"Move, move, move, let's go check the front."
Song Heping led Jiang Feng toward the bow of the ship.
They quickly arrived beside the sandbags piled up by the crew, crouching at the front left of the deck.
In the distance, the vast sea stretched out, with two small black dots bobbing up and down amidst the waves.
This was Song Heping's first encounter with pirates.
Raising his binoculars toward the black dots, he saw they were two small boats, about five or six ters in length.
The one in the lead was a fast boat with a blue and white hull that seed to be made of fiberglass steel material, and the slightly slower one behind it was a wooden-hulled boat with a canopy on top, looking like a fishing vessel.
Cargo ships generally travel at speeds of around ten knots, and can reach up to about 20 knots at full throttle, but they are slow as snails in front of those high-powered motorboats.
So if you're targeted, you generally can't escape, unless there are ard security personnel on board; otherwise, the crew has to rely on makeshift thods like Molotov cocktails or firehoses to fend them off.
Big ships are high, speedboats are low, and to board and rob a ship, pirates need to climb up the gangway ladder.
Pirates are most vulnerable when climbing the gangway ladder, which is also the key to victory or defeat.
Thus, the crew usually takes this opportunity to attack the pirates, hoping to make them fall and give up boarding.
However, there are very few successful cases.
Because pirates have guns, and so even have RPG rocket launchers. Although they are mostly old AK series firearms that lack maintenance and often jam, a gun is still a gun. The crew might attack their boarding comrades, but then they'd just shoot up the ship.
Untrained in military tactics, the crew's psychological defenses usually collapse quickly under a hail of bullets, leading them to give up resistance.
Most of the ti, the captain would organize the crew to hide in the ship's safe room, which is stocked with water and food to last several days. All they can do is pray that the pirates will choose to leave on their own after looting the ship's valuables.
"Around 600 ters away."
Song Heping quickly estimated the distance, then turned his head to Jiang Feng and asked, "You do it or ?"
Captain Edmund, who had co up to watch the excitent, said, "Shouldn't we wait for them to get closer before shooting?"
Jiang Feng ignored the captain's words and instead asked Song Heping with a smile, "Old squad leader, 600 ters, are you going to shoot them with an AKM?"
Song Heping replied, "It's not impossible. Haven't you tried it in the army?"
Jiang Feng's PKM machine gun had an effective range of 1000 ters, which was very suitable for attacking large targets and groups at around 600 ters.
But upon hearing Song Heping dare to claim he could hit targets around 600 ters with an AKM assault rifle, his curiosity was piqued.
Before joining the company, he had heard that the company was owned by a Chinese boss who had served in the military, was pretty badass, and quite legendary in the rcenary circles of Baghdad, turning a small team into a large Defense Company with several hundred employees in just one year.
After eting Song Heping and due to various factors, he didn't inquire further, but now that the opportunity had arisen, Jiang Feng did not hold back and said, "Old squad leader, then you do it."
Of course, Song Heping saw through the small curiosity in Jiang Feng's mind. Wasn't it just to see his own strength? This was very common in the PLA. To be a leader in any unit, you had to be respected by your subordinates, all the more so in elite units.
To earn the respect of the soldiers, you had to have a particular skill set, solid military qualities, and be able to impress everyone with your actions, then everyone would give you a thumbs up and serve you willingly.
If you were a weakling, no one would respect you, no matter if you had a higher military rank; they would look down on you from the bottom of their hearts.
Song Heping pointed to the distant black dots and said, "It's less than 600 ters now, I have the advantage."
Jiang Feng eyeballed the distance.
Indeed, it was less than 600 ters now. During their conversation, the two fast boats had gotten considerably closer.
Now it was just over 500 ters.
But he still thought Song Heping was boasting.
Shooting 400 ters on land wasn't a problem, but on a ship, hitting a human target at 400 ters distance was already considered skillful, let alone 500 ters.
"No problem, I just want to see the old squad leader's skills," said Jiang Feng.
"Then watch closely, you greenhorn," said Song Heping as he knelt down with his AKM assault rifle resting on the sandbags, quickly switched off the safety, and chambered a round.
His AKM assault rifle was equipped with a scope, and although it was only 3x magnification, it had a very comfortable field of view.
Pop, pop, pop—
Song Heping let off a burst of fire.
After this burst, everyone stretched their necks to look toward the distant boats.
Edmund, who had binoculars at the ready, hurriedly took them up to enjoy the show.
The leading blue and white fiberglass speedboat was hit near the bow by the machine gun fire, causing small fragnts to spray and scaring the pirates into lying flat.
Song Heping shook his head regretfully.
The cargo ship was frantically speeding along, creating a bit of instability, and his first burst had missed its mark.
He looked down at his rifle, feeling quite surprised.
Jiang Feng started to laugh, "Old squad leader, you're not up to it! Let take over!"
Having said that, he was about to make a burst fire with his machine gun.
Song Heping stopped him with a hand, "Wait, I have a problem with my gun, the scope has shifted."
This AKM assault rifle was fitted with a modified dovetail slot scope mount, and one issue with this kind of mount is that it's easily displaced by bumps.
Song Heping felt that it must have been jolted out of alignnt in the past few days, as the point of impact was low based on his last shots.
He lifted the assault rifle, this ti standing unsupported, and aid at the lead boat for two bursts of fire.
Crack crack crack—
Crack crack crack—
About a second later, two pirates crouched in the blue-and-white speedboat swayed and fell into the cabin, disappearing from the scope's view.
"OH MY GOD!"
Captain Edmond was the first to exclaim.
"That's amazing, Boss Song!"
He was overjoyed.
Only now did he realize that Song Heping's assurance of his safety wasn't empty talk, he truly had the skills.
"Aweso!"
Jiang Feng gave a thumbs up.
"I'm impressed by the old squad leader's rifle skills."
Song Heping said, "Now it's your turn to perform."
He glanced in the distance and said, "If you don't take action now, they'll get away."
Everyone looked and sure enough, the two boats had slowed down as if skittishly attempting to flee.
Jiang Feng certainly knew the code.
Having seen Song Heping demonstrate his exceptional skill, he couldn't show weakness. He had to exhibit his prowess to the old squad leader or else not only would he be looked down upon, but it would also reflect poorly on the unit he belonged to. Every Marine Corps mber has a strong sense of collective honor; it's not about whether one lives or dies—it's about not bringing disgrace upon their unit, a sentint that's ingrained in their bones.
He quickly set up his PKM machine gun and then said to Song Heping, "Watch closely, old squad leader."
After that, he aid rapidly and then pulled the trigger.
Ratatatatatatatatat—
He used long bursts, the kind where he held the trigger down continuously.
Actually, this technique of long bursts is the most difficult to execute.
Because of recoil, short bursts can maintain a steady line of fire, but keeping long bursts within a small area is quite challenging.
Long bursts truly test the skill of a machine gunner.
The PKM machine gun that Jiang Feng used was equipped with a 100-round aluminum alloy ammo box, with a theoretical firing rate of 650 rounds per minute. Therefore, by holding down the trigger, the box could be emptied in approximately ten seconds.
Soon, one ammo box was completely emptied.
Jiang Feng lifted his head from the gun.
Everyone looked towards the two small dots in front.
The blue-and-white speedboat had completely slowed down, still moving slowly, while the wooden-hulled speedboat had turned around and was racing in the opposite direction as if it had seen a ghost.
Jiang Feng had Song Heping take out a new ammo box from the tactical pack on his back and load it. He then said to Song Heping, "I think there's nobody left alive in that blue-and-white speedboat."
He paused and then added, "I an, no living people."
Song Heping raised the binoculars and sure enough, he couldn't see anyone crouched on the fiberglass speedboat; it seed everyone was lying down, with bodies stacked together.
The boat was probably still moving slowly due to the engine idling.
"Well done, your gun control was excellent, you are definitely an expert," said Song Heping.
Jiang Feng was not satisfied upon hearing this. "Old squad leader, can you use a PKM too?"
"Mhm," Song Heping nodded, "A bit."
"Too bad there's no chance now," said Jiang Feng as he watched the fleeing speedboat. "Otherwise, I definitely would have wanted the old squad leader to show off as well."
Seeing that Jiang Feng was unconvinced, Song Heping said, "There will be a chance, probably tonight or tomorrow."
"You an they will co back?" Jiang Feng asked.
"They will," Song Heping affird confidently. "They have suffered such a huge loss; they will surely return with more people."
Upon hearing this, Edmond imdiately felt the urge to urinate, "Oh, Boss Song, are you serious?"
Song Heping patted his shoulder and said, "Don't panic, we're here. You can rest assured, a leaf won't fall from the sky and crack open a skull."
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