War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1931 Forced Chapter-Based Related Events

Chapter 1931 Forced Backtracking of Related Events
On the evening of the day Milos Constantine was reburied, Wei Ran and Di Ma, along with Miguel and others, stayed at the wine vineyard surrounding the church.

Although this place is far from the town, there are many beautiful, retro-style log cabins around the church, and judging from their furnishings, they seem to be specially designed to entertain guests.

Is this place usually crowded?
Suppressing his doubts, Wei Ran, along with Di Ma, moved into the three bedrooms on the second floor of the same cabin as the German Miloš Schäfer.

That evening, in addition to the vineyard's own wine, the welcome dinner included a shepherd's stew that Wei Ran was very familiar with.

"This shepherd's stew was something my father learned from Mr. Constantine."

As the German Milos served everyone the food, he explained, “In a letter to my father, he said that he and Mr. Dragan had eaten this dish, and my grandfather had also eaten it.”

Using this shepherd's stew as a starting point, the people around the table began a lively meal while chatting.

During the meal, they even inquired in detail about the possibility of making a movie about their ancestors' experiences.

After a hearty meal and drinks, reminiscing about the topic, everyone agreed to visit Mount Kozala and the Sutjeshka Battle Memorial Hall the next day before saying goodnight and returning to their respective rooms.

It was only at this point that Wei Ran finally had the chance to take out the metal notebook again after carefully checking the room, to see what surprise his living father had prepared for him this time.

However, this time, as the living father was being taken out, it actually started turning the pages on its own, which immediately made Wei Ran feel a little uneasy.

Under his watchful gaze, the metal quill pen actually redrawn a pattern on the bottom half of the page where Milos had previously been drawn in profile with a weapon in hand.

There were two men in camouflage clothing leaning against the wall, each holding a weapon!
What's wrong with this?

Wei Ran's heart clenched; this was something that had never happened before!
Gradually, he finally saw clearly that one of the men leaning against the wall was holding an SVD, and the other was holding a PKM!

In addition, each of them had an MP5SD6 submachine gun at their feet.

This place is quite far from the church.
Wei Ran stared at his father, who was unusually proactive this time, with a look of utter disbelief.

Just then, the metal quill pen finished its drawing and began writing lines of text directly below:
Forced backtracking of related events
Character: Wei Ran

Return mission:

1. Assist your teammates in completing sniping, infiltration, and rescue missions and survive until you escape the battlefield.

2. Burying a companion

As everything in front of him was swallowed up by the white light, Wei Ran only had time to complain, "Are you not even going to keep up the act anymore?"

The living father naturally wouldn't argue with him, but what he saw in the white light next made his heart clench. This time, he had so many more tools at his disposal!
Mauser bayonet, three oil drums, Heinz oven and matching small pan, wire cutters, VSS silenced sniper rifle, sterling silver lighter, three-piece hand warmer and cigarette case set, Nikon SP camera, and camera case.

After these props flashed past one by one, Wei Ran then saw the Bayi Bar and the Black Panther tactical vest, as well as the coffee brewing pot that had recently been replaced with an LV box and a box full of sesame seed cakes with vegetables.

"Gulu."

When the white light reappeared, Wei Ran swallowed hard. He was now certain that the living father simply wanted him dead and had no other purpose!

As the white light faded, he gradually realized that he was in a narrow, low, cold, damp, and dark tunnel.

The tunnel was less than a meter wide and not even high enough for him to stand up straight.

By the dim light of the overhead bulbs, you can see that the tunnel is reinforced with wooden planks on both sides and overhead, and there are simple rails welded from angle iron underfoot.

Not only that, but there was also an iron frame bed in front of him with four wheels that could slide on the simple tracks.

The bed was exceptionally narrow, but the storage baskets on and under the bed were filled with all kinds of food, medicine, and even boxes of ammunition.

Across the bed, there seemed to be another figure pushing a similar "bed cart" in front of them.

Turning his head to look behind him, sure enough, there was another person pushing the same cot, and on his cot was even a PKM machine gun with its muzzle pointed directly at him.

Could this be a companion?

Before Wei Ran could get a clear look at the other person's face, the figure in front of him had already started walking, pushing the cot forward amidst the clattering noise.

Seeing this, Wei Ran immediately pushed the heavy "bedcart" and followed. While moving through the flooded tunnel, he also habitually checked his equipment.

The upper body consisted of a German camel hair coat with all labels removed and a pair of lambskin gloves, along with a black knitted hat. The lower body was dressed in jeans and a pair of obviously smuggled Vz.60 infantry boots.

Although he had no weapons on his shoulders, only a "low-end pepper-and-salt backpack" from the same place as his boots, there was a canvas gun holster on the "bed wagon" in front of him.

Moreover, just by looking at the style and length of the gun holster, he could be certain that it most likely contained an SVD sniper rifle.

Besides the weapon within easy reach, he could also clearly feel a pistol hidden inside his coat, in his pocket.

So this is the Sarajevo Tunnel of Life?
Wei Ran, who could only push the cot forward with his back bent, made a basically correct judgment amidst the noise of the wheels rubbing against the simple track.

It was only after he understood this that he had time to mentally curse that living father once again.

But now that we're here, there's no point in quitting. Rather than hoping that throwing a tantrum will get that "living father" to send me back, I'd better use this precious safe time to prepare for battle.

Reaching into the gun holster on the bed, he could tell just by feeling it in the dark that it was indeed an SVD sniper rifle.

With one hand, Wei Ran unbuttoned the camel hair coat and zipped it up, then reached inside to feel around.

A leather holster was sewn into the inside pocket of the coat, containing a Makarov PB silenced pistol and a spare magazine.

After zipping up the zipper, Wei Ran hadn't even had a chance to take off his backpack, put it on the cot, and open it to take a look when the person pushing the cot behind him spoke up in a low voice in German, "Dragan, who taught you your Serbian?"

"my dad"

Walking ahead of Wei Ran, the man also named Dragan explained in German, "My father had a Yugoslav partisan friend."

"Do all citizens of East Berlin have friends in the partisans?"

The man behind him spoke in an overly formal tone with a hint of playful banter, and the subtle detail that he used "Bürger" instead of "Staatsbürger" for the word "citizen," along with his thick Berlin accent, led Wei Ran to immediately conclude that he was almost certainly a "West Berliner."

Sure enough, Dragan's teasing confirmed his guess: "So you were fighting a guerrilla war in West Berlin?"

"Thank you for considering me a friend," the man behind me said cheerfully.

"So, gentlemen, who would like to explain how you became friends across the Berlin Wall?" Wei Ran asked.

"Klaus, you explain," Dragan, who was walking in front, handed the explanation over to the person behind Wei Ran.

"My mother and his mother share the same father and the same mother."

Klaus, who was walking behind, explained, "They only reunited after the Berlin Wall was torn down, and I became friends with this bastard."

"Aunt's brother?"

As Wei Ran sorted out the relationships, he took off his backpack and placed it on the cot, saying as he opened it, "It's obvious you two have a good relationship."

“In this godforsaken place, we are the people who trust each other the most,” Klaus added, “and of course, that includes you.”

"Viktor," Dragan, who was walking ahead, asked, "where did you learn Serbian from?"

“I have a very good Serbian friend, and he taught me,” Wei Ran said, already reaching into his backpack.

The bag contained quite a few items. The first thing I touched was a three-piece West German kettle set and a lunchbox, also from West Germany.

In addition, there was an MP5SD6 submachine gun that he had seen in the basement of that church, and several spare magazines tied together in pairs with duct tape.

He continued to feel around; the remaining space in the bag was mostly filled with changes of underwear and socks, as well as some compressed biscuits. "Just to be safe, even though no one here probably understands German, I think it's better if we address each other by code names," Klaus cautiously reminded him from behind.

“No problem, Mr. W,” Dragan said, walking ahead.

“Thank you, Mr. O,” Klaus replied with satisfaction as he walked behind.

"So it's the W of West Berlin (West-Berlin) and the O of East Berlin (Ost-Berlin)?" Wei Ran was increasingly impressed by the Germans' lack of imagination.

"That's right"

"Klaus," Mr. W asked, "so what's your code name?"

"veterinary"

Wei Ran replied in German. He did want to use "Dongfeng" (East Wind), but that word also started with an "O," which might cause confusion with Dragan's code name. Besides, he guessed...
"Then Mr. T will do."

Sure enough, Dragan, who was walking in front, and Klaus, who was walking behind, said in unison.

"So, it's the WTO trio, isn't it?"

Wei Ran muttered to himself, having already guessed the approximate time they were in.

Judging from his clothing, it was clearly winter. If he remembered correctly, the tunnel was completed in the summer of 1993, and the Bosnian War ended in December 1995.

In other words, it can only be the winter of 93 or the winter of 94, and he prefers the former. The reason is simple: by the winter of 94, the situation will have entered a stalemate, and there will be no need for so many supplies.

While secretly speculating and subtly probing, Wei Ran obtained a lot of key information before pushing the cot to its destination.

For example, Mr. W was a machine gunner in West Germany. In addition to transporting these supplies, their mission on this trip also included serving as a frontline shooting instructor and doing some translation work.

In addition, they receive a commission of $100 for each Serbian sniper they kill.

"last question"

Seeing that they were almost at their stop, Wei Ran asked a crucial question, "Why did you join Deyang? And why did you come here?"

"Initially, we were just instructors in Croatia."

Klaus said smugly, "I learned Serbian during that time, which qualified me to go to Sarajevo to carry out black missions, which is much more lucrative than being an instructor."

"Just for the money?" Wei Ran asked with a smile.

"That reason is sufficient."

Dragan, who was walking ahead, said, "But my father's guerrilla friend might also be in Bosnia and Herzegovina. I've always wanted to go and see him, but I haven't had the chance yet."

“Kozara?” Klaus asked. “I remember you mentioning this to me a few times.”

“That’s right, near Mount Kozala.”

Dragan responded, "He might be in Sarajevo, who knows? Let's wait and see. I'll go there for my father after the war is over."

"This topic isn't very auspicious," Klaus said, giving Wei Ran a startled reminder.

I take back what I just said.

Dragan said, "We're almost there."

"boom!"

Before he could finish speaking, a violent explosion rang out outside the tunnel, and the tunnel was shaken apart by the shockwave.

Just by listening to the noise, Wei Ran could tell that it was caused by the explosion of an 82mm mortar, which was also the main type of mortar used by the Serbs during the siege.

"It seems that the topic we just discussed was indeed unlucky."

As Dragan spoke, he pushed the trolley loaded with supplies and followed the people in front of him toward the end of the tunnel.

While waiting in line, Wei Ran pushed his cot to the tunnel exit, and immediately picked up his backpack and the SVD sniper rifle from his gun holster and walked out of the tunnel.

Following closely behind, Klaus handed his PKM machine gun to Wei Ran, and then had Dragan carry a large 250-round ammunition box for him, while he himself carried two small 100-round ammunition boxes.

After handing over the task of moving the remaining supplies to the person in charge of receiving them, Wei Ran noticed as the three of them stepped onto the ground that it seemed to be the dead of night, with no light in sight.

Just then, a person speaking heavily accented English asked, "Which one of you is Mr. W?"

"It's us"

In the dim light of the candle, Dragan first shook hands with the man who had asked the question. "So you are..."

"Alf"

The man, who wasn't particularly tall, said, "Come with me quickly, more shells are about to fall."

What's the situation here?

"The situation is very bad."

The man who called himself Yalf helped Dragan take the ammunition box from his hands as he spoke, and then led them out of the tunnel exit under the cover of night. He said in a low voice, "Every street, every intersection, every window is watched by Serb snipers. Doing anything here is very risky."

How many of us are here?

Klaus asked in English, "I am Mr. O, and this is Mr. T."

"Hello, welcome to Sarajevo."

"We don't have many people, less than 30," Yalf said in a low voice.

"So, are we free to choose our battlefield or enter a designated location?" Dragan continued to ask.

"Designated building complex"

"You were in charge of a seven-story office building," Yalf said. "But now only four floors are left."

"How many people are allocated to us?" Klaus asked.

"4 people"

"There's another recorder," Alf said. "Protect your recorder. Whether you get your commission depends entirely on her records."

"Her? She's a woman?" Dragan asked instinctively.

"She's a beautiful woman, but she's not someone to mess with."