329: Su Ling's fatal blow

Snow pellets hit the sniper scope, making a rustling sound.

Su Ling didn't move. Her right eye was pressed against the scope, and her left hand held a defroster brush, gently scraping away the white frost on the edge of the lens.

The wind direction had changed, shifting from the southeast to the north, blowing up ice shards from the slope below and sending them flying diagonally through the air.

She waited seventeen seconds until her line of sight was stable.

Three hundred twenty meters down the slope, three heavy transport vehicles were stopped at an intersection on the ice track.

The hoods were slightly bulging, and steam was rising from the radiator vents.

After the chaos a moment ago, the drivers were reconnecting the communication systems. The vehicle doors were open, and someone was leaning out to shout.

This was an opportunity.

They were too close to each other; if one had a problem, the other two would find it very difficult to leave immediately.

She slowed her breathing, and the rise and fall of her chest diminished.

Her heart rate dropped from seventy-two beats per minute to fifty-four.

Her finger rested outside the trigger guard, feeling the temperature of the gun body.

The armor-piercing round was already chambered; it was a specially made tungsten-core bullet that could maintain its hardness at minus eighty degrees.

There were only four spare rounds left for the entire gun, and they couldn't be wasted.

On the right side of the first vehicle's engine compartment was a patch of armor, welded on during repairs.

The seams were uneven, and after temperature fluctuations, small cracks would appear.

She remembered Chen Wang saying that this kind of spot was the most prone to failure.

As long as she shot through there, the high-temperature oil pipe would leak, and if it hit a spark, it would catch fire.

The anemometer lit up with a green light for one second.

She pulled the trigger.

The gunshot was crisp, not like an explosion, but more like tapping on an iron pipe.

The muzzle jump was minimal, and the recoil was absorbed by the soft padding in the shoulder rest.

She didn't look for the result, instead immediately rolling fifty centimeters to the side and lying into a snow pit.

The gun barrel cooled down rapidly, emitting a wisp of white smoke that was blown away by the wind in a few seconds.

The sound of metal tearing came from down the slope, followed by an alarm.

Black smoke spewed from the engine compartment of the first vehicle, and the people in the cab pushed open the doors and ran out.

The second vehicle tried to reverse, but the distance was too close, and its tracks got stuck on the rear beam of the vehicle in front.

The driver of the third vehicle reacted quickly, immediately initiating a turn, preparing to leave the convoy.

Su Ling set up the gun again, adjusted the magnification to twelve times, and aimed at the left front track drive shaft of the second vehicle.

That position was protected by bearings, but it was prone to vibration during rotation.

She had tested it during training; as long as the bullet passed three millimeters above the axis, it could disable the entire transmission system.

She waited for six seconds.

The target began to move, the vehicle body tilted, and the tracks made a creaking sound as they crushed over the ice blocks.

Just at the moment it drove out from behind the rock, she fired half a second early.

The second shot hit.

The vehicle body jerked to a halt, the left track locked up completely, and inertia caused it to flip to the right, crashing into the third vehicle and bending its turret mount.

The driver of the third vehicle didn't try to flee again.

He turned off the engine and switched on the emergency lights, as if trying to fake a vehicle breakdown.

But this action only exposed his intention—a normal breakdown wouldn't involve turning off the power before turning on the signal lights.

Su Ling didn't rush to fire the third shot.

She stared at a small communication vehicle on the distant ridge; it had a disc antenna mounted on a hydraulic rod that could rotate.

If she broke it, the front line wouldn't receive command signals, and it would take at least five minutes to manually reboot.

She adjusted her posture, lowering her head to minimize the exposed area.

Snow began to pile up on the barrel, but she didn't dare to clear it with her hand for fear of leaving traces.

She could only wait for the wind to blow some of it away.

A strong gust of wind blew over the ridge, disrupting the thermal currents.

She waited eleven seconds until the air stabilized.

The green light flashed once.

She fired the third shot.

The bullet passed through a gap in the thirty-meter-high ice cliff, accurately hitting the connection ring of the antenna base.

The disc tilted, the hydraulic rod snapped, and the entire device crashed onto the roof of the vehicle.

The red light on top of the communication vehicle flashed twice and then went out.

The area down the slope was in total chaos.

Without unified command, each unit acted on its own.

Some retreated, some set up temporary antennas, and one engineering vehicle initiated its self-destruct sequence, likely fearing capture.

As the flames rose, several people rushed out of the vehicle, ran a few steps, and then collapsed into the snow, motionless.

Su Ling released the trigger, took her hands off the gun, and placed them flat on the snow.

Her fingers were a bit numb, caused by prolonged tension.

She didn't rub them, fearing the movement would be too large.

She just slowly wiggled her fingertips to let the blood flow freely.

She closed her eyes and took three deep breaths.

Each time she inhaled, she counted to four, paused for two seconds, and then exhaled slowly.

This was a method taught by the special police to calm the nerves.

After opening her eyes, her vision was clear, and she wasn't shaking anymore.

She raised the scope again to check the three hit vehicles.

The first was still smoking, its engine likely burned out; the second was overturned, its tracks gone, and it couldn't be repaired in the short term; the third had an intact hull, but the driver hadn't started the engine, perhaps feeling the situation was out of control and choosing to wait for reinforcements.

On the main battlefield in the distance, the enemy's advance had slowed down.

The originally dense formation had now scattered into small groups, with no coordination between them.

Two support vehicles tried to fill the gaps, but without communication, there were holes in the fire coverage.

She knew it wasn't enough yet.

The enemy still had reserve troops that could join the battle at any time.

But she had bought time.

Enough for her side to rearrange their defensive lines, and enough for the hope to find the next opportunity to attack.

She didn't speak but pressed her throat microphone: "Targets neutralized, area silent."

Her voice was very soft, like a whisper, but it could be transmitted to the encrypted channel.

After speaking, she remained in a prone position, with the muzzle facing down and the cooling pipe stuck into the snow to cool down.

She observed the battlefield through the scope, noting every moving person and vehicle.

Her position hadn't changed; the snow beneath her had melted from her body heat and then frozen hard.

Frost had formed on her hair and eyebrows, and the air she exhaled froze inside her mask, only to be melted again by her body heat.

The wind grew stronger, sweeping across the ridge with snowflakes.

She pressed her body lower and tightened her arms to prevent accumulating snow from sliding off and exposing her position.

Her right hand was still resting near the trigger, ready to fire at any moment.

A new command vehicle drove up from the rear and stopped at a safe distance.

Several officers got out to check the situation, discussing while holding tablets.

They didn't approach the damaged vehicles, nor did they recover the bodies.

This indicated they realized a sniper was present and were assessing the threat.

Su Ling didn't move.

She didn't need to fire a fourth shot.

Her mission wasn't to kill, but to disrupt the rhythm of the attack.

Now, she had done it.

She saw that command vehicle launch a small drone, which circled in the air.

This was reconnaissance, and also a warning.

But her position, having been surveyed beforehand, was in a radar blind spot, and with the terrain providing cover, she wouldn't be discovered in the short term.

She continued to observe.

The enemy began mobilizing engineering teams to build temporary bunkers far from the main battlefield.

This was a sign of defense.

They wouldn't force an attack again.

She confirmed the status of all targets.

No signs of rebooting, no abnormal energy signals, and no personnel gathering.

The battlefield entered a stalemate.

She pulled back the scope, widened her field of view, and looked at the entire valley.

To the left was a steep slope, to the right was an ice gully, and the breach point in the middle had been abandoned.

The passage originally planned to be cleared was piled high with ice shards, with no one cleaning it up.

Several engineering vehicles were parked there, as if forgotten.

She knew Chen Wang was also watching all of this from somewhere.

Perhaps in a vehicle, perhaps on high ground.

He created the chaos, and she completed the finish.

The two hadn't discussed the timing, but their coordination was excellent.

Just like before, one moving, one still, one luring, one killing.

She didn't think about what would happen next.

She didn't know if there would be reinforcements, didn't know if the enemy would change tactics, and didn't know when the snowstorm would stop.

She only knew that she had to stay alert now and could not relax.

She pressed her face back against the scope and scanned the slope below again.

A soldier was squatting next to the third transport vehicle, seemingly wanting to start the backup power.

She stared at him, her finger resting on the trigger again.

The man paused for a few seconds, ultimately didn't dare to turn on the power, and turned and ran away.

She released her finger.

The gun barrel was already as cold as the surrounding temperature.

She no longer heated it, fearing the heat signature would expose her position.

She just lay there quietly, like an ice-covered stone.

In the distance, a black aircraft flew past under the clouds, very fast, not stopping.

It flew toward the other side of the main battlefield, possibly to support other areas.

This indicated that the enemy's attention was shifting.

She blinked, and a small piece of frost on her eyelashes fell off.

Her vision remained clear.

In the valley, only the sound of the wind and intermittent alarms remained.

Those red dots were no longer moving, or were moving very slowly.

The attack had been interrupted, at least for now.

She didn't move.