War Photographer's Notebook

In the forest in early spring, as the setting sun was blocked by the tall canopy of the red pine forest, and as the cold spring rain pattered through the treetops and hit everywhere, Wei Ran had to stop and find a flat location. A tent was set up under the canopy of a thick pine tree - just like that late autumn in 1941.

The only difference is that now we no longer have to worry about Germans with weapons appearing.

After feeding Beria with the dog food he carried on his back, Wei Ran lay on the sleigh covered with bearskin, using the oil lamp hanging on the handle of the sleigh behind him, and carefully read the notepad left by political commissar Vinya. The content inside guesses what kind of battles he experienced on the frontal battlefield before entering the forest to fight guerrillas.

At the same time, he couldn't help but guess who would be waiting for him at that address in Donetsk.

At some point, the only sound left in the warm tent was the chirping sound of the American oil stove with a heater on it and the sound of even breathing.

Beria, the dog who was lying next to the sleigh, stared at Wei Ran with his small eyes, and then turned his body so that his head was aimed at the gap deliberately left by the tent door, and his big furry ears were raised. Listening vigilantly for the sound of drizzle outside and any suspicious movements.

That night, Wei Ran slept more soundly than ever before, and in his dreams, old songs that had been sung in this forest repeatedly echoed.

In the blink of an eye, the next morning, when he stretched himself out and woke up, the drizzle outside the tent still showed no sign of stopping, but at the entrance of the tent, there were three more big and fat hares whose necks had been bitten off. .

Gently touching the head of the dog that came over to say hello, Wei Ran glanced at the time and was not in a hurry to leave. He slowly packed up the three hares and made a calorie-sufficient breakfast for himself and the dog.

It was not until eight o'clock in the morning that Wei Ran, who had eaten and drank enough, unhurriedly packed up the tent, took back the metal book, and took out the half-track motorcycle while Beria looked on with surprise.

"go up"

Wei Ran patted the seat in the back. Beria shook his fluffy fur and jumped up neatly, letting Wei Ran cover him with a poncho.

After putting on a Soviet cloak, he mounted the half-track motorcycle. After starting it, under the guidance of the GPS, he drove over the mountains to the direction of his destination.

It was approaching noon, and the budding spring rain still hadn't stopped, but Wei Ran stopped his motorcycle. Directly in front of him was a logging road that had been abandoned for a long time.

At the end of the logging road is an abandoned and collapsed cabin.Neither this logging road nor this cabin was something he had ever seen before.

After looking around, to be cautious, he did not put away the half-track motorcycle. Instead, he tied the dog's leash to the motorcycle and walked towards the collapsed and abandoned hut alone.

As he got closer, the first thing he saw was a Soviet-era crawler tractor parked at the door of the wooden house that had been dismantled except for its chassis, with most of its body covered by shoulder-high grass.

Walking around the tractor and standing at the door of the dilapidated house, you can still vaguely see traces of someone once living inside.

Without venturing into the wooden house, Wei Ran circled around the wooden house, and finally found a stone tombstone still inlaid with an iron five-pointed star and a sickle and hammer symbol in a small piece of birch forest not far away, as well as The other is a smaller tombstone without any inlays.

He took out his Mauser bayonet and gently scraped off the moss and stains on the first tombstone. Then he saw the names of Platoon Commander Talas and the guerrilla fighters he led on the first tombstone.This list also includes political commissar Zinovi who died in the diatomaceous earth shack.

Looking at another small tombstone, the name engraved on it begins with Doferro, and his birth and death years are written as "April 1943-December 4."

It seems that this should be the child of Fras and the female doctor Jilia.
Wei Ran stood up, glanced at the collapsed wooden house, returned to the side of the half-track motorcycle without any nostalgia, and drove out of the forest along the logging road that had been abandoned for who knows how long.

As for how many secrets are left here, how much the "child" also named Dofero knew when he was alive.He believed that as long as he revealed the location here to Mr. Alexander, the latter would definitely be able to find out.

Not long after walking along this logging road, he saw the road in the distance. Seeing this, he put away the Soviet cloak and the half-track motorcycle he was driving, and led the dog. I hurriedly walked over and found the previously rented car with the help of the navigation system.

But next, he had a problem with whether to go to Donetsk and how to go.

"I finally know why Sun Houhou's master said that when he came out of the mountain."

Wei Ran muttered as he took out the satellite phone from the food box and dialed Culp without any psychological burden.

"Victor, why did you remember to call me?" Culp on the other end asked with a smile as soon as the call was connected. Obviously, the other party seemed to be in a good mood at this time.

"I'm worried that you miss me," Wei Ran responded with a playful smile.

"Don't talk like that bastard Jima." Culp on the other end laughed and scolded, "Tell me, what do you want from me? I'm waiting in your library for Lola to bring my coffee."

"I want to go to Donetsk," Wei Ran, who was pretending to be polite, said straightforwardly.

"Are you crazy and want to be a ridiculous war reporter again?" Culp even changed into German when he said this.

"No, please don't mention this matter again, okay?" Wei Ran responded awkwardly in German.

"kill?"

"How can I, a historian, have so many people to kill?"

Wei Ran grinned dumbfounded, "I was investigating some things for Mr. Alexander in Volgograd, and now I have found the relics of a Soviet frontline political commissar during World War II. His mailing address is in Donetsk. I want to go Take a look, maybe you can find his family.”

"Where are you now?" Culp was obviously relieved after hearing Wei Ran's explanation.

"Bryansk, I'm in Bryansk."

"I know," Culp on the other end said, not waiting for Wei Ran to finish, "Someone will call you later."

After saying this, the cool and handsome old man Culp hung up the phone very simply as if he was worried about the phone bill.

Listening to the busy signal coming from the phone, Wei Ran threw it aside and drove the car, taking Beria, who only caught three rabbits in the whole journey, towards the city in a leisurely manner.

Before he could return the rented car, an unfamiliar number called.

"Mr. Victor?"

"It's me" Wei Ran stopped the car and responded.

"I'm waiting for you in the parking lot of the airport, red SUV, double flashes." The person on the other end of the phone said nonchalantly.

"I'll be there soon." As soon as Wei Ran finished saying this, the person on the other side hung up the phone.

Weighing the satellite phone in his hand, Wei Ran stepped on the accelerator again, drove the car and turned around at the next intersection towards the airport.

Without wasting any effort, he saw a red SUV with double flashers on the side of the parking lot entrance.

Double-dodge towards the opponent, who immediately left the parking space and drove to the deepest part of the parking lot.Seeing this, Wei Ran followed him across a lane.Eventually, the two cars parked side by side in two adjacent parking spaces.

"Mr. Victor, please come with me." After the passenger window of another car was lowered, a man in formal attire who looked to be in his 40s said to him.

"I also brought a dog with me." Wei Ran pointed to his co-pilot.

"Does he want to go with him too?" The man in formal attire who had opened the car door didn't seem to think there was anything wrong with bringing an extra dog there.

"Help me find a place to foster care."

Wei Ran was prepared and said that the reason why he brought the dog to Bryansk was just to avoid encountering any wild beasts in the forest. Now that the dog's mission has been completed, there is no need to follow him anymore.

"No problem, come with me and muzzle your pet if you can."

The man in formal attire, who didn't seem to be planning to introduce himself, finished speaking and waited patiently for Wei Ran to muzzle Beria before leading them into the airport. After a step-by-step security check, they entered a lounge. inside.

"We will take a flight to Rostov-on-Don in about an hour."

The middle-aged man was minding his own business eating the free snacks and said vaguely, "When you get there, someone will send you to wherever you want to go."

"Where is it?" Wei Ran pointed to the dog Beria squatting beside him.

"When we get to Rostov, I will find a shelter for it temporarily." The middle-aged man replied without thinking.

Hearing this, Wei Ran stopped asking any more questions and obeyed the other party's arrangements with peace of mind.

About an hour later, the middle-aged man boarded a flight with Wei Ran and his dog, squeezed into the last row of economy class seats, and rushed to the border city of Rostov amidst the loud noise.

However, what he didn't expect was that before leaving the airport, the middle-aged man handed him over to a bearded man and verbally gave him Wei Ran's requirements.

"Come with me"

The bearded man was even more straightforward. After asking Wei Ran to follow him out of the airport, he got straight into the cab of a container truck.

"I will take good care of your pet until you come back."

After the truck driver finished speaking, while waiting for the red light, he took out a ham sausage from a torn bag behind the cab seat, bit it open and handed it to Gouzi who was squatting at Weiran's feet.

Beria, who was obviously drooling, turned around without thinking, leaving the back of his head to the truck driver. At the same time, he put his wide mouth on Wei Ran's lap and stared at him helplessly. Wei Ran.

"Let's eat"

Before Wei Ran finished speaking, the naughty dog ​​turned around again and gently took the ham handed by the truck driver. “What a smart little guy”

The truck driver praised him, and after trying to pet Beria's dog's head, he stepped on the accelerator and drove the container truck through the intersection with a green light.

Less than half an hour later, the car drove into a large courtyard. What Wei Ran didn't expect was that he saw a familiar sign at the door of the large courtyard - "Grapevine Agricultural Products Company"!
Obviously, Culp sent him to Donetsk through the channels of Uncle Chubu, the big-eared man who sent them the plane.

Knowing who was helping him, Wei Ran breathed a sigh of relief. Under the guidance of the truck driver, he tied the dog Beria to a BMP1 rifle that had been parked for an unknown amount of time in the deepest part of the yard. on the idler wheels of the car.

After the dog Beria was settled, the bearded driver got into a dirty off-road vehicle with Weiyan, then pointed to a fleet of vehicles in the yard that was ready to go and said, "Sir, you can drive and follow." That’s just the team, they’re going to Donetsk.”

With that said, the bearded man took out a satellite phone, a GPS and the matching charger from his pocket and handed them to Weiran, "With this satellite phone and GPS, you can use it no matter where you are in Donetsk." , when you need to come back, call the only number stored in it, and then tell the other party your location, and someone will bring you back."

"I'm sorry to bother you, Beria," Wei Ran said as he took the two electronic devices.

"Bella?"

The bearded man was stunned, "Your pet's name is Beria? What a scary name."

"Thank you. I appreciate the compliment"

As he spoke, Wei Ran started the Nissan off-road vehicle and followed the convoy of more than a dozen Kamaz trucks and several Ural trucks out of the large yard.

There was no navigation on the next road, so he didn't know where he passed except that he was driving north.

The most embarrassing thing is that the only working meters of this off-road vehicle with a bunch of fault codes are the tachometer and speedometer. The rest, such as the odometer and even the middle screen, are all inoperable.

He followed the convoy in this way for almost three or four hours. When the setting sun in front of him was mostly blocked by the horizon, an off-road vehicle that had been driving in front of him also stopped. Then someone opened the door with a backpack. After getting down, he ran over and knocked on Weiran's car door.

When he lowered the window, the people outside stuffed his backpack in first, "This is already Donetsk. We are going to a more dangerous place next, so we can't take you with us. In addition, what's in the bag?" You'd better take your things with you. If you need a guide, there's a business card in your bag. You can call the number on the card."

"Okay, Ma"

Wei Ran didn't even say any kind words, but the person outside the window had already wiped the dust-covered sickle and grapevine logo on the car door with his sleeves, then turned around and ran back to his car, got in the car door and swaggered. And go.

"sorry to bother you"

When Wei Ran raised the car window, he completed the unfinished polite words, then leaned the car to the side of the road, and opened the backpack that the other party had just handed to him.

There are not many things in this heavy backpack, but it is important enough. A body armor with inserts and a helmet. In addition, there is also an AKS74U of the same model as Bin Laden's brother and the matching PB4 silencer, plus Five loaded magazines.

In addition to this weapon, there is also a silent Makarov pistol in a holster. The silencer is screwed on the muzzle of this pistol, and the matching magazine is also prepared. A total of five.

"I told you I'm not here to kill anyone."

Wei Ran finally pulled out the business card and grinned helplessly, then he took off his coat honestly and put on the heavy body armor inside. As for the weapons and helmets, he didn't go to the front line, so naturally they didn't need them. .

Without hurrying to move, Wei Ran looked at the city under the setting sun. It was different from other cities where the lights were bright after nightfall. Wherever he looked, it was also slightly deserted.

He picked up the business card in his bag again and took a look at it. However, Wei Ran did not make a call. Instead, he took out a spare cell phone that had never been used in the food box. After slowly turning it on and charging it, he opened the navigation. software.

With the help of navigation software, he was able to determine that he was currently on the edge of the city in eastern Donetsk, and the address provided by the metal book was in a small village about 15 kilometers northwest of the city.

It was not too far to the left and right, so he stopped wasting time and drove the car through the city according to the navigation guidance, and went to the city to buy some food and drinks.

When you actually enter the city of Donetsk, except for the occasional building that seems to have been shelled or exploded, the rest is not much different from small cities across Russia.

After randomly buying some food and drink and putting them in the trunk, he drove the car out of the city and followed the traffic to the northwest.

Along the way, when he was less than five kilometers away from his destination, there were only vast farmlands left on both sides of the road, and there were no other vehicles on this muddy road that was not easy to walk.And right in front of this road, you can vaguely see a small village under the setting sun.

Looking at the sky above his head and the faint sounds of gunfire coming from the direction of Wu Kelan in the west, he couldn't help but increase his speed again.

After walking the last bit of the journey with some difficulty, he couldn't help but be troubled when he drove the car to the entrance of the village. Although the metal book provided an address, it did not provide a contact person, and although the address included the house number, But obviously, in such a small village, the house number is a useless decoration.

Not only that, even just outside the village, he saw an unexploded rocket poking through the farmland. A little further away, there were several houses that were cracked or even collapsed by the earthquake. Not far away from these houses, there were Several craters that had accumulated small puddles.

After a moment's hesitation, he pushed open the car door, but did not take the backpack containing weapons at all. Instead, he randomly selected a few items from the food and drinks he bought in the city, squatted down from a distance, and faced the two people who were sitting on the grass. The little guy who played football waved.

"Hello, sir."

One of the young men who came over with the ball said hello politely, and then said in an affirmative and slightly wary tone, "Are you not from the village?"

"of course not"

Wei Ran said and handed the two large bottles of milk he was holding to him and his companions, "I came here to find a friend, but although I have his address, your village doesn't seem to use house numbers. , so can you help me?
Of course, if you are not willing to waste time taking me to find the house at the corresponding address, can you help me find an adult?Anyway, how about these two bottles of milk as a gift for our first meeting? "

"Wait here for a moment"

The young man holding the football and his companion looked at each other, and then in a contractual spirit, he "temporarily mortgaged" his football to Wei Ran's feet, and then he and his playmate each ran towards Wei Ran holding a bottle of milk. different directions.

Not long after, a man in a leather apron, who looked about 35 or [-] years old and smelled of engine oil, ran over carrying a greasy wrench.

"Hello"

Wei Ran took the initiative to say hello from a distance, "Is this your child's football?"

After saying that, he didn't wait for the other party to answer, and gently kicked the football at his feet.

Subconsciously raising his foot to catch the ball, the man with the wrench first kicked the ball to his son behind him, and then asked, "My child said you were looking for an address?"

"right"

Wei Ran nodded, took out a pack of cigarettes, lit one for himself first, and then gave the cigarette case to the other party, "Would you like one?"

"What do you call it?" The man took the cigarette case, took one out, lit it in his mouth, and then returned the cigarette case to Wei Ran.

"Victor"

Wei Ran did not make up a false identity this time, and there was no disguise or cover on his face. "What do you call me?"

"Pyatov, just call me by this name."

The man took a long puff of his cigarette and looked at the car parked more than 20 meters behind Wei Ran. Then he breathed a sigh of relief and asked thoughtfully, "Victor, who are you looking for?"

Wei Ran spread his hands, "To be honest, I don't know either."

"You don't know either?" Piatov raised his eyebrows, obviously not expecting him to give such an answer.

"I only know an address"

As Wei Ran spoke, he took out a notepad he bought at the airport, opened it, and showed the address written on it in advance, "Look, I only have this address, but it doesn't seem to be used in this village." House number.”

"It's his home"

Piatov muttered, turned to look at Wei Ran and said, "Don't you know the people who live at this address?"

"I don't know him"

Wei Ran thought for a while, "But if the other person is an old man, I might know his father."

"His father?" Piatov laughed dumbly, "Impossible, how old are you?"

"What I'm saying is true"

Wei Ran spread his hands, took out his mobile phone, and showed the photo of Commissar Vinya's relics to the other party, "I am a historian. I found these things in a Soviet guerrilla camp. I spent a lot of effort. I just found this place, and I came here just to see if the political commissar Vinia still has any family members alive."

"Wait a minute, are you the Chinese Victor?" Piatov seemed to suddenly recognize Wei Ran, even raising his voice.

"You know me?" Wei Ran looked at the other person in astonishment.

"Of course I know you!"

Piatov's attitude immediately became more enthusiastic, "Not only do I know you, almost everyone in our village knows you! Come with me! I will take you to find the person you want to find, and tell you by the way. what happened!"