Chapter 119 Not a single coward!
Two days ago.
Submarine 304 was patrolling the sea along its original patrol route.
"Captain, our submarine is running low on oxygen!"
The operator looked toward Zhou Haicheng, who had become the captain of the nuclear submarine Submarine 304 in his thirties.
He immediately ordered: "The final stop of this patrol mission is just ahead; we will resupply oxygen there!"
The operator nodded and then ordered full speed ahead!
Upon reaching the designated location, the nuclear submarine Submarine 304 began to slowly surface to resupply oxygen!
Zhou Haicheng smiled and said to his subordinates: "The Mid-Autumn Festival is in a few days, and the higher-ups have specially granted us leave!"
"Some soldiers haven't been home in years; this time, they can go home and spend the Mid-Autumn Festival with their families!"
Hearing Zhou Haicheng's words, the soldiers were genuinely excited from the bottom of their hearts!
They were indeed somewhat homesick!
Some soldiers looked tough on the outside, but after returning to the dormitory, they would still secretly look at photos of their loved ones tucked in their wallets and wipe away tears!
"Captain, what about you? Are you going home?" a soldier asked.
Zhou Haicheng grinned: "I'm definitely going!"
"My daughter hasn't seen her dad in three years; I wonder if she's forgotten me?"
From the smile on Zhou Haicheng's face, it was clear that he was also quite looking forward to the upcoming family visit leave.
"Alright, everyone get back to what you need to do!"
"Stop chatting!"
"Once the oxygen is refilled, we'll head back!"
However, just as the submarine had been resupplying oxygen for a while, an alarm sounded in the command room!
"What's the situation?" The operator was startled by the sudden alarm!
It wasn't that the operator had poor mental fortitude!
It was just that this alarm might not even sound twice in a year!
They had been detected by a sonar buoy!
"Who placed a sonar buoy in this vicinity?"
Zhou Haicheng was a bit puzzled.
However, he didn't take it too much to heart; so what if their position was exposed?
Could they really come over and cause trouble?
This was the high seas!
They were conducting a normal patrol mission and weren't bothering anyone!
Just as they had been resupplying oxygen for a moment, they suddenly discovered something unusual!
They saw warships from the directions of Japan, Korea, and the Philippines, all flying the same Rising Sun flag, closing in on them!
The number of these warships was terrifying!
There were a full sixteen of them!
Realizing something was wrong, Zhou Haicheng immediately ordered the submarine to escape toward their own territorial waters!
However, it was clear that the enemy was targeting them!
Seeing them dive and flee, the sixteen warships immediately launched a pursuit and interception!
Zhou Haicheng frowned slightly: "What are these guys up to?"
"Do they really dare to attack us?"
"We'll leave this area; let's see how long they can chase us!"
The operator looked at the radar screen, his expression suddenly turning grave!
He turned his head and said to Zhou Haicheng in disbelief:
"Captain, these guys have dropped a lot of depth charges in our path!"
"These guys are definitely targeting us!"
Zhou Haicheng looked at the radar screen and instinctively clenched his fists!
He then added: "Try changing direction!"
The submarine changed direction and continued to move forward!
But they hadn't gone far!
Waiting for them ahead were countless more depth charges!
They changed direction again!
And again, they discovered a large number of depth charges!
Now, there was only one direction without depth charges laid out!
Zhou Haicheng looked in that direction, his brows furrowed, easily seeing through the enemy's conspiracy!
This direction led to Japan's territorial waters. The enemy was dropping a large number of depth charges around the submarine to force it to surface and then enter Japanese waters!
That way, they could attack with a legitimate excuse!
Looking at the dense cluster of dots on the radar, all of which were depth charges, Zhou Haicheng couldn't help but want to curse!
"Those damn Japanese, are they crazy? Investing so much into dropping this many depth charges?"
Recalling the sonar buoy that had suddenly appeared on their patrol route, and now encountering these Japanese warships carrying a large number of depth charges!
Zhou Haicheng realized that they were absolutely prepared for this!
It's possible that the US is behind this too!
"Captain, what should we do now?"
Zhou Haicheng's brows were locked tight!
In this situation, there was only one way!
That was to call for reinforcements!
Surrender was impossible!
Even if they died from lack of oxygen!
They would absolutely not surface and surrender to Japan!
Thinking of this, Zhou Haicheng immediately ordered to contact friendly forces!
However, since the enemy came prepared, how could they not have countermeasures?
Among the sixteen warships, there was a functional warship capable of interfering with signal transmission!
This directly caused the signals released by Submarine 304 to be extremely weak!
After contacting them for a long time, the operator's voice became extremely weak, but there was still no response!
Until they thought there was no hope!
That faint signal was finally successfully received!
And it was from friendly forces!
But the warship's designation left them a bit confused!
"longwei warship... Strategic Warship..."
"Do we have a warship like that?"
"And what is a Strategic Warship?"
Zhou Haicheng said at this moment: "The comrades on the longwei warship said they are on a trial voyage; it might be a new type of warship from our navy!"
"Now that the message has been sent, it just depends on whether they can arrive in time!"
As he spoke, he looked at the operator beside him and asked: "How much oxygen do we have left?"
"Report, Captain!"
"We weren't able to fully resupply oxygen earlier, and with the consumption along the way!"
"We only have three percent oxygen content left!"
"It will last at most two hours!"
They were in the high seas near Japanese waters, far from Longguo's territorial waters!
Two hours...
I'm afraid it won't be enough time!
A bitter expression gradually appeared on Zhou Haicheng's face. Looking at the crew members in the submarine, a desolate smile emerged on his face:
"I'm sorry, comrades!"
"I'm afraid... I won't be able to take you all back to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival!"
In that dark and enclosed submarine, the atmosphere was suffocatingly heavy.
The crew inside the submarine knew deeply that they were beyond saving.
The wheels of fate seemed to be ruthlessly crushing down at this moment.
The Mid-Autumn Festival was approaching, a beautiful time that should have been for family reunions with the bright moon hanging high.
Yet they were trapped in this deep-sea cage made of steel.
Under the dim light, Zhou Haicheng had his adjutant take some mooncakes out of the storage and distribute them to everyone.
The packaging of the mooncakes was printed with a full moon, and under the moon was a scene of a reunited family happily eating mooncakes.
Some soldiers stared quietly at the packaging, lost in thought.
Their hands holding the mooncakes trembled slightly, their eyes revealing endless attachment and reluctance.
This mooncake was their last thought of home, a glimmer of comfort in this desperate situation.
A young soldier took a gentle bite; the sweetness of the mooncake spread in his mouth, but tears simultaneously blurred his eyes.
Looking at this young crew member who had recently boarded the submarine, everyone remained silently still.
They all knew that this was likely the last meal they would ever eat!
Although reluctant, they quickly digested this heavy emotion, their eyes becoming firm and resolute.
Even that young soldier wiped his tears vigorously with his sleeve, then showed a look of determination, a resolve to face death heroically surging in his heart!
Submarine 304, not a single coward!