About 2,300 kilometers southeast of the Hawaiian Islands, the super-large bulk carrier "Oriental Shenli", which was loaded with copper ore in its cargo hold, sailed at an economic cruising speed of 16 knots along the transcontinental route across the Pacific Ocean toward its destination across the ocean. The super freighter, which can carry 150,000 tons of cargo, has only 34 crew members, and at this time, eight crew members, including the captain Cao Xuehua, are on the lookout platform at the top of the shipbuilding.

"Lao Cao, it's half past eight, will they run into any trouble?"

"No, they will definitely arrive on time. Keep searching, don't be careless. After speaking, Cao Xuehua picked up the shimmer telescope and looked at the sea to the south.

One day three years ago, Major Cao Xuehua, who had served in the Navy for 14 years, received a discharge notice. On the same day, he received a secret appointment. In the following two years, Cao Xuehua and more than 100 retired Navy personnel, including 33 other seafarers on the ship, received special training from the Military Intelligence Bureau as employees of the "China Ocean Shipping Corporation." Later, Cao Xuehua became the captain of the "Oriental Divine Power". In one year, he and 33 comrades-in-arms who also had a special mission made three round-trips on the route from Chiclayo to Shanghai.

Except for the time when they docked at a port in a foreign country, while the ship was loading and unloading cargo, and the crew could move freely in the visa-free zone of the harbor, life for seafarers was uneventful. After the ship left port, among the 34 crew members, in addition to the captain, the other 33 were divided into three shifts in the morning, noon and evening, each shift worked for eight hours, taking turns to "wait" for the supership until the cargo ship entered the port again.

Three days ago, a special telegram broke the peaceful life on board the "Eastern Divine Power".

This is the first time Cao Xuehua and the others have received a secret mission, and before that, they have already "performed" secret missions in a simulated way many times in training bases or ordinary exercises.

As time passed, Cao Xuehua couldn't help but feel a little anxious.

The scheduled rendezvous was nine o'clock in the evening, and it seemed that the time was approaching, but there was no sign of it. Could it be that the submarine that had come all the way was in trouble?

"Lao Cao, look, seven o'clock."

The sudden cry of the first mate Liu Wanhai startled Cao Xuehua.

Six hundred meters away. A periscope sticks out of the sea.

"Signal the lights. Ask for the person's identity. ”

Liu Wanhai immediately whistled at a crew member standing at the top of the mast. Then there was a comparison.

With the "Oriental Divine Power" sending out a light signal. The periscope sticking out of the sea also gave a light signal.

"That's it. It's finally here. ”

"The speed was reduced to four knots. Xiao Liu. You are at the helm yourself. Have everyone else go to the port deck. ”

"Yes!" Liu Wanhai immediately rushed into the bridge. He was also very excited about his first special mission.

Glancing at his watch, Cao Xuehua looked up at the starry night sky again, and then breathed a sigh of relief. It was 8:55 a.m., very punctual. According to the "star map" provided by the Intelligence Bureau, there was only a twenty-five minute gap. In other words, during these twenty-five minutes, no reconnaissance satellites were able to cover this sea area. Twenty-five minutes later, a reconnaissance satellite will pass overhead. The transfer must be completed within twenty-five minutes, separated from the submarine and returned to its original course.

The submarine approached slowly, and the crew had already prepared the cables and cranes.

The attack nuclear submarine "Gun Squid" slowly leaned to the left of the "Oriental Divine Power". When the crew threw the cable onto the submarine, several servicemen appeared on the command platform of the submarine. When the two boats remained relatively stationary, the ship's crane was activated, and the two servicemen were hoisted over, and then the third serviceman and a very special machine were transferred to the ship.

The submarine officer, who was standing on the command platform, waved his hand to the three servicemen who boarded the "Oriental Divine Power".

After giving the farewell signal, the sea water around the submarine tumbled. In about half a minute, the huge submarine dived into the sea. The "Oriental Divine Power" continued to sail slowly forward for about five minutes, and after leaving the rendezvous area, Cao Xuehua let the freighter speed up.

"Take them to the captain's room, and I'll be there in five minutes."

Putting down the wireless intercom, Cao Xuehua glanced at the night sky above his head again. It only took twenty minutes before and after, and everything was under control.

Compared with any kind of ship, the captain's cabin of the "Oriental Divine Power" is much more "luxurious" than the captain's room or the captain's room, not only has a single bed up to 1.2 meters wide, but also has a separate bathroom, as well as daily appliances rarely seen on the ship, such as a large-screen LCD TV, a two-door refrigerator, and even a set of high-end audio.

These made Lu Chengwen feel very envious, because there was no 52-inch large-screen LCD TV in their barracks.

"I bought it at my own expense."

Hearing the sound coming from the door, Lu Chengwen immediately retracted his hand on the TV.

"Life at sea is so boring that I can only watch movies or something, so I paid for this home theater myself. It's just that it's too narrow here for the effect to be reflected. The captain walked in and took the initiative to stretch out his hand, "My name is Cao Xuehua, the captain of the 'Oriental Divine Power'. ”

After Lu Chengwen shook hands with the other party, he said: "My surname is Lu, the commander of this operation. ”

"Major?" Cao Xuehua looked Lu Chengwen up and down, and when he saw the other party's surprised look, he said again, "I am also a soldier, I have served in the navy for fourteen years, and I was a major when I retired. It's just that now the Navy has given me the rank of reserve colonel, and I don't know if I can count myself as a comrade-in-arms. ”

"Of course, you're all soldiers, aren't you?"

"Yes, we're all soldiers." Cao Xuehua brought four glasses and took out a bottle of beer from the refrigerator. "Please be seated, you've worked hard all the way. After receiving the order, we changed our schedule and waited for you here for a few hours. ”

Lu Chengwen sat down on the stool opposite Cao Xuehua, but the two special forces who followed him did not.

"Your mission is important?" Cao Xuehua asked knowingly. If it weren't important, the Military Intelligence Directorate wouldn't have urgently "activated" their group of secret agents.

"This ......"

"I know that when we were trained, the instructor told us not to ask what we shouldn't ask." Cao Xuehua smiled, "You guys take a bath first, it seems that the conditions on the nuclear submarine are not as good as our merchant ship." In addition, I will arrange a separate room for you, so that no one will disturb you until you return to China. ”

"Colonel, we have something to deal with."

Cao Xuehua frowned slightly, and glanced at the equipment placed between the two special forces.

"This ship is loaded with copper ore, right?" Lu Chengwen attracted Cao Xuehua's attention, "The goods we transported have radiation, although there is no harm to the human body, but it can be detected." ”

"Bury it in copper ore?"

Lu Chengwen nodded. "Metallic minerals shield against radiation, and we have to do that to be on the safe side."

"I'll take you to the hold." Cao Xuehua put down the wine glass and stood up first, "The tail cargo hold is filled with selected copper ore, which is of very high grade, and the shielding effect should be better." ”

Lu Cheng didn't say anything wordy, and immediately called two of his subordinates and followed Cao Xuehua out of the captain's room.

There are a total of five cargo holds in front and behind the freighter, and each cargo hold is divided into nine small cargo holds. When loading cargo, selected copper ore is usually packed in the cargo hold closest to the stern of the ship. Although each small cargo hold only holds more than 3,000 tons of cargo, more than 3,000 tons of copper ore are stacked in a cargo hold of several tens of square meters, which is also nearly ten meters high.

Cao Xuehua called several crew members and it took several hours to bury the goods.

Lu Chengwen tested it with the radiation detector he brought, and after confirming that there was no problem, he asked two of his subordinates to stay behind and take turns to take care of it, while he followed Cao Xuehua out of the cargo hold.

For the next 17 days, the "Oriental Divine Power" sailed 12,000 kilometers at a speed of 16 knots.

During this period, nothing went wrong. Cao Xuehua made some manipulations on the crew list and the logbook, increasing the number of crew members to 37. Lu Chengwen and the other three also used the more than ten days to learn some sailing skills from other crew members.

At noon on the 18th day, the "Oriental Divine Power" reached about 250 nautical miles southeast of the Okinawa Islands.

"Tomorrow before dawn, we will enter the East China Sea." Cao Xuehua pointed to the sea in front of him, "The General Staff must have made arrangements and will send warships and warplanes to escort us." Unexpectedly, after 14 years in the Navy and three years after retiring, I actually carried out my first mission. ”

Lu Chengwen was not a little careless, and when Cao Xuehua was speaking, he picked up the telescope and looked in the northwest direction.

Above sea level, two moving objects caught Lu Chengwen's attention. He immediately adjusted the focus of the telescope, and with the two low-flying "Sea Hawk" helicopters, Lu Chengwen immediately showed a nervous look.

"SH-60J, anti-submarine helicopter of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force. It seems that they are conducting an anti-submarine search, are they aimed at us? Cao Xuehua also saw the two helicopters.

"I don't know." Lu Chengwen shook his head slightly, "However, we'd better be prepared." Lao Cao, you hurry up and make deployments, and you must not let others board the ship. ”

Cao Xuehua did not hesitate, and immediately whistled at Liu Wanhai in the bridge, and made a gesture of preparing for battle.

"Is there an encrypted radio station on board?"

"Yes, in my cabin, you want to contact headquarters?"

"No......" Lu Chengwen hesitated a little and said, "There is no need to encrypt the radio, we use ordinary radio to call." ”

"Ordinary radio?"

"Yes, we are ordinary merchant ships, and if we are intercepted by ships from other countries, we can only call by ordinary radio. If you use an encrypted radio station, isn't that self-reporting? ”

Cao Xuehua immediately understood what Lu Chengwen meant, and admired this special forces major even more.

Five minutes later, a group of radio waves flew away from the "Oriental Divine Power", and the Pacific Ocean was no longer peaceful