War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1918 Talent
"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Amidst the extremely short intervals of gunfire, Wei Ran and his two companions, lying prone by the ditch, fired shots at the enemies surrounding the two airdrop weapon crates within their range, as if they were shooting balloons with air guns at a temple fair.

Wei Ran had to admit that he had underestimated the battle royale games of later generations. It turned out that hiding around airdrop crates really could be a way to wait for prey to come to you, and you could actually get "shooting fun".

After emptying another magazine, he reached into the airdrop crate, took out a new magazine, and replaced it. Then he cautiously surveyed his surroundings.

"The flies have swarmed in."

Wei Ran reminded him, "Take enough weapons, we need to retreat into the town."

"We can't leave them a single bullet!"

As Milos spoke, he fastened the airdrop crate and attached the still-attached parachute to the donkey.

"Snapped!"

Milos whipped the donkey's rump with his pistol strap, and the donkey immediately pulled the airdrop crate toward the town.

Meanwhile, the three of them began moving towards the town along the canal.

When the three of them entered the town that had been strafed by fighter jets, the airdrop crate that the donkey had been pulling had been opened, and the remaining weapons inside, as well as the weapons they had casually tossed in, had all been distributed to the townspeople.

Meanwhile, German transport planes continued to drop paratroopers and gliders, and even white parachutes drifted across the sky above the town.

"Come with me!"

Dragan called out and led Wei Ran and Milos to an open space in the center of town.

There was no need for communication, nor was it necessary. The three of them each found a bicycle to use as a gun mount, sat on the ground, and began to quickly snipe at the paratroopers still floating in the sky.

Meanwhile, fighting broke out on the outskirts of the town. For a moment, the sounds of machine guns, rifles, and even mortars mingled with the roar of fighter jets and aircraft machine guns, easily drowning out the screams of the people from both sides.

After quickly emptying two magazines, Wei Ran saw that some paratroopers had already touched the ground. He hurriedly took out a pack of bullets from his pocket, tore it open, and filled all four spare magazines on his body with bullets as quickly as possible.

"Come with me, they need backup over there!"

Dragan gave a loud call and then led Wei Ran and Milos out of town.

By the time they reached the edge of the town, the paratroopers outside the town had already assembled and were approaching them under the cover of machine guns and mortars.

"Where did they get their mortars?!"

Milos shouted from behind a broken wall, then quickly leaned out and fired a shot. After hitting a soldier carrying a submachine gun, he retreated back into cover before the spent cartridge hit the ground.

"Airdrop! Of course, it's an airdrop!"

Wei Ran and Dragan answered in unison, and each leaned out and fired a shot.

"Spread out!" Dragan said. "We need to take care of those machine gunners!"

"Survive!"

Wei Ran gave a quick instruction, then crouched down, picked up his gun, and crawled into a stone building whose roof had apparently been destroyed by a mortar shell.

Pulling back half of the curtain, Wei Ran first pulled over the heavy wooden dining table to prop up the collapsed roof beam, then moved a chair over and sat down at the table.

Immediately afterwards, he took out his sailor bag to use as a gun pillow, placed his G43 on it, and while adjusting his breathing, aimed at the enemy outside the window.

"boom!"

After the first shot rang out, in the farmland across the stream, the machine gunner lying behind the earthen embankment had his paratrooper helmet blown off by a single shot.

"boom!"

The second shot that followed hit the machine gunner's assistant in the chest as well.

With a slight movement of his gun muzzle, Wei Ran aimed at a German paratrooper carrying a flamethrower.

This time, however, before he could pull the trigger, the Flame Paratrooper suddenly tilted his head back and fell to the ground.

Just by looking at the location of the bullet, he knew it was Milos who fired the shot, but that didn't stop him from continuing to fire at the corpse—he was aiming at the valve of the flamethrower.

"boom!"

After the gunshot, Wei Ran could clearly see through the scope that the air directly above the corpse seemed to have distorted slightly, and some white mist had appeared.

Ignoring the flamethrower for the moment, Wei Ran aimed the gun at the machine gun he had just picked up and pulled the trigger again.

Just as the enemy in the mirror fell, Wei Ran also heard the distinctive noise of a mortar shell, and he reacted quickly by hiding under the table.

"boom!"

As the explosions continued, rocks, slabs of stone used as roof tiles, broken glass, and window frames rained down. Wei Ran, who was hiding under the table, could only curl up as much as possible and try to protect the rifle in his arms.

After a brief dodge, Wei Ran immediately emerged, sat back down in his chair, and, amidst the billowing smoke and dust, aimed again at the rapidly advancing enemy outside and repeatedly pulled the trigger.

They quickly killed the two submachine gunners who were in the lead, as well as a machine gunner who was firing and his assistant gunner.

After changing to a new magazine, Wei Ran took a moment to glance at the location of the enemy's mortar.

In just a short while, four or five bodies had already fallen around the 81mm paratrooper version of the mortar hidden in the low-lying farmland.

As he looked over, he also saw a German paratrooper who was stuffing a mortar shell into the barrel being shot in the ear and falling down around the mortar.

But this time, the shot came just in time; any later and the mortar shell would have already been inserted into the barrel.

If it had been earlier, the shell wouldn't have gotten stuck in the mortar's muzzle, neither high nor low.

"This"

"boom!"

Before Wei Ran could move his rifle away, another bullet flew out of Milos's gun, spinning rapidly across the distance of several hundred meters before slamming into the fuse of the mortar shell stuck in the muzzle and causing an explosion.

The exploding shell not only destroyed the mortar, but also detonated the weapons in the nearby airdrop crate, and also affected the paratroopers around it.

This number is way too outrageous!
Wei Ran stared in astonishment, his eyes wide with confidence that the shell had been detonated by a bullet.

Although he couldn't have seen the bullet, he clearly saw the shell and the mortar shell being knocked upwards just before the explosion.

However, before he could look away, a bullet flew in from outside, piercing through the sailor bag on the table in front of him that served as a gun pillow, and then almost grazed Wei Ran's cheek before hitting the collapsed roof behind him.

操.
Wei Ran reacted quickly, falling to his side and accidentally pulling the gun and sailor bag to the ground, which he then hugged to his chest.

Wei Ran took out his entrenching tool and smashed it against the wall a few times. He then broke open a loose stone, turned the entrenching tool around, and used the wooden handle to pry open another stone in the gap, creating a small firing hole.

Without fully extending the muzzle, Wei Ran used the scope to search for the sniper who had almost killed him with a single shot.

In an attempt to lure the enemy out, he even fired two shots at the machine gun they had just set up, killing the machine gunner and his assistant gunner.

"Got you."

As Wei Ran muttered to himself, he pulled the trigger toward a fleeting flash of light.

"boom!"

As soon as the shot was fired, the opponent, as if preordained, dodged it with a lunge and rolled behind a mound of earth.

"What I hate most is sniper warfare."

Wei Ran cursed and stared intently at the enemy's hiding place, his nerves on edge, searching for an opportunity to kill him. But this delay allowed the machine gun he had been suppressing to roar, and even a mortar was set up in a direction out of his sight, continuously blasting shells around their defensive positions.

Even more critically, under the suppression of machine guns and mortars, more and more paratroopers rushed towards the town—the firefight between them could now be conducted with submachine guns!

"boom!"

Wei Ran suddenly fired and killed the machine gunner, then instantly moved the gun back to the vicinity of the mound and pulled the trigger to fire a bullet to each side.

Unfortunately, the other side was extremely patient, or perhaps his hiding place allowed him to shoot at the other guerrillas, so this attempt to lure them out failed.

Seeing this, Wei Ran didn't waste time with the other side. After putting away his sailor bag, he grabbed a broom from the room and placed it there. Then he climbed out of the ruins, changed his position, lay down again, and pulled the trigger on the enemy's machine gunner once more.

After firing several shots, Wei Ran moved to a different position. This time, he aimed once again at the mound where an enemy sniper was hiding.

Just then, he also saw the dust and smoke stirred up by the gunfire behind the mound—the enemy was indeed still there.

Just as Wei Ran was worrying about how to deal with the enemy, a paratrooper ran past the mound of earth in his scope.

Seeing this, Wei Ran decisively fired, hitting the opponent in the leg.

This classic trick worked perfectly. The wounded paratrooper immediately crawled toward the mound where the sniper was hiding, and Wei Ran also aimed at the mound and prepared.

"boom!"

Almost as soon as a rifle emerged from behind the mound, he decisively pulled the trigger, hitting the rifle.

However, at that very moment, a figure suddenly appeared behind the mound of earth, holding a gun!

"Hold!"

Before Wei Ran could even move his gun to aim at the opponent, a bullet struck the sniper's cheek, making Wei Ran see a cloud of blood mist that was particularly conspicuous in the sunlight through the scope.

"What an enviable talent!"

As Wei Ran lay on his side, he sighed and dodged a bullet that hadn't yet been fired and hit him.

Getting back up, Wei Ran decisively changed positions, sniping the enemy who was almost within reach at an even faster pace.

However, no matter how accurate Dragan and Milos were, it was all in vain at this point.

As more and more German paratroopers closed in, the intense firepower kept them from even raising their heads.

In the end, they could only retreat into the town with the other partisans, where they fought street battles against the German paratroopers, relying on the buildings for cover.

"Did you fire that shot just now?"

After Wei Ran reunited with Dragan and Milos, he asked while firing a shot.

"Dragan has noticed the paratrooper whose thigh you shot!"

Milos answered loudly, "He told me there was definitely a sniper hiding behind that mound, and he also said you would definitely create opportunities for me!"

"Thank you! You saved me!"

Wei Ran said truthfully, "Your shooting skills are now much better than ours!"

"I've said it before, he's incredibly talented at shooting!"

"All he needs now is a cunning hunter's brain!" Dragan said proudly.

"I only need your brain!"

As Milos spoke, he had already emptied a magazine, hid behind the wall, and skillfully pulled out two strips of bullets from his pocket and loaded them into the gun.

By this time, the German paratroopers, under the fire suppression of their comrades, fearlessly charged into the river near the town. Then, using the other side of the river as cover, they used grenades and submachine guns to suppress the partisans' retreat, covering their comrades as they captured the small bridge.

Despite the enormous sacrifices made by both sides, the paratroopers, relying on their close-range firepower advantage with submachine guns, finally stormed into the town of Delva.

"boom!"

After Wei Ran pulled the trigger again and killed a paratrooper carrying a submachine gun, he had no choice but to retreat quickly under the cover of the buildings amidst the intense fire from the other side, thus creating a new distance for the firefight.

"We need to send some people to the other side of the Unak River!"

Just then, a guerrilla fighter in uniform called out, "You guys, come with me! Dragan! You three who are good at shooting, come along too!"

"coming!"

Dragan was the first to respond, then called to Wei Ran and Milos to follow the hastily assembled squad as they ran out of town from another direction.

I wonder if I'll ever have the chance to see that Comrade Tie again.
While secretly looking forward to it, Wei Ran didn't forget to take out his camera and press the shutter button towards the town of Dewaer behind him.

Led by the soldier who appeared to be the company commander, Wei Ran and the others ran as fast as they could after leaving the town to the Unak River, and then crossed a bridge to the other side to join the trenches on the hillside.

"We originally had the opportunity to meet Comrade Tie."

Dragan grabbed a shovel and, while building the platform, grumbled angrily, "It's all those German flies' fault! Why did they suddenly attack this place!"

“I don’t think those Germans found out he was here by consulting a Gypsy witch with a crystal ball,” Wei Ran subtly reminded him.

"You mean there's a traitor?" Milos exclaimed.

"I didn't say anything."

Wei Ran waved his hand, "But I heard that Germany has a special unit called Brandenburg. Last time we were surrounded by them in Sutjeshka, it was this unit that obtained the intelligence. This time, it's probably the same thing."

"If I can catch them, I'll shove grenades up their asses!" Milos cursed in a vulgar manner.

"Let me put a grenade in there too."

As Wei Ran spoke, he took out the empty magazines from his pocket, loaded them onto the gun, filled them with bullets, and then put them back into his pocket.

Before they could make full preparations, a wave of enemies had already launched an attack on the Unak River!
In an instant, the guerrillas in the trenches opened fire, and Wei Ran and the other two stood side by side in the trench, just like they had done in the initial breakout battle at Kozala, each holding a gun and starting a death call, one shot after another.

"This kid's marksmanship is amazing!" Wei Ran looked at Milos beside him with a strange expression.

At this point, the distance between the two sides was between 300 and 400 meters, which was within their comfort zone for him, Milos, and Dragan.

However, Wei Ran also noticed that Milos not only hit accurately, but also hit very fast, so fast that even he, a veteran, could only barely keep up with him.

It's important to understand that while all three of them prioritized firing at targets such as machine guns and mortars, Wei Ran aimed at the "chest target," while Milos aimed at the "head target."

The most vivid way to illustrate this difference is to use someone from the country of cow urine as a target.

Don't be fooled by the fact that even if you drag some random guy from the cow-urine country into the mix, he can shake his head like a vibrating egg on its highest setting. But no matter how much he shakes, his chest is always the most stable part of his body.

In other words, even if you draw an area on the chest the same size as your head, it's much easier to hit the chest than the head.

After realizing the difference between the two, Wei Ran couldn't help but glance at Dragan with concern while changing the magazine.

Becoming a genius always comes at a price, especially a talent for the battlefield.

He worried that the price Milos would have to pay for his talent was his mentor and friend, Dragan.

Hopefully not.
Wei Ran raised his gun again, braving enemy machine gun and artillery fire, and even strafing from fighter jets, aiming at the paratroopers who had almost landed on this side of the Unak River, and pulled the trigger again and again, leaving them in place, or driving them back into the river, or even to the other side of the river.

In this seemingly endless back-and-forth, more and more guerrillas in the trenches were wounded or killed, and the paratroopers crossed the river more and more often.

Even more critically, German Junkers transport planes reappeared in the sky at this time, and once again dropped a large number of gliders and paratroopers.