Speaking of the world's top snipers in modern times, most military fans may relish like Simon Haye, the white grim reaper of Finland, Ivan Sylid Salenko, the battlefield god of the former Soviet Union, and the female hero Jay Lyudmila. M. Pavlichenko et al. In the war to defend the freedom and justice of all mankind, they bloomed with the flowers of ruthless blood and left behind a series of good stories.
But please don't forget that there is also such a sharpshooter in the mainland, Zhang Taofang from Xinghua, Jiangsu Province.
442 bullets killed 214 enemy people in 32 days, setting a record for the Chinese army to kill the enemy coldly on the Korean battlefield, and the film "The Coldest Gun" that the famous director Zhang Yimou is planning is based on him.
Many people are curious about how this new recruit who only joined the army during the period of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea spelled out the results of the battle that are difficult for future generations to surpass in this bloody and sweaty meat grinder battlefield. Next, let's review the magnificent life of this old hero.
He first joined the army and was refined into steel
In 1931, Zhang Taofang was born in Xicun, Chengbao Town, Xinghua, Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province, to a very poor family, and his boyhood was the most turbulent era in China, first with the destruction of the great rivers and mountains by the Japanese Kou, and then the civil war Chinese guan's own destiny.
When the times are difficult, Yuru Yucheng. Zhang Taofang has developed a strong physique since he was a child, and in order to help his family drive away wild animals that infringe on crops, he has his own set of experience in marksmanship since he was a teenager.
"I think that the principle of shooting shotguns and hitting steel guns is the same, and they all have to hide, hide, calm down, and aim first."
However, Zhang Taofang's early military career was not smooth, on the contrary, he was once considered not to be a good gunner.
It was November 1951, and Zhang Taofang was enlisted in the Eighth Company of the 214th Regiment of the 24th Army. The War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea has already begun, and every new recruit is eager to have the ambition of being majestic, Qi Angang, and crossing the Yalu River, and everyone is training hard, waiting for the state's call to his troops.
At the end of the recruit training, the company organized a target shooting, and each recruit was very enthusiastic and eager to express himself.
But shooting for a recruit, technology is secondary, psychological quality is the key, Zhang Taofang wants to have experience to encourage, but the moment he holds the gun handle, the limbs are not coordinated, the hands are not so stable, the eyes are not square, and more importantly, the excellent results of other students in the same batch make him more nervous.
"Bang", "bang", "bang", the action is still crisp, but the bullets are not left on the target, Zhang Taofang is very upset, thinking of performing well to save face after that.
As a result, the more you want to prove yourself, the more impetuous your psychology becomes, and the greater the possibility of making mistakes.
On this day, everyone came to a small quiz after the cultural tuition, everyone was tested to go to dinner, and then Zhang Taofang was left alone in the classroom, he struggled to write a book, but he was added, subtracted, multiplied and divided by the ambush soldiers on all sides, and when it was done, the time was very late, Zhang Taofang hurriedly packed up his things and went back.
In fact, many friends here will have a lot of resonance, must have lost everything, but he lost not a small thing like a pen or paper, but a real big guy - a gun.
This kind of disciplinary problem is much more serious than the technical mistake of failing to shoot three shots, wartime, foreign countries, the loss of guns, and the temporary requisition of civilian houses, it is already possible to write a secret agent film, even if the problem does not really happen in the end, the gun has been sent back, and of course a bitter criticism in the organization is indispensable.
Repeated mistakes made Zhang Taofang's initial military career difficult, and in the first year, mainly in the rotation of cooks and correspondents, in 1952, Zhang Taofang's unit went to North Korea.
Even if he did not go to the front line, the rain of bullets exploded in front of him, and Zhang Taofang's blood was also poured out by the real cruelty of the war.
The comrades-in-arms who had been talking and laughing together the day before yesterday were buried in their hometowns today, and the friendly villages that had helped each other yesterday were suddenly flattened by incendiary bombs dropped by bombers.
The people who fell on the lake where the blood gathered were ruthlessly obliterated before the dawn of hope came.
And a moment of confusion, so that the next time to touch the gun Zhang Taofang still failed to exert her real strength, the company once again organized live fire, which was originally a good time to wash away the previous humiliation.
The ending was two times clear: Zhang Taofang's first shot unfortunately went off target, and the second and third adjustments did not return to the right track.
Zhang Taofang was quite frustrated, although the addition of bricks and tiles to the socialist cause did not distinguish between noble and lowly, but was he really not qualified to fight for the country as a soldier?
Remembering the ardent gaze of his wife, children, fathers and fellow villagers on himself, Zhang Taofang's whole body lit a fire.
He should not be a great hero, nor should he be a bear, make a meritorious deed, send a good news, let the people in the family grow a good face, live as much as they can, even if they die, they must also pull a few enemies to accompany themselves, and die gloriously.
The most simple enlightenment, but the most effective driving force, the Korean War into a tug-of-war, belongs to his opportunities and what he has to do now is to give up complaining, improve, and then improve his technical level.
Zhang Taofang buried all the troubles and shame in her heart, began to practice day after day, as soon as the rest time came, he raised his gun to aim at the fixed eye to shoot, before the bullet hit the target to observe its trajectory, the shooting into instinct.
At night, Zhang Taofang also finds acquaintances, holding oil lamps as moving targets to observe, enhance her eyesight level, no matter how the target changes, her eyes can be captured at the first time.
At the same time, in order to better support the gun handle, Zhang Taofang also specially hung a heavy object in both hands when shooting, and with the practice, the weight was increased to more than ten kilograms, and the stability of the shooting was greatly improved.
This persistence finally impressed the cadres who were selecting snipers, who had never had the opportunity to shoot twice, and the battalion commander was ready to personally inspect him once.
This time, Zhang Taofang held up the rifle, did not move, and hit the target accurately, three bullets, and the bullets were not false. Zhang Taofang, who passed this test, also became a sniper as she wished.
These early defeats honed Zhang Taofang's skills, forged his firm will, and also laid a solid foundation for his future brilliance.
Cold gun battles, the world's name is shocking
Zhang Taofang joined the sniper team and soon began his battle, and they are now located in the most critical and cruel battlefield in the late and late stages of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea - Shangganling.
Shangganling is a natural danger of the Chinese Volunteer Army, which can offset the gap between the two sides in frontal firepower and air support as much as possible, once the place is lost, the US military will move forward, the damage to the military and civilians will be greatly increased, and it will have an irreversible bad impact on future peace negotiations.
What the Eighth Company stationed at Hill 597.9 had to do was to release cold guns, relying on the terrain and trenches, Zhang Taofang and his comrades gave a head-on attack to those American soldiers who had relaxed their vigilance, and their main weapon of battle was the Soviet-supported Type 1944 Moxing-Nagant rifle.
The Mo xing-nagant rifle, which is not strictly a traditional sniper rifle, does not have any optical scope; it is only later improved as needed, and the trigger is changed to a sliding type, which is more labor-saving.
Its advantages lie in the low scientific and technological requirements, such as the later imitation of China's Type 1953 rifle in the mainland; and the easy to use, especially suitable for Chinese soldiers who are training instead of war.
At that time, the tactics of the volunteer army was a sniper team of 3-5 people, on the front line where the telescope was easy to use as a target, the observer used the artillery visual distance method to determine the position of the enemy, and the sniper made an advance judgment according to the instructions of the observer, and then according to the height and movement of the target at that time, to ensure the hit rate of the ambush.
Zhang Taofang's opening was not smooth, the first battle, shot 22 bullets, the bullets were not hit, and it was a big burnt cake, and it was also responded by the enemy's shells, fortunately, it was also not judged the correct position, and everyone "friendly" interacted with each other in the air.
In the second battle, he won the first kill, however, Zhang Taofang did not hit the target he was aiming at, but fortunately there was an enemy near the target, which could be regarded as Mengzhong.
Zhang Taofang, who only has a solid foundation, will not miss his prey all the time, and soon, he will create an amazing feat of solving 7 enemies with nine bullets, and at the same time, he also has a very unique habit - to send the opponent to the end.
Once, Zhang Taofang's fourth squad found that the enemy had built a bunker more than 400 meters near their sniper position, zhang Taofang was keenly aware that this might be an outpost of the US army, and wanted to use shelling to clear these "cold gun" troops, Zhang Taofang suggested that the squad leader pay attention to it and be more hidden before the investigation was clear.
However, the squad leader did not follow Zhang Taofang's advice, during this time, the days were too bitter, the hot steamed buns were not eaten, and the wisps of green smoke that rose brought the disaster of killing the squad leader.
Hearing that the squad leader had died in battle, Zhang Taofang, who was furious, immediately prepared to retaliate with a tit-for-tat and launched an attack on the enemy bunker the next day.
Cautious by nature, he took two guns, just in case, through the observation of the reflection at the top of the bunker, noticing the position of the telescope on the opposite side, Zhang Taofang estimated the exact distance between the two sides, while watching the other side's observers appear again and again, and their eyes were already shining.
The third appearance, Zhang Taofang loaded with tracer bullets, is the final preparation before shooting, the fourth time, when the other side's observers appeared in Zhang Taofang's field of vision, Zhang Taofang said softly,
"Boy, your mission is done, it's time to go home."
When the gunshots rang out, Zhang Taofang sent the enemy back to see their Jesus, and he calmly put away his gun and quietly retreated.
After hearing about Zhang Taofang's achievements, the chief of staff at the higher level of the unit brought reporters down to inspect him and publicized him as an example for the troops.
Zhang Taofang was also not polite, and took two officers to the front line on the spot, showing his sharpness on the spot.
Snowflakes fluttered, and the whole Shangganling became a white world, and the thin coats of the volunteer soldiers made them shake straight, while the two soldiers of the US army wore thick coats and enjoyed the quiet afternoon time, which was both bitter and angry.
Zhang Taofang settled the leaders in a hidden tunnel on the side, lying on the sniper table they had built, and calmly shot down two American soldiers who had not yet shaken god, and the other personnel of the US military reacted, anxious and angry, but did not dare to easily approach, afraid of donating another life.
Soon, many people in the US military organized a counterattack on the sniper station, accompanied by deafening artillery fire and the flames of revenge, which swept through the place where Zhang Taofang was located.
The bullets grazed Zhang Taofang's hat and coat and slammed into the snow, and Zhang Taofang knew that she was exposed and immediately set off to retreat.
And on the way, a sentry who is not afraid of death also dares to show his head to find the traces of Zhang Taofang, Zhang Taofang is not polite, it is a shot, and it is a record of +1.
The sacrifice of another partner shocked the US military, and could only watch Zhang Taofang escape from his own fire coverage, and watched the whole staff officer and journalist on the side, and could not help but be amazed.
After this battle, even the military commander Pi Dingjun personally received Zhang Taofang, praised him, and served as a model for learning in the army.
Later, the troops summoned snipers with excellent combat performances to shoot targets, and at this moment, Zhang Taofang, who was one with one gun, did not shoot targets with other colleagues, but swept his eyes to the big birds that fluttered in the sky, five shots and five shots, and the style of that moment was like the flower glory of the three arrows shooting big eagle in the Water Margin.
Sniper tips, the road is high
And Zhang Taofang, in the US military camp also has a nickname, called "death god", many U.S. soldiers in the 597.7 heights heard that the "god of death" is famous and fearful, afraid to let him send him to see God as soon as possible.
And these rumors, finally attracted the attention of the US military high-level, the US military sent an equally top sniper, ready to solve this tricky character, the US documentary showed as Colonel Ike, code name "ghost".
The ghost is prepared, but the god of death knows nothing, and he is already a serious problem for the US military.
Ike paid full attention to his opponents, and after careful investigation, judged the unfavorable terrain, limited vision and strong trenches of the enemy, if at the same time with a rifle in front of the duel, even if the weapon had a slight advantage, most of the losses were himself.
Wanting to solve his opponent with more confidence, Ike chose heavy machine gun sweeping, the classic fire suppression tactic of the US army.
On this day, Zhang Taofang came to the sniper station as usual, the cold wind was colder than usual, as if warning something, suddenly, a series of bullets rubbed the sonic boom and flew over the scalp, Zhang Taofang stumbled, hurried to the side of the tunnel to see the situation, he realized that today's prey, may be himself.
From the perspective of the initial battle, the first-hand advantage is obvious, but unfortunately for Zhang Taofang of the cunning rabbit three caves, the accuracy of the heavy machine gun has decreased, giving Zhang Taofang a chance to breathe.
Zhang Taofang tentatively appeared in the conspicuous place of the position out of thin air with the butt hat, and only the cold wind responded to him, and the other party was not deceived.
Master, this is the master of the US military.
Zhang Taofang has been famous for a long time, and this blood has not been felt for a long time, however, the spirit has gathered unprecedentedly, sensing the fluctuations of the grass and trees around it.
Zhang Taofang was creeping in the trench, preparing to accelerate to the sniper station to shoot, Ike would preemptively attack, and the rifle faced the machine gun, could only choose to dodge, Zhang Taofang took an arrow step, jumped back into the trench, the enemy bullets brushed his feet.
Zhang Taofang pretended to be single in the heel, seemingly unstable and fell into the tunnel, and Ike thought that he had made a contribution, so he stopped strafing first.
Because if Zhang Taofang is really incapacitated, as long as Ike finds his position, the victory or defeat will be decided, and Zhang Taofang seized the time, glanced at the US position, and assessed the current situation.
The positions of the two sides were less than 200 meters apart, Zhang Taofang had five sniper stations and dense tunnels as cover, Ike had two light machine guns as cover, and a heavy machine gun as a killing move to hide.
The key to victory or defeat lies in whose position is exposed first.
This time, Zhang Taofang found the abominable head in the gap between the two rocks, and he did not hesitate to raise his gun to shoot, but at the moment before the bullet came out of the chamber, Ike sensed the killing machine, and the head was deflected, and the bullet hit the helmet.
When the blow failed, Zhang Taofang immediately hid in the trenches, followed by a raging tongue of fire, Ike no longer gave this cunning Chinese boy any chance, as long as Zhang Taofang appeared, he was greeted with a shuttle of bullets.
The other party's supplies are sufficient, and there will be no shortage of bullets for a while, and Zhang Taofang is in a great predicament.
However, the one with the higher skills is Still Zhang Taofang.
In just a few rounds of fighting, Zhang Taofang found that the opponent's shots on his sniper station were mostly aimed at its left side, and there were few shots on the right side, in order to confirm this, Zhang Taofang repeated the technique and threw the sandbag he usually practiced to the right side of the sniper station.
The other party did not give a reaction, habit, for a veteran, is already stereotyped.
Realizing this, the moment of decisive victory came, Zhang Taofang pretended to shoot from the sniper station, Ike subconsciously pointed the muzzle towards the right side of the sniper station, and Zhang Taofang jumped violently from the back of the sniper station, aiming the muzzle at Ike, who had been exposed, and pulled the trigger of victory.
Ike, worthy of being a master, adjusted the muzzle of the gun in less than a second and returned fire on Zhang Taofang.
This 1 second is the distance between life and death.
Ike's heavy body fell and slept forever in the ice and snow, while Zhang Taofang waited for half a sound, making sure that the other party had no sound again, and quietly returned along the way.
The white military hat on his head, leaving a huge hole, was Ike's last mark.
Zhang Taofang, who won the victory of this duel, killed 214 enemies in 32 days, including the opponent's ace sniper, which is a monument that posterity can only look up to forever.
Don't forget me, goodbye hero
In meat grinders like the Korean War, nearly 200,000 Chinese soldiers have officially sacrificed their lives.
And Zhang Taofang, who has repeatedly performed miracles, bullets are like his relatives, that is, they do not pass through his body, they have experienced hundreds of battles, they are unharmed, and they have never been to the hospital; such a miracle may be more incredible than his marksmanship.
Once, Zhang Taofang came down from the front line and prepared to return to China to participate in the commendation meeting of the heroic model, but on the way back, she received an attack from the US air force.
Zhang Taofang and 17 other comrades hid in a temporary shelter, waiting for the US aircraft to leave, however, this shelter was only relatively hidden and did not have air defense capabilities.
Once the bomb was dropped, everyone was burned clean by a fire.
Others don't want to sit still and run out over time in search of life. Zhang Taofang, on the other hand, was incomparably calm.
I have done so many Yankees myself, it is enough; anyway, people's legs can't run the plane, it is a disaster, let it come.
Then it was very sad that the 17 brothers and sisters who took the initiative, except for one who was seriously injured and saved their lives, the others lost their lives in the place closest to victory.
Zhang Taofang, on the other hand, was unharmed.
Until the American troops left, there was no bomb to find the door, and the rubble outside was blown into the house by the huge waves, and it did not touch an inch of Zhang Taofang's skin.
Perhaps, the battlefield does indeed have a safe house.
On the way back, she could occasionally see the incomplete body of her comrades-in-arms, and Zhang Taofang was completely out of the excitement of being commended.
His thoughts flew back to his parents who were working hard in his hometown, his wife who was sewing and weaving, and his growing son, who could wait for himself, but the family members of his comrades who were eagerly looking forward to it could not wait for him again.
At this moment, tears burst out of his eyes, may history not only remember such a prominent representative as Zhang Taofang and Huang Jiguang, but also remember the loyal souls of thousands of ordinary and selfless dedication.
In the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, Zhang Taofang received a special meritorious service once, and was awarded the honorary title of "Second-Class Sniper Hero", and was received by Chairman Mao.
In the days that followed, there was no longer a cold land and dark blood to accompany him, Zhang Taofang returned to his own sunshine, he not only became the only soldier in the 24th Army who passed the pilot selection, but also did not have an accident in the years to come
With the slow rise of the glory of the republic, Zhang Taofang still exerted her strength and continued to fight in the rear for the strength and prosperity of the motherland.
On October 29, 2007, Zhang Taofang passed away quietly in Weifang at the age of 76.
And on the hero's tombstone are inscribed his favorite words of the past: pain is so enduring, like a snail moving patiently; happiness is so fleeting, like a rabbit's tail skimming the autumn prairie.
Perhaps Zhang Taofang's heart has never had the satisfaction of killing any enemy, and the sound of the song of peace is the greatest consolation in his life.