Mercenary I am the king

Chapter 1130 A Shot from Extreme Long Range

Song Heping and the cook exchanged a glance, both seeing the same thing on each other's blood-stained and gunpowder-smoke-covered faces—resentment.

They silently adjusted their posture, checked the condition of their weapons, and prepared for the final moment.

Like the Wagner team members and government soldiers who died in battle around them, they were prepared to fight to their last breath.

Death is nothing more than a long sleep.

Thinking of this, Song Heping inexplicably laughed.

The cook glanced at Song Heping and couldn't help but laugh.

"I wonder...how are things...with Jiang Feng...and Arseni...?"

As he spoke, gazing at the sky in the east, which was gradually turning a pale white but was obscured by thick smoke, he murmured to himself, "If... if they succeed... and take down their base... then this... fight... won't be a complete loss..."

Just as Song Heping was about to speak, a soft crawling sound came from behind.

Wagner's team member, who had been observing from upstairs, emerged from the building, his face covered in soot, sweat, and dried blood, and crouched low as he approached.

"What are you doing here?"

The cook frowned.

The spotter is a member of the sniper team and is also responsible for observing the enemy situation from a high vantage point.

At this moment, the "Victory Front" members could launch a new attack at any time, and his running down was tantamount to abandoning his post.

"Boss..."

The observer's voice trembled slightly with excitement and weakness, and he spoke very quickly.

"I...I was just over there...at one o'clock! About a kilometer away! On the roof of that tallest white government building! There were people! With whip antennas! At least four or five people! They were constantly looking this way with binoculars! It's definitely a command center! I suspect...I suspect it might be a big fish!"

Upon hearing this, the cook's spirits lifted instantly. He struggled to sit up straight, but the movement aggravated his wound, causing him to gasp in pain: "Are you sure?! The distance?! You measured it accurately?!"

"Absolutely certain! I checked it three times with a laser rangefinder! 1024 meters! The error is no more than five meters!"

The observer's tone was extremely certain, but it quickly dimmed, filled with frustration and helplessness.

“But… Andrei… was killed in the last round of shelling… I… I’m not sure… This distance… is too far… SVD… this is almost an impossible mission…”

The SVD Dragunov sniper rifle is designed with an effective range of 800 meters, but that is against groups of personnel.

In fact, accurate sniping of a single target can only be better guaranteed within 600 meters.

More than 1000 meters?
The effects of wind deflection, humidity, temperature, Earth's curvature, and even the Coriolis effect on bullets will be amplified to the extreme!
This goes beyond the precision of the firearm itself, relying more on the shooter's extraordinary experience, intuition, and...

luck!

Song Heping and the cook exchanged a glance instantly!
Both were experienced veterans and immediately understood the significance and value of that observation point at that moment.

At a time when the offensive is thwarted and the troops are suffering heavy casualties, the person who can still "leisurely" watch the battle from a high place at an absolutely safe distance in the rear and give orders to the front line must be someone of extraordinary status!
It is highly likely that this is Abu Omar himself, the supreme commander of the "Victory Front" offensive!

An opportunity to behead someone!
This may be the only chance to turn the tide of the battle!

"Take me to the sniping spot! Quickly!"

Without the slightest hesitation, Song Heping turned to the cook and said, "You stay here and keep an eye on things. I'll go up and check."

After saying that, he and the sniper crouched down and, using the ruins and smoke as cover, quickly and silently sneaked into the half-collapsed four-story building next door.

Climb the rickety stairs to the rooftop platform.

The body of the deceased Wagner sniper, Andrei, still lies quietly face down in his pre-selected sniper position, maintaining the firing posture of his last moments.

His meticulously maintained SVD sniper rifle lay quietly to one side, its classic walnut stock pressed against the concrete, the lens of the PSO-1 optical sight reflecting a cold luster in the dim morning light.

Song Heping silently wished for his safety, carefully crawled over, gently took down the Soviet-made sniper rifle, and began to quickly examine it.

The bolt action moves smoothly...

The rifling is intact...

The scope was undamaged...

There was also a magazine fully loaded with 7N1 special sniper rounds.

He slowly moved to a relatively large hole in the wall that had been blasted open by previous artillery fire. Here, the view was relatively open, and it also provided good lateral cover and concealment.

He quickly set up his gun, adjusted his prone position, and made his body as comfortable and stable as possible.

I opened the scope's lens cap and slowly pressed my right eye against the eyepiece.

The field of vision was instantly zoomed in, but the white government building in the distance still appeared somewhat distant and blurry even at a magnification of 4 times.

He moved the muzzle of his gun slowly and very subtly, carefully searching the rooftop.

Soon, he spotted several blurry, swaying figures! Due to the distance, only their general outlines could be seen through the scope, but the gesture of pointing with the binoculars and the slightly respectful posture of the person next to him confirmed the observer's judgment.

The reticle markings on the scope are already quite cramped and insufficient at a distance of 1000 meters.

"Wind direction...southwest, wind speed 4 meters per second, gusts increasing to about 6 meters per second...humidity..."

The observer lowered his voice and spoke rapidly but clearly, reciting a series of key data.

Song Heping's brain was like a top-of-the-line computer, frantically processing this information—

At a distance of 1024 meters, the trajectory drop of a 7.62x54mm R round would be extremely pronounced, requiring a significant elevation adjustment beyond the range indicated on the PSO-1 scope's reticle. The aiming point would almost entirely depend on estimation and experience, virtually elevating it to a very distant area above the target. A crosswind of 4-6 meters per second would also result in a staggering amount of wind drift correction; furthermore, the target was not stationary, but rather slightly moving and turning…

This was a shot that pushed the limits.

The success rate is so slim it can be ignored!

He only had one chance to fire.

Once the trigger is pulled, the muzzle flash and sound will immediately reveal his exact location, which will inevitably be followed by a fierce and overwhelming retaliatory barrage from the enemy.

Therefore, you must run away after you've finished fighting.

He took a deep breath and then slowly exhaled, trying to calm his racing heart and breathing.

With all muscles relaxed, yet mind highly focused, one strives to achieve a profound state of "man and gun as one."

My index finger rested lightly on the cold trigger, and I began to pre-press.

Based on the data reported by the observer and his own honed experience and intuition, he subtly, almost millimeter-level, adjusted the direction and elevation of the muzzle.

This is no easy task.

For ultra-long-range sniping, the pointed crosshair is like a mischievous, restless child, constantly swaying with each breath and heartbeat.

In the scope, the rough crosshairs were not aimed at the blurry figure, but rather at the empty sky high above the figure, and were offset to the right by a considerable distance from the direction of the wind.

In reality, the front sight wasn't aimed at the person at all, because 1024 meters was beyond the adjustment limit of the PSO-1 scope reticle.

……

One kilometer away, on the rooftop of the government building.

Abu Omar has just received an urgent communication from the Otaba camp on the southern front.

When he heard the news that the camp had been attacked by unidentified armored forces, the international mercenaries had been routed, and the mountains of ammunition and food supplies had been destroyed and burned, his face turned ashen, as if he had been punched hard in the stomach!
"Commander! Otaba is lost! Our logistical support is completely cut off! We must retreat immediately! Regroup and reorganize! Otherwise, if the enemy attacking Otaba moves north and attacks from both sides with the garrison at Haibab, our main force will be in danger!"

His confidant whispered anxiously in his ear, his voice filled with terror.

"Bullshit!"

Omar's expression shifted rapidly, his mind in turmoil.

He abruptly turned his head and looked again at the entrance to Haibab III, which was so close at hand. The gunfire there seemed to have thinned out, and the defenders' firepower had clearly weakened, as if it could be breached at any moment.

The immense temptation of achievement and the overwhelming sense of resentment devoured his last shred of reason like a venomous snake.

"No!!! The defenders of Haibab are no longer capable of a counterattack! They're just one step away! Just one last step!!"

He roared almost hysterically, turned around abruptly, snatched the spare binoculars handed to him by his deputy, and shouted uncontrollably.

"No retreat! No one is allowed to retreat! Let them continue their attack! Put all forces into it! Haibaib is about to..."

Just as he abruptly turned around, raised his binoculars, and tried to observe the battlefield again, his head momentarily remained relatively still due to excitement and movement—

On the rooftop, Song Heping held his breath, as if all the noise from the outside world had vanished in an instant.

His world consisted only of the target, the crosshair, breathing, and the critical point of that cold trigger.

My fingertips felt that tiny displacement.

It's now!

He pulled the trigger.

boom--! ! !
The distinctive crisp sound of the SVD gun suddenly rang out in the morning mist.

The flames spewing from the gun muzzle resembled a cluster of flowers suddenly blooming in the dim morning light.

A slender 7N1 sniper bullet, spinning at an initial velocity of 830 meters per second, detached from the muzzle and mercilessly tore through the air, embarking on its mortal journey toward the target 1024 meters away.

The bullet takes about 1.3 seconds to travel.

In those brief yet incredibly long 1.3 seconds, this tiny warhead had to overcome the immense downward pull caused by gravity, resist the constant deviation caused by the continuous crosswinds, and endure the subtle disturbances caused by different air densities and temperatures...

Even the slightest variable could cause it to stray far from its target at such a great distance.

Song Heping stared intently at the blurry target through the scope.

Time stretched infinitely in his senses.

The observer on the side also felt his mouth was dry and swallowed hard.

Shortly afterward, both of them saw the figure who had raised the binoculars seem to sway very slightly.

far away--

Just as Abu Omar raised his binoculars, his gaze about to refocus on the carnage at Entrance Number Three—

puff!

A soft but deadly thud, like a ripe watermelon being smashed, suddenly rang out!
Omar suddenly flung the white Arab headscarf he was wearing backward!
　I recommend my friend "One Shot Eight Hundred Miles"'s article on the War of Resistance Against Japan, titled "The War of Resistance: I Really Don't Understand What Special Operations Are." It's a great book by Yan Shuangying, a talented author. Check it out if you're interested.

(End of this chapter)