War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1992 The Order of Survival
Below Juyong Pass, Wei Ran and Dong Weixin sat at the entrance of the small courtyard for an entire night, quietly watching the laborers working tirelessly through the night, and quietly waiting for Zhao Shouxian to drive his mule cart past the gate again and again, each waving to the other as proof that they were still alive.

But both Wei Ran and Dong Weixin knew clearly that on this night, the situation was actually more dangerous and difficult for Feng Huotou and Wang Bingchu.

"Is this how we were carried back?" Dong Weixin suddenly asked as the sky began to lighten.

"I think so," Wei Ran replied in a hoarse voice.

"It's almost dawn, and another fight is about to break out."

Dong Weixin sighed with worry, and the two of them heard the faint rumble of cannons coming from a great distance at almost the same time.

In this anxious wait, a rain that wasn't heavy, but was certainly not light, began to pelt down.

"Let's hide inside the gatehouse."

Wei Ran stood up, leaning against the wall, and said, "Let's not catch a cold, or we'll just be causing them more trouble."

"We were already a burden."

As Dong Weixin spoke, he also stood up, leaning against the wall, and picked up the long bench, preparing to move it towards the gatehouse where the door panels had already been removed.

But at that moment, they heard the loud crack of a whip striking a mule cart.

Subconsciously turning their heads, Wei Ran and Dong Weixin felt a shiver run down their spines. They recognized the mule cart and the driver, Zhao Shouxian, but they never wanted to recognize one of the wounded men on the cart—it was Cook Feng!
Before they could even ask, Zhao Shouxian, who was driving the cart, didn't even have time to wave to them before he hurriedly whipped the animals pulling the cart and ran towards the house that served as an emergency room.

"Is that...that...that cook Feng?" Dong Weixin asked in a panic.

It was him.

Wei Ran sat down with difficulty on the wooden threshold, which had been worn into an arch by the passage of time. "Let's wait. He will be sent back eventually."

Dong Weixin pounded the door jamb hard and then sat down with difficulty.

For Wei Ran, he never imagined that he would be looking at a war from the perspective of a wounded soldier.

Sitting on the threshold of this courtyard facing the street, he could see the anger of the people, their fear, and the hatred that was gradually being ignited.

At the same time, he felt so helpless. He knew clearly that his compatriots were fighting the invaders in the distance, but his physical condition at that moment left him with no choice but to sit there and watch helplessly.

Just like the Great Wall and Juyong Pass, which have stood here for hundreds of years and have resisted invaders countless times.

He possessed immense martial prowess, yet he was trapped here, unable to stop the invaders or protect the suffering people.

"The new Great Wall, the new Great Wall!"

Wei Ran muttered to himself repeatedly, merely making a perfunctory attempt to cover it up, before taking out his Rolleiflex twin-lens reflex camera and pressing the shutter button on the street already bathed in the morning sun.

"What were you talking about just now?"

Dong Weixin glanced at Wei Ran, who was busy taking pictures, and then continued to stare in the direction where the mule cart had disappeared, asking a question.

"Great Wall"

"what?"

"The Great Wall, the new Great Wall."

As Wei Ran spoke, he also pressed the shutter button on the other person's camera. His tone was full of confidence that was rare in this era for this war of resistance against aggression. "Weixin, don't worry, we can win this war, we definitely can win."

"Really?" Dong Weixin asked, stunned.

"Really, we can definitely win."

As Wei Ran spoke, he pointed the camera at Juyong Pass in the distance, while also using the lower edge of the viewfinder to frame the civilians carrying stretchers and wounded soldiers rushing past. "Do you see Juyong Pass and the Great Wall in the distance?"

"I saw it," Dong Weixin replied hesitantly.

"That Juyong Pass, and that Great Wall, they may not be able to stop the invaders, they may not be able to stop the Japanese devils."

Wei Ran's tone became increasingly confident and cheerful. "But we can hold them off. We are the Great Wall, the new Great Wall."

Centuries ago, this Great Wall blocked nomadic tribes from invading from the south.

Centuries later, we can no longer expect this Great Wall to continue protecting us from invaders; we need a new Great Wall.

"A new Great Wall?"

"That's right!"

Wei Ran put down his camera and patted Dong Weixin's shoulder hard. "We are like bricks in a wall, and the laborers are like the mortar that holds us bricks together."

"Just you wait and see, we will definitely hold off the Japanese invaders, and we will definitely build a new Great Wall."

"A brand new Great Wall?"

Dong Weixin murmured in a daze, not knowing why, but a layer of fine goosebumps rose on his body.

Just then, the mule cart came running back in the opposite direction, its hooves clattering against the stone pavement.

"Still alive!"

Zhao Shouxian, who was driving the mule cart, shouted in a hoarse voice, but he didn't have time to stop the cart before running towards the battlefield.

"Still alive, that's good." Dong Weixin breathed a heavy sigh of relief.

"Are you hungry?" Wei Ran asked, already standing up again while holding onto the door frame. "Come on, let's go get something to eat."

Aren't you worried about Feng?

"I'm worried," Wei Ran admitted frankly. "There's no use in worrying. Let's go get something to eat. Who knows when we might have to go up and fight the Japanese."

"Too"

As Dong Weixin spoke, he also grabbed the door frame and stood up. The two of them, each using a bench as a support, carefully moved back into the thatched hut.

There was some food in the thatched hut, though it was just hard cornbread and extremely salty pickled vegetables. But neither Wei Ran nor Dong Weixin were picky at all, and each ate two cornbreads and a small bite of pickled vegetables in just a few bites.

"It's not right for the two of us to just keep going like this."

Wei Ran popped the last crumb of biscuit into his mouth and said first, "You take a nap first. I'll keep an eye on things in the morning, and you keep an eye on things in the afternoon."

"also"

Dong Weixin did not refuse. After spitting out the crumbs from his palms, he wiped his hands haphazardly, limped along the wall, and lay down on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed).

Ignoring Dong Weixin's restless sleep, Wei Ran took the raincoat hanging on the wall and put it on, then put on a bamboo hat. He then slowly moved to the doorway, leaning on a bench, and sat down on the threshold. He raised his camera again. This was the only thing he could truly do in this era.

While Dong Weixin was away, Wei Ran not only took out his camera case and replaced the film for Lu Lai, but also took out his pistol camera. After replacing the film, he took pictures of the laborers in the distance, the soldiers guarding Juyong Pass, and even the Japanese planes flying low to conduct reconnaissance.

He photographed not only these, but also the wounded who were brought in through various means, and the civilians who brought the wounded.

Finally, when the rain stopped and the sound of gunfire became clearer, Zhao Shouxian appeared in his camera lens again, and he even saw Wang Bingchu.

Fortunately, Wang Bingchu, who was driving the carriage, appeared to be unharmed, and Zhao Shouxian, who was sitting on the carriage floor giving acupuncture to the wounded, also did not appear to be injured.

"We're fine!" Wang Bingchu waved and shouted loudly to Wei Ran, who was holding a camera, from a distance.

As Wei Ran pressed the shutter, Zhao Shouxian subconsciously looked up.

After this hastily taken photo, the mule cart sped past the gate once again, and Wei Ran once again turned his lens on the other targets.

As he finished shooting the last roll of film in his bullet camera and changed to a new roll, the sound of hooves clattering on the cobblestones could be heard once again in the distance.

Putting away his camera case and pistol camera, Zhao Shouxian looked in the direction of the sound and saw Wang Bingchu slowly driving a mule cart toward them. On the cart, there seemed to be a person lying down, with Zhao Shouxian taking his pulse by holding his wrist.

Seeing this, Wei Ran quickly stood up, holding onto the door frame. He even stood on tiptoe and tried to peek out.

Sure enough, the person lying in that car was indeed Chef Feng.

Is he alright?

As Wei Ran called out, Dong Weixin, who was inside the thatched hut, sat up. He peeked through the broken window frame, then quickly got off the kang (heated brick bed). "It's alright!"

Wang Bingchu responded loudly, "Even if I injure my leg, I shouldn't be left with a disability."

Just as Dong Weixin stepped out of the thatched hut, the mule cart stopped at the gate of the courtyard.

"How did you get hurt?" Wei Ran asked as he opened the courtyard gate.

"At dawn, we went to collect the spoils and rescue people."

Zhao Shouxian explained, "A Japanese soldier who wasn't quite dead made a sound, and the Japanese machine gun fired several bursts. One bullet even hit Grandpa Feng in the calf."

"At least they're alive."

Although Feng, the cook, was pale as he lay on the cart, he still spoke with a certain confidence.

"What's the situation at the front?" Dong Weixin asked as he walked over, leaning on a bench.

"Ugh!"

Whether it was Feng Huotou, Wang Bingchu, or even Zhao Shouxian, they all let out a long sigh.

"After receiving reinforcements, the Japanese finally broke through the defenses."

Wang Bingchu sighed, "The Japanese devils... the Japanese devils are very close to Juyong Pass."

"How close?" Wang Bingchu asked, frowning.

"I reckon," Zhao Shouxian sighed, "that they'll probably be invading soon."

"Can't hold on again?" Dong Weixin clenched his fists, his still remarkably young face filled with powerless anger and humiliation.

"We can't hold it, I'm afraid we can't hold it."

As he spoke, Feng Huotou pulled out a Mauser pistol from his pocket and handed it, along with a few magazines, to Dong Weixin. "This is the gun I'm borrowing from you. I'll keep one for myself. In case the Japanese come in, at least I can make back my investment."

“I borrowed this from you,” Wang Bingchu said, pulling out a Mauser pistol and several magazines from his pocket.

"Just give me a few magazines."

Wei Ran waved his hand and said, "You can keep the rest. You're the only one among us who isn't injured. You're the main force."

"also"

Wang Bingchu didn't stand on ceremony, and tucked the Mauser pistol he had just pulled out back into his belt, saying, "The three of us have been busy all night and are finally able to rest, but I think we need to be more vigilant. The Japanese might attack at any time, and we might not be able to hold out."

Don't die here.

Wei Ran suddenly spoke up, "If we die here, it will fulfill the Japanese devils' wishes. If we can hold Juyong Pass, we will fight to the death. If we can't hold it, we will run away and fight again after we recover from our injuries."

"I think Brother Wei is right!"

Before Zhao Shouxian could say anything, Chef Feng agreed, "That's how we have to fight!"

Wang Bingchu was stunned for a moment, then gave Feng Huotou a strange look. When Feng Huotou turned his head, Wang Bingchu immediately agreed, "That's right. If we all stay here, who will be able to stop the Japanese in the future?"

"This is what you are."

First, determine the general direction.

Wei Ran answered Zhao Shouxian's question quickly, "We are a burden here, but if we really can't hold this place, if we can go to Wutai Mountain with the reformers, we can still fight the Japanese."

"Perhaps?"

Dong Weixin also realized, "Now that the general direction has been set, let's..."

"Let the big mule rest and eat some feed."

Wang Bingchu said, "Don't go back to the house and lie down. Just stay on the mule cart. That way, we can get away quickly if we need to leave."

"Are you guys planning to run away?"

Zhao Shouxian asked abruptly, his still-childish tone even carrying anger and disappointment.

"Why run away? This is called 'where there's life, there's hope.'"

"You're still a kid, what's wrong with you? You think you're all grown up and don't listen to orders anymore? What did we say before we came here?" said Feng, the cook.

"I don't want to run away."

Zhao Shouxian abruptly stopped speaking halfway through his sentence. He knew perfectly well that what he had almost said was the most painful thorn in the hearts of the veterans present.

"Alright, you've all had a long day, go to sleep," Wei Ran urged, trying to smooth things over. "Let's have a private chat, the three of us."

"It's time to get some sleep."

Wang Bingchu yawned as he spoke, tossing a fish knife, a must-have for coachmen, to Zhao Shouxian. “This night has been absolutely exhausting. Shouxian, go fetch water for the livestock. I’m going to wash up first. We might have to fetch the wounded again later.”

"it is good"

Zhao Shouxian ultimately did not continue the topic he had been particularly concerned about. He used the needle at the back of the fish knife to untie the knotted reins and led the big mule into the yard, where he tied it to the side of the livestock shed.

"We can die here?"

Lying on the cart, which was higher at one end and lower at the other, Feng Huotou looked at the sky that had been washed clean and said, "Shouxian won't do. He's still too young. He still has to marry Yimo."

“He has to escape,” Dong Weixin agreed in a low voice.

"If there's any left over," said Chef Feng, "Xiao Dong, you have to get out of here alive."

"I"

"You are a college student"

Feng Huotou said, “Among our group, apart from Shouxian, no, Shouxian is actually not as precious as you, but Lao Ga entrusted Shouxian to me, so I have to be selfish and put him ahead of you.”

Before Dong Weixin could say anything, Feng Huotou continued, "You have to live. If you survive, take Shouxian with you and, as you said before, take him to fight the Japanese."

As he spoke, Feng Huotou reached into his pocket and pulled out the wine gourd that Wen Laoga had left him years ago, handing it to Dong Weixin. "I'm entrusting Shouxian to you."

Upon hearing this, Dong Weixin was stunned for a moment, then solemnly took the warm wine gourd and put it into his pocket.

"If there is still some money left over"

Feng Huotou looked at Wei Ran as he spoke, "Brother Wei, you'd better survive."

"I"

"Living is not easy"

"Death is easier than life," said the cook wearily. "I'm counting on you to uphold the constitution."

As he spoke, Feng Huotou pulled out the Luger P08 pistol from his pocket and handed it to—no, returned it to Wei Ran—saying, “This responsibility is now on your shoulders.”

"Okay," Wei Ran agreed after a brief silence, and took the Luger pistol.

"If God takes pity on us"

Feng Huotou glanced at Wang Bingchu, who was washing his body with a ladle in the distance, and said, "Let Bingchu live too, so that at least when Yimo and Shouxian get married, there will be someone at home."

"Okay," Wei Ran replied solemnly.

"This child said that if he has a son in the future, he wants the son to take his surname."

Feng Huotou said with a smile, "It's worth it, even if I die here."

　Ruins explorers, go see! Go see! Go see! Go see! Go see! Go see!

　　(End of this chapter)