War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 616 The Change of Scum

When the train stopped again, as the cabin door opened, bright sunlight entered the still tense stuffy tank compartment.

"get off!"

On the platform, volunteer soldiers lined up neatly issued passwords in different languages ​​at the door of each carriage.

When Wei Ran stepped out of the carriage and saw the prisoners of war coming out from the front and rear carriages, he couldn't help but have a schadenfreude smile on his face.

These prisoners of war were of all kinds and varieties, English-speaking, French-speaking, white-skinned, black-skinned, and even many brown-skinned Asians.

"Why did you save enough carloads to pull them here together?"

Wei Ran muttered to himself, and honestly lined up to hand in the lunch box and tableware, and boarded a truck under the escort of those volunteer soldiers.

When he jumped down again from the cargo bed of the truck, there was already a long queue of prisoners of war not far away.Under the signal of the volunteer soldiers around, everyone lined up honestly and in order.

Bored while waiting, Wei Ran simply raised his camera and took a picture of the prisoners of war who were queuing up.Before he put down the camera, Jack asked worriedly, "Victor, will someone confiscate our things later?"

Glancing at the bulging knee of the other party's uninjured leg, Wei Ran slowly put the camera into his pocket, "Don't worry, no one will snatch your things."

Hearing this, Jack looked at Wei Ran with more doubts, "Victor, have you been captured before? Why do I feel that you are very familiar with this place?"

Wei Ran smiled but did not explain. Although the experience on the train yesterday made him and Jack stand on the opposite side of Morgan and others, but it is undeniable that it also made the relationship between Jack and Wei Ran harmonious. Quite a lot.

After a short wait, Wei Ran and Jack carefully registered various information, including the military number, under the inquiry of a young English-speaking soldier. Then, led by volunteer soldiers, the two walked one after the other. Entered a brick and tile square next to the air-raid shelter.

This dormitory is not too big. In addition to an earthen kang, which is common in northern China, there are two wooden tables placed against the wall.However, when Wei Ran saw the people inside, he was stunned again.

There were only two people in this dormitory, and one of them happened to be the American soldier named Drew who was captured together with Liu Yijiao. Wei Ran especially remembered that this guy seemed to have slept with the wife of an American pilot.

The second person was the American military doctor who refused to treat him when bugleman Xia Chuan was injured. Wei Ran remembered that his name seemed to be Klauer?
It seems to be the name
Wei Ran glanced at the other party uncertainly, but found that the military doctor who had threatened to provide medical services for white people was extraordinarily enthusiastic, and even took the initiative to ask about the injuries on the two of them.

More than that, even that scumbag named Drew was the same. Before Wei Ran and Jack sat down, he had brought hot water from the enamel washbasin, and warmly greeted them to wash their hands. Then he took off the medical box hanging on the wall and handed it to Dr. Crower.

Glancing at the military doctor Klauer who was about to help him check the injury on his head, Wei Ran opened his mouth and finally chose to remain silent. He didn't know how long the two of them had lived in this prisoner-of-war camp, but he felt that such a change It doesn't seem to be a surprise.

"I'm Claure"

The military doctor who helped Wei Ran check his injuries introduced himself while untying the gauze, "I am also one of the doctors in this prisoner-of-war camp. Welcome you two."

"I'm Drew, I used to be an auto soldier." Another scumbag in the room introduced himself enthusiastically, "You are all welcome."

"I'm Victor." Wei Ran pointed to the stunned companion with his mouth open, "He's Jack, and we're all engineers."

Before the scumbag Drew or the military doctor Claure could respond, the door of this dormitory was knocked again. After Drew responded, a volunteer soldier sent two prisoners in again.

"welcome"

Klauer, the military doctor who was re-bandaging Wei Ran's wound, greeted him enthusiastically, and then found that Wei Ran, Jack, and the other two new captives had strange expressions on their faces.

"What's the matter?" Drew asked inexplicably, "Do you know each other?"

"Of course, of course I know."

Wei Ran looked sideways at Brendon and Morgan who were blocking the door, and finally connected all the previous experiences together in his heart.No wonder there is a requirement for military rank this time, which is equivalent to experiencing all the experiences of the prisoners in this room from being captured to being captured!

Watching the volunteer soldier leave with a smile and salute, Drew greeted Morgan and Brendon with the same enthusiasm and sat down on the extraordinarily warm kang, followed by another introduction .

"Should no one come?"

While Claure spoke, he had already untied the wound on Jack's leg, "Our kang is only this big."

“I guess not anymore”

While speaking, Drew opened the thick cotton curtain and looked out, then closed the wooden door, picked up the enamel iron pot, poured a cup of hot water for everyone, and said, "Now let me introduce the rules here Bar."

"Let me interrupt"

Morgan said without waiting for Drew to finish the rest of his sentence, "Before that, shall we throw these two niggers out first?"

"Morgan, this is not America."

Drew said with a smile, "Everyone is equal here, no matter black or white, since you are sent here, you should abide by the rules here."

"What's your military rank?" Morgan asked proudly.

"Oh!"

What responded to him was Drew's fist that hit him in the face. The scum who once slept with the pilot's wife said with a smile, "My fist is my military rank. Although those instructors never advocate the use of violence, but I still think fists are more convincing to an idiot like you."

"Brendon! Hit him!"

Morgan wiped the blood gushing from his nostrils, greeted his companions, and waved his fist at Drew.

"Oh!"

Wei Ran, who was watching the excitement, suddenly raised his fist and hit Morgan's stomach hard, and at the same time stretched out his leg to trip Brendon.

"well done!"

While speaking, Drew punched Morgan in the stomach, then brought Brendon, who was off balance, to the ground and sat directly on his back.

A moment later, Morgan, who had been punched twice, knelt down on the ground with his hands covering his stomach, his face flushed with pain.

"Can I talk about the rules here now?" Drew asked, patting Morgan's face.

"You better listen carefully"

Klauer, who was helping Jack check his front teeth, reminded, "He is not a good person. This bastard was a referee in an underground boxing ring before he joined the army. Even without the help of others, you two can't beat him."

"Is it the rule here that whoever's fist is big will listen to whom?" Morgan asked while leaning back against Kang Yan.

"No, no, that's why you need to listen to me carefully."

While Drew was speaking, he took out a pack of Lucky Strike cigarettes from Morgan's pocket, lit one on his own, and handed the cigarette and lighter to Wei Ran who was not far away. Said, "This prisoner-of-war camp is different from our camp, or it is different from all prisoner-of-war camps in the world. First of all, don't conflict with those Chinese soldiers, and don't try to provoke them."

"They will shoot, right?" Jack, who was letting Klauer check his mouth, asked in a panic.

"Are you an idiot? Do you even need to ask?" Morgan asked with a gasp.

"Just the opposite"

Drew stuffed the cigarettes handed back by Wei Ran into Morgan's pocket again, "They are protecting us. In addition to Americans, Canadians, Australians and British people, there are many other prisoners in this prisoner-of-war camp. As far as I know, prisoners of war from at least 13 countries are gathered here, among other things, there are more than 100 of those disgusting rabbit riders.

But correspondingly, there are very few Chinese soldiers in charge of managing us.I guess there may not even be 200 people. "

"So we can escape?" Jack asked happily.

"Don't move"

Crower reminded, "Although I am indeed qualified for the job of a dentist and have the corresponding tools, if you move around again, maybe your broken tooth will be eaten by you."

Hearing this, Jack immediately grew his mouth and stopped moving.But it was obvious that Morgan and Brendon were moved by his thoughts just now, "I just observed that not only is there no fence and power grid nearby, it seems that there are no sentry towers or trenches. Maybe we are really"

"You can try"

Drew said mockingly, "I can even tell you that there is only one battalion of troops around here, and unless someone makes trouble, they will not easily enter the prisoner-of-war camp. As long as you want to, as long as you avoid the main intersection You can completely bypass them."

"Mr. Drew, can I sit up first?"

Brendon, who was still under pressure, said, "I think I'm calm enough, and I'm even more curious why you don't run away."

"Looks like you're a smart guy"

Drew stood up happily while speaking, and took the initiative to reach out to pull up Brendon who had just been used as a stool by him.

After everyone had found a place, Drew continued, "We can indeed escape at any time, but this place is located in a place called Changcheng, which is only a big river away from Huaxia."

After deliberately pausing for a moment, Drew continued, "In other words, this prisoner-of-war camp is surrounded by recruiters. They expect us to escape more than we do, so they have a reason to kill us. Even prisoners of war The Chinese soldiers outside the camp, their main task is not to prevent us from escaping, but to prevent us from being killed by the recruiters around us.

On the other hand, this place is too far away from our territory. Even if you can run out, it is impossible to go back safely through the defense lines of both sides. You may be killed by guerrillas on the way. "

"There are more important reasons"

Claure took the topic and said, "There is no need to fight here, you can write to your family at any time to contact, and you can learn a lot if you want. Even if you don't want to learn, you can sing, dance and play basketball every day. And the food It’s also very good, it’s much more comfortable than fighting on the front line, and I even learned how to make Huaxia bread.”

Seeing the dull and unbelievable faces of the three people except Wei Ran, Drew pointed to the top of his head again, "Of course, our biggest threat actually comes from the bombs dropped by our own bombers."

"Isn't this a prisoner-of-war camp?" Morgan asked with rounded eyes, "How could our bombers be?"

"Why is it impossible?"

Claure snorted coldly, "Not only bombs, our bombers have even dropped bacterial bombs and incendiary bombs, and even chemical poisons, even if we have made clear enough signs of prisoner-of-war camps in the open space outside The main casualties in this POW camp are basically related to the bombs dropped by our bombers.”

"This is impossible!" Morgan said dully.

"Nothing is impossible"

Drew took a big drag on his cigarette and said, "A few months ago, there was an idiot who didn't believe in the facts like you. He pinched an ant from the ground and threw it into his mouth, trying to prove our truth. Lying."

"And then?" Brendon asked.

"Then he nearly pulled his intestines out"

Klauer said while he was busy setting Jack's teeth, "If it weren't for those Chinese military doctors, he would have died a long time ago. But even if he survived, he would have lost more than ten pounds. I can take you to talk to him when I have time. Chat. By God, that idiot is still shaking when he walks like he's dancing."

"so"

Drew pointed to the door, "If you hear the sound of bombers, remember to run to the air-raid shelter immediately. Let's talk about the second rule."

Seeing that the three of Morgan were all looking at him, Drew flicked his cigarette butt and said, "This prisoner-of-war camp implements self-management. As long as there is no trouble, the Chinese will not interfere easily. Correspondingly, we also have a lot of work to do. It is winter now. , the most important thing is to go out to cut firewood once a week, which is directly related to whether we will freeze to death."

"We still need to chop wood?" Morgan was taken aback.

"Of course, you don't have to."

Drew said with a smile, "As long as you can beat me. Otherwise, once I feel cold and there is no firewood to burn, I will stuff you into the Huaxia fireplace.

An additional reminder, you are lucky to be arranged in this dormitory, because of the relationship between Mr. Crower and me, usually only the wounded and stabbed can live here, so you two had better be honest. "

"Drew, there is one more important thing." Crower reminded.

"Yes, and the most important one."

Drew lowered his voice slightly, "The origins of the prisoners in this prisoner-of-war camp are too complicated, so no matter black or white, all Americans must stick together.

Second, the Rabbit Rider and the British are the least trustworthy.Especially the rabbit riders, they once made a lot of money from Americans by selling dog hemp. "

"There are dogs here?! Is this a paradise?!" Morgan immediately became interested, and even Jack couldn't help turning his big eyes to look at Drew.

"You guys are a bit late"

Drew spread his hands, "Chinese people strictly prohibit prisoners of war from smoking dog hemp, and those rabbit riders who sell dog hemp have also been punished. I just remind you not to get too close to rabbit riders."

"Where's the British?" Brendon pressed.

"Their mouth is like Truman's asshole, you never know what comes out of it." Crower said on the sidelines, "If you don't want to be framed, you'd better not believe any word that the British say."

"That's it"

Drew said and pointed to a form posted on the wall, "In addition, in addition to the work of going out to cut firewood once a week, we are also responsible for the sanitation of the camp and helping out in the kitchen.

Of course, it’s not all work. Most of the time, we can read books, play guitar, sing or play ball or write letters to our family, even if you don’t do anything but bask in the sun. "

"Drew Drew"

Jack asked while Klauer was fixing the silver plate on the broken tooth, "There really is no one discriminating against black people here?"

“Except for the newcomers”

Drew said with a smile, "I can guarantee that you will definitely feel freer here than in the United States."

"God, I thought no one discriminated against black people only in heaven." Jack couldn't help but sighed.

"But niggers can't go to heaven," Morgan couldn't help but sneered.

"Niggers don't really get to heaven"

Wei Ran, who had been silent all this time, teased while pressing the shutter to take pictures of the white military doctor Claure and the black prisoner Jack, "But you will definitely go to hell, there are enough niggers waiting for you there."

Before Morgan opened his mouth to say anything, the door was knocked again, and Drew immediately stood up and replied a slightly out-of-key "Please come in" in blunt Chinese.

As the door opened, a woman said in fluent English, "Students Victor, Jack, and Morgan and Brendon come to collect personal items."

"Hurry up and get your things," Drew urged with a smile.

"What did she call us just now?" Brendon asked puzzled, "Students?"

"You heard me right"

Drew said as he walked out, "All the captives here are students, you can even call that beautiful lady outside a teacher, she is our translator, the most respected person in this row of dormitories, so you better be polite a little."

"This scumbag has changed too much." Wei Ran muttered to himself, followed Drew and left the warm dormitory.

It wasn't until this time that he realized that it was a young female soldier who had just shouted. He could tell from her gentle accent when chatting with the four soldiers around her that she should be a southern girl.

Behind the five volunteer soldiers who didn't even have weapons on their bodies was a cart pulled by a donkey, with a straw mat on it, and on the straw mat were bedding and the like.

"Mr. Zhang, I'll take Jack's personal belongings for him." Drew gave an American military salute first, and then said, "Mr. Claure is fixing his teeth."

"Then I will trouble you"

The young female soldier surnamed Zhang showed a gentle smile. After the three of Wei Ran lined up beside Drew, she directed the four volunteer soldiers around to start distributing supplies.

After sending out all these things, Wei Ran and the others had to carry them back and forth to the dormitory.From the largest quilts and blankets, each of them also has a 50-style military coat version, but they use a gray fabric cotton coat, and a set of blue fabric cotton coats and trousers, a cotton hat and a rubber-soled large cotton Shoes and thick gloves.

Just these things, in the previous scenes, many volunteer soldiers couldn't wear them.But this was not over yet. When they came out for the third time, the young female warrior commanded the companions around and distributed daily necessities such as towels, toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap and socks to them.

And these things, without exception, are all brand new. Even after seeing the gauze wrapped on Wei Ran's head, the female soldier took off the milky white knitted scarf around her neck without thinking, and tiptoed to help Wei Ran tied it around his neck.

Finally, after checking the distributed items, the female soldier did not forget to remind, "Student Drew, you are responsible for taking care of them, especially remember not to bully them, and reason with them."

Drew patted his chest, "I'll definitely reason with them!"

After sending off the female soldier and the four volunteer soldiers, Morgan rubbed his cheeks and complained, "You use your fists to reason, right?"

"Do you have an opinion?" Drew asked, shaking his fist, looking at the posture, it was so similar to the prison bully.

Greeting the three of them to return to the dormitory, Drew assigned everyone positions on the kang. To Wei Ran's surprise, he actually gave up the position on the kang to Jack, who was the most seriously injured, followed by Wei Ran. Ran, followed by Crower, followed by Morgan and Brendon, and himself, sleeping at the relatively coldest end.

Is this still the scumbag who boasted that he slept with the pilot's wife?
Wei Ran looked at Drew who looked like a saint, and couldn't help but ask, "Dru, how long have you been in the prisoner-of-war camp?"

"About a year and a half," Drew replied nonchalantly.

"No wonder."

Wei Ran muttered to himself, and at the same time became more and more curious about what the scumbag Drew has experienced in the past year or so, so that there will be such a big change.

"Mr. Claure, what about you?" Morgan asked curiously, "How long have you been captive?"

"I was sent here around this time last year," Klauer said while he was busy helping Jack get his teeth fixed. "After I was captured, I stayed in a temporary prisoner-of-war camp on the front line and was sent here around Christmas time."

"We have also been stranded on the front line for a long time. Those Chinese people have prepared to send me and Brendon to the rear many times, and the two of us have escaped twice." Morgan looked at the pile of things that belonged to him and shook himself mockingly Shaking his head, he changed the subject and asked, "You must know the prisoner-of-war training camp, right?"

"That prisoner-of-war training camp in California?" Crower asked as he worked, "I remember paying $450 to train there."

"It's there"

Morgan sighed, lit a cigarette and said, "Before I joined the army, I sold my Ford car and went there to receive complete training. I learned how to resist physical and mental torture and how to escape after being captured. When I was captured, I did keep all the secrets. Of course, this has a lot to do with the fact that my captors didn't torture me."

Brenden couldn't help but said, "I wanted to go too, but I couldn't come up with the $450 fee."

"You should be glad you didn't go"

Morgan laughed at himself, "I'm starting to believe what Drew just said. To be honest, what I learned in that prisoner-of-war training camp was nothing but that I would definitely be tortured to death after being captured. any role, but really, if only I had known life here was so so”

"Peace" Drew helped to choose an appropriate adjective.

"Yes, peace"

Morgan grinned. "If I knew that life here is so peaceful, I wouldn't have wasted so much time, and I would have saved $450."

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(End of this chapter)