80: Chapter 80: Positioning of Electromagnetic Kinetic Energy Sniper Rifles (Part 2)

"Academician Chu, what kind of gun is this?"

Brigadier General Lu finally finished aiming and turned back to ask Chu Ge excitedly.

"I will introduce the gun in detail to you two Brigadier Generals in a moment. First, I need to trouble Brigadier General Gu to, um, there, at the foot of the mountain at the end of the shooting range, place an abandoned armored target—anything will do."

Chu Ge glanced at the shooting range and pointed to a small hill at the far end.

"No problem."

After hearing this, Brigadier General Gu walked to the side, beckoned to a guard nearby, and leaned over to say something.

"Li Gang, what is the magnification of this sniper scope?"

Chu Ge glanced at the long scope and asked suddenly.

"Oh, this one is 16x. The Research Institute is currently developing a 45x scope specifically for it."

Li Gang said, patting the Electromagnetic Kinetic Sniper Rifle.

"45x? Are you kidding? Even if you can see it at 45x, you can't hit it. This isn't a problem with the scope; it's a problem with the gun and the person."

Brigadier General Lu Nan, listening from the side, immediately became a bit skeptical.

"That's not necessarily true, Brigadier General Lu Nan. If I remember correctly, the longest sniper distance in the world is currently 4,750 meters, right?"

Chu Ge glanced at the skeptical Brigadier General Lu and said slowly.

"Theoretically, it is possible, but in reality, at such a distance, if the target is also moving, it tests the sniper's stability and experience too much. It's not very practical, which is why the mainstream military currently uses 4-10x sniper scopes."

"Old Lu is right about that. A scope isn't better just because the magnification is higher. Beyond 1,000 meters, under the multiple influences of ballistics, environment, and the sniper, the sniping effect becomes extremely unstable. That's why military sniper distances worldwide are generally around 800 meters; snipers only need to follow infantry to provide support operations."

Brigadier General Gu, having finished arranging the task, continued after Brigadier General Lu.

"Take the 7.62mm x 51 full-power cartridge as an example. It starts to experience ballistic drop beyond 400 meters, and after 1 kilometer, the ballistic deviation becomes even more pronounced. Therefore, for a bullet to hit a target 1,000 meters away, it often requires extremely precise calculations and luck. This requires the sniper and the spotter to have extremely tacit cooperation to barely complete the mission."

Brigadier General Gu looked at Chu Ge, who was shaking his head, and fearing he wouldn't believe him, added.

"Hmm, I believe what you two Brigadier Generals say, but the targets you're talking about are human, right? The current 800-meter scope configuration in the military is largely because of the need for rapid aiming."

"In accompanying operations, rapid aiming can effectively ensure the continuous elimination of live targets. Higher magnification scopes actually narrow the field of view, which is disadvantageous for target searching. But the target of our Electromagnetic Kinetic Sniper Rifle today isn't those; it should be here or there."

Chu Ge said, pointing to the armored vehicle nearby and the radar in the distance.

The two Brigadier Generals turned their heads in the direction of Chu Ge's finger. Upon seeing these two things, they were immediately a bit surprised.

A few minutes later,

"Damn, Academician Chu, is this an anti-materiel sniper rifle? If you put it that way, it really is; at least in size, it's very similar."

"Haha, pretty much. Whether it's anti-materiel or not, we'll have to judge after the actual firing in a moment."

Chu Ge intended to keep them in suspense for a bit. These two Brigadier Generals were quite stubborn; verbal explanations were far less persuasive than a single practical demonstration.

Chu Ge looked up and saw a truck in the distance unloading something; it looked like an old tank.

"Brigadier General Gu, how many meters is it from here to there?"

"1,500 meters."

"Oh, that's fine, let's do it here; no need to go in further. Li Gang, Brigadier General Gu, find a soldier and get ready. Be careful."

"Yes, Academician Chu."

"Good."

Chu Ge picked up the Electromagnetic Kinetic Sniper Rifle, fumbled to the front of the gun body, and gave it a sharp pull. With a "click," a pair of supports popped out from under the front end; those were the bipods of the Electromagnetic Kinetic Sniper Rifle.

After all, this was a blueprint Chu Ge had spent a long time organizing, so he knew the structure of this gun like the back of his hand. Brigadier General Lu, who was nearby, hurried over and pressed his face against it to aim again.

"Academician Chu, this design is very clever. If you hadn't done that, I really wouldn't have seen the mystery hidden inside."

"Haha, it's just for aesthetics. Mainly, this isn't the barrel, but rather something like two rectangular channel steels joined together, which provides enough storage space. As for the barrel, no matter how you retract it, it will always be on the outside."

After finishing, Chu Ge raised the gun, hooked the upper half of the trigger with his finger, and then looked at the gun body. Just like the Electromagnetic Pulse Rifle, there was a small display screen on the side of the sniper rifle's body. One half displayed the high-energy battery level in groups, while the other half was an arc-shaped charging indicator grid.

The dense row of electric grids was lighting up one by one, and the process was accompanied by a buzzing sound that gradually increased in pitch.

As the buzzing sound came to an abrupt stop, the last grid lit up.

"In close-quarters combat, this sound can be turned off. For long distances, it's used to help the sniper judge when they can fire."

"Oh."

Brigadier General Lu responded from the side.

"I have to say, System Big Brother, this design of yours is truly superfluous!"

[...]

Chu Ge felt that he had finally won a round.

"Alright, Academician Chu, we're ready. This is Wang Xuedong, a special-grade marksman from our brigade."

"Sniper Wang Xuedong of the 223rd Brigade Special Operations Brigade salutes Colonel Chu!"

Wang Xuedong was not tall, with dark skin and muscles that made Chu Ge envious. Under his thick eyebrows was a pair of sharp eyes.

Chu Ge took one look, and his most immediate impression was that this was definitely a bona fide special-grade marksman.

"Hello."

Chu Ge said, handing the Electromagnetic Kinetic Sniper Rifle to him.

"I've already adjusted the gun for you. Just pull the lower trigger. When aiming, you don't need to consider environmental factors like wind speed or humidity, and at this distance, you don't need to worry about ballistics either. Do you understand?"

"Yes!"

"Good, go get ready!"

Wang Xuedong picked up the Electromagnetic Kinetic Sniper Rifle and curiously examined it from head to toe. Then he glanced at Chu Ge, and seeing Chu Ge nod, he reached out to touch the gun body, then suddenly raised the gun and looked through the scope.

"Wang Xuedong, Colonel Chu is here, so behave yourself. Get over there and get into the prone firing position. What are you showing off for? You're embarrassing me!"

Brigadier General Gu roared from the side.

"Yes!"

Wang Xuedong seemed quite afraid of Brigadier General Gu and hurried toward the prepared firing position.

"Haha, Brigadier General Gu, I think he looked really cool just now!"

These were Chu Ge's true thoughts. It was just that protocol didn't allow it; otherwise, he would have really wanted to go up and fire a shot.

"This gun should have a bit of recoil, unlike the Electromagnetic Pulse Rifle, but it shouldn't be much. Fire when you're ready."

After Li Gang checked the status of the Electromagnetic Kinetic Sniper Rifle, he said this to Wang Xuedong, who was already aiming.

"With a "whoosh," just as Li finished speaking, a flash of white light streaked by.

"Boom..." A loud noise erupted in the distance, and everyone was stunned. The commotion afterwards was a bit frightening.

"How is it? Wang Xuedong."

Chu Ge didn't care about anything else and first asked about the sniper's condition.

"I'm fine. It feels like it has even less recoil than the QBU-88 sniper rifle. It's damn exciting!"

Wang Xuedong stood up quickly, looking into the distance, and said excitedly.

"..."

Brigadier General Gu rubbed his forehead.