War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1887 is a good thing

When the white light in his field of vision became the most intense, Wei Ran saw various props flashing past his eyes once again.

However, upon seeing this item, he felt an urgent urgency, as if his feet were itching.

Anti-Japanese broadsword, Pelikan pen, Robert camera bag, flashlight, entrenching tool, British army water bottle, wire cutters, American army gas mask bag, camera case, Long March carrying pole.

If all those terrifying props were normal, then in the end, he saw a saddlebag in the fading white light—a saddlebag containing instant-explosive grenades, gas canisters, Louis Vuitton grenades, and a Japanese grenade launcher!
"gollum"

Wei Ran swallowed hard; he had a premonition that something terrible was about to happen. He even felt that the few scenes that had flashed by earlier were just a warm-up for what was to come!

Before the white light faded, Wei Ran felt a suffocating heat enveloping his entire body.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Before he could even see his surroundings clearly, the deafening explosion and the tremors from beneath his feet caused him to lose his balance and fall to the ground.

"Lie down!"

With a shout, Wei Ran, who had already been knocked down, was pushed to the ground by two hands. Then, when he could see his surroundings clearly, an explosion that was right next to him almost made him lose his breath.

Amidst the crashing sounds, large amounts of mud and fragments of limbs rained down upon them.

"Wei Ran! Are you alright, Wei Ran?!"

Amidst the uncontrollable tinnitus, Wei Ran reopened his eyes and saw Cheng Guanyin, who was covered in dust and looked anxious.

"I'm alright! Are you okay?" Wei Ran shouted loudly.

"I'm fine too!" Cheng Guanyin responded loudly in return.

During this brief exchange, Wei Ran quickly looked around. This was a position, and there weren't many soldiers left in the barricades and trenches. The only continuous firepower consisted of two machine guns hidden in cover.

He could tell from the distinctive "rhythm" of the intermittent firing of the two machine guns that they were Maxim machine guns.

"Hide!"

As Cheng Guanyin spoke, he got up, crouched down, and ran into the distance, wading through the mud.

He was also a "slanted belt". Wei Ran took one last look at the big sword on the other person's back, then looked down at his own attire.

His tattered military uniform was covered in mud from the trenches, but this time he was wearing a steel helmet.

Besides, there was a wooden box almost buried in the mud at his feet, containing a dozen or so wooden-handled grenades.

While the enemy was still shelling, Wei Ran looked around and then quickly took out the weapons and tools he had been given and examined them.

Needless to say, the anti-Japanese broadsword was a must-have, and this time, the father was quite generous, giving the Mauser C96 pistol, which was tied to the Long March carrying pole, all three magazines were full.

As for the saddlebag, although the grenade launcher was there, it only had three instantaneous explosive grenades, one mustard gas grenade, and one Louis gas grenade.

Not exactly disappointed, Wei Ran put the metal notebook back in and casually checked the gas mask pack. Fortunately, all the various small items were still there.

Just then, the shelling stopped, and Wei Ran immediately put away his gas mask and grabbed a Zhongzheng rifle that was at hand.

"Prepare to fire!" someone gave the order from nearby.

In just a short while, the Japanese soldiers in the distance had already begun their attack.

"beat!"

As soon as the order was given, the soldiers in the distant trenches opened fire first, followed by the two Maxim guns, which formed a crossfire.

Loading a bullet into his rifle, Wei Ran leaned forward and quickly aimed, pulling the trigger towards the stomach of a Japanese soldier raising his gun.

Almost at the same time that the Japanese soldier whose intestines had been ripped out screamed and fell to the ground, Wei Ran had already taken cover, reloaded his gun, and then leaned out again, aiming at the Japanese grenade launcher further away and pulling the trigger.

"boom!"

After the suppressed gunfire subsided, the Japanese soldier who was raising his thumb was shot in the chest and fell to the ground. Wei Ran also took cover again and loaded his rifle with a bullet.

As he leaned out again, before he could even aim, a bullet hit the sandbag in front of him.

"boom!"

Undeterred, Wei Ran pulled the trigger again, hitting the new operator of the grenade launcher once more.

Once again taking cover, Wei Ran pulled the bolt again, only to find that the bullet he had just fired was the last one.

After feeling around on his person, Wei Ran took out the only bullet in his pocket and loaded it into the magazine. Then, he pushed the bolt, moved it slightly to the side for less than two meters, and leaned out again to pull the trigger on the grenade launcher that had already fired a grenade in an attempt to suppress the machine gun.

As Wei Ran killed the enemy operator once again, he also heard someone shout "Grenades ready!" from afar!
Where is Cheng Guanyin? Where did he go?
Wei Ran glanced in the direction where Cheng Guanyin had disappeared, crouched down and moved back to his original position. He picked up a grenade from the wooden box and placed it beside him, then picked up a second grenade and gripped the fuse tightly.

"Ready!" someone shouted from afar.

Under this order, many soldiers in the trenches began to attach bayonets to their rifles. The gleaming bayonets and even broadswords seemed to give the charging Japanese soldiers the illusion that they were about to engage in hand-to-hand combat.

But Wei Ran could see clearly that next to the soldiers who were responsible for fixing bayonets, other soldiers had already placed grenades with the trigger pins in front of them.

"Prepare!"

As the enemy drew closer, a loud shout came from afar as Wei Ran pressed the shutter button on his Robert camera with one hand.

"beep--!"

At the second "Ready" signal, the soldiers had already put down their bayoneted rifles or anti-Japanese broadswords. Then, with the sharp whistle that followed, everyone, including Wei Ran who had already put away his camera, swung their arms and threw grenades.

After a series of deafening explosions, everyone in the trench picked up a second grenade.

Soon, the Japanese soldiers who had instinctively fallen to the ground after being hit by the grenade explosion, and who were neither dead nor injured, stood up again.

Just then, without a whistle or an order, the soldiers in the distance suddenly threw out grenades.

Seeing this, Wei Ran immediately threw the grenade in his hand.

After this sporadic, seemingly slow but extremely lethal grenade explosion, the Japanese soldiers who had launched the attack once again lay prone.

Just then, Cheng Guanyin, hunched over, ran towards them from a distance while whispering instructions to the soldiers along the way.

"Don't throw the whistle, just throw three balls after counting to three!"

After giving Wei Ran some instructions, Cheng Guanyin continued running into the distance, still clutching a whistle in his hand.

"beep--!"

Before long, a sharp whistle came from Cheng Guanyin's direction, and the Japanese soldiers who were already very close to the trench immediately lay down as if they had been tamed.

One thousand and one! One thousand and one!
Wei Ran had just counted to two when the soldiers in the distance started throwing. Seeing this, he immediately threw out the grenade in his hand, and then picked up another one and threw it out as well.

Amidst the continuous explosions, Wei Ran threw the third grenade outside the trench.

After being hit in the face by a series of grenades, the Japanese soldiers who had rushed close either hurriedly hid in the anti-tank trenches and sank into the mud to continue their charge, or they were left behind forever and became human shields.

As Cheng Guanyin ran back and gave another verbal order, the men, braving the incoming grenades, threw a round of grenades into the nearby anti-tank trench, barely managing to repel the charge.

"Watch out for the bombardment!"

Almost immediately after this round of fighting ended, a hoarse voice in the distance began to issue a warning.

Without needing any prompting, Wei Ran had already taken out his entrenching tool and scraped away the mud beneath his feet.

He had just hurriedly dug two shovelfuls when the Japanese artillery opened fire again.

Amidst the booming cannon fire, large amounts of soil and even broken bricks and tiles were thrown up and then smashed down. Wei Ran had no time to look for Cheng Guanyin.

He didn't even have the time or opportunity to determine what year it was or where he was.

Amidst the relentless bombardment of shells, Wei Ran, who occasionally glanced up and pressed the shutter during the intervals between explosions, noticed that the machine gun emplacement not far away had been reduced to ruins by Japanese artillery fire.

The next round is probably going to be tough.
Wei Ran glanced at the grenade box under his body. There were less than 10 grenades left in it, but even he couldn't predict how many rounds of Japanese soldiers those 10 grenades would be enough to repel them.

After he fastened the grenades to his belt, the Japanese grenade launchers once again began suppressing the trench line.

The destructive power of these grenade launchers was actually far greater than that of the artillery fire for the soldiers in the trenches.

Even so, the defenders here still raised their guns and began to fight back!

Amidst the continuous casualties caused by the successive explosions, Wei Ran disregarded everything else, grabbed his rifle, leaned out again, and pulled the trigger towards the grenade launcher team in the distance.

"boom!"

The gunfire was muffled by the grenade explosions, and the grenade launcher on the other side also fell silent, but that was not enough, as the other side had more than one grenade launcher!
Not only that, the Japanese soldiers on the other side had also launched another attack under the cover of grenade launchers.

"boom!"

Almost as soon as he fired his second shot, a grenade struck the anti-tank trench in front of him and exploded.

Almost the instant the flying dirt forced Wei Ran to slip into cover, bullets struck the spot where he had just peeked out.

After glancing quickly to his left and right, Wei Ran sighed inwardly as he moved rapidly toward the spot where he had just been hit by the grenade.

The casualties along this trench line were particularly heavy after these rounds of grenade attacks.

Passing over a corpse whose chest had been blown open, Wei Ran leaned out almost at the same moment a grenade hit the spot where he had just been standing, aimed, pulled the trigger at a grenade launcher squad, and then immediately bent down and continued to move a distance toward Cheng Guanyin.

Perhaps because the charging Japanese soldiers were getting closer, their grenade launchers finally stopped after several rounds of covering artillery fire.

But everyone in the trenches knew that the Japanese were probably very close.

"Grenades ready!"

Just then, another order came from afar. Wei Ran quickly put his rifle aside, looked around, stepped on a box of grenades that were almost soaked in blood, and then pulled two grenades from his waist.

"beep--!"

Amidst the piercing whistle, the surviving soldiers in the trenches threw out grenades stained with the blood and flesh of their comrades and the mud beneath their feet.

Wei Ran, who had deliberately been a step late, pressed the shutter the instant everyone threw their grenades. He then put away his Robert camera, turned around, pulled the trigger, and threw the two grenades in his right hand. "Fire!"

As shouts came from afar, Wei Ran leaned forward, holding up the Mauser C96 that had suddenly appeared in his hand, and pulled the trigger at the enemy who had already rushed to the edge of the anti-tank trench.

Just as these Japanese soldiers were increasing in number and finally began to charge into the muddy anti-tank trenches under the suppression of machine guns in the distance, the whistle blew.

"beep--!"

Amidst the sharp, loud, and sustained whistle, smoking grenades were thrown into the anti-tank trenches and the open ground opposite.

At the same time, a small number of Japanese hand grenades were also thrown over.

"Hold!"

Wei Ran reached out and grabbed the grenade that was thrown beside him, then threw it into the anti-tank trench before immediately pulling his hand back and lying down.

Before his grenade-throwing hand even touched the ground, the explosion rang out from the anti-tank trench, which was only separated by a few layers of sandbags. Amidst the ringing in his ears, he vaguely heard screams and wails coming from the other side.

Without even showing its head, Wei Ran replaced the 20-round magazine in his Mauser pistol with a full magazine, switched it to automatic fire mode, and fired a volley of bullets haphazardly.

Amidst the sounds of grenades exploding, rifles and pistols firing, a few submachine guns firing, and the screams of wounded soldiers from both sides, some Japanese soldiers finally rushed onto the trench line.

"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!"

With each shot fired by Wei Ran, these enemies at close range were almost all killed by him with headshots at close range.

Not daring to empty the last bullet in the magazine, Wei Ran swung his anti-Japanese broadsword and slashed the neck of one of the Japanese soldiers.

"kill!"

Amidst the piercing screams, the few remaining soldiers in the trenches, some wielding rifles with bayonets, others brandishing broadswords, and still others clutching smoking grenades, began the bloodiest confrontation.

Under the successive explosions of grenades, the charge was repelled with difficulty, and the battlefield fell into an eerie silence for a moment.

"Report the numbers!" A roar came from afar; it was Cheng Guanyin.

"1!"

"two!"

"3!"

Amidst the continuous calls of numbers, Wei Ran was number 18.

But as they continued until the end of the trench, the last person to call out a number only managed to say "34".

What about the trenches further away?
Wei Ran was unaware of the situation in the distance; he didn't even know where he was or what year it was. But he knew that this defensive line was likely about to be torn apart.

Just then, everyone heard the whistling sound of shells being fired from the Japanese artillery.

"Avoid the cannon fire!"

Amidst the muffled roars, all the surviving soldiers, having no time to save their wounded and dying comrades, lay down and tried to curl up their bodies.

Amidst the continuous bombardment, someone crouched down and delivered supply grenades along the trench.

At this moment, such artillery fire was certainly dangerous, but the danger posed by those close-in artillery pieces was far less than the lethality of the much smaller-caliber grenade launchers to those hiding in the trenches.

"Bullets, do you have any bullets?!"

Wei Ran grabbed a strong young man who looked to be only sixteen or seventeen years old and shouted, "What do you mean?" The young man had a bamboo basket hanging on his shoulder, which was full of hand grenades.

"Yes! I have the bullets you need!"

The young man frantically rummaged through his crossbody bag, which was adorned with the Japanese devil's horn.

"Give me this! And this too!"

Wei Ran subconsciously grabbed a pack of Mauser pistol bullets, and then reached for a pack of rifle bullets.

"No, no, no!"

The young man quickly covered his bag, saying, "I'll be lenient with you if I give you two lashes at most!"

"Then use pistol bullets!"

Wei Ran quickly said, while taking a step back and snapping a photo of the young man amidst the booming cannon fire and flying debris.

"What's your name?!" Wei Ran asked, taking the two bullets handed to him by the other party.

"Chen Shun!"

As the young man responded, he put down two bags of six grenades, crouched down, and ran off into the distance, continuing to distribute vital ammunition supplies to the surviving soldiers along the way.

After loading a magazine full of bullets into the Mauser pistol, Wei Ran put it back into his metal notebook, took out his Robert camera again, hurriedly pressed the shutter a few times towards the trench, and then risked sticking out a hand to press the shutter again.

It was only at this moment that he had time to glance at the overcast sky above. The weather didn't look like it was going to rain, but it was clear that nightfall was not far off.

In just a short while, the Japanese artillery bombardment turned into an even more deadly grenade launcher barrage.

Wei Ran knew, and everyone knew, that the Japanese had launched a new offensive!

Looking around, Wei Ran picked up a Type 38 rifle from beside a soldier's body, and then picked up a Type 38 rifle from beside another soldier, loading them with bullets and getting ready.

"Fire! Fire! Toot—!"

Amidst the piercing whistle, Wei Ran suddenly leaned forward, casually encircling an enemy and pulling the trigger. At the same time, he quickly surveyed the battlefield situation, then swiftly bent down, switched weapons, aimed at a grenade launcher responsible for suppression, and pulled the trigger.

After crouching down again, Wei Ran loaded bullets into the Type 38 rifle in his hand and the Type 24 rifle he had just used before standing up and pulling the trigger once more on the grenade launcher that had just been fitted with a backup operator.

Whether it was a gun spirit awakening or just good luck, the shot missed the operator but hit the launch tube of the grenade launcher. Wei Ran even clearly saw a grenade fly out of the misaligned launcher.

Wei Ran didn't show any extra expression because of this small coincidence. Instead, he squatted down quickly as before, switched guns, and pulled the trigger towards the crotch of the Japanese soldier who was sitting on the ground in fright.

After switching guns again, Wei Ran aimed at a Japanese soldier who seemed to be carrying a command sword at his waist, ignoring the grenade that was hitting the anti-tank trench directly in front of him, and pulled the trigger at the midpoint of a deep breath.

Without even checking whether the Japanese soldier had been shot, Wei Ran immediately retreated.

He hesitated about whether to use the grenade launcher, but after thinking it over, he abandoned the idea once again.

"Grenades! Grenades ready!"

Just then, another hoarse shout came from afar, and Cheng Guanyin ran back to Wei Ran's side amidst the shout.

"You've finally decided to come back!" Wei Ran shouted, already preparing a grenade.

"If I can't defend myself later, at least I'll be accompanied by someone I know in death!"

As Cheng Guanyin spoke, he grabbed a grenade and pulled the pin.

"beep--!"

As soon as the whistle blew, Wei Ran and Cheng Guanyin threw out the grenades they were holding.

Amidst the deafening explosions, the two men each grabbed a second grenade, lit it, and immediately threw it away.

Before the explosion could even be heard, they all simultaneously drew their Mauser pistols and prepared for battle.

This time, however, the surviving Japanese soldiers chose to retreat after leaving behind a field of corpses.

"Report the numbers!" Cheng Guanyin shouted towards the end of the trench.

In the countdown, Wei Ran's turn was "9". When the countdown moved to the other side of the trench, to the commander whose voice could only be heard but not seen, Wei Ran and his companion vaguely heard "21".

“I’m afraid we won’t survive this time,” Cheng Guanyin said.

"You'll survive," Wei Ran said confidently. "At least you'll definitely survive."

"It wouldn't be so bad to die here."

Cheng Guanyin took out a pack of cigarettes from his inner pocket, handed one to Wei Ran, then picked up a sparking stick and lit their cigarettes. He then pointed in a direction and said...

“My wife and son are in Hengyang City. If we can’t hold it, it would be good to die here with them.”

Hengyang City?
Wei Ran couldn't help but glance in the direction the other person was pointing. "How did they get here? How did you know they were here?"

My family home is right here.

After giving his answer as a matter of course, Cheng Guanyin sighed, "But I couldn't find her. Her house had been destroyed by Japanese artillery fire."

"Is it possible that she's in Changsha?" Wei Ran asked after a moment of silence.

"will not"

Cheng Guanyin shook his head. "I went back to Changsha. My home... my home is gone."

Seemingly to prove that his wife and children were still alive, Cheng Guanyin quickly added, "My father-in-law's family... my father-in-law's family has her suitcase."

"Where is the body?" Wei Ran asked cautiously.

"No," Cheng Guanyin said, taking a deep drag on his cigarette and shaking his head.

"Good thing, it's a good thing."

Wei Ran also breathed a sigh of relief, "It's a good thing there are no corpses. They're still alive, they must still be alive."

"Yes, he must still be alive!" Cheng Guanyin murmured to himself, as if trying to comfort himself.

"How did you two meet?" Wei Ran changed the subject.

"We are students from Progressive Academy"

Cheng Guanyin said, "My father-in-law is considered my teacher."

"They must still be alive," Wei Ran murmured, as if comforting himself, or perhaps the other person.