War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1718 Danbo!

On the night of March 3, the frequent take-offs and landings of planes still made it impossible for Wei Ran to get a full night's sleep.

Fortunately, with the mosquito net, at least the mosquitoes were kept out. In contrast, Brad seemed unaffected and slept until dawn.

On the morning of the 9th, whether it was Wei Ran or Brad, everyone felt the atmosphere of the approaching battle.

As they watched, truckloads of bombs were transported around the bombers.

Just like the ammunition Wei Ran saw and photographed yesterday, these bombs are mainly M47 incendiary bombs and E46 cluster incendiary bombs.

Especially the Dumbo not far away, all the E46 cluster incendiary bombs were transported around it.

It was through this small detail that Wei Ran had confirmed that this bomber would probably be responsible for a happy barbecue mission!
"There will definitely be a bombing mission tonight"

As Brad spoke, he jumped into the jeep and disappeared.

Seeing this, Wei Ran didn't ask any more questions. He just walked to Dumbo with his camera in hand, greeted him enthusiastically, and pressed the shutter after getting permission.

"I am Victor, a freelance journalist"

While filming, Wei Ran asked, "Gentlemen, would you mind introducing yourselves?"

"I'm Martin, the tail gunner."

A young man who looked about the same age as Grant took the initiative to shake hands with Wei Ran and said bluntly, "Welcome you and your friends to ride Dumbo."

“Thank you for your enthusiasm”

Wei Ran offered the other party a cigarette and said, "How about introducing your friends to me and letting me take a group photo of you?"

"certainly"

Martin waved to the other four men who were carrying the shells, and as they walked over he said, "The five of us are gunners. Steven has a cross tattoo on his arm, Robert is the one holding a cigar, Jerry is the one wearing sunglasses, and the last one who keeps scratching his crotch is Dean. Remember not to shake hands with him, he has a sexually transmitted disease."

"I'm going to put my finger in your asshole!" Dean gave Martin the middle finger in annoyance.

After greeting the four of them one by one, Wei Ran motioned them to get into position behind the bombs and asked bluntly, "Is there going to be a bombing mission soon?"

"This should be"

Robert, holding a cigar in his mouth, said before Wei Ran pressed the shutter, "The captain and the others have been called to listen to the mission briefing."

"I haven't seen your bomber yet," Wei Ran asked.

"His name is Ryan, you'll get a chance to meet him."

Martin said, "Victor, how about taking some individual photos of us? I want to send them to my wife."

"Of course, it's my honor." Wei Ran agreed readily.

Upon hearing this, Martin immediately sat on the bombs piled up like a wall and wrote on a cluster incendiary bomb with chalk, "For my wife Jennifer and our little angel Judy, for peace and justice."

Putting the chalk in his pocket, Martin sat next to the bomb and smiled brightly at Wei Ran, "Please throw it more accurately."

"It would be best if we could shoot it directly into their assholes," Steven joked as Wei Ran pressed the shutter.

"In addition to a good aim, Mr. Winter Sakura Chicken also needs a big enough asshole."

Dean said, scratching his crotch subconsciously, "Damn, is there no clean nuclear recruiting woman on this island?"

"Perhaps we can apply to Mr. Sakuraji"

Robert also took out a piece of chalk and wrote on a cluster incendiary bomb: "Exchange the incendiary bomb for some young women without venereal diseases."

"It has to be beautiful," said Jerry, and he also took out a piece of chalk and added a word on the cluster incendiary bomb.

"Gentlemen"

Wei Ran took a solo photo of Steven, who was also sitting on the bomb. "Can't we just blow up everyone and go home to find some clean blonde girls?"

"Oh! Victor! You are such a genius!"

Jerry snapped his fingers, selected another incendiary bomb, and wrote "Burn you for God! Love from Saipan."

"Do you want to send some blessings?" Martin waited for Wei Ran to take a photo of Steven and handed him a red chalk.

"certainly"

Wei Ran took the chalk, thought for a moment, and then wrote the seven words "I have acquaintances in Tokyo" in traditional Chinese characters on a cluster incendiary bomb. Then he chose a suitable angle and took a photo of the incendiary bomb and Dumbo behind him.

——Even though he knew that this photo might not be preserved at all.

"Is this Chinese character?" Steven asked.

"Do you know Chinese characters?" Wei Ran looked at the other party in surprise.

"I don't know him, but I have a Chinese friend, a very good friend."

As Steven spoke, he rolled up his sleeves to show a tattoo on his arm. It was a tattoo of the Chinese character "發" (Fa), and behind it was a quarter-sized chicken pattern.

"This is the pattern my friend chose for me. He said I will become a rich man." Steven said proudly.

"What's your friend's name?"

Wei Ran asked curiously, "Is he also in Saipan?"

"His name is Luke, Luke Lu, or Luke Lu. His last name seems to have a special requirement for the tone, but I can never tell the difference."

Steven lowered his sleeve to cover his tattoo. "He went to China three years ago as a pilot. I haven't heard from him since then."

Steven picked up the chalk and wrote the words "For Luke" in English on a bomb. Then he skillfully wrote the word "Fa". "That bastard, my sister has been waiting for him, but he didn't even send a letter back."

“He will definitely come back alive.”

Wei Ran sighed. He didn’t know whether to sigh that the world was too big or too small.

"It's my turn!"

Jerry said as he also sat down beside the wall of bombs. Then he took the chalk handed to him by Robert and drew a lifelike penis on a cluster incendiary bomb, and wrote "Open your mouth" next to it.

A solo photo was taken of this funny guy. Robert also sat next to the bomb and wrote on a cluster incendiary bomb, "Dropping this incendiary bomb on behalf of Philip Hanks, a seaman first class of the USS Arizona."

“That’s my brother.”

Robert waited for Wei Ran to take his picture and said, “He served on the USS Arizona and was on the ship the day Pearl Harbor was attacked.

Victor, whenever you leave on Dumbo, you must come back alive and help me develop the photo so that I can send it to my parents and my brother's wife and children."

"I will come back to help you develop the photos," Wei Ran promised seriously.

"It's my turn, friends."

As Dean spoke, he unbuttoned his pants and pulled them down to his knees, then used a knife to cut off his own underwear and tied it to the tail of a cluster incendiary bomb.

And he, with his lower body naked, carried his sick second brother and stepped on the bomb with one foot.

"I never thought that one day I would press the shutter button towards a man's sick second brother," Wei Ran joked while looking for the angle.

"Please bring our Dumbo with you," Dean said with a big grin, "I want to compete with our Dumbo to see who's bigger."

"At least Dumbo is healthier than you"

While teasing the other person, Wei Ran slightly moved the angle of the camera to satisfy Dean's bad taste.

"When the war is over, I will find Dumbo a girlfriend with big breasts."

Dean said as he put on his pants, "Victor, wanna go look inside Dumbo?"

"If possible," Wei Ran said.

"Of course, you are already one of us." Martin said as he walked to the bottom of the nose of the plane and skillfully pulled open the hatch ladder.

"wait a minutes"

As Wei Ran spoke, he replaced the film in his camera and casually handed the used film to Robert.

Following Martin into the cabin, the former enthusiastically introduced the pilot's and co-pilot's seats and the bombing position in the front half, as well as the radio operator and mechanic's positions in the back.

"Our territory will be right after we crawl over here," said Martin as he crawled along a narrow passage to the bomb bay.

Following the other party, Wei Ran hadn't even stood firm when he heard Martin pointing at a saddle-shaped metal rack next to the bomb drop port and introducing, "This is what Arthur had us install last night. Your aerial camera can be fixed on it. Whoever takes pictures here must wear at least two safety belts."

Following the direction of the other party's finger and looking at the two safety belts hanging above his head, Wei Ran nodded, and followed the other party to visit several turrets of the B29 that had been dismantled due to mission requirements, as well as the only tail turret retained at the back.

“It’s also a great location with a great view”

Martin introduced, "Robert was originally in charge of this place. This is his private stash of Coke and cigars. Whether you or your friends, or whoever is here, you can enjoy them on the way back."

"Thank you"

Wei Ran thanked him again, and at the same time he saw Brad driving back from a distance.

"My friend is back" Wei Ran pointed outside the window.

"Ryan seems to be in his car too, let's go down."

Martin turned around and started to walk back, taking Wei Ran away from the bomber.

Almost at the same time as they climbed down, Brad also stepped on the brakes and jumped down with a young soldier with a Mohawk hairstyle sitting in the passenger seat.

Brad and the Mohawk warrior put their arms around each other and said, "This is my friend Victor. He is a reporter and a retired veteran who participated in the Battle of Guam. He was a medic at the time."

"Snapped!"

Before Brad could say anything, the young soldier with a Mohawk haircut saluted seriously, "Sir, I'm Ryan Butler, the bombardier of Dumbo!"

"Hello, Ryan."

Wei Ran had to return the salute and then shook hands with the other party.

"Just like he introduced himself, his name is Ryan," Brad said as if he was not surprised.

"It's an honest man, Ryan"

Jerry corrected him with a wink, "He's a novice who would blush and stutter when holding hands with the public girlfriend in the club, but he's also the soul of Dumbo."

"That's right!"

Jerry also introduced enthusiastically and vulgarly, "Ryan's bombing skills are very good. Give him a chance, and he can really drop a bomb into Mr. Winter Sakura Chicken's asshole."

6◇9◇Book◇Bar

I don’t know if it was because of the teasing or the compliment, but the face of the young soldier named Ryan turned red, and he looked at a loss.

"Stop making fun of Ryan."

Brad said as he distributed several sealed tubes of film to everyone, "These are enough for you to have fun all night long. Robert, remember to find a clean girl for Ryan tonight."

"Are there any bombing missions?" Robert asked as he took the small gift that belonged to him.

"Maybe it will be tonight. The captain and his men have already gone to listen to the mission briefing."

Before he finished speaking, Ryan had already climbed into the cabin and politely invited Brad and Wei Ran to follow him in.

“I still don’t feel comfortable handing this job over to two reporters”

Ryan said, "So at least let me give you a quick training."

"Just train Victor," Brad said, "while I was dropping bombs with the B17, you were still practicing parachuting."

"If you were him, I guess you would definitely not like others saying this to you." Wei Ran reminded with a smile, while looking straight at Brad.

"Sorry, it's my fault."

Brad immediately realized something and obediently followed Wei Ran to the passenger seat, listening patiently to Ryan's meticulous introduction and training.

"How about letting me do the first bombing?" Wei Ran asked after the simple training was over.

"You?" Brad and Ryan looked at Wei Ran in surprise.

"I can't drop bombs on American territory," Wei Ran said, spreading his hands.

"Then I'll let you go first," Brad said nonchalantly, "Help me install the aerial camera later. I'm going to the bomb bay."

"I owe you one." Wei Ran bumped fists with the other party.

"Help me develop the film when you come back." Brad immediately used up the favor that Wei Ran owed him.

"Deal." Wei Ran bumped fists with the other party again.

"You two must not cause me any trouble," Ryan said a little nervously, "I don't want to be sent to a military court."

"Will not"

Brad said, "Even if there is trouble, Charles and the others will testify that it was because you suffered from acute enteritis. Don't forget that Victor used to be a medic."

"If you want, I can even do an appendectomy on you before the bombing starts." Wei Ran said kindly, "Then you will have nothing to worry about for the next few days..."

"Please let me go."

Ryan, who was known as an honest man, pleaded with a sad face. He really didn't want to hand over his job to these two unreliable bastards, but the money Brad stuffed into his pocket was too much.

The bomb-dropping training in the cabin had just ended when an overcrowded jeep drove over from a distance.

"It's Charles and the others who are back," Ryan recognized the people in the jeep at a glance, "Let's go to the tent."

Hearing this, Wei Ran and Brad looked at each other, then immediately left the cabin and walked towards the tent where they rested last night with gunner Martin and others.

"We will take off at 5:35 this evening."

Charles, who arrived earlier, waited for Wei Ran and others to come in and immediately said, "This bombing is different from the past. Dumbo will carry 7 short tons of cluster incendiary bombs and carry out night bombing at a low altitude of 5000 feet."

Before Charles finished speaking, the co-pilot, Baker, also drew an oversized X on the spread-out aviation map with a pencil. "The Pathfinder will use the M47 to draw an X on the surface of Tokyo. Our bombing area is at the three o'clock position marked by the X."

Baker drew a circle on the right side of the X with a pen and said, "Brad, Victor, no matter which of you comes to experience the fun of the bombardier, Bob will remind you.

There is no need to aim too precisely this time. As long as you can drop all the cluster incendiary bombs in the target airspace, and make sure that no fire can be seen in the bomb sight before dropping them, that will be enough. "

"If only the request was this simple when I first dropped a bomb," Ryan and Brad said almost in unison.

"I will complete the mission well," Wei Ran promised with a smile, "and I won't waste any bombs."

"Let's talk about our troubles."

Charles began to speak, "First, at an altitude of 5000 feet, we will definitely encounter heavy mortar fire. Baker and I will do our best to avoid the artillery fire, and the rest will be left to God."

"At this altitude, nuclear-armed fighters might be able to bite us, but we only have the tail turret this time, and I'm not sure if Brad can deal with the enemy planes that might bite us." Baker followed.

"I'm on the plane too." Brad's simple words dispelled most of the concerns.

"The third question is that we are bombing alone this time."

Charles continued, "So Victor, our bombing team is quick, and after the bombing is completed, we will immediately leave Tokyo Air and return."

"If our plane has an accident, there will be submarines waiting for us in the surrounding waters." Baker said, "Even so, everyone should carry a pistol."

"Just say what you want to say"

Charles stood up and said, "Friends, it's time for us to send the bomb in."

"Damba!"

All the crew members shouted in unison.

"Someone didn't join us," Charles reminded with a smile.

"Damba!"

This time, everyone including Wei Ran and Brad joined in cheering.

After the simple "sacrificial ceremony" ended, everyone ran towards the bomber not far away. As Wei Ran and Brad raised their cameras again and again, they busy and orderly delivered 40 E46 cluster incendiary bombs filled with warm blessings into the belly of the bomber.

"Charles, can you give us two safety pull ring streamers?" Brad asked after everyone was done, "We want to keep them as souvenirs."

"certainly"

Charles generously handed two safety pin pull ring ribbons to Wei Ran and Brad respectively.

"Then let's take a group photo of the Dumbo crew?" Wei Ran said as he put away the streamers.

“This is a request that cannot be refused”

Charles happily agreed and asked the crew members to stand in two rows on the side of Dumbo, allowing Wei Ran and Brad to take a group photo for them.

"I'll take one more picture for you before we leave," Brad said as he put away his camera, "to prove that Ryan got on the plane."

"I can see that you do this kind of thing often." Baker teased with a smile.

"We are flying bombers after all. Whether it's a B17 or a B29, there's plenty of space in their cabins, right?"

As Brad spoke, he asked Wei Ran to help lift the heavy aerial camera off the jeep, and then with the help of the gunners serving as ground crew, he installed it on the bracket of the bomb bay.

Everything was ready, and Brad tactfully took Wei Ran on a jeep to temporarily leave Dumbo and hide back in a tent at the edge of the airport.

“I just stopped by to get some lunch.”

Brad said as he took out two lunch boxes and two bottles of Coke buried in ice packs from the jeep.

"If you're worried about the bombing failing, you can let me go first," Brad said kindly.

"I'll do it"

As Wei Ran spoke, he put a piece of meat pie that tasted fresh and pretty good into his mouth. While chewing it in big mouthfuls, he mumbled incoherently in Chinese that Brad couldn't understand, "I've been waiting for this day for a long time."

"What did you say?" Brad looked blankly at Wei Ran who had a good appetite.

"I said, it would be nice if there was some hot sauce."

As he spoke, he had already taken out a bottle of hot sauce from his flight suit, unscrewed it, and poured a dollop of red Tabasco sauce on the steak.

"Give me some too!" Brad held out his plate with interest.

“Barbecue and hot sauce are a perfect match”

While pouring a dollop of red hot sauce on the other person, Wei Ran muttered something in his native language again.

Unfortunately, or fortunately, Brad, who did not understand Chinese, could not hear the expectation, madness, and undisguised murderous intent in his words.