War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1913 The Tricolor Flag Under the Church

In the trenches bombarded by German artillery, the survivors not only had to guard against the enemy who might attack at any time, but also had to carry away the wounded and maintain the damaged trenches.

"how long have you been here?"

As Wei Ran wielded his entrenching tool to dig away the mud accumulated in the collapsed trenches, he asked.

"After the defeat in the Spanish Civil War, I fled to North Africa."

Dragan, who was also busy repairing trenches, said, "It took me several months to get from Morocco to Tunisia, then I boarded a cargo ship bound for Sierra Leone, and then it took me several more months to get to Yugoslavia."

"A few months?" Wei Ran asked, pressing for details.

"A year, or more than a year."

Dragan replied, "It took almost a year and a half, starting from Spain. And you? You."

I went to the Soviet Union.

Wei Ran omitted the "journey" in between, and answered in a general yet precise way, "I participated in the fighting in the Soviet Union for a period of time, and then I came here."

"I had originally planned to go to the Soviet Union as well."

Dragan sighed and said while clearing the mud from the trench, "Just before I was about to leave Yugoslavia, I ran into that young man named Milos."

At the time, my health was very poor, and it was he and his parents who took me in.

I recuperated at their home for a long time, and after I recovered, I joined the local guerrillas.

"His home."

It's already destroyed.

Dragan shook his head. "His parents were killed by the Germans and their allies because he joined the partisans, and the poor couple were burned alive in the mill they ran."

At that time, Milos and I were hiding on the hillside outside the village; there was nothing we could do.

"I'm sorry, I brought up something that upset you." Wei Ran promptly apologized.

"I had originally planned to go to the Soviet Union as well."

"But I have to avenge Milos first," Dragan said.

Let's get out of here first.

Wei Ran muttered something silently, while digging even harder at the loose soil beneath his feet.

As they worked, the trenches were gradually cleared, and a thick earthen wall was built in front of them.

As night fell, the aroma of meat wafted from behind the trenches, but even before that aroma arrived, came the sound of artillery shells flying from the German positions.

However, after this round of shelling that caused considerable casualties, the Germans did not launch an attack.

“Wei, why do you think they don’t attack?” Dragan asked, brushing the dirt and leaves off him.

Their goal is to encircle them.

Seeing that the metal notebook did not stop him, Wei Ran, who was familiar with this history, continued, "They are not in a hurry to attack because they have not yet completed the encirclement, and because they lack effective offensive weapons."

"Effective offensive weapons?"

"Tanks or armored vehicles"

Wei Ran lit a captured German cigarette and took a deep drag. "They're attacking from below; without tanks and armored vehicles to provide cover, their casualties will be huge."

Moreover, they are not in a hurry. We have so many mouths to feed and so many wounded people in urgent need of medical treatment.

Even if they don't launch an attack, how long can we hold out in these mountains?

"These damn Nacchi!" Dragan cursed.

Just then, Milos ran over carrying three German mess kits, handing two of them to Wei Ran and Dragan, while he himself sat down opposite them with the other one in his arms.

In the short time that he hadn't seen her, Milos now had a rifle on his shoulder—a Czech Mauser rifle that had once belonged to Wei Ran.

"Does he only speak Serbian?"

Wei Ran opened the lunchbox that the other party had brought while asking questions.

The lunchbox contained only stewed meat with carrots, and only a fist-sized piece of meat and a few scattered pieces of carrots.

Judging from the coarse fibers of those meat chunks, they are most likely from hard labor animals such as horse or mule.

"right"

Dragan nodded, picked up the fist-sized piece of meat, and took a bite.

Upon hearing this, Wei Ran also gave up his plan to communicate. He took off the German helmet he had picked up and used it as a stool to sit on. He then wiped his hands haphazardly on his pants and took a bite of a piece of meat.

Just as he had guessed, the meat was tough and hard to chew, but surprisingly, although the stewed carrots and meat looked bland and watery, it tasted quite good.

After struggling to finish the piece of meat, Wei Ran picked up his lunchbox and gulped down a mouthful of meat broth. Then, he broke off two tree branches and, with a practiced ease that would make Dragan and Milos widen their eyes, picked up the few pieces of soft, mushy carrots and tossed them into his mouth one by one.

Finally, Wei Ran casually tossed the makeshift chopsticks aside and returned the empty lunchbox to Milos.

The latter realized what was happening, quickly took the lunchbox, and then said something in Serbian that he couldn't understand.

Seeing Wei Ran looking at him, Dragan translated, "He wants to learn shooting from me."

"Your aim seems pretty good?" Wei Ran asked curiously.

"I was a hunter before I joined the international tour."

Dragan explained in Spanish, then switched to Serbian, and picked up a makeshift chopstick that Wei Ran had discarded, pointing to the front and rear sights of the rifle in Milos's hand as he began his explanation.

Although he couldn't understand Serbian, Wei Ran could roughly understand Dragan's instructions.

However, it is highly questionable whether this last-minute instruction can be effective. He even doubted whether Milos, who was extremely excited at the moment, had any prior experience in firing a gun.

As time went by, the sky gradually darkened, and bonfires were lit at the foot of the mountain.

But at this moment, they dared not fire at the campfire opposite them, nor did they dare to light a campfire like the Germans did.

Because firing a gun or even producing a flash of fire would provoke a mortar counterattack from the other side, causing unnecessary casualties.

During this stalemate, a soldier spoke something in Serbian from the woods behind the trench.

“Come with me,” Dragan called out.

"What's wrong?" Wei Ran asked in a low voice as he followed the other person, carrying his gun.

“I don’t know,” Dragan replied in a low voice. “They only said we need to assemble.”

Is the breakthrough starting tonight?
Wei Ran pondered to himself, then followed Dragan, crouching low as he jogged all the way to the rear of the trenches.

By this time, a number of soldiers had gathered here, and a man in military uniform and a boat cap was talking in the middle.

The scene even subconsciously reminded him of a scene from an old movie named after this breakout battle.

He said he would organize a suicide squad to break through the encirclement.

Dragan translated in a low voice, "We must break out tonight, otherwise we'll be waiting to die once the Germans send more troops."

"Do you want to participate?" Wei Ran asked.

"certainly"

As Dragan answered, he took the lunchbox containing the letter from his waist, handed it to Milos who had come with him, and gave him some instructions in Serbian, which Wei Ran could not understand.

Milos nodded vigorously, and Dragan had already walked out of the crowd.

Seeing this, Wei Ran immediately stepped forward and followed.

Gradually, more and more men stepped out of the crowd and stood with them. The man who had called for the formation of a suicide squad raised his arms and shouted something.

“He said we might not survive, but our sacrifice could save everyone else,” Dragan whispered as he translated.

"Are you afraid?" Wei Ran asked in return.

"I should have died in Spain a long time ago."

Dragan smiled. "I've mailed the letter. I asked Milos to mail it for me."

"To whom should it be sent?" Wei Ran asked.

"do not know"

Dragan shook his head. "I don't know who else in the family is still alive."

"We'll know once we survive," Wei Ran said frankly.

"He said to remain quiet until we reach the enemy's position."

Dragan continued translating, "We need to get close and use grenades to take out the first wave of enemies, then open a breach."

Before Wei Ran could say anything more, the suicide squad lined up, and several women and young guerrillas distributed the captured grenades and Mauser bayonets to them.

In addition to distributing grenades and bayonets, they also took over the long guns from the suicide squad members. In the ensuing battle, the long guns were not only useless, but also a complete burden.

Perhaps because of the darkness, neither the suicide squad members who were busy saying goodbye to their families, nor the guerrillas and civilians who were seeing off their comrades and families, noticed that there was a young soldier named Milos at the end of the suicide squad. No one noticed that he was carrying three rifles on his shoulders.

At 10:30 p.m., someone whispered something not far away. The members of the suicide squad quietly climbed over the trench in the darkness and crawled towards the German trench not far away under the cover of the thick fog.

This was perfect weather for a nighttime breakout. As night fell, a thick layer of fog settled over the valley due to the transpiration of the vegetation.

Under the cover of dense fog and forest, this suicide squad, advancing in the dark, did not attract the enemy's attention.

As the distance drew closer, he gradually heard the conversations of the Germans on the opposite position in the darkness, along with the smell of R6 cigarettes and cheap substitute coffee.

"Whoosh-!"

Just then, a signal flare was suddenly fired from the German position opposite.

Before the signal flare had fully taken off, the suicide squad members immediately stopped all their movements and pressed their bodies tightly against the dew-dampened ground.

It was during the brief flash of light provided by the signal flare that Wei Ran, with his eyes slightly narrowed, was able to clearly see the German positions not far away.

But that wasn't enough; everyone knew they needed to keep climbing.

Finally, after the signal flare went out and no more new flares were launched, the group began crawling again.

"Whoosh-!"

Just then, another signal flare was launched into the sky by a German soldier using a handheld flare.

There was no command or warning, but everyone had already slowly pulled out their grenades and prepared.

They knew perfectly well that the battle would begin once the signal flare landed.

Almost simultaneously with the flare's descent, Wei Ran tightened the fuses on the two grenades in his hands. Just as the flare was about to fall completely, everyone pulled the fuses, sending another flare, which had risen from the German position, soaring into the air and tracing an arc as it crashed into the German trenches!
"Da da da--"

Before the grenade exploded, the German machine guns opened fire, and the suicide squad members who rushed towards the German positions before the explosion immediately fell to the ground.

"Boom boom boom!"

Amidst a series of intense explosions, Wei Ran, who had been lying face down on the ground, sprang up as if he had springs, and in his hand appeared an entrenching tool from the Tide Moss Battlefield!
Amidst shouts in various languages, Wei Ran swiftly leaped over the German trench, his entrenching tool slamming directly into a German soldier's face.

Before he could even scream, he had already kicked another soldier hard in the crotch.

With a swift movement, Wei Ran kicked the German soldier whose neck was impaled by an entrenching tool, using the momentum to pull the tool out. He then swung the tool around and struck another German soldier on the shoulder.

Wei Ran didn't dare to kill anyone at this moment. He kept in mind that his mission was to join the suicide squad and kill at least two enemies.

But right now, with his pants on the ground in such a precarious situation, if that living father were to knock him unconscious, it could cost him his life!
For this reason, he had to be careful and try to inflict serious injuries on the enemy but not kill them—until the situation stabilized.

Lost in thought, Wei Ran kicked the opponent's knee again, bending it backwards. He then used the entrenching tool to forcefully strike the shin of a German soldier who was trying to jump into the trench.

Amidst the piercing screams, Wei Ran had already turned the entrenching tool in his hand 90 degrees and, with a powerful strike, smashed the arm of the soldier in front of him who was holding a rifle with a bayonet but couldn't use it effectively in the trench.

Taking advantage of the moment when the opponent loosened his grip on his weapon, Wei Ran lunged forward and stabbed the opponent's nose with a shovel, also blinding him in the process.

In the short time that followed, more and more suicide squad members rushed into the trench with shouts. Wei Ran pushed the enemy in front of him back a few steps, then reached out and grabbed the barrel of the Mauser rifle that was being thrust out from behind the enemy. Taking advantage of the enemy's thrusting motion, he pulled him back sharply.

Caught off guard, the enemy, separated by a human shield, stumbled and charged forward.

"He! Tui!"

Wei Ran used a concentrated soup cube to precisely seal the opponent's eyes, while simultaneously removing the Mauser bayonet from the muzzle of the opponent's rifle.

"puff!"

Amidst the soft sounds masked by the roar, Wei Ran had already plunged the bayonet he had just disassembled into the eye socket of the soldier who was covering his eye with his hand.

However, at this critical moment, that nauseating, indescribable feeling of mental breakdown still surged up.

In a dizzying moment, Wei Ran, who hadn't even had time to pull out his entrenching tool, also had his knees buckle and was pinned down in the trench by the blind man in front of him acting as a human shield and his comrade behind him who was replenishing iron to his brain.

I... I'll fuck your ass.
With a foolish expression on his face, Wei Ran, whose nose, ears, and even the corners of his eyes were bleeding, struggled to greet his living father in his native tongue.

"puff"

Just then, another corpse fell on him, and he was almost crushed to death.

After the dizziness subsided, Wei Ran gripped the wooden handle of the entrenching tool and forcefully pushed the corpse off him. He then put the tool away, searched around, and successfully found an MP40 submachine gun on one of the corpses.

At this time, more and more guerrillas had rushed into the trench.

If it weren't for the Germans firing their spotlights into the air, Wei Ran would have almost been mistaken for a German and shot dead by the young partisans behind him.

"Miloš! What brings you here?!"

After dodging the butt of a Czech Mauser rifle that nearly hit his head from behind, Wei Ran asked in surprise.

"It's you? So you know how to stuff it."

"This isn't the time to talk about these things. How did you manage to catch up?!"

As Wei Ran spoke, he noticed that in addition to the Czech rifle in his hand, Milos was also carrying two Mauser rifles on his back, both equipped with scopes.

“I’m a guerrilla fighter too! I’m a suicide squad member too!” Milos shouted back.

Give me the gun! Throw yours away!

Without saying a word, Wei Ran snatched the two Mauser rifles that the other person was carrying.

Milos was obedient enough to let go of the gun in his hand and take a Mauser rifle with a scope from Wei Ran.

"Follow me!"

As Wei Ran spoke, he slung the sniper rifle he had been assigned over his shoulder, loaded the submachine gun in his hand, and led Milos along the trenches to continue their advance.

Because of the brief delay, and because he didn't want Milos to take risks at the front, Wei Ran didn't rush to the front. Instead, he suppressed Milos's advance speed behind him to avoid letting him participate in close combat where he had no advantage.

"Da da da!"

After taking out a German machine gun position that had just begun firing in the distance with a burst of fire, Wei Ran handed his submachine gun to Milos behind him. He then ran to the edge of the machine gun position, picked up the heavy M G34 machine gun, turned the muzzle to aim at another machine gun position in the distance, and pulled the trigger!

"Da da da da——"

Amidst the intense gunfire, another machine gun position that could have formed an intersecting firing line suddenly fell silent. Wei Ran, however, only paused briefly, then aimed his gun at the trench line and pulled the trigger.

"Come with me!"

Wei Ran discarded the machine gun that had been emptied of bullets, first took out two egg-shaped grenades that he had captured earlier, and threw them into the trenches that were running horizontally, taking advantage of the gap created by the guerrillas behind him not being able to keep up because of the machine gun's obstruction. Then, before they exploded, he took the submachine gun from Milos and led him to continue advancing into the German trench line.

Milos was a clever boy; without any prompting, he helped collect the submachine gun ammunition and grenades that Wei Ran could use.

With the young man's cooperation, a gap was finally torn in the trench line, and as more and more guerrillas rushed in, the gap grew larger and larger.

"Tanks! German tanks!" Milos shouted in alarm.

"Come down!"

Wei Ran glanced at the tanks approaching from a distance, then immediately pulled Milos back into the German trenches.

At the same time, the Panzer III tank in the distance fired a shell and began to fire its machine gun.

Just then, a guerrilla fighter rushed towards the tank from the side and leaped onto it.

But before he could even pull the pin on the grenade, he suddenly shuddered and fell onto the tank.

Just then, the flare landed, but immediately afterward, Wei Ran clearly saw the flashing light in that direction and heard the muffled bang of the cluster grenade exploding.

"Quick, run!"

Wei Ran shouted and grabbed Milos, running out of the encirclement.

He knew perfectly well that German tanks were like cockroaches; if he had just seen one, there must be many more around!
"Where's Dragan? Dragan's gone."

"I don't have time to look for him right now!"

Wei Ran shouted, "Do you know which way to run?"

"Past"

"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Before Milos could speak, more and more tanks emerged from the thick fog, and they began to fire artillery and machine guns at those they could see.

"Where to?!" Wei Ran shouted.

"Run in that direction!"

Milos pointed in a direction as he spoke, "I'm going to fight, I am."

"You want nothing! Just follow me!"

Wei Ran grabbed the other person by the collar and started running. "This is a breakout! Everyone who escapes the encirclement has been saved by those who couldn't escape!"
"If you run back now, you're just wasting the opportunity those people risked their lives for!"

"I I know!"

Milos glanced back one last time, his voice trembling with tears, before leading Wei Ran into the thick fog.

What about Dragan? Will he survive?
Wei Ran also took one last look at the thick fog behind him, then caught up with Milos and began to run wildly.

As Wei Ran ran, he gradually noticed that there were fewer and fewer guerrillas and civilians around him. On the contrary, there were more and more trees, and even the terrain under his feet turned into a gradually rising slope.

"Where are we going?" Wei Ran asked in a low voice.

"A place where we might find Dragan"

As Milos spoke, he unconsciously touched the lunchbox slung at his waist, which Dragan had entrusted to him.

"What place is this?" Wei Ran asked in a low voice.

"The place where I found Dragan before."

"Found it?"

"Um"

Milos continued running as he spoke, “Last spring, he collapsed outside our village. We hid him in the basement of the chapel, which had been abandoned long before the Germans came.”

"Are you sure he'll go there?" Wei Ran pressed.

"He has a lot of his things there, he'll definitely go there."

Milos said confidently, quickening his pace.

Amidst the ongoing intense gunfire coming from the direction of Kozala behind them, Wei Ran followed Milos, using the thick fog as cover, across the highway and through the burned-out village.

That's my home.

Milos pointed in a direction, "There used to be a mill there, but the Germans burned it down, and my parents were imprisoned inside and burned to death. Because...because of me."

Looking in the direction the other person had just hastily pointed, Wei Ran unfortunately only saw thick fog.

"It's not your fault," Wei Ran said softly. "You did nothing wrong."

Milos didn't say anything, but led him through a small cornfield, then across a dirt road, and finally into a ruin.

This is a ruin where only two walls remain after the collapse. Next to the ruins is a cemetery, and as far as the eye can see, crosses are densely packed in the thick fog.

"The dead will be buried here."

As Milos spoke, he led Wei Ran to the edge of the ruins, skillfully lifting a bundle of withered reeds, and then opening the small wooden door leading to the basement.

"Come in, only a few of us know about this place."

Milos paused and then added, "Except for me and Dragan, everyone else is dead."

With a silent sigh, Wei Ran groped his way into the church's basement. Milos followed him in, first disguising the reeds piled outside, and then closing the wooden door, which was only one meter square.

While Wei Ran waited, the other person pulled him through a thick curtain in the pitch-black darkness. Then, he saw Milos strike a match and then light a candle that was only the size of a thumb.

It was by the dim light of this candle that Wei Ran could vaguely see that there was only a stone coffin in this basement.

But on this very stone coffin, there was a ship's cap from the International Brigades, and underneath it, a tricolor flag.

"This is."

"These were all left behind by Dragan."

Milos said in a low voice, "He used to come here often to tell us about his battles in the International Brigades."

So, there are still people fighting here.
Wei Ran inexplicably breathed a sigh of relief.