War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1941 The way out
Wei Ran and Dragan exchanged a glance before silently hiding behind the load-bearing pillar.

A moment later, a wooden ladder was lowered down from upstairs, and then a figure climbed down the ladder.

Seeing that the person walked straight into that office, Wei Ran and Dragan rushed over one after the other.

This enemy, who appeared to be an artilleryman, was not slow in his reaction time, but his gun was fixed to his waist with a leather holster.

So when he ripped open the leather cover of the holster while shouting and pulled the Stechkin submachine gun halfway out, Dragan's submachine gun was already pressed against his chest, and he kicked him in the back of the knee.

By the time he subdued the enemy, Wei Ran had already climbed the ladder and quickly reached the upper floor.

This floor doesn't look like it's inhabited, but not far away there's a wooden ladder leading upstairs.

Climbing the ladder upstairs again, Wei Ran couldn't help but chuckle. Continuing upwards from here, a separate stairwell appeared, and the stairs here hadn't been destroyed.

He remained vigilant and climbed the stairs. When he reached the 10th floor, he finally saw signs of human habitation again.

On this floor, one of the offices was still lit up.

After checking around the area, Wei Ran carefully lifted the blanket hanging by the office door.

There was no one inside. Apart from various daily necessities and a radio I had seen not long ago, the most important thing in the room was the artillery firepower map.

After a quick glance, Wei Ran finally began to ponder a question that had been puzzling him since before he left that building—why was an artillery observer needed here?

Given Sarajevo's terrain, the artillery observer didn't need to enter the city at all; he could simply find a spot on a hilltop outside the city or even near the artillery positions.

So this place is also used as a scapegoat?!

Wei Ran's heart sank, and he subconsciously began to check everything that the artilleryman had left behind.

The pencil had never been sharpened, the eraser had never been used, and there were absolutely no writings on the firepower diagram or in the notebook.

We can't stay here any longer! This place is a scapegoat trap!
Wei Ran looked around, found a screwdriver, disassembled the radio casing, quickly inspected it, then put it back in its original state and carried it on his back.

After taking the enemy's firepower map and other materials, he immediately went downstairs to meet up with Dragan and briefly described his guesses in Serbian in front of the captured artilleryman.

Deliberately ignoring the pale-faced gunner, Wei Ran said, "We must leave here before dawn."

"Walk"

Dragan said, looking at the artillery observer, "If you want to take the blame, I don't mind leaving you here."

Upon hearing this, the artillery observer immediately shook his head and obediently allowed Dragan to pull him up.

After the three of them went downstairs, Wei Ran used the captured grenades to set up booby traps in several tricky locations. Then, he led the gagged artillery observer back to the building before sunrise.

"Why did you bring him back?"

Thomas, who was on the first floor at that moment, asked after learning the identity of the prisoner brought back.

“It’s a trap,” Wei Ran said, looking at the gunner. “Where are you from?”

"Belgrade," the gunner replied.

“Belgrade?” Thomas was taken aback, and Dragan was also taken aback.

I was sent here before the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The gunner replied, "I chose to stay, then the war started, and I was drafted a few months ago."

“But we don’t need artillery fire here,” Wei Ran reminded him.

"I'm not a gunner at all."

The artillery observer, who was not actually a gunner, immediately replied, "I was sent here to record mortar damage and sniper results; before that, I was a radio communications soldier."

"Do you communicate frequently?" Wei Ran asked.

Once a week

The communications soldier replied, "My job is very easy. If what you just said is true, it seems I really have become a scapegoat."

"What's your name?" Dragan pressed.

The communications officer, “Blanco,” immediately replied, “Blanco Jokic, sir.”

Let's find him a place to rest first.

Wei Ran gave a reminder and, with Emil's help, who was patrolling on the first floor, immediately escorted Blanco to the floor where the prisoners were held.

"Yalf has agreed to cooperate."

Thomas stood at the top of the stairs and said in a low voice, "He promised to help us create a false impression, a false impression that those two reporters were killed."

So I'm getting ready to head back to the Holiday Inn. I'll inform those two reporters and my friend that we're faking our deaths today. I've already explained the details to Klaus.

"it is good"

Wei Ran and Dragan agreed together, and then watched Thomas leave the building alone.

"Is he trustworthy?" Dragan asked in a low voice.

"Maybe"

Wei Ran gave an ambiguous answer, and he was not sure whether Thomas was trustworthy.

After instructing Emil, who was guarding the machine gun on the first floor, to be on high alert, Wei Ran and his companion found Klaus on the fifth floor.

Thomas's friend will invite the two reporters to go out for an interview this evening.

Klaus said, "They'll be hiding just one street away from us. I'll go and bring them back and blow that place up. Alf will announce on the radio that we're all dead there."

“What about the children here?” Dragan pressed.

"Thomas will arrange for them to be taken away after dark as well."

Klaus said, "Both sides acted at the same time."

"What about us?" Wei Ran pressed. "What should we do?"

“After sending the children into the tunnel, Thomas will come back and then, together with us, follow Yalf and secretly leave through the passage opened by the Serbs.”

"He's not planning to leave?" Dragan pressed. "I mean, he's not planning to leave through the tunnel?"

"That would kill his partner."

Wei Ran said almost subconsciously, "He and his uncle will be in danger. Only if he stays in Sarajevo and lives here will the children he sent out and his partner survive."

"It's really complicated."

Klaus snorted. "As long as he can pay the balance."

"And we need to make sure we leave here alive."

Dragan said worriedly in German, "I plan to have Luna and the others leave with us as well."

"Let them leave too?"

"Are you planning to take these burdens with you, abandon them, or kill them to silence them?" Dragan retorted to Klaus.

"Then let them leave with us, as long as you can persuade them."

Klaus said nonchalantly, since it wasn't their responsibility to take those children away anyway, he didn't care at all.

"I'll go talk to them right away."

Dragan then looked at Wei Ran and said, "Victor, come with me."

"My pleasure"

As Wei Ran spoke, he followed the other person up to the eighth floor.

"How are they doing?" Dragan asked Luna.

"Several boys were seriously injured, and several girls appear to be pregnant."

Luna said worriedly, "The one who has been locked up here the longest has been here for more than two months."

According to them, if the injuries are too severe or the person is pregnant, they will be killed and carried away.

"Luna, tonight the five of you are responsible for leading them away," Dragan said abruptly.

"We... take them away? Where to?" Mr. Luna was taken aback, then asked in a flustered manner.

"Leaving Sarajevo"

Dragan explained, "This evening, Mr. Thomas will have you leave together through the tunnel."

Before Luna could speak, Dragan continued, "But nobody knows if they'll really be safe after leaving Sarajevo, so we need a few of you to protect these children."

"you"

“We can’t do it. We’re already being watched. We need to leave through other channels,” Wei Ran said before Luna could finish.

"The four of them are fine with me. I'm staying here," Luna said seriously.

“But we don’t have the energy to take care of a burden,” Dragan said bluntly.

Upon hearing this, Luna opened her mouth, then finally nodded, and cautiously asked, "What about you... what about you?"

"Of course we'll stay and continue making money."

Klaus caught up with them at some point. "Thanks to those kids and our colleagues, Thomas paid out over $20,000."

"You must protect those people and keep them alive."

Wei Ran reminded her, "Luna, leaving Sarajevo doesn't necessarily mean you're safe. You still face many dangers."

"I understand, we will protect them," Luna said, clenching her fists.

"Keep this gun for self-defense."

As Dragan spoke, he removed the leather holster containing the silenced Makarov pistol from the inside of his jacket.

"I remember there were some young men practicing rapid-fire pistols among you burdens, but I can't recall who they were."

As Klaus spoke, he also removed his silenced pistol and tossed it, holster and all, to Luna.

"Hide it under your armpit, secure it with something, and then wear another piece of clothing over it to cover it up."

As Wei Ran spoke, he also removed the holster from inside his coat and handed it to the other person along with the pistol. "Don't fire easily. You may only have one chance to fire."

"I see"

Luna quickly took the third gun. "Will we...will we ever have a chance to meet again?"

"If you survive, you should still have a chance."

Klaus said, "You guys take care of the lookout duty. We're going to rest for a bit." "If you don't know where to go after leaving Sarajevo, you can try these addresses."

As Dragan spoke, he picked up a pen from a table and wrote down lines of addresses on a piece of paper. “The first address is in the Kozala Mountains. It’s a church. I’ve never been there, and I don’t know if anyone lives there or if it’s been occupied.”

But if there's a family there with the surname Constantine, they'll definitely help you.

Dragan paused, then continued as he wrote down the second address, "This next address is in Germany."

"Dragan!"

Klaus returned, snatched the pen from the other man, and warned him in German, "I don't mind if you're foolish enough to save these people, but don't drag our own families into it."

"I'm sorry, I understand."

Dragan nodded, crossed out the German address he had just written down, and switched to Serbian with a hint of apology, saying, "This is the only address left, but I don't know anything about the situation there."

"Thank you"

Luna clutched the piece of white paper with the address written on it and said gratefully. She wasn't a child anymore; she knew clearly that Dragan had already done his limit.

"Take this money."

Wei Ran took out his share of the commission and handed it to Luna, saying, "Give everyone a few sheets and hide them in the most discreet places possible."

"Thank you," Luna said, her voice filled with even more gratitude.

"Looking forward to seeing you at the Olympic Games"

Wei Ran smiled and said, "It doesn't matter which country you represent as athletes."

"I'm just a team doctor."

"There's not much difference," Wei Ran said with a smile. "Go and get ready."

Luna gratefully hugged each of the three in turn before running to the end of the corridor to begin making emergency arrangements. Klaus scoffed, "You're an idiot too. We didn't come here."

"Klaus"

Dragan looked at the other person, "You weren't like this before, until you did those training sessions."

"That's enough, let's not bring those things up again."

Klaus changed the subject before Dragan could finish speaking, "We can't really leave all the lookout work to those rookies, so who's going to the roof?"

"I'll go."

Wei Ran offered, "I'll go to the rooftop and keep watch."

I'm going to the third floor.

As Klaus spoke, he turned around and casually tossed a wad of cash to Dragan.

"Just being a tsundere, huh?"

Wei Ran couldn't help but chuckle. Ignoring Dragan's astonished expression as he took the money, he slowly walked up to the 16th floor, carrying the radio he had retrieved from the newspaper building.

At that moment, the sun had just risen above the horizon, but the city had already been awakened by the sounds of gunfire.

After some searching, Wei Ran found a sniping spot that was well-concealed but had a good view, and set up the SSG69 sniper rifle he had just brought over.

The muzzle of this gun is screwed with a silencer, and it's safe to assume that the shooter added it himself.

Instead of rushing to find the hiding sniper, Wei Ran took out the LV case containing the coffee pot again, leisurely brewed a pot of coffee, and also took out the flatbread oven, opening the lid of the oil drum filled with water and placing it on top to use as a radiator.

Finally, he turned on the radio he had brought back, set it up next to him, and put on headphones.

With everything ready, he took out three sesame seed cakes and filled them with vegetables.

At this moment, because the supplies inside the building were plentiful and Wei Ran no longer had to worry about going hungry, she could finally relax and enjoy a good meal to fill her stomach while guarding the homemade heater.

After finishing three sesame cakes and filling his stomach with sugared coffee, he finally gripped the SSG69 sniper rifle and began searching for his target.

The occasional gunshots served as a guide, so it wasn't too difficult. However, this time, he simply targeted the snipers entrenched in the city.

"Snapped!"

With a not-so-loud gunshot, a sniper hiding in the building was hit in the head.

It's a good gun.
Wei Ran couldn't help but exclaim in admiration. Although the previous shooter had added a silencer to this gun, it was still accurate enough at the distance just now.

Of course, saying it's accurate is only relative. Even without the suppressor, this gun isn't much better than the SVD. Its advantage lies in the fact that even with the suppressor, its accuracy is still quite good.

As for his original SVD, that gun didn't have a silencer.

Gently cocking the bullet, Wei Ran aimed at the building where the sniper he had just killed was located and continued to wait patiently.

"Snapped!"

With a second faint gunshot, the sniper's second-in-command was shot in the chest and fell to the ground the moment he entered the sniper position.

There must be more.

Wei Ran gently moved the muzzle of his gun, continuing to search for potential enemies around the only route between their building and the tunnel.

Dragan, who was downstairs, was also doing the same thing, holding an M76 sniper rifle with a silencer attached.

That morning, as they pulled the trigger again and again, one indiscriminate sniper after another was hit by bullets and fell to the ground.

Wei Ran couldn't remember how many bullets he had fired; he hadn't even bothered to count them.

But that morning, at least in the direction they were aiming at, there were far fewer gunshots within the range of their weapons.

Around noon, a girl I hadn't seen before ran upstairs and shouted, "Mr. O! Mr. T! Someone was just arrested downstairs, and Mr. W wants you to come down immediately! To the fourth floor!"

Arrests?

Wei Ran was stunned for a moment, then quickly packed up the oil stove and other items, picked up the useful sniper rifle and went to the stairwell. He grabbed a rope fixed to a load-bearing column and rappelled down to the fourth floor before Dragan downstairs.

"What did you catch?"

Wei Ran swung into the stairwell on the fourth floor, swung the rope, and asked.

"Mr. Alf, please explain."

Klaus said to Alf, who was sitting in a chair.

Although Alf had agreed to cooperate, he was still in a dislocated state, but since he was sitting in a chair with his hands resting on the table, it was not obvious what was wrong.

Looking at another person who was arrested, this man was dressed as a war correspondent, and there were several cameras on a table next to him.

"He's our informant."

"Friend," Yalf said, "tell us what the information is. We just had a new batch of people here, which caused some misunderstandings."

The arrested reporter glanced at Klaus, then at Wei Ran and Dragan who had just rappelled in, and finally breathed a sigh of relief, saying, "I have confirmed that freelance photographer Thomas seems to have gotten some big news."

He had his friend take the two reporters you asked me to report away from the Holiday Inn not long ago.

"Do you know where they went?" Alf asked.

Give me some money and I'll tell you.

The reporter, or rather the photographer, said, "I need to come here tonight to have some fun, and then leave early tomorrow morning."

"no problem"

Alf readily agreed, then glanced at Klaus.

"I'll go get you the film right away," Klaus said, already heading upstairs.

"They're hiding in the ruins of that shop not far from here."

As the reporter spoke, he pulled a Polaroid photo from his pocket and placed it on the table.

After only glancing at the not-so-clear back view in the photo, Alf said, "Your wife will receive the reward."

“I also want the film reels and interview notes of those people,” the war correspondent said. “I mean, the parts you’re not interested in.”

"No problem," Alf agreed with exceptional ease.

"I'll come back after dark. I need to use your radio to contact my partner then."

After the reporter finished speaking, he accepted a small box of film and some supplies from Klaus.

"These can all meet your needs."

"As long as we catch those two journalists," Yarf said.

"Then it's settled," the reporter said happily.

Arrest him!

Before Dragan could finish speaking, Wei Ran had already stepped on the back of the man's knees and pinned him to the ground, then cracked and broke the reporter's joints.

"Where did you learn that? It's a million times better than handcuffs!"

Dragan rubbed his shoulders. "That voice was so scary, it gave me goosebumps."

"I thought you would let him go," Alf said before Wei Ran could speak.

“I’m not sure if there were any coded messages in your conversation just now,” Dragan and Wei Ran said almost in unison.

"You two are really in sync," Alf and Klaus said in unison.

"You two too."

Wei Ran and Dragan said the same thing again.

After this little coincidence, Wei Ran picked up the reporter's camera and took a look.

His camera and Thomas's equipment were almost identical. A Nikon F3 was the undisputed main camera, and the second backup camera was also a Leica M6. The third camera was more interesting, though. It was a black Polaroid pulse instant camera.

"Since someone has brought the cameras to our door, why don't we take some group photos?" Wei Ran suggested while fiddling with the cameras.

"Raise your hand!"

Just then, a shout from Damir and a gasp from a stranger came from downstairs.

Who else is coming?
Wei Ran put down his camera, exchanged a glance with Dragan and Klaus, and then quickly rushed downstairs.

Before they could run downstairs, Golan and Emil had already brought up another man dressed as a reporter at gunpoint.

Is Thomas trying to trick Deyang into giving him his eyes?
Wei Ran and the other two exchanged glances. They were almost certain that Thomas was spreading false information frantically at the Holiday Inn.

Colleagues are enemies.
Wei Ran shook his head inwardly.