War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1760 Dreams and Fog

When the white light faded again, before Wei Ran had time to see everything around him clearly, he smelled the rich aroma of coffee, felt the bumps under his butt, and heard the Internationale sung in various languages ​​by people around him.

When his vision returned to normal, the first thing he saw was a smallest kerosene lamp hanging above his head, and then he noticed that he was hiding in the cargo bed of a truck with a tarpaulin.

He could see clearly with the light from the swaying oil lamp hanging above his head.

Beside him, Joseph was using the coffee pot that originally belonged to Clermont to extract coffee into a German lunch box.

On the other side, Yu Yanlin was holding the harmonica that had also belonged to Clement, and was playing the accompaniment for the chorus of the Internationale in the carriage, while he also held a harmonica in his own hand.

Before he could put the harmonica to his lips, the song had already finished its last sentence. Joseph had already put down the coffee pot that had completed the extraction work, and handed the German lunch box containing espresso to Wei Ran.

Just as Joseph turned off the heating lamp and put away the coffee pot, Yu Yanlin next to him also put away his harmonica, then picked up a bottle of milk and poured it into the German kettle.

Before he had finished pouring the food, Joseph took out a small medicine bottle, unscrewed it, and poured all the sugar inside into the kettle. Then he took out a spoon from his bag, took the lunch box and stirred it vigorously.

"One cup per person"

Joseph spoke in much more fluent French, while holding an eggshell cup in one hand, he poured an equal amount of half a cup into each of the various cups that were handed over to him.

Dividing the remaining small cup into three equal parts, Joseph raised his glass and said, "Let's wish Louis a happy birthday."

"Happy Birthday!" Many international brigade soldiers in the truck bed raised various cups in cheers.

"Thank you, thank you."

Yu Yanlin said gratefully in French, then switched back to his native language and said, "Actually, today is not my birthday at all."

"no?"

"Of course not, I celebrate my birthday according to the lunar calendar."

Yu Yanlin said, "My birthday is on the third day of the first lunar month, which is still 40 days away. But how can I explain our lunar calendar to them?"

"Have you been counting the days?"

Wei Ran asked subconsciously, and at the same time he learned the exact time from this "complaint", January 1937, 1.

“I’ve been counting the days.”

Yu Yanlin took a sip of coffee and said, "I count the days on my fingers. Ever since I came to study abroad, I have been doing this every year, counting the days of Chinese New Year, Spring Festival, Qingming Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, and Mid-Autumn Festival."

"Are you homesick?" Wei Ran asked.

"Yeah, how can I miss home?"

Yu Yanlin stared at the cup in his hand in a daze. "Yesterday I dreamed that I went home. I dreamed that Chuncai, my mother, and my sister-in-law were steaming rice cakes and making glutinous rice balls together. I dreamed that my father was cleaning fish. I also dreamed that my brother brought back a lot of candies with a few younger brothers and asked me to prepare to put up couplets."

"return"

Wei Ran paused, "What else did you dream about?"

“I still dream about it.”

Yu Yanlin smiled and shook his head. "You definitely don't believe me. I also dreamed that the Japanese were driven away. Even the foreign concessions were gone. I dreamed that my brother piled up the heads of the Japanese soldiers into a huge Jingguan by the Huangpu River, and there were reporters taking pictures of him."

"What else did you dream about?" Wei Ran asked.

"I still dreamt"

Yu Yanlin was smiling as he spoke. "I dreamed that Chuncai went to study abroad with me in the United States. Aaron hosted us. Do you still remember Aaron?"

"Remember," Wei Ran nodded.

“He even took a photo of us.”

Yu Yanlin couldn't stop smiling, "I also dreamed that I went to Antarctica with Chuncai, and saw the stinky penguins you told me about before, and I also braised a lot of penguin paws as you said.

When I turned around, a large plate of penguin paws was served on the New Year's Eve dinner table, and everyone was there.

You were there, Clement was there, Aaron and Joseph were there, Sergey and Viola were there, you remember them, don’t you?”

"I remember. How could I not remember?" Wei Ran smiled.

"In the dream, there were several tables in our house, and each one was full of people. My father also prepared the best food."

Having said that, Yu Yanlin, who was originally planning to continue speaking, buried his head in his arms - he missed home, and at this time, for the Chinese, they had to go home no matter what.

After drinking the sweet and milky coffee in the cup, Wei Ran shook his head at Joseph and others who were looking at him. Then he felt around his body, took out a pack of cigarettes and distributed it to everyone.

“Your dream.”

Wei Ran lit a cigarette, leaned back on the railing, took a puff of it with great satisfaction, and said in between puffs of smoke, "A lot of things can be realized. You can definitely go back for a reunion dinner, and the Japanese devils can definitely be driven away.

The foreign concessions are gone, and I don’t know if your brother can build a Jingguan, but if I have the chance, I will definitely build one for you, right by the Huangpu River.”

He saw that Yu Yanlin had raised his head and was looking at him with red eyes.

Wei Ran took another puff of his cigarette and continued speaking in Chinese that only the other party could understand, "After the war is won, you can take Chuncai to study abroad. Go to the United States, go anywhere you want, even to Antarctica."

“It’s just a thought.”

Yu Yanlin wiped his eyes carelessly, "How can there be such an opportunity?"

"Why not?" Wei Ran said confidently, "There must be a chance."

"Let's consider this after we've driven away all the Fasuis."

Yu Yanlin took the cigarette handed to him by Wei Ran and said, "If I am still alive by then, I will definitely take Chuncai to travel around."

"What are you talking about?" Just at this moment, Joseph also joined the topic.

"Let's talk about Louis' dream," Wei Ran said bluntly in Russian, "He misses home."

“I miss home too.”

Joseph said, "I had a dream yesterday, too. It was a good dream."

"What did you dream about?" Wei Ran asked, "Can I use French?"

"certainly"

Joseph changed his voice to French, a language that Yu Yanlin and most of the soldiers in the carriage could understand, and lit a cigarette. "I dreamed that I returned to Minsk, and my wife and children went to the train station to pick me up. They brought me a big bouquet of flowers and a bottle of vodka."

"Uncle Joseph, what else did you dream about?" one of the young soldiers asked in German-accented French.

“I also dreamed about Comrade Stalin”

Joseph pointed to his chest and said, "He also pinned a medal on me here."

"What kind of medal is it?" another young soldier asked, this time even speaking authentic Russian.

"Medal of Vodka"

Joseph blinked and said in French, "Comrade Stalin said that I drank too much medicinal alcohol secretly, so he awarded me a vodka medal."

After saying this, the carriage was once again filled with laughter. "I also had a dream yesterday."

A soldier that Wei Ran had never seen before said, "I dreamed that I became a hero. The mayor of our town not only wanted to erect a statue for me in the square, but also wanted to marry his daughter to me. Then I woke up in shock."

"Isn't this a good thing?" a soldier nearby asked in confusion.

“It’s a good thing indeed”

The dreaming soldier said helplessly, "And the mayor's daughter is very beautiful and a very well-educated lady."

"Then what are you afraid of?"

“My wife wouldn’t agree.”

The dreaming soldier said helplessly, "I was just dreaming. She has already come into my dream with an axe in her hand and wants to kill me."

Amidst the breathless laughter, the soldiers in the carriage also had something to talk about, and they were discussing enthusiastically the dreams they had each had.

"Do you miss home too?" Wei Ran asked Joseph who was distracted.

The old soldier was holding an Orthodox cross in his hand, and also a small photo.

In addition to a woman of similar age to Joseph, the photo also features a young man who looks about the same age as Yu Yanlin.

"I miss home and them."

Joseph smiled and handed the photo to Wei Ran, "This is my wife Dasha, and this is our son Ivan. He is 19 years old this year and is already a member of the Communist Youth League."

"He's an excellent young man," Wei Ran praised.

"When I left home, he already had a girlfriend."

Joseph smiled, took the photo Wei Ran handed back and stuffed it into his arms, "When I go back, maybe they will already have children."

"They will definitely wait for you to come back before holding the wedding," said Wei Ran.

"I had a quarrel with them when I left," Joseph said regretfully, "I shouldn't have quarreled with them."

"Because why?" Wei Ran asked.

"They don't want me to come to Spain," Joseph said without hiding anything, "They are worried that I will die here."

“But you still came.”

"I came here secretly"

Joseph smiled awkwardly, "Don't laugh at them, they are just worried that I will die here, they..."

"will not"

Wei Ran said seriously, "No one has the right to laugh at our family. Whether they support us or not, we are still here."

"I've been dreaming about them a lot lately," Joseph sighed, "I wonder how they are doing."

"Didn't you write to them?" Wei Ran asked.

"no"

Joseph shook his head. "My letter has never been sent. I know very well that if I send it back, Dasha will definitely come here according to the address, and then my child Ivan will also come here.

I'm selfish at this point, I don't want them to come here, they don't know what it's like on the battlefield, they'll be scared."

Before Wei Ran could say anything else, the truck creaked to a stop, and the small oil lamp hanging above it began to sway violently. Then, everyone heard the whistle for assembly.

"Waking up from a dream"

Yu Yanlin said as he got up, "It's time for us to fight."

"Yeah, I woke up from the dream."

Joseph, who was no longer young, also stood up and put away his cross. He then handed the horsehair bag containing coffee supplies to Wei Ran, took down the oil lamp hanging above his head and said, "It's time for us to fight."

As they were talking, everyone jumped out of the carriage and into the muddy, cold ground outside the carriage that was shrouded in thick fog.

Just by looking around, Wei Ran determined the location and the battlefield through a slogan. There was a wooden board nailed horizontally on a telephone pole not far away.

Originally, a Spanish place name - Pozuelo - was written on it in white paint.

But now, in front of this place name, there is a red Spanish word "defend".

Defending Pozuelo

Wei Ran stretched out his hand and waved away the thick fog that was everywhere but impossible to grasp. He was now certain that he had been thrown into the Second Battle of Corunna Road.

He could even be more accurate, and what followed was the most brutal battle in the fog.

"Come with me!"

In the thick fog, a man shouted loudly, and the people who had just got off the bus and gathered immediately took a step and walked into the thick fog in a line.

Soon they stopped near a muddy trench and made distribution nearby.

As expected and unexpected, Wei Ran, Yu Yanlin and Joseph were grouped together, but they were not in the muddy trenches. Instead, they were in an inconspicuous barn not far from the trenches and connected to a traffic trench.

This barn is not very big, perhaps it would be more appropriate to call it a "garage".

Whether it is the barn or the garage, in addition to a few beds made of hay bales and blankets on them, there is also a fireplace, which makes the room much warmer.

"This is our field emergency room and also the post office's delivery office."

The soldier who brought them here introduced them, "Comrade postman, you also serve as stretcher bearers."

"No problem," Wei Ran and Yu Yanlin responded in unison, and together with Joseph, they raised their hands to salute and send off the soldier who brought them here.

"The postman's job is really a jack of all trades," Joseph joked with a smile.

"We have transported wounded people before. There were children there. Have you forgotten?" Yu Yanlin said as he took off his backpack and placed it on a bed in the corner.

"Remember"

Joseph said, "And from then on you had a camera in your hand and you would take pictures all the time."

“Aaron left it to me.”

As Yu Yanlin spoke, he had already taken out the Leica camera from his bag and hung it around his neck.

At the same time, Wei Ran took off the horsehair bag he was carrying and opened it on a simple bed next to Yu Yanlin.

The bag still contains the same set of coffee utensils as well as the matching fuel pot and coffee can.

You don't even need to open it, just by looking at the weight you can tell that what they just drank was probably the last cup of coffee they had in the car.

Before he could use the backpack to take out the camera, they heard the sound of gunfire coming faintly from the thick fog outside the room in the distance.

The battle in the thick fog has begun.