Munitions Empire-Chapter 1004 - : 926 sniper

Chapter 1004: 926 sniper

Peering through the binoculars, the distant scenery appeared clearly as if it were right before his eyes, with the occasional round dome of steel helmets passing through the smoke-filled trenches.

At a distance of a full 400 meters away from this trench was a concealed thicket situated at a higher elevation than the surrounding terrain, offering an excellent vantage point for observing any movement in the vicinity.

Two days ago, this location had already been modified; beneath the thicket lay a small trench which extended to an opposite slope on the other side, allowing for a swift retreat through this path by anyone in the trench.

Inside this small shelter, a lookout was vigilantly scanning the surroundings, responsible for directing targets to his companion.

Beside him, his companion was quietly watching through the lens of a long scope—a Dahua soldier busy connecting telephone lines in the distance.

“He’s just a linesman, not worth attacking,” the observer casually remarked, as if he knew exactly which target his partner was aiming at.

“I know, I’m just watching him. If you find an officer or a more valuable target, let me know,” said the sniper, still with one eye closed and maintaining his position.

His rifle was equipped with a very delicate high-magnification scope—an 8x scope not producible by other countries, offering an impressively clear view of the target.

The scope was etched with extremely precise markings, which could help the sniper adjust the shooting angle for wind changes—the bullet’s trajectory shifts with the wind, and a skilled sharpshooter can adjust his aim in anticipation.

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Of course, these markings also provided assistance in aiming at moving targets and could calculate the target’s dimensions based on scale and distance.

Each of these scopes was incredibly costly, and when paired with the expensive sniper rifle below, it was close to perfection. The front of the lens was covered with a grid cloth to prevent reflection, and the barrel of the rifle was wrapped in camouflage tape.

The rifle used by the sniper was also a pricey piece. It was a high-precision sniper rifle manufactured by the Great Tang Group’s military department, not a mass-produced military model but a small-batch product.

Due to near-perfectionist standards, the production volume of these rifles was very low, and the ammunition used was also meticulously selected and adjusted for utmost precision.

Such a bullet cost nearly one Gold Coin each, and along with the rifle and scope, its total cost was on par with an artillery piece.

What was even more terrifying was that the sniper using this set of gear had to fire hundreds of rounds daily to maintain his touch, tirelessly train in concealment skills, as well as master survival techniques in the wild—essentially a multi-talented killing machine.

Typical soldiers firing five to ten rounds a day at the range was already considered good training, but these snipers pushed themselves to nausea with their daily shooting practice.

If necessary, he could stay motionless for hours on end, just to wait for an important target.

To ensure the safety of snipers like him, the Great Tang Empire provided each sniper with ghillie suits, more comprehensive and comfortable multi-functional tactical vests; their helmets were specially made, lighter in weight and offering better protection.

“Right side! About 23 degrees.. do you see that target?” the observer, holding the camouflaged binoculars, alerted his partner, “An officer, could be a battalion commander.”

“23 degrees… I see your target. The epaulettes have been deliberately removed, and he’s wearing a steel helmet used by soldiers… I reckon he’s the battalion commander,” deduced the sniper.

“Who cares who he is, do you take the shot?” the observer asked, eyes glued to the target without blinking.

“I’m ready to fire,” replied the sniper, pressing down hard on the trigger guard with his finger before repositioning it on the trigger.

“Shoot. He’ll probably move soon,” the observer, still peering through the binoculars, watched the target.

A sudden gunshot reverberated in the air, and in the next second, the neck of the Dahua officer in the observer’s view blossomed into a flower of blood, splashing onto the face of a nearby person.

The target fell in response to the sound, collapsing into the trench never to be seen again. The sniper who fired withdrew his rifle and retreated into the trench: “Let’s go! This place won’t be safe anymore.”

He slung his rifle and strapped the backpack at his feet onto his back. The observer packed up his binoculars and then arranged his backpack before following the sniper, leaving this highly concealed position.

For safety considerations, they wouldn’t use this position anymore. The tactical manual stipulated that snipers generally weren’t allowed to return to the spot where they last fired.

…

At the position of the Dahua defending forces, by the time the medics arrived at the scene with their medical kits, they saw a ground covered in fresh blood and a lifeless body lying on the ground.

The gunshot victim had a hole in his neck, from which blood was pouring out, staining his military uniform and those of several other people.

Obviously, these people had tried to cover the wound of the unlucky guy who was shot, but the bullet had pierced a major artery, and the blood pressure was too high to be contained.

The military doctor walked over, knelt on the bloodstained ground, checked the person lying there, and then shook his head: “He’s already dead.”

He knew that if he was called over, the one who was hit must have been a big shot: ordinary soldiers’ deaths wouldn’t require the presence of a military doctor like him.

Everyone in the trenches fell silent; they certainly knew who had died—it was their Division Commander. These days, with the frequency of attack orders, even Senior Commanders had to frequently inspect various conditions of the troops at the front line.

But who would have thought, despite dressing as inconspicuously as possible, he was still located by the enemy’s sharpshooter. One shot to the throat, with no chance of survival.

“The enemy’s marksmanship is very accurate. In the past few days, seven or eight of us have been killed here, all officers…” Looking at the body of the Division Commander lying there, the accompanying battalion commander was embarrassingly reminded of the safety issues. He had warned about them, but who could have imagined that this would still happen.

“This can’t go on, let’s write a report and have the higher-ups take it seriously,” another officer glanced at the open area of the trenches where the Division Commander had just been hit and said, “The enemy’s sharpshooter is too powerful… it’s greatly affecting the morale of our front-line troops.”

“We’ve said this before, but there’s really not much we can do here,” the battalion commander said helplessly, spreading his hands: “We can only emphasize safety to the soldiers and avoid exposing their positions as much as possible.”

“We don’t have good communication means here, and calling for artillery support is not timely. By the time our artillery shells land, the enemy would have long fled,” the battalion commander said while people had already brought a stretcher and lifted the Division Commander’s body onto it.

“Relying on artillery is definitely out of the question…” The officer speaking also knew that his side did not have enough communication equipment deployed at the battalion level, and by the time the signal corps reported the possible hiding position of the sniper to the artillery, it would be too late.

In theory, the battalion headquarters should have mortars, but this was simply the state of the Dahua military: most battalion-level units did not have enough heavy weapons, and there was a severe shortage of mortars.

It wasn’t that there were no weapons at all; it was that the level of the operators was not up to par: they were unable to quickly determine coordinates, and mortar support was essentially haphazard.

Those with calculation capabilities and who were good at firing were in higher-level artillery units, even becoming artillery officers. How could they possibly be sent to serve in battalion or corps units?

“It would be best to find a few sharpshooters and take out the enemy sharpshooters to curtail their harassment tactics,” he said, looking at the bloodied battalion commander and asking, “What do you think?”

“It’s doable, but we don’t have any sharpshooters here,” said the battalion commander, clearly troubled. His unit was already having problems just with personnel replenishment, so where could he find sharpshooters?

“I’ll write a report and request some sharpshooters to come over!” That officer took responsibility for the problem: “This time, our division’s Division Commander has fallen. Without any action, how can we continue the offensive?”

The Dahua Empire did have some sharpshooters, but they didn’t have many high-performance sniper rifles. However, after clashing with the Great Tang Empire, the Dahua Empire had managed to source some sniper rifles and also started their mass production.

The performance of these rifles was at best enough to be called precision shooter rifles, using the higher quality and selected Shireck Model 1 bolt-action rifles, fitted with fixed 4x or 3x magnification scopes.

The advantage of such fixed-magnification scopes was that they did not require exceedingly high precision and could be manufactured with lower-level processing accuracy to be suitable for the complex conditions of the battlefield.

There were disadvantages too. These fixed-magnification scopes usually had low magnification values, either 3x or 4x, and larger magnifications were not easily produced.

Dahua sharpshooters equipped with these sniper rifles weren’t many, and they weren’t as widespread as those in the Great Tang Empire. Most of the time, commanders held on to them and were reluctant to deploy them into battle.

But under the current circumstances, deployment was a necessity: the Dahua Empire was exerting all efforts in the offensive against Fengjiang, and evidently, these Dahua sharpshooters were a key part of that effort.

Upon hearing the news that a Division Commander had been killed at the front line by an enemy sniper, Zhao Chen immediately ordered the sharpshooter troops to the front line for combat.