In the intense white light, Wei Ran found that everything that had just happened began to be recalled in front of his eyes almost frame by frame.

Finally, when the gas lamp on the sentry tower came back on, he saw a thin shadow sliding towards the ground holding a rope.

Before he hit the ground, the bullet broke the rope, and the thin shadow lost its focus.

After a moment, the white light faded, and he found himself riding on the branches of the tree.

Subconsciously hugging the tree trunk, Wei Ran later realized that the gun camera was still hanging on his shoulder, but his legs had lost all feeling.

Turning his head to look at the artillery position in the distance, Wei Ran's heart was in his throat. That position was hit by an aerial bomb on the outside of the ice and snow bunker.

The exploded crater showed the scorched black color of the earth, but the skylight reflected from the surrounding snow allowed him to clearly see that the rear half of the artillery chassis had been blown away, and the front half had also been overturned.

The barrel of the artillery was stuck in the snow.

Around the damaged artillery, there were still broken limbs and a few flames scattered here and there. He knew that there could no longer be anyone alive in the pieced together anti-aircraft artillery battery.

Just when he wanted to do something, a cry came from under the tree.

It's Vasily! He's still alive!

Wei Ran's heart skipped a beat, but when he opened his mouth, he realized that he couldn't make any sound at all.

After biting the tattoo on the tiger's mouth of his left hand, Wei Ran took a few deep breaths, tremblingly raised his gun camera, leaned forward and pointed the telephoto lens at Vasily under the tree.

Against the backdrop of the pure white snow, he could clearly see that one of Vasily's legs seemed to have been broken.

His body and face were also scratched with wounds and damage by branches, and even his little face was covered in blood.

But after just crying a few times, Vasily turned over with difficulty and crawled toward the cannon in the distance.

Wei Ran subconsciously pulled the trigger, but did not hear the sound of the film rewinding. He desperately discovered that the camera seemed to be broken and could only be used as a telescope at this time.

He tried to take out anything from the metal book to no avail. As he watched in distress but helplessly, Vasily climbed little by little to the side of the artillery that was overturned by the bomb explosion, struggling to hold on to the remaining ice and snow bunkers.

, stood up unsteadily on one leg.

After a moment, he took out a small medicine bottle from his arms, took off his mittens with his teeth, then dipped his fingers in it, and carefully drew on the bullet-riddled artillery shield.

Four red five-pointed stars were placed.

Immediately afterwards, he dipped his hands in paint and shouted loudly while writing the nursery rhyme that was born in such a tragic and desperate war era:

A German walks out of the thick fog and pulls out a knife from his pocket. It's you who wants to kill or scratch him.

"I'm the only one left"

Vasily wiped his tears while talking to himself, threw away the small medicine bottle in his hand, and in the futile effort of Wei Ran pulling the trigger again and again to try to take a picture, he moved with difficulty to a body that could no longer be distinguished.

Someone's body was dragged along little by little and moved inch by inch toward the cemetery in the forest.

Finally, just when the thin shadow was about to move to the edge of the forest, he fell to the ground weakly, but could not get up again.

Finally, when the white light rose again, Wei Ran, who had been pulling the trigger again and again, reluctantly chose to give up.

However, when the white light dissipated, he found himself sitting on the sledge again!

"The island we are going to is just ahead."

Just as he was stunned, a man in a white woolen coat in front said, "Comrades, the last line of defense is ahead. We have to hurry up! There are only militiamen on those three islands now."

"Ula!"

Those who responded to him were many soldiers coming from behind.

"Comrade reporter, do you need me to introduce to you the situation of the last line of defense?" asked this soldier with the rank of lieutenant. He seemed to be the political commissar of this unit.

“No, no need”

Wei Ran shook his head absentmindedly and stared blankly at the four 61K 37mm anti-aircraft guns in front of him that were being dragged forward by a crawler tractor.

"My brother is on that island"

The proud tone of this soldier suspected of being a political commissar was inevitably full of worry, "His name is Ruslan, he was supposed to be in the ranks..."

"What did you just say his name was?" Wei Ran turned around and asked.

"Ruslan, Ruslan Sakalov."

The soldier was startled by Wei Ran's cannibalistic gaze and tone, and responded almost subconsciously, "What...what's wrong? Do you know him?"

"No...no, I don't know him."

Wei Ran took a deep breath, letting the cold air like broken glass enter his lungs, taking away the pain like a knife, and said in a whisper, "It's nothing, I...I admit my mistake, I never

When I escaped from Leningrad, I also met a young man named Ruslan."

"He...did he survive?" the soldier asked.

"No"

Wei Ran didn't want to continue weaving this lie that was about to be exposed, so he changed the subject and asked, "Comrade, can you introduce yourself again? I...I'm afraid that the name and position I recorded are not accurate."

"sure"

The soldier replied, "I am Lieutenant Alexander Sakarov, political commissar of this air defense company, comrade journalist."

"It seems I remembered it correctly"

Wei Ran responded absently, his attention also focused on the familiar island more than a hundred meters away.

As if he could tell that Wei Ran didn't want to chat, the political commissar didn't say anything more, and just urged the soldiers to speed up.

When the convoy arrived at the edge of the island, Wei Ran immediately stumbled onto the island and ran straight to the artillery position.

"Be careful! There are a lot of bombs on this island!"

Before Political Commissar Alexander finished speaking, people were already running over.

This chapter is not over yet. Please click on the next page to continue reading! But soon, he and Wei Ran both stopped. They both saw the blown-up anti-aircraft artillery and the red on the artillery shield.

The five-pointed star and the nursery rhyme.

I also saw the frozen corpses all over the ground, as well as Vasily not far away, and the half of the corpse he dragged - the corpse of gunner Ruslan.

"I...I found my brother"

Political Commissar Alexander stared blankly at Ruslan's half-body body and took a few steps forward while muttering to himself.

But soon, he stopped again, turned around firmly and shouted, "Comrades! Establish artillery positions as quickly as possible! Behind us is the lifeline of Leningrad! We are the last line of defense for this life

!”

"Ula!"

The Soviet Red Army soldiers who were working together to drag the artillery to the shore responded in unison, just like...just like the people who once lived on this island.

"Let me take one last photo of you."

Wei Ran knelt down on one knee beside Vasily while sighing, took out his Rolleiflex camera, put him and Ruslan, who was being dragged by his small hands, into the viewfinder, and pressed the button for the last time in the rising white light.

shutter.

When the white light disappeared, he returned to the world he was familiar with, back to the tent that had no temperature but blocked the wind and snow.

In front of him, the metal quill pen also wrote a short obituary line by line:

last line of defense

On February 7, 1942, all Zelenets Island air defense militiamen were killed in the battle against the French invasion.

On February 8 of the same year, the position was jointly defended by the Soviet Red Army Air Defense Alliance led by political commissar Alexander Sakalov.

On March 11 of the same year, the entire company was killed in a German bombing.

On March 24, 1942, former anti-aircraft militiaman Mikhail died of malnutrition.

Didn’t even the wounded person who was sent out first survive?…

Wei Ran sighed. He didn't expect that he would only be able to come back for so many days this time, and he didn't expect that the people who were once alive would only leave such a few words on the metal book this time.

In his disappointed sigh, the metal quill started another line and wrote the slogan that everyone shouted at the beginning: All for victory! All for the front line! Protect Leningrad to the death!

well...

Wei Ran glanced at the sticky note on his tired private arm, took out a lighter and lit it, then crushed the ashes and turned them into soil.

At this moment, the light yellow page was turned to the back, and the quill pen was also left under the slowly rotating red whirlpool, leaving a regret: I really want to take a group photo with everyone in Leningrad, where there is no war.

ah...

Unfortunately, the war is gone, and so is Leningrad.

Wei Ran shook his head sadly, took out the thing in the red vortex and looked at it - it was the gun camera.

After opening the small suitcase and briefly inspecting it, he put it away, couldn't wait to leave the tent, walked into the cemetery in the forest, and finally stopped at the foot of the forked birch tree.

Looking up at the thick fork, Wei Ran hesitated for a moment and climbed up with difficulty on the much thicker trunk.

Nearly a hundred years ago, the mailbox that was once made of ammunition boxes had been wrapped bit by bit by tree trunks, so that when he opened a magpie nest that was much larger than a washbasin, he could only see the metal ammunition.

A little bit of rust almost worn through the edges of the box.

Fortunately, through the rusty cracks, he could clearly see the glass jar and the German gas mask jar still inside.
To be continued...