War Photographer's Notebook

When Wei Ran and others returned to the third floor of the shopping mall, the four captives had already changed into the tiger-stripe camouflage that Captain Karp and the others had worn on their bodies. Their hands were cut backwards and tied up with thick wire.

By the bonfire, the two captains, machine gunner Serge, and demolitionist Rezri also put on a full set of extrajudicial clothes and equipment.

"Did you find anything?" Captain Culp asked while stuffing the rare and expensive P88 pistol into the holster around his waist.

"The fourth floor is their position, and they found a lot of ammunition," Leva said, putting the wireless radio in his hand on the table by the campfire. "The fifth floor seems to be their resting place, rest inside. Everyone solved it, and then seized this."

"The sixth floor is a morgue, all of which are extrajudicial soldiers who died in battle." Feschenk took out rows of batteries from his pocket and put them on the table while talking, "The fourth floor is an electrical appliance store. I found quite a few batteries in there that would work for my night vision goggles."

"Try French"

As Leizley said, he handed the two night vision devices to Feshank and Wei Ran respectively, and then pointed to the grenade launcher at his feet, "Are there any extra grenade ammunition on the fourth floor?"

"Yes" Feschenk answered while taking the night vision device, "The stairs are ready?"

"Get ready, as long as someone comes in, it will detonate. The stairs from the first to the third floor will be blown up, and the stairs from the third to the fifth floor can be blown up as needed."

Lezri said and handed the two fake and extrajudicial camouflage uniforms matching backpacks using the same camouflage pattern and color fabric to the two of them, "Your backpacks are also inside."

"Backpacks are better than ours"

Feschenk looked at the night vision device in his hand, but he didn't try it on at all, so he said in a very positive and disgusted tone, "The night vision device looks like rubbish."

"It's really not very useful"

Leva, who also received the night vision goggles from machine gunner Serge, replied in agreement, "Are the French tricked by the Americans? Why are they equipped with such rubbish and cheap things?"

Rubbish bargains indeed, and these post-Soviet Russians are indeed qualified to comment.

But don't think that the Soviet Union and even Russia, which sprouted from the ashes after the Soviet Union, can only produce things that are stupid, black, rough, powerful, and flying bricks.

In fact, from the end of World War II until the disintegration of the Soviet Union and even from the end of 1994 to the beginning of 1995, only the Soviet Union could compete with the United States in the field of night vision devices.

Of course, due to economic and other reasons, the nascent Russia had almost exhausted the last bit of potential left to him by the old Soviet Union around 1995 in the field of night vision devices.

Changing into a French night vision goggle and trying to look into the distance with emotion, Wei Ran couldn't help but nodded, indeed, as Feschenk and Leva said, this French night vision goggle is really uncomfortable to use .

It's not about whether the image is clear or not, but that this binocular single-lens night vision device is inherently inferior to the binocular dual-lens night vision device, but it also saves nearly half of the cost.

"Be patient for now. Also, the three of you changed your boots too. All I found fit your size."

Vice-captain Ruslan pointed to a pair of boots beside the bonfire and said, "From now on, we are mercenaries retired from the [-]th Paratrooper Company of the [-]nd Extrajudicial Paratrooper Regiment."...

Speaking of this, Ruslan kicked the captive Athor who was sitting on the floor next to him, and asked in French, "What's the name of our mercenary group?"

"Musketeer"

Athor, who was sitting on the ground, gave the answer honestly. At this time, he had already put on the extrajudicial camouflage uniform again, and he didn't even lack the weapons on his body.

"Tell me what's next"

Captain Karp picked up a compressed biscuit and took a bite, "We will stay here for one night to help Leva establish a safe enough observation position."

Seeing that everyone was looking at him, Captain Karp continued, "After dark tomorrow, the extrajudicial mercenary, Mr. Ashor, will lead us to sneak into the underground air defense system. According to the information he provided, there is only one

Under the office building of Chechnya's security department less than 500 meters away, there is a tunnel leading to the presidential palace and a passage leading to the government building. "

"How does he know such a thing?" asked Leva the sniper, changing the boots he had ripped off from the corpse.

"According to him, before the war, these mercenaries from various countries hid there."

Captain Karp paused, and added playfully, "According to the results of the separate interrogation, it seems that the Thunder Squad established in Poland a few years ago is responsible for guarding those passages."

"It would be nice if the driver was still alive"

The ammunition soldier Agni, who had been busy heating food for everyone with a bonfire, smacked his lips, "That bastard had already passed the fourth round of screening for that team. If the Soviet Union hadn't suddenly disintegrated, he might be the captain of that team now It's over."

"If that's the case, we just need to call him." Sergi grinned regretfully, "The Poles are much more interesting than the Chechen lunatics outside."

"Be alert"

Captain Culp looked at Rezley, "There are not only underground passages leading to the presidential palace and government buildings, but also the ammunition depots of the foreign friends who come here as guests."

"Blow it up?" Razri asked excitedly. "Sniper"

Karp looked at Leva, "The explosion is a signal. Next, you have to keep an eye on the direction of that building. If there is a large-scale explosion, it will be a signal for follow-up actions."

"clear"

Leva paused, and finally couldn't help asking, "How do you withdraw? How do you need me to respond to you?"

"unnecessary"

Captain Karp glanced at the captive Athor who was sitting on the floor and could not understand Russian at all, and said with a smile, "I have reached an employment agreement with him, and he will help us get out after it is completed. After sending the signal, go directly to join the medical soldiers and find a way to escape with them.”

"We will meet again, right?" Leva asked earnestly. "Of course." The two captains, Karp and Ruslan, responded in unison.

"That's good"

Leva took the cigarette handed by the machine gunner, pressed it on the red-hot oil barrel and lit it, and took the initiative to change the subject and asked, "What about the four girls who were rescued just now?"

"They are looking for clothes to wear in the shopping mall now." Ruslan also took the cigarette and lit it, "We will leave it to you to take care of us after we leave. By the way, they can also help you guard. I have already negotiated with them The condition is, as long as they can leave the battlefield alive, I will send them to Moscow to start a new life.”…

"Priority is given to the main task, and you can do it when necessary." Captain Karp lowered his head and reminded, "They... are Chechens after all."

"I can tell the difference between this kind of thing." Leva sighed, "Chechens, Russians... aren't they all Soviets?"

"The Soviet Union is gone," Feschenk, who had been silent just now, murmured, "It's long gone, right? Victor?"

Hearing this, Wei Ran, who was just listening to the conversation of the crowd while fiddling with the Walkman he picked up, was about to speak when an explosion occurred in the stairwell far away.

Accompanied by a dull and loud "Boom", everyone first heard a series of screams, followed by a series of detailed explosions.

And in this series of explosions, the stairs from the first floor to the third floor in the stairwell were also smashed down, and the few Chechens who had just rushed in to treat the wounded were planted tightly.

At the top of the stairs on the first floor, a Chechen soldier with the rank of major looked at the buried soldier with lingering fear, and then looked up with a flashlight. Then, a look of horror appeared on his face.

Because, where the beam of the flashlight can shine, on the side of the built-in staircase leading to the fourth floor, and on the wall next to it, there are two MON50 directional mines facing directly below!
"Go up the other stairs!" the Chechen soldier stepped back just in time.

new order.

"It's about to start"

Rezli whispered while holding a detonator, and at the same time, everyone saw four little girls running from a distance supporting each other.

Almost at the same time when the four little girls sat down obediently on a sofa under the comfort of Captain Ruslan, and each shared a canned luncheon meat, another stairwell in the shopping mall also There was a loud bang!
In a series of dense explosions that followed, all the stairs from the first to fourth floors were blown down, but this time, all the people below were prepared to retreat to the chandelier in the center of the hall on the first floor!

"With the music, the only thing missing is the lighting."

Leizli, who was standing next to Wei Ran, murmured a word, and pressed the detonator at the same time.

"boom!"

There was another series of explosions. On the roof of the hall shared by the first and second floors, the extraordinarily beautiful chandelier turned into a murderous weapon in the explosion. Countless shattered crystal glass fragments, driven by the shock wave, formed a direction towards the front. The lower hemispherical killing surface.

Although these glasses can't penetrate the helmets, they can easily cut scars on the shoulders and bodies of those Chechen soldiers!
But it wasn't over yet. Along with the second explosion, a series of explosions came from the third floor, which was only a dozen meters away from Wei Ran and the others!
Amid the constant tremors under the feet, a large and frightening patio was opened on the third floor by Rezley's superb blasting, and by the way, the wailing Chechens on the first floor were slapped to the floor.

In the smoke and dust, Karp was the first to get up, quietly stuffed the disassembled VSS into the Frenchman's backpack, picked up a Famas rifle, and grabbed the captive Athol, who was the first to go. Stairwell to the fourth floor. …

Almost at the same time, Captain Ruslan, who put away the disassembled sniper rifle, also casually picked up a Famas and a few spare magazines, and greeted the four people wearing new clothes in proficient Chechen language. The girl followed.

"Which one do you use?" Agni, the ammunition soldier who also put away the silent weapon, asked in a low voice.

"Let's use this"

Serge, the machine gunner, clapped the PKM machine gun in his hand, pushed and shoved the two prisoners who stood at the door of the clothing store with dull faces, and followed them.

"I use this"

Before Wei Ran and Feschenk could speak, Leizley had already picked up the MGL grenade launcher and put it by his feet, while stuffing the grenade into his backpack, he said, "The performance just now used up all my resources. The directional mine and TNT, you three are not allowed to grab these good things from me."

"That's enough for me"

While speaking, Leva picked up an FR-F2 sniper rifle and a P88 pistol by the way, and stuffed it into his pocket together with the holster and magazine, "Fishink, don't blame me for not reminding you, This pistol is not cheap."

"Why didn't you say it earlier"

Before he could finish his sentence, Leizley also picked up a random pistol and threw it into his backpack, while Feschenk also quickly took the last P88 pistol, and by the way, he also took a Famas, and pushed with the former. Follow the captives and leave.

"Alright, I'll wrap up the rest..."

Wei Ran murmured to himself, and pulled the dozen or so grenades into his bag, then took the submachine gun and matching magazines that no one wanted and chased after him.