Teaching on the Way

Yesterday, it rained all day. The forest was very damp, which might be the last rain of winter. From today onward, the temperature would get colder and colder.

Luo Jun and Li Shi walked arduously through the forest.

After two hours, they reached the foot of the great mountain. For a better and safer route, they had to climb to the ridge and then follow a gentle slope below the ridge, circling around the side of the mountain.

Although it would be shorter to walk down from the valley, there were fewer trees on the ridge, and the path was easier to walk on, unlike in the valley where water and fallen leaves were everywhere.

Finally, an hour later, they arrived at the oak tree where they had collected acorns last time.

Throughout the journey, Li Shi didn't ask for a break. Luo Jun knew she must be exhausted, but to keep up with his pace, she had to persevere.

This spirit greatly pleased Luo Jun. She had no airs of a young lady, but a tenacious determination.

In addition to her perseverance, her intelligence and eagerness to learn also impressed Luo Jun immensely.

"Let's take a break and eat something before we set off again."

Saying this, Luo Jun found a rock to sit on. Li Shi, thoroughly exhausted, plopped down on the grass. After taking a few sips of water, she ran to the side and squatted to urinate.

Due to her fatigue, she didn't even walk far away but simply pulled down her pants and squatted. Luo Jun could see her figure with just a turn of his head.

The sound of Li Shi urinating was clearly audible to Luo Jun.

After finishing, she walked back and sat down beside Luo Jun, drinking water again.

Luo Jun handed the SV-98 rifle to Li Shi.

"You said you know how to use a sniper rifle, so you should know how to calculate wind deflection, right?" Luo Jun asked.

He wanted to know her level of sniping skill.

"I use the stadia lines in the scope to calculate distance, which is the target size multiplied by 1000 divided by the stadia interval, right?" Li Shi said.

Luo Jun nodded. Since Li Shi understood these concepts, it shouldn't be too difficult to teach her some sniping techniques. At least within one or two hundred meters, she should be able to hit where she aims.

Luo Jun continued, "This algorithm works well for targeting humans, as we can roughly estimate a person's height. But often, before sniping a target, we need to observe the environment at the target location in advance and pre-calculate the distance. In this wilderness, without any people for reference, this formula becomes useless."

As Luo Jun said this, Li Shi realized he was right.

The formula required knowing the target size, but in this wilderness, there were no known heights of trees, rocks, or other natural objects.

So this formula became essentially useless.

"Then what do we do?" Li Shi asked.

"Soldiers who have used mortars know how to quickly calculate the distance to a target using the parallax between their eyes. Stretch out your right hand, hold up your thumb at the target, first look with your right eye, then your left. The position of your thumb will appear different to each eye. Let's use A for the distance between our pupils, B for the length of your arm, X for the distance between the target position as seen by the right eye and the position as seen by the left eye, and Y for the distance from your thumb to the target. Then A/B = X/Y. We know our interpupillary distance and arm length, so by estimating how many two-meter-tall people could lie in the parallax distance X, we can easily calculate the target distance verbally."

Luo Jun explained it all in one breath, not caring whether Li Shi understood or not.

Fortunately, Li Shi was a bright student, and the calculation involved was quite simple, just elementary geometry.

"I get it. I heard that astronomers use this same principle to measure the distances between planets!" Li Shi said brightly.

Luo Jun was pleased. This student was good, grasping the concept quickly and making connections.

"Correct. The knowledge is very simple, but you need to practice calculating it fluently. Otherwise, by the time you finish calculating, the enemy might have already gone home and taken a nap!" Luo Jun said, making Li Shi laugh.

"Now I'll teach you basic tactical movement techniques. These are also quite simple, but if you're not vigilant at all times, you could easily die from these small details, just like driving a car. All the skills are well-practiced, but if you're not careful and don't follow the traffic rules, accidents can happen."

Saying this, Luo Jun lay on the ground with the rifle sideways in front of him, supporting himself with his elbows on the ground, his legs moving forward and backward like a frog's.

"This is the crawl. Keep your head and buttocks from rising up, use your eyes to look up and observe the front. This way of moving is very strenuous, only suitable for flat, open areas."

Of course, Luo Jun wasn't trying to train Li Shi into a qualified sniper, as her physical abilities were far from meeting the standard.

The primary requirement for a sniper wasn't aiming accurately, but physical fitness.

He was teaching her these things just in case she had to go into battle temporarily, so she would have basic survival skills.

"Let me try!" Li Shi imitated Luo Jun's crawling on the ground.

Luo Jun reminded her to keep the sniper rifle's scope facing her chest, not outward, to avoid damaging it.

The girl quickly learned this technique.

Next, Luo Jun taught her upright walking, monkey hop progression, and the most difficult snail crawl.

There were only these four tactical movement techniques for snipers, but mastering them required long hours of training.

For now, Luo Jun could only have her recognize these four movement techniques, hoping she wouldn't need to use them.

"For each tactical movement, you need to pay attention to the position of your weapon, otherwise damaging the scope during movement would render you blind," Luo Jun emphasized the importance of holding the rifle properly.

"Uncle, what about ballistics?" Li Shi asked inquisitively.

Luo Jun smiled and shook his head.

"You don't need to worry about that for now. Without strict sniper training, it's very difficult to hit a target beyond two hundred meters. The ballistics calculations are too complex for you to grasp at the moment."

Li Shi had to accept it.

"Let's eat something and continue on our way," Luo Jun motioned for her to sit and eat.

Li Shi obediently sat down, placing the rifle beside her.

Luo Jun then sternly reminded her, "Your weapon is your life. Now that you've left the shelter, you're in a state of readiness for battle. The rifle must never leave your hands."

Seeing Luo Jun's seriousness, Li Shi gulped and nodded, picking up the rifle again.

Most people don't understand the importance of these details, but veterans know that these small details can often save your life when someone tries to ambush you.

"I know you're smart, but you must remember these details," Luo Jun said solemnly.

Li Shi pursed her lips and nodded heavily.

"I'll tell you about ballistics later," Luo Jun said while munching on nuts.

At this, Li Shi finally smiled, as if an adult had just scolded a little girl and then given her a piece of candy.

Luo Jun didn't expect her to be so interested in sniping.

However, learning these skills wouldn't be of much use to her. If they successfully boarded a ship and returned to the metropolis, she would basically have no chance to apply them.

Learning some basic skills to stay alive would be enough.

Luo Jun thought about it. Tonight, they would enter the northwest area, where unknown dangers might lurk. Once they encountered mercenaries, a fierce battle would be unavoidable!