War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1702 It’s Over

At the mouth of the valley, the sound of the AK74 assault rifle's air fire was easily covered up by the roar of the Su-25, but the Su-25 that roared past seemed to have done it on purpose and did not fire at Hakim at all!
"Get out of the way!"

Wei Ran only had time to let out a loud shout before he hugged the baby and Soraya and rolled into the crevice under the rock wall on one side of the valley.

In a hurry, he only saw Ayana riding on the donkey looking back, then trying her best to throw something out, and then she actually lit a flashlight and aimed the dim beam at the fighter jet roaring behind her!

"Tu tu tu tu—!"

Amid the sound of intensive machine gun fire, the flashlight that had just been lit went out instantly, and the donkey and the young mother riding on it turned into broken flesh and bones in the valley.

But at this moment, Wei Ran didn't even bother to take another look. The only thing he could do was to hold Soraya tightly, holding the baby in his arms, and run desperately towards the outside of the valley along the crack under the rocks at the edge of the valley, towards the direction where Mahbub disappeared.

In just a blink of an eye, the Su-25 with its machine gun began to plow the land and rise along the valley, and finally disappeared into the night.

But the roar of the plane did not go away, and the bonfire around Hakim not far away did not go out. He also started a new round of futile shooting.

"Boom boom boom!"

Amid the whistling sound of the plane, the Su-25 circled again and generously fired rockets at the valley, but once again deliberately let go of Hakim who was on the verge of collapse.

With the explosion of those rockets, the rocks on both sides of the narrow valley began to collapse, and a series of shock waves rushed along the narrow valley in both directions, loosening the gravel, loose soil and weeds on the rock wall with huge energy.

As Hakim screamed and cursed in despair, the valley was buried bit by bit as he watched, and the Su-25 flew farther and farther away.

But soon, he flew back again, and with just a short burst of fire, he easily and accurately tore apart Hakim, who was kneeling on the ground and crying.

Finally, the roar of the fighter jets completely disappeared in the night sky. In the remaining half of the valley, only the wailing of babies and girls coming from the cracks on both sides of the rock could be heard.

"Kirill Kirill? Are you still alive?" Wei Ran asked loudly, enduring the pain.

The rock that had just collapsed due to the rocket crushed one of his legs, but fortunately, neither the child in his arms nor Soraya suffered serious injuries.

"alive"

From the other side of the valley, Kirill's painful voice came out, "Are the children alive?"

"Alive"

Wei Ran gritted his teeth and responded, then switched to Persian and asked, "Soraya, can you understand Persian?"

"can"

Soraya answered with a choked voice while trying to wipe away the tears that kept coming.

"Go, go check out the situation on the other side. Run over quickly and see if they are alive."

As Wei Ran spoke, he put the baby in his arms next to him. The little guy who was crying particularly loudly was not injured, but was inevitably covered in dust.

Hearing this, Soraya, who had long lost her backbone, stumbled to her feet, and then saw Qiao Ya, who had also crawled out from the opposite side, and the child in her arms.

"Are you hurt?"

The two little girls asked in unison.

"No," they answered in unison.

"Hide back quickly and don't stay in the open space!" Wei Ran and Kirill shouted in unison.

In panic, the two little girls almost subconsciously ran back to their original hiding place.

"Help me"

Wei Ran said, "There are a lot of rocks pressing on my legs. Please help me see if they can be moved away."

Hearing this, Soraya hurriedly crawled to Wei Ran's legs, moved away the large and small stones that were pressing down on the innermost leg and threw them outside.

Finally, the only thing left on Wei Ran's leg was a severely weathered rock the size of a gas tank. At this point, one of Wei Ran's feet was stuck in the gap between the rock and the rock wall.

He was even sure that he was not injured, but was just extremely lucky but unlucky to have his foot stuck by the collapsed rocks.

"Wait a minute!"

As Soraya spoke, she ran along the crevice towards the tent they had set up earlier. She struggled to pull out a wooden stick as thick as her wrist and ran back.

With the help of the wooden stick, she pried the stone with great difficulty. Wei Ran also gritted his teeth and endured the excruciating pain caused by the squeezing of the rock.

"Qiaoya! Come and help me!" Soraya shouted loudly.

Soon, Qiao Ya came running over.

"How is Kirill?" Wei Ran asked.

“He also had one leg pinned down.”

As Qiao Ya spoke, she and Soraya had already grabbed the wooden stick. The two girls used all their strength and finally pried the severely weathered rubble aside amid Wei Ran's screams.

I tried to move my foot and found that apart from the scratches on the ankle, there was no fracture or even dislocation. This was undoubtedly the best news.

"Go get the medical kit"

As Wei Ran spoke, he leaned on the wooden stick that served as a crowbar, limped over to the other side with Qiao Ya, and crawled into the crevice that was just a bit higher than his knees.

"How are you doing?" Wei Ran asked.

"My foot is trapped," Kirill replied, trying to hold back the pain.

Just at this time, Soraya also brought a medical kit and even a flashlight.

After observing with the help of the flashlight beam, Wei Ran breathed a sigh of relief. Kirill's condition was much more serious than his. His leg was almost crushed by a stone.

But underneath the stone was soft sand and gravel. In other words, he could at least survive, and at most he would only have a broken bone.

Before he could even speak, Joya and Soraya had already started digging the sand and gravel under Kirill's leg with their hands, trying to rescue him.

Finally, taking a look at the baby who was also crying loudly above Kirill's head, Wei Ran took out an anesthetic and injected it into Kirill. Then he inserted the wooden stick into the gap between the stone and the rock wall and pried it hard. Finally, Kirill pulled his leg out amid his screams.

“My leg is broken”

Kirill said, forcing himself to calm down.

“At least I survived.”

As Wei Ran spoke, he had already opened the medical box and took out a few wooden boards and ropes that he had prepared in advance but had not used.

“Hold on”

As Wei Ran spoke, he had already hugged Kirill's broken leg and helped him reposition it amidst his screams.

"Who did you learn this from?" Kirill asked weakly, "This is simply torture."

"Now is not the time to talk about this, don't move." Wei Ran said as he helped the other person put on a splint.

“I’ll take care of these kids.”

Kirill said, "Go and see if there are any survivors."

"I will go with you"

With tears still on her face, Qiao Ya said without giving any room for rejection, "Soraya, you stay and take care of Ayana's child."

"Okay," Soraya replied while wiping her tears. The little girl was already scared.

"Then come with me."

Wei Ran bandaged the wound on his ankle roughly, then limped with Qiao Ya towards the scorched earth that was still burning not far away.

Hakim died without leaving a complete body, and the AK74 assault rifle in his hand had turned into pieces all over the ground.

Grabbing Qiao Ya's wrist, Wei Ran did not give her a chance to stop. He continued to limp forward, muttering to himself, "Remember him. He is a qualified guerrilla fighter. He is a warrior."

“I will never forget him”

Qiao Ya gritted her teeth and said firmly, then she broke free from Wei Ran's hand, ran forward a few steps, and picked up a small canvas bag.

“This is Uncle Hakeem’s bag”

Qiao Ya picked up the small bag, opened the buttons with trembling hands, and checked the contents of the bag as she walked.

This canvas bag, which was only about the size of a bag of instant noodles in later times, contained a not-so-big bone book called Blue Whale.

Inside the blue whale, there was a bulging envelope and a group photo. In addition, there were several rolls of film in the bag.

"This is Aunt Vida"

Qiao Ya wiped her tears, put the blue whale bone and other things back into her bag and said, "He always wanted to go to France to find her. He always said that he would go to France when Afkhan stopped fighting."

"Put those things away."

Wei Ran sighed, and continued to limp with her up the collapsed rocks, walking forward along the valley that was almost filled with rubble.

But along the way, neither he nor Qiao Ya could find any trace of Ayana. No trace of her body was found. That was probably it.

They continued to move forward without giving up, and gradually they heard Murtaza's desperate cry.

When the flashlight beam swept over, the other person's crying stopped, but when he saw that the people coming were Wei Ran and Qiao Ya, he lowered his head again.

He was also hiding in the crevice under the rock wall at this time. Not far from him, the donkey had been torn to pieces by the aircraft cannon, leaving only blood and flesh on the ground.

"I'm going to kill you! Kill you, Soviet!"

Murtaza angrily picked up a stone and limped towards Wei Ran.

Wei Ran easily dodged the stone thrown by the other party, grabbed the other party's arm, ignored his bite, and held him in his arms.

In the pain that followed, he realized belatedly that the other party had bitten his neck, but the hot tears that rolled down his neck gave him goose bumps of despair in addition to the pain.

"Uncle Mahbub and Hakeem are dead, and Ayana is dead too."

Wei Ran hugged him and said, "But Qiaoya and Soraya survived, and Ayana's two children also survived. Murtaza, cry, it will make you feel better."

Gradually, the pain in his neck disappeared, but more and more hot tears fell on the skin of his neck, and Murtaza's desperate and helpless cries gradually reached his ears.

Murtaza cried for a long time as Wei Ran patted her gently, and Qiao Ya huddled on a stone, burying her head in her arms.

"Let's go back"

Wei Ran finally spoke up, "Murtaza, you are a guerrilla fighter now. Soraya, Qiaoya, and the two little ones all need your care. You should be strong."

As he spoke, he picked up Murtaza, who had a broken leg, and carried him on his shoulders. He then pulled up the desperate and dazed Qiao Ya and limped in the direction they came from.

Back to Kirill's side, the surviving adults and children sat together.

"Murtaza, Joya, Soraya, I hope to talk to the three of you," Kirill said.

"What do you want to talk about?" Murtaza asked warily.

"Are we still going to Kandahar?" Kirill asked the most crucial question.

"Go!" Murtaza answered without thinking.

"Do you know which direction to go? Do you know a safe route?"

Kirill asked a series of questions, "Can you guarantee that no one will get hurt next? We don't have a donkey now, my leg is broken, your leg is broken too, is there any way we can get there?" As these questions were asked, Murtaza's face became paler and his expression became more desperate. After all, he was just a child.

“I want to talk to you sincerely.”

Kirill said again, "I just thought of a few options that would be suitable for you."

"What choice?" Murtaza asked almost subconsciously.

"First, you kill me and Victor."

Kirill said, "This way we won't threaten the safety of you children, and you won't be burdened by us, three children, two babies, a goat that produces milk, and a few other goats that can help you carry things.

This may be enough for you to get to Kandahar or any other inhabited place nearby alive, and as long as you do not take up arms, no one will suspect that you are guerrillas. "

Before Murtaza could say anything, Kirill reminded him, "Of course, you may step on a mine or run into other troubles after leaving this valley. If you get injured or sick, you will have to deal with it by yourselves."

"Is there any other option?" Soraya asked, and she couldn't help but look at the wound on Murtaza's leg wrapped in gauze.

"Second option"

6◇9◇Book◇Bar

Kirill took a deep breath and said, "Let's find a place to heal our wounds. Victor and I will take you away from here. I will say that you saved Victor and me. Let you..."

"Don't even think about it!"

Murtaza shouted excitedly, "I can't let you go!"

“Then there is only one last method left.”

Kirill said, "At least we can't go on. We can't go on. We need to find a safe place to stop so that you and I can recover. Then, while we recover, we can slowly discuss where to go.

Until I recover from my injuries, Victor and I hope to be friends with you and get through this difficult time together."

After this method of shelving the dispute was proposed, Murtaza was suddenly at a loss and subconsciously looked at Qiao Ya and Soraya.

"You still have two babies to take care of, and the wound on your leg needs to be dressed promptly. We can help you with all of these."

Kirill said, "Victor and I don't want to hurt you, otherwise we could have just left you behind right now."

"so be it"

Soraya said, "This is the only way. Murtaza, do you know of any safe place nearby?"

"Know"

Murtaza clenched his fists and said, "Go back to the cave we were in last night. That's the only safe place."

"Then let's set off as soon as possible."

Kirill stood up with difficulty with the help of Wei Ran and said, "Who knows, our common enemy may come back here someday."

"Common enemy?"

"We were almost killed by that fighter plane just now," Kirill reminded.

“My grandpa.”

"That direction"

Wei Ran raised his hand and pointed, "Do you want me to take you to see it?"

"Forget it"

Murtaza shook his head as if to avoid the question, then regretted and said, "I want to go and see."

"Then go and have a look."

Wei Ran said, walking up to the other person and squatting down, "I'll carry you, we don't have much time."

After a slight hesitation, Murtaza, feeling confused and lost, finally lay on Wei Ran's back.

After limping forward a short distance with the light-weight young man on his back, Wei Ran couldn't help but sigh. The grave mound on the hill had already been plowed by the aircraft cannon.

After going around the hill, the two men saw the broken body of Mahbub not far away.

"Do we want to collect his body?" Wei Ran asked after a moment's silence.

"No, no need," Murtaza wiped his eyes, "Let's leave here."

With a silent sigh, Wei Ran turned around and walked back to the entrance of the valley.

In a short while, Soraya and Qiaoya had tied all the things they could take away to the goat.

This may be considered rare good news, as the goats were not harmed because they ran away subconsciously.

"Let's go, back."

Wei Ran did not let go of Murtaza, but instead issued orders on his behalf.

During the silent preparation, Soraya and Qiaoya each carried a tired baby on their backs, and then walked in front, one leading the lead sheep and the other leading a milk-producing ewe.

Behind them and the sheep, Kirill was walking with difficulty, leaning on a wooden stick, while Wei Ran was limping at the end, carrying Murtaza on his back.

"Why don't you run away?"

Murtaza asked abruptly, "You can kill those of us who escape."

"I can not do it"

Kirill endured the pain and hurried on his way while answering, "We thought about escaping when Mahbub, Hakim, and Ayana were still alive, but now we can't escape. We, at least I have no reason to convince myself to abandon you children and run away."

"Why did the Soviet pilot?"

“People are different”

Wei Ran said, "The people on the plane were far enough away from us, so he thought we, including Kirill and I, and the two babies, were all guerrillas."

"But we are close enough to you," Kirill added, "so we can't leave you behind and run away."

"Just because we are all children?" Murtaza asked.

“Because of conscience”

“Because of people’s bottom line”

Kirill and Wei Ran gave their answers in no particular order.

Murtaza, who was lying on Wei Ran's back, fell into silence. The team consisting of only children and captives also walked back slowly.

In a sense, this narrow valley is safe. No matter what happens, they can always hide in the concave crevices on both sides.

But even so, they didn't dare to turn on the flashlights. Even if there was the slightest movement in the night sky, everyone would hide in the cracks of the rocks nervously.

In this slow but non-stop movement, they finally returned to the entrance of the valley near noon after dawn.

Taking advantage of the short break, Wei Ran finally had time to carefully treat the wound on his ankle, and changed the dressings on Kirill and Murtaza's wounds.

Also during this time, the two babies were finally able to drink goat's milk again - in the form of lambs.

After each of them simply ate a few bites of the dry and hard naan, the exhausted crowd did not dare to delay and continued on their way towards the cave.

"Let me go on my own"

Murtaza said, "I

"I'll carry you on my back"

Panting, Wei Ran said in a hoarse voice, "It's almost there."

Murtaza fell silent, but Wei Ran could vaguely hear him suppressing his tears.

As it was getting dark that evening, the two adults, five children and the goats finally returned to the cave.

Putting Murtaza down and letting Kirill check his wound, Wei Ran didn't dare to rest at all. He dragged his tired body, took Soraya and Qiaoya, who were also tired, to light the fireplace, and then covered the entrance of the cave with felt.

Almost when Wei Ran breathed a sigh of relief, a strong white light swept over, and he subconsciously breathed a sigh of relief as well.

When the white light faded, he found himself back at the farm in Edelweiss Clara's dream, once again sitting at the table, and once again seeing Clara riding a horse in the distance.

Coming back to his senses, he looked down at the metal book on the table. At this time, the feather pen had already written new words:

Act Three

Character identity: Deserter Victor

Return mission: Assist Kirill to leave Afkhan and take at least one group photo.

Leaving Afkhan? Kirill survived?
Wei Ran breathed a sigh of relief, and then was once again enveloped by the thick white light.

In this white light, the only prop he could use this time was the British Army's kettle.

Before he could react, the white light faded away, and he found himself back in the cave again.

Compared with the time before Bai Guang appeared, there were not many changes in this cave, but the relationships among the people in the cave became much more harmonious.

At this time, Qiaoya and Soraya were each holding a much stronger but inevitably dirty baby by the fireplace.

Not far from them, Murtaza was squatting on the ground, watching Kirill who was busy at work intently.

Looking at Kirill again, he was using a tire-sized stone as a table, fiddling with various small parts that seemed to have been removed from a radio.

Subconsciously walking closer, Wei Ran immediately realized that the other party was making a crystal radio.

“Can it really receive the radio?” Murtaza asked in Farsi, even using the Russian word for “radio.”

"Of course"

Kirill replied in Russian, "But while the sound may not be very loud, the broadcast can certainly be received."

"You speak too fast, I can't understand you." Murtaza said in Persian in a daze.

"It's okay. We'll practice word by word."

Kirill said, breaking down the sentence he had just said and teaching it word by word. Murtaza also learned word by word very seriously. Even Joya and Soraya who were sitting by the fireplace were following suit.

"Is there anything I can help you with?" Wei Ran asked.

Without waiting for Kirill and the others to answer, the crystal radio he was fiddling with suddenly emitted a Persian broadcast after a burst of noise.

"Quiet!"

Kirill gave a loud reminder, then carefully adjusted the wire in his hand, and the signal received by the crystal radio became clearer.

"On April 4, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics accepted the Geneva Agreement and pledged to withdraw all its troops in two stages, from May 14 this year to February 5 next year. This marked the beginning of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation."

"The Afkhan War is over."

Murtaza and Kirill murmured in their respective native languages ​​almost at the same time, and they subconsciously looked at each other.

　This copy is too painful for me to write
　　(End of this chapter)