Chapter 18: System Level Classification

Li Erniu ignored him, head down as he loaded bullets.

By now Li Erniu was no longer the rookie who, upon seeing a tank charge, would jump up in fright and want to run when he first enlisted; moreover, after over a year of getting along, his relationship with Wang Yanbing had become that of trusted comrades.

As for Wang Yanbing, the guy who felt his mouth was wasted if he didn't speak for a moment, Li Erniu wouldn't retort directly like He Chen Guang, but he could still ignore him.

Seeing Li Erniu not respond, Wang Yanbing stopped pressing, loaded the magazine, checked the safety, then held the rifle with his right hand, placed the gun on his right side, tilted the muzzle forward toward the sky, and stood at attention.

Once the three were ready, Chen Shanming stepped back a few steps, picked up the walkie-talkie, pressed the talk button, and said: "Target trench, attention, firing begins!"

Then he looked at Chen Guang and the three, pointed to a nearby supported prone firing position, and ordered in a low voice: "Advance to the first firing line, move out!"

He Chen Guang and the three again replied in unison, holding their rifles with one hand, keeping the muzzle direction unchanged, they marched to the firing position, almost simultaneously went prone, opened the safety with the prone sniping motion, pulled the bolt back to chamber a round, and waited for the target to appear.

This time's shooting target was not an ordinary stationary target.

The three had already realized this.

But they hadn't expected it to be a moving target either; it was a concealed-and-exposed target.

So-called concealed-and-exposed targets appear irregularly, with unpredictable intervals of several seconds, then disappear again.

But when they appear again, they will certainly not be in the previous position.

This kind of shooting target is quite useful for sniper training.

Because a sniper's mission target will never be a stone lying there motionless for a long time, giving the sniper ample aiming time until a precise hit can be assured.

Perhaps in many people's impression, a former soldier who can score ten rings with ten shots in target practice is considered incredibly badass.

In fact, achieving that only requires decent eyesight, slightly better mental fortitude, and steady breathing without hand shake at the moment of pulling the trigger.

A true marksman doesn't show off scores from shooting immobile targets.

Moving targets are just entry-level.

Only concealed-and-exposed targets count as having entered the hall.

So-called concealed-and-exposed targets are those that appear and disappear intermittently.

Their appearance time usually does not exceed five seconds.

Only if one can precisely lock onto the target and pull the trigger within five seconds or even less can one be called a marksman.

If you don't believe it, you can ask any elderly person who participated in that war decades ago, whether anyone back then on the battlefield shot at immobile targets.

"Bang!" A somewhat dull gunshot startled everyone present except Chen Shanming and the two soldiers responsible for issuing ammunition.

The first to fire was naturally Wang Yanbing, who had been barely restraining himself.

Three seconds after the target appeared within his area of responsibility, his rifle fired.

Unfortunately, he missed.

Moreover, the recoil of the Type 10 Sniper Rifle, far exceeding that of the Type 88 Sniper Rifle, shocked his shoulder into a dull ache.

Large-caliber sniper rifles naturally have a much longer effective range. Naturally, the propellant load inside the cartridge is also considerably greater.

More propellant produces more gunpowder gas; naturally, the impact force when the gas pushes the bolt back through the gas port is greater, so the recoil increases accordingly.

"Bang!" Li Erniu's rifle was the second to fire.

Better than Wang Yanbing, Li Erniu at least hit the target, though only a five-ring.

Moreover, thanks to adequate preparation beforehand, Li Erniu was affected by recoil far less than Wang Yanbing.

"Bang!" The last to fire the first shot was naturally He Chen Guang.

And it was a precise hit, a nine-ring.

Wang Yanbing still hated the electronic real-time target verification after its improvement, this being the first time he felt so strongly about it.

Damn… his first shot missed the target, and with two comparisons, that mental pressure is no small thing! However, this guy's mental quality is clearly good, his nerves are thick, and he didn't become especially tense because of it; around four seconds after the target appeared the second time, his rifle fired first again.

This time it was a ten-ring! Besides Liu Xiaotian, the twenty other soldiers collectively let out a low gasp.

Everyone's thought was basically the same: No wonder he's a soldier of the Sharpshooter Fourth Company—he's indeed formidable!

However, Li Erniu's and He Chen Guang's second shots were also ten-rings.

With ten bullets, He Chen Guang scored ninety-seven rings, missing none; Li Erniu scored ninety-three rings; all hit the target.

Wang Yanbing scored ninety rings, with one miss.

Don't look at Wang Yanbing's one miss; judging by his scores, he might even be the most accurate of the three! He Chen Guang had three nines and seven tens; Li Erniu had one five, two nines, and seven tens; while Wang Yanbing, aside from that one miss, had all ten tens on his remaining nine shots! No one noticed that, as this guy happily checked his rifle and released the safety, rising from the ground, Chen Shanming, standing seven or eight meters behind him, kept gritting his teeth in secret, wishing he could rush forward and kick this bastard to death! It's obvious his first shot was just showing off, to be the first to fire, without aiming properly.

However, Chen Shanming eventually restrained himself, ordered the three to put their rifles away, then turned and glanced at the neatly lined-up remaining twenty-one soldiers, finally fixing his gaze on Liu Xiaotian:

"You, which rifle do you choose?"

Chen Shanming hoped Liu Xiaotian would choose the Type 10 Sniper Rifle.

Because although this sniper rifle is nominally mainly used to destroy important local facilities and certain heavy weapons, if used to snipe a single target it is also a major killer.

After all, with a 12.7mm caliber, even a hit to the heel can blow off a large chunk of flesh while leaving the victim crippled.

As long as the deviation isn't huge, even if aiming at the head but hitting the stomach, this 12.7mm bullet is enough to kill the person hit! Know that the wound from such a bullet, after penetration, could rival the mouth of a sea bowl! But Liu Xiaotian's answer completely defied Chen Shanming's expectations.

"Report Instructor, could I… choose both?"

Hearing Liu Xiaotian's words, Chen Shanming visibly froze for a moment, then returned to normal, lightly saying "Suit yourself," and gestured for someone to fetch ammunition.

Wang Yanbing, who had just put his rifle back, was also startled by Liu Xiaotian's words, came over and said with a mysterious chuckle: "What are you up to? Take it easy, this isn't the time to show off!"

Although the words were a bit rough, Liu Xiaotian could tell Wang Yanbing was worried he'd embarrass himself in Chen Shanming's first training session.

He smiled at Wang Yanbing and replied softly: "Don't worry, I've got this."

(End of chapter)