บท 17: Competition
Only fifty-three shells!
It was important to note that the PAK 36 anti-tank gun had a firing rate of one round per minute. With fifty-three shells divided among five guns, they would be exhausted in less than a minute.
After thinking for a moment, Qin Chuan called out to the artillerymen who had come to reinforce them, "Hey, I suggest you pull back three of the guns. Keep those three guns and the extra shells hidden in reserve and only bring them forward if we suffer losses!"
The artillery sergeant glanced at Qin Chuan's rank and responded mockingly, "Are you giving us orders, Private?"
He deliberately raised his head, showing off the sergeant's insignia on his collar in front of Qin Chuan.
Captain Basil noticed what was happening and shouted across the distance to the artillerymen, "Sergeant, his words are my orders. Do I need to repeat myself?"
"No, sir!" The artillery sergeant gave Qin Chuan a reluctant look before grudgingly pulling back the three anti-tank guns.
In the end, Qin Chuan's decision proved to be correct. The British were no fools; they would use artillery fire to suppress the Germans. While they might not immediately identify and target the anti-tank guns, Qin Chuan's approach maximized the chance that each shell would be fired at the target rather than being destroyed by British artillery or leaving the Germans with guns but no ammo or vice versa.
Basil was busy arranging the firepower. He seemed quite skilled at it, knowing exactly where to place machine guns, where to establish mortar positions, and so on.
But the snipers were even more crucial...
"Soldier!" Captain Basil called out to Qin Chuan, "Your name is Frick, right?"
"Yes, sir!" Qin Chuan responded.
Basil waved to the dozen or so men who had just reported in and said to Qin Chuan, "They're under your command now!"
"What?" Qin Chuan couldn't believe his ears. "Sir, I'm just a private!"
"Forget your rank!" Basil said impatiently. "They're snipers I've brought in. I can't find anyone more familiar with the situation and with sniper tactics than you. We don't have time, understand?"
"Yes, sir!" Qin Chuan then noticed that the dozen men were carrying rifles just like his, all equipped with scopes.
When he looked at their ranks, Qin Chuan felt a bit awkward because one of them was even a lieutenant.
"Alright, Private," the lieutenant asked Qin Chuan, "What's the plan?"
"Uh, here's the situation!" Qin Chuan fumbled to pull out the sketch from his pocket, the one he had torn from Basil's notebook.
"Our mission is to cover the anti-tank guns," Qin Chuan said. "The priority is to protect the anti-tank guns positioned here..."
As he spoke, Qin Chuan added a few marks to the paper, pointing out a spot directly across from the school.
"Right here!" Qin Chuan said. "Our job is to eliminate any threat to the anti-tank gunners. Other targets, like machine gunners or mortar teams, are not our concern."
After a brief pause, Qin Chuan gave instructions to the snipers, "Two teams on the right side of the street, two on the left, and the rest with me in the middle."
"Understood!"
"Understood!"
...
The snipers quickly paired up and spread out to their positions. To Qin Chuan's surprise, the lieutenant chose to stay with him.
"Don't worry!" the lieutenant said, "I'll follow your orders to the letter!"
Qin Chuan detected a hint of challenge in the lieutenant's tone, but he decided not to argue... after all, the lieutenant outranked him by several levels.
"Are you ready?" the baker asked Qin Chuan. He was responsible for coordinating the operation.
This might seem simple, but in an era before widespread radio communication, it was quite challenging. For instance, just to check if everyone was prepared, Basil had to send runners to ask around.
"Ready!" Qin Chuan replied, then led the remaining five snipers as they crouched and crawled up a mud-brick building.
The lieutenant lagged behind, and just as Qin Chuan was beginning to wonder why, he saw the lieutenant crouch and move toward him with two pieces of torn cloth he had somehow found. The lieutenant tossed one piece to Qin Chuan and said with a hint of sarcasm, "Private, aren't you going to camouflage yourself?"
Qin Chuan felt a bit embarrassed. He hadn't thought of that.
Then, as Qin Chuan watched the lieutenant and the other snipers skillfully tear the cloth and wrap it around their rifles and helmets, his embarrassment turned to shame. This was basic sniper work, and if Trigger hadn't been injured and left the battlefield early, Qin Chuan would have learned this by now.
Without thinking much more, Qin Chuan mimicked them, camouflaging his rifle and helmet, and even instinctively smeared his face with dust... After all, he had seen this in countless modern movies and TV shows.
The snipers then dispersed and each found their own hiding spots.
Qin Chuan chose a position behind a collapsed wall. Before settling in, he dusted the camouflage on his rifle and helmet to make them blend better with the wall's color.
He noticed that two snipers had chosen windows, and two others had positioned themselves in holes in the wall.
Suddenly, Qin Chuan realized... he didn't know where the lieutenant had gone!
At first, Qin Chuan didn't think much of it, but after some thought, he realized this was no small feat... As a sniper, the important thing wasn't just good marksmanship but also the ability to make others overlook your presence at any given time.
Qin Chuan had unconsciously overlooked the lieutenant's presence, even though he had just been beside him.
So, if this were a contest between Qin Chuan and the lieutenant, Qin Chuan had already lost a round.
This left Qin Chuan feeling a bit down, but he quickly found an excuse for himself... They had trained as snipers and had years of experience on the battlefield, while Qin Chuan had only been in this role for a few days. It was normal to have a gap between them.
This was Qin Chuan's habit; he would find excuses to dispel negative emotions, but that didn't mean he ignored his weaknesses or the gap between him and his opponents.
Then, Qin Chuan slowly extended his rifle, waited for a while, and then cautiously peeked out, his finger on the trigger, observing the school through his scope.
The school was about three hundred meters from Qin Chuan's position... This was thanks to the earlier German assaults, which had turned the buildings between the enemy and their positions into rubble under the bombardment from both sides.
Suddenly, Qin Chuan felt a chill down his spine. What if the building he was in became the next target for artillery fire? Would he end up as just another part of the rubble?
But there was no time to dwell on that now, because with a few muffled booms, three red signal flares rose into the sky... The attack had begun.
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