War Photographer's Notebook

Under the twilight sky and in the thick fog, one after another of the destroyers had already started their engines, lined up to pass through the gaps in the barbed wire, and drove into the damp and cold forest, crushing the slippery mud.

Behind the destroyer, there were not only infantrymen who were fighting in coordination, but also Wei Ran and Timov who stayed up all night and just put on new combat uniforms.

This was an exclusive task for the rangers that Timov and the major fought for more than two hours before dawn-lead the way!
According to what Timov said, he is confident that he will lead a group of infantry main forces along the route they escaped last night, avoid the German minefields, find the two chain dogs that they encountered halfway, and then follow the direction of the chain dogs. The rut marks of the half-track motorcycle continued to avoid the minefield and attack the third fortress.

Obviously, such a temptation made the major choose to give Timov and Wei Ran some trust.But although the job of leading the way is simple, the way is not easy.

Although the dense forest can't stop the heavily armed infantry, it can easily block the supporting destroyer vehicles. Therefore, after setting off, the two groups of people who were supposed to cooperate with the infantry and tanks also separated immediately and divided into two teams to attack along different lines. The route rushed to the battlefield.

Fortunately, it was Gu's job to lead the way. Before departure, Timov and Wei Ran were assigned a walkie-talkie with a limited communication distance, but it was quite sufficient.

In the dense forest shrouded in dense fog, Wei Ran and Timov pulled a distance of five meters away from each other, followed the traces they walked yesterday, and led the soldiers behind them to the abandoned trench where the chain dogs were tortured and killed .

On the way, when passing the dead tree that Wei Ran personally burned a few hours ago, he also saw broken corpses all over the ground. In just one night, these broken corpses wearing the uniform of the Youth League had been completely frozen for a long time. There was a layer of frost.

"They look about the same age as Horst," Timov leaned over and whispered, with a hint of regret in his tone.

"Yes…"

Wei Ran echoed absently, and after a short pause, he changed the subject and asked, "Why do you want to participate in this battle? Don't we need to go back?"

"With those destroyers providing a feint attack to attract firepower, this attack shouldn't be particularly dangerous." Timov responded with an irrelevant answer.

"You want to find Mr. Letts?"

Wei Ran paused, and reminded, "Did you forget what those two German leashes said? They said that Mr. Letts has been sent to Height 400."

"But Sophie also said that Mr. Letts is the quartermaster of that fort."

Timov obviously had his own opinion, "Unless the Germans in that fort don't want to win this battle, they will definitely find a way to get their quartermaster back as soon as possible. You know, a fort can have no commander, But there must be no quartermasters."

"what do you mean…"

"We have all started to advance towards their fortress. I think Mr. Letts has already returned to that fortress." Timov guessed with certainty, "Even if he didn't go back, he must be on his way."

"Why didn't you mention Mr. Letts and Sophie to that major just now?" Wei Ran lowered his voice and continued to ask intentionally.  …

During the two-hour long chat before dawn, Smurf never mentioned what happened in the ruins of the castle. He only said that he found a mill in the woods and hid there for a while, and then met the two chains. Just a dog.

Of course, he can naturally guess Timov's thoughts, but since he has time and opportunity now, he naturally doesn't mind confirming his guess.

"I don't know if Sophie and the others escaped to Belgium alive." In the thick fog with visibility no more than ten meters, Timov almost explained into Wei Ran's ear, "If you bring it up at this time, the major will definitely not mind." Inform Belgium to arrest people, whether they are resistance organizations or spies, it will be a credit to the major.

But what about Sophie?Whether those children are treated as resistance groups or spies, it will not be easy. "

"It's more than that?" Wei Ran deliberately lied.

"Ok"

Timov finally spread his hands, took out the photo of Captain Letts from his pocket and shook it, "I admit, I may fall in love with Sophie. But it has nothing to do with what I want to do, I can use my mother swears."

"Whatever you want to say." After confirming his guess, Wei Ran's hand, "Next we..."

"Boom!" Before he could finish his words, there was a clear sound of shelling in the distance!
"88mm gun!"

"It's the destroyer side!"

Wei Ran and Timov made their own judgments in no particular order.

"We need to speed up!"

Timov turned his head and turned to the microphone of the walkie-talkie, sending a signal to speed up in code words, and then separated from Wei Ran again and accelerated his pace.

Under the leadership of the two of them, the main attacking infantry unit pierced towards the direction of Fort No. 3 like a sharp knife.

By being attracted by the destroyer vehicle and under the cover of dense fog, Timov and Wei Ran rushed all the way to the abandoned trench, and found the two abandoned half-track motorcycles and the frozen or baked Ripe carcass of a chain dog.

Without any pause at all, Timov directed the team behind him to move forward along the ruts of the two half-track motorcycles.

At [-]:[-] in the morning, as Fort No. [-] loomed in the thick fog, Timov immediately notified the situation to the large troops behind him by walkie-talkie.He himself and Wei Ran who was following him also immediately hid their figures.

At [-]:[-], according to the major's original plan, the destroyer vehicles some distance away from them and the infantry cooperating with them launched a violent feint attack, focusing on attacking a German position.

Even with the cover of thick fog, Wei Ran and Timov, who were closest to the position, could still barely see them. Not long after the battle started, there were teams riding motorcycles, half-track motorcycles or even riding bicycles. young soldier rushing towards the direction of the battlefield.

When Timov passed the important news to the main force in the rear, the two also quietly retreated a certain distance.

"hold on"

Timov said in a low voice, "When these reinforcements arrive over there to join the battlefield, our side may start to attack."

"It depends on whether Captain Letz is in the fortress now." Wei Ran responded in a low voice. …

"Sure"

Timov seemed particularly confident about this matter, "As you said, the shelling just now was those 88mm guns of sauerkraut."

After finishing speaking, Timov pointed to the walkie-talkie again, "I heard just now that the shelling caused a lot of damage to the feint attacking troops, and it was very accurate."

The "artillery observer" Wei Ran immediately understood what the other party meant, "An artillery observer sent from Height 400?"

"What else?" Timov asked in a low voice.

"The artillery observers are here, which means that the opponent's fortress has already foreseen this attack." Wei Ran paused, "Since the artillery observers can be sent over, there is no reason why the quartermaster should not come back."

"That's it!"

Timov nodded, and said very seriously, "Although it's just a guess, I guess the quartermaster, Mr. Letts, must have returned. Victor, a good man who took the risk to save so many children shouldn't die in such a ghostly place. "

"You are a saint"

Wei Ran teased in a low voice and stopped talking, Saint?Holy fart, don't look at Timov's high-sounding words, in fact, he just fell in love with his daughter.

To put it more harshly, as long as Bo finds a way to save the future father-in-law this time, will Sophie still be able to run away when the war is over?
Of course, just like the excuse Timov made, a good person like Letz who worked hard to save so many children in the war should not be buried with the dying empire.

In the quiet waiting, only the turbulent thick fog and the sound of firefighting from a distance remained in the dense forest.

At eight o'clock in the morning, Timov put the walkie-talkie to his ear and listened, and then picked up the submachine gun. In less than a minute, a

An American soldier approached under the cover of thick fog.

"boom!"

Seeing that there was only less than a hundred meters away from the fortress and the connected trench line, a gunshot was suddenly heard from the opposite side, and at the same time that the gunshot sounded into the ears, the person walking in the front A cloud of blood burst out from the chest of a soldier, and then fell to the ground on his back with a common sound!
"Da da da!"

Seeing that the signs were exposed, a soldier with a bar machine gun opened fire first, and the surrounding soldiers with various weapons immediately quickened their pace, and rushed like crazy towards the deserted area only a few tens of meters away. Trenches!
But soon, fire snakes appeared from all over the reinforced concrete fortress hidden in the thick fog, easily knocking down the American soldiers rushing to the trenches, and at the same time covering the soldiers who ran out of the fortress. Those young soldiers!

And behind Wei Ran and the others, the mortar crews who had already been prepared also began to show their power, smashing mortar shells one after another near the entrance and exit of the fortress, and some of them were carrying bazookas. The soldiers aimed at the firepower points on the fort, and smashed the rockets one after another like they didn't want money.

Even with strong fire cover, Wei Ran has long since ignored where Timov went, let alone cared about his life and death.

After dodging the machine gun fire that almost hit him with a swoop that was definitely not good-looking, let alone comfortable, Wei Ran had no time to get up, and fell into the trench full of pine needles like a donkey rolling. …

At any rate, he had worked as a quartermaster's assistant in this fortress, and he knew very well that this trench behind the front line usually only had a few observation posts at most.

In other words, the fight now is who will occupy this trench first.If the American soldiers had occupied the trench first, the Germans would have been stuck in the fortress to die.

If the Germans first occupy the trenches they carefully prepared for the war, the American soldiers who have worked so hard to get here can only be driven back!
However, at this time, the firepower of the fort enveloped the American soldiers, making their follow-up soldiers advance extremely slowly.However, the suppressed firepower of the American soldiers and the empty strength of the troops made it impossible for the Germans to occupy the trenches that had been prepared a long time ago.

However, Wei Ran didn't care about that much. Before he could stand up, a member of the German Labor Corps who also rushed into the trench raised the shoddy submachine gun in his hand towards him!
"boom!"

Wei Ran was the first to take out the gorgeous 1911 pistol from the metal book that shouldn't appear on the battlefield, and pulled the trigger towards the opponent.It wasn't until the young enemy fell that Wei Ran suddenly remembered that he seemed to have shared the withheld wine with him in the cafeteria of the fortress!

"I knew I wouldn't run so fast"

Wei Ran frowned and cursed secretly, got up as fast as he could, raised the submachine gun in his hand, and started to advance along the trench towards the fortress.

"Da da da!"

A point shot knocked down an enemy in the uniform of the youth regiment, but Wei Ran squatted down and swooped again to hide in a traffic trench, and narrowly escaped the fire of the machine gun facing the direction of the trench. the Fire Serpent!

He took off his helmet and pointed his head at it with a submachine gun, but he didn't react. The machine gun that seemed to be aimed specifically at him fired a series of bursts, knocking the helmet flying!

"Victor!"

Just at this moment, Timov in the opposite traffic trench shouted, "Get his attention! I'll blow him up!"

"receive!"

Wei Ran looked left and right, gritted his teeth, and pulled over the body of the familiar member of the labor group that he had just knocked down with his own hands, and leaned on one of his shoulders to poke his head.

"Da da da!" The machine gun that was really staring at him fired again and knocked off the helmet of the labor regiment!

Taking advantage of the stunned effort of the machine gun that mistakenly thought that it had hit his own person, Wei Ran had already let go of the mutilated body that was still warm but had been hit by the machine gun, and threw two grenades out.

Before the grenade exploded, the machine gun started again

Even more frenzied strafing - even if it needs to penetrate the body of the labor group member, it is possible to hit Wei Ran!
"mg42 is a good gun"

Wei Ran, who was completely huddled in the traffic trench, threw out a long-handled grenade that had just been pulled out from the waist of the corpse, muttering to himself, and at the same time continued to mutter, "It's a pity that he is a quick shooter."

His voice hadn't finished yet, and the machine gun that had been staring at him was silent without warning!

At the same time, the grenade thrown by Wei Ran also exploded in the trench. Immediately after the explosion, Timov, who had already been prepared, also jumped out of the trench and rushed to the edge of the machine gun fire point at the fastest speed. superior! …

Almost at the same time that he threw a grenade that had been prepared along the hole of the gun, Wei Ran also reached out of the corner with one hand and pointed at the German soldiers who were about to shoot at Timov. trigger!
In the shooting rhythm of the m3 submachine gun, those boys who subconsciously stopped shooting because they were too young and inexperienced immediately lay down!
"boom!"

Just when Wei Ran emptied a magazine, the grenade that Timov stuffed into the hole also exploded, but he did not leave in a hurry, but threw away the second grenade that he had held in his hand in advance. Go in, and then go around the front of the fortress wall!

"boom!"

Another explosion sounded from inside the fortress, facing a machine gun fire point of the American soldiers, and the grenade stuffed in by Timov completely misfired.

At the same time, Wei Ran has already followed the trench to the edge of the first blasted machine gun firepower point, and stuffed a picked-up long-handled grenade into it, and collected the picked-up grenades along the way, speeding up his pace Keep up with Timov!
With the cooperation of the two of them, three consecutive machine gun firepower points were blown up one after another. As the suppression firepower weakened, more and more American soldiers were able to successfully jump into the trenches and began to attack the empty fortress from the side. !
Finally, when a soldier with a flamethrower on his back successfully ran over and stuffed the flamethrower into a bombed hole, the battle for the fort finally came to an early end.

The choking smoke that evaporated, the suffocation caused by the thin oxygen, and the scorching heat of thousands of degrees.

When the most terrifying aspect of the war was unabashedly imposed on this seemingly strong fortress, those German soldiers who were too young, and those veterans who had already seen many things clearly after half a century, also chose wisely. surrender.

When the sound of firefighting stopped completely, young men with weapons in both hands, and a few veterans with gray hair and beards, also lined up out of the fort under the supervision of machine guns.

Beside the entrance and exit with a little smoke, Timov, whose thigh was accidentally scratched by a stray bullet, leaned on a G43 rifle he picked up from nowhere in one hand, and pinched the photo of Captain Letts together. In the past, they were looking for the crippled quartermaster almost one by one.

Beside him, Wei Ran, who was also scratched in the door by a stray bullet, and beside him, Wei Ran, who was scratched by a firefighter at the same time, was also looking for anyone he knew.

However, until the last prisoner of war walked out of the fortress, he didn't see either the quartermaster Captain Letz or the serious veteran Jens.

Pulling over a prisoner of war who looked familiar, Wei Ran changed into German and asked in a low voice, "Have you seen Captain Letts? Quartermaster Captain Letts."

"No, I haven't seen it before." The member of the Youth League, who was obviously on too many drugs and was still holding the submachine gun and pulling the trigger with both hands, replied in a trance.

Glancing at each other with Timov, the two walked towards the entrance of the fort in silence, and followed the soldiers in charge of receiving them into the fort. …

Now that he came back here again as an American soldier, Wei Ran only saw a mess, not only the ammunition boxes of various sizes were scattered and piled up in the garage, but even the corridor was also like this.

After finding an injured member of the labor regiment and questioning him, Wei Ran frowned. According to the prisoner of war, they had received

According to the order of the quartermaster, all the ammunition is going to be sent to the garage, waiting to be loaded and sent to the front line.

However, when asked where the quartermaster, Captain Letts, had gone, the wounded man shook his head blankly, and then pointed in the direction of the quartermaster's office.

Following his memory, he quickened his pace and ran to the quartermaster's office, but Wei Ran frowned. There was a fire in the quartermaster's office. As the door opened, thick smoke billowed out of it immediately.Subconsciously pushed Timov, who had trouble with his legs and feet, to take a step back to avoid the deflagrating flames. Wei Ran bent down to look inside, but found that there was no one or corpse in the room.

On the contrary, he saw the source of the fire at a glance—the heater that was converted from an American oil stove by the bed, and the bed board that had been charred!
Who would burn down the quartermaster's office for no reason?Quartermaster, of course!Wei Ran and Timov immediately thought of it together!
"We need to go to the mill." Timov leaned into Wei Ran's ear and said.

"Now?" When Wei Ran asked back, he turned around and walked out.

"The battle here will be over soon"

Timov simply switched to German, and said blatantly as he limped out, "Next, this army will advance towards the battlefield for a feint attack. Without the support of this fortress, the enemy over there will die at most by noon." can be destroyed.”

After a short pause, Timov continued, "After the battle here is over, we will be able to return to our position safely. If we come back early, we may be able to catch up with the final battle. At that time, the worst thing is to say go with them It’s just that we got separated, anyway, we already got separated once.”

"Let's bandage the wound first." Wei Ran said pointedly, "Who cares about the two wounded?"

Timov grinned, "I think so too." Supporting each other to leave the fort, the two asked a medical soldier to help them treat their wounds briefly.

Rejecting the other party's suggestion to help find a stretcher soldier, Wei Ran found a captured half-track motorcycle and took the initiative to transport the wounded.

Taking advantage of no one paying attention to him, Wei Ran pretended to find a prisoner of war and asked the direction of the mill, then stepped up the accelerator, and quietly left the team under the cover of thick fog.

Following the route that Captain Letts took him to know all the way to the mill, he saw an unmanned half-track motorcycle driving into the river without hesitation.

And on the bridge not far away, there was a figure leaning on a cane, standing on that bridge, looking at the oncoming half-track motorcycle with a look of astonishment.

When Wei Ran stopped the car, Captain Letz, who had already taken off his military uniform, also raised his hands with a wry smile, and said calmly, "I surrender."

"Mr. Letts?" asked Timov, who also limped out of the car.

"You know me?" Letz looked at American soldier Timov in astonishment. "I know Sophie." Before Timov could finish his sentence, Letz's face immediately became extremely gloomy.

"They have fled to Belgium"

Timov continued as if no one was there, and at the same time took out the Aesop's Fables from his pocket, opened it, picked up the photo from it and handed it to the other party, and then tore the Aesop's Fables in his hand. Half, and handed half of it to the other party.

"The back of the photo is the radio frequency that can contact her. This Aesop's fables is the code book."

Timov stuffed the other half back into his arms while speaking, "Also, if you want to hide in the ruins of that castle, you'd better find a reasonable identity for yourself, we will occupy here soon, you Hiding here will always be found.”

"You captured the fort?" Captain Letts asked abruptly, "How do you know Sophie?"

Timov smiled when he heard this, "Why don't you find a way to contact Sophie and ask, Mr. Letts, I admire you for saving so many children in such a difficult situation. May God bless you and Sophie See you soon, Fei."
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