War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1980 Guarding the Bridge
"Will there be a fight tonight?" Gao Lianggan asked, looking at the distant city wall from the entrance of the photo studio.

Before Wei Ran could answer, streaks of lightning flashed across the sky, and as the thunder reached his ears, a torrential downpour began.

Get ready.

As Wei Ran spoke, he locked the door back in place, then turned and went into the room to lie down.

While taking a quick nap to recharge before the battle, Gaolianggan took off his sweaty clothes, picked up a bar of soap, and went into the yard. Standing under the dripping eaves, he carefully lathered his head with soap and meticulously shaved off his hair and beard with a razor.

When the loud banging on the door woke Wei Ran, Gao Lianggan had already rushed out and opened the door first.

"what happened?"

Before putting down the door panel in his hand, Gao Lianggan hurriedly asked, having already changed into a patched-up Twenty-Ninth-Rank uniform.

"devil."

Holding an umbrella, Zhao Shouxian pointed to the city gate in the distance and shouted loudly in the heavy rain, "The Japanese say that a Japanese soldier has gone missing in Wanping City and they want to enter the city to search for him."

The commander guarding the city wouldn't let the Japanese soldiers in, and now the Japanese have surrounded Wanping City.

My uncle told me to come and tell you that a fight is definitely going to break out tonight, so you and Uncle Wei should be on your guard!

"What kind of work did your Uncle Wen assign to you and Yi Mo?" Wei Ran asked, coming out a little later.

"Over the years, I've apprenticed under an old master and learned some skills in treating external injuries and knife wounds," Zhao Shouxian said. "Yimo and I are responsible for treating the wounds!"

"That's good, that's good." Wei Ran breathed a sigh of relief. "You've inherited your father's mantle."

"Just doing what I can!"

Zhao Shouxian said modestly, "Uncle Gao, Uncle Wei, I need to go back and make preparations first."

"go"

Gao Lianggan patted the other man on the shoulder and watched him walk away. His face darkened. "That damn Japanese devil is really plotting against Wanping City."

"It's not just Wanping City."

Wei Ran sighed, pretending not to see the other party's worn-out military uniform, and sat on the threshold, patiently waiting.

Before long, Gaolianggan came out again. This time he was wearing a military cap and carrying the two Type 44 rifles that were hidden in the secret compartment.

"Use this, I'm out of big knives."

As Gao Lianggan spoke, he handed one of the cigarettes to Wei Ran, who then plopped down on the threshold and pulled out a pack of Japanese cigarettes and a Japanese lighter from his pocket.

"Actually, this is better than a broadsword."

Wei Ran said as he loaded a bullet into the rifle in his hand, which was not as long as the Type 38 rifle.

"Everyone knows that a weapon with a clatter is more effective than a broadsword."

Sorghum Stalk sighed and handed Wei Ran a cigarette. "What's the use of knowing? Use it as it comes. If you have nothing, all you can do is punch and bite."

This time, Wei Ran didn't say anything, but just silently smoked the cigarette the other person offered.

Before long, the doors of the herbal medicine shop and the bathhouse diagonally opposite were also dismantled, and Wen Laoga and Feng Huotou, both dressed in worn-out military uniforms, came out carrying a Type 38 rifle.

They waved to each other across the street as a greeting, and the two people opposite them sat down on the threshold, either lighting their pipes or cigarettes.

Before long, the doors of several more small shops opened, and a few owners or shopkeepers dressed in old military uniforms sat on their doorsteps as if they were enjoying the cool air.

Some of them wore belts with nine dragons around their waists and carried Mauser pistols, while others held rifles in their arms, or were sharpening large knives full of nicks on these steps.

Ever since General Zhang was denounced as a traitor...

Looking at the people in the rain, Gao Lianggan said, "Quite a few people have left the 29th Army."

"Don't you want to bear the infamy?" Wei Ran asked.

"That's a traitor!"

Gao Lianggan sighed, "They'll be kicked out of the ancestral hall, their generation name erased, and even their family name ruined. They'll be talked about behind their backs for the rest of their lives."

"Can"

Wei Ran shook his head. He didn't know what to say. All he could do was get up, go back to the back room of the photo studio, take out his suitcase, and change into the worn-out military uniform that was inside.

In the long silence, time passed second by second, and the street gradually quieted down after the initial chaos subsided.

"boom!"

Just as Wei Ran was about to fall asleep again against the door frame, a gunshot rang out from outside the city.

"Wow!"

On this street, the veterans who were guarding their respective shop entrances immediately got up, picked up their weapons, and headed toward the city gate.

"Platoon Leader Shen is dead! Platoon Leader Shen was killed by the Japanese!"

The angry shouts, which the torrential rain could not drown out, came from the other side of the city gate, and Wei Ran and the others quickened their pace.

Led by the veteran at the front, they almost naturally blended into the reinforcements heading out of the city.

Soon, they passed through the doorway and entered the muddy trenches outside.

In just a short while, the bridge-guarding troops and the Japanese troops who were deliberately provoking them had begun a standoff.

"Why didn't you fire?" Zhao Shouxian asked, squatting down beside Wei Ran.

"Why are you here, kid!"

Wei Ran was startled by the sudden appearance of the boy, "What are you doing here?!"

"There are no wounded in the city now, so where else can I go if I don't come here?"

As Zhao Shouxian spoke, he was already preparing to raise the handkerchief he had brought, saying, "Watch me teach these damn bastards a lesson."

"Snapped!"

Before Zhao Shouxian could even raise the muzzle of his mechanical gun, Wen Laoga smacked him on the back of the head. "What the hell are you talking about! You little punk, if you dare to fire randomly, I'll shoot you!"

"Are we just going to drag this out without fighting back?" Zhao Shouxian asked, rubbing the back of his head, feeling wronged. The blow had really hurt.

"We must not fight lightly."

Wei Ran sighed, "Wanping City is right behind us. Once the fighting starts, the vast majority of those civilians won't be able to escape."

Therefore, we must not fire our guns lightly, and we must not give the Japanese an excuse to attack.

"So we're just going to wait it out like this?" Zhao Shouxian asked, still unwilling to give up.

"Let's just wait it out, it won't take too long," Gaolianggan sighed.

With that sigh, muffled by the downpour, the winter uniforms worn by Wei Ran, as well as those worn by Gao Lianggan and the others, were finally soaked through. The clothes gradually became increasingly cold and heavy.

In this agonizing wait, time ticked by, and the rain showed no signs of letting up. Instead, cursing and shoving began to break out between the two sides, and some even picked up Type 38 rifles with bayonets.

"Boom!" With a loud bang, soil and rocks flew up from the sand dunes in the distance.

"It's artillery! It's artillery! Not thunder! The Japanese have opened fire!" A soldier shouted from the trench.

"Hit me!"

With another roar, Wei Ran immediately pulled the trigger, accurately hitting a faintly visible machine gun bunker on the other side—he had already spotted this crucial firing point.

"Da da da!"

Almost simultaneously, Zhao Shouxian also raised his machine gun and fired rapid bursts of fire at the Japanese soldiers in the distance.

Compared to the impatient Zhao Shouxian, Wei Ran and the others aimed their bolt-action rifles with exceptional care.

With each gunshot, these veterans who had miraculously survived the Xifengkou Pass carefully selected and dealt with those enemies who were too dangerous.

"boom!"

Hidden amidst the thunderous explosions, the Japanese artillery shells seemed to have eyes, striking the positions and even flying over the city walls into Wanping City.

Wei Ran, from the future, naturally knew that it was perhaps one or a few of the shells from that volley that had just crossed the city wall that had precisely destroyed the county government office in Wanping City.

The Japanese artillerymen's precision was one factor, but their well-planned on-site measurements well in advance were another.

However, nowadays, all the preparations that had been made so far in advance have definitely not been in vain for the Japanese.

However, for the defending side, these shells, which seemed to have eyes, were indeed too difficult to defend against.

"Bayonets! Fix bayonets! If you don't have bayonets, use broadswords!"

In the distance, an officer roared, "Kill them all!"

Before he finished speaking, the officer had already rushed out of the muddy trench.

However, before he even encountered the Japanese soldiers, a bullet struck him in the chest.

"Come at me!"

Just then, Wen Laoga jumped out and let out a roar.

"rush!"

Feng Huotou, Gao Lianggan, Zhao Shouxian carrying the flower-shaped machine gun, and Wei Ran, who dropped his rifle and pulled out a Mauser pistol, all roared and jumped out of the trench.

"Charge together!"

Guo Guanggun's voice came through the rain. Led by the increasing number of soldiers, the soldiers who rushed out of the trenches, just like they had done at Xifengkou, once again disregarded their own lives and clashed with the Japanese soldiers charging towards them.

"Da da da!"

"Save your bullets!"

Wei Ran grabbed Zhao Shouxian, who was about to rush to the front, and shouted at him by the collar, "Go behind the soldiers with knives! If the soldiers with knives are in danger, it's all up to you! Remember to fire single shots to save bullets!"

After saying that, Wei Ran rushed to Wen Laoga's side. After killing two Japanese soldiers with two shots, he fired a series of shots at the Japanese soldiers who were charging at him to empty his ammunition. Then, while securing the two Mauser pistols, he took out his anti-Japanese broadsword.

"Wen Laogai! What the hell did you do to raise that kid Shouxian?!"

As Wei Ran shouted his question, he smashed the bayonet and gun barrel of the Japanese soldier opposite him with a single blow, then pushed forward and forcefully pulled the knife across the soldier's neck.

"He's never seen blood before!"

As Wen Laoga responded, he thrust an upward thrust, plunging the bayonet that had somehow appeared on the muzzle of a Type 38 rifle into the chest of a Japanese soldier.

"Your own son is your own responsibility!"

As Gao Lianggan spoke, he was already standing on the other side of Wen Laoga, "Guo Guanggun! Come here!"

Wen Laoga was visibly taken aback for a moment, then shouted in a strong voice, "Cook! Shouxian! Come here!"

Amidst these roars, Wei Ran, Gao Lianggan, and Guo Guanggun once again formed a three-person fighting team.

Beside them, Wen Laoga, Feng Huotou, and Brother Lü, who had once been a laborer, also formed a three-person fighting team.

Zhao Shouxian, who was holding the flower device, was then protected in the middle by the two three-person teams.

At this moment in Wanping City, there is no war that has been raged and children are left to their own devices.

At this moment in Wanping City, 15-year-old Zhao Shouxian was already an adult.

Led by these veterans, the two groups repeatedly surrounded the Japanese soldiers who were in groups of three.

After the initial chaos, Zhao Shouxian became increasingly skilled at wielding the hand-held machine gun loaded with snail magazines, repeatedly pulling the trigger at close range, face to face, towards the Japanese soldiers.

Finally, the Japanese began to retreat in the torrential rain, and Wei Ran and the others also hurriedly retreated to their positions behind them, taking with them the wounded who were still alive.

"Shouxian! Go save them!"

As Wen Laoga spoke, he had already snatched the submachine gun from the other party's hand and another spare drum magazine hanging on his belt.

"Dad! You still have to arrange our wedding! You have to survive!"

After Zhao Shouxian finished speaking loudly, he turned around and followed the stretcher team that came to carry the wounded soldiers back into the city.

Although the rain was unusually heavy and the sky was exceptionally dark, Wei Ran recognized at a glance that one of the stretcher bearers was Mr. Huo, who had said during the day that he wanted to take the students and run away quickly.

At this moment, he had already taken off his long gown, removed his melon-shaped hat, tied his trouser legs tightly, and together with a man who looked to be about his age, he lifted the wounded man onto the door panel. While letting Zhao Shouxian use silver needles to stop the bleeding, he ran towards the direction of the city.

So he didn't run away after all.
"This brat!"

Wen Laoga's beaming smile pulled Wei Ran back to reality.

At this moment, the man squatting in the trench, who was no longer young, seemed to be drinking his son's wedding wine.

"Don't let him die here."

"Old Wen, don't die here either," said Gaolianggan'er.

"That kid has a knack for medicine. He can't die here. He'll have to become a doctor who's studied abroad!"

As Wen Laoga raised his Type 38 rifle and fixed the bullet, he boasted, "This little brat just called me 'Dad' for the first time!"

"Da da da!"

Just then, the Japanese machine guns roared again, and their artillery, as if it had eyes, rained down again and again.

The artillery's precision was so great that they had no time to respond to Wen Laoga's boasting and had to lie in the trenches filled with rainwater and mud to avoid the shelling.

Under the cover of the artillery fire, the Japanese soldiers charged forward once again. Wei Ran and the others also got up at the sound of the whistle, grabbed their guns, and stood guard over the bridge, which would remain a thorn in their side for nearly a hundred years to come, despite the torrential rain.

"Let them get closer and fight! Let them all get closer and fight!"

As Wei Ran was busy pulling the trigger, he once again heard the same heartbreaking and helpless order on the 29th Army's position as he had heard it years ago at Xifengkou.

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