afterglow

Chapter 543 Curse - Raging Sea and Turbulent Waves; Trouble comes from the mouth, wait for death!
8月25日应天时间清晨6：05，己字七十二练习舰队抵达琉球群岛以南230㎞海域。

As the sun rose in the east, the fleet turned to the southeast and began to conduct morning fleet flight training. The middle and rear sections of the flight deck of the Yinghuo were filled with carrier-based aircraft that had been warmed up.

The carrier-based aircraft wore the common HNA livery of blue at the top and white at the bottom. Dozens of crew members lined up under the bridge, then dispersed and ran to their respective planes.

The speed of the Yinghuo increased to 24 knots, and its heading was slightly to the right relative to the oncoming sea breeze, allowing the sea breeze to blow the smokestack exhaust away from the rear deck.

One after another, the planes roared, glided and accelerated, and slowly pulled up after rushing out of the flight deck.

The flight process went smoothly. These selected carrier-based aircraft pilots first trained on the aircraft carrier deck simulation field on land, and then became familiar with real takeoffs and landings on the retired Qiming practice aircraft carrier. Finally, they were qualified for aircraft carrier takeoffs and landings.

The aviation guidance officer climbed up the stairs and walked into the bridge. He said with a smile: "You guys are all doing well. They are running smoothly. They are almost catching up with those old guys from the air attack fleet."

"Yes, the running-in is very fast." Guan Zeming put down his binoculars and casually ordered: "This ship slows down, four vehicles into two, and pay attention to enemy submarines."

The Yinghuo slowed down to cruising speed, and at the same time, changes in the natural environment came unknowingly.

Only an hour after the attack wave took off, the wind from the sea began to surge.

The hull was rolling continuously and it was difficult to walk. The navigation adjutant of the Yinghuo pulled on the railings and bulkheads and finally reached a platform behind the superstructure. The hatch was as heavy as a stone, and he finally pushed it open with all his strength.

Guan Zeming held on to the bulkhead, looked at the big waves outside the round window and muttered: "It doesn't look like it will stop for a while. Let's cancel the radio silence and let the fleet return to Ryukyu."

At 10:13, Guan Zeming made an important decision, ordering the fleet to further increase its speed, adjust its course to the northeast, and escape the influence of the typhoon as soon as possible.

The typhoon is probably in the southeast direction and is moving at high speed in an unknown arc trajectory.

Everyone realized that they might be in big trouble this time, and it was not just a storm under the cumulonimbus clouds as they thought before!

The wind was howling and the waves were undulating outside. He asked at the top of his lungs: "Report! Wind speed! Air pressure!"

Just a few minutes later, at 8:37, the submarine hunting ship Zhiqing No. sent a signal through the light language, reporting that someone on the ship had fallen into the water, and the trace was unknown and search and rescue could not be carried out.

The officers present looked solemn, and some even turned pale.

"The wind speed is twenty-four meters! The air pressure is Bar!" a sergeant replied loudly.

At this time, the barometer showed 100.2kPa and continued to decrease. The southeasterly wind became stronger and stronger, the sea state deteriorated rapidly, and the sky turned cloudy and rain began to fall.

Avoid? How to avoid it?

Soon, Dongyou No. 11 encountered steering difficulties, and she requested instructions through light signals in the hope of increasing her speed.

The wind was increasing every second, the sea conditions were deteriorating every minute, and the large roll caused an orange that fell on the ground to roll from left to right, and from right to left.

"Something's wrong. It was estimated in yesterday's telegram that it wasn't that violent. The wave must be three feet high." A major staff officer said solemnly.

But the actual situation is definitely not like this. If you look at the Ryukyu waters from low-Earth orbit, you will find that a tropical cyclone is moving rapidly from the southeast to the northwest of the Ryukyu Islands. Its trajectory is not a straight line, but an arc.

Should the fleet continue sailing or adjust its course? If you adjust the course, which way should you go?
Suddenly, due to the continuous violent rolling, the fixed steel cable of a Type 37 ship bomb on the rear flight deck came loose. The two front landing gears lost their restraints, and only the tail wheel was still attached. However, the tail wheel was torn off in the next second. The entire aircraft fell into the sea in the blink of an eye, and disappeared after a big wave hit it.

Guan Zeming then agreed, and soon the speed of the Jizi 9 practice fleet gradually increased from 11 knots to knots.

As of 7:45 in the morning, the wind speed has reached 18m/s, and the wind direction is southeast. This caused each ship to roll significantly, which affected normal navigation.

At 9:20, as the distance between the fleet and the typhoon shortened, the wind force further increased.

The fleet received weather reports from Luzon and Ryukyu last night, both of which warned that there may be strong winds and waves, with the intensity estimated to be Category 7 winds.

The navigation officer took a huge risk and went out of the cabin to look out on the deck for a while. He walked in all wet and said plainly: "Old boy, this is a strong wind. Captain, you have to avoid it quickly! "

The speed of the Jizi 21 practice fleet quickly reached knots, and it galloped towards the northeast.

The top speed of Dongyou No. 18's oil tanker was only knots. She was unable to keep up with the fleet and gradually fell behind. She could only hope for luck.

At 11:05, Dagu, Fuzhou, and Hangzhou naval bases all received the telegram sent by the Yinghuo.

"Our team encountered a strong wind and was evading in the direction of 25 degrees. We are now at 17°131' north latitude and 26°' east longitude. The sky is dark and heavy rain. The cloud base is meters high. The visibility is meters. The wind is southeast. , the wind speed was twenty-nine, and the wave height was fourteen meters."

The scene at this time was frightening. The wind speed was as high as 29.5m/s and the average wave height was 14m. This was Category wind and Category sea conditions.

I saw raging waves sweeping over the sky, and the sea surface was covered with thick white foam waves, like a fluffy wool carpet. The water mist filled the sky and the sea, and the sky and sea were extremely dark.

The giant ship of more than 40,000 tons also seemed very small in such turbulent waves, as if it was just a small boat. The accompanying destroyers and submarine hunting ships were almost like paper boats floating in the roaring waves because of their small tonnage.

【Picture】

The sea conditions are extremely bad, but the situation does not seem to be improving. The wind speed is still increasing and the air pressure is further dropping.

The visibility was quite low, and the light from the navigation lights seemed to be swallowed up by the wind and waves.

"Send the order, turn on the searchlights, and increase the distance between the ships by three hundred meters."

"Order!"

A moment later, suddenly, a dozen beams of light suddenly appeared between the extremely dark sky and sea, cutting through the terrible storm picture.

Guan Zeming recalled what happened twenty years ago - he was still a cadet warrant officer at the Hangzhou Armed Forces Academy. The practice cruiser he was aboard at that time encountered a typhoon after going to sea. Fortunately, it was far away and the impact was not big. Afterwards, on the way back to Hong Kong, he was ordered to divert to Taizhou to participate in the rescue. The entire port area was in a mess.

Compared with the power of nature, humans are still too small after all.

In view of the excessive rolling amplitude of many warships, he ordered: "Abandon the useless load on the deck and adjust the ballast!"

At 13:30, because they could not cook normally, each ship used backup ready-to-eat food, which was canned food and a kind of sweet and salty biscuits.

At 14:17, the submarine hunting ship Zhiqing No. reported a mechanical failure in one of its diesel engine main engines, and then the ship slowed down and fell behind.

At 14:59, the destroyer Qingfeng reported that someone fell into the water and was unable to search and rescue.

At 15:18, the light cruiser Talam River reported that a seaplane it was carrying fell into the sea. At 15:25, the destroyer Shicheng reported steering difficulties, and five minutes later said it was unable to steer. Soon after, the ship gradually yawed, getting further and further away from the fleet.

At 16:30 that afternoon, the impact of the typhoon on the fleet reached unprecedented extremes - the wind speed was 33m/s, and the average wave height reached 15m.

At 17:21, the rolling amplitude of the Zhiqing 80 submarine hunting ship exceeded the design limit of 89° and reached a huge °. As a result, the ship rolled over and fell to the left into the sea.

The rolling amplitude of the Yinghuo was also exaggerated. The steel cables fixing the aircraft in the hangar loosened due to repeated shaking, causing many aircraft to collide in a series, which in turn caused a fire.

Akito learned a good way from the Americans to hang spare aircraft from the hangar ceiling to further increase the number of carrier aircraft. However, now these aircraft hanging overhead are constantly colliding with each other, and all kinds of debris and parts are falling down, and no one can Know when the whole thing will fall down.

Although the Lexington class has a closed hangar, the bad sea conditions still allow a lot of seawater to penetrate through every crack. The hangar deck is wet, and the aviation gasoline leaked from the damaged aircraft is scattered and burning on the water.

The swaying damage control team members fought hard in such a terrifying scene...

At the same time, Zhou Changfeng was returning to the capital Yingtianfu on a Type 38 heavy fighter jet.

On the one hand, he promised his wife not to go out of town for too long, and on the other hand, he was eager to return to Beijing for business, so he did not choose to take a slow transport or passenger plane.

The Type 38 heavy fighter was developed by Suncheon Shanghang Aircraft Company and can be used to perform various tasks such as long-range escort, ground attack, and interception of enemy bombers. The aircraft has two crew members: a pilot and a rear-seat gunner.

At that time, the concept of "fast bomber" was popular around the world - as long as my bomber flies faster than your (single-engine) fighter, then you will be helpless and bombed in vain.

Therefore, many countries have begun to develop faster fighter jets. In order to achieve a high enough speed index, dual-engine design has become an inevitable choice under the conditions of limited aviation technology.

The latest Type 1200-C heavy fighter uses two carved six-type nine-cylinder radial engines, each with a nominal power of 6100 horsepower, a maximum take-off weight of 560 kilograms, a top speed of 2200 kilometers/h, and a maximum range of kilometers.

The pilot was the deputy of the Second Pursuit Detachment of the Air Force. He personally flew Mr. Zhou back to Beijing. The two chatted happily all the way.

By the time he arrived, it was already late at night, and it was not easy to go home to rest. At dawn, he received a call from the palace.

"Hello? Are you ready for the edict? His Majesty summons you to the palace to discuss matters. Come as soon as possible."

The dawn of August 8 was no different from the past. The chirping of cicadas became sparse, but the morning in late summer was still hot and hot. Although the wind blew cool, it could not take away the heat from the body.

The street vendors and shops have already opened, the first tram has set off a quarter of an hour ago, and countless bicycle armies are preparing to set off from their respective homes.

Park the car and get off the ground, enter the palace city through Xihua Gate, then take the shuttle bus and turn left and right along the familiar route, and finally arrive at the foot of Qianqing Gate.

Zhu Lingjing's clothes today were all light-colored. As soon as they met, she stretched out her index and middle fingers to shake them, and said lightly: "Two things. One, the training fleet to which the Yinghuo belongs yesterday encountered a strong wind while going out to sea for training. , escaped today.”

ah? Caught in a typhoon?
The Lexington's overall performance is very good, its speed, aircraft carrying capacity, and protection capabilities are all quite outstanding. The Ming Navy does not dislike her, so it has already made full plans to deploy to Hawaii after completing the training.

A somewhat nervous Zhou Changfeng asked: "Is the loss big?"

"The Yinghuo itself is fine." Zhu Lingjing said with a stern expression as she slid the telegraph newspaper from the center of the imperial desk to the corner.

Zhou Changfeng took the telegram and read it quickly. What was described on it was only the damage status reported by the fleet temporarily.

At present, all warships in the Jizi 72 practice fleet have suffered varying degrees of damage. The more serious one is that a submarine hunting ship capsized, but it seems that it has not sunk; another destroyer has its bow torn off, and two submarine hunting ships have had their bows ripped off. The ship's main mast was blown down.

As for the Yinghuo itself, she mainly suffered from several fractures on the flight deck and a fire in the hangar that destroyed some equipment. At first glance, there was nothing serious, but there may have been unknown internal injuries due to the violent bumps and rolls.

"The fleet is so unlucky because the navy did not provide a weather forecast in advance?" Zhou Changfeng said in a deep voice.

"No, I gave it, but I miscalculated."

"Your Majesty, all the carrier-based aircraft that took off landed in Ryukyu except for one missing, and the aircraft carrier is not in serious trouble. This is a blessing among misfortunes."

In a sense, the dozens of pilots on the more than 40 carrier-based aircraft that took off are the most valuable. They are probably more valuable than the Lexington. After all, the Lexington was picked up for free. As for carrier-based aircraft pilots, they are all trained by themselves and paid real money.

However, at this time, Zhou Changfeng felt something was wrong.

This was not an urgent matter. The shipwreck was a fait accompli. The navy had already begun search and rescue work. There was no need to call him over so urgently so early in the morning.

And the emperor's attitude and aura are a bit...cold?

"Then the second thing." The expressionless Zhu Lingjing glanced at him, clenched her fists and said, "Did you tell anyone about such nonsense as carving up Honolulu?"

The Dongci room in Zhaoren Hall became extremely quiet for a while.

Zhou Changfeng tried hard to recall for nearly ten seconds, and finally captured the target in the memory fragments in his mind.

"When I went to the airport to take a flight the day before yesterday, many reporters intercepted me. Someone asked me how to comment on whether the North Korean dignitaries had divided up Hawaii's wealth..."

"So what did you say?"

"I forgot. I'm probably just sitting back and enjoying the success, being short-sighted and not knowing the truth."

Zhu Lingjing rolled her eyes, reached out and took out a roll of newspapers and threw it at him. She said harshly in an annoyed tone: "Misfortune comes from the mouth. Wait until you die. Someone will accuse you of reselling the loot to make money."

Hearing this, Zhou Changfeng's heart skipped a beat.

hiss! Could it be that the two companies investing in the United States were also discovered because of this?

Oh shit! That was a game of chess played to thwart the Manhattan Project! If it's because of being disturbed by people from Daming...

He asked cautiously: "Your Majesty, did you only report the 'reselling of loot'?"

Zhu Lingjing, who looked helpless, looked at him sideways, gritted her teeth and said, "'Only'? Isn't it too troublesome?"

Realizing that no more questions had been raised for the time being, Zhou Changfeng breathed a sigh of relief, "Who is this, so narrow-minded? I just told the truth."

"Ha, in the final analysis, I think I have made great contributions to the government, and I am arrogant in my heart." Zhu Lingjing sneered and shook her head slightly, "Just like that, how can I have the face to criticize other people?"

"Your Majesty, I commanded the battle on Oahu." Zhou Changfeng replied confidently.

(End of this chapter)