Probably every person has heard about dagger fire at least several times in his life. Such a term is often found in both specialized and fiction - action films and military works. However, the authors usually do not give interpretations to him, which is why the reader remains in the dark, rather vaguely imagining this phenomenon.
What does this term mean?
In fact, everything is very simple. Dagger fire is a sudden attack using automatic weapons: machine guns, machine guns and submachine guns. Also, in some cases, anti - tank guns, anti-aircraft guns operating on ground targets can be attributed here.
The range of dagger fire is usually small - no more than 300-400 meters. It is at such a distance that most assault rifles and machine guns (this does not apply to any submachine guns, for them the ultimate range of battle is several times less) are the most effective. The shooters don’t have to take corrections, and the enemy is clearly visible - you can literally throw a flurry of fire on him, causing huge damage in a matter of seconds, causing the faint-hearted opponents to panic, try to escape, putting their backs under the bullets, and experienced enemies to heal, accept the battle.
However, history knows many cases when dagger fire from a machine gun was conducted at a much shorter distance - up to 20-30 meters. The Great Patriotic War demonstrates a lot of examples, during which automatic weapons were widely used. As practice shows, with proper use of it, even one person is able to inflict enormous losses on the enemy, forcing him to retreat.
In what cases is applied
Very often, dagger fire from a machine gun and machine guns is conducted from an ambush. It is very important to choose the right position so that the enemy could not retreat, hide in any convenient shelter or lie down. The enemy must be completely deprived of freedom of maneuver. A convenient place can be a trail near a swamp, a gorge, a narrow street in the conduct of urban battle.
Most often used to completely destroy the enemy’s battle group, rather than simply forcing them to retreat.
The main difficulty lies in the fact that for an impeccable conduct each ambush member must not only know his place and masterfully own the automatic weapons entrusted to him, but also have outstanding stamina and courage. Any inaccurate movement, loud voice, or even secretive smoking of cigarettes in a position can be ambushed, allowing the enemy to leave or even cause serious damage to the group.
Main varieties
Dagger fire is usually divided into several types: front, rear and flank.
The front line is the most dangerous for ambush. The enemy is waiting for an attack from this direction, he notices the group immediately after the start of action. Such fire is conducted at a short distance, when you need to destroy the enemy in just a few seconds.
Therefore, the most common flanking fire. It’s harder for the enemy to navigate, which means the ambush has a few extra seconds before it starts to counterattack or lies down. With a well-organized ambush, just two to three seconds can be crucial.
Finally, the rear fire. It is most often used in cases when you need to surround an enemy group, completely block the path to retreat, destroy it as soon as possible. It is considered the most difficult - you need to skip the enemy, in some cases a few meters away, without giving away your location. Only true professionals can carry out such an operation flawlessly.
Conclusion
This article provides information on what dagger fire means. And also about what varieties of it exist, in which cases it is used and for what purposes.