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World War Two was at its height. The Soviet Army intelligence learned that
the Nazi command was very much concerned about the activity of Soviet snipers.
A high-class specialist had been dispatched from Berlin to Stalingrad.
His task was to neutralize as many Soviet snipers as possible. On the very
first day after his arrival the German sniper killed two Soviet snipers.
That was a challenge, and Vassily Zaitsev, one of the best snipers in the
Soviet Army, decided to answer it. A duel between the two snipers began
and went down in the history of military art.
Born in Siberia, Vassily Zaitsev joined his grandfather on his hunting
expeditions at the age of four. He hunted squirrels with a homemade bow.
When he turned 12, he was given a rifle with which he hunted ever since.
In fact, not every good shot can become a sniper. It's one thing to strike
targets at a shooting range or a shooting gallery and quite another to
engage in dangerous duels with enemy shots. The art of a sniper requires
not only courage, but also superhuman patience, calm, power of observation,
stubbornness, quick wits. A sniper must be capable of accomplishing small
tactical tasks.
Vassily Zaitsev skillfully concealed his positions every time. The Germans
could not spot him, and even his comrades-in-arms lost sight of him. He
disguised himself now as a rock covered with moss, now as a sheaf of wheat,
or a tree stump, or the chimney of a house that had been burned down.
When the war began Zaitsev was 26 years old. He was viewed as a virtuoso
in sniping, but he was to serve in the Navy. His talent was given proper
attention only in September of 1942, and on October 21st Zaitsev joined
the squad of snipers in Stalingrad…
It was an early morning when he began to watch the new Nazi super-sniper.
Zaitsev camouflaged himself in position as if he wore Fortunatus' cap,
not a helmet with a green veil.
He wondered where the sniper from Berlin was. Vassily knew the ways of
Nazi snipers; he could easily distinguish more experienced shots from novices
judging by the manner of their shooting and camouflaging. He could also
see which of them were cowards and which were stubborn and resolute enemies.
But the character of his new adversary was a mystery to him. It was hard
to determine where the Nazi sniper had taken his position. Evidently the
now arrival changed his positions frequently and watched out for Vassily
too. And then Zaitsev learned that the enemy had broken the telescopic
sight of his friend's rifle and wounded another Soviet sniper. The two
men were experienced snipers who had often gained the upper hand in hard
engagements with the enemy. There was no doubt that they had encountered
the Nazi super-sniper they had been looking for.
The duel went on for several days and both sides watched it closely. Unlike
the German who worked single-handed, Zaitsev had a partner, Nikolai Kulikov.
They studied each detail of the terrain, took into account each of the
adjoining streets, the ruins of buildings, the wreckage of cars - all those
places the enemy could use as a shelter.
The Nazi sniper began with an attempt to cheat his Russian counterpart
with the use of a childish trick - he stuck out a spade with a helmet on
it. But Zaitsev was too clever for that. So the first day they passed in
attempts to dupe each other. On the second day the German hid himself in
the ruins and began to wait patiently for his chance. But Zaitsev and his
partner also had nerves of iron.
Surveying every square meter of enemy territory with his binoculars, Zaitsev
noticed a steel sheet leaning on the corner of a house and covered with
pieces of brick. That was an ideal den for a sniper. But how could the
enemy be forced to reveal himself? Now the time has come for Zaitsev to
test how strong the enemy's nerves were. He put his glove on a stick and
stuck it out of his trench. The German swallowed bait and made a shot.
However, Zaitsev could not get the sniper from his position, so he had
to crawl to another place. But when he reached the new shelter he discovered
that it was no good: the sun was shining right into his eyes. So he had
to wait again.
The duel ended on the fourth day. Zaitsev's partner made a shot to attract
the German's attention to himself, but the German ignored his trick. A
few hours later, when Kulikov raised his helmet over the trench the enemy's
nerves gave and he fired. Kulikov reacted with a groan as if he had been
wounded. The German believed him, stuck his head out of his shelter and
caught Zaitsev's bullet right into his forehead.
“The duel went on for three days, but it ended in our victory in
a matter of seconds,” Vassily Zaitsev said describing this duel.
“The German was well prepared for it. He had liquidated two Soviet snipers
before that. But, with the help of my comrades-in-arms, also snipers whose
positions were next to mine, I managed to slay him. I did not know what
kind of sniper had been brought to Stalingrad, but when we pulled him out
of his shelter we discovered that he was the chief of the school for snipers
based in Berlin. On the whole I liquidated 242 Nazis in Stalingrad. My
friends and pupils also eliminated many of them. I had trained 30 snipers
who killed 1126 Nazis during the war.
On Victory Day Vassily Zaitsev allowed himself to use a bullet wastefully.
He fired into the air to salute our victory, joining the other Soviet soldiers
who fired a salute from their arms of differing calibers outside the building
of the Reichstag in Berlin on May 9, 1945.
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