Putting down the coffee cup, Lu Chengwen took out an information memory device from his pocket and threw it to Hua Jianfeng.

"The order given by the Chief of the General Staff needs to be decrypted in turn with your three ciphers. It makes it very clear that from now on, you must obey my commands. ”

Hua Jianfeng looked at the special forces major opposite suspiciously, and his intuition told him that the other party was not lying.

"The situation is tense right now, and if I'm not mistaken, there's another submarine nearby, and it's not ours. Captain Hua, if I were you, I wouldn't waste my precious time here. ”

The dull thudding sound from outside the boat helped Hua Jianfeng make a decision.

Hua Jianfeng ripped off the internal communication microphone hanging on the bulkhead: "Deputy Director, what happened?" ”

"The attack sonar from the Houston, it's behind our ass."

"Don't worry, I'll come right over." After inserting the microphone into the sleeve fiercely, Hua Jianfeng glared at Lu Chengwen, turned around and opened the hatch.

As soon as he arrived at the command center of the submarine, Lu Chengwen sensed the breathless tense atmosphere. At this moment, only Hua Jianfeng is still calm and calm. Not long after, the two special forces brought by Lu Chengwen also rushed over and cast inquiring glances at Lu Chengwen.

"Deputy Chief, you go and watch the three of them, and I'll take command."

"Captain's Command!" patting the helmsman's shoulder, Le Jiacheng retreated to Lu Chengwen's side.

"The first ten. Tail five. One-third of the power! ”

The bow of the submarine is slightly raised. Head to the sea at an elevation angle of about five degrees.

"What's going on?" Lu Cheng was secretly shocked when he heard this. He asked to the side of Lejiacheng.

"Go up and have a picture with the Houston." Lejia Chengdi looked nervous. Even breathing was heavy.

"To the surface of the sea?" Lu Chengwen was even more nervous.

"Nope. Just ascend to periscope depth. He glanced back at the Special Forces Major. Le Jiacheng said in a low voice. "This is an unwritten rule among submarines of various countries. A sonar slam indicates that the other person wants to communicate with us. That is, to ascend to periscope depth. Light signals are then used to communicate. ”

"Does the other party know who we are?"

"Maybe you know, maybe you don't." Le Jiacheng sighed secretly, "In order to pick you up, we have to reveal our whereabouts. We've had several encounters with the Houston over the years, and we've never been caught. I'm afraid I won't be as lucky as I used to be. ”

"That is, the Houston may not know who we really are, and therefore tempted us to float so that we can identify us? In doing so, will it certainly reveal our identity? ”

Le Jiacheng shrugged his shoulders and answered the question.

After a little hesitation, Lu Chengwen pushed Le Jiacheng away and rushed to Hua Jianfeng's side. "Major, we can't go up."

"Why?" Hua Jianfeng looked at Lu Chengwen.

"Look at the orders I gave you."

Hua Jianfeng took out the information storage device that Lu Chengwen gave him from his pocket, and at the same time quickly calculated.

"Houston" has taken a good position, and it is a little faster than the "Gun Squid", and if the "Gun Squid" does not rise to periscope depth, it is quite possible to escalate the confrontation. Thinking of this special operation deployed by the General Staff, Hua Jianfeng was almost certain that even if the "Houston" would not use force, it would force the "Gun Squid" to surface by ramming.

"Major, it only takes five minutes!" Lu Chengwen looked very anxious.

"Okay, I'll give you five minutes." Hua Jianfeng didn't think much about it, he beckoned to Le Jiacheng, "You come to command, call me when you reach the periscope depth." ”

The two left the command center and went to the captain's room, which was located behind the command center.

The three sets of passwords on the submarine are stored in the safe in the captain's room, to be precise, three military information memory cards with the passwords stored. Starting the special computer, Hua Jianfeng first read the files in the information storage that Lu Chengwen gave him into the computer, and then decrypted them with three sets of passwords in turn. It takes about five minutes to translate the encrypted command into a readable file.

"Major Lu, can you tell me the purpose of this operation?" As he spoke, Hua Jianfeng took out a cigarette. On this submarine, he alone is entitled to smoke in the cabin. It's just that most of the time, in order to maintain discipline on the submarine, Hua Jianfeng will not use this privilege.

"I also know I should tell you, it's just ......"

"I'm not interested in your actions, but I have to know why I'm going to risk with my more than a hundred officers and men, and this multi-billion nuclear submarine." Hua Jianfeng's tone was very serious, and there was no room for negotiation. "You know, there's an American nuclear submarine right outside, and we've already spotted our whereabouts. If my hunch was correct, I'm afraid things wouldn't have ended so quickly. If I want to complete this mission, if I want to get back alive, I have to know how serious the situation is, and how bad I should be. ”

"Worst-case scenario."

"Worst for all!?" Hua Jianfeng showed a look of surprise. The meaning of this phrase is that in order to accomplish the task, force can be used when necessary.

Lu Chengwen nodded vigorously, and then glanced at the computer screen.

The decryption of the files has reached 80 percent, and it will take about a minute.

At this time, the hatch was pushed open, and Le Jiacheng appeared outside the door. "Lao Hua, it's already at the periscope depth, do you want to raise the periscope?"

After a little hesitation, Hua Jianfeng said: "Don't do it for the time being, keep a close eye on the 'Houston', I'll come over immediately." ”

A combat order appeared on the computer screen, personally signed by the Chief of the General Staff.

Before he could finish reading the order, Hua Jianfeng began to wipe the beads of sweat from his forehead.

"The first thing we have to do is make sure that the Houston already knows who we are."

"You're right." Hua Jianfeng extinguished the cigarette butt and thought quickly at the same time. After a while, he said, "Based on my experience, I can basically confirm that the 'Houston' doesn't know our true identity for the time being, but it is very likely that it has mastered our characteristic noise." ”

"What do you mean?"

"In other words, even if we get rid of the Houston, we can use the characteristic noise collected to compare it with the relevant data in the U.S. Navy database as soon as we get it back to the U.S. Navy base. Even if we can't find exactly the same noise data, unless we never leave the port in the future, we will be able to determine our identity the next time we encounter it. ”

"Can you confirm which country's submarine we are?"

"Absolutely. The Squid has two sister boats, and although the characteristic noise of each submarine is different, there are many similarities in the characteristic noise of submarines of the same type. As long as a certain degree of similarity is achieved, it will be possible to determine which country the new submarine belongs to, and even what model. ”

Lu Chengwen was slightly startled and glanced at the computer screen.

Hua Jianfeng also looked at the computer screen, and the order was very clear, not only to send Lu Chengwen and them back to China safely, but also to eliminate all traces that could be traced, and not to reveal their identities.

Thankfully, there is no room for irretrievability.

"Lao Hua, we have no other choice." Lu Chengwen glanced around, "Do you have a map here?" ”

"Maps?"

"A map of the seas, a map of the nearby seas."

"You're talking about charts?" Hua Jianfeng immediately stood up, took out a folded chart from the bookshelf, and spread it on the table.

This world chart shows the topography of the seabed of the oceans, such as the course of some large submarine seamounts, the distribution of ocean trenches, the direction of ocean currents, and the deepest parts of major ocean areas.

"We're here now, about 150 nautical miles off the west coast of Africa."

Lu Chengwen nodded, looked at the chart for a while, and then clicked in the southeast direction of the location of the submarine marked by Hua Jianfeng. "Go here. The water depth here is more than 5,000 meters, and with current technology, it is difficult to salvage the ships that sank here. In addition, the enormous pressure of five hundred atmospheres is enough to destroy all the electronics on the submarine. ”

"Sink the Houston!?" Hua Jianfeng was startled. Although he had thought of this result a long time ago, he was still a little shocked when Lu Chengwen made it clear.

"Whatever the means, the Houston must not be allowed to return to the U.S. Navy base." Lu Chengwen raised his head, "It is difficult for submarines to communicate with the outside world underwater, and the United States is also taking secret operations, even if it really fights, as long as it does not leave evidence, the United States will not be able to make a big deal." Now, it's up to you to have faith and ability. ”

"First we have to lead the Houston and then take the firing position." Hua Jianfeng touched his chin. "Let's do it, I need to go back to my post immediately, will you stay here, or will you follow me to the command center?"

Lu Cheng didn't say much and immediately stood up.

In the command center, Le Jiacheng and more than a dozen officers and soldiers were anxiously waiting for the captain.

"How's it going, where's the Houston?"

"In the direction of two hundred and fifty degrees, the distance is twenty chains, and the other ......" Le Jiacheng hesitated slightly, "Two minutes ago, the 'Houston' sent out a directional high-frequency signal, probably mapping our appearance. ”

"It's not too late." Hua Jianfeng was not only not surprised, but also returned to his usual demeanor. "Now under my command, the whole boat is in combat condition, and Torpedo No. 3 is loaded with firing data. The first fifteen, the tail fifteen, the left full rudder, full power propulsion. Sonar long, monitoring the situation of enemy boats. ”

"Lao Hua, this is ......" It seems that Le Jiacheng is very frightened.

"Give the order now!"

The red lights in the various cabins of the whole ship immediately flashed, and in less than fifteen seconds, the "Gun Squid" entered a combat state.

Like a deep-sea monster, the "Gun Squid", with a displacement of thousands of tons, dived at a rapid speed.

"Captain, the Houston is following."

Nodding to the sonar chief, Hua Jianfeng looked at Lu Chengwen who was standing by the hatch again.

The battle has begun, and one of the two submarines is destined to remain at the bottom of this desolate sea forever