The marksman in Mailer's mouth was called a sniper in Xiao Letian's mouth. This name is very familiar to everyone, but the word sniper did not exist in the 19th century.
In fact, in the seventeenth century, after precision optical instruments were invented, humans had already tried to connect them with firearms to form weapons capable of precise shooting.
However, since the weapons at that time were all front-loaded muskets, it was useless no matter how accurate your aim was. Aiming correctly did not mean that the bullet would go in a straight line, so this technology did not receive much attention in the past two hundred years.
It was not until the mid-19th century, during the American Revolutionary War, that some clever American soldiers began to make minor modifications to their firearms. They wrapped projectiles with grease-soaked deerskin, and then carried out long-term lurking and long-distance sniping, and successfully At a distance of more than 300 meters, many senior British officials were killed.
At that time, there was even a new English word to describe these elusive sharpshooters, Sharpshooters. During the American Civil War, the study of precision shooting began to be systematized, and another term came into being. Masked man (markman).
The origin of this word reflects another characteristic of snipers, which is to lurk for a long time, with the butt of the rifle close to their face, so marksmen generally wear hoods, which is a kind of protection.
It was not until World War II that these two words were merged into one English word, and sniper is a sniper in the modern sense.
In Xiao Letian's memory, German optical instruments are world-famous. Before World War I, Germany had begun to form a secret sniper unit. The Allies suffered a heavy loss on the battlefield. Facts have proved that optical instruments The combination of instruments and rifled guns was a perfect combination. As long as there were snipers within a distance of four hundred meters, all the Allied officers would not dare to put their heads out of the trenches.
It is impossible for Xiao Letian to ignore this kind of low-cost and effective mass murderer. He has rifled guns. Optical instruments can be imported from the United States first, and then he can buy German products later. The remaining work is to select soldiers with excellent psychological quality. Just train.
In Xiao Letian's plan, he was willing to waste 100,000 rounds of bullets on one person. What kind of good shooter cannot be trained? If it weren't because the sniper unit was formed too late, or else Xiao Letian really wanted to take it to the European battlefield. Try it.
It was so exciting to practice marksmanship with the lives of Europeans, but I didn't expect that these dozens of snipers did not catch up with the Austro-Prussian war, but instead opened fire on Manchu soldiers.
The concrete wall of the industrial zone is nine meters high. Although the wall is not as spacious as the rammed earth city wall, it can still accommodate two people standing side by side, and there are many platforms built with wooden boards on it, on which snipers can fire calmly.
In order to increase the accuracy of shooting, this group of snipers gave up the continuous-fire Spencer and chose the single-shot Henry rifle with better performance, and it was the advanced model Winchester m1866, which was used during the American Civil War. It’s a clear gun, but there’s nothing to say about its firepower or reliability.
The rifles with hand-mounted scopes do not look very beautiful, but the effect of using them is incredible. This group of Manchu and Qing cavalry were running arrogantly more than 30 meters outside the wall. For snipers, this distance is as close as hunting. As simple as a rabbit.
"Save ammunition... shoot to death... this is a rare opportunity for actual combat... kill their flag bearer..." Following the officer's order, gunfire and white smoke were everywhere on the wall.
This group of snipers were really clever. Their bullets were aimed specifically at the center of the eyebrows and the pit of the heart. As long as they were hit, they would be dead. After a burst of gunfire, the cavalry regiment dropped more than 150 corpses.
Mailer was already frightened. He shouted, "Retreat...cover my retreat...you are all dead." As he shouted, the flag bearer next to Mailer was shot in the heart. The big flag representing Mailer Suddenly he fell to the ground.
"Melle is dead...the enemy's commander is dead...everyone shouts together..." The whole battlefield was in a commotion.
At this time, we can see the backwardness of the medieval army. They can only act according to the flag. Once the flag is knocked down, the morale of the army will immediately fall into chaos. In Xiao Letian's new army, the flag is more often the proof that the organization is still there. The soldiers are all It is to follow the officer's orders to act, and the sound of the military bugle is the order.
Mailer regretted it now. If he had known that there was such a powerful marksman on the wall, he would not have charged personally if he was killed. He didn't say a word or hesitate, and fled towards the formation, while While running, he shouted, "I'm not dead, you all stand behind me and hold me back..."
Who would listen to him at this time? The infantrymen in the trenches were afraid that their parents would lose two legs. They cried for their parents and crawled out of the trenches. The new soldiers behind them were like skewers of candied haws. With the same sting, within a short time the blood in the trench turned into a stream.
All the Europeans stopped. They looked at this brutal massacre with cold weapons and kept crossing themselves on their chests, "Oh God bless them, it's so cruel. This is the most cruel medieval war, pitiful..."
Sometimes Westerners are very merciful. When you just splashed shit on your head, you were so angry that you killed people. Now that you see a lot of blood, why are you shouting God again?
Tietoutuo in the trench was annoyed by the Europeans. He glared at them contemptuously, jumped out of the trench with his hands in the shape of a trumpet, and yelled at the wall.
"Damn it, you're just showing off, you just have a telescope on the gun, you're awesome, you're just showing off and you'll be killed with one shot."
"How did the Prime Minister teach us that the most important thing in war is to destroy the enemy's morale, not to compete in how many people are killed. You have killed a lot of enemies, but has the morale been affected? You are a bunch of trash..."
The brothers on the city wall didn't like hearing it anymore and retorted, "General, how do you say we will fight? We made mistakes in shooting and killing. Please give us a clear path and let me see if you have any good ideas..."
"Bah..." Tietoutuo spat blood on the ground. "Shoot, cripple them, and create more wounded soldiers for the enemy. This is the most effective way to lower morale."
As soon as these words came out, those foreigners who understood Chinese were stunned: "Oh God, this Eastern general is so insidious..."
Tietoutuo turned his head and said in a low voice, "Che, you guys are stupid. The Prime Minister has a lot of bad things in his stomach. This is what the Prime Minister taught me..."
"Don't kill the prisoners in the trenches. Capture them first."
Of course, snipers must obey the general's orders. In the current industrial zone, the highest ranking military officer is General Liu Lang, and the second highest ranking officer is Tietoutuo.
The sky is gradually getting dark, and snipers must seize the last shooting opportunity. The frequency of shooting on the city wall has obviously accelerated. The Qingyao soldiers who were fleeing for their lives on the battlefield were unlucky. Amidst the crackling gunshots, either they were shot in the shoulder or The knee was shot, and the wails of wounded soldiers were everywhere.
"Oh mother...my ankle...my ankle is punctured...fellow help me..."
"My kneecap, my kneecap is gone...it hurts."
"For the sake of stirring the rice spoon in the same pot, I should give my brother a hand. My calf is broken..."
"Wang Er, you are a wicked person, you just know how to run away. Last month I even asked you to smoke a big cigarette... Now you don't even save me..."
If a sniper wants to get some seriously injured people, it's not easy. He just needs to shoot at the limbs and shoulders. Once the fragile joints of the human body are damaged, current medical skills are basically useless.
Casualties were being caused not only on the wall, but also in the trenches. The captive Qing soldiers kneeling on the ground kowtowed like garlic, but they could not get any sympathy from Tietutuo.
Tietoutuo had a cigarette in his mouth and a polished ax in his hand. He pointed at a prisoner and shouted, "Death or life." The Qing soldiers quickly kowtowed and shouted for life.
"If you want to live an easy life, stretch out your hand..." A cold light flashed in Tietutuo's hand, and the prisoner's two thumbs were severed alive.
"Ah." The Qing soldier screamed and fled away. Tietoutuo didn't come back and said, "Throw it out and leave it to the Qing demons to raise..."
"Next time...you have to die or live."
"Ancestor, please let me go..." The prisoner tried his best to hide his hands behind his back.
"Oh, this is about to die..." With a click of the ax, the prisoner's head fell off halfway, and blood spurted all over the prisoner behind him.
"Throw it out...the next one...will die or live..."
The new troops and foreign reinforcements in the trenches were all dumbfounded. They didn't expect Tietoutuo to be so cruel. He killed prisoners just like he killed chickens. He would chop off the heads of anyone who didn't let him chop off their fingers.
"Watch whatever you want, learn from me, chop off your head if you want to die, chop off your fingers if you want to live... Hurry, it's getting dark, dinner will be served soon..."
Until this time, the foreigners behind the trenches finally couldn't bear it anymore. The stench of feces and urine surrounded him, and there was such a bloody and barbaric scene in front of them. Some of them with poor psychological quality all vomited.
There were not many prisoners in the trenches, only more than 300 people in total. The finger-cutting torture finally ended before dark. Tietutuo pointed to the outside of the trenches and shouted, "Get out of here now...wait for us to give it to you." Are you ready for dinner? I don’t care for idlers... drag away those who were injured on the battlefield..."
The prisoners couldn't believe their ears. Cutting off two fingers would give them freedom. They couldn't figure out whether this deal was a good deal or not.
With the last ray of sunset, all the captured Qing troops withdrew from the battlefield, and the Qing camp in the far west gradually lit up with fire. It seemed that Mailer was going to fight for a long time.
There was a young soldier who didn't understand Tietoutuo's intention, so he came close to him and asked in a low voice, "General, what kind of punishment is cutting off your thumb? This is too indignant to the enemy."
"Shit, what do you know? If a person loses two thumbs, then his hands are useless. Try eating, shooting, and swinging a knife without using your thumbs... This is called science, do you understand?"
"As for the wounded soldiers, do they need to be bandaged when they are put back? Do they need to find someone to take care of them? Will they scream in pain? Haha... Let them pass miserably. This is a good way to demoralize the enemy. .”
Note: College Entrance Examination students, cheers.
