War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1765 The Postman's Letter

In the warm machine gun barricade bunker, as Wei Ran pulled out the engineer shovel, the space was filled with an overly strong smell of blood.

After shaking off the blood on the shovel and taking back the metal notebook, Wei Ran turned around and pulled out the bayonet that was stuck in the chest of the corpse behind him and put it back.

Wei Ran leaned over to the broken wall blocked by the bed and listened for a moment, then carefully opened a gap and looked outside, then heaved a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, there was no fire next door, and the house was collapsed and the ground was in a mess, so naturally there was no one there.

Turning around, he drew aside the curtain and invited Yu Yanlin and the others in. Wei Ran turned over the bodies and their backpacks as quickly as possible.

Fortunately, he found several crucial first aid kits. Although these kits only contained gauze and sulfa powder, they were already good enough.

"Rebandage him"

While Wei Ran was handing them the first aid kits, he also collected the weapons and ammunition from the corpses.

In addition to two submachine guns, he also found a box gun and a Nagant revolver that was seized from someone unknown, as well as a lot of bullets.

"Here's a handy one for you."

As Yu Yanlin spoke, he pulled out an Astra 400 pistol from his arms and handed it to Armani. He then picked up a relatively bulky box gun and put it on his waist.

Seeing this, Wei Ran also handed the Nagant revolver to Hanika, and then loaded his own box gun and Nagant revolver with bullets.

Finally, he filled the empty kettle with hot water, and Wei Ran placed a grenade under the water tank of the Maxim machine gun, under the bricks pressing down the door curtain, and under the three corpses.

Without much delay, he carefully moved the bed board that was blocking the damaged wall, and took Yu Yanlin and the other two out of this warm but bloody bunker.

Under his cautious leadership, this team with almost no combat effectiveness carefully groped their way through dilapidated rooms and dark alleys in the dark, and finally arrived at the second intersection.

The situation here was much more dangerous than before. From what he could see, there was a shooting hole on the second floor of a building diagonally opposite, with a faint red light coming through it.

Similarly, on the first floor across the road to the right of his building, there was a room with a window blocked by bricks, and light was shining through the gaps between the bricks.

What was even more terrible was that there was also a faint fire on the second floor of the building they were going to, across the road. They could even hear the faint snoring coming from the second floor above their heads!

I moved to the back of the building and went out along the damaged area to take a look. There was a building facing the intersection, and there were also faint flames on the second and first floors.

“We’re going to take a risk.”

Wei Ran whispered, "Amani, Hanika, take off your nurse aprons. They are too conspicuous in the night. You can't carry Clermont across the street. You have to carry the bamboo pole as if you were carrying a gun. But you have to be faster and don't run."

"it is good"

Amani and Hanika responded in a low voice, and hurriedly took off the white nurse aprons that symbolized their status as medical staff.

"Yanlin, you carry Clement on your back later." Wei Ran said in a low voice, "I'll go first."

"it is good"

Yu Yanlin said, carrying Clemont on his back, "After passing this intersection, keep going forward. When you reach the next intersection, you will see a barricade. If it has not been captured, we will be safe after passing through the barricade."

"be prepared"

Wei Ran whispered some instructions, then carefully walked out of the ruins of the building and onto the street that was littered with broken bricks and corpses and covered with a layer of snow.

Continuing to walk forward, Wei Ran finally arrived at the other side of the road and slipped into the dim first floor. There was a stairwell here with a staircase leading directly upstairs. There was a half-open wooden door on the wall next to it leading to the next room.

Gently opening the wooden door and taking a look inside, Wei Ran retreated the same way he came and waved to Yu Yanlin and others across the road.

After receiving the signal, Amani and Hanika were so nervous that they walked over, each carrying a bamboo pole. At the same time, Yu Yanlin also walked across the road carrying Clement on his back.

One meter, two meters, three meters. Just as the four of them were about to cross the street, a column of water filled with the smell of urine suddenly poured down from the second floor of the building behind them.

broken!

Wei Ran immediately raised his pistol.

"Who are you!" the man peeing by the window suddenly shouted in Spanish.

Before Wei Ran could open his mouth to fool them, Yu Yanlin and the other two ran away!

"Bang!" Wei Ran pulled the trigger decisively.

Amid the sharp gunshots, the man who was peeing by the window fell straight down.

"Oh!"

Almost at the same time he landed, Yu Yanlin and others finally ran in.

"Come on!"

Wei Ran greeted them and led them through the half-open wooden door leading to the next room.

“Da da da da da—!”

Almost at the same time, the machine gun barricades diagonally opposite and directly opposite them also began firing.

For a moment, flying bullets hit the windows of the building facing the street, but Wei Ran and others did not dare to stop at all. They just lowered their heads and rushed to the next room at all costs.

There is no point in firing back at this time, the main thing is to run quickly!

After passing through several rooms, Wei Ran stopped in a room with a blocked window and urged, "Quick! Stretcher!"

After saying that, he had already run behind him, pulled out the pull ring of a grenade, closed the door he had just passed through, and stuck it behind the door with a brick.

At this time, the enemies at the intersection behind them were still firing machine guns at the building. Although these shots could not hit them at all for the time being, they could wake up all the enemies around them!

Soon, Clement lay on the stretcher again, and Yu Yanlin picked up the machine gun again.

"Is anyone of you injured?" Wei Ran asked quickly in French.

"No!" Armani and the other two answered in unison.

"Yanlin covers the rear"

As Wei Ran spoke, he had already run to the front of the team and continued to lead them through the wreckage of the building.

"boom!"

Not long after, a grenade explosion was heard behind him, and Wei Ran quickened his pace again amid the increasing number of gunshots and shouts around him.

"Oh!"

As luck would have it, just as he was passing through a broken wall, he bumped into an enemy who was running towards him with a rifle in hand!

“Puff! Dadada—!”

Wei Ran reacted extremely quickly and stabbed the bayonet in his hand into the abdomen of the enemy who was almost at his face again and again. At the same time, he pierced the submachine gun held in one hand through the opponent's armpit and pulled the trigger to shoot a horizontal fan at the other enemies behind him!

“Da da da da—!”

He had just narrowly defeated several enemies who were right next to him, but someone on the second floor opposite the window fired a series of bullets at them!

"Follow me and don't stop!"

Wei Ran shouted behind him in French, he also pulled out his bayonet and pushed away the corpse in front of him, continuing to move forward while shooting. He had to let his companions behind him come in quickly, because the windows of this room were blocked!

Just at this moment, the enemy hiding in the next room threw in a grenade!

"Snapped!"

Without waiting for the grenade that bounced off the wall to explode, Wei Ran kicked it back with force. At the same time, he dodged behind the wall, put away his bayonet, threw away the submachine gun that had emptied its bullets, and instead took out a grenade.

"boom!"

Amid the explosion that shook the room to the point of shaking dust and nearly rupturing eardrums, Wei Ran had already loosened the pull ring of the defensive grenade in his hand, waited extremely riskily for two seconds, and then threw it.

"boom!"

Almost at the same time he pulled his hand back, a more violent explosion occurred. Wei Ran also took the time to look behind him while taking out the box gun.

Fortunately, the two girls were still carrying Clement, and fortunately, Yu Yanlin was also standing guard behind them with a gun.

Risking a look, Wei Ran saw a Nagant revolver in his left hand. He aimed at the two enemies lying twitching at his feet and pulled the trigger repeatedly to shoot them.

"Are you hurt?" Wei Ran asked loudly as he continued to move forward.

"no!"

Amani and Hanika responded in unison in French.

"Yanlin!"

"fine!"

Yu Yanlin responded with full energy and followed.

"Run"

As Wei Ran spoke, he threw a grenade towards the room behind him that was covered in bullets, then ran back to the head of the team and continued running forward with them.

Fortunately, perhaps because they were getting closer and closer to the Republican territory, they did not encounter any more enemies after passing through a room that also had a bonfire but no one in it.

Unfortunately, there were gunshots coming from the building across the street. There were even flashlights shining in from time to time on the street.

At this critical moment, the machine guns on the barricade in the direction they were heading towards began to roar, helping them suppress the flashlights and the enemies chasing them along the street.

"Come on! Someone is coming to pick us up! We are almost there! We are fast."

"Pfft!"

Before Wei Ran could finish his words, he heard a sound of something heavy falling to the ground behind him.

Wei Ran stopped subconsciously and felt his heart skip a beat. Yu Yanlin fell down and seemed to have no strength to get up.

"Don't stop!" Wei Ran urged Armani and the other two. He then ran back and carried Yu Yanlin without saying a word.

"Let me down, run away"

As Yu Yanlin spoke in pain, Wei Ran also felt a warmth flowing out from the other's abdomen, dripping into his collar, and dripping onto the red scarf tied at his neck, which made him involuntarily get goose bumps.

"Hold on, Yanlin, hold on, don't die."

Wei Ran ignored the sharp warning pain at the base of his palm and quickened his pace while begging, "Chun Cai is still waiting for you. She will wait for you all her life!"

"She, she"

Yanlin smiled weakly, "Send my letter. I finished writing it. I finished it a year ago."

"Send it! Just hold on! We're almost there! You have to stay alive!"

Wei Ran paused here, opened his mouth and bit the tattoo on his left hand fiercely, then spat out the hot piece of flesh he had bitten off, and continued to run while speeding up his speech and shouting, "Chun Cai never got married until she died, and she kept scolding you for being an unfaithful man! She never believed that you were dead!

She has been waiting for you, you have to go back! You have to crawl back alive even if you have to!"

"Can not go back."

Yu Yanlin paused, his consciousness seemed to be a little blurred, but even so, he still asked, "Did she see Shengli?"

"I saw it! I saw it!"

Wei Ran fell to the ground before he could finish his words, but he spat out the broken teeth in his mouth as if he had forgotten the pain, took off his backpack, carried Yu Yanlin on his back again, and continued to run while asking, "Do you still remember your dream? The dream you had last year when everyone celebrated your birthday in the car!"

"Remember"

It turned out that she was lying on Wei Ran's shoulder, and she said weakly but with a smile, "What a wonderful dream it was! I have never had such a good dream before. I often have that dream. What a wonderful dream it was."

"That was not a dream!"

Wei Ran stumbled and ran with him on his back, shouting in Chinese that only the other party could understand, "The Japanese have been driven away, and the concession is gone! You hang in there, I have to attend your wedding when we get back!"

You still have to take Chuncai to Antarctica! I'll go with you then! I'll give you braised penguin paws to eat!"

"I"

Yu Yanlin's voice became weaker and weaker. "I can't go back, Brother Wei, please go back for me.

I miss home, I miss Chun, I want to go to Huangpu River, I am afraid I will miss Chun.

"Yanlin? Yanlin? Yanlin?!"

Wei Ran gradually stopped and carefully felt Yu Yanlin's breath with his bleeding left hand.

"I'll take you back. I won't go back for you. I'll take you back."

Wei Ran glanced at Armani and others who were chasing after him with a stretcher, and took another step.

This time, he rushed out of the dilapidated building and strode along the street.

Under the cover of oncoming machine guns, submachine guns and rifles, Armani and Hanika also ran out of the building carrying stretchers and followed Wei Ran to the barricade that was within reach.

Finally, Wei Ran and Yu Yanlin jumped over the barricade. Finally, the two young nurses carried Clermont across the barricade.

Finally, they were led into a room that served as a medical station.

Finally, Clement received a blood transfusion and surgery.

But Yu Yanlin

"I'm sorry, he. He has already died."

The middle-aged doctor in charge of Yu Yanlin said, "The bullet hit his shoulder bag, pierced the harmonica, and spun into his stomach. He... I'm sorry, he's dead. Comrade, do you... do you need a bandage on your hand?"

Shaking his head in a daze, Wei Ran picked up Yu Yanlin again, took him out of the medical station, found a corner to sit down, leaned him against the wall, and with the light of the campfire in the distance, carefully helped him tidy up the international brigade uniform.

Carefully opening the messenger bag with bullet holes, Wei Ran looked at the items inside one by one.

Inside was Aaron's camera, several rolls of film, and the not-so-big photo album, as well as the harmonica that Clement had given him before, and the letter that he had never sent.

But except for the camera and the film which were intact, the letter, the photo album and the harmonica all had a bullet hole.

Subconsciously, he was about to open the family letter that had become incomplete in later generations.

But in the end, he stopped the urge to tear open the envelope and instead picked up the notebook that belonged to Yu Yanlin.

The notebook was wrapped in a red scarf. Fortunately, it was not hit by the bullet and was not stained with even a trace of blood.

Continuing to look through the bag, I found a stack of letters in it that had not yet been sent out. These letters were wrapped in a piece of canvas and were also not stained with any blood.

Wei Ran couldn't help but smile as he opened the notebook wrapped in a red scarf with trembling hands.

There was a certificate inside, which belonged to Yu Yanlin and proved that he was a member of the Communist Party. In addition, on the first page, there was a line of Chinese characters written in strong strokes: Fight for your freedom and our freedom!

Continuing to flip through the pages, what was recorded here were the trivial matters when Yu Yanlin decided to come to Spain, his worries about Chuncai and Huaxia, and even his inner torment.

After flipping through a few pages, Wei Ran stopped. This page was November 1936, 11.

"Chun Cai, I finally came to Madrid, Spain as I wished. When I wrote this, I was already in a trench bunker outside Madrid.

The weather here was as damp and cold as at home, but an Italian who spoke French and Spanish invited me to drink a cup of Western medicine, saying that it was the coffee his mother asked him to bring.

I agreed with him that I would invite him to try our Chinese tea. Their bitter medicinal soup is really unpalatable but also really refreshing. I did not sleep that night, tossing and turning in my thoughts, thinking about you, our parents, brothers and sisters-in-law, and even more, thinking about when I could return to China to drive away the Japanese pirates who invaded our China.

The Italian was called Clermont. Seeing that I could speak French and German, he asked him to follow him and work as a postman to deliver letters.

Logically speaking, this job makes it much easier for me to write to you. But I dare not write to you, for I am afraid that you will miss me, and I am afraid that you will come here to look for me.

So I wrote this letter to you here, and when I get back, I will read it to you page by page and tell you about the friends I met here and the battles that took place.

Before going to bed, Clement suggested that I write you a letter. In fact, I wrote you another letter of divorce. I know your temper, and you will definitely tear up the letter that I asked my classmates to bring back.

But this time, I tore it up after I finished writing it. I wrote a new letter, a letter I dared not send.

I'm afraid that if I send it out, I will never see you again in this life.

General Cai E said, "I have already pledged my life to the country, so it is difficult for me to pledge my life to you. I have pledged all my passion to the anti-French cause, but I still cannot let you go."

I have been thinking that once I have wiped out the Faxus, I will go back to marry you and take you to see a free world without Faxus and without being bullied by foreigners. "

Taking a deep breath, Wei Ran gently closed the notebook that had been protected exceptionally well.

Compared to snooping into Yu Yanlin's family letters, it is more important to protect these things now.

However, when he saw the stack of undelivered letters in the messenger bag with bullet holes in it, he subconsciously looked in the direction outside the barricade.

He realized belatedly that he still had a job to do.

"Amani, Hanika."

Wei Ran called out to the two young nurses who had just walked out of the medical station.

"Are you okay?" Hanika asked first, and they both couldn't help but look at Yu Yanlin's body.

"I'm okay"

Wei Ran nodded. "Could you please help me guard his body and his belongings? I'm going to be away for a while and will be back soon."

"Don't worry, leave it to us!"

Amani immediately made a promise, "We will stay here to guard him and not go anywhere until you come back."

"Thank you"

As Wei Ran spoke, he turned and walked towards the barricade not far away. Then he suddenly started running, and amid the exclamations of people around him, he crossed the barricade and ran into the abandoned building across the road.

He returned in the dark along the same route and replaced the magazine for the box gun in his hand.

Soon, he was back in the room where he had fallen, saw his discarded horsehair backpack, and saw a Nationalist soldier trying to pick it up.

"Da da da--!"

The box gun held horizontally in Wei Ran's right hand fired a fine fan-shaped pattern, and a Nagant revolver appeared in his left hand, firing relatively accurate single shots.

At the same time, he did not stop, but ran faster amid the other party's screams, panic calls and dodging.

Almost at the same time when the box gun ran out of bullets, he rushed forward, put away the Nagant revolver which was also empty, dropped the box and ran, then picked up a submachine gun and continued to rush forward. When he came to the door of the room, he pulled the trigger at the remaining enemies who had hurriedly hidden back, almost hitting their foreheads.

"Ta-ta-ta! Ta-ta-ta! Ta-ta-ta!"

After eliminating these enemies through repeated bursts of fire, he turned his gun and fired the remaining bullets at the damaged part connecting to the next room, suppressing more pursuers.

He simply threw away the empty submachine gun, turned around immediately, bent down to pick up the box gun and put back the metal notebook, then picked up the horsehair backpack that he had not yet opened and threw it over his shoulder, pulled out a grenade and threw it back, then ran back.

"boom!"

Amid the sound of grenade explosions and fierce gunfire behind him, he had already passed through one room after another.

Suddenly, he stopped again, took out the last grenade from his pocket, pulled out the pull ring, and stuck it behind a broken door. Then he took out his revolver, casually pulled the trigger and fired the last bullet as bait to prove that he was still alive.

He put away his gun again and ran back. As an explosion was heard behind him, he crossed the street and jumped over the barricade. Finally, he was swallowed by the thick white light as the two young nurses looked relieved.