War Photographer's Notebook

Late at night, in the cold attic, wearing headphones, holding a British kettle with hot water in his hand, and Wei Ran wrapped in a Soviet cloak, he would stand up and move around from time to time to prevent himself from accidentally falling asleep past.

On the table in front of him, the flatbread oven with amazing battery life is still chirping and burning a pottery flowerpot used as a radiator. On the other side of the table some distance away, the BC1000 radio station , is also continuously and steadily waiting for the latest news that may appear in the channel at any time.

Just when Wei Ran was about to light a cigarette to wake up, a flashlight flashed outside the window.After a brief absence, he immediately extinguished the flatbread oven, pulled off the earphones, put away the kettle and cloak, and stepped in front of the only window in the attic.

Looking out through the window, a four-wheeled carriage had already stopped outside the barbed wire fence, and at this moment, a figure was helping each other out of the carriage.

And under the constantly shaking beam of the flashlight, Wei Ran can still clearly see familiar little faces—these injured children have arrived!

Putting away the loaded 1911 pistol, Wei Ran went downstairs as fast as he could, opened the door and ran out.However, he was completely unaware that at that moment in the attic, on the table in the attic, and in the earphone of the radio, ticking sounds of varying lengths and irregularities happened to be heard at this time.

What he missed was not only the code encrypted by Aesop's fables on the radio channel that had been waiting all night. When he ran out, the carriage had already run towards the direction of the town. Children wrapped in gauze, and in their hands, paper bags containing food or square box flashlights for lighting.

Jonas, whose face was wrapped in gauze, recognized Wei Ran first, and immediately shouted in a trembling voice full of tears and fear, "Victor! It's Victor!"

"Where's the person who brought you here?" Wei Ran asked, hugging the little guy rushing towards him.

The young man who changed his name to "Houster" immediately replied, "The sister said she was in a hurry and left first, and asked us to knock on the door by ourselves. She said that you are in the room."

While speaking, the young man patted a leather medicine box on his shoulder, "She also asked me to bring this to you."

"Come on ahead"

Wei Ran waved at the flustered children, "Have you had dinner yet?"

"have eaten"

The girl who inherited the name "Heike" immediately replied, "We had dinner in a tailor's shop, I was the first to arrive, and everyone who came later had dinner.

The elder sister brought us over in a carriage until all of us had arrived, and she also gave us a hat and a beautiful and warm scarf for each of us! "

"How did you all get here?" While speaking, Wei Ran turned on the chandelier in the hall on the first floor again.

In just a few hours, the room has been cleaned up by the children who arrived in the first wave, and even the scattered oil paintings and various canvases have been received. place.

Not only that, even the fireplace was burning with scarlet coals, which made the room extra warm.

"I came by train, on the same train as you."

The girl who changed her name to Heike continued to respond, "Nurse Hannah brought me here, but we got off the bus in Brussels and took a truck to Mons."

"I went to Brussels on a freight train, and then to Mons on a freight train pulling coal."

The young man named Horst said a little excitedly, "I don't know the person who sent me here, but the uncle took me to the cab of the train, and I also helped to sound the whistle, it was really loud !" "I went to the tailor shop by car"

Jonas put down the small suitcase he was carrying and hurriedly said, "I don't know the uncle who sent me here, but he bought me a lot of delicious food on the way, and also bought me new clothes and shoes.

Son, they also said that if I want to, I can live with them in the future. "

"Then why are you here again?" A little girl asked while sucking on a lollipop that someone bought for her.

"I want to live with brother Okan." Jonas looked at Wei Ran after finishing speaking, and asked naturally, "Victor, where is Okan?"

Almost subconsciously, Wei Ran thought of the young man on the edge of the minefield who had an emotional breakdown due to self-blame.However, before he could speak, a young man in pajamas ran down the stairs behind him, picked up Jonas, and said happily, "I'm here! Jonas, what are you doing?" It came so soon? I thought I would have to wait a week!"

Turning his head subconsciously, Wei Ran couldn't help but smile on his face after a short period of sluggishness. Naturally, that young man is not Okan who will never come back, but he is Okan again—yesterday in Dominique's ward When taking a group photo, he swore in front of everyone that he would be Okan from now on, Jonas' older brother Okan.

Soon, the question about how everyone came to Mons turned into cheers for a farewell reunion as more and more partners came down from the stairs.

Although it was a pity that Dominic and Nadia, who were seriously injured, could not come, but even so, it was enough for every child to be happy.In particular, almost all of these injured children brought small gifts—all kinds of hats and scarves of various colors.

The presents were shared lively, and while Wei Ran was changing the dressings for the wounded, several girls headed by Youta and Boyi also quickly helped clean up the rooms enough to sleep in, and then lit the fireplaces in these rooms .

After sending the last little guy into the room, Wei Ran yawned, and returned to the attic despite his drowsiness. He put on the earphones again, and leaned tiredly against the extremely warm chimney of the fireplace.

However, just when he was about to take a nap, there was a clear ticking sound in the earphone without warning!

Recovering awake almost instantly, Wei Ran immediately lit the desk lamp, picked up the pen and paper on the table, and translated the code into groups of numbers.

After searching in the book of Aesop's fables according to these numbers, Wei Ran quickly translated a question: "Did you survive? Please establish contact."

It's Timov!

Wei Ran immediately guessed the identity of the person who sent the telegram, but before he could reply, a strong white light appeared in front of his eyes without warning!

"Is this the end?"

Wei Ran was stunned for a moment, and before he could react, he smelled the unique coldness and dampness in the Hurtgen forest, mixed with a trace that could not be concealed even in winter, the unique smell of rotten pine branches, at the same time, he also felt There were bursts of clear pain coming from the left hand.

Just as he was trying to blink his eyes, Timov's voice came from his ear!
"Hope you all reach your destination safely!"

Almost at the same time Wei Ran regained his sight with a shocked face, Captain Timov, who was standing beside him with a gun, also continued, "I will find a way to get in touch with you through the radio."

"I'll wait for your radio contact!"

Before Sophie finished her sentence, she had already thrown herself into Timov's arms, and then she tiptoed to send a hot kiss.

"Fuck?!"

Wei Ran stared round the eyes of the two hugging each other in front of him, and really didn't understand when the two became so close.

Could it be that a VIP account is required to watch that episode?Wei Ran couldn't help but a ridiculous idea popped up in his mind, and his eyes subconsciously aimed at the tattoo on the tiger's mouth on his left hand, and then he saw the gauze wrapped in his right hand and the missing index finger.

"Victor, let's go!" Just as Wei Ran was in a daze,

Timov had already separated from Sophie, and he gave orders while loading the submachine gun in his hand.

"Ah? Here we come!"

Wei Ran took a quick look at Sophie, who had tears in her eyes, then at Qiqi, who was busy bandaging Dominique's wound, and Okan, who was further away with a gun on guard.
and Horst.

However, before he could say anything, Timov pushed his shoulder and urged him to run farther and farther.

"We need to draw fire"

Just as the people behind were engulfed in dense fog and darkness, Timov had already turned on the flashlight while talking, and at the same time pulled the trigger of the submachine gun above his head.

"Da da da!"

Almost at the same time Timov turned off the flashlight, the pursuers immediately fired a series of bullets at them.

What the hell is a love brain that dogs don't even eat!Wei Ran muttered cursingly, and at the same time subconsciously distanced himself from Captain Timov.

Following the American soldier who was dazzled by the beauty's kiss, he changed direction and ran all the way. Before he could catch his breath, Timov pulled the trigger again, and then turned on the flashlight again, hiding behind the tree trunk and swaying wildly , trying to attract the attention of the pursuers.

Taking advantage of the opponent's frantic death to attract firepower, Wei Ran also observed his own situation with the flickering light of the flashlight.

At this time, he was still wearing the suit of civilian clothes and the pair of M43 military boots that he personally took off from the feet of the dead American soldiers as a German soldier, and even the pair of wire cutters from Buck on the back waist. They are all there, but the three-piece pilot suit on the head has gone somewhere

This is so special that one person plays two roles, aren't you afraid that I'll play the role?..
Wei Ran muttered cursingly, and ran out after Timov before the bullets from the pursuers came.

In the crazy temptation of Timov as if singing a one-man show, the pursuers also followed them and ran farther and farther.Even the beams of flashlights are getting more and more.

"Victor, how far are we?" Captain Timov asked as he ran.

"how could I know!"

Wei Ran responded cursingly, rounded his arms and threw the switched on flashlight, and then asked while running, "Is the general direction correct?
"That's right! It should be right! We're going to make a big noise."

As Timov said, he also rounded his arms and threw out a MK2 grenade, and then said, "We have to wake up our people and get them ready. If they respond, we will Can show us the way!"

"Don't worry about others, run away!" Before Wei Ran finished speaking, the grenade that Timov had just thrown had exploded.

The explosion of the grenade, coupled with the wrong direction pointed by the flashlight thrown by Wei Ran, somewhat slowed down the pursuers behind him.

However, when the two of Wei Ran ran through a depression in the thick fog, a continuous barbed wire fence full of tin cans appeared in front of them!

"This is our barbed wire!" Timov picked up a can of spirit meat hanging on the barbed wire, looked at it, and made a positive judgment in his tone. "How to get there?" Wei Ran asked in a low voice, "There may be a minefield behind."

"I'm here to clear the mines, how about you buying time?" Before Wei Ran could answer, Timov had already reached out to him, "Wire cutters!"

"How long will it take?" Wei Ran untied the wire cutters hanging from his waist and handed them to the other party.

"how could I know"

Before Timov finished speaking, he had already taken the wire cutters and cut off the first barbed wire. At the same time, he said amidst the crashing sound of tin cans, "When my side is safe, I will use yellow lights and grenades to You send a signal, and after you receive the signal, wear a red light and follow my trail through the minefield, and I will cover you on the opposite side."

After finishing speaking, Timov took out an additional German square box flashlight from his pocket, and handed it to Wei Ran together with the only two remaining magazines.

"Waiting for your signal" Before the voice finished, Wei Ran had already received the magazine and the flashlight, moved laterally and ran out.

Extending the distance between the two parties by about seven or eighty meters, Wei Ran looked left and right, found a dead tree lying horizontally, took out the titanium alloy oil barrel used to hold fuel in the metal book, and put the Gasoline was poured on the tree without hesitation.

Bending down to pick up a dead branch, Wei Ran took off his shirt

The clothes were wrapped around it and some fuel was also poured on it, and then the oil barrel was put away, and ran a distance away, and then pulled the trigger of the submachine gun, shooting long bursts aimed at the night sky.

Seeing the beams of flashlights that had been chasing all the way in the dense fog change direction and rush towards him, Wei Ran, who was hiding behind the tree trunk, unhurriedly took out a lighter he picked up, lit the makeshift torch, and Throw it to the dead tree in the distance.

"boom!"

Accompanied by the fireball and sound waves produced during the deflagration, Wei Ran had already run into the dense fog away from the fireball, and circled around to the side of the pursuers.

Once again, Wei Ran took out the Soviet cloak from the metal book and put it on his body. Wei Ran, who was lying behind a pine tree, waited for less than 5 minutes. silhouette.With the light of the flames, Wei Ran clearly saw that the people chasing them just now, except for two chain dogs with flashing chests and a half-track motorcycle, the rest seemed to be members of the Youth League. Hairy kid.

***unlucky!

Wei Ran cursed secretly, and reluctantly put away a grenade that had just been dug out of his pocket, like a plump lizard that saw an Indian, cautiously and silently began to back up on all fours.

It wasn't until the thick fog obscured the outline of the pursuers that he stood up, hid his body behind a pine tree, took out a seldom-used anti-tank gun from the metal book, and aimed at the half-track motorcycle in the dense forest. The position of the headlights is a little farther back.

Pushing the muzzle of the gun and chasing the opponent for a distance, Wei Ran decisively pulled the heavy trigger towards the opponent!

"boom!"

Amidst the muffled gunshots, the huge recoil pushed Wei Ran back more than ten centimeters, and the high-pressure gas ejected from both sides of the muffler also wrapped in the dense fog around him and began to surge rapidly.

Before the thick and hot brass shell fell to the ground, the high-explosive bullet the size of a finger had slammed into the engine hood of the half-track motorcycle less than a hundred meters away. superior.

In a flash of flames, the small fragments exploded by the instant-exploding bullet easily took the driver's life away.

Seeing that the motorcycle headlight beam in the scope lost control, Wei Ran immediately put away the anti-tank gun and changed positions as quickly as possible.

Almost before and after, those pursuers who were not injured had already extinguished all kinds of lighting equipment including flashlights.For a while, in the forest shrouded in thick fog, only the dead tree lit by Wei Ran and the headlights of the half-track motorcycle that was still running around in the forest without stopping after losing control were left.

At this moment, the sound of a grenade exploding came from the direction of Captain Timov. Following the sound, although Wei Ran did not find the yellow signal light, he still left the hiding place as fast as he could and ran away from the campfire. go back.

As the distance got closer, he finally saw the yellow signal lights flashing regularly on the opposite side of the barbed wire.

He took out a square box flashlight from his pocket, pushed down the red filter, and Wei Ran, who was hiding behind the tree, also sent a flashing red signal towards the opposite side.

In less than two seconds, the originally flashing yellow signal turned into a constant light mode, Wei Ran also left and turned off the flashlight and put it in his pocket, and ran towards the barbed wire with his back bent.

Following the terrain to find the barbed wire fence cut by Timov, Wei Ran just stepped over the gap in the barbed wire fence, but there was a "clang!" in the distance—an unusual collision sound!The yellow signal light also went out.

Almost subconsciously, Wei Ran already made the movement of lying down on the ground, but before he could get down, a "bang!" gunshot came into his ears.

"Timov! Timov! Are you still alive?"

Wei Ran lay down on the ground and yelled to ask, but what responded to him was the strong impact sound of "Ding Ding Dang Dang" and the intensive gunshots from a distance!

"Fuck you!" Wei Ran clenched his fists and cursed fiercely, and was even ready to take out the anti-tank gun again and shoot it at the opponent!
However, at this moment, on the opposite side of him across a minefield, bunches of bright and dazzling headlights suddenly lit up.

Immediately afterwards, amidst the roar of the engine, two M10 tank destroyers looming in the thick fog began to rotate its deadly turrets!
"Boom! Boom!"

After the two deafening gunshots, the pursuers who were still gathering fire and guarding the last second immediately fell silent, but the two tank destroyers who did not know when they appeared did not let them go.

Before the smoke from firing the shells cleared, the M2 machine guns on the two vehicles' bodies had already sprayed out two deadly fire snakes in the thick fog with Timov's roar!
Amidst the dense gunfire, while Wei Ran heaved a sigh of relief, he also sighed unavoidably.

He knew that the soldiers of the boy regiment who chased them all the way just now would probably stay in the thick fog tonight like Okan, Horst, and Heike.

My previous attempt was just to snipe the chain dog and give those young people who may have been brainwashed a chance to choose again. At this moment, because of the two barrages sweeping around in the forest, it seems so dispensable.

In less than ten seconds, Timov roared with hatred and stopped together with the M2 machine gun, and the two tank destroyers that fired only one shot each also turned off their lights and began to move.

"Victor! Are you still alive? Victor!"

Timov jumped out of the destroyer, and ran towards Wei Ran while shouting his name loudly.

"Alive." After Wei Ran responded, he stood up slowly, "How should I get there?"

"I'll pick you up!"

Before Timov could finish his sentence, he ran over quickly, pulled Wei Ran up and said in a low voice, "There are no landmines here, come quickly!"

Hearing this, Wei Ran suppressed the doubts in his heart, followed Timov quickly through the non-existent minefield.

When passing by the two tank destroyers camouflaged by a large number of pine branches, the disheveled crew members not only had cigars in their mouths, but even waved at them in unison.

After hurriedly saying hello to these unknown soldiers, Wei Ran was dragged by Timov and jumped into a trench, and then led by a soldier with an M1 carbine on his back, into a base guard with a roof .

A moment later, a middle-aged man with the rank of major threw a Stanley kettle and walked in with two soldiers with guns on their backs.

"You brought Moff? You escaped from the German position?

"Yes, sir Major!"

Timov stood up straight and gave a solemn salute, then said loudly, "Company C, [-]nd Ranger Battalion."

"Okay ok, it's late, don't use such a loud voice, and I know you"

The major waved his hand without waiting for Timov to finish reporting his number, and found two cups from the box on the table, and then opened the kettle in his hand, and gave them to Wei Ran and Timov. The two poured a cup of hot coffee, and then explained slowly, "A few days ago, we rescued another ranger, he is also from the second battalion, oh, by the way, his name is Tom, he said there are three A soldier retreated to cover him and the wounded Irving to lure the Germans."

"Tom was rescued by you?"

Timov's eyes lit up immediately, and he asked excitedly, "Mr. Major, how is Tom? Where is Owen? Is he still alive?"

"Owen lost a leg"

The major poured himself another cup of coffee and took a sip before continuing, "Tom is still alive, but he was shot in the back. I sent someone to the hospital. I'm afraid he will be in the hospital." It takes a long time to get up again.”

"It's good to be alive"

Timov immediately breathed a sigh of relief, but Wei Ran next to him looked shocked. He didn't expect Timov to be a notorious, well-known ranger, and he clearly remembered that he had just entered this historical fragment At the time, there was no Ranger logo on the opponent's uniform.

"Can you tell me about the situation on the other side now?"

The major, who sat across from them, produced a pack of Lucky Strikes and a dozen
Throwing the lighter on the table, "We are about to attack the last fortress of Vossenac. Did you see the German positions on the way back?"

Assault on Watsonak's last bastion?
Wei Ran, who had just accepted that Timov was actually a ranger, tensed up again. If he guessed correctly, the major mentioned by the major was probably the fortress where Captain Letz once worked!