The plainclothes team did not chase closely after him. Hu Yi ran quickly for more than ten minutes and had already put himself at a safe distance, leaving the plainclothes team out of his sight. He slowed down, panting, and changed from running to walking, trying to recover some strength. However, he found five familiar figures, four big and one small, walking towards him from the ravine in front.
When Ma Liang, who was at the front, approached, Hu Yi asked, "Why did you come back?"
"Runny Nose led us to a ditch, a dead end! How can we not come back?" After answering Hu Yi's question, Ma Liang wanted to ask what happened just now, but found that Su Qing had appeared beside him with a sullen face. He had to move to the side and said nothing.
"Why did you leave the team without permission? Why did the gunshot sound just now?" Su Qing went straight to Hu Yi and got straight to the point.
"I want to kill that dog in the back."
"Do you know..." Su Qing wanted to organize some words to blame and humiliate Hu Yi, but he was a little slow to understand what Hu Yi said. Killed the dog behind? Yes, if there was no dog, there would be no problem at all. This is the key! Without considering the words he had prepared, he immediately changed his words and asked anxiously: "Did you kill the dog?"
"I missed, but we still have to fight. We won't be done until we kill that beast." Hu Yi simply answered Su Qing's question. He seemed to have forgotten that Su Qing was the commander now. He looked around, pointed to a low hill on the right, and ordered Ma Liang directly: "Ma Liang, now you and Runny Nose hide behind it. Hide, everyone, keep your aim on that dog. No one is allowed to fire until my machine gun fires." Then he called out to Luo Fugui behind Su Qing: "Mule, give me the machine gun!"
This dog is the sand in the eye, the source of the crisis. The failure of the sniper just now made Hu Yi feel very disgusted. You beast is not easy to fight, isn't it good luck? But you still have to follow me! This time I will give you a volley of bullets, even if I rely on blindness, I have to pull out this nail of yours. This is all he thinks about.
Hu Yi forgot about it for a moment, but Ma Liang and Luo Fugui did not. After Hu Yi finished speaking, they immediately turned to look at Su Qing. Seeing that they did not immediately execute the order but diverted their gaze, Hu Yi realized that Su Qing was now the highest commander. Although the ninth squad was small, it was still an army. The decisions made by the army were not a joke. He was about to explain his thoughts to Su Qing again, but Su Qing spoke before he could explain.
"I agree to this arrangement! Squad Leader Hu will be in full command of this battle until the end." Su Qing had a personal grudge against Hu Yi, but she was not stupid enough to bring up her personal emotions at this time. She understood that the dog was the key and she was an amateur in commanding a battle, so she didn't have to wait for Hu Yi to explain anything and wisely let go.
Little Hongying jumped out at this time: "Fox, what should I do?"
"You and Secretary Su just need to hide in the back."
Hu Yi's answer made the girl unhappy, but she knew that Hu Yi was a soft-hearted person, and her tricks would not work on him, so she immediately squeezed out an extremely aggrieved expression on her face, and her two big eyes instantly became clear and transparent, and she pleaded pitifully in a childish voice: "Good fox, I treat you as the squad leader, can you treat me as a soldier too? It's just to beat that dog, it's not dangerous, right? I promise, if the enemy is close, I will run to the back to a safe place, and I will never let you worry, okay? Good fox, I beg you!"
Su Qing looked at the little girl in surprise. She was always throwing tantrums everywhere, but how come she became a good little baby when it came to Hu Yi? How many people did this little girl want to be jealous of? What Su Qing didn't expect was that after listening to Xiao Hongying's words, Hu Yi handed his Type 38 rifle to Xiao Hongying without saying a word, and then said, "Follow me!"
Ma Liang and Liu Jianqiang hid behind the low hill on the right, Luo Fugui and Su Qing hid in the rear, Hu Yi and Xiao Hongying lay on a dirt ridge on the left, watching the direction of the way through the weeds. Hu Yi agreed to the little girl's request not because of her sour character, but because she was right. Facing the plainclothes team, the risk was not big, and it would be good for her to adapt to the combat environment. Flowers in the greenhouse are the easiest to die. These days, hiding anywhere may not be safe. Only those who adapt to the environment as soon as possible can live a few more days.
Xiao Hongying and Hu Yi’s whispers could be heard from behind the weeds.
"Fox, your shooting skills are so good, how come you didn't hit it?"
"Silly girl, dogs are smaller than humans, so it's hard to aim at them."
"So you're going to give that puppy a shot now?"
"Yes, the dog must die, otherwise we will have to lead them on an endless run."
"Fox, when that dog comes later, let me shoot first, okay?"
"No, if you can't hit it with one shot, it will hide. How can I shoot it later?"
"Hey, Fox, how about this? If I can't hit you with this shot, I will listen to you for the rest of my life and never talk back. How about that?"
"… "
"You're talking?"
"Auntie, this is a battle, not a game!"
"Tsk, you stingy guy!" Following Xiao Hongying's muttering, the scene returned to silence.
Xiao Hongying always boasted that she was a good shooter, saying that except for Uncle Niu and the regiment commander and political commissar, she was the best shooter in the independent regiment. However, no one had ever seen her shoot a gun, because she always sneaked into remote mountains and wilderness to shoot with live ammunition. Not even Hu Yi had seen it, except for the meeting in Qingshan Village.
Xiao Hongying likes guns. She even learned the first few Arabic numerals by looking at the rifle sight. She especially likes the Type 38 rifle. Although this gun is longer than other guns, its small caliber means less recoil and it does not hurt her shoulders like other long guns.
Now she finally had the chance to fire openly, which made her very excited. She pulled the bolt to check the number of bullets in the chamber, and then stroked the gun body and asked Hu Yi in a low voice again: "Fox, does this gun have a temper?"
Many rifles may have trajectory deviations, either to the left or right, or high or low, due to wear and tear or quality issues. The little girl had never used this gun since Hu Yi carried it back from the valley path, so she asked this question.
"No problem, it's accurate, I've checked it."
"That's good."
The target finally appeared in sight from afar, seemingly about a mile away. A man was leading a dog in front, followed by twenty or thirty people. The difference from a dozen minutes ago was that this time they were looking around as they walked, and their level of caution was greatly increased.
Hu Yi stared at the target through the crosshairs of the machine gun, secretly telling himself to keep his composure this time. Since the little girl was beside him, he didn't want to let the enemy too close, but in order to increase the chance of hitting, he decided to set the firing distance to between one hundred and two hundred meters.
The little girl naturally saw the target. She placed the gun in the weeds on the ridge, twisted her body a few times to get her posture right, raised her little hand and pulled the bolt with effort. Click - snap - clang - because her arms were short and her strength was weak, the bolt was pulled very slowly and clearly. The sound was not as crisp as that of an adult, but was prolonged by the decomposed steps.
The unique sound of the bolt being pulled made Hu Yi turn his head to look. The little girl's clumsy bolt pulling action made Hu Yi laugh so hard that he almost forgot where he was at the moment.
The bullet was finally loaded, and the little girl took off her hat and put it aside, freeing her two pigtails to stand up in the wind, swaying slightly. Then she stretched out her right arm, raised her thumb, squinted her left eye, and after a while, she opened her left eye and closed her right eye, looking calm and composed.
Hu Yi was a little surprised. This kid could actually measure distance? Interesting. But why did she take off her hat? A special hobby
The target was about 500 meters away. The little girl retracted her arm, snapped the rear sight of the Type 38 rifle upright, and directly decided to use the 400-meter fixed V-groove.
Hu Yi was even more surprised. The sight of the Type 38 rifle was different from that of ordinary rifles. It had three aiming grooves. Within 300 meters, there was a closed fixed groove. After the sight was erected, there was a 400-meter fixed groove. Above 400 meters, there was a sight vernier groove. Looking at the little girl's posture, she was not going to talk nonsense, was she
The little girl finally lowered her head. Her aiming posture was also different from others. Her little head was twisted sharply toward the right side of the gun butt, causing the small braid on the left side to stick up high and stand in the air, swaying with the wind.
This time Hu Yi suddenly understood why the naughty child took off her hat. She used her pigtails to measure the wind direction and wind speed! This made Hu Yi completely speechless. Seeing the little girl narrowing her left eye and adjusting her breathing, Hu Yi was a little obsessed with this picture. He suddenly looked forward to the result. He was determined to change his decision. Even if she failed, she should put an end to this process. Hu Yi knew that it was irrational to do so, but this little girl was a key. She could always open Hu Yi's heart without any reason and do whatever she wanted.
"Girl, you fire the first shot!"
"real?"
"Um."
Hu Yi's words made the little girl put her finger into the trigger hole without hesitation. The usually crazy little girl finally calmed down completely and focused on the target.
The distance was nearly 400 meters, and the dog did look too small. However, unlike Hu Yi, the little girl did not aim directly at the dog. Instead, she pointed her crosshairs at the dead tree that the dog would pass in front of her and waited. When she saw the dog pass by, she immediately moved her crosshairs forward to aim at the next big rock or tree root that would pass by and wait.
Details determine success or failure. The details that Hu Yi noticed were rational details, but this crazy girl who teased cats and dogs in the independent regiment all day long paid attention to the details that were most easily overlooked. Dogs have a natural tendency to love peeing!
Pee kills the dog! The real dog finally stopped beside a dead tree and couldn't help but lift up one of its hind legs.
The small braid on her head transmitted wind information in real time, causing the little girl to instinctively move the crosshairs against the wind, pointing to the outside of the edge of the target, with the trigger pressed to the lowest position.
Boom!
Hu Yi, who had been carrying a gun for many years, suddenly realized that it took so long for a bullet to fly over a distance of 400 meters! So long! Hu Yi had been staring at the small black shadow beside the dead tree in the distance. It seemed like a long time had passed, but the target never moved again, as if it had turned into a stone...