War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1934 Battlefield Instruction
On the first morning after entering Sarajevo, the almost one-way sniping battle began nearly as soon as the sun shone into the city.

Having gained an absolute advantage in battlefield presence, numbers, and weaponry, the snipers surrounding Sarajevo became even more reckless in selecting their targets.

Men, women, the elderly, children—almost anything that moves becomes their target.

The city's citizens did retaliate, whether with AK rifles, single-shot Yugoslav SKS rifles, or even old Yugoslav versions of Mauser rifles.

Regardless of whether the bullets fired from these weapons hit their targets, they were often quickly met with a mortar counterattack from the surrounding forces after the firing began—including attacks on the building where Dragan and his men were hiding.

"boom!"

As another mortar shell flew in with a whistle and exploded, Wei Ran, who had returned to a view of the enemy's room, opened fire.

Because he chose the right time, and because the muzzle of his gun was far enough away from the window that was mostly blocked, the dust kicked up by the muzzle blast was not too noticeable.

Not only that, the bullet he fired also hit the arrogant sniper sitting at the table on the mountain, easily blowing off his skull—just like Milos did back then when he liked to shoot heads.

Before the spent cartridge case could even hit the ground, he immediately got up, grabbed his sniper rifle, and left the room.

Wei Ran quickly went downstairs and met up with Zorana, who was about to go next door to check on things. Wei Ran then pulled her aside and hid in a corner.

"Open your mouth, but don't touch the wall."

As Wei Ran spoke, he casually pulled over a sofa cushion and placed it over their heads.

Under Zorana's panicked gaze, Wei Ran began counting seconds.

Fortunately, a full minute passed and no mortar shells landed on their building.

"Keep making your breakfast and don't wander off."

As Wei Ran spoke, he pulled the submachine gun out of his bag and handed it to the other person, asking, "Do you know how to use it?"

"I should be able to use it."

"That means you don't know how to use it."

As Wei Ran spoke, he helped the other person pull out the retractable stock of the submachine gun, then briefly explained some of the basic functions, before immediately grabbing the barely cooked breakfast and the barely heated kettle and running out of the building.

This time, he didn't even dare to stand up. He crawled almost the entire way, using the rubble as cover, until he reached the building that served as the sniper position, and then ran inside.

"Dragan? Klaus? Luna?" Wei Ran's call was quickly answered from the second floor.

"How is the situation?" Wei Ran rushed over and asked.

"Luckily, everyone survived," Klaus replied, his voice tinged with both relief and resentment.

"what happens?"

Wei Ran glanced at the group of people who were covered in dust and dirt, and noticed the handprint on the face of one of the young men. What was his name again? I think it was Golan?
Although Wei Ran didn't quite remember the young man's name, he did remember him as an athlete who had previously practiced skeet shooting.

"Luring them into firing, this idiot has taken the bait."

Despite Dragan's words, there was little resentment in his tone: "Although we were almost blown up and lost that excellent position, this lad had good aim; he killed the enemy."

"But we have lost this precious position."

Klaus said helplessly, "We have to separate; this situation is too dangerous today."

“We really have to separate,” Dragan said. “There are five here in total.”

"Three"

Luna said, "Someone needs to be in charge of providing you with food supplies. That's the job."

"Regardless of who paid the tuition, since no one has mentioned limiting the number of students, I think you should all try to learn as much as possible."

After a moment's thought, Dragan continued, "Klaus's machine gun position cannot be opened fire easily. Golan, is your name Golan?"

“Yes, my name is Golan,” said the young man with a handprint still visible on his face.

"Golan, you and Luna go with Klaus."

Dragan instructed, "He will teach you an excellent spotter and machine gunner when to remain silent and when to fire."

“If you pull the trigger without my permission, I’ll kill your companions first, then you,” Klaus warned seriously. “Come with me and help me with the ammunition and weapons.”

Luna and Golan glanced at their two companions, then each picked up Klaus's machine gun and ammunition box, as well as the water bottles and breakfast Wei Ran had given them, and followed him out of the dilapidated building that had just been bombarded by mortars.

"Shall we each take one?" Wei Ran asked.

"Is that little girl still alive?" Dragan abruptly switched to German to ask.

"Still alive"

Wei Ran's subconscious answer relieved Dragan, who then switched back to Serbian and said, "I'll take both of them. You take the little girl and do other things."

From now on, either Klaus or I will choose one person for you each day to replace the person you're currently leading.

"No problem," Wei Ran readily agreed.

“Teach them as much as you can,” Dragan said.

"What's with the walkie-talkie in Klaus's backpack?" Wei Ran asked casually as he distributed the remaining water bottle and breakfast to the other two young men.

Why don't you just ask him directly?

Dragan gave a natural answer, but then added, "That walkie-talkie is only turned on in the early morning and evening to receive emergency missions."

"Where are you going?" Wei Ran asked.

"Let's go to that building that's further away."

As Dragan led the two young men downstairs, he said, "Don't come here for a while."

"Be careful on the road, there are a lot of snipers watching this area."

As Wei Ran spoke, he glanced regretfully at the sniper position that had been bombed and collapsed, and then turned and left the building.

Using the rubble as cover, Wei Ran crawled back to the next room and spotted Zorana hiding in a crevice in the ruins from a distance.

"How are they? Are any of them injured?" Zorana asked frantically.

“They are all fine.”

Wei Ran urged the other person to follow him into the building, repeated Dragan's decision, and finally asked, "What do you need to do during the day?"

"There's not much to do besides making breakfast and dinner."

A relaxed Zorana replied, "But I can't leave here; I have to be responsible for guarding the things in the house."

“In that case, let’s guard it together,” Wei Ran said. “I can also teach you a few things.”

"What is it?" Zorana asked with great interest.

"Do you know how to maintain your weapons?" Wei Ran asked, already picking up his SVD sniper rifle.

“I only know how to clean gun barrels with a cleaning rod,” Zorana replied truthfully.

“Let’s start with how to maintain weapons,” Wei Ran said, helping the other person pick up the M76 sniper rifle and also letting her take the silenced submachine gun that had been given to her not long ago. They walked into the room with the sofa and long table, and then Wei Ran pulled out the Makarov pistol with the silencer screwed on from inside her coat.

"Let's start with the gun you should be most familiar with."

As Wei Ran spoke, he placed his own SVD and the other person's M76 side by side, "Although these two guns look very similar, they are actually two different designs."

Under his guidance, Zorana studied with great care, and after several attempts, she picked up a rag and, together with Wei Ran, began cleaning the weapons in their hands.

From sniper rifles to submachine guns to pistols, Zorana's initial enthusiasm turned into frustration and skepticism after several hours of tedious disassembly and assembly.

“Mr. T, I have already learned these.”

As Zorana reminded him, she couldn't help but glance at the lit candle lamp on the table, thinking it was such a waste.

"Take it apart," Wei Ran said noncommittally.

After a slight hesitation, Zorana disassembled the M76 sniper rifle back into its parts.

"call!"

At that moment, Wei Ran turned off the lamp on the table, plunging the room, whose windows were completely blocked by the rubble outside, into darkness.

"crash"

Wei Ran disassembled the silenced Makarov pistol and mixed the parts in.

"There are only two guns in total. You are not allowed to stop until they are assembled, and you are not allowed to light candles or turn on lights."

The submachine gun is beside your leg, safety off and loaded, ready to be used if anyone breaks in.

As he spoke, Wei Ran stood up, picked up his SVD, and left the room again. He climbed the stairs to the second floor of the building and returned to the room where he had previously shot down a sniper.

At this time, as the sky gradually brightened, the gunfire from outside the city and the explosions of mortar shells inside the city became increasingly frequent.

Whether it was gunfire or explosions, Wei Ran knew clearly that each of those loud noises would take away more or less lives.

"That's too arrogant."

Wei Ran peered through his binoculars at the mountain position where he had recently killed a sniper.

The table was still there, but the person wasn't sitting at it; instead, they were lying behind a sandbag not far away.

Wei Ran slowly locked his crosshair onto the enemy, patiently waiting and listening intently to the gunshots and explosions coming from outside, watching the sniper in his crosshair fire again and again.

After an unknown amount of time, Wei Ran finally heard the long-awaited whistle – the sound of a mortar tearing through the air, about to strike nearby.

"boom!"

With a muffled explosion, Wei Ran pulled the trigger.

Before the spent shell casings could even hit the ground, the shockwave from the mortar shell that struck the building next to it reached the building's base and sent a cloud of dust flying overhead.

Once again, carrying his gun, Wei Ran hurried downstairs and ran back to the "home" that Zorana had mentioned. Even standing at the door, he could hear the young girl's disordered and rapid breathing from the dimly lit room, a result of her tension and panic.

With a smile, Wei Ran didn't disturb the girl. He simply picked up his weapon and climbed up to the second floor along the collapsed section on the other side, then to the third floor. He set up his gun again behind a cracked wall and patiently searched for a sniper target on the opposite mountain.

This time, however, he did not fire a shot. Instead, he picked up a broken brick and drew a simple topographical map on the cement floor, marking the locations one by one.

It's like preparing practice prey for a fledgling eagle that's about to start hunting.

Around noon, Wei Ran, having finally emptied a magazine, returned "home" from afar, bringing with him a bag of 10 still-warm sesame seed cakes filled with vegetables.

"Is it assembled?" Wei Ran asked Zorana.

"It's assembled."

Zorana immediately replied, "It's all assembled."

"Are you sure there are no missing or extra parts?" Wei Ran continued to ask.

“No,” Zorana answered confidently, “I practiced it several more times.”

"So what is this?"

As Wei Ran spoke, he pulled an inconspicuous spring out of his pocket.

Handing the spring in his hand to the wide-eyed girl, Wei Ran said with a smile, "Let's do it a few more times."

"What's the point?"

Feeling deceived, Zorana tried to keep her tone from becoming too angry. Although she was young, she was already an adult, and this battlefield on her doorstep had made her mature enough.

"You need to know your weapon well enough, but you also need to know yourself well enough."

Wei Ran sat down in the corner with his gun in his arms, lit a cigarette, and said, "You should realize that you're not as calm and meticulous as you think you are."

Upon hearing this, Zorana paused for a moment, then silently disassembled the two guns and found the spring's proper place.

"You don't have much training time."

Wei Ran said bluntly, "We might leave or die here tomorrow, so I can only teach you the general idea. You'll have to find the time to do the specific exercises yourself."

As he spoke, he pulled a steaming hot sesame seed cake from his bag and handed it to the other person. "Eat it all, then grab your weapons. This afternoon's lesson is about choosing a position and the timing of firing."

"Where did this come from?"

"I will teach you as much as I can before I leave."

Wei Ran pointed to the sesame seed cake in the other person's hand, "But before that, finish your food first."

Zorana paused for a moment, then lowered her head and took a small bite of the sesame seed cake with vegetables, chewing slowly.

Soon, she took her second bite, this time a larger piece, and chewed it even faster.

Then came the third bite, the fourth bite, and the fifth bite.

Seeing the girl choking and pounding her chest, Wei Ran picked up the water bottle and handed it to her.

After gulping down the food, before Zorana could say anything, a second sesame seed cake was handed to her.

"Keep this for yourself, eat it when you're hungry. Now take your gun and come upstairs with me."

With that, Wei Ran turned around decisively and walked towards the collapsed section in the distance.

Licking the sesame seeds off her lips, Zorana picked up the sniper rifle she had spent the whole morning disassembling and reassembling, and followed Wei Ran upstairs to the position prepared for her.

"An excellent sniper does more than just accurately kill their target."

Wei Ran took out a camouflage cloth from his bag, spread it on the ground, and said in a low voice, "You also need the mind of a cunning and calm hunter, someone who can make it impossible for the enemy to find where the bullet came from."

"The hunter's brain?"

Zorana's blank stare made Wei Ran subconsciously think of Milos from the past.

In the blink of an eye, half a century has passed.