Author: Sea Breeze
Pi Dingjun, commander of the 24th Army of the Volunteer Army, heard that the 214th Regiment had a recruit who had not been on the front line for a long time, and actually killed more than 100 American troops, which was unbelievable. He asked the staff officer to take a pair of leather boots to the recruit and confessed: If the recruit can kill 3 enemies, the boots will belong to him.
The staff officer went to the front line with his leather boots, and the staff officer saw the new recruits kill 3 American troops and happily gave the leather boots award to the new recruits.
This new recruit, named Zhang Taofang, later became the sniper who killed the most enemies in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, killing 214 enemies in 32 days, and was praised as one of the world's top ten snipers.
Snipers are frightening killers on the battlefield, and they must have excellent strength, extremely fast reaction ability and strong psychological quality. The sniper who killed 214 people in 32 days and created such a record should be well-trained and experienced in the eyes of ordinary people. Who would have thought that Zhang Taofang's shooting results before entering the war were not good.
In March 1951, 19-year-old Zhang Taofang joined the army. In September 1952, Zhang Taofang, a soldier of 9 squads of 3 battalions, 8 companies, 214 regiments, 72nd Division, 24th Army of the Volunteer Army, entered the Korean War. Although he had undergone a short period of recruit training, his shooting technique had not improved particularly much. In the shooting assessment of the regiment, Zhang Taofang fired 3 bullets, continuously off target, and the result was zero.
The company commander said, "You ate three burnt breads." The company commander believed that the soldier had no potential to shoot, so he was transferred to the cooking squad. But Zhang Taofang is not willing, he has good eyesight, things away from a hundred meters can be seen very clearly, when he was a child, he used harpoons to fish, always more than others forked, and his friends called him "fishing king". He believed that he had an advantage, and he must practice his guns well, kill the enemy and make meritorious contributions, and defend the motherland.
He looked for every opportunity to practice shooting, taking a rifle and practicing aiming as soon as he had time. He took all kinds of objects near and far as targets, loaded bullets in the gun chamber, kept practicing firing, and asked his comrades for advice when they encountered problems. In the winter of minus 30 degrees Celsius, Zhang Taofang was still practicing hard in the trenches, running a few times when her feet were cold and numb, and then continuing to practice.
When his comrades saw that he was working so hard, they reported to the company commander and wanted him to join the sniper team. The company commander personally examined him and gave him 3 rounds of ammunition, but this time he all hit them, and Zhang Taofang became a member of the sniper team.
In January 1953, the 24th Army succeeded the 15th Army in defending Shangganling. Zhang Taofang saw that there was not a single tree on the Shanggan Ridge, and there were deep bomb craters everywhere, which showed how fiercely the comrades-in-arms fought in the previous battles! Although the battle here has come to an end, it is still at the forefront of the direct confrontation between the enemy and us.
Commander Pi Dingjun called on the soldiers to practice their shooting skills and strike at the enemy with cold guns and cold guns. Zhang Taofang participated in the first battle at the 597.9 heights and saw 2 American soldiers coming out of a distance of more than 100 meters. He could clearly see the American soldier's eyes, but he shot several shots in a row, but he didn't hit them.
The enemy also spotted him and fired cold cannons at him, but fortunately he was not injured. Zhang Taofang was very puzzled, and when the battle was over, he hurriedly asked the old sniper for advice. The old sniper said: "Hitting a live target is completely different from killing a target, and the live target must be measured in advance." The enemy hits them on the head when they go up the hill and their feet when they go down the hill. ”
Zhang Taofang had experience in fishing, and he quickly understood this truth. He held a rifle, pondered carefully, carefully observed and studied the enemy's movement rules, the location of the haunt, and looked for the best shooting point. Two weeks later, he had mastered the essentials of shooting.
The second time Zhang Taofang came to the highlands, he used the essentials he had mastered, aimed intently at a U.S. soldier, and shot him to death. In the next half a month, Zhang Taofang killed 7 US troops with 9 bullets, and was awarded the third class merit. Since then, Zhang Taofang's sniper skills have become higher and higher. Zhang Taofang participated in the sniper team for 22 days, killing 71 enemy soldiers with 240 bullets, becoming the number one sniper in the company.
People who do not know how to shoot think that a bullet can kill an enemy, but in fact the enemy is not so easy to kill. On the battlefield in Afghanistan, 250,000 bullets can destroy an enemy, and Zhang Taofang can kill an enemy with an average of 3 bullets, which is simply a myth.
Then, in 16 days, Zhang Taofang killed more than 100 enemies. At this time, the enemy continued to intensify its bombardment of the volunteers. On April 19, before dawn, the enemy's artillery bombarded the volunteer positions, and the smoke screen shells kept hitting the positions, and the positions were full of smoke. Zhang Taofang and several snipers immediately arrived at the sniper station and began to aim and shoot.
When he aimed at an enemy and shot down the enemy, a shell exploded beside him. He knew that the enemy had discovered his position. He carefully observed the movement of the enemy and saw that one of the enemy had two arms making movements. After a while, several more shells exploded around him. He knew that the enemy was an observer, directing others to fire the cannons. He took aim quietly, pulled the trigger, and the enemy observer fell to the ground in response.
He observed again, and found several other enemy observers. He commanded his comrades to lay out and coordinate operations together, destroying several enemies.
After the battle, Zhang Taofang returned to the company headquarters, when the regimental political commissar brought a message: "We saw you fighting beautifully today from a high place!" On May Fourth Youth Day, the regiment held a commemorative meeting and hoped that you would try to defeat 200 enemies. ”
Driven by Zhang Taofang, the 214th Regiment set off a boom in sniper practice and combat, and many heroes who killed the enemy emerged in the regiment. The volunteer sniper operation brought the morale of the American army down to a freezing point, and the activity was severely restricted. During that time, the American army was frightened by the snipers of the volunteer army. When taking a bath, you are hit halfway through your clothes, you are hit when you are untied, you are hit when you just crouch down, and you are hit when you are hiding in a cave and you are just out of the woods. The Americans were so frightened that they hid in the cave and did not dare to come out.
On May 22, Zhang Taofang killed 211 enemies, and Pi Dingjun called him to the military headquarters. Zhang Taofang put the leather boots that Pi Dingjun gave him on his back, and Pi Dingjun said in surprise: "How did you carry the boots?" Zhang Taofang said: "The leather boots are all records of killing the enemy." "How many shells are there?" "211."
"Play well, but you still have to make a name for yourself!" Pi Dingjun said. Zhang Taofang listened and was confused, and Pi Dingjun asked again: "Which regiment are you in?" ”“214。”
Pi Dingjun said, "Yes! You've killed 211 enemies, and you're going to kill 3 more, just like your regiment. When Zhang Taofang heard it, she understood that the military commander's words "make a name for themselves" originally meant this. Zhang Taofang saluted a military salute and said loudly: "Please rest assured that the chief will complete the task!" ”
He immediately returned to his position, and after a few hours, he did kill 3 enemies. In this way, Zhang Taofang eliminated a total of 214 enemies and became the number one sniper hero of the Shangganling sniper war.
Zhang Taofang's combat experience has not been smooth, he has also been in danger many times, but he is unharmed. Once, Zhang Taofang came down from the front line and encountered an air raid by enemy aircraft, and he and more than a dozen comrades hid in a hole. The air raid lasted for a long time, and the rubble was rushed in by the air waves of the explosion, flying everywhere, and the hole was gray.
Many people could not stand it and ran out of the hole, most of them were hit by shrapnel and died heroically. Zhang Taofang had been hiding inside, in a dilemma, he thought that this time it would be difficult to survive again, but he did not expect to escape the disaster again, and even the skin was not scratched.
The most dangerous one was that he shot the enemy 0.1 seconds ahead of him and escaped death.
The U.S. army hates the volunteer snipers to the bone, knows the existence of Zhang Taofang, an opponent, and has been looking for opportunities to hunt Zhang Taofang. They brought in professional sniper masters, set up 3 anti-aircraft machine guns, and pulled open the net, only to wait for Zhang Taofang to appear.
Once, Zhang Taofang entered the 597.9 heights, and a few bullets flew past his scalp. He immediately felt bad, knowing that the enemy was coming with a master.
Zhang Taofang picked up a helmet with the tip of the gun to attract the enemy to shoot, but the sniper on the opposite side was not deceived. Zhang Taofang jumped from the trench, crossed a clearing, and ran to another firing position, a row of bullets hit the soil under his feet, and he fell into the crater. The sniper on the opposite side thought he had been shot and let his guard down, but still shot in the direction he had fallen.
Zhang Taofang found that the right side of the shooting sniper station was not shot. He quietly climbed to the right, looked closely, found the right moment, and shot decisively. Almost at the same time, the opponent also spotted him, immediately pulled the trigger, and the bullet flew over Zhang Taofang's scalp.
Zhang Taofang looked at the opposite side and found that the enemy had fallen. Only then did he understand that the two had shot almost at the same time, but he had hit the enemy. Zhang Taofang later sighed: "It's so dangerous, it's really a moment of life and death!" Comrades-in-arms called him "0.1 seconds early enemy shooting."
The old hero participates in a talk show
The sniper master was killed, and the enemy was even more jealous of Zhang Taofang. As soon as they spotted volunteer sniper action on the other side, they immediately called for fire support. In order to protect Zhang Taofang, his superiors ordered him to be removed from the front line and let him train snipers until the end of the war, and did not let him go to the front line again. Zhang Taofang's number of killed enemies was fixed at 214.
In 1953, the Volunteer Army awarded Zhang Taofang the title of "Second-Class Sniper Hero" for his special merits, and the DPRK awarded him the "First-Class National Flag Medal". In 1954, Zhang Taofang became an Air Force pilot. His Mosin Nagant Legendary Rifle is collected by the Military Bo.
In 2007, sniper hero Zhang Taofang passed away, and his legend will always shine in the history of the people's army.
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