Munitions Empire-Chapter 1008 - : 930 a psychological game
Chapter 1008: 930 a psychological game
Trying to locate the enemy’s sniper on the battlefield is a very complex task, requiring a meticulously crafted plan and selecting the most suitable option among many.
It is a process full of unknowns; on an already complex battlefield, you guess where the enemy sniper might appear and then choose a relatively safe position for yourself.
The danger lies in the enemy possibly predicting your thoughts, thus guarding those places you deem safe for concealment, even setting ambushes there, waiting for your arrival.
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Therefore, it is a process of strategizing; as a sniper, you need to anticipate the enemy’s mindset and then act contrary to their expectations, waiting for targets at their inevitable route or hiding spots.
When necessary, you also need bait, just like hunting. However, hunting involves placing bait in the target area, whereas killing the enemy’s sniper involves using real people as bait.
Whether the cunning fox will fall for it is unknown; everything on this battlefield is full of uncertainties, with infinite possibilities, and you might even risk your own life.
The snipers of the Great Tang Empire have a clear advantage in rifle range and sights precision, so Cao Fei decided to set up his sniping position beyond the typical combat range where the enemy would not expect.
This distance is approximately 400 meters, obviously beyond the regular sniper combat range. Aside from the Great Tang Empire, snipers in other countries typically engage between 200 to 300 meters.
Even the toughest snipers rarely fire beyond 300 meters, as people at that range appear almost the size of a coin five meters away in their scopes.
Hitting a target at such a distance is very difficult because you must also consider the wind speed and the recoil of the gun, among other factors.
Cao Fei doesn’t have to worry about these factors; his experience in targeting from 400 to 500 meters and his weapons support him in doing so; this is the advantage that technology provides.
The observer agrees with his view because at a distance of 400 meters, even if the enemy spots them, they have no assurance of an accurate shot.
It can be said, at this distance, they are almost safe. Except for enemy artillery fire, there is almost no risk.
“Yesterday, two men died here and here.” The observer marked the positions where two Fengjiang snipers had fallen on a very detailed map.
He had just communicated extensively with the local Fengjiang defense commander, discussing for a long time, virtually rehashing every issue.
The opponent was tormented by enemy snipers for days, constantly living in fear, which made them deeply resent these damn enemy snipers and remember many details about their own soldiers being sniped.
“It seems their sniping position isn’t fixed. No single position has the shooting angles for both these locations.” Cao Fei, after a quick glance, realized that the shots had come from two different angles.
“Could there be two sniper teams?” The observer cautiously suggested a possibility.
Cao Fei shook his head: “Unlikely, such density is not even manageable for machine gun teams, let alone snipers.”
“Which one should we focus on first?” The observer’s finger moved across the map, which featured many potential sniping spots marked with contour lines.
“I prefer the middle of the slope. The top is too conspicuous and easily targeted by artillery, while the middle slope has better vegetation.” Cao Fei pointed on the map and said: “Let’s first block this suspicious point and try our luck.”
“Your call!” The observer packed up the map, picked up the binoculars to scan the distance, and then cautiously navigated around a large crater made by a shell, heading towards their chosen position.
It indeed was a good spot, even behind the main positions of the Fengjiang defense forces. Nearby were numerous craters, with some vegetation resiliently growing at the edges, providing excellent cover for a sniper.
Climbing directly up the reverse slope to their corresponding position, the observer crawled to a slightly higher spot next to Cao Fei for observation; his angle was a bit better, allowing observation of slightly more area.
Cao Fei slowly moved below the observer, stretching out his rifle barrel wrapped in rags amid a clump of weeds, aiming through the gaps in the vegetation at the suspected position from which the enemy sniper had fired.
According to the manual of the Great Tang Empire’s snipers, under normal circumstances, it is generally not allowed for their snipers to return to a previous firing spot to continue combat.
However, this is the tactic manual for the snipers of the Great Tang Empire only. Other countries do not have such requirements; their sniper tactics are still in a very primitive stage, not even employing the assistant shooter tactic.
“Good visibility! I see that position.” Holding binoculars, the observer clearly spotted the probable hideout of the enemy sniper.
He surveyed the surroundings and even saw a soldier from the Dahua Empire wearing a Steel Helmet moving along a trench.
“I’m ready.” Cao Fei, through his own scope, also saw that very concealed pit; his position was elevated, allowing him to easily fire if the opponent returned to this shooting spot.
Usually, snipers enter their positions before dawn for safety, to reduce the chance of being detected by the enemy.
But because the sniper spot Cao Fei and his team chose was too far back, over 400 meters from their target, and because their sniper position was very concealed and not easily detectable, they directly reached there.
The position they suspected had no one, but some traces suggested that someone had likely been there.
Choosing such a place for a sniping post was very smart: it was low and easily overlooked. However, correspondingly, its field of fire was quite good at certain angles.
“He’s a smart one, too bad,” Cao Fei said motionlessly to his observer, looking at that spot: “If this were in Great Tang, he could probably be trained into a fine sniper.”
“Have you not regrettably killed around ten or at least eight people?” the observer responded without movement, still holding the binoculars.
The two of them were like two stones, lying motionless there, almost impossible to detect under the covers of their ghillie suits.
Unlike movie snipers, real battlefield snipers often have very boring jobs. These sharpshooters would often lie in one place for a half day without moving, waiting for a target all afternoon.
The problem is, waiting for a target might lead to no appearances, and one might not get a chance to fire a single shot all day.
That method of attracting enemies by sniping a few and drawing others to oneself isn’t impossible, but executing it is actually quite difficult.
You must find one or several excellent positions for killing the enemy before firing, to attract enemy snipers’ attention.
Before that, you also need to find potential enemy positions and good locations for ambushing them… Gathering all these conditions on the battlefield is challenging, and even when achieved, they need to be used cautiously.
After all, if the enemy sniper is smart enough, he might anticipate these tactics, and turn around to find where you plan to ambush him…
In short, it’s a series of battles of wits, each probe full of psychological gambits. It’s highly likely you’ve predicted an obvious strategy of the enemy, or you may have outsmarted their scheme, obtaining ultimate victory.
This waiting lasted for over an hour, during which neither of them moved; they lay there, listening to distant bombardments as if the rest of the world’s affairs had nothing to do with them.
These days, the Dahua Empire’s troops were fiercely attacking Fengjiang; the main direction of attack wasn’t here, so this area was relatively quiet and there were no significant changes in positions of both armies.
Both sides were fortifying their defensive positions, a practice that had been accumulating experience over the past two to three years, as it’s a training focus highly valued by the Dahua Empire.
Fearing the Great Tang Empire’s attacks, they emphasized the importance of constructing defensive fortifications whenever the troops stopped.
Thus, the entire front line was interspersed with trenches and reinforced hidden machine gun bunkers everywhere.
“It seems our prey didn’t show up here today,” Cao Fei said as the light began to fade.
“Ah… indeed,” the observer agreed, yawning: “Shall we kill a few minions to attract them?”
“Let’s wait another day and see; if we open fire now, we’ll lose the initiative, and the situation will become much more complicated.” Cao Fei took one last look at the distant target area, then withdrew his sniper rifle.
The observer also slowly shifted his body back; the sun had set, and most of the light had already disappeared below the horizon. They had chosen their position well, not facing the sunlight in the afternoon.
Clearly, they returned without success today, and the tedious wait will continue tomorrow. The distant sounds of bombardment continued, intensifying slightly as Fengjiang’s Air Force returned.
With the booming sounds of artillery, Cao Fei and his team returned to their hideout, had a steaming hot dinner, compensating somewhat for the hardship endured throughout the day.
