War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 139 The Price of Red and White Flags
In the darkroom, Wei Ran developed all the selected negatives into photos. The 6X6 medium-format large square photo accommodates more horizons at the beginning of shooting, and in disguise, it also records more history that happened at the same moment.

Looking at the group photo of everyone beside the ruins of the clinic and the building of the Ministry of the Interior, and then looking at the photos of Dr. Rocky and Father Hans rescuing the wounded that he took when the tent outside the clinic was still there.

Wei Ran sighed a little disappointed, there was no self in it, although he had expected it as early as the beginning of the filming, but he was worried that one day those companions who struggled together in the flames of war would become more and more blurred in his memory .

Putting the rest of the photos and the sad emotions aside, after Wei Ran picked up the fourth photo, his mood improved a lot.

In this photo of the Capitol building, you can see an 88mm gun abandoned by the German army and a King Tiger heavy tank in the bottom corner. A stretcher team to transport the wounded.

In the main position of the photo, there is only the outer wall of the destroyed Capitol, and the German soldiers hiding in the Capitol and shooting out.And outside the building, there are Soviet soldiers who are throwing grenades into the building, firing guns, and even being shot and about to fall to the ground.

Slightly moving up the line of sight, on the top of the building, a Soviet Red Army soldier is holding a huge flag, which is particularly conspicuous under the light provided by the flares. Even behind this soldier, two other Soviet Red Army soldiers can be seen There was a little muzzle flame from the Bobosha submachine gun in his hand, and the slightly blurred shadows of several German soldiers who were shot and recoiled further away.

He could even hear the heart-piercing "Ulla" and the roar of guns from this photo.I can smell the choking gunpowder smoke and the lingering smell of blood!

“This photo is probably going to be in a museum.”

Wei Ran muttered to himself, carefully put it into a separate kraft paper bag, and then picked up the photo he took at the last moment.

If the glory in the war was witnessed in the photo just now, then from the top of the Ministry of the Interior building, this photo overlooks Königsplatz and the ruins of surrounding buildings, as well as the white flag on the square, and Admiral Weidling, the commander of the Berlin City Defense, who is about to surrender Photos, but what it witnesses is only the bloody cruelty and eternal destruction behind the war.

Whether it is justice to exclude the war itself, regardless of the red flag on the top of the Reichstag, or the white flag held by German soldiers on Königsplatz in this photo.In order to make them float in the gunpowder smoke, the price that needs to be paid is the wounded struggling on stretchers who have not had time to carry away the buried corpses.Of course, there are also those surviving soldiers, civilians, cities that were almost completely destroyed in the war, and countless originally happy families—whether Germans, Soviets, or Jews.

Holding the photo and looking at it for a long time, Wei Ran silently stuffed it into the same kraft paper bag as the previous photo.He knows that he is not qualified to judge whether the war is right or wrong. The only thing he can do is to be a traveler in time and space, and use the camera to pick up some missing moments.

Putting these two photos away, Wei Ran continued to flip through the other photos. Most of the remaining photos were from the former owner of the Rollei DSLR, the tough German soldier who had won the gold Melee Assault Medal.

If the two previous photos recorded the final result of the war, then these photos recorded the details of the battle.From the initial battle outside Berlin to the later street battles, this sturdy brother who doesn't know his name almost put the camera on the faces of soldiers on both sides of the Soviet Union and Germany and pressed the shutter.

What surprised him even more was that in these photos, he even saw Marco's aunt, the crazy woman who brought all kinds of supplies to the clinic!
However, in this photo, the lower body of Marco's aunt is bloody and bloody, and there are even traces of the tank tracks on it.

And in her hand, besides a long-handled grenade whose back cover had been unscrewed, there was also a photo of her kissing until death.Although the person in the photo was somewhat blurred due to the angle, Wei Ran immediately matched it with a certain idiot with an injured butt in the iconic youth league uniform.

Continuing to look through the remaining photos, Wei Ran put them all into another separate kraft paper bag, trying not to recall everything that happened in that small clinic, then rubbed his face tiredly, He got up and staggered to the bathroom.

It wasn't until his hands and feet wrinkled from soaking that Wei Ran got up from the bathtub in a daze, put on his pajamas and threw himself on the bed.

Now the story behind the two youth league knives has been investigated clearly, but Wei Ran intends to put this matter aside for the time being.

After all, in this real world, Professor Alexei had only left for less than an hour, and given such a detailed investigation result so quickly, even if the employer didn't doubt it, he would feel that the ten million rubles was worthless.

On the other hand, I have to report back to the Hongqi Forest Farm in Kazan tomorrow, and I really don't have the energy to do these things now.Just before falling asleep, Wei Ran had already decided to go to Kiev after the half-month course at the Hongqi Forest Farm to visit the home of that Ivan.Even if you can't find any valuable clues at that time, at least you have to put on a show to be worthy of the high price offered by Mario's son.

Not long after, a soft snore sounded, and Wei Ran also returned to Berlin, which was under fire, and the clinic that might collapse at any time in a dream, busy cutting bloody wounds under the dazzling light of kerosene lamps , to suture broken blood vessels.

"Bang bang bang!"

The hasty knock on the door awakened Wei Ran who was wandering in a nightmare, and before anyone could wake up, a loaded pistol was already in his hand, pointing in the direction of the bedroom door.

It wasn't until he was completely awake that Wei Ran quickly put away his pistol, put on his clothes and left the bedroom, and then opened the shutter door that was still slamming.

"I thought you weren't here." Jima walked in with a big grin, and before he could say anything, he turned and closed the shutter door.

"Didn't you go to Mr. Nicholas' house?" Wei Ran yawned and asked while sitting at the long table.

"He kicked me out"

Jima rummaged through boxes and cabinets like a ghost soldier, took out a bottle of gin from the refrigerator, unscrewed it and sniffed it, then replaced it with a bottle of vodka that had been stored for an unknown amount of time, and took out two apples by the way , and then he closed the refrigerator door contentedly, walked to the opposite side of Wei Ran and sat down.

"What are you doing?" Wei Ran asked the other party's half-filled glass.

"Of course it's to thank you." Before Ji Ma finished speaking, he raised his head and drank the wine in the glass in one gulp, and then buried his big nose into his cuff.

"Wake me up, dig through my refrigerator, drink my wine, just to thank me?" Wei Ran looked at Jima across the table with crazy eyes.

The former happily refilled a glass of wine, and then said excitedly, "Ms. Zhou and Mr. Nicholas have given me an official answer after talking with him just now. In mid-December, the two of us will take the first batch of guests to Inta .”

"Wait!" Wei Ran put down the wine glass that had just been delivered to his mouth, "The two of us? Are you right?"

"Of course it's the two of us." Ji Ma gestured in the direction of the next door with his thumb as a matter of course, "Ms. Zhou said that you are also a tour guide of a travel agency, so of course you took it with you."

"I"

Wei Ran opened his mouth, and finally nodded in resignation. Ji Ma was indeed right, he was still hanging in the travel agency of his aunt, and all the new routes opened in recent years, in order to facilitate communication, he took them with him. This time is no exception.

"That's why I want to thank you!"

Jima touched Wei Ran with the cup without any explanation, and after a "Ulla!" that was enough to scare most Western Europeans to pee, he drank the wine in the cup again.

After absent-mindedly drinking the wine in the glass, Wei Ran picked up the apple on the table and took a bite, absent-mindedly listening to Jima thinking about his and his friends' careers in Inta.

It wasn't until the other party's brain was full of fantasies again that he started to consider raising a few Ukrainian girls, Wei Ran had no choice but to interrupt the other party's daydream, "Let's put aside the matter of Inta, and wait for our next vacation." Now, how about you and me going to Kyiv?"

"Where are you going? Kyiv?!" Jima immediately came to his senses, "I'll call Mr. Karp to ask for leave now, and then how about we go now?"

"not so good"

Wei Ran snatched the other party's mobile phone and threw it aside, "I didn't take you to harm Ukrainian girls."

"It's the same anyway." Ji Ma patted his forehead, "I haven't asked you yet, what are you doing in Kiev?"

"Investigate something, but I heard it's not safe there, so I need a helper."

Wei Ran said truthfully that he had never been to Ukraine, and he brought Jima with him, just hoping that this incomprehensible person could help a little, so that he would not be blocked in the mine with guns like last time in Inta , not even a messenger.

"Then you are definitely right to bring me!" Jima smugly patted his chest and made a promise, "I know a lot of Ukrainian girls, and I know how to deal with Ukrainians!"

"Isn't it that you typed out all this communication on the bed?" Wei Ran muttered to himself, then changed the subject and asked, "When are you going back to Kazan?"

"Tomorrow morning," Ji Ma said while gnawing on an apple, "I've already bought a plane ticket, even yours."

“So generous?”

Wei Ran looked at Jima in surprise. Although a plane ticket is not expensive, he knows about Jima's financial situation. This guy has no concept of saving money at all. As long as he has money, he will either spend it on Ukrainian girls or On the body of the Polish girl.But he would definitely not think about taking the initiative to bear the transportation expenses, especially if he didn't have to pay for the air ticket.

"Take it as a thank you." Jima grinned stupidly, "Of course, if you are willing to give me the money, I will not refuse."

"I'll give you a big slap in the face." Wei Ran responded with a middle finger from the other party, "Let's go, stop drinking, and find a place to eat."

"I invite you!" Ji Ma agreed with extra pride, got up and ran out of the studio before he finished speaking.

　Thanks to Xiaohe in the wind for rewarding 1500 points

　　Thank you Flying Hands for rewarding 200 points

　　Thanks to RogerRoger for rewarding 100 points

　　
　
(End of this chapter)