Only if we are alive can we convey orders clearly and in a timely manner. This is more important than anything else."

"Do not worry"

Wei Ran agreed with a smile, then raised the camera hanging around his neck and asked, "Robin, I was a postman before I became a translator, so do you want me to take a photo of you? When I have a chance to develop it, you may be able to send it back home."

Hearing this, Robin was stunned for a moment, and her eyes turned red, but soon she wiped her eyes and said, "Please take a picture for me."

"What's wrong with you?" Wei Ran asked cautiously.

"fine"

Robin shook her head and accidentally shed a tear. Finally, she sighed and said, "The last person who worked as a translator was my husband. He died not long ago. If..." Robin sighed regretfully, "If only we had a camera at that time, we could take a group photo."

"Feel sorry."

Wei Ran stood up and took a few steps back, "I'm late."

Hearing this, Robin's tears fell like beads from a broken string. She covered her mouth with her hands and curled up in the chair.

But soon, she tried to sit up straight, wiped the tears from her face, and gave a bright smile filled with sadness to the camera lens raised by Wei Ran.

Before he could put down the camera, the magnetic telephone next to him rang urgently. Robin immediately picked up the phone, made some brief responses in German, then hung up the phone and ran out.

"Will you survive? Will you be the three-pointed star on that flag?"

Wei Ran looked at the other person's hurried back and muttered something to himself, then sat in the seat the other person had just sat in, quietly guarding the magnetic telephone that could ring at any time.

This afternoon, Wei Ran's only job was to stay in this bunker and wait to answer the phone. Together with Robin, he ran in and out from time to time to convey various orders.

It was also from these orders conveyed by himself that he confirmed the accuracy of the historical archive records of later generations - the 12th Brigade would launch an attack on Angel Hill in the south of the city tomorrow.

During most of the day's intense preparations, night fell and was dispelled by dawn. Early in the morning of the 12th, the 12th Brigade issued an attack order.

"attack!"

Following orders issued in Italian by the commander of the front line and translated by Wei Ran, the 12th International Brigade began its operation.

For a moment, the not-so-many artillery pieces in the distance began to roar and suppress, and those fearless soldiers also began to rush towards the positions on the hilltop.

Even Wei Ran and Robin rushed out of the bunker following a political commissar.

"Da da da--!"

The machine guns of the National Army on the top of the mountain began to roar, and the mortars also smashed down from above with terrifying whistles.

"careful!"

Wei Ran grabbed Robin with one hand and the Belgian political commissar with the other and threw them to the ground. He almost forcibly dragged them behind a rock to avoid the machine gun fire.

"Suppress! Suppress that machine. Boom!"

Before Robin could translate the order of the political commissar with his upper body stretched out into German, a shell hit not far from them.

"cough"

The political commissar coughed up a mouthful of blood and tried with difficulty to touch the shrapnel that had penetrated his body through his neck. However, before he could touch the wound, he fell to the ground with a thump.

"Suppress! Suppress the machine gun!"

Robin shouted in German the commissar's last order, then picked up the submachine gun that the commissar had used before and pulled the trigger at the machine gun position on the top of the mountain.

He hurriedly raised his camera and pressed the shutter towards Robin and the political commissar whose name he had not yet asked. Wei Ran looked around, and while the machine gun was not continuing to fire at them, he suddenly jumped out of the bunker and ran a few steps diagonally towards the top of the mountain. He bent down and picked up a rifle next to a corpse.

Before the machine gun opened fire at him, Wei Ran dove and hid behind another rock that was half buried in the dirt, curling up his body.

Objectively speaking, hiding behind rocks on the battlefield is by no means a safe or wise choice. Whether it is bullets or artillery shells, the energy and destructive power of the fragments splashed on the rocks are no less than those of bullets.

But at this time the enemy had the advantage of height, and these rugged rocks were their only shelter.

Curling up with his body and covering his head, Wei Ran endured the suppression of the machine gun on his hiding place. He touched his shoulder where the wound was cut by the gravel, and then looked at the weapon he had just picked up.

This is a K11 rifle made in Switzerland, which is the predecessor model of the later famous K31 rifle.

After opening the straight-pull bolt halfway and taking a look, Wei Ran adjusted the sight and then carefully adjusted the position.

A moment later, he suddenly leaned forward, aimed at the machine gun on the top of the mountain that was suppressing the enemy, and pulled the trigger.

"boom!"

After the clean and crisp gunshot, Wei Ran didn't even have time to change bullets, and ran to another place diagonally above that could barely serve as a cover.

"Crack!"

Wei Ran gripped the orange-red bolt handle and loaded a bullet, ready to continue looking for an opportunity, but he discovered that in just a short while, Robin had already issued an order to attack, and rushed towards the top of the hill with a submachine gun in hand!

"Come back quickly!"

Wei Ran realized that something was wrong and couldn't help but shout. Then he didn't care about the danger, stood up, raised his gun, and pulled the trigger again at the machine gun position!

"boom!"

After another gunshot, the machine gun that was about to fire again fell silent again.

However, even so, Wei Ran still failed to save Robin, who was less than 10 meters away from him.

Amid the despairing and terrifying whistle, a mortar shell hit Robin's other side, and she was hit by the shock wave and fell to the ground, rolling like a discarded rag doll.

“Da da da da—!”

Just at this moment, the machine gun on the hilltop pulled the trigger towards Wei Ran, and he had to curl up his body and hug his head again.

After a moment, the machine gun suppression shifted to other directions, and he rushed out, grabbed Robin's belt and pulled him back, then pressed him under him and protected him with his body.

“Da da da da—!”

The machine gun began to suppress their position again, and the flying debris hit Wei Ran's back, causing waves of burning pain.

"boom!"

Immediately afterwards, a mortar shell hit around them, and the raised soil fell down with a crash, almost burying both of them.

Finally, the machine gun on the top of the mountain lost interest in his location, and Wei Ran finally had the chance to see how Robin was doing.

But after just one glance, he sighed. One of the female soldier's legs had been blown off and her chest had collapsed.

"I heard that you are a postman."

Robin had an expectant smile on his face, and he reached into his pocket with difficulty, weakly pulling out a folded envelope.

However, before the letter was handed to Wei Ran, Robin's eyes had lost their luster, and the hand she had raised with difficulty holding the envelope fell down weakly.

"I'll deliver the letter for you."

Wei Ran sighed, took out his camera and took a picture of the other party, then turned around and pressed the shutter button towards the soldiers who were charging from the foot of the mountain to the top of the mountain.

Putting away the camera, Wei Ran reached out and took the envelope from Robin's hand, then in the rising white light, he took off the triangle star on her collar.

She finally turned into a star on the tricolor flag.