161: Chapter 160 General 161: Chapter 160 General Shooting clay targets with a Benelli M4 is much more difficult than using a specialized competition shotgun because the Benelli M4 is a military and police shotgun.
Its barrel is much shorter, which causes the buckshot to spread quickly after leaving the barrel, reducing the range significantly compared to guns with longer barrels, and the accuracy is also much lower.
There were some changes to the rules this time because we were using semi-automatic shotguns.
If a clay target was missed, it could be quickly followed up with another shot.
However, we only had sixty rounds each.
If too many bullets were wasted on a single target, there’d be none left for the remaining ones, which was basically the same as having only one chance per target.
Gao Yang and Simon each took sixty rounds of ammunition, then almost simultaneously began shooting.
Both of their hit rates had dropped significantly compared to when they were using competition-grade double-barreled shotguns, and their shooting habits differed.
Simon would always follow up with another shot if he missed, refusing to stop until the clay was shattered, while Gao Yang would give up on a missed one and wait for the next target.
The two competitors exchanged turns, neither one slow, with similar hit rates.
But the scene was much more impressive on Simon’s end; he consistently turned the airborne clays into puffs of red mist, while on Gao Yang’s side intact clays occasionally fell to the ground.
Even though Gao Yang’s performance wasn’t as visually striking as Simon’s, his score was leading.
By the time they had fired their twenty-first rounds, Gao Yang had hit fourteen targets and Simon had hit twelve.
Both men were silent, focused on calmly making each shot count.
But Simon proved he was an expert with a shotgun.
Once he began to grasp the knack for hitting the clays, he caught up to Gao Yang’s number of hits.
By the last round of seven bullets, they were tied, with fifty-three shots each and twenty-nine hits.
With only seven bullets left, Gao Yang did not pause.
Instead, he continued to shoot the last seven rounds at his most comfortable pace, while Simon slowed his shooting speed.
Gao Yang hit four out of the last seven targets, whereas Simon only hit three.
But Simon still had one shot left.
If he hit with his last shot, it would result in a tie.
If he missed, Gao Yang would win.
Simon’s face was tense.
He’d made a slight mistake with the previous shot, but he was confident he could nail the last one.
He felt he could at least maintain a tie or deal with a tiebreaker, and he was even confident of winning if it came to that.
Simon shouted, and as the clay target flew quickly towards the point where it would be closest to him, ready to pull the trigger, he suddenly heard a commanding and familiar voice.
“Simon!”
Upon hearing the voice, Simon’s hand trembled slightly as he pulled the trigger, undoubtedly missing the shot.
Far from being displeased with the interruption, Simon turned around as fast as he could, snapped to attention, saluted, and loudly responded, “Present!”
The person who interrupted Simon was an old man in his sixties, his shoulders adorned with the rank of a brigadier general.
Behind him stood at least a hundred soldiers in uniform, most of whom were inexplicably not carrying guns, with only a dozen or so armed.
However, Gao Yang was startled when he turned to see the old man; he didn’t realize that a large group had gathered behind him.
Luckily, he hadn’t been distracted during his shooting.
Simon’s face flashed with excitement.
After saluting, he rapidly approached the general, saluted again, and exclaimed with emotion, “Sir, I’m so pleased to see you!
When did you arrive?”
The general smiled faintly and said, “Around the time you had fired about forty shots, I suppose.
I waited until the very end, finally, I waited until the crucial moment.
That’s right, I called you specifically to make you lose the match.”
SImon made a face like he had eaten something bitter, and muttered, “Why, sir?
I haven’t won anything from you.”
“No reason.
I just wanted to see you lose a shotgun match against someone else.
I’ve wanted to see it for many years, but it wasn’t until today that I finally got the chance.
I already know about your bet, and I will personally attend tomorrow, bringing plenty of people to witness your spectacular naked run.
Don’t worry, I won’t let the police take you away.”
Simon’s face turned bitter, but he held his head high and declared, “As you wish, sir.
Tomorrow I will streak through Disen Goff Square.”
After Simon finished speaking, Arthur immediately cheered and pumped his fists, Destin and Hill laughed out loud, and after Arthur’s excited shouting, he ran to Gao Yang, thumping his shoulder and spluttering, “Thank you, thank you!
Tomorrow we’ll go watch Simon run naked.
Haha!”
Gao Yang waited for Arthur’s enthusiastic words to finish, then asked softly, “Could you tell me what’s going on with that general?”
Arthur said, “Oh, our old leader, he likes to get hands-on.
He’s a restless old fellow.
This afternoon, a university student group is going to train before enlisting.
He wants to come over and see if there are any promising recruits to choose from.
Don’t worry, he’s just an old man with a friendly attitude now due to his age.
Come on, let me introduce you.”
After leading Gao Yang to the brigadier general, Arthur said, “Sir, this is Gao Yang, or you can call him Ram.
He’s a very nice young man, especially after defeating Simon – he’s become even more likable.”
Gao Yang was not a military man, nor had he ever been a soldier.
He felt that saluting was somewhat inappropriate, so he held out his hand.
When the brigadier general shook his hand, Gao Yang said with a serious face, “General, it’s a great honor to meet you.”
The brigadier general nodded and smiled, “You can call me Wolfgang.
I was so focused on watching your match with Simon just now that I haven’t had the chance to talk to your friends.
But by your name, it seems you’re from Huaxia?”
Gao Yang nodded and replied, “Yes, General, I’m from Huaxia, as are these two.”
Wolfgang nodded with a smile on his face and said, “Nong hao.”
Gao Yang was taken aback and after a pause of disbelief, he asked, “Are you speaking Shanghai dialect for ‘hello’?”
Wolfgang was also taken aback for a moment and replied, “Is there a difference?
But yes, I mean ‘hello’.”
Gao Yang nodded and laughed, “Well, Huaxia is very large, and I am a northerner; I don’t understand Shanghainese.”
Wolfgang shrugged and smiled, “In that case, it’s good that I only know this one phrase in Huaxia language.
Anyway, it seems I was trying to show off in the wrong area.
However, my parents only knew this one sentence in Huaxia language, so that’s all I know as well.
Oh, my parents met in Shanghai.
They didn’t live there long, but that’s where they got married.”
After Wolfgang finished speaking, he shook hands with Jinfang and Cui Bo, greeting them with a standard Shanghainese welcome, and then he shook hands with Glolov and Frey, appearing to be quite a kind old man, not like a brigadier general who already held a high position in Israel.
When greeting Morgan, Wolfgang seemed puzzled, at which point Simon timely said, “This is my boss.”
Simon only mentioned that Morgan was his boss, without mentioning Morgan’s name, but Wolfgang still looked as if he had just realized something and smiled, “Thank you for your contributions to Israel, sir.”
Morgan and Wolfgang merely shook hands and gave a polite nod, but the two did not engage in further conversation.
After shaking hands with Morgan, Wolfgang turned to Gao Yang and spoke in a serious tone, “Personally, I have to thank the Huaxia people because when the Nazis put Jews into concentration camps in Europe, only Shanghai opened its doors to the Jews, giving them a chance to survive.
My parents made their way to the United States via Shanghai.
Otherwise, my father and mother might have already died in Austria.
So, you are welcome to visit Israel.”
Gao Yang was aware of the history Wolfgang referred to.
Indeed, many Jews are grateful to those who once helped them.
As the saying goes, one generation plants the trees under which another takes shelter.
As a Huaxia person, Gao Yang could now enjoy the goodwill of an Israeli brigadier general toward him.
Wolfgang didn’t intend to have a lengthy conversation with Gao Yang.
After patting Gao Yang on the shoulder, Wolfgang turned to Destin and said, “Is there any more exciting event to watch?
If not, I should go see how these kids perform.
Maybe there will be some talent I need among them.”
Destin thought for a moment and replied, “There are no combative events left.
We’re about to test Ram’s team, but there’s a guy in Ram’s team who’s a Kung Fu master.
I’m really looking forward to seeing that, though I heard it from Simon.”
Simon nodded and said, “As a security consultant for a small security company, I think Frog is a rare expert.
In fact, he’s the most formidable person I’ve ever heard of.
Of course, that’s just what I’ve heard, which is why we need Destin to test their abilities.”
The so-called security consultant is actually just a mercenary, and the so-called security company is essentially a mercenary group.
Israel is a very small country, but it is a major player in exporting mercenaries.
Several people under Wolfgang’s command had become mercenaries after retiring, so Wolfgang held no prejudice against Gao Yang and the others.
Instead, he was quite interested and said, “Oh, I’d like to see that.
It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a real master, especially a Huaxia Kung Fu master.”
Lee Jinfang frowned slightly and then spoke loudly, “Sorry, the Kung Fu I practice might be different from what you recognize as Huaxia Kung Fu.
I don’t do those flashy moves seen in movies.
If you want to see my Kung Fu, you’ll have to arrange an opponent for me first.” (To be continued.
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