Li Long judged the distance to the roe deer to be about a hundred meters. He whispered to Tao Daqiang:
"Daqiang, let's sneak closer. I'll go left, you go right. Remember to take the safety off and chamber a round."
With that, Li Long carried his Type 56, took the safety off, and chambered a round. He slowly stepped a few paces to the left, deliberately waited for Tao Daqiang, then advanced alongside him.
Tao Daqiang was excited and nervous. When they hunted wild boar, he hadn't gotten a chance to fire, nor had he dared to. Now there were roe deer ahead, and Li Long had personally told him he would get a chance to shoot. How could he not be excited?
He had fired a gun during the core militia training that winter, also a Type 56, but that had involved lying in a snowbank on the south bank of Big Haizi, with someone calling out commands for everything. He had lain down, loaded bullets on command, worked the bolt to chamber a round, and fired on command. There had been no room for independent action, and no particular reward or punishment for hitting or missing-unless a sharpshooter scored full marks or someone scored zero, both of which were extremely unlikely.
Keeping pace with Li Long out of the corner of his eye, Tao Daqiang worked the bolt, chambered a round, and took the safety off. Then he held the rifle in both hands and slowly advanced.
The grass was quite deep, but fortunately they were far enough away. There wasn't much wind at this time of year either, so Li Long wasn't worried about the roe deer catching their scent. Noise was the main concern.
Both men kept their backs bent. They were tall, and staying bent