War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1995 Wine on credit
In the warm guest room, Wei Ran and Dong Weixin sat across the kang table, raising their glasses repeatedly to drink the decent grain liquor in their cups. They also finished the pancakes with scallions, a large plate of lamb offal, and a roast chicken that the waiter had helped them buy.

Get up early tomorrow.

As Wei Ran spoke, he got up and left the guest room, calling on the busy waiters in the front hall to help clean up the mess of cups and plates before returning to his own room and lying down on the heated kang.

That night, despite being intoxicated, Wei Ran still struggled for a long time before finally drifting off to sleep.

But before he went to sleep, he kept thinking about only one question—who would be the one to die this time?

Unfortunately, this question, which was almost a choice between two options, still didn't have a definite answer, even after he was drawn into a dream and then pulled out of it by a knock on the door.

"Brother Wei, we should go." Dong Weixin said from outside the door.

"coming"

Wei Ran, who had also gotten up, responded. He hadn't taken off his clothes when he went to bed last night, just in case something unexpected happened.

Opening the door, Wei Ran glanced at Dong Weixin, who was dressed in coarse cloth clothes, along with the nine-dragon belt on his body and the bundle on his back. "Wait for me a moment, I'll change my clothes and be done in a minute."

"No rush, there's still plenty of time," Dong Weixin quickly replied.

After closing the door again, Wei Ran took out the suitcase containing his clothes, took off his top hat and long robe, carefully folded them, and put them inside.

After a moment's thought, he put the PPK pistol he had prepared to take with him the night before, along with its spare magazine, back into his suitcase.

His sudden change of plans was naturally for a reason, and that reason lay in Dong Weixin's attire outside the door at that moment.

If he wanted to join the Big Sword Team like Dong Weixin instead of being assigned a "civilian" position as a "cultured person," then he had to take off his long gown and top hat, and hide his small pistol to keep in line with the other side.

Therefore, when he opened the door again, he was dressed in the same coarse cloth clothes as the other party, and he blatantly displayed the Kowloon belt and the Mauser pistol.

"Let's go," Wei Ran said, already taking a step.

"This outfit still looks more neat and tidy."

As Dong Weixin walked, he said expectantly, "It would be wonderful if they handed out another big sword later."

"There will definitely be a lot of big swords," Wei Ran said with a smile as he walked into the front hall of the inn with the other party.

"Are you planning to go fight the Japanese?" The shopkeeper behind the counter stopped the two men in a friendly manner.

"Yes, go fight the Japanese devils!" Dong Weixin said proudly.

"Wait a moment."

As he spoke, the owner, who looked to be over fifty and whose one leg seemed a little unsteady, placed two porcelain bowls on the counter. Then he turned around, picked up a wine jar, and poured a jar of wine into each of them.

"besides"

As the shopkeeper spoke, he took out a stack of braised meat from the counter. "A sip of wine to bolster your courage, a bite of meat, and you'll have the strength to wield the broadsword and chop down a few more Japanese devils!"

"You don't need to be brave anymore."

Dong Weixin pulled out a gourd with a thick patina from his pocket. "If you're willing, boss, fill this gourd up. If I don't survive on the battlefield, I can have one last sip before I die."

"I'll definitely fill you up to the brim!"

As the boss spoke, he didn't even use a funnel. He simply used a wine scoop to pour a handful of wine steadily into the wine gourd that belonged to Wen Laoga without spilling a single drop.

Amid cheers from the crowd, the shop owner filled the gourd with wine and looked at Wei Ran.

"I trust the boss, so I'll buy him a bottle of wine on credit."

As Wei Ran spoke, he took out his portable wine flask and handed it to the shopkeeper. Then he glanced at Dong Weixin and said, "We'll pay for the wine after we drive the Japanese away."

"That's settled then, you can't skip out on your debt!"

The shop owner behind the counter didn't give Dong Weixin a chance to speak at all, and directly changed the nature of the transaction to "forced sales on credit". At the same time, he ordered a second bottle of wine and, as if showing off his skills, filled Wei Ran's portable wine flask again without spilling a single drop.

"it is good"

Dong Weixin smiled and said, "We'll pay for the drinks after we drive the Japanese away."

"Very well! Gentlemen, young and old, be our witnesses."

The owner behind the counter called out to the few customers who were dining in the morning, "These two are going to fight the Japanese devils today. After the Japanese devils are driven away, they will pay me back for the two bottles of wine."

“We’ll bear witness!” one diner said. “You’ll have to come back and pay for your drinks.”

"I will definitely pay it back."

As Dong Weixin spoke, he grabbed the wine jug and walked out, saying, "We'll return it after we drive the Japanese away!"

"Remember to come back, remember to come back." The limping boss leaned forward, trying his best to remind Wei Ran and Dong Weixin, who had already left.

Until their figures disappeared, the shopkeeper shook his head and sighed helplessly and desperately. He picked up a bowl of wine that he hadn't been able to deliver and poured it onto the blue brick floor. Then he picked up another bowl of bitter wine, brought it to his lips, and drank it all in one gulp.

"Snapped!"

The innkeeper slammed the rough porcelain bowl in his hand onto the floor, shattering it into pieces.

"Can we come back and pay off the debt?" Dong Weixin, who was walking ahead, asked.

"can"

Wei Ran walked all the way to the entrance of the teahouse and saw Wang Bingchu looking around, before hurriedly giving his answer.

"We'll drink him a few big bowls then, it's on me!" Dong Weixin said, as if he was just waiting for this answer.

"it is good"

Wei Ran nodded, but his voice was so soft that only he could hear it.

He was terrified that he would agree, but Dong Weixin would break his promise.

He belatedly realized that he thought he had become increasingly numb after fighting so many battles.

But the reality was quite the opposite; after fighting so many battles, he became increasingly vulnerable.

The fragile fear of losing anyone, even someone you've only met once or exchanged a greeting with.

"You've finally arrived!"

Wang Bingchu called out to them from afar. At this moment, Wang Bingchu was wearing a military uniform, with a nine-dragon belt tied around his waist and a shuttle box attached to it. On his back, there was also an anti-Japanese broadsword.

In addition to these, he was also holding two paper packages wrapped in newspaper.

"Brother Wang, what should we say?"

"You can get in!"

Wang Bingchu immediately said, "When the platoon leader heard that they were veterans of the 29th Army, and even student soldiers, he agreed without hesitation. From now on, you two will be with them."

He turned to Wei Ran halfway through his sentence, "Brother Wei, I was thinking, how about we take over this platoon leader position?"

"No need," Wei Ran waved his hand before the other person could finish speaking. "I can earn my own promotions and titles by relying on the Japanese devils' heads. No one will be convinced if I get them through connections."

"Since Brother Wei says so, I won't be pretentious." Wang Bingchu seemed relieved, and even his steps became lighter. He also handed out the paper packets in his hand to them. "These are snacks for the road. Take them and eat them sparingly."

"On the road? Brother Wang, tell me about the current situation." Dong Weixin helped change the subject.

"You've come at the wrong time."

Wang Bingchu lowered his voice slightly, "We need to keep going now. You guys just follow along, we'll talk about the rest on the way."

"That was definitely the right decision to come."

Wei Ran and Dong Weixin said in unison, and then the three of them laughed and rediscovered the familiar feeling of fighting together.

Led by Wang Bingchu, the three hurriedly caught up with the team that had already set off.

It was only at this moment that Wei Ran and Dong Weixin learned that Wang Bingchu had even borrowed the clothes he was wearing last night from their company commander—under the pretext of going out to meet a girl.

After joining the Big Sword Team with Wang Bingchu, no one introduced them to each other. They were simply given a pack of bullets and a big sword, and the team began a forced march.

They didn't know what the people around them were called, or where they were going next. Wei Ran and Dong Weixin, at least the latter, didn't know, and Wang Bingchu probably didn't know either.

But Wei Ran knew, he knew perfectly well, that they would next undertake a forced march and then secretly cross the Yi River to catch the elite Japanese 5th Division off guard.

However, their only means of transportation were on two legs and a few mules and horses used to pull supplies.

Then let's run.
Wei Ran sighed inwardly and silently followed the members of the Big Sword Team around him.

As he ran, he also observed the soldiers around him.

Objectively speaking, these soldiers, these elite broadsword soldiers of this unit, were not much stronger than the Sichuan Army soldiers Wei Ran had fought alongside in Teng County, nor were their weapons much more powerful.

As he ran forward, Wei Ran took out his camera under the cover of the bundle on his back and pressed the shutter to take pictures of the pale-faced soldiers around him.

"Brother Wei, can you take a look at this camera?"

Just as Wei Ran took the first marching photo, Wang Bingchu also came over and took out the Icanta camera, which used 116 film and had been handed to him several times.

What's wrong with this camera?

Wei Ran, using the cover of the bundle, put away the Rolleiflex biscuits in his hand and asked a question.

"It's fine, it's never broken."

Wang Bingchu said, "It seems like we've run out of film, and I don't know how to replace it. I'm afraid I'll break it if I take it apart."

“This is simple”

As Wei Ran spoke, he first inspected the old camera and then advanced the film. After that, he opened the back cover, took out the used film, and replaced it with another film that was fixed in the leather protective case accessory box.

"This roll of film was given to me by an American journalist on my way to Gu'an."

Wang Bingchu lamented, "He wanted to exchange the photos I had taken, but I didn't give them to him. That foreigner must have thought I was a fool."

"And then he willingly gave you the film?" Wei Ran asked as he returned the camera to the other person after changing the film.

"We have this!"

Wang Bingchu patted the Mauser pistol clipped to his chest before taking the camera from Wei Ran and stuffing it into his pocket.

After this brief exchange, the rest of the time was tedious and tiring, but there was no stopping except for occasional short breaks during the forced march.

At this moment, the sun, sometimes fast and sometimes slow, first rises to its highest point overhead and then gradually sets in the west, before being obscured by the distant mountains.

Finally, darkness fell completely, and the group, who had been walking all day, finally got a short rest when they reached the edge of a mass grave.

It was only at this moment that Wei Ran, who was already drenched in sweat from running, finally opened the paper package that Wang Bingchu had given him that morning.

This is a Shandong-style scallion pancake roll, with a layer of sauce spread inside to replenish salt.

Eagerly tearing off a piece of pancake, Wei Ran chewed slowly while searching for something.

Based on his understanding of this history, especially this war, General Zhang personally led the team in this night raid.

But perhaps because they weren't positioned far enough forward, he didn't see the general at all along the way, and naturally had no chance to take a picture of him.

"Platoon Leader Wang, introduce these two brothers." Just as he was lost in thought, a sturdy man asked enthusiastically in a low voice, and received a response from those around him.

"This is Brother Wei."

Wang Bingchu said, "I have guarded Xifengkou, Lugouqiao, Nanyuan, and Nankou."

"That's a veteran, even more so than our platoon leader."

In the dim light, someone swallowed back the words they were about to say.

"This is Dong Weixin, who also guarded Nanyuan and Nankou; he's a legitimate official."

"He's a proper member of the Big Swords Brigade. He came in a hurry and didn't have any gifts to give us. I brought some wine for everyone to taste."

Dong Weixin spoke up promptly and took out his wine flask; clearly, he didn't want others to know he was a college student for the time being.

Perhaps he was afraid of surviving at the cost of his companion's life again, simply because he was worthy of living.

Even so, these members of the Big Swords Team had already become much more enthusiastic before even sharing that small pot of wine.
Everyone knew that having two more experienced veterans in the team meant more than just killing more Japanese soldiers; it also increased their chances of survival.

It was in this enthusiasm that the members of the Big Knife Team, hidden in the deepening darkness of the night, began to introduce themselves.

Although it was difficult for Dong Weixin to remember all these people's names in a short time, they finally got to know each other after each of them took a small sip of the wine gourd.

"Listen to me"

Wang Bingchu said in a low voice, "The Yi River is just ahead. Although the platoon leader has been called away and hasn't returned yet, I reckon we'll definitely have to cross the river soon."

"Platoon Leader Wang, tell me, how should we fight?" one of the soldiers, who seemed to be the squad leader, asked in a low voice.

"We'll definitely be at the forefront when the time comes."

Wang Bingchu, a veteran, said, “I don’t care about the other platoons. We’ll stick to the old rules: keep your mouths shut and don’t shout. First, find the Japanese machine guns. If they’re firing flares, fire them all at once. If you see the command post, throw grenades. Don’t hold back.”

"What are the arrangements for Brother Wei and Brother Dong?" a squad leader asked.

"Have both of them come with me."

Wang Bingchu said, "The three of us are used to working together, and we're quick at cutting down Japanese soldiers."

"Attention, platoons! Rest in place! Silence!"

Just then, an order came from the front in a very low voice and was passed through them to the back.

It's time to chop down the Japanese devils.
Wei Ran unslung the large sword from his back and planted it in front of a lonely grave that sheltered him from the wind, his heart already filled with anticipation.

(End of this chapter)