Volume 1: Sudden Battlefield Chapter 6

  It's all well and good to talk about it, but actually dealing with those Vietnamese snipers is really tough. Not to mention that in the pitch-black night there isn't a single ray of light, just the mosquitoes above our heads are enough to make us unable to stay hidden for long. And before we even had time to settle into position, my face was bitten by mosquitoes and swollen with big bumps, so I had no choice but to ask the intellectuals for some insect repellent to apply several times.

  But what made me feel lucky was that after hiding for more than an hour, not only did I not gain anything, but the so-called god of rifles also didn't gain anything.

  I still remember that one time when I happened to pass by the sniper's ambush point... To be honest, I didn't even notice where the sniper was hiding from. From this point on, I have to admit that his ambush skills and endurance are far better than mine. I just can't stay as still as him under the mosquito bites.

  "Psst, kid..." He whispered as I stepped over the rifle beside him.

  I reluctantly crouched down and approached him, meanwhile secretly marveling at the difference between a rifle and a handgun.

  "Hey, you little comrade!" The rifleman said to me in a stern tone: "Didn't you hear the platoon leader's order? We've still got a battle to fight tomorrow, go find somewhere to rest!"

  This is a good suggestion, in fact, more than an hour ago I was already somewhat suffocated because I didn't believe that I could take down the battle-hardened Vietnamese sniper. I remember the old man saying that since World War II, the Vietnamese have been constantly fighting, they chased away the French and then came the Japanese, the Japanese drove away the French and then came again... so the Vietnamese are all seasoned soldiers.

  It's precisely because of this that I don't have much confidence in myself being able to take down a Vietnamese sniper, after all, I'm just a rookie who has only just learned how to shoot.

  It's a good thing the squad leader didn't say that, because as soon as he did, it stirred up the proud and unyielding spirit in my heart. So I raised my head and replied: "The squad leader ordered us not to smoke and not to fire randomly, but he didn't say we can't run wildly..."

  "You..." The rifle was choked by my words for a moment, and after staring at me fiercely, he didn't say another word.

  I felt secretly pleased in my heart, then followed the rifle to open a distance and find a place to lie down. At this time, I feel that something is not quite right, we seem to be missing something by lurking like this.

  Isn't it? The front is pitch black, and the visibility is only a dozen or so meters. What's the point of lying down like this? Even if the devils are pissing on the other side with abandon, we can't see them!

  Also, I have a feeling that we are not professional enough when using guns. It always feels like something is missing. After thinking about it... I suddenly remembered that in the movies, US military snipers always work in pairs, one as the shooter and the other as the observer or assistant. But whether it's me or the rifle, we seem to be working alone!

  It makes sense to say that snipers work in pairs. As someone who likes military affairs, I'm very clear about this: a sniper has to hold their rifle and aim, so the range of observation is relatively small. They focus on a specific target and take it down. An observer, on the other hand, can use binoculars to observe the entire battlefield from a broader perspective, setting reasonable shooting targets and sequences for the sniper. Moreover, the two people's weapons can complement each other: the sniper rifle has a long range but slow firing rate, while the observer can be equipped with a submachine gun that has a short range but fast firing rate... This way, it avoids the weakness of snipers being unable to kill one by one when faced with too many enemies.

  But why didn't our army do that? It's normal for me not to have an observer, but even the rifleman who was assigned a task by Knife Scar doesn't have an observer... This is just a bit too much.

  After some thought, I understood the reason. Our army has never attached importance to the development of snipers, especially after the ten years of turmoil, our army of hundreds of millions did not have a sniper unit, and naturally there was no specialized sniper rifle for them. The old man had said before: "Our sharpshooters use Type 56 semi-automatic rifles, which can hit targets at 400 meters, but those Vietnamese devils' guns... have an effective range of 800 meters."

  Girl, it's 800 meters versus 400 meters, is there even a comparison? And they still have scopes installed!

  Thinking of this, my morale immediately fell short again, and I started to retreat in my heart: joking, this is not a joke, I might also be shot in the head by the Vietnamese devils! As soon as I thought of the scene where that soldier was shot in front of me with his brains splattered everywhere, my scalp felt numb. Maybe this will happen to me soon.

  But I gritted my teeth and persisted, otherwise I would have been laughed to death by that rifle guy! I'm going to lie down here for a night even if I die. Neither of us can shoot each other, what's there to be afraid of?

  Then I thought about it and felt that something was wrong. The Vietcong's sniper rifle can shoot 800 meters, no problem, with a scope, no problem... but this is at night! Is the scope useful at night? We can only see tens of meters away, can't the Vietcong do the same? Then what's the use of an 800-meter range? Can you hit a spark as small as a cigarette butt from 800 meters away?

  So I quickly came to another conclusion: the Vietnamese sniper must be hiding not far from our military position. In other words, tonight, there won't be much difference between the sniper rifle used by the Vietnamese army and my Type 56 semi-automatic rifle, and I still have a chance to take out the enemy.

  I immediately put away my rifle, crouched down and ran back in threes and twos. Before I even reached the campsite, I saw a small stone squatting behind a tree, and without saying a word, I beckoned to him with a wave of my hand.

  "Wait... wait a moment!" Xiaoshi seemed a bit embarrassed.

  I soon understood the reason behind this, this guy was squatting at the back to take a dump.

  "What's up?" Xiao Shi Tou sounded a bit annoyed, which I could understand. If it were me, I wouldn't like being called over at this time either.

  "This... I said with some embarrassment: "Can you help me out?"

  "Agreed!" Xiaoshi said without hesitation.

  "Go to the back..." I looked at the terrain behind me and pointed to a large protruding rock, saying: "Hide there, light a cigarette, and then stick it out..."

  "What?" Xiaoshi's eyes widened as he stared at me and said: "Are you crazy? Pai Long has given orders..."

  "I know there's an order to line up! But don't you want to bring out the godly marksman of the Vietnamese ghosts?"

  "I'd like to... but..." Xiaoshi was still hesitating.

  "Come on, come on!" I said: "The squad leader didn't let us light up and smoke, he was afraid we'd be in danger. Now isn't it letting you hide behind the rock and take a peek at the cigarette? Are you... are you afraid of death?"

  "Who... who's afraid of death? If you're going to do it, just do it, what's the big deal?"

  I couldn't help but smile, people these days really can't take the truth, especially when others call them cowards and say they're afraid of death.

  Xiao Shi Tou secretly borrowed a box of matches and two cigarettes, then hid behind the stone. I set up my rifle again in another location.

  To be honest, I wasn't that scared this time. There's a saying "out of sight, out of mind", and although this dark night was full of mystery and eeriness, it was still much better than the corpses and blood that were everywhere in daylight.

  I would rather face this dark night than confront the enemy's gaze and cruelty.

  It was only then that I realized I had never faced such a dark night before. The usual nights for me were always brightly lit, full of flowers and wine, or filled with revelry... But now I was facing an inky blackness, like the distant void, like the depths of the ocean, like facing my own heart... In this emptiness, I seemed to see my home, saw my mother waiting for me to return, saw the old man lying on his sickbed...

  "Coo... coo..." The sound of a few pigeons awakened me from my reverie, this was the secret signal that Xiaoshi and I had agreed upon, meaning everything was ready.

  I shook my head to clear it a bit and responded to the pebble in a pigeon voice, then focused my attention on the rifle's sight.

  Think about it again, and I feel that's not right: even if the enemy opens fire, it's just a gunshot and a spark of gunfire... If I'm staring at this tiny space on the sight, maybe I won't see the light in the dark at all.

  So I lowered my rifle slightly and stared intently at a patch of darkness in front of me.

  One minute has passed.

  No gunfire, no flames, the only responses to my calls in the desolate expanse were the chirping of insects and the rustling of wild grasses as they swayed in the breeze. I have to admit that I had never thought about such a scene existing on a dark night before, and if possible, I even hoped to calm down and appreciate it for a while.

  But I knew it was impossible, for this seemingly peaceful black night was full of murderous intentions.

  Two minutes have passed.

  Still no movement, but I knew that in the darkness there was a person, an enemy, who was staring in my direction with vigilant eyes, with the cold muzzle of his gun pointed at me...

  It's a feeling, a dangerous feeling. I can't see him, but I know he's right there!

  Three minutes have passed.

  My heart was racing with anxiety, a cigarette would be finished in just a few minutes, one after another, that would make the opponent suspicious.

  Why didn't he fire? Was it because it was too far away to hit or did he realize it was a trap?

  Later, I also felt that this method was not good at all. To know, we just had a soldier sacrifice under the gun of this Vietnamese sniper, even if it's the stupidest person who would think of forbidding fire and smoke, how could there be another person making such a big mistake in such a short time?

  Thinking of this, I felt a wave of disappointment. I originally thought I was very clever and that I would have at least several decades more knowledge than people do now, but...

  Just as I was about to give up, a sudden gunshot startled me.

  Later, I realized that the Vietnamese sniper underestimated us. To be aware, the Vietnamese army was very familiar with our military's weapons, they knew we didn't have sniper rifles and also knew there were no snipers in our troops, so he knowingly jumped into the trap...

  At that time, I didn't think so much, I just noticed a spark in front of me... So I raised my gun and pulled the trigger towards that spark without thinking.

  "Rat-a-tat-tat..." I fired all the bullets in the rifle in one breath.

  I admit I'm not a qualified sniper, let alone a godly shooter, because no sniper would fire bullets at completely uncertain targets like this.

  Yes, I was lucky. No sniper ever won by luck alone, and I did.

  Because I know that the enemy is hiding in the dark, and the only thing that can indicate my target is that fleeting spark, so I can only rely on luck...

  "Who? Who fired the shot?" I heard Scar's angry roar.

  "Oh no!" It was then that I realized indiscriminately firing guns was also disobeying military orders...