In the National Military Museum of China, there is an old horse rifle, its common name in the world is M1944 Mosin Nagant Riding Rifle, with a caliber of 7.62 mm, a barrel length of 520 mm, an arc ruler for the aiming tool, a warhead speed of 820 meters per second, and an effective range of 1000 meters.
This rifle doesn't even have the scope necessary for a sniper, but the row of notes at the bottom is awe-inspiring:"
During the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, its owner used it to kill 214 enemies with 442 rounds of ammunition in 32 days, setting a record for the highest record of the Chinese Volunteer Army on the Korean battlefield. ”
This record, put into any war in the world, can not be said to be a great miracle, and the owner of this gun is Zhang Taofang.
The Gun King was once "assigned" to the cooking class
Zhang Taofang was born in 1931 in a village in Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province. When Zhang Taofang was young, just in time for the Japanese army to launch a full-scale war of aggression against China, the nearby Japanese army came to the village every three to five minutes to kill people and set fires, Zhang Taofang became the leader of the children's regiment from a young age, standing guard for the New Fourth Army.
In 1947, the Huixiang Regiment counterattacked, persecuting and killing some local cadres of the PEOPLE's Liberation Army that it had captured, and wanted Zhang Taofang everywhere, but Zhang Taofang escaped the encirclement and suppression of the Huixiang Regiment and the Kuomintang army, and continued to provide intelligence and logistics for the PLA. On September 2, 1952, Zhang Taofang's Volunteer Army's 24th Army was ordered to enter the Korean War, only three months after Zhang Taofang joined the army. In mid-September, the 23rd Army was ordered to garrison the strategic site of Wonsan.
In a small local village, Zhang Taofang's 8th Company of the 3rd Battalion, 214th Regiment, 72nd Division, 24th Army, conducted the first live-fire target shooting since entering the DPRK.
When recruits in China were training, Zhang Taofang had carried out target training, and although the results were not good, they were not very bad, but the first target shooting after entering the DPRK would surprise Zhang Taofang.
When in China, the troops mainly used medium and formal rifles, as well as Japanese-style 38-type rifles, after receiving the order to enter the DPRK, in order to provide more logistical support, small arms were uniformly replaced by Soviet equipment, and Zhang Taofang's gun was changed from the 38 big cover to the Mosin Nagant rifle.
The Mosin Nagant rifle was the most widely used rifle in the Soviet Union during World War II, and during the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, China imported this rifle in large quantities.
From 1950 to 1955, China imported 890,000 Mosin Nagant rifles from the Soviet Union and copied millions of rifles. Because the gun sound of this rifle is very crisp, like a stone floating on the water, it is called a water bead by Chinese soldiers.
After Zhang Taofang entered the DPRK, he did not have much time to contact this gun, and in addition, he also went to the company department as a correspondent for a period of time, and he did not have time to ponder this gun. As a result, the first target shot after entering the DPRK, all three bullets were off target, and in the words of the company commander, he ate three large burnt cakes, and Zhang Taofang was also "assigned" to the cooking class for a period of time.
Practice the art of killing the enemy
After Zhang Taofang finished shooting the target, she asked her superiors to get off the company, because she circled around the chief every day, and there was no time to think about the guns. After that, Zhang Taofang returned to the 8th Company and 9th Squad of the Third Battalion and continued to be his own soldier. As soon as she returned to the company, Zhang Taofang began to practice the basic skills hard, carrying a gun every day, and one end was an hour.
In order to practice arm strength and endurance, Zhang Taofang also made two self-made sandbags, which were filled with more than a dozen pounds of soil, hung on his arms, and then took different objects near and far as targets every day, although there were no bullets in the gun chamber.
But he still kept firing, until the moment he pulled the trigger, his body and arm did not move at all. At night, Zhang Taofang took the faint oil light in the tunnel as a target, and stared at it for several hours.
In February 1951, the E Company of the 27th Infantry Regiment of the U.S. Army launched a charge in an attempt to capture the 180 heights where the Volunteers were stationed, and the 5 soldiers of the 3rd Platoon took the lead in rushing to the top of the mountain, and the five American troops, except for the platoon leader who was killed after hitting the heart, the other four were shot in the head. Similar situations were encountered in the Royal Australian Infantry Regiment, who were often subjected to cold gunfire from the Volunteers and suffered heavy casualties.
Zhang Taofang in this atmosphere, the sniper level also rose rapidly. But in the first actual combat shooting, Zhang Taofang was still nervous, and a shuttle bullet quickly hit out, and none of the shots hit. Zhang Taofang's squad leader was very patient and taught him the tricks of moving targets.
Soon Zhang Taofang began a second sniper attack, Zhang Taofang held a gun to aim at the three enemies walking down the mountain, but the first enemy did not hit, but hit the second enemy. Zhang Taofang's squad leader also taught him how to fight the enemy who went up the mountain and how to fight the enemy who came down the mountain. Zhang Taofang understood the method of the squad leader while continuing to snipe the enemy.
Piding was suspicious
After Killing the First Enemy, Zhang Taofang's later record became better and better, and on February 10, 1953, Zhang Taofang fired 9 times and achieved a good result of killing seven enemies, which was better than many old snipers. By the end of February, Zhang Taofang spent 22 days, spent 247 rounds of ammunition, and killed 71 enemies.
At that time, in order to continue to train snipers, the 24th Army organized some sniper training classes, and the company commander quickly sent Zhang Taofang to the training class to study.
After Zhang Taofang returned from the training class, he played more accurately, and in the 13 days after returning, he killed 140 enemies with 212 bullets, killing two enemies on average every three bullets, killing 11 enemies every day.
Zhang Taofang's battle record made the 24th Army famous, but the commander Pi Dingjun did not dare to believe it, he thought that the people below had lied about military information in order to make battle achievements, and he was very angry. Pi Dingjun took out a pair of warm leather boots issued to him by the Volunteer Army Headquarters, which were issued by the Volunteer Army Headquarters to senior cadres, and Pi Dingjun was reluctant to wear them.
Pi Dingjun called the combat staff officer over and said to him:
"You take it with you, go to the Eight Companies to see that Zhang Taofang, three bullets to destroy an enemy, if true, give him boots." If it is fake, I will take it back, and I must punish his company commander and battalion commander.
”
The operational staff officer was actually a little skeptical, he did not believe that someone with a broken gun could kill so many enemies without any sights and still be unscathed. However, the operational staff officer of the 24th Army Headquarters was afraid of affecting Zhang Taofang's play, and did not say that the commander had sent him down to investigate, but only told Zhang Taofang that he wanted to see him shoot.
Zhang Taofang knew very well in her heart what was going on, if she didn't suspect him, how could the combat staff officer of the military department run down to watch him shoot. But Zhang Taofang did not care, and at dawn the next day, Zhang Taofang arranged the staff officers sent by the military department to a hidden position, asked him not to move, and then quietly touched the sniper table himself.
It was just a little bright, and a figure appeared at a distance of 300 meters, and Zhang Taofang immediately killed him.
At that time, the volunteer army had a rule that after hitting the enemy, the enemy did not get up for more than 15 minutes, even if he was killed.
The combat staff officer looked at the watch and waited until 15 minutes, and the enemy had not yet risen. After that, Zhang Taofang killed two enemies in succession, and the chief of operations was stunned, and then gave him the captain's warm leather boots.
214 enemies
Pi Dingjun was very happy to learn that the matter was true, and he went to see Zhang Taofang and said to him, You
Our regiment is 214 regiments, so if you kill 214 enemies, it is victory.
According to the commander's words, Zhang Taofang continued to snipe the enemy, and in 32 days, killed 214 enemies of the enemy, becoming the volunteer soldier who killed the most enemies alone during the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea.
In so many days of fighting in Shangganling, although Zhang Taofang retreated with her whole body and did not suffer any injuries, she was also in danger many times. Once, Zhang Taofang came down from the front line and prepared to return to China to participate in the Heroic Model Conference, and when the logistics department of the 24th Army changed cars, it happened to encounter enemy air raids, and Zhang Taofang and 17 volunteer commanders and fighters hid in a hidden department.
As a result, Zhang Taofang's hidden part was attacked by the enemy' air raids, and the rubble outside was rushed out by the blast, many people were injured, and some of those who ran out were killed on the spot, but Zhang Taofang was unscathed. Another time, the enemy also sent a sniper to deal with him, Zhang Taofang's cotton coat was burned, but he did not break the skin at all.
In 1953, the headquarters of the Chinese People's Volunteer Army honored Zhang Taofang with special merit and awarded him the honorary title of "Second-class Sniper Hero". The Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly of the DPRK awarded him the "National Flag Medal of the First Class".
In the spring of 1954, the Volunteer Army began to select pilots, and 198 fighters in the 24th Army passed the primary selection, but only Zhang Taofang was selected, becoming the first generation of fighter pilots in New China.