Remember the TV series "My Brother's Name is Shun slip"? In the play, the New Fourth Army sharpshooter played by Wang Baoqiang is impressive. The hunter's son grew up drinking wolf's milk and was gifted and a natural "sharpshooter".
He has a stubborn personality, some small problems, but no lack of cuteness; most of the time he is silent, but often exports amazingly; he is crazy and persistent in his mission. With his excellent shooting skills, he won many valuable victories for the troops.
In the battlefield of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, there was an outstanding sharpshooter in the ranks of our People's Volunteer Army, who had a handsome name - Zhang Taofang, but he was a seven-foot man.
What made Zhang Taofang stand out was the "cold gun" campaign vigorously carried out by the volunteer army. Zhang Taofang, a soldier of the 8th Company of the 214th Regiment, a recruit who had been a soldier for less than 2 years, actually killed 214 American soldiers with 442 bullets in 32 days in Shangganling. The Volunteer Army's "Cold Gun" campaign actually began with the unauthorized action of a deputy company commander.
At that time, the American soldiers had an absolute superiority in equipment, and in the forward positions of the volunteer army, where there was cooking smoke, shells would fall in the next second, and where the light flashed, it would attract machine gun fire.
Some of the volunteer positions were close to the American positions, and the soldiers would often hear the arrogant insults and unbridled laughter of the American soldiers.
Xu Shizhen, deputy company commander of the 355th Regiment, was a grumpy and sharpshooter, and on that day, he smeared yellow mud on his body and climbed to the forefront of the position with a rifle, and he wanted the Yankees to taste the bullets of the volunteers. He did not ask his superiors for instructions on this operation.
He spent less than a day on the front line, and his record was amazing! Deputy Company Commander Xu killed 7 American soldiers.
Afterwards, Deputy Company Commander Xu not only did not receive criticism and punishment for his unauthorized actions, but his superiors also gave him a credit, and he also became an example for the whole army to learn. In this regard, the volunteers created a new tactic, and the vigorous "cold gun" movement began.
On one occasion, a volunteer detachment successfully attacked a U.S. bunker at night and captured an American sentry. From being captured until he was escorted back to the volunteer position, the American soldier kept his head down, and when he walked out of the trench, he bent his neck and bent down, with a look of fear.
The volunteer soldier ordered him to stand up straight and walk well, and the American soldier said: "This is very dangerous, don't look up, as soon as you emerge from the sharpshooter on the other side, shoot!" ”
This is the epitome of the American soldiers who were frightened by the "cold guns" of the volunteer sharpshooters. The Volunteer Army's "cold gun" campaign hit American soldiers who did not dare to go to the trenches when they went to the toilet, walked trotting, did not dare to remove their helmets for a moment, and their nerves were tense at all times.
Zhang Taofang, a native of Xinghua, Jiangsu Province, joined the Chinese Volunteer Army in 1951 and became an ordinary soldier in the 8th Company of the 214th Regiment. He was not a born sharpshooter, and more than a year ago, the soldier also set a "record" of freshmen shooting live ammunition - fired three bullets, left no hole in the target, and went out of the ocean.
After that live ammunition shot out of the foreign phase, the company commander punished Zhang Taofang to go to the gang room to help the kitchen for a few days, after that, Zhang Taofang was like a changed person, always like to stare at the gun in a daze, always thinking about something.
On the training ground, the sandbags on the muzzle of his gun hung heavier and heavier, and every night, every small flame in the tunnel became the target of Zhang Taofang's aim...
The comrades-in-arms were surprised to find that because Zhang Taofang always maintained hard aiming training, over time, Zhang Taofang developed the habit of "opening a glance and squinting", which was maintained for more than 50 years, even after retiring from the army, it could not be changed.
Another examination began.
Volunteer 24th Army Range, "Snap! syllable! Snap..." After a few crisp gunshots, the target announcer waved a small flag and excitedly reported the results: "10 rings!" 10 rings! 10 rings..."
Zhang Taofang in front of the target position was holding a Su Mosin-Nagant rifle in his hand, and he had just hit the 10 rings with a gun and did not aim at all, no wonder the target reporter was so excited.
Zhang Taofang finally entered the combat unit, and the cadres in the company found that this boy was a piece of sharpshooter material, so they recommended him to the regiment, where shooting training classes were being held, and the 28 cadets were all sharpshooters with great shooting talent recommended from various companies.
The exchange and communication between the masters has improved the shooting level of the sharpshooters, and also learned a lot of valuable combat experience from each other, such as: the enemy takes a bath, takes off a pair of pants and fights again; the enemy, shoots when crouching down; the enemy sits in a car, the first one just gets up and fights...
Before the end of the training, the regimental commander named Zhang Taofang to test his marksmanship, and he pointed to a "white-headed bird" that kept jumping on the tree: "Zhang Taofang, if you have a kind of bird, you will beat that bird down!"
Zhang Taofang "whoops" a push bullet into the chamber, do not aim, raise the gun to hit, "Bang!" With a sound, the bird fell in response.
The regimental commander touched the back of his head satisfactorily, and sighed in amazement: This Taofang's name of the sharpshooter is really not blown, it is really a god! ”
After training, Zhang Taofang's shooting skills are more skilled, almost the realm of "human and gun integration". He also learned how to use complex sniper group tactics, which was very helpful for him to be able to snipe a lot of U.S. troops in the future and effectively protect himself.
Zhang Taofang naturally became the number one sniper in the company, with excellent play, this sharpshooter in one day, with 9 bullets to eliminate 7 American soldiers, 20 days killed 71 people, suddenly famous in the troops, his deeds also made headlines in the newspaper.
After the US military was repeatedly sniped, in order to deal with the volunteer sharpshooter Zhang Taofang, the US military specially transferred a sniper who was said to be a top-level sniper.
For a period of time, the two top sharpshooters in China and the United States encountered several times, each performing special skills, and the sniper of the US military was not vain, it was really old and spicy, and Zhang Taofang even almost lost his enemy. Fortunately, Zhang Taofang's marksmanship was superior, and he was finally killed.
The US military did not disclose who the sniper's surname was after the fact, and for the US military, which is known as the "first in the world", in this peak duel, it is not a glorious thing to lose to the hands of the volunteer sharpshooter after all.
On the 597.9 heights of Shangganling, the sharpshooter Zhang Taofang's "cold gun" was even more fascinating, Zhang Taofang only used 442 rounds of bullets, killed 214 US soldiers, and it took only 32 days before and after, and his rifle that made the US army afraid was not a high, fine, and pointed sniper rifle, but an ordinary Mosin Nagant rifle.
Zhang Taofang used the Mauser 98K, M1 Garand and Mosin Nagant, the most used and the most killed enemies is Mosin Nagant, and the gun is still preserved in the Revolutionary Military Museum in Beijing.
This Mosin Nagant rifle, which is too ordinary to be ordinary, is extremely simple, not even a double mirror, and relies on the naked eye to aim.
However, zhang Taofang, an ordinary soldier of the volunteer army, trained in the sharpshooter's stunts, holding an ordinary rifle that did not even have a double mirror, but it became a nightmare for the US soldiers, and Zhang Taofang was the most outstanding representative of many volunteer sharpshooters.
When Zhang Taofang returned to China in 1953, the Headquarters of the Volunteer Army awarded him the title of Special Meritorious and Second Class Hero, and the North Korean side also awarded Zhang Taofang the First Class National Flag Medal.
Zhang Taofang later left the sniper battlefield that made him shine and became the pilot of the first generation of fighter fighters in New China.
On October 29, 2007, the legendary sniper completed his glorious, ordinary and great life at the age of 76.