787: Chapter 787: Three Treasures of the Mercenary 787: Chapter 787: Three Treasures of the Mercenary What is the most striking characteristic of a modern sniper?
Beyond a sniper rifle, another characteristic of a sniper might be the ghillie suit.
It looks ugly, but the camouflage effect of the ghillie suit is really impressive.
These days, if you don’t wear a ghillie suit when you go out, no one would dare claim to be a sniper.
What is a ghillie suit?
The most widely accepted origin of the name comes from a Scottish person named Gillie, initially used by Scottish hunters to camouflage themselves during hunting, and it was first used on the battlefield during World War I.
The popularity of the ghillie suit only really took off globally in the last twenty to thirty years, not just frequently seen on movie screens, but also standard issue in the armies of various nations.
Essentially, almost all snipers are equipped with a ghillie suit, whether or not there is a tradition of using such suits.
The ghillie suit became standard sniper gear, but there is no standard for the ghillie suit itself; basically, an old fishing net with many pieces of cloth can be made into a very effective ghillie suit.
However, the specific use of a ghillie suit must be matched with the terrain, topography, and characteristics of the vegetation to be effective.
Wearing a ghillie suit meant for jungle use in the desert, or wearing a desert camouflage ghillie suit in snowy areas, or using a very narrowly functional ghillie suit in completely unsuitable areas would certainly be suicidal means, but as long as it is not in an environment where the ground color is extremely monotonous, even a ghillie suit made purely of canvas strips can have a very good camouflage effect.
The ghillie suit must completely match the colors of the area where the sniper operates for the best effect, but the camouflage efficacy of the ghillie suit is not only due to its color.
It also divides the human silhouette into more concealed lines and shapes, blurring the naturally conspicuous human silhouette to the greatest extent, turning it into a three-dimensional appearance that is hard to distinguish from the background to the human eye.
Gao Yang definitely didn’t carry a ghillie suit with him, but he could make one on the spot, and the ghillie suit made from local materials in the jungle would definitely be the most suitable for the jungle environment.
Of course, a ghillie suit can also be called a camouflage suit.
If Gao Yang didn’t have time to make a ghillie suit using leaves or similar materials, he could disguise himself using the same principles as a ghillie suit.
To camouflage oneself, first, one needs time, and also needs to distance oneself from the enemy.
After tearing off two leaves from the large leafy plants around him, Gao Yang turned and sprinted backwards for a bit.
After finding a concealed spot to hide again, Gao Yang took out a half leaf he had just torn, poked two irregular holes in it with his fingers, tried it in front of his face to see if it impaired his vision and, finding it did not, immediately pulled out a roll of tape from his waist pouch.
Mercenaries have three treasures: tape, a small knife, and a condom.
The three treasures refer to those inconspicuous, seemingly optional items, but when it comes down to business, they become indispensable treasures.
First about tape — who would carry tape with them in normal conditions?
But mercenaries almost always have a roll of clear tape, and the uses of clear tape are vast.
First, the most common use is to tape two magazines together to make a quick-change magazine; it’s also used for binding someone’s mouth after capturing them.
Whatever is broken or falls apart and needs to be temporarily stuck together or tied up, at that moment, the light and space-saving tape is more useful than anything.
Next about the small knife — this isn’t about bayonets or combat knives, but a blade no longer than ten centimeters, preferably a small straight knife.
It might not look very useful, but it’s the tool most often used outdoors, without a doubt.
Of course, you could also carry a bayonet to replace some of the small knife’s functions, but when you need to do minor tasks, you’ll find how much nicer it is to use a small knife instead of having to use a large knife more than thirty centimeters long.
Last is the condom, another lightweight, compact, and handy little item.
It can hold water when there’s no canteen, and quite a bit at that, or serve as a tourniquet, which is very useful – Gao had used it this way.
Lastly, it serves the purpose it was originally intended for.
There aren’t many good types among mercenaries.
Most of the time, the condom serves its initial intended purpose, especially in parts of Africa where more than a third of the population carries the HIV virus.
For some mercenaries without moral boundaries, condoms are absolutely essential.
These three items might not seem significant, but to any veteran, they are essential preparations, otherwise, they wouldn’t be referred to as the three treasures of mercenaries.
Gao Yang was a mercenary, so, naturally, his pockets would never lack the three treasures of a mercenary.
He pulled out the tape, tore off a piece, and covered his face with the leaves before taping both ends.
Gao’s red face was now securely covered and, from now on, when looking around, he was much less likely to expose himself than if he were using his red face.
In less than two minutes, after covering his face, Gao Yang looked up, aimed his gun, and feeling that it did not hinder his movement or sight, decided to fire another shot.
After waiting for two minutes, Gao Yang saw a shadow flash by through the gaps in the trees.
The view in the forest was obstructed, which greatly affected the judgment of distance.
He estimated the distance but was not too sure; in the end, he thought the enemy was still between sixty to a hundred Mi away.
After a short while, Gao Yang spotted a target.
Unfortunately, the target this time was a black man, not the Tuareg he had hoped to eliminate.
Whether it’s the main target or not, Gao only needed to delay the enemy’s pursuit speed to achieve his goal.
After the gunshot, Gao Yang grabbed a large leaf from the ground and turned to run.
After hearing two more shots behind him with no further sounds, he started to move quickly forward in an irregular, zigzagging route.
After running a few dozen Mi, Gao Yang stopped, put his gun aside, tore the large leaf into long strips, picked up some tape, and started sticking the approximately five-to-six-CM-wide leaf strips onto his rifle.
After creating a basic camouflage for his rifle, Gao Yang noticed some small purple-brown bushes not far away.
With a thought, he broke off two leafy branches and took them as he continued to run.
After running a few dozen Mi, Gao Yang stopped, used tape to attach a branch firmly to his right arm.
He didn’t have time to handle the other branch but took it with him as he ran a few dozen Mi before sticking it on his left side near his neck.
The neck felt uncomfortable with the small branches poking at it.
He pressed down hard, flattening the fluffy branches a bit, then started running again.
When camouflaging, a very important principle is to avoid symmetrical colors and shapes—this is a basic rule.
After checking himself over and moving around to ensure the small branches taped to his body made no sound, Gao Yang immediately resumed his activity.
Although he had only completed a very basic level of camouflage, the effect was already apparent.
It definitely couldn’t compare to a completely finished camouflage, but if Gao now hid in one spot, he would not be immediately noticeable; a careful double-take would be needed at the very least.
The highest mastery of camouflage is not just about being unnoticeable at a glance.
Rather, it’s about making it impossible for someone to spot you even when they’re standing face-to-face with you, just three or four Mi away, no matter how hard they observe.
Gao Yang was still far from achieving the camouflage effect he envisioned; he lacked both time and space.
To complete it, he could only proceed step by step.
Eager to engage the enemy again, Gao remained quietly in place for four minutes.
He then saw an enemy figure, this time appearing to his front left.
The Tuareg people’s black robes were conspicuous in the jungle, unlike the much better-camouflaged khaki and camouflage uniforms worn by the black guards.
However, one of Gao’s enemies wore slippers, which made a distinctive noise when walked in quickly; the sound of the sole hitting the foot could be heard.
Many Tuareg wore slippers.
However, the slippers of that particular Tuareg didn’t seem to fit well.
Gao saw the black man in slippers and had a chance to shoot, but he didn’t even consider killing this Tuareg who could act as an alarm.
Unless absolutely necessary, he intended to keep this Tuareg as an alarm signal.
After sparing the “alarm”, and two other black men, when a Tuareg in a black robe carefully stepped out from behind a tree and entered his sight, Gao fired a short burst.
The Tuareg people’s attire also served a camouflaging purpose.
Except for their own people, it was difficult for others to distinguish a single target from a group of Tuareg.
Therefore, Gao, to be safe, chose a short burst over a single shot and indeed killed his target, but he couldn’t determine if it was an old Tuareg man or not.
After firing, he had to run.
The echo effect in the jungle made it hard for most people to determine the direction of gunshots.
For the hiding party, this was an advantage, and determining the direction of the bullets from the position of the hits on the body required seeing and analyzing the body.
Taking advantage of the enemy’s temporary uncertainty of his position, Gao quickly and silently disappeared into the jungle.
After moving sideways for a while, Gao saw a fallen tree, covered in vines and already decaying.
Seeing the vines, Gao’s eyes lit up, and he immediately ran towards the dead tree.
These vines were exactly what Gao urgently needed.
With them, he could become completely invisible in the jungle.
(To be continued.
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