854: Chapter 845: Capture the Flag 854: Chapter 845: Capture the Flag This was a live-fire exercise at the company level.
Merely running fast wouldn’t suffice; they also had to shoot.
Only by shooting well and advancing quickly could they secure victory in the exercise.
Gao Yang followed closely behind Nate, head down and sprinting, when suddenly Nate slowed his pace and yelled, “Entering the exercise area, get ready to shoot.”
They first had to move from the assembly point to the designated exercise field before the real exercise could begin.
At the edge of the exercise field, many soldiers and officers wore eye-catching orange clothes to prevent friendly fire, and many were equipped with reconnaissance devices.
Once Nate led his men into the exercise area, they would follow and film the entire process.
The exercise involved numerous personnel, but there were also many observers and referees, and the live footage of the exercise was displayed on the large screens in the director’s tent.
At Nate’s command, over a hundred people immediately dispersed, forming a skirmish line that stretched about one thousand meters, and then the advance began.
“Snipers, go!”
In the group of about one hundred thirty people, including Cui Bo, there were a total of seven qualified snipers.
Upon hearing Nate’s order, the snipers immediately lay down and began firing with large-caliber sniper rifles.
The exercise definitely required shooting targets, and the snipers’ targets were hidden and very small.
Gao Yang used binoculars to observe and noted that the targets, which only snipers could effectively hit, were small.
Though they were paper targets, they were painted with desert camouflage and placed on halfway desolate grounds, or peeping out from behind low shrubs, making them very difficult to discern.
After Gao Yang glanced through the binoculars, he felt that many targets were within his range; his gun could hit targets within one thousand three hundred meters, vastly surpassing the range expected of a marksman.
Gao Yang put down the binoculars, lay on the ground, and, after locating the targets from memory, began firing one shot after another.
Whichever type of gun used, shooting at a long range was definitely challenging, and shooting remote targets with medium-caliber rifles was certainly more difficult than using large-caliber rifles.
However, once Gao Yang began shooting, he started taking over the tasks of the qualified snipers.
The targets set for the snipers to engage were actually only as far as one thousand five hundred meters and very few at that distance, possibly only two.
Most of the targets arranged were between eight hundred and one thousand meters since shooting human targets beyond one thousand five hundred meters often relied on luck, even using large-caliber sniper rifles.
The most common, and more confidently managed shooting targets, were within one thousand two hundred meters.
Shooting targets beyond one thousand meters was slow for Gao Yang, but shooting those within one thousand meters was much faster, and this was where most of the targets were placed.
In the midst of the booming sound of large-caliber rifle fire, a much quieter gunfire sound began to intermingle.
By the time Gao Yang had fired two shots, the few snipers couldn’t fire even one, largely because the recoil was much lighter, and even though they also hit the target with each shot and then immediately aimed at the next, the large-caliber rifles required slightly longer to adjust.
By the time Gao Yang had counted his twelfth shot, Nate suddenly roared, “Advance, follow me up!”
Nate got up and continued the push.
Gao Yang didn’t know if all the targets had been cleared.
If Nate, as the commander, misjudged and there were still enemy sniper targets left, then someone in their unit would be judged as killed in action.
No one had been declared killed in action, meaning Nate’s judgment was accurate.
After running forward for a bit, Nate shouted, “Close in on the enemy position, split into four assault groups.
Machine Gunner cover, mortars!”
They had only taken out enemy sentinels and snipers so far, and now the real firefight was beginning, albeit still simulated.
The distance to the enemy position, which was marked with numerous targets, was only seven hundred meters away.
At this point, both the snipers and machine gunners were lying down, beginning to provide fire suppression and precision shooting, while the gunners needed to hit the marked machine gun posts and other firepower points on the ground.
There were three mortars in total, although two of them operated with a team of three.
On Gao Yang’s side, there was only Tommy with a mortar tube and four shells.
With gunfire blaring, and under the protection of the machine gunners and snipers, the assault team avoided the heavy guns’ range of fire and continued to advance.
The target position was a hillock, not very high but granting a significant advantage to the defenders.
In judging shooting distance, the defenders had an effective killing range of five hundred meters, whereas Gao Yang and his men had an effective firing range of four hundred meters.
Nate, outfitted like any other soldier with an M4A3 rifle, didn’t appear to be a commander, with Gao Yang right by his side.
Upon entering the effective killing range of four hundred meters, the assault team wouldn’t fire, and Gao Yang also didn’t shoot, keeping up with the main troops in tactical advancement.
The mortar suddenly fired, catching many off guard because it shot somewhat prematurely.
With one hand steadying the tube, Jansen helped Tommy load the shells.
The first shell fell, smashing a painted white circle target on the hillside to bits.