War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 521 The tankers hiding in the mud
"Now let's discuss the situation at hand."

Roman glanced at Agafon's body, pondered for a moment, and continued, "Agafon is dead. If we continue to fight, I need a loader. Of course, we can also go to the Fight the surrounding German tanks, or continue to wait here, and when the weather gets a little later, you can probably go back."

Having said that, Roman took a sip of the cigarette in his hand, and after the bright scarlet light dimmed again, he continued, "Then we will have a new tank and a new loader soon. .”

"I think the tank can be fixed"

Vajim was the first to respond, "Didn't you tell me before? If our tank is damaged, it may take a long time for us to allocate a new tank, and it is very likely that we will also be separated."

Speaking of this, Vajim quietly hammered his leg in the dim tank, "And what if I was assigned to another tank crew, they would not want to use me because I was crippled? Also, I am I came here under someone else's identity, just in case"

"Are you sure you can fix this tank?" Roman asked without waiting for the other party to finish speaking.

"I'm sure! I'm sure I'm sure!"

Vajim said confidently, "I just saw that the damage to the engine is not serious, and there are so many damaged tanks around, we just need to remove some parts, and we will definitely be able to repair the engine, as well as the tracks and road wheels!"

Hearing this, Roman was silent for a moment, took another drag on his cigarette and said, "We still need a loader."

"let me come"

Wei Ran took a few puffs and said, "This job shouldn't be difficult, and even if the heading machine gun is missing, it shouldn't affect anything."

"In this case, let's fix this tank!"

Roman made a decisive decision, and then said, "But before that, we have to find a way to survive. The most important thing is that after dark, whether it's our people or the Germans, Surely they will sweep the field, and we must avoid them."

"Hide under that assault gun that I blew up!"

Vajim snuffed out the Mohe smoke in his hand and suggested, "It has been blown up, and neither our people nor the Germans will pay attention to him."

"Then it's decided!"

Before Roman could finish his sentence, he had already stood up, looked carefully through the observation port, and said after a moment of pondering, "Let's hide first."

"Where is Agafon?" Vajim asked, "Let him stay here?"

"Let him stay here"

Roman was the last one to put out the cigarette butt, "Maybe this is our last battle, Victor, you and Agafon change positions, and then find ten or five! Find five armor-piercing bullets and throw them down the escape hatch." Bury it with mud. Also, remember to remove the firing pin, in case we fail to come back, you will find a way to go back with the firing pin."

"Leave these to me!" Although Wei Ran didn't understand why he threw the shells out of the tank, he still readily agreed.

"Vajim, let's go around and see where there are the parts we need." Roman said, and carefully pushed open the locked hatch above his head.

"Holding the gun" Wei Ran handed over Bobosha who had just replaced the drum.

"After we go out, remember to lock the hatch and open the escape hatch."

After finishing speaking, Roman took out a finger-length candle stub from his pocket and handed it to Wei Ran, and then he and Vajim each left the tank with a Bobosha submachine gun.

After the hatches of the driver's seat and the turret were closed from the outside, Wei Ran bent down and opened the escape hatch that had just been locked under his feet, and then closed the other two hatches respectively.

After lighting the match and lighting the candle that Roman handed over, Wei Ran fixed it near the breech breech, then found the few tools in the car, and removed the firing pin of the cannon.

With the faint light of the candle stub, Wei Ran first moved Ajiafeng's body to the position of the electromechanical operator little by little and tied it with a rope, then picked out ten armor-piercing bullets and threw them out along the escape hatch to hide them. Only then did he blow out the candle, holding the small PPK pistol that Roman had given him back then, hiding in the darkness and patiently listening to the undiminished sound of firefighting outside.

Gradually, the outside of the observation window has been completely shrouded in darkness, and the only thing that can be seen is the flare that rises from time to time.

Half an hour later, a clear knocking sound came from outside, and Wei Ran's nerves tensed instantly.

"Victor, come out, remember to grab a blanket and something to eat."

Hearing the shouts coming from the observation hole of the machine gun heading towards the front of the car, Wei Ran immediately breathed a sigh of relief, and swiftly took the blanket that he and Ajiafeng had picked up during the day, and the canvas bag full of food, together, Leaving the tank along the escape hatch.

"Has the firing pin been removed?" Roman, who was holding a submachine gun in his hand, squatted on the side of the front of the car and asked in a low voice.

"It's been removed." Wei Ran reached out and patted the pocket of his clothes.

"move"

Roman beckoned and signaled Wei Ran to get under the wreckage of the No. [-] assault gun next to him.Together, the three spread a blanket in the stinking mud pit, and lay side by side on a rolled-up blanket.

Until this time, Wei Ran put the canvas bag that he had been holding on his chest on his chest, while Roman reached out and took out the Moscow brand Volga that was given to them by the political commissar of Trosha not long ago.

“Half a bottle left”

Roman shook the wine bottle, unscrewed the cap and took a sip to his mouth, then handed it to Vajim who was lying on the other side.

"It's enough for us to drink," Vajim said, and took a sip. "Victor, you can have some too."

"I'll forget it"

Wei Ran waved his hand and rejected the wine bottle handed over, reached out and took out two pieces of bread from his canvas pocket to share with them, "My gums are still bleeding, you guys drink."

"You need a sip more at this time"

After Vajim took the bread, he didn't take back the wine bottle, "I don't know when the next time I have a chance to drink wine."

"Forget it, you guys drink." Wei Ran rejected the other party's kindness again, reached out his hand and took out a piece of bread from his pocket and took a bite.

"Hurry up and eat, and then cover the blanket with dirt." Roman took the wine bottle while nibbling on the dry and hard bread.

After simply eating some bread and drinking the remaining vodka, the three covered their bodies and weapons with blankets covered in mud, and then wiped their faces.

In the following time, the three of them didn't make any sound, just patiently listening to the movement outside.

For Wei Ran, lying in this stinky mud is really not a wonderful experience, especially he can still feel from time to time that something seems to have gotten into his trousers, cuffs and even neckline from the mud.

But what is more difficult than this is the body temperature that is continuously taken away by the mud, and the big mosquitoes buzzing in the ears.But on the other hand, the sound of more and more sparse firefights also made them unable to help but look forward to the next tank maintenance work.

He stretched out his hand to pick a lump of mud from the track next to him and wiped it on his neck. Before Wei Ran could put his hand back into the blanket, he heard a conversation in German.

"This assault gun has been scrapped," a German soldier whispered.

"Go and see in that Soviet tank," another German soldier whispered, "you two, go and see if there are any survivors in the No. [-] tank."

After waiting for a while, the German soldier who spoke first responded, "The hatch of this Soviet tank is locked, and only the escape hatch is open."

"Go in and see!"

"Why did you stop in such a ghostly place?"

The German soldier who received the order complained, and carefully drilled under the chassis of the T-34 tank with a pistol under the secret watch of the three of Wei Ran.

"There is only one dead person, and we found another Robert camera." The German soldier said in surprise.

"Are the shells still there?"

"exist!"

"Take out my camera, and plant a few grenades near the exit." After the commanding German soldier finished speaking, another voice followed, "Captain, everyone in the No. [-] tank is dead."

"Just take the soldier card. Remember to write down the location, and we will take them away after we beat back the Soviets." Before the words finished, the speaker turned and left.

When the surroundings were completely silent, Wei Ran carefully lifted the blanket on his body, took the bayonet handed by Vajim, crawled out little by little, groped to the position of the escape exit in the dark, and carefully cut off the knife tied to the escape exit. The grenade on the cover pulls the live wire.

After digging out the grenade buried in the mud, Wei Ran looked around and climbed under the low chassis of the assault gun again.

A moment later, a group of Soviet soldiers also arrived here.

"Here's a T-34!" whispered a Soviet soldier.

"Look to see if there is anyone alive inside!"

The person who spoke was full of expectation, and the familiar voice made the three people who were hiding under the assault gun immediately recognize that he was the political commissar Trosha who gave them vodka back then!

"The hatch is locked, maybe there are wounded!" The Soviet soldier's tone was also more expectant, and then he got under the tank chassis under the watchful eyes of Wei Ran and others.

"The escape hatch is open"

The soldier paused, and opened the hatch of the driver's seat shortly after, "Comrade political commissar, there is only the body of an electromechanical officer inside."

"I seem to have seen this tank before, and even took a group photo with them."

Trosha muttered, and then heard the soldier in the tank say, "There are still some shells, and the striker has been removed. It seems that this tank can still be used."

"Carry the body."

Trosha stopped in the middle of speaking, and then Wei Ran and others saw that he seemed to have turned around.

"Is there a camera in there?" Trosa asked.

"No?"

"Carry out the body," Trosa finally said.

"Political Commissar, do you want to take the shells away?" the soldier in the tank asked, "There are still more than a dozen shells in here."

"no need"

Trosa raised his voice slightly, "Let's put it here first, and take it away with the shells after we finish this battle. By the way, which of you has a full kettle?"

"Mine is full"

“Mine is full too”

"Stay in this tank"

After Trosha finished speaking, he helped carry Agafon's body out, "I know him, let me think about it, he seems to be called Agafon, he is a handsome young man, the loader of the 29th Tank Army."

"I have written down his name and unit number." A soldier whispered.

"Take it back!" Trosha said, and conveniently placed a pack of cigarettes and a kerosene lighter made of anti-tank rifle bullet casings on the open hatch of the driver's seat.

Watching Trosa walk away with the soldiers and Agafon's body, Roman sighed and said in a low voice, "He should have guessed that we are nearby."

"How did he guess it?" Vajim was obviously not convinced.

"Let's go, see what good things he left for us, and then see if we can fix it tonight." Before the words fell, Roman was the first to crawl out.

(End of this chapter)