War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 133 Gathering in the Basement ([-]-in-[-] Update)

In the ruins shrouded in the morning mist, Wei Ran and the others kept a reasonable enough distance from the Soviet Red Army instructor Ivan.On the floor between the two sides, the bonfire that was constantly heating up the fish soup, and the Soviet Red Army commando Mikhail who was still unconscious not far away, became the focus of attention of the two parties.

Watching Wei Ran push the medicine into his comrade's body with scorching eyes, Ivan waited patiently for the other to change the needle, refill the medicine and walk to his side, then asked, "How is his condition?"

Pushing the second shot of anti-inflammatory medicine into Ivan's body, Wei Ran packed up the syringe and medicine bottle and said, "Still having a fever, only he has survived the abdominal infection. long time."

Hearing this, Ivan looked worriedly at the direction of the Moltke Bridge again, and then lowered his head to look at the amputated left leg. After a moment of silence, he struggled to stand up.

"What are you going to do?" Wei Ran closed the medicine box and helped Ivan who was about to fall.

"Moltke Bridge, I want to go back to Moltke Bridge." Ivan said anxiously.

"You don't care about your companion Mikhail?"

Wei Ran simply let go of the opponent's arm, "And do you think that with your current state, you can pass through the blockade? Or, do you think that the pistol with no bullets in your hand can help?"

Ivan was about to open his mouth, and Wei Ran pointed to Mikhail who was still lying in a coma not far away, "And him, we are just doctors, we may be able to save him, but we may not be able to protect him well." he."

"Where are our weapons?" Ivan asked hoarsely.

"lost in the river"

After Wei Ran finished speaking, he walked a few steps to the side, bent down and picked up a wooden stick with a thick wrist and handed it to the former, "If you want to go, go, we will not stop you, and we can't help you."

Looking in the direction of the Moltke Bridge again, Ivan finally sat down against the wall helplessly.

"Victor, what's the matter?" Dr. Rocky asked after Wei Ran sat down beside him, and at the same time, Father Hans and Marco also surrounded him.

"He wanted to go to the Maoqi Bridge to die, but I stopped him." Wei Ran said helplessly.

"Then let him go." Father Hans said angrily, "You don't have to stop him."

Before Wei Ran could say anything, the sound of cannons was heard from the other side of the river, and the shells flew across the heads of the crowd, hitting the direction of the opera house not far away.The smoke and dust aroused by a few shells that missed their landing point even filled the vicinity of the ruins where they were hiding!
"Get down!"

Father Hans, Wei Ran, and Ivan who just sat down shouted in German or Russian in no particular order. Even while shouting, Ivan threw away the wooden stick in his hand and struggled to climb to the unconscious Miha Next to Yi Er, he used his body to block the latter's body.

The broken bricks that collapsed were lifted into the air by the shock wave, and then fell down again with a crackling sound, scattered everywhere like a hailstorm with huge lethality.The crowd protected their heads, crawled and hid behind the remaining low wall, curled up as much as possible and waited for the shelling to end.

Just at this moment, a broken brick the size of a palm hit Ivan's shoulder, and the severe pain made his whole body tremble uncontrollably.But then, enduring the pain, he continued to drag Mikhail's body, trying to move a little bit towards the corner.

Seeing this, Dr. Rocky was the first to rush over, and Wei Ran quickly followed up to help.Marco, who had already been hiding, saw Wei Ran move, and he wanted to go out too, but was dragged back to the corner by Father Hans.

With the help of Wei Ran and Dr. Rocky, Ivan and the unconscious Mikhail were all dragged into the corner. At this moment, they couldn't care about anything else, and crowded together like chicks fighting a storm. together.

Amid the cursing of almost everyone, the brief shelling finally came to an end.The ashen-faced people looked at each other, and after confirming that they were still alive, they stood up tentatively.

"Father Hans!" Marco exclaimed, "The bathtub! There is the bathtub!"

Everyone looked over one after another, and then found that the two remaining walls next to the bathtub not far away had collapsed, and even the vent in the basement had been buried!
Father Hans glanced at Ivan who had sensed something was wrong, and then asked, "Rocky, if we want to save the people in the basement, we must kill these two Soviets, or at least kill the one who is awake. !"

"You have time to kill people, why don't you hurry up and remove the bricks!" Before Dr. Rocky finished speaking, he ran towards the half-buried bathtub not far away.

Father Hans sighed, looked at Ivan again, and finally followed Wei Ran and Marco to the bathtub, and cooperated with each other to clean the entrance and exit of the basement.

With the sound of flipping, large and small bricks and a large piece of cement wall that were still stuck together were pushed off with difficulty by the joint efforts of everyone, revealing the deformed enamel bathtub.

Father Hans glanced again at Ivan, who was leaning on the broken wall behind him and looking here, finally sighed, and allowed Dr. Rocky to remove the bathtub with the help of Marco and Wei Ran.

"Leni, are you all right?" Dr. Rocky shouted nervously, lying on the entrance of the cave.

"not too good!"

Nurse Lenny hiding in the basement dimmed the gas lamp that had just been lit, and responded anxiously, "The bathroom collapsed, Nurse Pam was buried in it to save Mario, and several children were trapped by the exhaust fan. Scratched!"

"Let's go down immediately!"

After Dr. Lodge finished speaking, he climbed down, and at the same time hurriedly ordered, "Hans, you go down with me, and Marco is guarding outside. I will give you the submachine gun below later. Victor, you go get our the medicine chest! Hurry up!"

The other three looked at each other, and turned their heads to look at Ivan who was watching the excitement behind the wall not far away.At this time, even Wei Ran couldn't help but want to kill him.

"Go." Father Hans said abruptly, "He is just a wounded person now."

Wei Ran was startled, took a step, and was the first to run in Ivan's direction.

Under Ivan's nervous gaze, Wei Ran carried one of the medicine boxes on his shoulders, then picked up the other two medicine boxes, and ran towards the basement.

"Victor" Ivan stopped Wei Ran.

"What's wrong?" Wei Ran stopped and asked with his back to Iwan.

Ivan opened his mouth, and changed the content of what he originally wanted to ask, "Do you need my help?"

"Just take care of your comrades in arms." Before Wei Ran could finish his sentence, he started walking again and ran to the basement.

When he came back, Marko had an extra MP40 submachine gun in his hand. At this moment, he was hiding behind a pile of bricks, nervously pointing the gun at Ivan, who was only six or seven meters away.

"Don't point the gun at the two Soviets, so as not to cause misunderstanding." Wei Ran reminded while passing the first-aid kit to the basement.

"Okay, okay." Marco quickly turned around and aimed the gun at the entrance of the alley.

Seeing this, Wei Ran stepped on the ladder and climbed into the basement, and covered the entrance with a deformed bathtub.

In such a short time, the little nurse named Pam had her upper body dug out, and Dr. Lodge and Father Hans had opened the medicine box and began to help the children who were scratched by Bengfei's exhaust fan They clean the wound.

Just when Wei Ran put on his gloves and prepared to help, Dr. Lodge stopped his work and reminded, "Victor, their injuries are not serious, so don't worry, try not to sew the wounds too ugly. Their life just began."

Wei Ran was taken aback when he heard the words, then nodded, "I understand."

With Dr. Lodge's reminder, Wei Ran was extraordinarily meticulous this time, trying to align the debridement wound neatly, and carefully completed every suture.

After finishing the stitching work on the last woman's forehead wound, Dr. Lodge and Father Hans came over to check it out, and the former even praised without hesitation, "It turns out that your stitches are not bad."

"I just"

"Victor just doesn't want to work in your clinic." Father Hans joked without waiting for Wei Ran to finish speaking.

Dr. Lodge frowned and pointed to the top of his head, "Now is not the time to joke."

"Now you're starting to think about those two Soviets?" Father Hans said mercilessly, "Before the others come over, killing him is the best choice."

In the basement illuminated by kerosene lamps, Wei Ran said while cleaning the vents blocked by bricks, "Maybe we can let him come here to have a look."

"Are you crazy?" Father Hans frowned.

"We should be thankful that he is at least an instructor of the Soviet Red Army, and not one of those animals who just snatch watches."

Wei Ran explained without turning his head, "As long as he is willing to stay here to recover from his injuries, maybe the women and children in the basement will be relatively safe."

"Let him come down and see"

Dr. Lodge didn't hesitate long before making a decision, "At least before the Soviets completely occupy here, the initiative is still in our hands. And at least the basement is safer than the surface."

Father Hans opened his mouth to say something, but finally agreed to Dr. Lodge's suggestion, "Victor, go and send him and his companions over."

Wei Ran pulled out the last brick from the vent and threw it under his feet, then crawled out of the basement silently, walking towards Ivan's direction.

"Would you like to visit the basement?" Wei Ran asked Ivan.

Ivan hesitated for a moment, and finally nodded cautiously.Letting Wei Ran support him, he moved little by little towards the entrance of the basement.When passing by Marco, he glanced at the submachine gun in the opponent's hand, and then let Wei Ran help him to the edge of the bathtub.

Turning his head and looking in at the women and children in the basement with eczema and panic faces, Ivan withdrew his gaze, sat down on the deformed bathtub, touched his coat pocket, and then asked Wei Ran, " Is there any smoke?"

There was no need to translate this sentence at all. Both Father Hans and Dr. Lodge subconsciously took out the cigarettes and lighters in their pockets.

This strange tacit understanding belonging to the smokers made the four people beside the bathtub couldn't help but smile, and finally resolved a little bit the ever-existing guard and estrangement between the two sides.

As the three old smoking guns lit their own cigarettes, the choking nicotine slowly diffused in the morning mist.In Wei Ran's eyes, they seemed to use the cigarettes in their hands to break through the barriers of opposing ideologies, language, and hatred, and comfort each other with the flickering cigarette butts. Looking for a moment of peace on the flying battlefield.

When one cigarette was burned out, Ivan flicked the hot cigarette butt away, lit another cigarette, and said to himself, "Victor, how about making a deal?"

"What deal?" Wei Ran asked back.

"How long will it take for Mikhail's injury to heal?" Ivan asked the second question endlessly.

"It will take at least a week. Of course, the premise is that he can wake up." Wei Ran helped Dr. Lodge translate.

Ivan nodded and pointed to the entrance of the basement beside him, "Let Mikhail go to the basement to recuperate as a hostage. In exchange, give me that submachine gun, and I will guarantee that you will not be harmed by the Soviet Red Army."

"No!" Father Hans refused after listening to Wei Ran's translation, "What if he directly kills us after getting the gun?"

As if he had guessed what Father Hans was talking about, Ivan said without waiting for Wei Ran to translate, "You have weapons in your hands, once the Soviets come over, it is easy to be misunderstood that you captured me and Mikhail. Since the few of you have voluntarily surrendered to me not long ago, why are you unwilling to lay down your arms? Besides, I also provided you with hostages."

This time, Wei Ran simply omitted the translation process and asked directly, "How long can you protect us?"

Ivan smiled, "Until both Mikhail and I die here, or the real end of the war."

Seeing the hesitation on Wei Ran's face, Ivan continued, "I know what you are worried about. I will help you keep the secret of the basement until you think it is safe."

After listening to Wei Ran's translation, Father Hans and Dr. Lodge had a heated discussion, and finally nodded reluctantly, agreeing to Ivan's deal.

"Victor, tell him that this pistol was left to me by my father, and I can only give him the bullets." Dr. Lodge pulled out a Luger pistol, while unloading the bullets in the magazine Said.

Unexpectedly, Ivan waved his hand happily after Wei Ran finished translating, and even threw the P38 without bullets that he got from Wei Ran to Father Hans, "Take the pistols, the bullets are also Don't give it to me, if you have extra bullets, you can also fill the magazine of the pistol, so that at least you have a chance to kill me if you think I cheated you."

"This Soviet guy seems to be different from the one on the radio," Dr. Lodge muttered in surprise.

On the other hand, Father Hans, who caught the pistol, snorted coldly, took out a few pistol bullets from his pocket, pressed them into the pistol magazine in front of Ivan, and then dug out a few sick numbers from the bathtub. Throwing the trousers to Wei Ran, "You and Marco go and bring the wounded over here."

Catching the blood-stained pants, Wei Ran explained to Ivan, bent down to pick up two sticks with thick wrists, and called Marco, who was still hiding behind the pile of bricks not far away, to help lift the wounded.

Wearing the trouser legs of these pairs of trousers with the two sticks they picked up, Wei Ran and Marko lifted Mikhail, who was still unconscious, to lie down, and carefully carried him back to the entrance of the basement.

With the help of Papa Hans and Dr. Lodge, Mikhail was sent to a relatively safe basement, but Papa Hans stuffed the loaded pistol into Nurse Leni's hand.When they came up again, Marco handed the submachine gun to Ivan's hand.

Leaning against the wall to check the submachine gun, Ivan sat down slowly, put the submachine gun on the only remaining leg, but intentionally or unintentionally pointed the muzzle in the direction of the Kroll Opera House. Wei Ran chatted about the past of the clinic with only the foundation left under his buttocks.

After learning about Dr. Lodge's experience and that the girls and children in the basement were Jewish, Ivan even moved his hand away from the trigger guard.

While the adults on the surface were chatting, the basement was also extremely lively.Mario, whose buttocks were still wrapped in gauze, limped to the side of the unconscious Mikhail, carefully poked his stubbled cheek, looked at the whispering Jews around him, and finally stretched out his hand to squeeze The Soviet Union's second-class Patriotic Medal on the chest of Mikhail's uniform.

His good friend Oliver has many similar medals at home. It is said that his father sent them back from the battlefield when he was alive. Oliver usually shows off those beautiful metal pieces.

"Is that how Oliver's father got these medals?"

Mario looked at the medal he was pinching, and then looked up at the Soviets who were still lying on the bed, feeling like a shameful thief.

"Perhaps Oliver's father was a thief too?"

Mario suddenly felt that the medal he had envied so much didn't seem so good-looking anymore, he hesitated for a moment, and finally let go of his dirty little hand.

However, before he could move his hand away, the Soviet lying on the bed suddenly opened his eyes and grabbed Mario's wrist!

"Ah!" Mario's eyes widened, and he began to howl at the top of his throat, followed by a panicked struggle and howls that almost knocked over the ceiling of the basement!
"Mario!" Marco threw away the cigarette he just lit in his hand in an instant, and was about to rush into the basement even while crawling.

Ivan's reaction was also not slow. Although he didn't know what happened inside, he immediately made a rough guess after hearing the exclamation of the women in the basement.

Before Marco's feet touched the floor of the basement, Ivan had already crawled over, poked his head to look at the basement illuminated by the gas lamp, and shouted at the comrade who was being pointed at by Nurse Leni, "M Second Lieutenant Hayle! Let go of that child!"

　Thanks to Pula Xiaobu for rewarding 1500 points

　　Thanks to book friends 20190915142221190 and Flying Hands for rewarding 100 points respectively

　　
　
(End of this chapter)