The accuracy of the first shot determined the lower limit of a person's shooting talent.
Put plainly, from the first shot a person fired, you could basically tell whether they were accurate, and how accurate.
Many talented shooters showed it from their first shot, and the proportion was very high, very high.
Only Gao Fei knew he had fired the first shot.
Without feeling the legendary recoil, the first shot came too suddenly; Gao Fei hadn't been mentally prepared, so he hadn't properly experienced it.
But he had definitely hit; Gao Fei was certain of that.
Too bad Sokholov hadn't seen it, so he was furious, glaring fiercely at Samir as he said, "You two, get the situation straight. I don't mind you posing as veterans, but you dare—"
He never got to say what they dared, because the machine gunner interrupted Sokholov.
"He hit it."
The machine gunner gripped his machine gun, eyes fixed on the armored vehicle that had been hit and was starting to burn. He said seriously, "I saw it. He hit it."
He completely disbelieved Samir's words, but when it came to his comrade's words, Sokholov had to believe them. Saying "You're pulling my leg" all the while, he finally turned to Gao Fei. "Did you really hit it?"
"Yes."
Sokholov furrowed his brow. He thought for a moment. "Hmm, it's possible you got lucky. If you want to prove yourself, it's simple—hit another enemy and show me."
Gao Fei also wanted to fire a shot to prove himself; or rather, he was now more curious than anyone whether he could still hit.
Because the first shot could very well have been a fluke, Gao Fei thought so himself.
But the infantry on the armored vehicles wouldn't run around stupidly after dismounting, nor stand still waiting to be shot. Unlike NPCs in a game, these soldiers would immediately drop to the ground or find cover right after getting out.
At that moment, the tank that had hit a mine fired a round, and then the remote-controlled machine gun on the turret began firing at the position directly ahead.
Under cover of the tank's firepower, the two surviving armored vehicles began moving forward. They wanted to form a triangle with the destroyed armored vehicle, so they could block bullets from both sides and cover the surviving soldiers' withdrawal.
Now Gao Fei couldn't see anyone at all. He wanted to shoot but had no target. Just as he thought he might have lost his shooting opportunity, the armored vehicle on the left hit a mine. With a thunderous explosion, that armored vehicle immediately stopped in place.
The armored vehicle on the right stopped.
Their nerve had broken, they didn't dare to charge, didn't dare to cover or rescue their comrades. The sole remaining armored vehicle began to retreat quickly.
Sokholov suddenly said, "Ready, ready!"
Sokholov hadn't finished speaking when Gao Fei saw a soldier who had just risen from a prone position and started running fast.
Aim, fire, hit, fall.
This shot was still too fast—too fast for Gao Fei to react much—so he was still unsure whether he had hit the target.
He watched the target rise and run no more than two steps before dropping forward again. He didn't know whether he'd hit it or the target had voluntarily gone prone.
"He hit it!"
"Good!"
"Fuck!"
Samir shouted excitedly. The machine gunner said "Good" calmly. Only Sokholov, like a madman, shouted, "Impossible, this isn't right."
The machine gunner said in a muffled voice, "Enough. Admit it. No one else fired at all, and only our position has a clear line of fire. Besides him, who else here fired?"
Sokholov clawed at his face hard, looking constipated as he said, "One look and you can tell he's a newbie who's never fired a gun. A hundred meters, a moving target—how could he possibly hit it? This isn't scientific. This isn't right."
Gao Fei suddenly said, "Not a hundred meters. Ninety meters."
Sokholov froze for a moment, then said incredulously, "You're pulling my leg? Now you're talking to me about distance? Listen! I'm very accurate at judging distance by eye. Fuck! Is this a question of a hundred meters versus ninety meters!"
Gao Fei said confidently, "Ninety meters. My eyes are a ruler."
"Okay, okay. You wait. You wait!"
Sokholov didn't argue too long. Confirming Gao Fei's words was too simple, because he had a laser rangefinder.
"Ninety meters, huh, hm?"
Sokholov casually pulled out a laser rangefinder, pressed the switch aimed at the armored vehicle, and the data immediately appeared: ninety-two meters.
There was some error, but not much.
"Hiss..."
He drew in a sharp breath. Sokholov looked at Gao Fei and said, "Are you a sniper? No, wrong, you're not a sniper."
Sokholov fell into self-doubt. He looked at Gao Fei and said, extremely puzzled, "I served four years, then worked five years as a shooting instructor and safety officer at a range in Vladivostok, then I fought five years in Syria. My experience is too rich. I've seen too many new recruits. Your body movements, your eyes, your expression—you're just a newbie rookie."
After saying that, Sokholov immediately overturned his own conclusion. With an expression of extreme bewilderment mixed with panic, he said, "But how did you hit it? Why is your distance judgment so accurate?"
What could Gao Fei say? Could he say his distance judgment was accurate because he'd practiced his eyesight when his father contracted to install solar streetlights for the village?
Silence was his only reply.
Samir was still trying to speak up for Gao Fei. He said softly, "Sir, we're in a battle. Can you be serious?"
Sokholov shouted sternly, "They can't get away. Not one of them. Cough, cough, hmm, cough, cough, uh..."
After making a series of strange sounds, Sokholov suddenly said, "Or you fire a shot. Fire another one for me to see. If you can hit it, hmm, I'll admit it. I'll believe you're not a rookie."
Gao Fei kept searching for a target, but he had no target to shoot at, because those soldiers were crawling on the ground, leaving him no shooting opportunity at all.
The ground wasn't flat. Besides trenches, there were ridges in the fields, irrigation ditches, shell craters—too many places offering cover.
And Gao Fei was standing in a trench, with only his head exposed. So unless the enemy stood up, he really had no shooting opportunity.
Just then, dense and accurate artillery fire came again. After more than thirty shells fell in succession, the tank with the broken track completely died, and both armored vehicles were also hit by shells.
No need to shoot anymore. The battle was basically over.
The good news was Gao Fei had only fired two shots.
The bad news was Gao Fei had only had the opportunity to fire two shots.
Now there was no target to shoot at. Gao Fei couldn't prove himself unless he shot at a fixed target, randomly shooting something to demonstrate his skill.
Actually, Gao Fei also really wanted to fire another shot, to see whether his first two shots had really been flukes.
"Or... I could shoot at a fixed target for you to see?"
Gao Fei was asking Sokholov for his opinion, but Sokholov sighed and said, "Without a high-powered scope, I can't observe the point of impact. Besides, what's the point of shooting at a fixed target?"
After saying that, Sokholov looked at his comrade and said to the machine gunner, "Is it my experience that's wrong, or my eyes that have a problem? This is unreasonable. This isn't scientific. Look at him—where does he look like a veteran? Does he look like one?"
The machine gunner hesitated for a moment, then shook his head. "I don't know. I only know I can't do it. I've never been a shooting instructor or a safety officer. Anyway, I don't know."
Chapter 10