The Hard Way

Luo Jun was organizing his thoughts on how to teach sniping to a girl who had never received systematic training, only firing a few shots during hunting.

He thought it would be better to start with some basics, leaving the in-depth ballistics knowledge for later.

After all, she might not need it. If she used it for hunting in the future, this basic knowledge would be enough for her lifetime.

"Left twist and right twist refer to the direction of the rifling in the barrel. You can observe the muzzle to know whether the rifle has a left or right twist."

Luo Jun said, and Li Shi stopped to observe the inside of her gun barrel. "It's a right twist."

"Most rifles are right twist, but there are left twist ones too, especially when you pick up someone's gun on the battlefield. Don't confuse this. A quick glance won't cost you anything."

Luo Jun explained out of habit, as if to a soldier, although Li Shi would obviously never go to a battlefield.

"Uh-huh! How do they affect the trajectory?"

Li Shi continued to ask, and Luo Jun patiently explained that part of the knowledge.

He told her that the rifling causes the bullet to spin rapidly after leaving the barrel, increasing the muzzle velocity. However, the spinning bullet will drift upwards and to the right at longer distances.

And this drift will decrease as the shooting distance increases.

"So if I'm aiming at 500 meters, should I shift the sight a bit to the lower left?"

Li Shi imagined the shooting scenario, and Luo Jun nodded.

"If it's beyond 500 meters, you need to consider the effect of gravity. Although the spin causes the bullet to drift upwards and to the right, combined with gravity, you need to calculate the parameters of the trajectory and make corrections. Of course, the biggest external factor affecting the trajectory is wind direction and speed. Temperature and other factors have less impact, especially at close range where you don't need to focus on them too much."

Luo Jun explained.

"Then how do I know the effect of wind speed or different wind directions on the ballistic coefficient?"

Li Shi's questions became more and more technical. Although Luo Jun knew she wouldn't use this knowledge, he couldn't refuse such an eager student, so he avoided some deeper concepts.

"Well...you should first learn about the sniper scope and the shooting control accuracy of the sniper rifle."

Luo Jun was afraid of going too far, as there was too much professional knowledge involved, and this girl kept asking deeper and deeper questions. So he switched to letting her understand the sniper rifle itself.

Luo Jun told Li Shi about the types of sniper scopes and how to identify a good one.

He also taught her about the professional term MOA (Minute of Angle) used to measure the accuracy of sniper rifles.

These were very basic pieces of knowledge, not directly useful for shooting itself. But Luo Jun still had to explain them, and he didn't want to talk about more complicated topics like wind drift, in case she wouldn't learn anything.

After Luo Jun finished, Li Shi's enthusiasm for learning was still not diminished.

Luo Jun had no choice but to explain the wind calculation method to her. As for other more detailed topics, he really didn't want to mention them. If they had a chance to practice, he could explain them later.

Finally, after three hours, they went around to the back of the mountain and walked down the northwest slope. The river was 200 meters ahead.

Close to the water source, the trees on both sides grew luxuriantly. Luo Jun told Li Shi that moving in the way hunters do at night can help avoid traps, or follow animal tracks, as animals often take the same path when coming to drink water.

Nature is full of dangers, and animals have a very strong survival instinct. If an animal heads towards the river, leaving footprints, other animals will follow the same path, assuming it's a safe route.

That's why you often find a path made by animals near rivers in the forest.

Luo Jun shared this survival knowledge in the wild with Li Shi.

This knowledge would be useless in a big city, but it was crucial here. One careless step into a trap, and it would be game over.

"What if there are hunters? Would they set traps on the paths animals take to drink water?"

The girl who always thought further and asked Luo Jun all sorts of strange yet professional questions, her imagination seemed quite impressive. Imagination sometimes directly determines the direction of meticulous thinking.

It was a great talent.

Luo Jun patiently answered her questions as well.

Before reaching the riverbank, Luo Jun and Li Shi observed the environment of the shore and the water source first, then approached, instead of directly exposing themselves like regular people.

Luo Jun let Li Shi fetch the water while he kept watch and provided cover with his SV-98 from behind.

Hunters rarely set traps by the riverside, but snipers like to observe from such places. If two people appeared together, Luo Jun would undoubtedly become the target. But if it was just a little girl like Li Shi, snipers wouldn't dare shoot.

On one hand, killing a little girl serves no purpose for them. On the other hand, it would also expose their position.

Snipers engaged in sniper combat must have extremely heightened awareness to survive.

Li Shi reached the river, washed her face, and filled the two bamboo tubes with water.

They returned to the woods and climbed up the northwest slope. Earlier, Luo Jun had observed the surrounding terrain from a high point, so he knew where would be a suitable place to rest.

"Uncle, there are only five hours until nightfall. Where will we sleep tonight?"

Li Shi looked around the wild mountains and didn't know where they could lie down. Her legs were so tired that they wouldn't obey.

"Climb up this slope, then go over to the north slope. There's a rocky slope there, and we should be able to find a place to rest. Are you very tired now?"

Luo Jun asked.

Li Shi nodded, unable to keep going.

"Then let's walk for an hour and rest for ten minutes. Did you get blisters on your feet?"

Luo Jun inquired.

Li Shi nodded. "I think they're bleeding."

Luo Jun suddenly felt sorry for her. This strong-willed and eager girl had pushed herself a lot to march with him for so long, and her physical condition was remarkably good.

Not just women, an ordinary man would not be able to endure walking this far with him in a day.

She would probably have sore legs on the second day.

If that were the case, Luo Jun would have to let her rest overnight, then let her return by herself the next day.

Otherwise, she would have to wait alone for a day and a night at the rocky slope.

But she didn't have much food, so after waiting a day and a night, she would still have to return. And staying out for a day and a night would be even more dangerous.

Li Shi had also become quiet. Luo Jun didn't want to tell her his plan of letting her go back the next day, in case it affected her mood.

After walking and resting intermittently for four hours, they finally crossed over the slope to the north side.

This was a rocky slope, covered with huge boulders. There were gaps between these boulders where they could rest after simple clearing, as long as it didn't rain. They would need to find gaps that could prevent large animals from entering for safety.

The next options would be hard-to-find mountain caves or tree hollows. Failing that, they would have to sleep in trees.

Tonight, Luo Jun would definitely have to huddle with this girl in a rock crevice. Otherwise, with her little clothing, she would freeze.