War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1971 Just cry out
"Shooting down an airplane with a rifle is no easy feat."

On the city wall, Wei Ran leaned against a collapsed crenellation, reached out and picked up a Hanyang rifle from beside a corpse, pulled back the bolt, pulled out the spent cartridge and glanced at it, then looked at the muzzle, before setting it aside and picking up a Type 38 rifle instead.

After pulling back the bolt again to check it carefully, Wei Ran lifted it up and tested it, then put the bullet in the barrel and set it aside. He then picked up another rifle, checked it again, put the bullet in the barrel, and set it aside.

Finally, he loaded the third usable rifle with bullets, held it in his arms, and lay down next to the body of a soldier whose skull had been smashed open by broken bricks, pressing the butt of the rifle against the gap between the city wall bricks.

Amidst the intense cannon fire, the city wall pressed against their backs trembled under the bombardment, and the brickwork that was occasionally shattered by the shells, like fragments of the shells, possessed the same deadly destructive power.

Amidst the chaos, the roar of Japanese planes grew louder as they approached again. Wei Ran aimed at the pilot's seat and pulled the trigger as the plane strafed the Great Wall at low altitude.

He could tell from the strange design of the plane with its engine mounted on top that it was a Japanese Type 87 Kawasaki bomber.

The plane wasn't fast, nor was it particularly maneuverable. With sufficient firepower, or a bit of luck, it was entirely possible to shoot it down with rifles.

But the prerequisite is that you have to withstand the bombs and machine gun fire from inside this flying giant turtle's belly.

Just as the trigger rebounded, Wei Ran released his grip, picked up a second gun at top speed, and pulled the trigger again at the plane. He then quickly switched to a third gun and pulled the trigger one last time before the plane pulled up.

Unfortunately, although he was certain that all three bullets seemed to have hit the target, he did not manage to shoot down the plane.

Not exactly disappointed, Wei Ran leaned against the corpse of his compatriot, which served as a buffer between him and the city wall, and loaded a bullet into the gun in his hand.

"Tu tu tu tu——"

Just as he placed the first loaded gun on the corpse beside him and picked up the second gun, a burst of bullets swept past him, almost grazing his body—it was another Japanese bomber.

"boom!"

Just as Wei Ran finished licking the ground and picked up his second rifle and loaded it with bullets, an aerial bomb landed on the inner side of the city wall, more than a hundred meters away from him, and exploded.

After a brief pause, Wei Ran picked up the third rifle, loaded it with a bullet, and pressed it back into the gap between the bricks. He then aimed at the next Japanese plane flying in the opposite direction and pulled the trigger.

After another three rounds of firing, he clearly saw the aircraft's flight maneuvers begin to malfunction.

Unfortunately, the plane eventually pulled up and flew into the blue sky that they had been monopolizing.

But Wei Ran was not discouraged and continued his triple-shot firing amidst the bombardment from artillery and aircraft.

Finally, just as Wen Laoga, who was far away, finally climbed up the city wall by almost crawling, the Japanese flying turtles stopped darting around and flew back in the direction they had come from.

Almost simultaneously, the Japanese artillery ceased firing, and under the cover of artillery and aircraft, the Japanese soldiers, armed with guns and bayonets, had already rushed to the foot of the Great Wall.

Glancing at his injured leg, Wei Ran, carrying three guns, crawled to the edge of the firing port, extended the muzzle of one of the guns, lay on a cold, blood-soaked sandbag, and pulled the trigger at the Japanese soldier who was right in front of him.

This was the only thing he could do at that moment, and also the only thing Wen Laoga, who was also lying next to the firing port in the distance, could do.

"boom!"

As Wei Ran killed another Japanese soldier, soldiers and civilians rushed out through the gap in the Great Wall amidst a deafening roar, colliding with the Japanese soldiers who were right next to them, creating a flurry of snowflakes.

"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!"

At this moment, the only thing Wei Ran could do was to increase the speed of his firing and kill the Japanese soldiers who appeared in front of his crosshairs.

If only I had a firearm right now, or even just some pistol ammo!
While sighing inwardly, Wei Ran didn't forget to take out the camera he had adjusted beforehand and snap a quick photo every now and then.

"boom!"

After pulling the trigger again and hitting a Japanese soldier in the chest, Wei Ran put aside the last rifle that was empty of bullets, looked around for a while, and then laboriously turned over a corpse.

He pulled two grenades from his waist and placed them aside. He then pulled out an old barrel that was almost frozen to the ground, tapped it against the city wall to fire a shot, and after successfully loading a bullet, he shoved it into the firing port again, aimed at a Japanese soldier, and pulled the trigger.

"boom!"

Just then, a grenade, accompanied by a whistle, flew over the city wall and landed on the other side.

After glancing back briefly, Wei Ran stood up, leaning against the wall. He placed his reloaded rifle on the wrecked rampart, aimed at a grenade launcher squad, and pulled the trigger.

"boom!"

After pulling the trigger, Wei Ran glanced regretfully at the Japanese grenade launcher who hadn't been hit, tossed aside his old grenade launcher, leaned against the broken city wall with one hand and pressed his injured leg with the other, and stepped over corpses or convulsing wounded soldiers, while searching for a weapon that satisfied him.

As he walked, he would occasionally press the shutter button to photograph the soldiers around him.

At this time, most of the soldiers still fighting on the city wall were wounded, some with minor injuries and others with serious ones. Those who were able-bodied, or whose injuries did not affect their ability to engage in close combat, had already rushed down through the breach in the Great Wall to fight.

After pressing the shutter again, he stopped, bent down, turned over the body of an officer, and opened his belt to take a look.

Seeing that there were many Mauser pistol bullets in the Kowloon Belt, Wei Ran immediately took off the entire Kowloon Belt and put it on his body. After searching for a while, he picked up a Mauser 712 box cannon that was the same model as the one on his waist from between several corpses.

Seeing that there were still bullets inside, Wei Ran fastened them to the Nine Dragons belt, continued to walk forward a few steps while holding onto the wall, then bent down, picked up a Type 38 rifle, examined it, loaded it with a bullet, and once again aimed at the Japanese soldiers who were still throwing grenades at the breached section of the Great Wall and pulled the trigger.

"boom!"

After that shot, the Japanese soldier Wei Ran was aiming at fell backward, and the grenade launcher he was standing on also fell down.

With a "click," the bullet was reloaded, and Wei Ran was about to aim again when he found his foot being grabbed by a blood-stained hand.

"Wen Laoga?! How did you get up here?!"

After subconsciously looking down, Wei Ran couldn't help but exclaim in surprise. Only then did he notice that the "corpse" lying at the firing port was still alive, and it was none other than Wen Laoga.

"They climbed up."

After Wei Ran squatted down with difficulty, Wen Laoga said weakly, "Bullets... I... I'm out of bullets again."

"you"

Wei Ran gritted his teeth and finally untied the Nine Dragons Belt from his waist, took out a few bullets, and loaded the other party's Mauser pistol.

"Shoot from a distance."

Wen Laoga took the gun and said, "Fire the grenade launcher."

"Can you still hold on?" Wei Ran asked loudly, raising his Type 38 rifle again.

"Ta! Ta! Ta! Ta! Ta!"

Wen Laoga answered Wei Ran's question with six consecutive shots, each with astonishing accuracy.

Seeing this, Wei Ran placed the Mauser C96 he had just picked up, along with the Mauser C96 at his waist, fully loaded with bullets next to the other person. Then he took out a Mauser C96 from a metal notebook, filled a magazine with bullets, and kept it for self-defense.

Picking up the Type 38 rifle he had picked up again, he aimed at the grenade launcher squad in the distance and pulled the trigger repeatedly. Together with the surviving soldiers around him, they used their limited single-shot firepower to help those engaged in hand-to-hand combat suppress the Japanese machine guns and grenade launchers.

After a difficult repelling of the Japanese attack, the enemy's artillery roared again, and Wei Ran and the pale-faced Wen Laoga lay prone among the piles of corpses.

"Do you have any cigarettes?" Wen Laoga asked weakly.

"Yes," Wei Ran leaned against the chest of a corpse, and using the clothes as cover, took out a cigarette pack, gave one to the other person, and lit one for himself.

"Don't die here!"

Amidst the deafening roar and tremors of the exploding shells, Wei Ran shouted, "You and the Zhao family kid made a pinky promise!"

"I"

Amidst the dense explosions, Wen Laoga spoke weakly, but unfortunately, his voice was too soft, and the sound of the shells exploding around him was too loud—Wei Ran couldn't hear him at all.

Even so, he suddenly had a flash of inspiration and pulled out his camera from his pocket. Wen Laoga also struggled to sit up, leaned against the city wall, held up two Mauser pistols, and tried to force a simple and honest smile so that Wei Ran could take a picture.

After a brief yet prolonged bombardment, shouts of battle erupted. Those who were still alive, able to run, and wielding broadswords crossed the Great Wall before the Japanese soldiers.

"Ta! Ta! Ta! Ta!"

Wen Laoga seemed to have been fully revived, lying prone at the firing port and rapidly firing his dual pistols in bursts, almost like a rapid-fire attack.

"I just said!"

After Wei Ran pulled the trigger, Wen Laoga seemed to have gathered enough strength to ask, "Did you take a picture of Brother Zhao's family?"

"I...I didn't have time," Wei Ran trembled. Fortunately, the shot hadn't missed.

"Let's take down the Japanese first," Wen Laoga said, and began firing rapid bursts of fire again.

With the two working together, a layer of golden bullet casings gradually accumulated around them, and Wei Ran's camera was about to run out of film.

But the Japanese troops remained relentless, and had almost reached the foot of the damaged Great Wall.

"Grenade!"

Just then, someone roared from afar. Wei Ran immediately put down his gun, took out a grenade he had picked up, lit it, and threw it away.

Wen Laoga was too weak to throw grenades at this point, but he still managed to ignite a few and throw them out through the firing port.

"boom!"

When the first grenade explosion rang out, Wei Ran had already picked up a Mauser pistol that was originally prepared for Wen Laoga, grabbed a few magazines, and limped along the wall to quickly move to the breach in the damaged city wall.

At the same time, Wen Laoga had already turned over and was behind Wei Ran, repeatedly pulling the trigger at the Japanese soldiers who were peeking out and climbing onto the city wall.

Under his cover, Wei Ran raised his gun and rushed to the edge of the gap. After lying down, he first fired a fan-shaped shot at the Japanese soldiers who were rushing up, and then took out a Mauser pistol from his metal notebook and fired a second fan-shaped shot, suppressing the Japanese soldiers who had almost climbed up.

Just as he retreated less than a meter and lay down next to a corpse to load bullets onto his Mauser pistol, more soldiers and civilians, wielding broadswords, rifles with bayonets, and even grenades, charged into the Japanese ranks.

This time, Wei Ran put down the Mauser pistol that had just been loaded with bullets, took out his camera, and repeatedly pressed the shutter to capture the fighting below the breach.

Finally, when everyone had once again driven back the Japanese invaders, he had just run out of film.

"boom!"

Just as he was hiding in the corner, changing the film for his camera, the Japanese artillery shells came crashing down again.

As the shelling intensified, Wei Ran, after changing his film, had no choice but to roll and take cover towards Wen Laoga's location.

The following morning, the Japanese artillery bombardment and assaults alternated in wave after wave, and casualties inside and outside the Great Wall continued to rise.

Around noon, Wei Ran, whose cheek was grazed by a stray bullet and was bleeding, and the weak Wen Laoga helped each other to the edge of the gap. Each of them held up two Mauser pistols and pulled the triggers at the charging Japanese soldiers, trying their best to relieve the pressure on the soldiers who were launching a bayonet attack.

After driving away the Japanese soldiers at great cost once again, Wei Ran and Wen Laoga noticed that a group of pistol squad members carrying broadswords were mixed in with the crowd chasing the Japanese soldiers and rushed towards the direction of the Japanese positions. However, they pretended to be shot halfway and crawled to the mountain pass to hide.

Soon, the Japanese artillery fire echoed through the valley of Luowenyu once again, and the Japanese launched another attack after the shelling.

But this time, the soldiers inside the city walls were clearly prepared; they even deliberately let a small group of Japanese soldiers climb over the walls.

Lured by this small bait, the garrison inside the Great Wall, in coordination with the ambush force, intercepted the Japanese troops who launched their attack.

In an instant, amidst a hail of grenades and a barrage of gunfire, the defending troops surrounded and slaughtered the Japanese soldiers who had charged too far ahead, beneath the blood-stained and smoke-filled Great Wall.

"Charge! Charge!"

Beneath the city wall, someone shouted, and in an instant, whistles and battle cries drowned out the gunfire. Many soldiers chased after the fleeing Japanese soldiers and, together with the ambush force, launched an attack on the Japanese position.

"Won."

Having emptied his pistol, Wen Laoga breathed a sigh of relief, and then everything went black as he lost consciousness.

Wei Ran also breathed a sigh of relief, and at the same time subconsciously looked around. After the fighting that morning, the Great Wall was full of corpses, and even the Great Wall bricks under his feet, which had been polished by hundreds of years, were stained with blood and the black of gunpowder.

It turns out that building our new Great Wall with our own flesh and blood is truly real.
Wei Ran also breathed a sigh of relief, and then his vision went black and he fainted as well.

In the midst of the chaos, he felt a sharp pain coming from the wounds all over his body. Then he vaguely felt as if he were lying on a stretcher and heard several women sighing about something.

When he woke up again, he found himself lying on a large kang (a heated brick bed), not far from him, was Wen Laoga.

Between the two of them, on the tattered kang mat, lay four Mauser pistols, his camera and film, and Wen Laoga's wine gourd.

Just as he was wondering where he was, the wooden door of the house creaked open, and Zhao Shouxian, carrying a basket, walked in.

Wei Ran's heart trembled at just one glance at the other person.

He didn't know how long he had been lying on the kang, but at this moment, Zhao Shouxian, this little adult-like child with red and swollen eyes, had a white cloth tied around his waist, and a Mauser pistol was pinned to that glaring white cloth belt.

"you're awake?"

When Zhao Shouxian saw Wei Ran looking at him, a hint of joy unconsciously appeared on his panicked face. "It's good that you're awake. If you're awake, you can survive."

That's what Doctor Zhao said at the time.
While Wei Ran was still in a daze, Zhao Shouxian had already grabbed his wrist and started to take his pulse.

"Child," Wei Ran asked hesitantly, "Where are your parents?"

"pat"

When the question was asked, a large tear slid down Zhao Shouxian's cheek, which was red from the cold, and landed on Wei Ran's palm.

"them."

Zhao Shouxian wiped away the tears that wouldn't stop flowing from the corners of his eyes with his other hand, and replied in a voice that was becoming increasingly hoarse, "They were killed by the Japanese artillery. I... I failed to protect them."

Cry.

Wei Ran pulled the young doctor, who resembled a tender seedling, into his arms and sighed as he looked at the thatched roof, "Cry, it'll be alright if you cry, it'll be alright if you cry, it'll be alright if you cry."

(End of this chapter)