War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1883 I Don’t Know He Wenniu

"beep--!"

As soon as the sharp and piercing whistle sounded, the people hiding in the trenches pulled the grenade's fuse hard, then swung their arms and threw the smoking grenade out.

"boom--!"

After the series of explosions, the officer with the slanted belt raised his arm again, and everyone immediately pulled out the second grenade and prepared.

"beep--!"

Along with the second whistle, Wei Ran and the people around him threw the burning grenade out again.

"boom!"

After this round of explosions, the screams mixed in became clearer.

"beep--!"

The third whistle sounded, and everyone threw the grenades in their hands out again.

"Go on the bayonet!"

The officer shouted loudly as the new round of grenades flew out of the trench. He also picked up the anti-Japanese sword that had just been placed at his feet and pulled out the box gun at his waist.

"boom--!"

After the third round of explosions, the officer swung the sword in his hand vigorously and shouted, "Kill!"

"Kill!" Amidst the continuous roars and shouts, everyone rushed out of the trenches together.

As expected, Wei Ran and Cheng Guanyin were assigned to the same group this time.

However, between the two of them and on both sides, there were three strong men holding bamboo poles.

The bamboo poles in their hands were quite similar to those of the Qi Family Army. The poles were over two meters long and the ends were about as thick as a wrist. The bamboo branches at the pole heads were not completely cut off, and one could even see green bamboo leaves with water droplets on them.

"kill!"

Accompanied by a loud roar from Cheng Guanyin, the three strong men who formed a team with the two of them twisted the bamboo poles in their hands and stabbed them into the faces of the three-headed Japanese devils who were formed in a V-shaped team in front of them.

The bamboo pole is naturally not very lethal, but it is extremely harassing.

When their faces were covered with these slender bamboo branches and leaves, the three Japanese soldiers subconsciously tried to push them aside with their Type 38 rifles with bayonets attached. At the same time, they inevitably squinted their eyes because of the water droplets that splashed on their faces.

In just a split second, Wei Ran and Cheng Guanyin, who were hiding between three bamboo poles, took a step forward, chopped off the hands and claws of two of the devils with their swords, and while retreating, they simultaneously slashed the left and right necks of the devil in the middle.

"laugh--"

At that moment, the smelly and hot blood spurted out, but it all poured onto the bamboo branches and leaves, and added some "splash damage" for the next attack.

"puff!"

After the second round of slashing by Wei Ran and Cheng Guanyin, the two devils whose hands and claws were cut off also had their necks cut.

They kicked the corpse that was stuck with the sword in almost unison, and Cheng Guanyin shouted, "Sing a song!"

"You start!" the officer not far away shouted.

"Chop the devils' heads with your swords! Sing!"

Just as Cheng Guanyin shouted "Sing!", the swords in his and Wei Ran's hands once again cut off the arms of a Japanese soldier, and once again slashed the neck of the Japanese soldier in the middle.

"Chop the devils' heads with your swords!"

As he shouted and sang at the top of his lungs, the sword in Wei Ran's hand seemed to become much lighter and sharper. With one easy stroke, he cut off the neck of the Japanese soldier whose claws had been cut off.

"Brothers in arms across the nation,"

As the singing became increasingly uniform, the officers, orderlies, cooks and even the able-bodied men who were probably just helping to carry ammunition and the wounded all forgot about life and death. The bamboo and wooden poles in their hands, which were not considered advanced weapons, repeatedly spun and hit the devil's dog faces with the anti-Japanese program engraved in their genes, leaving fine scars and even blinding their eyes.

"puff!"

With another sharp move of the knife, Wei Ran easily cut off half of the arm, and while putting the knife away, he turned the blade horizontally and slashed across the neck of the Japanese soldier in the middle, and knocked away the bayonet that was coming towards him.

"puff!"

With another swing of the sword, the sharp anti-Japanese sword chopped off the devil's dog head. Wei Ran, who was covered in blood, inadvertently saw that on both sides of the blade of the anti-Japanese sword from the metal book in his hand, one side had his name engraved on it, and the other side had "Blood debt must be paid with blood" engraved on it!
"The day of resistance has come, the day of resistance has come!"

Amid the roar of the mountains and the chorus that spread wider and wider, with more and more people singing along, Wei Ran, whose whole body was gradually dyed red, was swinging his sword again and again, and their five-member team was suppressing the rushing Japanese little by little.

He didn't remember how many times he had swung the knife, nor how many Japanese soldiers he had killed.

But the bamboo branches on the blood-stained bamboo pole were becoming increasingly sparse, and the singing had gradually drowned out the sounds of fighting.

"clang!"

During another chop, the Japanese soldier on the opposite side subconsciously retracted his hand, causing his sword to hit the opponent's Type 38 rifle.

The enormous force caused him to split the gun's guard and left a white cut mark on the barrel, but it also inevitably caused the blade of his sword to curl.

"kill--!"

Amidst the roar that drowned out the screams, Wei Ran swung his sword a second time, slicing open the opponent's shoulder.

"kill!"

Amid the increasingly loud roars, the bare end of the bamboo pole once again stabbed a living Japanese soldier.

"boom!"

Just at this moment, the Japanese on the opposite side opened fire, and the shot hit the chest of the strong man between Wei Ran and Cheng Guanyin.

"I call you grandma!"

This strong man, who had no idea what he had been through, spoke with a typical northern accent and let out a loud shout. He swung the bamboo pole in his hand, which was about to fall apart, hard at the devil's face. Then he jumped hard and pounced on the devil, opening his mouth and biting its throat.

"kill!"

Wei Ran shouted hoarsely and slashed the neck of the Japanese soldier beside him with a knife. Then he jumped to the side of the strong man, bent down, and stabbed the Japanese soldier's shoulder with his bayonet.

"He's dead," Wei Ran reminded.

However, the strong man did not let go, nor did he respond - he also died.

After looking around, Wei Ran took out his camera again, wound it up as quickly as possible, and pressed the shutter button repeatedly towards the surroundings.

In just a short while, Cheng Guanyin had already put his big knife with a rolled blade and a notched edge on his shoulder, pulled out his box gun and loaded it with bullets, then picked up the bamboo pole, held it with one hand, and lifted it up with the arm that was holding the gun.

"Kill!" Cheng Guanyin roared and issued the order.

"kill!"

While responding, Wei Ran put away the camera and picked up the anti-Japanese sword again.

One person is missing from the five-member team, so Wei Ran is the only one left to fight.

Fortunately, the officer joined in soon and replaced Cheng Guanyin's position.

"Where is the military power!" asked the officer.

"do not know!"

Cheng Guanyin responded hurriedly, and thrust the almost-split bamboo pole in his hand forward forcefully, stabbing the next member of the Japanese bayonet team in the face.

"puff!"

Wei Ran and the officer swung their swords at almost the same time, wounding the Japanese soldiers on both sides, and then worked together to kill the Japanese soldier in the middle. Then they swung their swords at the injured Japanese soldiers on both sides with increasing skill.

"Wei Ran! Can you still hold on?" Cheng Guanyin asked loudly.

“It’s not enough yet!”

Wei Ran, whose entire body was almost covered in blood, responded loudly with a hoarse voice.

But in fact, after these rounds of slashing, if the knife had not been tied with a hemp rope, he would hardly be able to hold it.

"for you!"

As the officer spoke, he took out a piece of gauze soaked in blood from his arms and handed it to Wei Ran.

"What's your name, sir?"

Wei Ran took the cloth strip and hurriedly tied the knife handle, which looked a little slippery due to the blood, together with his palm.

"Yang Qizhi!"

The officer responded loudly and took a picture with the camera hanging around his neck.

"Are you done talking?!" Cheng Guanyin urged.

"kill!"

"kill!"

Wei Ran and two other strong men followed Yang Qizhi and shouted, then continued to rush towards the next wave of enemies.

However, at this time, because the terrain was slightly flatter, the Japanese soldiers changed from groups of three to two groups of six to cover each other.

"Crack! Crack!"

Cheng Guanyin and Yang Qizhi didn't even wait for the devils to get close before they each shot and killed one.

"Crack! Crack!"

"kill!"

Yang Qizhi shouted again, and the three bamboo poles subconsciously stabbed at three of the remaining four people. Wei Ran and Yang Qizhi took the opportunity to rush towards the lone one, cooperating with each other, one lured the enemy while the other got close and chopped its neck with a knife.

Kicking away the corpse that was once again stuck on the blade, Wei Ran just took a quick glance at the jagged edge of the blade, then pounced from the side at a Japanese soldier who was harassed by bamboo branches and slashed his soft abdomen with one knife.

Without waiting for the abdominal cavity to be cut open and the internal organs to be emptied, Wei Ran had already run to the last Japanese soldier with the knife in his hand and chopped off his head with a single blow.

After taking a deep breath, Wei Ran wiped the blood off his face with the blood-stained sleeve of his left hand, and allowed Cheng Guanyin and others to hold bamboo poles to protect him and Yang Qizhi in the middle again.

"Over there!" Yang Qizhi pointed in a direction with his box gun.

It was close to the edge of the battlefield, but a few lone strong men were surrounded by the Japanese who outnumbered them several times.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Cheng Guanyin held the box gun in one hand and pulled the trigger repeatedly, accurately hitting the backs of several Japanese soldiers.

By the time they turned around, Yang Qizhi had already raised his gun and started shooting.

At the same time, Cheng Guanyin took out a board of bullets and pressed them into the magazine of the box gun, then rushed over with Wei Ran and the two strong men.

After the pistol shooting just now, the less than ten remaining Japanese soldiers had been surrounded by Wei Ran and others, as well as the strong men who had been surrounded by the Japanese soldiers.

"kill!"

Yang Qizhi, who had just been loading bullets, ran over and gave orders.

Immediately, two groups of strong men led by Cheng Guanyin poked the bamboo poles and wooden poles in their hands at the Japanese devils in the middle.

At the same time, Wei Ran and Yang Qizhi rushed over with knives in hand, and started swinging their knives specifically at their left and right hands.

Amidst the screams, the Japanese soldiers who were busy dealing with the attacks and kept stabbing in the face and crotch were chopped on the arms one after another.

The second round of hacking and killing that followed was relatively easy after dealing with these devils.

Before everyone had time to breathe a sigh of relief, more Japanese soldiers gathered around.

"Grenade! Reload the guns in the back row!"

Before Yang Qizhi finished speaking, Wei Ran had already stepped back, put away his sword and pulled out the only remaining grenade from his waist, hiding behind the strong man and getting ready. By the way, he also pulled a grenade from a Japanese corpse and stuffed it into his sleeve. In less than ten seconds, the Japanese were getting closer and closer, so close that everyone could clearly see the blood on their bayonets.

"kill!"

Before Yang Qizhi finished his words, Wei Ran and one of the strong men behind him had already thrown out the only two grenades they had.

"Lie down!"

As Yang Qizhi gave the order, he and Cheng Guanyin each raised their box guns and started firing.

"Boom! Boom!"

After the bursts of gunfire, the two grenades exploded one after another.

"kill!"

Before Yang Qizhi finished his words, he had already thrown away the box gun that had no bullets, grabbed the big knife and climbed up.

"kill!"

Wei Ran, Cheng Guanyin and the strong men around them roared angrily, and the bamboo poles and wooden poles in their hands collided with the bayonets of the Japanese soldiers who had also climbed up.

It's over.
Wei Ran couldn't help but feel a chill in his heart. This time they were facing too many Japanese devils!
"clang!"

Just at this moment, the anti-Japanese sword in his hand collided with the bayonet from the opposite side.

"kill!"

Amid Wei Ran's hoarse roar, he almost rushed forward with his big knife in both hands, close to the opponent's rifle, slashed the opponent's arm with the knife, and then placed the broad blade on the opponent's abdomen and pulled hard.

Taking advantage of this inertia, Wei Ran raised his sword again and chopped it hard on the shoulder of another Japanese soldier beside him, then he raised his sword to knock away the bayonet that was stabbing at him.

"Snapped!"

Wei Ran raised his foot and kicked the knee of a Japanese soldier behind him, and as he wished, he heard a crisp bone fracture and a scream.

"puff!"

With the momentum gained from the kick, he swung his knife upward and slashed horizontally, cutting open the opponent's abdomen again.

But at this time, the situation became more and more critical. The surrounding bamboo poles and wooden poles had been hugged by the Japanese and began to pull. More Japanese soldiers rushed forward with rifles and stabbed their bayonets into the chests of those strong men.

"puff!"

Just as Wei Ran was chopping off the shoulder of another Japanese soldier with his machete, a bayonet stabbed into his thigh.

Immediately afterwards, a second bayonet pierced his arm.

Seeing that more and more bayonets were about to stab over, Yang Qizhi lit a grenade and threw it at Wei Ran's feet.

The sudden blue smoke frightened the surrounding Japanese soldiers so much that they retreated immediately and pulled out the bayonet that was stabbed into Wei Ran's body.

"Thanks!"

As Wei Ran spoke, he picked up the grenade and threw it out.

"boom!"

This round of explosions killed and injured many Japanese soldiers. However, at this time, on the edge of the battlefield, near the cliff, the only people still alive were Wei Ran, Cheng Guanyin, and Yang Qizhi, and four strong men holding bamboo poles.

"Any more grenades?"

While Cheng Guanyin was asking, he had already pulled out a strip of cloth from his pocket and tied his sword and hands together.

“It was the last one.”

As Yang Qizhi spoke, he tightened the big knife tied to his hand, then raised the camera, looked through the lens, pressed the shutter button at the enemies who were surrounding him, and then threw them behind him.

As for Wei Ran, he had already taken off his sword and put it in his left hand.

"Everyone should kill at least one more to break even," said Cheng Guanyin.

"Kill!" Yang Qizhi shouted.

"kill!"

Wei Ran, Cheng Guanyin, and the remaining several strong men roared and rushed towards the Japanese soldiers who outnumbered them several times.

"clang!"

Amid the shock of his hands, Wei Ran deflected the oncoming bayonet and immediately retracted his sword into the metal book and replaced it with a Mauser bayonet. Then he ignored the pain in his thigh and lunged forward, slashing the neck of a Japanese soldier with the Mauser bayonet that suddenly appeared in his hand.

"puff!"

Almost at the same time, several bayonets on both sides stabbed into various parts of his body.

"gollum"

Wei Ran, with blood flowing out of the corner of his mouth again, showed a creepy smile. The Mauser bayonet in his hand disappeared, but a Japanese grenade slipped out from the sleeve of his left hand.

"Snapped!"

Wei Ran knocked the grenade he had just picked up secretly onto the handguard of a Japanese soldier's rifle.

The sudden appearance of this weapon once again frightened the Japanese who had already gained absolute advantage.

But this time, Wei Ran did not throw it far away, but instead threw it at the feet of the nearby Japanese soldiers.

All of a sudden, the bayonet that had stabbed into his body was pulled out again, and as he staggered backward, he saw Cheng Guanyin and Yang Qizhi, who had been pushed to the edge of the cliff by bayonets piercing their shoulders or thighs.

"Jump"

Wei Ran gave a silent warning in a hoarse voice, then raised his head and fell off the cliff.

"boom!"

Amid the sound of the grenade exploding, he clearly saw Cheng Guanyin falling down, and also saw Yang Qizhi falling down with him.

"You are so lucky to be alive."

Wei Ran muttered to himself as he looked at the backs of the two people above his head in the gradually rising white light, and then was completely swallowed up by the thick white light.

As he waited patiently, the pain in his body gradually disappeared as the white light faded.

As everything around him became clearer, he came to the farm in Edelweiss Clara's dream, just like every time before.

Wei Ran habitually glanced at the wooden house in the distance, and while groping the place on his body where he had been pierced by the bayonet, he looked at the metal doll on the table in front of him.

At this time, the feather pen had already written new words:
Second act

Role: Civilian Guardian

Return Mission: Searching for Survivors

Wei Ran couldn't help but be stunned. At this moment, a strong white light swept over again, and he also saw the props that could be used this time.

An engineer shovel and flashlight from the Tide Moss battlefield, Robert's camera bag, and that was it.

That's enough. That should be enough.

Wei Ran secretly breathed a sigh of relief and let the white light swallow him.

As he waited calmly, the white light that covered everything gradually dissipated, and he also smelled the unique odor of a corpse.

When he saw everything clearly, he found that he and a civilian were carrying a blood-stained empty stretcher, and there was a messy battlefield around them.

"Prioritize finding those who are still alive and carry them to the rear for treatment." In the distance, an officer with gauze wrapped on his head and hands shouted loudly while holding a tin trumpet.

“We have our people here.”

Just as Wei Ran was stunned, the civilian partner who was working with him also stopped and pointed at the pile of corpses in the distance and said.

Wei Ran turned his head subconsciously and then looked around.

He recognized this place. This was the battlefield where he, Cheng Bingquan and He Wenniu participated in hand-to-hand combat.

Looking around again, he ran towards the place where Cheng Bingquan fell.

"You melon!"

The civilian partner who was working with him shouted, and seeing that Wei Ran didn't stop at all, he simply stopped chasing him and pulled out a bayonet from his waist on a Type 38 rifle.

He first pulled out a dead body of a Japanese soldier and stabbed him in the heart. Then he pulled out the body of a soldier who was being pinned down by the Japanese soldier.

Seeing that he had already developed corpse spots, the laborer sighed and continued to search.

At the same time, Wei Ran also ran to the place where Cheng Bingquan and He Wenniu fell, and desperately dug up the bodies of the Japanese devils one by one, carefully searching for the bodies of the two of them.

At some point, Wei Ran stopped and saw He Wenniu's body.

His body was already covered with severe corpse spots, but he was still biting the throat of the Japanese corpse tightly. There were even maggots at the bite point.

Sighing helplessly, Wei Ran wiped the stains on his hands on his trouser legs, sat on the corpse of a Japanese soldier, took out Robert's camera bag, replaced the film and a wide-angle lens for the clockwork camera, then carefully wound it up and took a picture of He Wenniu.

Putting away the camera, he carefully separated the bodies of He Wenniu and the Japanese soldier, made him lie flat on the slope, and then pulled off a handful of grass to barely cover his eyes.

Wei Ran continued searching here until he touched the body of a Japanese soldier that was almost in the shape of a giant, but he still did not find Cheng Bingquan.

This might be good news.
Wei Ran squinted his eyes and looked at the dazzling sunlight, wiped the stains on his hands again, took out the camera again, and pressed the shutter again and again towards everything he saw around him.

Objectively speaking, the results of this battle were far from as glorious as later propaganda claimed.

Among the corpses on the ground, most were our own soldiers and even able-bodied men.

But when it comes to things like war, it is always stupid to look at them from a God's perspective.

For the Chinese land at this moment, they need a beautiful victory to boost their confidence.

What's more, no matter what, they did win this battle - even if it was a miserable victory.

Compared to pursuing a beautiful and impressive victory, people in later generations may not realize it at all.

In this era, the soldiers and civilians of this fortress blocked the invaders' attack by paying a huge price of five for one or even ten for one.

This in itself is epic, great and glorious.

Step by step, Wei Ran returned to the side of his partner and pressed the shutter button towards the laborer who looked to be in his fifties.

Then they helped the other party to carry the bodies and search for the wounded among the pile of corpses.

"Did your family member also suffer here?" the laborer asked in Sichuan dialect while searching.

"Yes, yes." Wei Ran nodded, "You too?"

"My son is in charge of guarding this land!" the peasant said proudly, "He turned twenty at the beginning of the year, and the marriage was settled. The one he chose was the carpenter's daughter, Huang."

"Is that so?" Wei Ran sighed.

“I haven’t found my youngest son yet.”

The civilian sighed and almost pleaded, "Where are you, you little calf? Don't hide from me."

"Your son"

Wei Ran shuddered uncontrollably, "What's his name?"

"The plague cow, his surname is He, He Plague Cow." The civilian said, "Do you know him?"

"I"

Wei Ran shook his head with difficulty, "I'm sorry, I don't know him. I don't know He Wenniu."