Chapter 49 Constant Harassment

Facing the oncoming Korn, Ilyich was not in a hurry to break through the opponent's defense line. Now, the distance between the two survey ships and the salvage ship was about one thousand meters, which was just within the range of the RBU-1200 five-pack anti-submarine depth bomb launcher equipped on his own warships. When the Americans discovered their MiG-25 and prepared to salvage it, the survey ship would definitely leave and let the salvage ship take position. At this time, once these rockets were launched, the mission would be accomplished and they could retreat to the base at high speed under the protection of the air force!

Now, let's play hide-and-seek with this American destroyer! Under the command of Ilyich and the operation of all the officers and soldiers on the ship, the Tashkent was like a fish wandering on the ocean, constantly circling with the American warship, sometimes turning left, sometimes right, sometimes speeding up, sometimes slowing down, playing a cat-and-mouse game on the sea.

Time passed by little by little, and the sky became darker and darker.

"Captain, it's getting dark, what should we do?" The deputy captain said to Ilyich. Sailing at night is full of risks. If there is a collision with an American warship, it will be very disadvantageous to our side.

"We just need to turn on our navigation lights and follow the Americans, keeping a safe distance." Ilyich said, "Also, turn on our active sonar and release a sonar wave every minute."

Although the Riga class was built at the end of World War II, as a frigate, it was equipped with the latest sonar at the time. Now, this active sonar is of course used to cause trouble for the Americans.

For various reasons, when the Americans found that there were only two Soviet frigates coming to cause trouble, they did not send more warships to hinder them. The reason is very simple. If the Americans increase their warships, the Soviets will also send more warships. In this way, the waters near Hokkaido are crowded with warships. In addition to the danger of war, the Americans' seabed survey will definitely not be able to proceed.

Now, the Soviets must have noticed it, so they came to make trouble. However, the two American warships are fully capable of handling it and controlling the situation. In this situation, the American survey ship continues to measure the seabed.

The sonar operators worked in two shifts. The sonar operator on day shift went to rest. The sonar operator on night shift had just put on his headphones when he heard a loud popping sound. Immediately, he screamed and took off his headphones instantly.

"****!" the sonar operator cursed loudly.

Sonar operators are a special group of people. They have sharp ears and can hear tiny sounds. At the same time, it also means that their ears are more sensitive. Suddenly hearing a high-decibel sound will have a great impact on their ears.

He rubbed his ears vigorously a few times to reduce the sonar's amplification, then put on his headphones again.

The screen in front of him was also displaying the waveform. Just after a few dozen seconds, he heard that hateful sound again, snap!

This time it wasn't so harsh, but it made him feel even more disgusted. He watched the waveform on the screen jump suddenly, and he couldn't help but continue to curse: "Damn Soviets!"

Underwater, electromagnetic waves attenuate greatly, but sound can travel far because of water. Therefore, the main equipment used for underwater detection is sonar, and like radar, sonar can also be interfered with. Now, the Soviets are using the active sonar on their ships to interfere with their own searches!

"Yes, just like that, keep harassing me!" After coming back from a tour of the sonar room, Ilyich was very satisfied. He also needed a rest and would wait until tomorrow morning to fight the Americans!

It was a restless night.

Yokota, headquarters of U.S. forces in Japan.

"Our salvage work is not going smoothly." Vice Admiral Jonathan Williams, commander of the Seventh Fleet, also came to Yokota Base and said to several other senior officials: "In order to avoid the escalation of the conflict, we did not send more warships. The two Soviet warships have been entangled with our two warships."

Now, whether the United States can save face depends on whether it can salvage the MiG-25 and study the secrets of the Soviet Union's most advanced fighter. At the same time, this is also a way to exchange its own EP-3 reconnaissance aircraft and pilots. The damn Soviet Union denied it and has not returned the EP-3 reconnaissance aircraft and crew until now. The Soviets even planned to convict the pilots of violating airspace and let them spend the rest of their lives in a Moscow cell!

"Even the president called from the White House to inquire about our salvage progress." Vice Admiral Paul said: "If the situation remains the same tomorrow, we will have no choice but to send more warships over."

During the Cold War, both the Soviet Union and the United States were actually very cautious, trying to avoid escalating the situation and direct confrontation that would trigger a world war, which would not benefit either side. The leaders of both sides were rational and knew that once the two major East and West blocs went to war again, it would be the time for the world to perish.

"Locke, what do you think? It was you who came up with the idea this time." Lasfield on the side asked Locke with a questioning tone in his voice.

It was all your bad idea. We had just started the salvage operation and the Soviets came up to disrupt things!

Locke ignored Lasfield and said silently, "I've been wondering what the Soviets are doing here. They sent those two old warships, not to fight, but to disrupt the situation. We don't know the location of the crashed fighter, and the Soviets don't know either. They don't have a survey ship, so they can't find the fighter at all, but they brought a salvage ship and said they wanted to salvage it."

"Yes, they are definitely here to cause trouble. They have been causing trouble for the entire afternoon and interfering with our survey work," said Lieutenant General Jonard.

"So what do you think, if they find out that we are conducting salvage operations, what actions will they take?" Locke asked.

"They will definitely come to cause trouble and make it impossible for us to salvage, by ramming us, using high-pressure water cannons, or even firing naval guns..." said Vice Admiral Jonard. As a veteran naval officer, he understood this tactic very well.

"No, I think the Soviets sent these two outdated warships here for a purpose." Locke said: "Riga-class frigates are equipped with anti-submarine rockets, which are good equipment for dealing with underwater targets!"

Looking at the officers who were all surprised, Locke continued, "I think we should use their own tricks tomorrow!"