Chapter 269: Life-and-Death Sniping
The SVD sniper rifle, also known as the Dragunov sniper rifle, was designed by the former Soviet Union in 1963 and put into use in 1967. It is an extremely sturdy and durable semi-automatic sniper rifle. It uses the now relatively uncommon 7.62×54mm rimmed cartridge, and the whole gun weighs around five kilograms, making it relatively easy to identify.
The Green Scorpion lying on the ground was using this sniper rifle. Its characteristics are simplicity and durability, but its accuracy is not very high, especially at long range. Because the semi-automatic action causes barrel movement, it affects long-distance shooting accuracy. Its effective range is about six hundred meters, and its shooting accuracy is about 2 MOA.
Based on this rifle, Huaxia's Type 79 improved model is the Type 85 sniper rifle. The "Anti-Sniper Acoustic Detection System" on Zhang Yang's vehicle determined that the sudden gunshot just now was fired by an SVD or a Type 85 sniper rifle using rimmed ammunition, with a distance of 1,300 to 1,350 meters from this location.
Judging from the shooting direction, it happened to form a triangular relationship with the position where Pan Ningning was located, because she should be roughly at the twelve o'clock direction ahead.
Zhang Yang quickly performed a simple calculation on the vehicle computer and immediately reached a conclusion. If Pan Ningning had not moved after shooting Li Ping earlier, she would now be roughly more than six hundred meters away from the source of the SVD or Type 85 sniper rifle, just slightly beyond the effective range of the SVD.
Moreover, the newly improved SVD still has considerable lethality even at a thousand meters. If the shooter is professional enough, sniping at a target at a kilometer is not a problem.
So after reaching the conclusion, Zhang Yang immediately cursed, "Damn it!"
If this sniper was also using an SVD, then he was definitely part of the same group as the Green Scorpion. No one on his side had been shot... so did that mean Pan Ningning was in danger?
He quickly took out his phone. After Pan Ningning shot Li Ping earlier, she had sent him a simple text message. He had her number.
The phone rang for a long time, but no one answered. Zhang Yang knew her phone used a very special micro-vibration mode, but she should still be able to sense it. There was no way she wouldn't notice.
So there were only two possibilities: first, she didn't dare answer because she was afraid of exposing her position; second, she might already be dead… Zhang Yang hesitated and glanced at Tang Qiqi. No matter what, he had to go check.
"What's wrong?" Seeing Zhang Yang's face suddenly turn grim, Tang Qiqi looked up sharply, seemingly noticing something as well. "I feel like something happened to her."
Twin-sense? Zhang Yang became even more conflicted. Did something really happen to Pan Ningning?
"Lao Yi!" Zhang Yang quickly jumped out of the car and shouted toward Lao Yi in the distance. He was currently crouching on the road, making himself an obvious target. If the enemy did have backup, he would be a sitting duck.
"Boss!" Lao Yi had clearly heard the gunshot earlier. After confirming Zhang Yang was unharmed, confusion appeared on his face. "That shot just now…"
"A sniper! Most likely an SVD…" Zhang Yang glanced at Li Ping beside Lao Yi and hesitated. "You all withdraw first…"
"Boss, I want to take her with me." Lao Yi's voice sounded somewhat uncertain.
At this moment, Xiao You drove the truck over. Zhang Yang thought for a moment and nodded. "Alright, take the truck and leave first, but leave the Land Rover behind."
Earlier, he had examined Li Ping's wound. The bullet had passed through her lung. Even if she were sent to the hospital immediately, she might not survive. She must be in excruciating pain right now, struggling to breathe, her chest feeling like it was being stabbed with needles. The fact that she held on this long was remarkable.
Zhang Yang originally wanted to put her out of her misery out of humanitarian concern, but Lao Yi arrived just in time. Whatever grievances they had, let them resolve it themselves.
As he was thinking this, Zhang Yang heard a gunshot. When he turned around, Lao Yi was holding a gun with a blank expression. The muzzle was pointed at Li Ping's chest, and she seemed to have stopped breathing.
It seemed Lao Yi didn't want her to suffer any longer.
He then crouched down and gently picked her up, walking toward them.
Zhang Yang sighed, stepped forward, looked at the lifeless Li Ping in his arms, hesitated, then patted Lao Yi's shoulder. Glancing at the sniper's direction earlier, he said, "The road ahead might be blocked. You should reverse back to the village and wait for reinforcements."
"Got it, Boss!" Lao Yi didn't seem too emotionally affected, but Zhang Yang knew he was likely just putting up a front. Whether it was sorrow or regret depended on what Li Ping said to him before she died.
Zhang Yang picked up the scattered firearms and the SVD Li Ping had used. There was an SSG69 in the Land Rover's trunk, but no ammunition, while her SVD still had bullets.
Since he needed to check on Pan Ningning's situation, Zhang Yang naturally needed a weapon for self-defense. But whether to bring the SSG69 or the SVD made him hesitate. After all, the SSG69 was far more accurate than the SVD—superior in every way—and he was already familiar with it. Unfortunately, it had no bullets.
But then again, if he found Pan Ningning, he could replenish ammunition.
Zhang Yang hesitated only briefly before returning to the car and handing the SVD to Tang Qiqi.
"What for?" Tang Qiqi's eyes lit up slightly when she saw the SVD in his hands.
Zhang Yang noticed this and said calmly, "I know you can use this thing. With the system in the car backing you up, you should be able to provide support from behind. I'm going to find Pan Ningning."
"Aren't you afraid I'll put a bullet in your back?"
Zhang Yang glanced at her, too lazy to even respond. He went to the trunk, took out the SSG69, grabbed an emergency medical kit, strapped it on, zipped up his jacket, and prepared to head up the mountain.
Just then, Lao Yi got out of the truck and walked to Zhang Yang's side. "Boss, I'll go up the mountain with you."
Zhang Yang hesitated briefly, then shook his head. "The more people there are, the easier things go wrong. How about this—you stay in the Land Rover and wait for me. At least I'll have someone watching my back."
Lao Yi thought about it. After all, he was a veteran. If the enemy really had a sniper, going together with only one rifle would only make things worse. Staying in the vehicle would let him use the system to track the enemy's position. So he nodded without further fuss.
Of course, he only agreed because he knew how powerful Zhang Yang was now. In his eyes, Zhang Yang was simply a monstrous existence—whether in combat skills or marksmanship, far beyond him.
"Also, keep an eye on Tang Qiqi. She can protect herself, but she's still a bit impulsive." Zhang Yang added.
"Understood, Boss. Be careful."
Zhang Yang smiled, patted the bulletproof vest under his jacket, made an OK gesture, and was about to leave when footsteps suddenly approached.
"Wait, I'm coming with you." Tang Qiqi ran over with the SVD in hand.
Zhang Yang frowned, glanced at her, and said, "If you come with me, we die together. If you don't, I have a better chance of surviving…"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Tang Qiqi's face darkened. "Are you saying I'll slow you down?"
"Pretty much." Zhang Yang ducked into the grass. "If you really want to help, cooperate with Lao Yi…"
"Bastard, who cares. Go die!" Tang Qiqi stomped her foot, looked at his fading figure, hesitated, but ultimately felt the bastard made sense, so she reluctantly ran back to the car.
As soon as she sat in the driver's seat, her expression changed. She glanced at Lao Yi and asked calmly, "Where's the shooter's position?"
Lao Yi checked and gave her the coordinates of the SVD's firing origin.
Tang Qiqi immediately got out, mounted the sniper rifle on the front hood, took a quick aim, then got back in the car. "You drive!"
"Drive?" Lao Yi frowned. "Boss told us to wait here for him."
"You're a veteran. Do I really need to teach you this?" Tang Qiqi sneered. "Drive forward a bit and we can shorten the distance to the shooter. As long as we get within a kilometer, if the enemy notices us, they'll definitely attack. If he's using an SVD, he can't penetrate our bulletproof glass. But we can kill him from here…"
"Even if we can't kill him, we'll draw his attention…"
"I get it. This tactic can cover Boss."
"Nonsense. Now drive!" she said while checking the SVD skillfully. Lao Yi glanced at her movements, suspicion rising. She could use a sniper rifle?
Meanwhile, Zhang Yang had crouched low and moved through the grass for a short distance when a gunshot came from the foot of the mountain. He frowned, took out his phone, and connected to the Land Rover's onboard computer.
"SVD… looks like Lao Yi and the others aren't sitting around!" Zhang Yang checked the distance between the Land Rover and the enemy target—exactly one kilometer. "Not sure whose idea that was, but it's clever. SVD versus SVD, but with our side having a bulletproof vehicle, the enemy is at a clear disadvantage. This will definitely pull the sniper's full attention."
He looked up at the sky. With his back to the light relative to the enemy's position, he carefully scanned the area through the SSG69's 6× Kahles SF69 scope but found nothing suspicious.
However, the Anti-Sniper Acoustic Detection System's data indicated the enemy's location was indeed there. The sniper probably moved immediately after firing.
But since Lao Yi and the others had fired, the sniper would definitely retaliate. Even if not immediately, his attention would be completely on them.
"This is my chance to speed up. Whether Pan Ningning is alive or dead, I have to bring her back." Zhang Yang exhaled a puff of white breath. Although the sun was out, it was still cold in the mountains.