War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1679 Targeted Killing
When Wei Ran walked into the kitchen, Vlada was cutting jelly made from fish scales, fish entrails, fish heads and a small amount of flour that Wei Ran brought.

"Is there anything we can help you with?" Vlada asked enthusiastically. Her attitude had changed a lot compared to when Wei Ran first arrived.

"Nothing, I just came to see if you need any help." Wei Ran waved the camera in his hand, "I wanted to take a few photos of you and your daughter."

“Leave the film to others,” Vlada smiled, “I’m just a cook.”

"The fish head soup last night was very delicious." Wei Ran chose a seat and sat down. "Just think of this as chatting with you guys. Is there anything I can help with?"

"If you'd like to help, watch the fireplace for me."

As Vlada spoke, Olga handed Wei Ran a cup of hot water. "Victor, do you think Yulia can survive?"

"If she can be sent to Kobona as soon as possible, there shouldn't be any problem." Wei Ran took the cup and replied, "The conditions here are still too simple."

"I don't know when Father Seryosha will be back," Olga said worriedly.

"He will be back, for sure."

Wei Ran answered almost as if he was hypnotizing himself, and then changed the subject, "Aunt Vlada, were you a chef before?"

"Of course!"

Vlada said proudly, "I work in the canteen of the Leningrad Fire Department, and my son is a firefighter there."

"I don't know if my brother is still alive," Olga sighed worriedly.

“I would be happy if he were alive.”

Vlada also said, as if in self-hypnosis, "If he died while fighting a fire or in battle, I would be very proud."

"He should have evacuated with us," Olga couldn't help but say, "If he had evacuated with us, maybe we could have saved Dad from the ice."

"Olga, what kind of stupid things are you talking about?"

Vlada scolded, "If he withdraws, who will put out the fire? If everyone withdraws, are we going to give Leningrad to those Fascissus?"

"But," Olga sighed, "we are fighting here too."

"In this case, what difference does it make whether we withdraw or not?"

Vlada continued to work, suppressing her emotions and saying, "As long as we can drive away those Fasciculi and protect our home, I will be happy even if your brother dies, even if you die, even if I die on this island myself."

The topic of casual conversation reached this point, and Wei Ran wisely chose to stop. He just pointed the camera at them and tried to find an angle that could see their faces clearly enough.

"Comrade Journalist"

Before Wei Ran pressed the shutter, Vlada took the initiative to ask, "Will your report be published in the newspaper?"

"Yes," Wei Ran answered subconsciously.

"Can the people in Leningrad see it?" Vlada continued.

"I'll see." Wei Ran nodded seriously, even though he knew in his heart that this was a lie that could only serve as comfort.

Hearing this, Vlada stopped what she was doing and said, "In that case, please take a good picture for us. If my child is alive, I hope he can see that we are safe and well here."

“I’ll take a good picture for you guys.”

Wei Ran stood up and found an angle to capture the mother and daughter standing side by side with their arms around each other, the large bowl of jelly on the table, and as many ingredients as possible, and finally pressed the shutter.

On this island, or in besieged Leningrad, having enough food meant living well, even if that meant little more than a string of fish heads and entrails in aspic.

Almost at the same time he put down the camera, the air raid warning whistle was heard outside again.

Without even saying hello, Wei Ran rushed out of the shack, ran to the open space at the edge of the forest and looked up at the sky.

"West-northwest direction! Four planes! Attention! West-northwest direction! Four planes!" Yuri on the watchtower shouted at the top of his lungs, and the artillery position not far away immediately made preparations.

However, Wei Ran soon realized something was wrong. The planes that were getting closer and closer in the sky did not seem to be lowering their altitude.

Because of this, the artillery commanded by Giannia had not opened fire, as it was impossible to hit the target from that altitude.

"Keep hidden! It's a high-altitude bomb drop!"

Jiao Niya, Wei Ran, and Yuri on the tree shouted warnings almost at the same time.

But Giannia and her crew members did not leave the artillery. Instead, they flattened the gun barrel as quickly as possible to avoid losses. As for pulling the artillery closer to the forest, it was too late at this time.

Almost at the moment when Jiao Niya and others, as well as Wei Ran who came to help, covered the artillery with camouflage cloth, the unique whistle sound of falling bombs was heard from the sky.

But even at this time, Yuri on the tree still did not come down, but continued to report loudly the situation in the sky.

"Be careful! It's a butterfly bomb!"

Amid the roar of the approaching plane, Yuri made a firm judgment. He had already seen the launcher split apart in the air, and the densely packed butterfly bombs falling like dandelions!

"It's right above the position! Into the shack! Quick!"

Yuri shouted at the top of his lungs, and at the same time he grabbed the rope and slid down at the fastest speed.

After receiving the reminder, the people who were hiding in the artillery bunker did not dare to delay and rushed out immediately, squeezing into the shack that served as the operating room with Yuri at the same time.

Without even discussing it, everyone tacitly lay down on the edge of the table and used the upper part of their bodies to protect Yulia, who was still unconscious.

"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Almost at the same time, there were repeated explosions outside the shack, as well as the sound of shrapnel embedding into tree trunks or hitting metal objects.

Amid the sounds of explosions, the planes in the sky roared gradually away in the direction of the icy road, but the whistles of falling bombs did not stop.

"Everyone stay away from the door"

As Wei Ran spoke, he had already walked carefully to the door and looked out through the ventilation window.

What was terrible was that, right at the door of their shack, he saw a butterfly bomb fall on the compacted snow.

What's even worse is that he has no way of telling whether the bomb is timed to explode or will explode if touched.

But the only thing he knew clearly was that he had to dispose of the bomb as soon as possible, otherwise the thin door of the shack would not be able to block the bomb fragments.

"All of you get down on the ground, and let Yulia get down on the ground as much as possible."

As Wei Ran spoke, he took off the backpack he had been carrying, used it as cover to pull out the engineer shovel, and then handed the backpack to Andre behind him.

"Let me go," said Andre.

"You asshole, stay away."

As Wei Ran spoke, he carefully opened the door of the shack and observed carefully to make sure there were no other bombs at the door. Then he immediately walked out, shoveled snow from a distance, and carefully piled it between the butterfly bomb and the shack door.

Under his intense work, the snow wall that was less than half a meter high soon became more than one meter thick.

After taking a closer look at the roof of the shack, Wei Ran breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, there was no butterfly bomb on the roof of the shack.

Turning around and going into the shack, he picked up a pot of warm water that was prepared to be used to boil surgical instruments and carefully poured it on the snow wall that had just been built. Then he took an enamel pot that belonged to someone unknown, filled it with snow, and carefully placed it on the edge of the snow wall.

"Everyone lie down"

Wei Ran looked back, then took out a small stone from his pocket, then took out the slingshot from his arms, lay down at the door of the shack and aimed at the enamel jar full of snow.

He was just thankful that there were several steps between the snow pit and the ground, otherwise everyone would have to take the risk and leave.

After taking a quick aim, he loosened his grip on the leather bag.

"Snapped!"

The stone accurately hit the enamel pot less than two meters away. Wei Ran also fell to the ground at the same time and protected his head with his hands.

"boom!"

With a dull explosion, the snow wall he had just worked so hard to pile up was blown apart by the shock wave, and large and small pieces of snow and the debris mixed in between also hit the doors and windows of the shack and even his head with a bang.

Carefully raising his head to look ahead and behind him, Wei Ran, whose ears were buzzing from the shock, turned around and asked loudly, "Is anyone injured?"

"No! No one is hurt!" Giannia answered loudly in the shack.

"Don't come out yet"

Wei Ran shouted a warning, but he got up and carefully observed his surroundings with a slingshot in hand.

Soon, he discovered the second, third, and more and more butterfly bombs!
Without going far, he lay directly on the steps leading up to the shack as a cover, raised the slingshot again, and detonated the dangerous butterfly bombs around him one by one.

Amid the sound of explosions, the butterfly bombs around the shacks were cleared away one after another. However, around the camp, there were occasional sudden explosions of timed butterfly bombs, which shook off a large amount of snow and made everyone's hearts hang in the balance a little bit - the roar of German planes returned again!

In another round of whistles, Wei Ran clearly saw that more bombs were dropped by those planes from high altitudes beyond the range.

The only thing he was thankful for was that the bombs were unlikely to fall on this island.

"Victor, we have to get back to the artillery position quickly!"

Behind him, Giannia shouted, "The German bombers will be here soon!"

"Wait a mininute!"

Wei Ran did not delay any longer and continued to clear the butterfly bombs between the operating room and the artillery position.

But as the distance got closer and closer, and as the aiming distance increased, he discovered that there were two butterfly bombs scattered near the artillery position! One of the two bombs fell on the edge of the snow wall that served as a bunker, and the other slid from the edge of the camouflage net and fell less than half a meter away from the artillery tire!

There is no doubt that any explosion would pose a huge threat to the only weapon on the island.

"Come and help!"

Wei Ran no longer cared about the danger at this time. He walked towards the position and said, "I need you to pull the artillery out! And quickly!"

Before he finished speaking, all the people hiding in the operating room ran out. Old Ivan and others who had come back from somewhere, as well as Vlada and Olga also followed.

"Don't come in! Use the rope!"

While reminding everyone, Wei Ran shook the two auxiliary hoes that were almost frozen to the ground as quickly as possible, and then tied the rope handed to him by Old Ivan to the towing hook at the tail of the artillery.

"Pull!" Wei Ran shouted.

Under his command, everyone pulled the rope tight, but the four tires of the artillery had already frozen to the ground.

"Hot water!"

6◇9◇Book◇Bar

Before Wei Ran finished his words, Olga ran back to the kitchen and soon came back with a pot of boiling water.

They took the kettle and poured water on the contact points between the tire and the ground one by one. Accompanied by thick water vapor, the crowd, who had already started to exert their strength, immediately pulled the cannon out.

"Back off! Back off!"

When Wei Ran shouted, all his attention was focused on the deadly butterfly bomb.

Fortunately, the bomb did not explode until the artillery was pulled out of the bunker.

He signaled everyone to pull the artillery directly to the door of the operating room and hide. Wei Ran also hid behind a tree and aimed his slingshot at the bomb on the bunker.

He had to get that bomb into the bunker and use its explosion to detonate another butterfly bomb. This was the fastest and only way.

But if it is not hit, it will explode.
Wei Ran suppressed the consequences of this situation and treated the butterfly bomb as if it were a sparrow that landed on the wall of his grandmother's house when he was a child.

"Whoosh!"

The moment he let go of the leather bag, Wei Ran immediately shrank back behind the tree trunk.

"boom!"

The two almost overlapping explosions made him breathe a sigh of relief, and then he waved to Giannia who was hiding at the door of the operating room.

After receiving the signal, the latter immediately ran out with his men, and together they pushed the anti-aircraft artillery back as quickly as possible and prepared to open fire.

At the same time, Wei Ran was not idle. He had to clear them out as soon as possible before the wind and snow covered those dangerous bombs.

"Victor, leave this job to me!"

Vasily approached him at this time and reached out to grab his slingshot. "I used to have a slingshot, and I was very accurate."

“This is not a child.”

"There are no children here, only soldiers." Vasily said seriously, "I will hide in advance."

"Victor, leave it to him." Old Ivan said, "Vassily is a smart boy, he will protect himself."

"Can"

“You can’t stop him.”

It was Olga who said, "He has stolen a rubber tube from the operating room, am I right, Vasily?"

"I thought you didn't notice," Vasily said with a silly smile, touching the hat on his head.

"There are so many bombs here, let him try."

Old Ivan said again, "It's better than him doing it secretly."

"Okay then." Wei Ran gritted his teeth and handed the slingshot to Vasily.

As if to prove himself, Vasily took off his gloves, took out a small stone from his pocket, aimed at the shell more than ten meters away, and loosened the leather bag.

"Snapped!"

With a crisp sound, the shell was hit by a stone and spun in the snow.

"I will protect myself!" Vasily said confidently, holding the slingshot, as if he was participating in a slingshot competition.

"Aren't you worried about his safety?" Wei Ran waited until Vassi walked away before asking Old Ivan.

"Worried, of course I am worried."

Old Ivan sighed, "But can you stop him? His father was once the political commissar of this position, and he has always been proud of it. This island is like his home.

If you don't give him a slingshot and this job, this stubborn little guy will definitely find a way to make one secretly.

Rather than waiting for him to be in danger without any preparation, it is better to give him some encouragement and let him do it openly. "

"boom!"

At this moment, Vasily had successfully detonated a butterfly bomb in the cemetery while hiding behind a tree, and waved at them.

"See, I told you he was a smart kid," Old Ivan said proudly.

"Yes," Wei Ran sighed, "but children shouldn't be so sensible, and shouldn't take these risks."

"If there is no war it is true"

Old Ivan took off his tattered hat and patted the snow off his body. "My grandson will be the same age as him."

"he"

"I do not know"

Old Ivan put his hat back on. "We got separated when we escaped from Leningrad. I don't know where he is, let alone if he is still alive."

“He must be alive.”

Wei Ran couldn't remember how many times he had said this, "Old Ivan, let me take a picture of you too. If I have the chance, I will publish your picture in the newspaper. Maybe your grandchildren will be able to see you."

"That's a good idea!"

Old Ivan stood up straight while speaking. "Let's shoot here. After we finish, I'll go chop wood right away. Otherwise, we might all be freezing tonight."

“It will be ready soon”

Wei Ran took a few steps back and once again carefully took a photo of the old man with the artillery that had re-entered the position not far away as the background.

"Okay, thank you for taking the photo for me, comrade reporter, I have to go to work now."

Old Ivan shook hands with Wei Ran solemnly, pulled out the saw from his waist, and pulled the sled towards Vasily.

Obviously, he was not so confident in letting Vasily do the bomb disposal work alone.

Just at this moment, Yuri, who had already climbed up to the treetop watchtower, blew the whistle again!
"The German planes are coming again! West by north-west! West by north-west!"

Yuri yelled, "Five! North-west! Five!"

"Everyone else, take cover!" Giannia shouted, raising the rangefinder.

As the roar got closer and closer, Wei Ran also saw the German bomber roaring in the sky. It was the Stuka again! The Stuka was in an attacking posture!
"This is coming for us!"

There was no fear in Giannia's tone, only excitement!
"Attention! Elevation 1500!" Giannia shouted and gave instructions.

"Mark 1500!" Lisa, the ammunition carrier, and Andre, who was in charge of aiming, shouted at the same time.

At this time, Wei Ran, who had already taken out his gun camera, lay down behind a birch tree, connected the lens with the anti-aircraft artillery and the plane in the air in a straight line, focused the focus on the artillery crew members and pulled the trigger!

"Thumbs up—"

With a drawn-out roar, the Stuka in the air opened fire first, and the bullets hit the ice and snow bunkers, exploding into large and small fragments.

"Fire!"

Amid Giannia's roar, Igor, with an injured hand, stepped hard on the pedal!
Amid the rumbling of artillery fire, the first, second, and third Stukas all dodged the exploding shells. By the time of the fourth Stuka, the first magazine had been emptied. Lisa, who was well prepared, immediately stuffed the next magazine in.

"All right!"

Lisa had just shouted the signal when a cloud of blood mist burst out from her chest, neck and Andre's chest when Wei Ran pulled the trigger again!
"Ammunition man! I need an ammunition man!" Giannia shouted, and she pushed Andre away and sat in the position of a gunner.

Almost when Wei Ran was about to get up, Sasha had already run over, skillfully picked up a magazine from the ammunition box and got ready.

Following closely behind, Yuri, who had just slid down from the tree, ran over and pulled up Giannia to take over the position of gunner.

"You should go on sentry duty!" Giannia picked up the rangefinder in frustration.

"I want to die with you!" As Yuri spoke, he had already turned the steering gear and altitude to chase the enemy that was flying away in the sky.

Seeing this, Wei Ran immediately ran to the sentry tower and climbed up as quickly as possible. After observing for a while, he shouted, "They are bombing the artillery position on another island!"

Before he could finish his words, everyone including him heard the intensive explosions coming from another island!
This is targeted erasure.
Wei Ran sighed in despair. He knew that the bombers would continue to come until the pitiful amount of air defense forces here were completely eliminated.