Amidst the crisp sound of the shutter, intense white light also filled Wei Ran's entire field of vision at the same time. When his vision returned to normal, the surrounding environment once again became a familiar studio.
Wei Ran first looked at the pistol and magazine he was still holding tightly, then hurriedly put them aside, and then nervously touched his chest. Unfortunately, those letters were wrapped in rainproof cloth. Not brought back with him as he had hoped.
"Where did those letters go..."
Wei Ran couldn't help but pick up his clothes and smell them, and saw that there was no trace of the odor that had permeated the air above Position 19 just a moment ago. The smell of corpses and gunpowder smoke made him sit down on the cold floor, holding on to the hoe of the anti-tank gun, and looked at the cowhide book lying on the floor.
With a soft "clatter" sound, the leather book automatically turned to the third page, showing the ZIS-3 anti-tank gun that had been turned into a black and white photo. Right below the photo, the metal quill pen also wrote a short obituary in a small "swish, swish, swish" sound:
The unknown hero
All the soldiers holding No. 19 on the Don River were killed, and no one survived.
Is this the end?
Wei Ran was stunned for a moment, watching helplessly as the metal quill pen started a new line and wrote: Correspondent Nicholas, on August 1, 1942, the letters home from the soldiers at Position 19 were delivered on time. He went to the Don River Field Post Office and was later sent to Suvorov Junior Military Academy to study.
In 1953, Nikolai was sent to the East Berlin Post Office and was also responsible for intelligence collection. Retired on August 1, 1989 and now lives in Kazan.
Is that the child who delivered the letter? Is he still alive?
Wei Ran raised his eyebrows and looked at the detailed address that the metal quill pen continued to write. He couldn't help but have a crazy idea in his heart. He wanted to go to Nicholas and ask. Is there any "Postman Victor" in his memory?
While he was distracted, the metal quill pen started another line and continued to write, "If there is only the last negative left, should it be used to record war, or should it be used to record happiness?"
Before Wei Ran could figure out the answer to this question, the pale yellow page had been turned to the back, and the metal quill continued to write under the red swirl, "The last words from a war photographer "Gift"
Manhan expectantly picked up the thing suspended in the red vortex. This is a Leica IIIB camera that is almost collectible in appearance. The body is wrapped in brown. On the cowhide protective case, you can still see the word "Zoya" roughly branded, and the other two small bags of the same material fixed on the cowhide strap also contain a separate lens and a special film advancer.
Gently open the leather case, this camera not only has the D.R.P’s floral logo and the crisp eagle emblem, but also a sickle and hammer mark that was obviously hand-engraved in the later stage. But unfortunately, there is no film in the camera.
Is this Zoya’s camera? Wei Ran frowned, how did this camera appear in my hand? He bravely put his hand into the red vortex and touched it. After a long time, he regretfully pulled his hand out.
There were no letters in this whirlpool that he was expecting, let alone the crucial report on the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
Disappointed, Wei Ran put the camera back into the red vortex. He ignored the metal quill that fell on the floor and couldn't wait to turn the page back. From the paper bag next to the black and white photo The only negative film was taken out.
Struggling to get up and run to the workbench, Wei Ran opened the copy board, clamped the negative on it and picked up the magnifying glass.
This negative is a photo of Captain Chacha Aleut and Zoya. As the background, on the shield of the anti-tank gun, there are nine battles painted with paint and hanging on it with wires. Although the copper five-pointed star is a little out of focus in the film, it can still be barely seen clearly.
"It would be great if those letters could be brought back..."
Wei Ran muttered to himself, and he promised Aleutian and others to help them deliver the letters. It arrived, but now not only the letter has not been delivered, but also the crucial application report for the title of Hero of the Soviet Union is gone, which makes him feel a deep sense of guilt in his heart.
"I hope their identity capsule is still there!"
Wei Ran dropped the magnifying glass in disappointment, picked up an oil can from the corner of the studio, and carefully moistened the cannon. of the breech block as well as the latching plate and linkage mechanism. Then he found a thick steel pipe and put it on the latch handle, adding a little more force, and with difficulty took out the shell shell still hidden in the gun barrel.
After half a century of being buried in the city, the shell has already been covered with rust. Only the primer is still as bright as new and has the unique color of metal.
I turned it over and tapped it lightly on the breech block. As the wet soil slipped from the shell shell, the remaining solidified paint at the bottom was indeed exposed!
After some observation, Wei Ran turned off his headlights, then found a small cutting machine, carefully cut the rusty shell shell in half, and took out a dry piece as big as a fist. Paint blocks. With the help of a wallpaper knife and small pliers, he peeled off pieces of gravel, soil and even broken bone fragments covered in red paint.
Finally, when the paint block in his hand became only the size of an egg, the three identity capsules stored in it were revealed.
Without opening it in a hurry, Wei Ran put the cleaned paint chips and the few bone fragments, together with the large piece in his hand, into glass bottles, and then walked into the darkroom.
Under his skillful control, more than ten minutes later, a black and white photo of Zoya and Captain Aleutian was washed out and hung on the drying line.
After walking out of the darkroom, Wei Ran hesitated and finally took out his mobile phone to book a flight to Kazan the next morning. He decided to talk to Nikolai before dealing with clients. In addition to wanting to know if he has any memories of himselfIn addition, I also want to see if I can get more clues about the people in the memory from the other party's mouth.
After making arrangements for the next day's itinerary and taking back the films and notebooks, Wei Ran immediately got into the bathroom eagerly. During the more than a week at Position 19, he was exposed to the mud, sewage, and broken bodies every day. Being a companion is definitely not a good memory. Even though I have vaguely understood that it is impossible for those people to follow me back, psychologically, I still need to take a scalding hot bath to make myself forget the experience of crawling in the trenches.
After an hour, Wei Ran, whose fingers were already wrinkled, came out of the bathroom refreshed and put on clean clothes.
After looking at the pistol and magazine still on the workbench, he put it into his bag without hesitation and drove straight to a restaurant not far away.
In the more than a week at Position 19, the difficult days of eating only boiled potatoes to satisfy his hunger had made him psychologically think that he had lost at least ten pounds. So the most important thing now is to find a place where you can eat meat and have a big meal to make up for it!