War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1288 Chatting in the trenches
Deep in the forest, in an A-shaped shack built with pine branches, the warmth brought by the embers in the campfire pit easily dispelled the chill that followed the thick fog. Inside the shack, which was filled with a little smoke, a meal of canned soup was filled. Most of the people with full stomachs have fallen asleep.

On the other hand, Sasha, who was on night watch, was sitting alone by the pine tree at the entrance of the shack, leaning half of his body against the rough trunk. Using the faint firelight, he inserted a trimmed crow feather into a 20 mm caliber shell shell. After dipping it, he meticulously drew a red five-pointed star on the barrel of the anti-tank gun that Wei Ran had repaired.

At the same time, Wei Ran, who was sleeping at the door of the shack, unabashedly pressed the shutter towards the other party - even with this weak brightness, he probably couldn't take a picture at all.

Glancing sideways at Wei Ran, who was also awake, the young Sasha responded with a gazi-like honest smile, then gently blew on the newly painted red star until he was sure that the red paint on it would not flow. Then he carefully leaned the anti-tank gun on his leg against the branch of the tree.

Then, he took out a wooden stopper from his pocket, blocked the bullet shell with red paint, pressed it on the tree trunk and put it into his pocket.

"Why didn't you sleep?" Sasha asked Wei Ran in a low voice.

“Not too sleepy”

Wei Ran answered softly, then simply sat up, took out a cigarette from his pocket and gave one to the other party.

It wasn't that he wasn't sleepy, it was just that he couldn't sleep at all because of the loud surround-sound snoring of Alyosha and Father Dofilo, who were sleeping on the left and right sides, and their strong bad breath.

They each lit their cigarettes. Sasha tightened the blanket around her body and lowered her voice and asked expectantly, "Victor, are there really three tanks outside the forest?"

"Of course it's true. Didn't the political commissar say it in detail just now?" Wei Ran replied in a low voice in the swirling smoke, "And I saw it with my own eyes."

"Great"

Sasha happily took a puff of his cigarette, "I'll definitely be able to break at least one car by then, and maybe I'll have a chance to break the second one, and then I'll be able to put one or two stars on it."

"You might have hit one, but I definitely damaged the other two."

Yeremei, who was sleeping at the entrance of the shack like Wei Ran, joined the conversation in a low voice, "Brother Victor, do you still have cigarettes? Give me one too."

"I'm too lazy to argue with you"

Sasha took advantage of Wei Ran to share the cigarette with his opponent and said, "We'll see who can fight faster then."

"I will definitely be faster than you," Yeremei said confidently, lighting up a cigarette, and at the same time his voice was subconsciously louder.

"If you don't want to sleep, go to the forest and chop down trees."

Alyosha complained in confusion after being woken up, and then snored loudly again.

The three people who were not sleeping looked at each other. Wei Ran and Yeremei quietly got out of the tent, and followed Sasha, who was holding an oil lamp in his hand, and walked a dozen meters away, looking for a random one. The fallen pine trees sat against each other in the lee.

"Sasha, do you think there is anyone alive in the village?" Yeremey asked in a low voice.

"There must be no one left alive"

Sasha said in a determined tone, and then couldn't help but sigh, "Maybe only a few of us are still alive."

"What happened to your village?" Wei Ran couldn't help but ask.

"Burned by the Germans"

Yeremei leaned against the remaining moss-covered tree trunks and explained calmly in the swirling smoke, "The Germans thought some people in our village were Jews, so they locked them all in barns and burned them to death."

“Wawila’s parents were burned to death.”

Sasha added in a low voice, "The rest of the men either escaped or were captured and sent to the front line to dig fortifications. It was when David, Sergey, and I were digging trenches that we escaped into the forest at night to survive. Come down."

"And those women."

Yeremei clenched his fists, but gritted his teeth and could not go on. A cold tear ran down his cheek, dripping on the back of Wei Ran's hand in the night, burning the latter's body. A shudder.

"They will be fine." After Sasha finished speaking, he hammered the tree trunk behind him hard, and the three of them fell into silence for a while.

"Go back to sleep," Sasha muttered, looking up at the foggy night sky.

Sighing secretly, Wei Ran put the cigarette case in the other person's hand, stood up and walked towards the tent in the distance.

In the blink of an eye, the next morning, before the sun climbed up to the treetops and the morning fog was at its thickest, everyone took up their weapons, shouted at the two mules, and dragged the heavy heavy vehicle that had been temporarily mounted on a simple sled. The machine gun rushed towards the edge of the forest.

In the thick mist sprayed from the thick nostrils of the two mules, the group arrived at the minefield only a hundred meters away from the edge of the forest before seven o'clock in the morning. Alyosha was responsible for digging the minefield used to hide machine guns. Beside the pit.

This pit, which is only half a meter wide at most, was dug under the trunk of a fallen pine tree. It seems to be about two meters long and nearly one meter deep.

Moreover, there were a lot of collected dead branches and leaves piled up on both sides of the narrow pit. Under these dead branches and leaves, there was also the Soviet cloak that Wei Ran had used as a floor mat.

Apparently, when you need to bury a weapon, you just put it in and lift the cloak with force.

After careful testing, it was determined that it was enough to put the heavy heavy machine gun and ammunition box as well as the anti-tank gun without any problem.Political Commissar Vinia and Wei Ran took the boys except Dofero through the dangerous minefield and "visited" the three fire positions they prepared one by one.

"Next, assign combat tasks"

Wennia led everyone back to the pit where they were going to hide the machine gun. He also borrowed the terrain map that Wei Ran had drawn before and placed it on the lying tree trunk. He pointed at three places on the terrain map with a pine branch as thick as a chopstick. The position began to assign combat tasks.

"Sasha, Alyosha, you two team up."

Political Commissar Vinia was well prepared and said, "You two are in charge of an anti-tank gun. Victor, you will take them to the position you dug later."

"No problem" Weiran, Sasha and Alyosha responded in unison.

"Yeremei, you and Vlas are in charge of our heavy machine guns."

After Vinia finished speaking, he continued to make arrangements without any need for Weiran to respond, "David, you and Victor are in charge of the German machine gun. Come with me to the high ground later."

"No problem" David responded simply.

"and many more"

Yeremey asked in astonishment, "Let me be in charge of the machine gun? I want to continue fighting tanks. Sasha and I have made an appointment to see who can destroy more tanks."

"no problem"

Vinya was particularly happy, "David, you and Yeremey's jobs will be swapped. You and Fras will be in charge of the heavy machine gun. Yeremey, you and I will be in charge of the other anti-tank gun. By the way, we will be responsible for the Vick." Lots of secondary shooters.”

"Thank you!"

Yeremei responded happily, then glanced at Sasha and silently mouthed "Compare."

"Compete!" Sasha muttered vaguely.

Political Commissar Vinia seemed not to notice, and continued, "Victor, the machine gun you are responsible for does not have much ammunition, so unless infantry rushes over, don't fire easily. In addition, after emptying the bullet, You also need to support other positions."

"Good" Wei Ran simply accepted the position of "free man".

Political Commissar Vinia paused after hearing this and reminded again, "Fras, you and David are in charge of the heavy machine gun. You are also the main force responsible for suppressing the enemy."

"Leave it to us!" Fras and David responded confidently.

"Vinya, what about me?"

Father Dofero asked dissatisfied, "What should I do? Hide and watch, and then applaud you?"

"Dad, you are responsible for controlling the animals."

Political Commissar Vinia was obviously well prepared, "It's not troublesome for our positions on both sides to retreat, but if David and Fras's heavy machine guns want to be withdrawn, the strength of the two of them alone may not be enough."

Hearing that there was something to do, Father Dofero immediately accepted the job, shaking his gray sideburns.

"Let's talk about the battle plan next."

Political Commissar Vinia said, "According to yesterday's observation, there are only three tanks guarding the intersection, and one of the tanks can only be regarded as a machine gun bunker. As long as we fire first, there won't be much of a threat. The other two tanks are with us." The one that was ambushed before belongs to the same model, but there are a lot of sandbags piled outside." After a pause, Vigna continued, "Platoon Commander Taras will launch a sneak attack on the village of Polpino after 05:30 this afternoon. We will do it in advance. The 15-minute attack on the highway guard attracted firepower, but the specific time was determined by the opening of the anti-tank guns that Yeremey and I were in charge of.

David, you and Fras need to use machine guns to destroy the No. [-] tank with only a machine gun tower immediately after we open fire. You must ensure that its machine gun tower does not create fire suppression. "

"What about us?" Sasha asked.

"You attack the other nearest Panzer II tank."

Political Commissar Vigna made arrangements, "This time is different from before. After destroying the three tanks guarding the intersection, we don't have time to seize the weapons, but we can attack any passing German vehicles. This is also our mission today." main target."

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone's faces immediately showed expressions of excitement.

"Next is the situation in case someone is injured and the time to retreat." As soon as Political Commissar Vinia finished speaking, everyone immediately fell silent.

"If no one is injured, we will use the anti-tank gun's bullets as the time to retreat. No matter who is in charge of the anti-tank guns on both sides, they will retreat as soon as the bullets run out."

Vinia paused and continued, "If anyone is injured, they need to retreat immediately. We cannot lose more people."

Having said this, Vinia looked at Father Doferro, "Dad, when there are casualties, our animals should be used first to take away the wounded. It doesn't matter if the weapons are hidden here.

Yesterday Victor and I seized a lot of landmines. When the time comes, we just need to place the mines where the weapons are buried, and we can come back to pick up the weapons later.

Victor, it's up to you to finish Bray's business. "

"Okay." Wei Ran and Father Dofero responded in no particular order.

“The rest is the same as before”

Political Commissar Vigna finally said, "If I die, the command will be handed over to Father Doferro. If there is an emergency retreat, I will use a flashlight to send a signal, and the deputy shooters in each position will pay attention to my signal. Okay, next Distribute weapons."

“First comes food.”

Father Doferro said, and in groups of two, each of them was given a German can of meat and half a pack of cigarettes. Then, each of them was given a boiled potato that was only the size of a fist and a potato that was only the size of a palm. smoked fish.

After everyone put the few rations into their bags, the old man gave Yeremey and his deputy shooter Alyosha 11 anti-tank gun bullets and six homemade Molotov cocktails.

This was also the only weapon they had left that could be used to deal with tanks. As for what to do after this battle, Political Commissar Vinia didn't say anything, and the others seemed to have forgotten and didn't ask much.

"Is it time to take pictures next?" Wei Ran asked after collecting his own rations.

"It's really time to take pictures," Vinia agreed, "Let Father Dofero do it first."

Hearing this, Wei Ran immediately opened his backpack and handed the notepad and his pen to Vinia.

Under his guidance, Father Doferro, who had no chance to take pictures yesterday, stood next to the heavy machine gun that was about to participate in the battle and took a single photo. Then he wasted another 5 minutes and took a photo of the heavy machine gun. He put up his gun and took a group photo of everyone in a hurry.

First, they helped David and Alyosha push the heavy machine gun to the gap in the barbed wire fence that was opened yesterday. After Weiran helped them point out the location of the mines that had been laid in advance, they took Sasha and Alyosha, who were carrying the anti-tank gun alone. Carrying ammunition and food, Alyosha arrived at the position he had dug yesterday and pointed out the safe passage he had marked with pine branches.

Climbing through the barbed wire fence into the gap under the wreckage of the No. [-] tank, Wei Ran pointed to the bunker on the other side of the barbed wire fence where only one person could squat and hide and said, "Sasha, Alyosha, the terrain here is very low. If you feel that the situation is not good, don’t fight and retreat immediately.

Also, be sure not to hide in the bunker I dug, it is for the Germans, I will lay mines in it later,"

"We remember"

As Alyosha spoke, he had already put the ammunition and supplies he had brought over into categories. Sasha also dug out a fist-sized hole in the floating soil that blocked his view, and carefully observed what might be hidden in the thick fog outside. enemy.

Without wasting too much time, Wei Ran took out his camera and hurriedly clicked the shutter button towards them. He immediately turned around and walked back. He planted two S-shaped mines in the reserved position in the bunker dug yesterday, and then immediately ran towards them. He reached the high ground more than [-] meters away, carefully passed through the minefield, and crawled onto the protruding high ground.

Political Commissar Vinia had dug out a trench here that was big enough for two people to squat side by side and hide in it. In front of the trench was the white birch tree that was only thigh-thick.

Not far away, on the south side of the highland, there is also a machine gun position.This position is also large enough for two people to squat and hide in it. There is even a traffic trench less than half a meter deep, but enough to crawl out of here safely.

At this time, Yeremei had already mounted the German MG34 machine gun that needed to be controlled by the defense fire on the parapet aligned with mud. Beside the machine gun, there were only two 50-round ammunition chains and a A Mauser rifle.

On the other hand, Yeremey, who was carrying a submachine gun, was already nesting in the anti-tank gun trench with Viniya. He was observing the situation at the intersection through the gaps between the bushes. Judging from his serious expression, it seemed as if his sight could see through. Like passing through the icy thick fog.

With this rare opportunity, Wei Ran took the risk to stand up, took a photo of the two men's backs, and then ducked into the machine gun position he was responsible for.

Squatting down in the not-so-spacious position, Wei Ran leaned against the damp wall and took out the boiled potatoes he had been given not long ago and took a bite. Then he put the rest into his pocket and lit one. Smoking the cigarette one after another, he put his other hand into his backpack and touched the armor-piercing bullets inside that could be used for his anti-tank gun, secretly wondering if there was any chance of using these armor-piercing bullets.

After a while, as the cigarette burned out, Wei Ran crushed the cigarette butt and took a large gulp of warm boiled water into his mouth, then closed his eyes and took a nap.

By the time he was shaken awake by Yeremey, the thick fog had dissipated, but the weather was gloomy and there was a cold breeze.

“It looks like it’s going to rain.”

Yeremei, who was squatting side by side with Wei Ran in the camp, whispered, "I woke you up because I was worried that you would catch a cold."

"Thank you"

As he spoke, Wei Ran climbed up carefully, letting his eyes pass through the gaps in the roots of the bushes and observing the fork in the road more than a hundred meters away.

Although the weather was gloomy, the visibility seemed to be pretty good, so even without a telescope, he could still vaguely see the three tanks at the intersection as before, and even the bonfire lit last night had not been extinguished.

At this time, the crew members of the three tanks were warming themselves around the campfire, and there were even several tents set up beside the campfire.

"The soldiers in these three tanks were sent here because they offended their leaders, right?"

Wei Ran muttered secretly, this job of guarding the intersection was indeed leisurely, but it was not necessarily much safer than the front line.

For example, right now, Wei Ran and others have already targeted them.In other words, these people are just like guard dogs for early warning.

Withdrawing his gaze, Wei Ran retracted into the trench, only to find Yeremei leaning against the wall, staring at an iron key in his hand in a daze.

"What is this?" Wei Ran asked in a low voice as he sat down next to him.

"key"

Yeremey replied subconsciously, and when he came to his senses, he added in a calm tone, "The key to my house, but my house has been burned down by the Germans with flamethrowers."

When he said this, Yeremei couldn't help but wipe the corner of his eyes, "Those Nazis said that our family is Jewish. They also kidnapped my sister. She is only 16 years old and she just agreed to date Sasha."

Wei Ran opened his mouth, but for a moment he didn't know what to say to comfort the young man.

"Those traitors also said that our family is Jewish"

Yeremei's young face showed a trace of mad despair, "It's really ridiculous. Why didn't I know that our family is Jewish?"

The person who answered this question was not Wei Ran, but Political Commissar Vinia who was hiding in another bunker not far away. "If we don't drive away those fascinators, they might point at us in the future and say, look, those It’s Fasusi, and we must eliminate them for justice.”

"You're right." Wei Ran sighed secretly in his heart, feeling that the world was so monotonous that there weren't many new tricks to play.

"My hometown was also occupied"

Political Commissar Vinya in another trench sighed almost to himself, “Everything that has happened here and everything that will happen has already happened to us.

If we do not drive them away, the same tragedy will happen in Stalingrad, Saratov, Moscow and Irkutsk. "

"Political Commissar, are your family still alive?" Yeremei asked in a low voice, leaning against the damp wall.

In the trench on the other side, Commissar Vinya, who was also leaning against the wall, looked at the small photo frame in his palm. After being silent for a long time, he replied blankly, "I don't know. I have lost theirs since it was occupied." News.

But we will definitely take back the occupied land, and then I will go find my family.I believe they are still alive. "

(End of this chapter)