In early 1952, North Korea in winter was as freezing as an ice cellar. Thousands of cannonballs from the enemy fell on our field. Even the soil was hot. You're shaking like the ground above. Stop it! Here, drink it. Squad Leader, this is the last bit. You drink it. Shut up. Drink it. It's liquor! Blockhead! It'll warm you, and when you pull the trigger, the cartridge cases won't get stuck. When the gunfire stops, the enemy will certainly come into the trench. We must quickly occupy the shooting points when getting out. Gao Zhankui, it depends on you whether these blockheads have a chance to eat canned food. No problem, Sichuan Guy. When we take down the opposite field, they'll have enough canned beef to eat. New Fish, you've never been wounded, huh? Don't be a coward when you go up there. Go! Equip bayonet. Get down! Squad Leader! Bastard! Throw it! Go out! Go! Take back the field! Hold your gun tight, Blockhead! The enemy's field is weak now. Let's fight back and get rid of it. Comrades, move! Move! Go! Come on! Kill them! Go! Have you lost your mind, Blockhead? Blaster, blow it up! Go! Cover him! One more! I'll do it. Are you really conscious of nothing now, Blockhead? I saw the enemy's sniper, Squad Leader. Gao Zhankui, cannonballs will fall if it continues. Hurry up! Big Head, what now? I'm watching it! Baogen! There's one at two o'clock, Squad Leader! I'll do it. Pitted Face! He's come out! Squad Leader! Squad Leader! Blockhead! Look at me! Here, this way. Get in. Go ahead. Assemble now! Be quick! The enemy's seventh charge was beaten back by us Eighth Company again. No matter how many cannonballs they drop, we volunteer army will maintain our high morale. Brave soldiers of the Eighth Company, anyone who can hit a can 300 meters away will be allowed to join in the Special Shooter Training Squad. Everyone in the Eighth Company is a hero instead of a coward. You'll see our snipers will hit the target every time. Have a look. This is a Mosin-Nagant rifle that allows you to shoot an American soldier 400 meters away. Does anyone want it? Give a shot if you do. Comrade! Support it yourself. Where are you going? Comrade, where are you going, comrade? Your wound hasn't been treated yet. Shu Yu, someone is seriously wounded here. Like a good horse has a good saddle, a hero should have a good gun. Does anyone want to have a try? A new Mosin-Nagant rifle. You can shoot an American soldier 400 meters away with it. Give a shot. Try it. Try it. Coward! I want it. I want it. The bullets are rare. Don't waste them. Hold it tight. Squad Leader, all three bullets have hit the target. I heard the sounds. Don't be proud. If this is 400 meters, you won't be so lucky. Attention! From now on you are a soldier of the Special Shooter Training Squad. Big Head. Here. Prepare a bunk for him. Yes, sir. Absurd! Gao Zhankui! Who allowed you to take in new members? How could you yell like a lunatic just now? Company Commander, after this battle few are left in our squad. Look at you. You're a veteran. Hundred-Regiment Campaign, Huaihai Campaign, and the Battle of Chosin Reservoir, you've experienced them all. Have you seen a battle where nobody died? Not just you have fellow soldiers. The Sixth Squad of Sichuan Guy Zhao Jinquan has only one member left, and he could no longer ask me to justify it. Company Commander, I am the last member of the Sixth Squad. Early in the morning the higher-up command gave us a new instruction: before going south, we must take down the opposite field. Your squad should continue to give cold shots and take down the most difficult ones. With no one left, how can we do it? More soldiers will be sent to your squad in a few days. Squad Leader. Squad Leader, it's a sniper scope. The company commander read the strategy suggest you wrote. So he gave us the sniper scope captured from the enemy. Being educated is really helpful. Our squad's equipment was upgraded thanks to you. As the squad leader, I'll keep your merit in record in my own name. Thanks, Squad Leader. The gun, where's my gun? What gun? The Mosin-Nagant rifle. I hit the can. Squad Leader. Squad Leader. I hit the can and you've allowed me to join in the Special Shooter Training Squad. Why don't you give me a gun? Squad Leader! What do you want a gun for? To avenge the leader and fellow soldiers of my former squad. Sichuan Guy once said there's a hothead from Tongling, Anhui. So it's you. My elder brother is a bit lame. My dad got him a wife by selling our ox. They had a baby last year, only two months old. Life was only beginning to improve, but the enemy came to our doorstep. I don't want my nephew to be wakened up by gunfire in sleep. But people will die in battles. What if you die? I'm not afraid of death. Take it. Take him to get familiar with the operation area. Dig out the trench as soon as possible. Yes, sir. I came to be a sniper not to dig a trench. Pick it up! How dare you! In the Special Shooter Training Squad, you must obey the rules of the squad. One of our rules is digging a trench before becoming a sniper. Pick it up! When in battles, it'll be your gun. Liar! The squad leader is a liar. If I had known I came to dig a trench, I wouldn't have come. The farther the trench is, the closer we'll be to the enemy, and the greater chance we'll have to kill the enemy. The frozen earth is as hard as iron. How to dig it? I can't believe you grew up on a farmland. Here. You need to be skillful. Wield it high and let it fall freely. This way it can go deep. You and the squad leader came from the same place, huh? I was born in Ji'an and grew up in Harbin, a fellow-townsman of the squad leader to some degree. My home town is as cold as here, not so warm as the south where you came. Peking... Peking University. You're a university student! No wonder the squad leader said you're educated. I thought you came from the Fourth Field Army. Someone as talented and valuable as you should be engaged in national construction back in our country. In future operations, I'll go first. What's your name? Ren Dongfeng. Comrade Ren Dongfeng, watch it for me. I'll dig the trench for a while. What are you doing? What are YOU doing? The one who killed my squad leader is right on the opposite. I want to avenge my squad leader. If you go to avenge him, the trench will be exposed. Damn the trench! I would have died but for my squad leader! So many of us have died. If I don't avenge them, I don't deserve to live. Don't be foolish. You'll die! I'm not afraid of death. You... Does it hurt? It's all right. Do it. The shrapnel is connected to the flesh. If the wound is inflamed, it'll be big trouble. Squad Leader Gao, you can't be so careless. How can I consider that in a battle? Be prepared. It will hurt a bit. Do it. If it hurts, bite my arm. It's a little dirty. Where is he? Where is the gun? The gun! He's gone, Squad Leader. Attention! Damn! He's alone. Go and get him! Move! Move! Take cover. Take cover. Lie down! Go. Find him. Catch him. Catch him. Take cover. Move, move! Come on! Move! Squad Leader, I'll go avenge you! Get down! Squad Leader, there is a sniper. Calm down. Squad Leader! Ren Dongfeng, shoot him. Go back! Now! He has no sense of organization or discipline! Look at your soldier. If the enemy finds our trench and comes to catch us off guard, what then? Don't get carried away just because your squad has earned some merits and killed many enemies! Such a loud voice! Where is this place? This is a troop, not a group of people who play individual heroism. How come my action of avenging my squad leader be called individual heroism? Get ready for a scolding. Tell me what enables us volunteer army to have won again and again since we entered North Korea. Report: strict discipline. The new soldier you recruited disregarded the battlefield discipline and attacked without permission. The Company decided he shall make a two-day self-examination and write a report of self-criticism. By the way, Wang Qing who failed to keep the gun shall also be punished. Yes, sir. If it happens again, you should probably resign from the post of squad leader. A raw one is more chewy. Picky. Squad Leader! Squad Leader! Squad Leader! Squad Leader, why don't you scold me? What's the highest honor of a soldier? Defend our homes and the country. And? You heard what the company commander said just now. It's strict discipline. In the Special Shooter Training Squad, you must obey the rules of the squad. How many enemies did you kill? Six. Too few. How about the distance? How far was it? 500 meters, judged with the naked eye. Only 500! Listen, with the Mosin-Nagant rifle and the sniper scope, the longest range is 800 meters. 500 meters is nothing. Squad Leader! Squad Leader, give me the gun. I'll attack them again tonight. Dongfeng. Are you deaf? The company commander asked you two to write a report of self-criticism. How dare you ask for the gun? Go to write the report. Report? I can't write any word. Can you copy? No. Unbelievable! You say it and he writes it down. What to say? You're impulsive, reckless, and not calm. All the shortcomings of yours are major weaknesses that every sniper should avoid. Yes, just write it like this. Make sure he completes the report. The equipments of this Chinese are not even on par with the Japanese in the forties. not to mention that we have absolute air advantage. But if you go outside and look in our soldiers' eyes, they're already filled with fear. Last Christmas we barely made through Katyusha rockets. And now I can't guarantee how long me and my soldiers can stand the enemy's cold shots. I mean seriously. It's so bad. Their luck has run out, sir. The Grim Reaper has arrived. I was told. They're tunnels are close to our battlefield. I'll go check tomorrow. Wang Qing, what are you doing? Have you finished your report? I don't know how to write it. Can't you even copy one? It's much harder to hold a pen than a gun. Do you know what the hardest thing is for a sniper? What is it? Breathing. What? Breathing. Are you kidding me? A sniper can't breathe? A sniper can breathe, but he has to control his breathing. The enemies are not cans. They will keep moving. Every tiny movement of our bodies can affect shooting accuracy. A sniper of Soviet Union once said: timing is everything. The hardest thing for us snipers is to control the breathing rate. We need to pull the trigger between two heartbeats. You university students can tell many theories. I don't know them. All I know is that on the battlefield a sniper does only two things: aiming and shooting, aiming and shooting again. When it comes to holding breath, you can't be better than me. When I was young, I could plunge into a river and swim 500 meters in one breath. On the battlefield, you need to kill with one shot. In many cases, you have no chance to make a second shot. Dongfeng. The Americans are getting anxious. What the hell is it? Because of last night's fight, the opposite Americans specially printed these leaflets. Look! Showing off. I'll beat them. Dongfeng. Dongfeng. Squad Leader. Have you finished your report? Squad Leader, I apply for taking part in operations. Taking part in operations? Before taking part in operations, you must finish your report. I'm a sniper now. If I don't fight the enemy, I'll be called a deserter. Who said you're a sniper now? The Americans. Let me see it. The Americans? You believe what the Americans say? If what the Americans say could be trusted, they wouldn't have brought so many people to fight at the doorstep of another country. How could you believe what the Americans say? Squad Leader Gao. Squad Leader Gao, could you lend the two report-writers to me? I need them to move something. Good, perfect timing. Continue to write your reports when you come back. Go. Yes, sir. I won't. Shut up and go! What are you looking at? Let's go! Are you gonna disobey the order? You brat! What are you writing? I'll show you when we go home. OK. Go home. Go home. Get cover! Get cover! Get cover, everyone! Get cover! Get cover! Why is it so quiet, Squad Leader? Be patient. Spotter in position. Watch every move on the enemy field. M1903 Springfield rifle. Press here. Range 500. The bastard isn't in his own field. Big Head, let's go catch him. Get down. Don't show up. The smoke is clearing off. What now? As usual. Bastard! Get out of the way. Please. Excuse me. Excuse me. Get out of the way. Please. What happened? An American sniper was shooting with smoke bombs as cover. Squad Leader Gao and Big Head went up to catch him. Let's go. Go. Get cover. Hold on. As usual. I'll draw him out. Big Head! Big Head. Big Head. Here I am. Squad Leader, I miss my mother. I... I... I miss my mother. Big Head! You can't fall asleep, Big Head. Big Head! Big Head! Big Head. Squad Leader. On my shoulders. Squad Leader, I want to go home. When we defeat the enemy, we'll go home to pick apples. Big Head. Do you hear me? When we defeat the enemy, we'll go home to pick apples. We will win. Big Head. Big Head. This is the best season for apples in our hometown. You love apples, don't you, Big Head? The new guy is a hard nut to crack. We must take turns around the clock to watch the moves of the opposite field. Most importantly, the ends of the trench should never be entered by the enemy. Yes, sir. Wait. Report. Report. You two can only watch from the trench. Don't get any closer! Yes, sir. Yes, sir. This is Big Head's gun. Take it. How dare you shot at my squad leader! Dongfeng, let's go. I've got what you asked for. Big Head came from Weinan, Shaanxi Province. He hunted with his father before joining in the army. He was a good shot. When we just arrived in North Korea, almost the whole company that our squad leader was in died. A cannonball fell nearby the squad leader and Big Head threw himself over the squad leader. Now two fragments of the cannonball were still stuck in his back. The spotter is the second pair of eyes of the sniper. I'll be your eyes in the future. That's it. Let's go to another position. It's too far. We can see nothing if the enemy came. Get closer. Not again? Don't worry. I won't make trouble. Dongfeng. Dongfeng. Dongfeng. Dongfeng. Dongfeng. Stop at the hide position. We can't go any closer. I know. Where are Ren Dongfeng and Wang Qing? Squad Leader, it's not the time for shift changing. They're still at the end of the trench. Squad Leader Gao, the company commander asked for you. What for? An urgent operation. Let's go. Big Head shouldn't die in vain. Ren Dongfeng. Come back. Ren Dongfeng. You... Dongfeng. Are you all right, Dongfeng? It's nothing. A bullet bit my buttock. Stay there. Don't move. Night vision device. What? The enemy can see us. He can see us? Is the big-nosed American an owl? How can he see us in the dark? He has a night vision device. Night vision device, night vision device, what on earth is a night vision device? A telescope he uses to see us at night. What can we do then? Just waiting? Stay there. Keep still. Wait and see. Dongfeng. Dongfeng. Dongfeng. You can't fall asleep. I'm not asleep. Wang Qing, there's one thing that I don't understand. You're a university student. Why did you leave the university and come to the battlefield? Anyone who invades our country or makes trouble at our doorstep shall be eliminated. Have you heard from your parents? They don't know I've joined in the army. What? They haven't even seen my school badge. Do you miss your home? Yes. I keep hoping that the war can end soon. Then I can go home to take care of my parents. My nephew must be able to crawl now. And the east wing room... I remember its roof was leaky when I joined in the army. I wonder if the tiles have been fixed. I wonder if Cuilan is married. You have a big family. Don't worry. When the war ends, you will definitely go home. Really? Next time I'll take down the sniper first and then the machine gunner. I'll blow up the blockhouse. I hate the showy flag of the Stars and Stripes. It flies there every day. I want to cut it into strips. I'll shoot it down and cut it into pieces. Keep your word and make it true. Definitely. I, Ren Dongfeng, will be the best sniper of the army! Is Cuilan pretty? Yes, she is. But Li Siwu in our village always watches her at the village entrance. He likes her. When you become the best sniper, you'll be a hero and he'll be nothing. A hero. Dongfeng. Dongfeng. Ren Dongfeng. Dawn is coming. The night vision device will be useless in the day. I'll count to three. Then we run to the trench. Do you hear me? Three, two, one, run! Shit! Wang Qing! You're finally awake. Wang Qing is fine. Squad Leader. Where is the wound? On the buttock. A scrape. Nothing serious. It has been treated. How about you? Is your buttock scraped too? I'm not wounded. I'm strong. Come with me. Yes, sir. What happened? The squad leader went to search for a captive last night. Otherwise he would have taken you back earlier and you needn't have spent a cold night outside. Go tell him our army's policy of treating captives kindly. Yes, sir. We volunteer army treats captives kindly. Squad Leader. Why come to me instead of staying at the clinic? I gave the bad idea. I'm willing to bear all consequences. Could you forgive Wang Qing? I dragged him there. Even my life was saved by him. You were asking for death. I'm not afraid of death. You're not afraid of death, but are you afraid of Wang Qing being killed? Once there was a new soldier. He could shoot an enemy 500 meters away without a sniper scope. His fellow soldiers called him Five Hundred. The same as you, he was stubborn and single-minded. All he wanted was to avenge his fellow soldiers. Ignoring everything else, he went back to the field to shoot the enemies. He killed one enemy, two enemies, three enemies, until he had only one bullet left. He wanted to use the last bullet to kill one more enemy before a glorious death on the battlefield. Luckily his squad leader showed up in time and he lived. They won the battle, but everyone who knew the name Five Hundred died. The last thing his squad leader said before he died was our goal is not to become heroes who die on the battlefield but to live and eliminate the enemies. Squad Leader. We've figured it out. The new sniper was specially invited by the opposite Third Infantry Division. His name is Schumann. On the European battlefield, he shot more than 100 snipers of the German troops. His best record is hitting a pilot in a German fighter. I'll dig the trench alone. You needn't do anything but to talk with me. Don't worry. I'll let you dig alone. My only job is to watch over you and stop you from going outside to make trouble. I'll help you use up your extra strength. Have I eaten rice at your home? Speaking of that, the Stewed Chicken with Mushroom cooked by my mother That's our squad leader. Five Hundred. The American sniper. How dare he came to our trench! I'll... Calm down. I'll follow him. You take a detour. Be careful! Medics! Medics! Someone is wounded. Medics! Medics! Medics! My brother is wounded. Squad Leader. You said I could eat at your home. You said your mother would cook Stewed Chicken with Mushroom for us. You said it. Wang Qing! Wang Qing! Wang Qing! Wang Qing! Get up! You said I could eat at your home. You said we would go home together. Squad Leader. Squad Leader. Help him. My brother died. My brother is gone. Sniper shots and surprise cannonballs are fired to eliminate the enemy's effective strength. Digging the sniper trench and getting close to the enemy's field as much as possible is Wang Qing's idea. Anyone who invades our country or makes troubles at our doorstep shall be eliminated. I WILL kill Schumann. I've experienced many battles over the years. The death of every fellow soldier by my side is like a knife digging my flesh. For what have they died? For our country and the people they were willing to die on the battlefield. What we need to carry forward isn't the fury that drives us to avenge our fellow soldiers but the justice that urges us to live and kill our enemies. I ask myself every day what we snipers can do. Our job is to help those who fight at the forefront, who are exposed to the enemy's gunfire, who eat, sleep, and march with us every day, help them stand instead of falling down. Our army will launch an attack in all lines tomorrow. We must take the enemy's field. I and all fellow soldiers trust you. Attack in all lines at 6 in the morning. Yes, sir. Get ready! Get ready! Get ready! It's too quiet. Send our aircraft to scout the area. Remember: our goal is not to become heroes who die on the battlefield but to live and eliminate the enemies. Yes, sir. Our company is ready to attack. Yes, sir. Let's go! Go! Comrades, Comrades, go! Go! Go! Go, comrades! Kill the machine gunner. Yes, sir. Go! Blow up the blockhouse! Squad Leader, a sniper at the gap of the right front field, 400 meters. I'll deal with the sniper. Yes, sir. God damn it! Squad Leader, Schumann is running away. Go catch him. Are you all right, Squad Leader? 300 meters away, between one and two o'clock. Get him. Shit! Squad Leader. Reconnaissance aircraft Get down! Squad Leader! Squad Leader! Squad Leader! Squad Leader, you're wounded. Shoot him! Dongfeng! Squad Leader! Squad Leader! 650 700 750 Squad Leader, we beat him. We killed Schumann! Squad Leader! Squad Leader! Squad Leader! Squad Leader! You'll be all right, Squad Leader. Don't be sad. I have many fellow soldiers here. I can finally get together with them. Don't cry. You must live and eliminate the enemies. Squad Leader!
