The development and evolution of war not only accelerated the development of weapons and equipment, but also gave birth to many special classes, and snipers were one of them. To become a good sniper, in addition to having a good sniper rifle, what is more important is personal talent. Ranked first among the world's top ten snipers, Simon Haye was known as the "King of Snipers in the World", and used less than 4 months to snipe and kill 542 Soviet Red Army soldiers in the Soviet-Finnish War, which brought great shock to the Soviet Army.
Simon Haye
Although Simon Hayer has an amazing record, there is one person whose sniper ability is more than the others, he is Zhang Taofang, the sniper king of the Chinese Volunteer Army, who ranks 8th among the world's top ten snipers with a sniper record of 214 people. At first glance, Zhang Taofang's snipers were less than half of Simon Hayer's. So why say his sniper skills are comparable to those of #1 Simon Hayer? Let's take a closer look at the specifics of the two snipers.
One. A very different battlefield environment
Simon Hayer's main sniper attack was in the Winter War of 1939-1940, when the battlefield environment was mainly snowy field environment, when many Finnish snipers wore white trench coats and stepped on skis, with strong mobility and familiarity with the battlefield environment, ambushed the Soviet army marching hard in the snow. Just three or five Finnish snipers could wipe out a dozen Soviet squads marching alone and retreat. Especially at night, the Soviets camping in the wilderness were more frightened than during the day, and as long as the campfire was lit, the Finnish snipers lurking in the darkness could never let them live until dawn.
Finnish Sniper Squad
Judging from the sniper environment of the battlefield, Simon Hayer achieved the sniper effect by using a covert ambush when the enemy was difficult to detect. On the other hand, Zhang Taofang, the volunteer army, fought in the Shangganling Battlefield, where the battle was the most fierce. At that time, the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea was nearing its end, and large-scale trench warfare and movement warfare no longer existed, replaced by cold guns and cold artillery movements, and the enemy and we were already quite familiar with each other's combat situation, depending on who could seize the opportunity to kill the other side with one blow.
In such cases, the enemy tends to hide in fortifications and trenches, and has a high degree of vigilance and concealment, and once his position is exposed, he will soon attract intensive enemy fire. In this case, it will obviously be more difficult to snipe the opponent.
Two. Gaps in armament
A good sniper who wants to achieve the highest level of man-gun integration is inseparable from a sniper rifle with excellent performance. The gun used by Simon Hayer was an improved version of the Mosin Nagant M1891/30, an early model of the Mosin Nagant rifle, with a longer barrel and more suitable for long-range shooting in field environments.
Mosin Nagant M1891/30 rifle
In actual combat, Simon Hayer once shot the farthest shot of 700 meters. The firearm used by Zhang Taofang is the Mosin Nagant M1944 rifle, which is shorter and suitable for maneuvering in trenches, but is inferior to the Mosin Nagant M1891/30 rifle in terms of effective range, aiming baseline and shooting accuracy. But Zhang Taofang scored the farthest sniper record of 1,000 meters.
It is worth noting that neither Simon Haye nor Zhang Taofang's rifles have scopes mounted. This is unthinkable for modern snipers. This situation is due to the fact that both of them are born with farsighted eyes, which is more conducive to the observation of long-distance targets. There are three main reasons why Simon Hayer does not use a sight.
Mosin Nagant M1944 rifle
First of all, the scope at that time was far less advanced than it is now, and in the cold environment, the scope was easy to frost, which was not only not conducive to aiming, but also hindered aiming. Secondly, the scope increases the chance of exposure of the head, which is not conducive to concealment. Again, the scope produces a reflective effect under certain conditions, easily exposing itself. For Zhang Taofang, it was entirely because the conditions of the volunteer army at that time were limited, and the volunteer snipers had to use naked-eye sniping.
Three. Gap in shooting experience
Simon Hayer was born a hunter, had been exposed to firearms since he was very young, and joined the Finnish Army in 1925. At the outbreak of the Soviet-Finnish War, he had 30 years of experience in the use of firearms, and he was a true veteran. Zhang Taofang, on the other hand, was far from this, having joined the army in 1951 and participating in only two months of shooting training after joining the army.
Zhang Taofang recalled sniping the enemy on the battlefield
In September 1952, he entered the battlefield of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea. Compared with Simon Hayer, Zhang Taofang is a new soldier, and neither combat experience nor gun use can be compared with the previous. In the early stage of the battle, due to the lack of actual combat experience, Zhang Taofang did not even hit the enemy by firing more than a dozen shots.
Four. Comparison of average sniper killings per day
Although Simon Haye had a high number of snipers, he also fought for a relatively long time, sniping 542 enemies in four months, with an average of 4.5 snipers in a single day. Zhang Taofang sniped 214 people in 32 days, with an average daily sniper killing number of 6.6 people, reaching a higher average daily sniper number than Simon Haye in a relatively difficult sniper environment. From this point of view, if Zhang Taofang could enter the battlefield of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea earlier, his sniper record may be comparable to That of Simon Hayer, or even surpass him.
From the perspective of comprehensive analysis, although Simon Haye is the king of snipers, Zhang Taofang's sniper strength is no less than that. War has made heroes, heroes have created history, and the battlefield not only needs excellent military quality, but also needs strategy and wisdom beyond ordinary people. The situation on the battlefield is rapidly changing and complex, and a good sniper must also have his own unique combat skills and talents.