163: Chapter 163 Calm and Tranquil

The first to sail out of the base was the Coast Guard ship numbered 46440. It was the largest Coast Guard ship in the world, with a full-load displacement of 12,000 tons and a speed that could reach 22 knots.

When it first entered service, some Western media outlets directly gave it a nickname— "The Monster of the East."

Previously, the world's largest Coast Guard ships had all come from the Island Nation; they were the "Akitsushima" and "Shikishima" from the Island Nation's Coast Guard. Since the 46440 entered service, those two fell to second place.

Therefore, on the day this colossal Coast Guard ship entered service, some paranoid politicians from the Island Nation publicly stated that these Coast Guard ships were clearly targeted at their Coast Guard, demanding that their parliament immediately allocate funds and clamoring to build larger, stronger Coast Guard ships to counter the 46440.

However, after a few days of noise, the matter had no follow-up.

The 46440 Coast Guard ship not only crushed many of the surrounding countries' Coast Guard ships in terms of tonnage, but it was also equipped with a 76mm rapid-fire naval gun, two secondary guns, two anti-aircraft machine guns, and a helicopter platform and hangar at the stern, carrying a Z-8 helicopter.

Its endurance, seaworthiness, collision resistance, and speed all held significant advantages compared to other law enforcement vessels.

After this Coast Guard ship entered service, it once became an important deterrent force for China's maritime patrols, making many surrounding countries incredibly envious.

Gao Mingbo was the captain of the 46440 Coast Guard ship and also the supreme commander of this routine law enforcement patrol. After the three Coast Guard ships sailed out of the home port one after another and assembled in the open sea, they headed towards the distant ocean.

That night, they would first sail north for a distance in the East China Sea, then turn around to sail toward the Pacific Ocean. The overall route formed a Z-shape.

Gao Mingbo had traversed this route countless times, averaging about ten trips a year. The sea conditions and hydrological data around this route were engraved in his mind like a map.

The sea conditions tonight were quite good; it was calm and peaceful. On land, it might still be sultry at this time, but deep in the ocean, they could no longer feel it; instead, there was a slight chill in the air.

He took a sip of water and looked at the satellite nautical chart to the side, which displayed information about some merchant ships. This was also part of their patrol mission—verification and identification. For particularly suspicious vessels, they might even need to board and inspect them.

The three Coast Guard ships cruised in a column formation through the pitch-black sea, with the searchlights on the ships occasionally sweeping over the dark waters nearby.

"Navigator, how is the weather tomorrow?"

"Satellite images show that it will be cloudy tomorrow and the day after, with good weather."

"Hmm."

"Captain, there are three of our deep-sea fishing vessels ahead," the navigator said, looking at the information on the chart to remind him.

"Liaison officer, call them on the public channel. Ask if the surrounding waters are normal and what their destination is."

Gao Mingbo was already accustomed to this procedure. Now that information was highly accessible and fishermen had a much stronger awareness of maritime rights, they often provided them with very valuable information.

A few minutes later, "Report, Captain. They said there is nothing suspicious in the surrounding area."

Gao Mingbo nodded. "Tell them to be careful. If they encounter any danger, they can call us directly. We are patrolling around them, and we have plenty of time to rush over."

"Yes, sir." The liaison officer received the order and picked up the headset to contact the fishing fleet again.

Gao Mingbo looked at the pitch-black night outside the window and silently muttered to himself, hoping everything would go smoothly.

...

The next day, Chu Ge woke up early and washed up. This unfamiliar environment did not affect his sleep; he had rested very well last night and now felt full of energy.

"Knock, knock." There was a knock at the door. Chu Ge wiped his hands and went to open it. Outside the door were Major General Jin and two young people. Chu Ge welcomed them in.

"Major General Jin, coming to see me so early in the morning, is there a problem with the construction?"

"No, everything is normal. Academician Chu, you can just call me Jin Shaohui or Shaohui from now on. When you call me Major General, I hardly dare to respond, haha."

"That's what you are, though. Fine, I'll do as you wish. Who are these two?" Chu Ge said, looking at the two young people behind Jin Shaohui.

"Oh, this is Tan Songlin, and this is Wang Jie. They are the youngest engineers at the base and both are top students. They just lack a bit of experience, so I intend to have them follow you, act as your assistants, and gain some experience."

After Jin Shaohui finished the introductions, the two young people hurriedly greeted Chu Ge, and Chu Ge nodded with a smile.

Such young engineers must have their own skills, and it just so happened that he lacked a few people around him. He had originally planned to snatch Yan Tianhao and the others over one of these days.

"No problem, you two follow me from now on."

"Yes, Academician Chu!" the two young people replied quickly; it was evident that they were very excited.

"Then, let's go eat first, and then you two can follow me to the construction site for a look."

"Yes." Jin Shaohui watched from the side, secretly feeling happy.

This was a quota he had spent half a day pestering Commander Wang for yesterday. The Dockyard Base also needed to cultivate its own core technical talent, and these two young people were carefully selected from a large pool of reserve cadres.

Being by Academician Chu's side was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. He hoped they could calm down and learn humbly; even if they only learned a little bit of fur from Academician Chu, it would not have been a waste of his efforts.

After breakfast, the three of them walked toward the base's work area.

In the construction area, Chu Ge carefully observed the engineers' construction processes. These steps were now deeply imprinted in his mind, so he could tell at a glance whether they were the correct steps. After watching for a long time, he nodded.

The engineers were all very serious, and Chu Ge felt that it was no exaggeration to describe them as meticulous.

Walking to the material storage area, Chu Ge picked up a bolt, looked at the number on it, then weighed it in his hand, and finally even held it up to squint at the sun.

"Academician Chu, what are you doing? Isn't this just a bolt?" Tan Songlin, who was following behind, asked curiously.

"If I told you that every bolt and nut on the kunpeng is custom-made, would you believe me?"

"Really? Let me see." Wang Jie stepped forward and picked up a bolt.

Tan Songlin's major was in signal control, so he wasn't an expert on bolts and nuts, but Wang Jie was a genuine mechanical engineering major; he was more than familiar with this stuff.

"Hexagon socket M8*30, hmm, this side is DDF, and then there's 15.9. It feels like there's no problem, but wait... 15.9??? This label must be wrong; the highest grade for bolts is only 12.9."