War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1763 Fighting for Your and My Freedom

When the white light faded again, Wei Ran regained control of his body amidst uncontrollable trembling.

He subconsciously touched the place where he was shot in the chest, and then touched the leg that was broken by Bai Guang before, but he couldn't help but shiver again.

He had a strong premonition that if he had not been able to hold on until the white light faded after the shot just now, he might really die here this time.

Wei Ran took a few deep breaths to calm down, wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, and then he had time to look around himself and his surroundings.

At this time, he was still wearing the smelly clothes, but he had a Spanish Mauser with a bayonet in his hand, and a few grenades of different models on his waist.

And around him, apart from the thick fog, there were soldiers of the International Brigade lying or crouching on the ground.

Looking around, he didn't see any familiar faces, and he didn't even know what was waiting for him in the thick fog ahead. He only knew that the most important thing at this time was to keep quiet.

After waiting for a moment, the soldier in front carefully got up, bent over with his weapon in hand, and continued to move forward slowly.

Seeing this, Wei Ran also got up, followed with his weapon, and was always ready to lie down again. Inexplicably, he thought of the game of statues, but at the same time he tried to keep a distance from the surrounding soldiers.

As the muddy soles of boots and the withered, damp, and cold grass embraced and parted again and again, the person in front stopped again. Seeing this, Wei Ran immediately lay down again.

As luck would have it, next to where he lay was a dead body, a young National Army soldier who looked to have been dead for three or four days.

Is it

Just by taking a look at the corpse whose valuables had been stripped away, Wei Ran already had a rough guess in his mind.

Just at this moment, the fierce roar of a machine gun suddenly sounded in front of him. Wei Ran almost subconsciously lay down on the ground and hid behind the corpse - even though he knew that the corpse could not block the machine gun bullets at all.

This round of firing from the unknown enemy did cause casualties, and short screams were heard in the fog.

But this scream was like a signal. All of a sudden, intensive gunfire came from the front, and Wei Ran could even clearly hear the whistle of the mortar.

But at this time, the soldiers around him did not move. All of them lay down on the damp and cold dry grass, trying their best to lower their bodies to avoid the bullets that were flying almost past their heads.

At the same time, more soldiers were crawling towards them.

During this agonizing wait, time passed by minute by minute, and the enemies in the thick fog gradually quieted down. For a moment, the only sounds in the thick fog were the wailing of the injured but not dead.

After waiting for a while, the people in front of Wei Ran slowly stood up, either holding up their submachine guns or pulling out the rings of grenades.

Seeing this, Wei Ran immediately put his rifle in place, took out the box gun, pulled the trigger and loaded the bullets, then put it away, and also took out a grenade and prepared himself.

As the team walked a few steps forward, we saw more and more corpses along the way. Among these corpses were those of the National Army, the Republican Army, and a large number of soldiers from the International Brigade.

Suddenly, the person in front waved to the back, and the people behind immediately came over.

One of them shook the grenade in his hand and then held up three fingers.

Seeing this, the people around who were holding grenades immediately made preparations, and those who were holding submachine guns lay on the ground.

Under the gaze of everyone, the person who gave the order changed the number of fingers from three to two, and then to one.

The moment he clenched his fist, everyone, including himself, swung their arms and threw the grenade out.

Without waiting for the grenade to explode, everyone immediately pulled the ring of the second grenade and threw it out.

"Da da da!"

Before the first grenade exploded, the roar of a machine gun was heard from the opposite side. Wei Ran quickly lay down on the ground and watched several soldiers not far to the right side of his body fall to the ground.

"boom!"

Just at this moment, the first wave of grenades exploded, and the counterattack from the positions on the other side of the thick fog also showed a brief gap.

In just this short period of time, those who fell down first got up and rushed out with submachine guns in hand!

"Boom!" The moment the second wave of grenades exploded, Wei Ran also followed the surviving soldiers around him and ran forward.

Along the way, the ground was almost covered with complete or incomplete corpses. He couldn't help but step on the corpses again and again, and almost fell down again and again. However, the sound of fierce gunfire in front of him made him dare not stop at all.

He didn't know how many times these soldiers had charged, but he knew that any hesitation or retreat at this time would only turn him into a corpse.

Rush over and into the enemy's trench, this is the only possibility of survival!

Stepping over a corpse lying on the barbed wire, Wei Ran finally saw a winding trench and soldiers from both sides fighting inside and outside the trench.

"Da da da--"

He pointed his gun at a trench and pulled the trigger while running. While he emptied the magazine, his other hand had already taken out a grenade.

After putting away the gun and pulling out the pull ring, he threw the grenade into the thick fog. However, he did not stop, but jumped across the trench and replaced the magazine for the box gun.

Until this time, he had completely confirmed that this was the position that Bai Guang had captured before - Pozuelo!

And now, they're fighting back!

Taking advantage of the cover of thick fog, Wei Ran lay on the edge of a trench, stretched out his box gun, pulled the trigger and fired a series of shots. He then rolled away to distance himself and replaced the last 20-round magazine for the box gun.

He climbed back into the trench and shot dead several soldiers who were shot but not dead. Wei Ran bent down to pick up a submachine gun, almost subconsciously glanced in the direction of the barn, then turned around and began to suppress the enemies in the first trench line.

Amid the piercing sound of gunfire caused by repeated pulling of the trigger, and under the cover of the thick fog, the first trench line was finally successfully opened because of the selfless fighting of the first wave of people who rushed in. Soon after, more and more soldiers rushed in and began to advance backwards along the trenches and communication trenches.

After jumping out of the trenches again and again and engaging in exchanges of fire at the cost of their lives, the second and third trenches were torn apart one after another, and they gradually regained the lost position.

At the same time, Wei Ran finally raised the captured submachine gun and, along with several soldiers working with him, began to advance along the communication trench where the wounded were transported, towards the collapsed barn.

The process was not difficult, and some people had even left the trenches and ran over.

"Da da da"

After once again killing an enemy who was ambushing at the corner, Wei Ran threw away the empty submachine gun, climbed out of the trench with his pistol in hand and rushed towards the collapsed barn.

He didn't know what day it was, but the barn hadn't changed much. Even the skylight he had opened was still the same.

But at this time, someone arrived here before him, it was Yu Yanlin!

"Yanlin!"

Wei Ran called out, and Yu Yanlin, who had already climbed onto the collapsed roof, immediately turned around and ran over while shouting in surprise, "Brother Wei! Great! You're still alive?! I thought it was right, but where's that old Russian? Where's Doctor Joseph?"

"he"

Wei Ran hesitated for a moment and pointed to the collapsed barn. "I'm here to look for him, too."

Yu Yanlin was stunned for a moment, then followed Wei Ran back to the roof of the barn.

"I was sent to seek help that day," Yu Yanlin sighed, "I came back late."

"It's not your fault," Wei Ran said dryly, and crawled in through the skylight he had opened with his own hands.

He knew everything that happened in the barn, but he had no idea what to say to Yu Yanlin at this time.

But in the end, he still followed in.

Walking down along the rafters, when they stepped on the ground of the barn again, they saw Joseph, who was still holding a Nagant revolver in his hand with a bottle of medical alcohol next to him, and the body of the young female stretcher bearer with a red cross armband on her left arm, who was protected behind him.

They also followed the direction Joseph last looked and saw the horsehair backpack hidden in the gap between the hay bales, and also saw a sentence in Russian written in blood on the collapsed beam.

"What did he write?"

Yu Yanlin looked up at the faint light coming from the skylight above his head, and finally took out the camera that once belonged to Aaron from his bag, "I want to take a picture of him, at least to prove that he had fought here."

"Fighting for your freedom and ours"

As Wei Ran spoke, he had already hidden behind Yu Yanlin, and also took out the camera and began to adjust it.

The light here is not very strong, so even though he is a half-baked person, Yu Yanlin has no idea whether he can take any pictures.

But even so, he still raised his camera and carefully framed Joseph, the wounded he had protected until his death, and his last words written in his own blood.

"Click"

The two men pressed the shutter button at the same time. The already faint shutter sounds were drowned out by the ongoing gunfire outside, as if no one knew that there were two soldiers lying under the ruins.

Carefully wrapping the camera in a towel and putting it in the bag, Yu Yanlin crawled through the gap with difficulty and pulled out the horsehair bag stuffed between the hay bales.

“We agreed to have coffee together.”

Yu Yanlin sighed as he gently patted the loose dirt and grass stems off the bag.

Wei Ran opened his mouth, but he didn't know what to say. He just raised his camera silently and pressed the shutter towards Yu Yanlin. He was also unsure if he could take any photos in such a dim environment. While he waited patiently, Yu Yanlin finally opened the horsehair backpack and found the letter and the triangle star that Joseph had placed in the coffee can.

After stuffing the two things into his arms, Yu Yanlin put the backpack away and handed it to Wei Ran, "You should carry it. We should leave here."

"Where are we going?" Wei Ran asked as he took the backpack.

“Go to the battle”

Yu Yanlin said as he climbed up, "Counting in Joseph's share, fighting for your freedom and mine."

"Go, go."

Wei Ran said as he put on his backpack and followed the other party as he climbed out, "Fight for your freedom and mine."

“Maybe one day I will die on this battlefield.”

Yu Yanlin said without turning his head, "People we know and are familiar with have died one after another. I think I will be dead soon too."

"Don't say discouraging words," Wei Ran stopped him.

“Not too discouraging”

Yu Yanlin stopped climbing and said, "Brother Wei, if...if I die in battle, please send my letter back to me. Also, keep my pendant for me. When you return, please find a convenient time to deliver it to Chuncai for me."

"I don't care about this matter. I'll send you off."

"If Chuncai is married when you find her, just find a pond and throw her away. If she is not married, tell her that I am dead and ask her not to wait for me."

"What if I die before you?" Wei Ran asked.

"Life and Death"

Yu Yanlin became more relaxed and said, "Let's go. Don't waste time here."

As he spoke, Yu Yanlin had already crawled out from the gap in the roof.

Turning his head to look at Joseph's body at his feet, Wei Ran took a deep breath, then climbed out of the gap in the roof that he had opened with his own hands, and then was suddenly enveloped by a thick white light.

"Who should go next, Yu Yanlin or Clement?"

Wei Ran sighed worriedly. These were all predictable, but he was also powerless to stop them.

While he was daydreaming, the white light gradually faded away. This time he didn't hear any movement at all. Instead, he felt hungry and cold.

When his eyesight returned, Wei Ran even breathed more slowly. He didn't know where he was, but it was a cold night, and he was hiding in a corner of a ruined wall, wearing a Soviet cloak.

The only thing that was noticeable in the field of vision at this moment was the bonfire lit in the ruins of a room not far away, the food on the bonfire, and even the National Army soldiers chatting around the bonfire.

Looking at himself again, he finally wore a set of International Brigade uniforms this time, and he was wearing a pair of relatively warm marching boots. He seriously suspected that these boots and cloaks were the same set in the metal book.

Now is obviously not the time to delve into this. Wei Ran couldn't help but swallow his saliva. He was hungry, as hungry as if he had just been thrown from Leningrad.

He knew that this must be the work of that living ancestor, whose purpose was to make him do something to the National Army surrounding the bonfire in the distance.

After taking out several pistols from the metal notebook and checking them one by one, Wei Ran couldn't help but curse inwardly.

This time, there were no bullets in these guns, and there were no other weapons around him. Instead, he was still carrying the slightly cumbersome horsehair bag on his back inside his cloak.

After changing to the Mauser bayonet and rubbing it casually on the broken wall, Wei Ran put it away again. Then he patiently observed the surroundings and carefully moved towards the bonfire.

As the distance got closer, he first smelled the aroma of food, and then heard a weak scream.

Instead of rushing in, Wei Ran endured the hunger in his stomach and walked around the campfire.

This ruined building was a suite-like structure. The bonfire was outside and was being guarded by three National Army soldiers.

The suite behind them had no windows, and the screams came from inside.

But what particularly concerned Wei Ran was that not far from the bonfire, there was a bicycle with a parcel hanging on it.

The three National Army soldiers were tearing open the envelopes one by one, looking at them for a few seconds, and then throwing them into the campfire at random.

"I'm the postman this time, you guys are going too far by destroying my job."

Wei Ran muttered like a neurotic. After looking around, he reached out and rubbed his hand on a carbonized wood, and then rubbed it on his face.

This was not the end. He then carefully walked to the side, picked up a brown wine bottle and put it under his armpit, then walked straight towards the bonfire.

"Can I go over and warm up?"

From a distance, Wei Ran asked in Spanish, "If possible, I just got a bottle of red wine from a Soviet man, we can drink it together."

"come on"

The three National Army soldiers responded immediately, "You are lucky, is this cloak also lucky?"

"Of course!"

Wei Ran walked over and handed the bottle to one of them and said, "I also got a few sausages from him. I want to borrow your campfire to roast them."

"puff!"

Before the other party could take the bottle of wine, a bayonet had already pierced through the cloak and stabbed straight into the neck of the soldier who was sitting by the fire.

"Cook these sausages so you don't have to go hungry tonight."

While saying the second half of the sentence, Wei Ran kicked another soldier next to him in the ribs, and the hand that was originally holding the bayonet was now holding a box gun without any bullets and pointing it at the third soldier.

"Don't worry, I'll give you a few."

Wei Ran waited for the soldier to raise his hand before continuing to speak passionately in Spanish. At the same time, he pulled out the bayonet with his right hand and stabbed it into the soldier's chest through the cloak again.

Pulling out the bayonet again, Wei Ran glanced at their weapons, picked up an MP28 submachine gun, checked it carefully, and then walked into the inner room.

In this room whose windows were blocked by bricks and wooden boards, there was a not-so-bright kerosene lamp hanging.

By the light of the oil lamp, he could see that a man in the uniform of the International Brigade was tied to a chair, with several forks stuck in his legs.

There were two people in the room with their backs to Wei Ran. One of them was holding a fork and knife in his hand, and the other was using a lighter to light the cigarette in his mouth.

"puff!"

Wei Ran didn't bother to talk nonsense. He walked in and stabbed the enemy holding the fork in the back with his bayonet. Then he kicked the side of the knee of the man who was lighting the cigarette.

"Kacha!"

With a crisp sound, the leg of the man who lit the cigarette was bent at the knee to an angle that ordinary people could not achieve. He inevitably tilted his body sideways into Wei Ran's arms.

"Crack!"

Wei Ran hugged the man's head and covered his mouth. He even had the leisure to clamp the cigarette he had just lit, and then he twisted it hard to break his spine.

"puff"

It was not until this time that the enemy who had been stabbed in the back fell to the ground, and the fork in his hand fell all over the floor with a clatter.

Putting the lit cigarette into his mouth and taking a puff, Wei Ran picked up the kerosene lamp on the table and looked at the prisoner.

However, when he raised the other person's scarred face, he couldn't help but be stunned. This person was none other than Clemont!

"Vivian. Am I. dreaming?" Clemont, who seemed to be a little unconscious, asked weakly.

"I'll take you out of here first."

As Wei Ran spoke, he turned around and pulled out the fur bayonet from the back of the corpse, then cut the rope tied to Clemont.

However, before he could pull the rope free, footsteps and conversations in Spanish were heard outside the door!

(End of this chapter)