Chapter 1319 It's Our Turn to Sail Freely!

A few hours later.

The western part of the North American continent and the central and eastern parts of the Pacific Ocean.

In the CIC of the destroyer Jincheng, Captain Zhang Xudong used the optical sighting equipment of the main gun to stare at the three US destroyers about 1.5 nautical miles away.

The first ship, the Mastin ship with the hull number "89", was signaling this way.

"Captain, the other party asked about our intentions and said that this area is close to the warning waters they announced in advance. They hope that we will abide by relevant regulations and international practices..."

Chief Guantong came to report.

Zhang Xudong sneered when he heard this:

"Reply to them and say that we are conducting formation navigation training on the high seas and have not affected any other country's ships and aircraft. We hope that the other party will respect the freedom of navigation rights guaranteed by the Convention on the Law of the Sea and not interfere with the normal activities of our formation!"

These words made him feel proud and proud.

Although the atmosphere was somewhat tense, both sides behaved quite conservatively in terms of navigation actions.

The Chinese side was not prepared to continue to rush inward, and the other side only formed a column to maintain a separation line, and had no intention of further driving away.

In the words of the scene, it is "professional and restrained".

If it weren't for the fact that everyone was flying different flags, these seven ships would even look like the same fleet...

In fact, after experiencing the sea and air exercises the year before last, Zhang Xudong had already achieved enough military merits that he should have been promoted to the deputy captain of the destroyer detachment at the beginning of this year.

It was only because of this sudden ocean mission that the superiors considered the need for an experienced captain, so the transfer order was delayed for half a year.

There is also a rare ordinary destroyer captain with the rank of senior colonel.

However, Zhang Xudong himself has no objection to this postponement of promotion.

Or rather, I feel very lucky.

After all, not every captain has the opportunity to take a warship across the middle of the Pacific to a place closer to the North American coastline than the Asian coastline.

If the transfer order is issued, he will need to go to the senior command cadet class for half a year before taking up his post, and he will definitely miss this golden opportunity.

No matter from the perspective of personal development or witnessing history, that is something to regret.

In comparison, being promoted half a year or even a year later is nothing worth mentioning.

"I said, Lao Lu, no wonder Americans always like to engage in free navigation..."

Zhang Xudong turned to political commissar Lu Yuanjie who was sitting next to the electronic chart table:

"It's really nice to feel that others know we are causing trouble, but there is nothing we can do about it..."

Since last night, the curvature of the corners of his mouth has not been lowered, which made people worry about facial muscle stiffness:

When Lu Yuanjie heard this, the corners of his mouth twitched a few times.

Logically speaking, Comrade Captain's words are a bit unfair.

If left to normal times, he would probably have to remind the other party to pay attention to the political impact.

But today, Lu Yuanjie was not prepared to say this.

because……

He felt pretty good too.

Even if a hundred pre-war mobilizations were carried out, the morale-boosting effect would not be as good as the dozen or so hours the opponent's three warships came up to follow the voyage.

This form of ocean training is very good and I recommend doing it more in the future.

"Report to Captain."

The radar operator's voice suddenly sounded from behind Zhang Xudong:

"The radar has just captured a target, heading 205, altitude 16,200 meters, speed 750km/h, judged to be a B52 bomber... Judging from the route, it seems to be performing a Z-shaped evasive maneuver."

For targets the size of traditional bombers, the detection capability of the Type 346 radar is unimaginably large. What limits the detection distance is usually the curvature of the earth, not the strength of the echo signal.

"Can the B52 fly to 16,200 meters?"

The trainee captain Xu Wei next to him was a little puzzled:

"I remember that even for early models, the practical ceiling was only about 15,000 meters..."

Zhang Xudong has become accustomed to the trainee captain's somewhat out-of-the-box thinking:

"Perhaps it has been specially improved... Anyway, we are not trying to shoot it down this time. There is not much difference if it is higher or lower."

He looked away from the radar screen and looked back at the image captured by the camera.

Seemingly because of the bomber's appearance, the three destroyers in the distance were turning and approaching in their direction.

But the approach rate is still very slow, and obviously the colleague over there is also a cautious guy.

Seeing the other party's cautious appearance, Zhang Xudong decided to take the initiative to help them, so as not to frighten the test:

"Notify the formation to adjust course to direction 30."

Lu Yuanjie was a little surprised by this instruction, but after a moment of hesitation, he still did not stop the correspondent from conveying it. Instead, he leaned next to the captain and whispered:

"Isn't that equivalent to being far away from their testing area?"

"Just stay a little away..."

Zhang Xudong nodded:

"The mission sea area designated by superiors is very wide, which means that a slight distance will not affect the signal received by No. 409. On the contrary, it can make the other party lower their vigilance and move these destroyers further away. Make enough security space for 409."

Contrary to many conventional perceptions, due to the influence of equipment level and activity sea area, until the first few years of the 21st century, the Navy's submarine forces still rarely fought directly with other countries' surface ships, and their understanding of the anti-submarine capabilities and anti-submarine tactics of their main opponents was relatively insufficient.

Therefore, for the sake of safety, the anti-submarine capabilities of the combination of Arleigh Burke destroyers and Seahawk helicopters should still be respected.

Please...collect 6...books...!

Sure enough, after the Huaxia fleet made this small turn of about 10°, the opponent seemed to have achieved self-exoneration. While the three destroyers followed, the bombers in the sky also adjusted their direction and resumed straight flight along the length of the test area.

"The opponent has taken the bait!"

Lv Yuanjie's frown just now relaxed.

In fact, this cannot be entirely blamed on the Americans' simple brain circuits.

The main reason is that the plan to transform a submarine as a radar receiving station is too wild. It is difficult for people who have not seen it to keep up with the idea, and it is impossible to consider the possibility of luring the tiger away from the mountain.

...

At the same time,

On the other side of the test area, about 250 nautical miles away.

A huge black shadow quietly emerged from below the sea surface, tearing a crack in the originally calm water surface.

In the command cabin below the hull, Captain Han Xiangjie raised the search periscope and finally confirmed the situation in the surrounding sea and airspace.

Only after confirming that there was no target in the visible range, Han Xiangjie gave the order:

"Drain the ballast tank and prepare to float!"

A few minutes later, with the splashing waves and white sailing wake, a submarine without any visible markings appeared on the sea.

"Check the working status of each system..."

"Open the No. 8 missile launch tube!"

Two consecutive orders.

In fact, Han Xiangjie had never issued this order as a strategic nuclear submarine commander before.

Today is also the first time in his career.

As his order was issued, the prototype barrel cover on the left side of the fourth row from front to back on the towering turtle back of the Long March 9 was opened to the side, like a slowly opening door to hell, revealing a layer of light green pressure cover underneath.

Fortunately, this time, what needs to be done is not to launch missiles.

"Raise the antenna!"

When issuing this order, Han Xiangjie even felt a little weird.

Although technological development has dragged the war into the information age, due to the strong barrier of seawater to radio signals, submarines still retain the habit of fighting alone.

To a certain extent, compared with sixty years ago, the biggest progress of modern submarines is neither active and passive sonar nor guided torpedoes, but nuclear reactors that can maintain long-term high-speed diving.

If it is a conventional submarine, then its fundamental combat strategy is no different from that of World War II.

Such characteristics have created a style of submarine forces that are a little too cautious and accustomed to making independent judgments.

And now, he actually has to raise a huge antenna array on his submarine to receive signals from destroyers hundreds of kilometers away.

For any submarine commander, it is a unique and novel experience...