Wasteland Survivalist: A Scientific Guide to Post-Apocalyptic Survival

The next morning, Gu Lang was awakened by the cries of seabirds.

As dawn broke outside the porthole, the outlines of the islands and reefs gradually became clear in the morning light.

Several white seabirds hopped around on the rocks, their calls sharp and short.

Gu Lang stood up and stretched, then walked to the stern of the boat and washed his face with seawater.

The sea surface is much calmer than yesterday, and the swells are estimated to have dropped to less than one meter.

It seems that the southerly wind from last night has passed, and the sea conditions should be fine today.

He ate a simple breakfast and then started the diesel engine.

The course was due west and slightly south, and the speed remained at an economical cruising speed of fourteen knots.

The waterjet propulsion system of the Type 022 submarine creates two faint trails at the stern, completely different from the wide, white V-shaped trails of conventional propeller ships.

The water jet propulsion system sprays water at high speed from the pump outlet, mixing it with the surrounding seawater even faster.

The wake is wider and flatter, and stays on the sea surface for a shorter time.

From the air, this kind of wake is more difficult to see visually than a traditional ship's tail wave.

This is also part of the low observability design of the Type 022 submarine.

Today's voyage is dangerous, from the outer sea of ​​Shanwei to the west side of Zhujiangkou, passing through the entire Lindingyang sea area.

Lindingyang is a funnel-shaped bay at the mouth of the Zhujiang River. To the east is Xianggang, to the west are Aomen and Zhuhai, and to the north are Guangxiu and Dongguan.

This waterway was once one of the busiest shipping lanes in the South China Sea, with thousands of ships of various types passing through every day before the nuclear war.

Numerous islands are scattered on both sides of the Zhujiang Estuary, and waterways crisscross between these islands, some of which are no more than a few kilometers wide.

In the event of a nuclear war, organized military forces would inevitably establish blockades on these key waterways to control maritime traffic.

He needed to find a route that was far enough away from all the islands without taking too many detours.

Several alternative routes were marked on the electronic nautical chart, and he chose the southernmost one.

Passing south of the Tangan Islands, along the southern side of the Wanshan Islands, following the outer perimeter of Guishan and Linding Islands, and then entering the Yellow Sea south of Gaolan Island.

This route is more than ten nautical miles from the nearest island, beyond visual range.

The range at which radar can detect stealth targets has essentially reached its limit.

He decided to maintain radio silence, not to actively emit any electromagnetic signals, but only to passively receive radio communications.

The sea was relatively calm in the morning, and apart from the occasional abandoned fishing boat and oil tanker wreckage, no other ships were encountered.

Gu Lang used the integrated electro-optical mast from time to time to observe the surrounding sea surface, but found nothing unusual.

Around noon, his course began to cut into the southern edge of the Zhujiang Estuary.

Vessels showing signs of activity began to appear on the sea.

The first one was a sailboat or yacht with a large triangular sail, drifting on the sea.

The photoelectric equipment automatically locked onto the small boat two kilometers away.

The screen in Gulang shows three people with their waterline low, presumably carrying a catch of fish.

The other party seemed to have spotted Gu Lang's speedboat with the naked eye, and one of the people on board stood up and looked in his direction for a while.

Then he quickly called to the other two, and they turned the sails around to hide behind the surrounding islands and reefs.

It's perfectly reasonable for civilian ships to give way to military vessels in a post-apocalyptic world.

Because anyone who can operate warships at sea is likely armed and not to be trifled with.

Regardless of whose soldiers they are, it's always best to stay away.

Gu Lang neither chased nor slowed down, maintaining its original course and speed.

At 2:14 PM, the edge of the main channel of Lindingyang came into view.

The density of floating objects on the sea surface has also increased significantly, with pieces of wood, plastic buckets, broken ropes, and overturned life rafts half-sinking and half-floating in the surging waves.

Just then, a tiny white dot appeared on the sea surface, moving rapidly close to the water.

As the distance gradually decreased, its outline became clearer and clearer.

The boat is long and slender with a raised bow. Most of the hull is above the water, and the underwater portion cuts two sharp white lines across the sea.

"A high-speed hydrofoil?" Gu Lang's pupils contracted slightly.

Hydrofoils are equipped with hydrofoils on their bottoms, and at low speeds, they float on the water by the displacement of their hull, just like ordinary boats.

Once accelerated to a certain speed, the lift generated by the water flow through the hydrofoils will lift the entire hull out of the water, leaving only a few thin hydrofoils and the propeller in contact with the water.

The frictional resistance between the water and the hull is almost completely eliminated, allowing the speed to reach very high speeds.

Some models can reach knots of over fifty, making them just as good as their own catamaran wave-piercing boats.

The hydrofoil's course is at an angle to his Type 022 submarine's course, but the overall trend is toward him.

Gu Lang increased the speed of the 022 submarine to thirty knots while keeping its course unchanged.

Then I turned on the radio and tuned it to the maritime communication frequency band.

No one called, no one warned, no one asked; there was only the static noise.

So he opened the locker in the cabin and took out a set of international marine signal flags.

This set of flags conveys information by hanging flags of different colors and patterns, and is an internationally recognized visual communication method.

There are a total of 40 flags, including 26 letter flags representing the letters A through Z.

Ten number flags, representing the numbers 0 to 9.

Three substitute flags are used to replace the same letter or number when it is necessary to repeat it.

And a response flag, used to respond to the other party's signal, or to indicate the decimal point in a number or the end of communication.

Gu Lang opened the signal flag reference table and went through the individual meanings of each letter again.

A means there are divers below me, please move away from me slowly.

B indicates that I am loading, unloading, or transporting dangerous goods.

C stands for "yes" (indicating affirmation).

Representative D, please move aside; I'm having trouble maneuvering.

E means I am turning right.

F means my operation has malfunctioned; please contact me.

G stands for "I need a pilot".

H means that there is a pilot on my ship.

The "I" indicates that I am turning left.

J indicates that my ship is on fire and there are dangerous goods on board. Please stay away from me.

......

Combinations of two letters or more can express more complex information.

For example, AN means "I need a doctor", CB means "I need immediate assistance", and RU1 means "I am currently conducting a test voyage".

When multiple flags are combined, the reading order is "top to bottom, right to left, outside to inside".

In addition to displaying signal flags, hand flag signals can also be used at close range.

Signalmen use two flags, one in each hand, to represent letters or numbers by posing them at different angles and positions.

In the apocalypse, radio may not be useful; sometimes, the most primitive methods are the only way to transmit information.

Flag signals do not require electricity or encryption; they can communicate as long as both sides can see each other's masts.

Sailors around the world have been using the same set of flag signals for over a hundred years, and even nuclear weapons cannot disable them.