War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1692 Act

"what are you going to do?"

Wei Ran's shout was not answered, so he gritted his teeth and returned to the foxhole to pick up the cumbersome suitcase, while also observing the mountain opposite. Fortunately, no Soviet troops had rushed up there yet.

A moment later, Habibullah came up panting, holding a PPSh and an RPG launcher in his hands.

"Get down quickly!"

Wei Ran threw the suitcase in his hand down the mountain, and quickly threw the blood-covered Habibullah to the ground, then dragged him into the makeshift shelter that was almost razed to the ground by rockets and was covered in blood.

Almost at the same time, the Soviet troops who had just climbed up in the distance also pulled the trigger at them!
"Are you hurt? Are you hurt?" Wei Ran asked loudly while pulling the other person into the shelter.

"No, I didn't!" Habibullah shouted back in Russian.

Wei Ran risked his head to take a look and thought to himself that it was not good. In just a short while, more than a dozen enemies had rushed up from the opposite mountain!
“We have to go down quickly.”

Wei Ran looked around and pulled out a bloodstained felt from the rocks. "I'll cover you. If I tell you to run, run now!"

"What about you?"

"get ready!"

As Wei Ran spoke, he had already wrapped his suitcase with felt and threw it out with force.

"run!"

With a loud shout, Wei Ran and Habibullah jumped out of the shelter one after another, and while the Soviet soldiers on the opposite side were rushing towards the suitcase wrapped in felt, they dangerously rushed to the other side of the mountain.

Amid the two men's screams, they rolled down the mountain in an extremely embarrassed manner.

In the end, the two men arrived at the foot of the mountain almost at the same time as Hakim who was running down.

Wei Ran climbed up with a grimace, not caring about the scratches on his hands and face and the severe pain in various parts of his body, and looked up at Habibullah.

At this time, he was already lying at the bottom of the valley, with blood flowing from his messy hair at the temples.

"Habibullah?"

Wei Ran shouted the man's name while hurriedly checking his wound. At this time, there was a wound on his head that was five centimeters long, and the bone was almost visible. There was even a bloody back tooth on his neck.

"Are you guys okay?"

Hakim stumbled down, still holding the machine gun without its mountain anti-aircraft tripod in his arms.

"Still alive"

Wei Ran asked, "Where's the donkey?"

"over there!"

Hakim pointed to the distance with difficulty.

"Bring the donkey over here! Hurry up!" Wei Ran shouted anxiously. They had to hurry. If the Soviet army rushed to the top of the hill, or a third helicopter came, none of them would survive!
"Put down the machine gun!" Wei Ran reminded.

Hakim belatedly put down the machine gun he was holding and stumbled away. After Wei Ran used the cloth he had torn off his body to temporarily wrap the wound on Habibullah's head, he led the two donkeys over.

"Where do we go next?"

Wei Ran endured the pain all over his body, gritted his teeth, picked up Habibullah, and asked as he put him on the donkey's back.

"Go find that helicopter"

Hakim forced himself to calm down and said as he tied a heavy machine gun to the back of another donkey, "If there are any alive, use them as hostages. If they are all dead, set a trap there."

"Are you crazy?" Wei Ran shouted subconsciously, "You"

"I'm not crazy! I'm ready to die!" Hakim yelled back, "Either you run away now, or come and help me!"

Gritting his teeth, Wei Ran limped over and helped the other party tie the heavy machine gun to the donkey's back.

"Can you still walk?" Hakim asked.

“Not a big problem”

After Wei Ran finished speaking, he saw that Hakim had already pulled out the bullet chain from the iron barrel that had been dropped earlier and wrapped it around the donkey where Habibullah was lying.

“We need to leave quickly”

As Hakim spoke, he was already dragging two donkeys along the valley towards the crashed helicopter in the distance.

"Get your guns"

Wei Ran handed the Bobosha that belonged to Habibullah to the other party and said, "I'll help you lead the donkey."

“We need to hurry up”

Hakim took the gun and jogged towards the wreckage of the helicopter in the distance.

“It’s killing me”

Wei Ran rubbed his calf which had been hit by a rock when he slipped down just now. After making sure that there was no fracture, he endured the piercing pain and pulled the two donkeys to chase after them.

Fortunately, they were not far from the wreckage of the helicopter, so they finally saw the helicopter from a distance before the Soviet soldiers behind them climbed up to their former positions.

"Da da da!"

Hakim fired a short burst of shots from his submachine gun, then seeing no response from the helicopter lying on its side, he immediately ran over.

"Come here! Everyone is dead!" Hakim shouted.

Hearing this, Wei Ran immediately walked over leading the donkey.

As they got closer, Wei Ran immediately noticed something wrong. The cockpit and gunner's cabin covers of the armed helicopter were both blown to pieces by rockets.

However, there was a bloody handprint on the broken gunner's cabin hatch opening handle, and in the cockpit, the pilot's seat belt had been unfastened.

"Did you leave this?" Wei Ran pointed at the bloody handprint and asked Hakim.

"No, not me."

After Hakim finished speaking, he realized that something was wrong and immediately began to look around. At the same time, Wei Ran had already climbed to the rear crew cabin with difficulty and took a look inside.

It was a mess in there. The two AK74s fixed on the hatch had their magazines removed and the receiver covers opened, with the parts inside scattered all over the floor. He was almost certain that some parts were missing.

Not only that, there was also a fresh bloody handprint on the edge of the cabin. Obviously, someone had crawled out from here not long ago.

"I found it"

Hakim lowered his voice and said, "Someone ran down the valley."

"We can't move forward with this machine gun," Wei Ran reminded.

"But."

Hakim gritted his teeth, unbuckled the rope, and let the heavy machine gun roll to the side. Seeing this, Wei Ran immediately pulled the ammunition chain off the other donkey and piled it on the ground.

Without even a hint from him, Hakim pulled a Soviet-made lemon grenade from his pocket, pulled out the pull ring, pressed it under the machine gun, and then piled the ammunition belt on top.

"Stay behind me, stay away."

Hakim said this, raised the PPSh again, and ran out following the blood spilled along the way.

Looking behind him, Wei Ran directly rode on another donkey and followed behind, pulling the donkey carrying Habibullah.

After walking about four or five hundred meters, Hakim suddenly stopped, holding his gun and shouting warnings in Russian such as "Put down your weapons!"

But soon, he ran over again.

Seeing this, Wei Ran immediately urged the donkey under him to follow.

Soon, he saw two people lying in the dead grass and bushes, and a medical bag that had not yet been packed up.

At this time, the one with the cross armband on his arm was lying on his back. There was a large amount of vomit and two medical bags, a canvas bag, near his mouth.

As for the other one, his leg seemed to be injured, but it had been sutured and bandaged.

However, next to the gauze there was also a pool of vomit.

With just a little thought, he guessed what had happened.

After the crash, the only two survivors ran all the way here. One of them had a leg injury and the other seemed to have a concussion due to the crash.

After hastily bandaging his companion's wound, the medic who had suffered a concussion finally couldn't bear it and fainted.

But even so, in his hand, he was still loosely holding an APB silenced submachine gun that Wei Ran was very familiar with, while another Soviet soldier who was injured in the leg and had also fainted had an AK74 and two spare magazines next to him.

"They're still alive," Hakim said after cleaning off the weapons.

"What are you going to do?"

As Wei Ran was cursing, a thick white light appeared without warning, easily covering everything around him.

When the white light disappeared, he once again came to Edelweiss Clara's dream farm and sat on the sofa beside the table again.

He subconsciously looked up and around. On the grass in the distance, Clara seemed to be jogging on the biting black horse. He could even vaguely hear her happy laughter.

Subconsciously, a smile appeared on his face, and then he rubbed his face hard and looked down at the metal book spread on the table.

At this time, the feather pen had already written lines of text:
Second act

Role: Military Doctor Victor
Return mission: Take at least two group photos, assist in the treatment of at least one Afkhan without killing anyone, complete a delivery, and ensure that both mother and child are safe.

Language Mission: Survive until the helicopter makes an emergency landing

Forced landing? Forced landing?!

"Fuck you two!"

As Wei Ran was cursing, a strong white light swept over again, allowing him to see something that could be used this time.

He didn't know whether he should be thankful or not, as there were not many props he could use this time. He only had a wine flask, a paratrooper gravity knife, and a British Army water bottle. That was all. He still didn't have any weapons.

When the white light suddenly disappeared, Wei Ran immediately noticed that he was in a not-so-big office. From time to time, the rumbling noise of helicopter propellers could be heard from outside the window.

He looked around subconsciously, and the first thing that caught his attention was a delicate and compact Gami 16mm micro camera on the table, and two large shoulder-bag-style medical kits issued by the Soviet army during this period.

Subconsciously holding the all-important camera in his hand, Wei Ran looked around and saw that there was no one else in the room. He immediately checked the miniature camera in his hand.

After making sure that there was film in the camera, he immediately put it in his pocket as quickly as possible, and then looked around himself and his surroundings.

He was wearing a full set of Afghans, a faux velvet shapka on his head, and a pair of double-buckle lace-up hiking boots made by Jack Slowfakes, which were very characteristic of the era.

While there was still time, he searched through the not-so-big office as quickly as possible.

In the three drawers of the desk were several 16mm spare films in sealed tubes, a bottle of vodka and several bottles of glucose for injection. On the hanger next to the desk was a 6B5 bulletproof vest.

Although the bulletproof vest was extremely heavy, he put it on after thinking for less than a second.

After putting on the bulletproof vest, Wei Ran immediately unscrewed the bottle of vodka that belonged to someone unknown and filled it up with the portable flask. Then he opened two bottles of glucose, filled up the British army's water bottle and took back the metal notebook.

This was not the end. He first stuffed a few spare rolls of film into his pocket, and then put some into the two medical bags.

By the way, he also gave the two medical kits a rough check.

Fortunately, this place seems to have been adjusted according to actual needs. There are no useless three-proof drugs, but instead an extra set of surgical instruments.

At this moment, the door was pushed open from the outside, and a soldier saluted hastily and said hastily, "Comrade Victor, there is an emergency rescue mission. The convoy transporting supplies was attacked and suffered heavy casualties. We need to dispatch some military doctors to help."

"no problem"

Wei Ran immediately placed the two medical kits on both sides of his body, one on each side, and asked, "Am I the only one?"

"It was an application from Comrade Kirill Polyakov. He is too busy to handle it himself." The soldier said as he walked out with Wei Ran, "The new trauma doctor."

"How do we get there?" Wei Ran stood up and asked.

"He's been following the helicopter to participate in the rescue," explained the soldier running in front, "You just need to follow him."

The question-and-answer session ended here. The two of them ran out of the corridor of this suspected hospital one after the other. Wei Ran also saw a Mi-24 armed helicopter preparing to take off in the distance.

At this moment, a man wearing the same Afghan uniform as himself but without a bulletproof vest seemed to be holding a camera, ready to find someone to take a picture of them.

"Major Victor!"

The four people who were about to take a group photo saluted Wei Ran in unison. Obviously, he was probably the one with the highest military rank at the scene.

"Are you guys preparing to take a group photo?" Wei Ran asked after raising his hand in return.

"right"

The military doctor named Kirill was the first to explain, "I have been on several missions with them, and we take a group photo before each departure."

“Let me take the photo for you.”

6◇9◇Book◇Bar

Wei Ran said, "We'll talk about the rest after we take off."

"Yes!"

Kirill immediately straightened his chest and raised his head and saluted meticulously. He also led the other three crew members, who were wearing flying equipment and seemed to have a faint smell of alcohol on their bodies, to raise their hands and salute.

"This is a battlefield. Even if it's just to let me live a few more days, please don't salute me anymore."

Wei Ran took the camera handed to him. It was both expected and unexpected that the camera the other party used was not the relatively cheaper and easier to get Kiev 30, but the same model as the one he just found in the office, the Gami16 miniature camera produced in Italy.

"Frame the scene here and press here to take a photo." If the archival records of later generations are accurate, Kirill, who was 24 years old at this time, pointed the shutter of the camera for Wei Ran. He was also the youngest of the four missing people.

"Stand still quickly, and I'll take a picture of you."

As Wei Ran spoke, he raised his camera, framed the four people standing side by side, and pressed the shutter button towards them.

He then pressed the shutter button for the pilot and the gunner respectively, then closed the camera's clockwork cover and returned it to Kirill, asking, "What are we waiting for now?"

"This helicopter just returned from its last mission half an hour ago. It is just refueling and is now waiting for the plasma to be delivered. Please come up first. We will start the propeller soon."

The person who answered this question was the co-pilot or mechanic of the armed helicopter, who was also the target person Wei Ran was looking for when he entered this historical fragment, Ruslan Petrov.

"In that case, let's go up first and talk about it."

As he spoke, Wei Ran had already grabbed the other person's hand and entered the cabin, which was still filled with the smell of blood and disinfectant. There were bloodstains on the floor of the cabin that had not yet been cleaned up. On the other side of the cabin door that had not yet been opened, there were three AK74 assault rifles fixed.

Just as Ruslan dragged Kirill into the cabin, the helicopter started up driven by the ground power supply. At the same time, Wei Ran was also looking at Kirill and Ruslan.

The former, 34 years old, was wearing a Soviet flight uniform with a khaki survival vest containing several 45-round magazines, a water bottle, grenades, a first aid kit and other items.

Wei Ran particularly noticed that in the pocket of his survival vest used to hold a handheld flare stick, there seemed to be a long and thin wine jug stuffed in it, which might be the source of the smell of alcohol that emanated from his body.

On his right thigh, a hard cowhide holster was fixed with a belt, and inside it was the silenced APB submachine gun that he saw later.

Let's look at Kirill, who was rarely recorded in later archives. Compared with himself, the only thing he wore was less of a bulletproof vest and a medical bag slung across his left and right sides.

Just at this moment, several soldiers ran over and first handed Kirill two medical kits, and then handed him a canvas bag containing bags of plasma.

"Get ready! The journey begins!"

As Rust shouted, the helicopter door was closed and Wei Ran put on the communication headset handed to him by Kirill.

Almost at the same time, the Mi-24 also took off roughly, joined another armed helicopter and left the base.

"Comrade Major, please allow me to explain the situation first."

Mechanic Ruslan spoke in the headset, and after Wei Ran nodded, he continued, "Just now, our convoy was attacked by guerrillas. It is said that the casualties are very heavy. Kirill alone may not be enough, so we have to trouble you to go with us."

"It's ok"

Wei Ran responded by pressing the microphone next to his mouth, "Who will introduce yourself then? I should know how to address you."

"Let me do it"

Kirill took over the topic, "From the front to the back, our gunner is Kanzat Priyev. From his first and last name, we can tell that he is from Chechnya."

"Grozny, Comrade Major." Kanzat said in the communication headset, "After we leave Afkhan, you are always welcome to visit Grozny."

“I will definitely go if I have the chance”

Wei Ran suppressed his awkward smile and responded that he had been to Grozny, but the people there were too hospitable.

"Then there is our pilot Ivan Rodkin, who is from Yeburg and has a 14-year-old son."

"Comrade Major, welcome to the armed helicopter I'm piloting."

The 40-year-old pilot said, "I know you must be wondering why there is an Ivan here."

"I know at least five hundred Ivans and five hundred Sashas." Wei Ran also made a joke that was no longer a joke.

"Me too," the pilot said with a laugh, "My son's name is also Ivan."

"Every time we have a new passenger on board, he uses the same old excuse."

Mechanic Ruslan said as he stretched out his hand to shake Wei Ran's. "I'm Ruslan Petrov, I'm from Minsk."

"Victor, from Kazan." Wei Ran briefly introduced himself.

"We know you"

Gunner Kanzat laughed and said, "Kirill often said that he had a veterinary senior who was very fast in first aid on the spot. He also said that only with him could more wounded be saved this time."

"So that senior veterinary student is me?" Wei Ran pointed at himself in confusion, and at the same time, in his heart, he greeted the metal notebook that was missing a great virtue.

"I am Kirill Polyakov"

Kirill and Wei Ran shook hands in the cabin and said, "I also graduated from the First Moscow State Hospital."

“Looks like we need a drink”

As Wei Ran spoke, he had already taken out the remaining half bottle of vodka from the medical bag he brought with him.

"Kanzat! You won the bet, and the major will really treat us to a drink." Ruslan said, pinching the microphone to his lips.

"Welcome again, Comrade Major!"

In the internal communication, Kanzat, who was at the front of the entire helicopter, said enthusiastically, "Of course, there is also your vodka."

"Can you drink it from where you are now?"

Wei Ran asked. He knew clearly that the other person's life was about to come to an end. Let him drink some vodka before the helicopter crashed. This might be the only thing he could do.

"As our Globe comrade can attest, I haven't met such a reasonable doctor in a long time."

As pilot Ivan spoke, he handed over two white plastic water bottles.

"Who is Comrade Globe?"

Wei Ran, who didn't react for a moment, asked as he unscrewed the wine bottle and poured wine into the first bottle handed to him by Ruslan.

"Of course it was Comrade Gorbachev who put South America on his head."

Ruslan said as he took the plastic water bottle handed to him by Wei Ran and handed him the second one.

“It seems that my geography is not very good.”

Wei Ran followed suit and made a joke, and amid the laughter of "everyone in the car", he filled the second kettle about one third of the way.

Then he poured some into Ruslan and Kirill's kettles, so there were only a few sips left in the bottle.

"Comrades, let's raise our glasses," pilot Ivan said in the internal communication channel. "Of course, it can also be a kettle or a wine bottle."

After another round of laughter, Ivan continued his toast, "First, let's toast to all the goods coming home from Afhan."

"Ula!"

In a tone that had become much more serious, everyone took their first sip of wine.

"Second sip of wine, I wish we can all take a hot bath tonight." Gunner Kanzat said the toast for the second sip of wine - meaning to go back alive and uninjured.

"cheers!"

Everyone shouted in unison and took a second sip of wine.

"The third one, I wish we can save all the injured brothers." Ruslan followed.

"cheers!"

"The Fourth Sip of Wine"

Kirill smiled and said, "To Comrade Major who brought the vodka!"

"cheers!"

'The last bite'

Wei Ran shook the bottle with only one sip left, "I hope you can take me with you next time we take a group photo."

“Of course we would love to.”

Pilot Ivan smiled and said, "Major."

"Victor"

Wei Ran reminded, “Even if it’s Major, it sounds like American chicken nuggets.”

"Okay, Victor."

Pilot Ivan said, "Just now I noticed that you took a picture of me and Kanzat with Kirill's camera."

"That's right"

Wei Ran said, "Actually, I have a camera like that, and it can take three photos every time I wind it up, so I'll take the photos for you first."

As he said this, he took out the one he had picked up from his pocket, opened the cover that served as the spring handle, and took a picture of Ruslan and Kirill, who looked surprised.

"How come you have one like this too?" Kirill asked the same question that Wei Ran wanted to ask.

"This one was given to me by a friend," Wei Ran explained casually, then asked, "What about yours?"

“My adoptive father gave it to me.”

Kirill took out his own camera and said, "He once worked in Italy. This is a gift from him. He wants me to take more pictures of the battlefield for him."

“This is a very beautiful camera”

Wei Ran said, and took out a spare 16mm film from his pocket and handed it to the other party, "I couldn't help but take two more pictures with your camera just now. This film is compensation."

“You are so generous”

Kirill happily took the film and said, "I've been wondering where to get new film lately."

"Gentlemen, I'm afraid we'll have to talk about cameras later."

In the communication headset, the driver Ivan reminded, "We are about to enter the venue. From now on, you need to fasten your seat belts and hold on to the handrails. The most thrilling part of our trip is about to begin."

After being reminded, Wei Ran and Kirill immediately sat in the chairs at the rear of the cabin and fastened their seat belts. Even the canvas bag containing a number of blood plasma bags was placed by Kirill between him and Wei Ran and skillfully fastened with the seat belts.

At the same time, Ruslan opened the window and threw the empty wine bottle out without any sense of morality. Then he closed the window and concentrated on cooperating with the pilot and gunner in front to prepare for the approach.