50s: Starting with a storage ring

Chapter 273 Watching the Fun

Upon hearing the order, Dongzi slightly adjusted his course and headed straight for the submarine in front of him.

"Keep the active sonar on and keep locking onto the enemy submarine."

Half an hour later, the distance between the two sides had been reduced by half. Sun Zhiwei ordered, "Surf to a depth of 200 meters, speed 20."

"At a distance of 10 kilometers, the enemy continued to slow down, from 9 knots to 8 knots to 5 knots. The enemy ship stabilized at 5 knots."

"The other party's active sonar has been turned off."

Hearing that the other side had turned off its active sonar, Sun Zhiwei felt even more relieved.

"Alright, stop shining your lights at them. Keep the speed constant and we'll pass through the middle of the channel."

Upon hearing his order, Dongzi immediately corrected the course, keeping the submarine in the center of the channel and maintaining a constant speed.

After the opposing submarine noticed their movements, it hesitated for a moment before voluntarily giving way.

"Report! The other side has voluntarily given way; they've backed down," Da Hai reported excitedly.

"Understood. Helmsman, maintain course. Sonar, keep an eye on things. Everyone, stay alert."

Ten minutes later, the two submarines passed each other.

The USS Memphis was much larger than its counterpart, and when they passed each other at close range, the water pressure created between them caused the hulls of both submarines to crack and creak.

Sun Zhiwei observed the situation inside the enemy submarine through space; it was a group of London sailors.

In the enemy's command center, a group of London officers were sweating profusely as they stared at the sonar operator, fearing they might hear some terrible news from him.

As the two sides crossed paths, the rattling of the submarine's steel hull caused chaos in the enemy's command center.

Sun Zhiwei smiled inwardly and instructed the others, "They've been intimidated by us. Let's continue."

Soon, the Memphis made a turn and left the central waterway, entering the next section of the waterway.

Finally, there were no more problems in this last section of the waterway, and there wasn't even a single fishing boat in the channel.

Only then did everyone have time to ask Sun Zhiwei about what had just happened.

Although they knew every step of their submarine's operation, they were clueless as to why they were doing it that way.

Sun Zhiwei was generous in explaining his assessment of the situation to everyone.

"Then why did you dare to occupy the central channel just now and force the other side to give way?"

"Because whether it's the bald eagle or the bear, they're both like this. When faced with these two countries, neither London nor Paris can do anything but submit."

Only then did everyone understand the reason for the series of actions just now, and this time they were completely convinced.

In such a short time, to be able to quickly identify the approximate identity of the unfamiliar submarine based solely on its deceleration and to take targeted countermeasures—that takes real skill.

If any one of the analysis, judgments, or decisions in this process is wrong, the outcome could be very different.

In less than a day, they encountered two submarines in succession. The crew dared not let their guard down any longer and focused intently on piloting the Memphis.

The following morning, the Memphis finally sailed out of the South China Sea Channel.
Sun Zhiwei knew that the road ahead was not safe either; there were still more than 3000 kilometers of sea route from the western exit of the 'Nanhua Waterway' to the Qindao base.

The blockade imposed by the United States is no joke. Although it has eased somewhat in recent years, there are still ships patrolling the surrounding area, and there are also quite a few submarines underwater.

After Sun Zhiwei commanded the "Memphis" out of the "South China Sea Channel," he did not take a break but turned directly north.

"Order: Descend to 400 meters, heading due north, speed 20 knots."

He desperately wanted to accelerate the submarine to its maximum speed and get home immediately, but he couldn't.

If it travels at top speed, the noise level should not be too high, as this would attract all ships with sonar within a range of more than 100 kilometers, completely destroying the stealth of the "Memphis".

This isn't the vast, open sea, nor is it truly home. He's still far from home; he must be extremely careful. Bringing the "Memphis" back will be a victory. They're practically at home, just one step away; he can't rush things.

They are now 500 kilometers away from the deep-water channel between the Zhongsha and Xisha Islands. Soon, they will enter the main shipping lanes of the South China Sea.

The shipping lanes in this sea area are mainly divided into three routes: the western route passes through the western side of the Xisha Islands, the central route passes between the Zhongsha Islands and the Xisha Islands, and the eastern route passes through the eastern side of the Zhongsha Islands, finally converging in the south and entering the Strait of Malacca.

Sun Zhiwei's goal was to get into the shipping lanes here.

With such a dense shipping route, thousands of ships pass through every day. If you try to locate ships using passive sonar on this route, the sonar operators will definitely go on strike.

Submarines rarely rely on passive sonar when navigating here; instead, they rely on active sonar for precise positioning.

An hour later, the Memphis entered the merchant shipping lane, where the sounds of ship engines could be heard everywhere.

Sun Zhiwei immediately ordered: "Surf to 100 meters, shut down the active sonar, and follow the 10,000-ton cargo ship ahead."

He wanted to mix the sound of the Memphis's propellers with the engine sounds of the cargo ships on the route.

And so, the Memphis sailed with the cargo ship for two days and two nights without any incidents.

It wasn't until the ships entered the central channel that they discovered the ship density was much higher there.

Suddenly, Da Hai reported: "Two submarines have been spotted ahead."

"Rise another 50 meters and get close to the cargo ship."

"Investigate the details of the submarine ahead."

"Both submarines were about 150 kilometers directly ahead; they were very close together."

"Huh, that's strange."

"What's wrong? What's the course of the two submarines?"

"That's the strange thing. Two submarines, one in front of the other, are heading in our direction."

"However, those two submarines were following too closely; the second submarine was even releasing active sonar pulses."

Upon hearing that the approaching submarine was in this state, Sun Zhiwei had a sudden thought.

"Continue monitoring. Let's stay close to the cargo ship and ignore the two submarines for now."

Since the cargo ship is traveling at a constant speed in a straight line, no one else needs to do anything extra for the time being.

So, the swordfish asked, "Listen, what do you think is going on?"

"I suspect these are submarines from both the Soviet Union and the United States, with one side pursuing the other. We don't yet know which side each submarine belongs to."

"No rush, as long as we don't expose ourselves, we can just watch the show in peace."

"The submarine in front suddenly turned around, and it also activated its active sonar."

"The submarine behind is slowing down, and the two sides are in a standoff, exchanging active sonar fire."

How far are we from them?

"If their position remains unchanged, then it's less than 100 kilometers."

"Strange, what is it going to do?" Da Hai asked in surprise, wearing headphones.

"Debrief the situation."

"Report: The submarine that just turned around is accelerating, and there is another submarine less than 10 kilometers ahead of it."

(End of this chapter)