Two Hundred and Fifty Five Falling

Inside the dark battleship, in a narrow corridor, two electric welders are welding a broken steel bar in the waist-high seawater. As long as this place is repaired enough to isolate the seawater, the water pump at the back can pump out the water Go, so that the battleship can at least rush back to the port with serious injuries. [For more exciting novels, please visit]

Damage controllers, that is, maintenance workers responsible for emergency rescue and disaster relief for warships, they are like the personal doctors of warships, and they are an indispensable part of a warship. Arguably, however, these damage control officers are one of the most dangerous professions, as they are often found in the underwater parts of warships and work right where the damage is.

"Hey! George! I heard that we were shot before we even saw the enemy's shadow!" A damage control officer shouted loudly with a tool in his hand, sparks from wires burst out from time to time around, and it looked like Very scary.

"Shut up! Frank! Don't you think our situation is not bad enough? This damn airtight door is leaking! It's leaking!" While beating on the twisted door, George complained loudly: "I only know that there was a This thing penetrated two decks in one breath, and exploded about 20 meters in front. If you have time to be curious, why not think about how to block this damn door!"

"Here comes the steel bar! We brought the steel bar!" Two damage controllers wearing steel helmets and life jackets walked over carrying a steel bar through waist-high water, and said loudly, "It was the German plane that hit the ground. We didn't expect their planes to carry such a large bomb."

"Frank! Hurry up and put this steel bar on the door, you and me, we two used tools to flatten the door! You use these things to plug the remaining gaps!" George began to assign tasks, and several damage control officers Get busy.

"George!" A non-commissioned officer shouted loudly in the distance: "The lower floor has blocked the gap! The water pump has started pumping... The captain asked about the damage. Do you have any questions?"

There was a burst of cheers immediately in the cabin, knowing that my warship can continue to float on the sea, this is indeed a very exciting thing. Although everyone is still soaking in the cold sea water, they suddenly feel much warmer .

"It's a small matter. We can block this door in about 20 minutes... As for the damage, we need to contact the people at the stern to know how many cabins have been destroyed." George looked at the cheering men and replied loudly Said: "There is only one boiler room left. If the damage outside is not serious, we can probably estimate that it can still drive 7 knots."

"Can't go any faster? George... The Germans are bombing us. We need to increase our speed, otherwise we will be hit again." The sergeant asked again anxiously.

George shook his head: "Tell me what I said to the captain! He knows what to do. Also tell him that if he is hit by such a bomb again, the battleship will sink!"

"I understand! Please be sure to control the flooding of the battleship,

Let's go home together! The non-commissioned officer nodded and said. After finishing speaking, he turned back and climbed up the hollowed-out iron stairs to the upper deck.

As a senior damage control officer who participated in the repair of the Lion battlecruiser, George was not as excited as these recruits. He tapped the pipe next to him with the wrench in his hand and gave a loud order: "According to my order!" Arrange! Hurry up and work!"

The speed of the influx of sea water is getting slower and slower, and the scary tilt of the entire battleship just now has gradually recovered. It seems that the battleship has been saved. George let out a long breath, then took a handful of sea water with engine oil floating on it, and washed his face indiscriminately.

He leaned against the cold wall, and only then felt the pain in his knees. Having served on battleships for many years, and mostly in the company of icy sea water, he has severe rheumatism in both legs, and now he may be suffering again.

"Sir! There is no danger here anymore! Go up." Frank said with a smile while starting the pump, "If there is any problem, I will go up and call you. The drainage will start in a while, and the problem will not be too big."

George nodded, stood up from the wall he was leaning against, waded through the icy sea water, and walked step by step to the side of the hollowed-out iron stairs. As he walked up, he stretched out his oil-stained palm and grabbed the handrail of the stairs. He has served on this battleship for 9 years. He is 50 years old this year and has experienced World War I. He is one of the few old guys on this battleship.

He walked up the stairs, looking at the twisted walls and the bomb-punctured ceiling, listening to the loud explosions outside. He took off the work clothes hanging from the wall, then took out a cigarette from the pocket of the work clothes, and put a cigarette in his mouth.

"George! The captain asked you to go up when you have time. He wants to know the details of the damage to the hull this time!" A sailor ran over and said to George.

George nodded, and walked up with the sailor, and when they had just arrived outside the door of the bridge, they suddenly heard the desperate cry of the lookout post on the mast above their heads: "Torpedo! Port side! Torpedo! ! A torpedo is coming towards us on the port side."

Then there was a huge explosion. George held onto the railing on the stairs of the battleship with his hands, and managed to stabilize his body. When he turned his head again, he found that the sailor who brought him up had fallen from the bridge more than ten meters high. deck.

This battleship is finished! This idea flashed across George's mind in an instant, and he hurriedly opened the bridge door, and saw the captain with blood on his face being bandaged by the military doctor. On the messy command bridge, it can be described as a mess. These officers just got up from the ground, and the explosion just now paralyzed the command that had just recovered.

"Captain! This ship is going to sink! You must evacuate the people immediately! Organize the soldiers to board the lifeboat, or it will be too late!" George said loudly as soon as he entered. He didn't want to die, he wanted to go back to the British Isle to see his little grandson whom he hadn't seen for several years.

While he was speaking, seawater poured into one cabin after another tens of meters away from his feet, and the soldiers inside were submerged in the icy seawater before they could escape. The desperate soldiers knocked on the twisted airtight door, They couldn't open the iron doors damaged by the shock, they could only watch the sea water rush in and wait to die slowly.

The sea water with blood and broken parts rampaged through the body of the battleship, submerging everywhere it passed. The damage control personnel did not have time to plug the cracks and gaps, and the seawater was poured into the new cabin, and there were even soldiers and damage control personnel. It was directly submerged by sea water, and there was no time to escape.

Frank, who was chatting and laughing with George just now, was directly smashed in the head by the collapsed steel bar, and the other two damage control officers beside him also collapsed again because of the place just blocked, and the sudden influx of too much seawater was flooded Dead in the cabin, they didn't even have time to run to the stairs less than 5 meters away from them.

"Immediately! Immediately! Announce the abandonment of ship! Captain!" George stared at the captain of the battleship Malaya with a look of astonishment and said, "If you hesitate for a while, hundreds of people will give "sex" in vain. Doomed!"

"The explosion just now may be a martyrdom explosion! It doesn't have to be underwater! I have no right to order the abandonment of such an important battleship in such an unknown situation!" The captain pushed the doctor away and said.

"No matter what kind of explosion it was! The damage to this ship is enough to sink it! I just came up from below! It hasn't been repaired yet, and now there is such a big vibration, it should be completely finished there!" George hysterical shouted: "I beg you! To the soldiers below..."

Before he finished speaking, a pen on the chart table rolled down to the ground, and everyone looked at the pen, speechless in shock. The warship had just released water to the other side a few minutes ago, which stabilized the warship's roll, but now the roll appeared again, indicating that the efforts just now were in vain, and the entire battleship was indeed in danger of sinking.

"Send a message to all posts! Let them evacuate! Order the boiler room to turn off the power, and all personnel to go to the deck! The anti-aircraft weapons continue to fight back, and everyone must wear life jackets." The captain finally glanced at George: "You lead the damage control personnel Go down and look at the damage, if... I mean, if there is still a possibility of salvage, please do your best."

Then he turned to his first officer: "Send a signal to the aircraft carrier Eagle, saying that our ship is sinking, please organize rescue work."

"Captain! The middle part of the hull was shot, and the sound pipes and telephone lines in many cabins have been damaged! People in many cabins may not be able to get the order to abandon ship and escape." George did not leave, but reminded loudly own captain.

"Send someone to notify each cabin immediately! If there is water, shout loudly for 3 minutes! Make sure to save most people." The captain closed his eyes helplessly, because he had already seen that his command bridge was tilted to the bottom. Pretty serious.

Several officers ran out of the bridge frantically. They were ordered to find the unreachable personnel and lead them to escape together. George also hurried downstairs. When he just returned to the main deck, he saw a sea of ​​sailors abandoning the ship and jumping ocean. More people crowded around the lifeboat in a hurry, and from time to time they heard gunshots and warnings from the gendarmerie.

George wanted to go down to the inside of the hull to find Frank and the others, but found that the stairs he went up were already full of sea water. He looked around, trying to find his colleague from the crowd, but he found that all this was in vain, because the surroundings were a mess, and it was not the time to look for someone.

He was pushed to the side of the side railing by the crowd, and he saw that the side that used to be very far away from the sea is now only less than three meters away, and there is engine oil floating on the sea that does not know where it leaked. There are also densely packed British sailors. Just as he was about to turn around, he was pushed off the boat by the crowd and hit the heads of the people below. He took a mouthful of the salty and astringent cold sea water, struggled desperately to surface, and suddenly saw the top of the tall mast, and the flag of the British Navy fluttered down.

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