Chapter 559 Hunting the Maritime Self-Defense Force!

After giving this order, Luo Zhangming glanced at Yang Shuyu who was sitting next to him with some worry.

It took off with live ammunition, and it was in non-territorial waters.

In fact, there are still certain risks.

He was relieved when he saw that the latter was looking down at the chart in front of him and did not stop the staff officer next to him from issuing instructions.

It wasn't until the series of instructions and replies came to an end that Yang Shuyu asked:

"With two rounds of ammunition hanging at the same time, will the time to perform the mission be affected?"

"Also, if you can finally catch the other party, what are you going to do?"

As a senior commander who has been away from front-line command positions for some years, he needs to control the command of the ship very accurately.

Neither excessive interference in the captain's command and dispatch as a professional nor too rough interference may affect the captain's authority in the minds of the commanders and fighters on the ship.

But at the same time, it must also serve as a stabilizing needle to ensure that the situation is within control.

Faced with the question of the deputy commander of the Navy and the pressure from unidentified foreign submarines, it was impossible to say that he was not nervous.

Luo Zhangming took a deep breath:

"Based on the experience given by the aviation department before, the new helicopter will not have any impact on the basic flight performance in the manual with the standard mount of two radars and hoisting sonar, and it can also ensure that it can complete a mission within a combat radius of 50 nautical miles. Standard submarine search-submarine attack process."

In fact, he had heard these data from people in the aviation department before.

But in the past, the actual performance of the Chinese Navy's equipment was always at a discount compared to what it looked like on paper.

So I never dared to push the performance too far.

Until that moment, he suddenly felt confident.

Therefore, in accordance with the standards of the technical manual, we chose to hang an extra live ammunition to deal with various possible emergencies.

"As for what to do if you find the other party..."

Luo Zhangming hesitated for a moment, and then replied firmly:

"Although this is not territorial waters, it is also our exclusive economic zone. In any case, if a submarine runs to our pre-demarcated exercise area while submerged, it is a naked provocation. Therefore, I think we must at least force the other party out of the water. No!"

On the flight deck, after the first helicopter took off, the second aircraft No. 9696 was already preparing to take off just in case.

Now after receiving the captain's new order, it only needs to hang another A224 torpedo live ammunition.

This type of torpedo was imported from Italy in the late 1980s to fill the vacancies before the Yu-7 torpedo entered service. There are only 40 of them in total, which is very valuable.

"The friendly aircraft is located in the direction of our ship, 20 nautical miles away. We need your aircraft to support us quickly."

The flight controller's voice came from the radio equipment of the three crew members:

"I stress again, this is not an exercise, there is no plan, and there is no predetermined sea area. Use your special skills. Don't let the target escape under any circumstances!"

"yes!"

The three of them answered in unison.

A few minutes later, the helicopter took off and flew quickly towards the direction of the two warships.

…

Meanwhile, about 20 nautical miles away, beneath the surface.

The captain of the SS588 Winter Tide submarine, Second Class Haisa Hayakawa Yoji, was in the command module, his eyes fixed on the display control screen of the ZQQ-5B digital sonar system in front of him.

Compared with the old sonar, which can only detect and analyze targets by the sonar operator's ears, the latest digital sonar can more intuitively display the environmental data captured by underwater acoustic equipment like radar.

However, now, Captain Hayakawa actually does not need this advanced equipment, because even with just his ears, he can hear the sound of the sound waves emitted by the active sonar hitting the submarine shell.

For a submarine officer, the sound is almost a death knell.

According to the results of sonar analysis, the sound source location should still be about 15 nautical miles away.

The Winter Tide has quite advanced anechoic tiles laid on its surface. At this distance, the hoisting sonar used by ordinary helicopters is not enough to accurately detect this silent submarine.

But if this continues, as the other party's search range expands, it will only be a matter of time before it is discovered.

Another troublesome thing is that in order to better collect hydroacoustic data, the Winter Tide aimed its bow head-on at the two destroyers. Now this awkward position makes it difficult to retreat.

"Captain, sonar has detected a surface target using a medium-speed diesel engine about 40 nautical miles away. It is approaching us at a speed of 25 knots."

"In addition, there is a louder underwater target about 55 nautical miles away. It is like a train, but it is not fast. It should not pose a threat to us in a short period of time."

The first mate Hayashihara Kenjiro and the third class Kaizuo on the boat reported the report not far away.

"The diesel surface target should be the French Navy destroyer."

Hayakawa's face was gloomy, but his tone was quite calm:

"The target itself is not a big threat. Unfortunately, the noise of the diesel engine completely covered up the sound of the gas turbine of the other destroyer with it..."

The purpose of the Dongtide's voyage this time was to lurk at the edge of the exercise waters designated by China and wait for the opportunity to collect as much target information characteristics of the Daocheng destroyer as possible.

This is actually an order from the Seventh Fleet.

However, it is difficult for a huge nuclear submarine to be deployed in the relatively shallow East China Sea.

The task naturally fell on Hai Zi's head.

"Captain, are we going to sit on the bottom, or..."

Compared with the experienced Hayakawa, First Officer Hayashihara joined Haizi in 1992 and had never experienced a battle of wits and courage with the Red Navy. Naturally, he was a little panicked when encountering this situation.

The former shook his head slightly:

"Don't rush to sit on the bottom. The two destroyers will not arrive nearby for about an hour. We have to maintain our mobility."

"Calculating the time, the helicopter above us now should be about to run out of fuel and return. There may be another one coming to take over. But before I set off, I studied the French-produced helicopter. In the submarine search state, Can’t hold on for long.”

"When the two helicopters take over the mission, we first turn the bow of the boat 90°, and then when the second helicopter returns, they will have a window for searching for submarines. At that time, we can leave at full speed. "

The battery of the Winter Tide can support the submarine to sail at an underwater speed of 22 knots for more than an hour. Thanks to the excellent appearance design and low-noise propellers, the submarine can ensure extremely high quietness when using the battery.

Enough to leave this relatively dangerous sea area.

Hayakawa's calm speech restored the calm and orderly atmosphere in the entire command module.

Although generally speaking, submarines have little ability to resist the anti-submarine mode of ship-to-aircraft cooperation, but in the 1990s, the technical level of the Japanese Navy surpassed that of the Chinese Navy by so much that a tie seemed...

Not unthinkable.

What excites the crew of the Winter Tide even more is that Hayakawa's control of the timing is very accurate.

During a sonar detection interval that was significantly longer than before, the submarine finally completed a difficult 90° turn.

Next, all we have to do is wait until the second helicopter runs out of fuel and the next window of time appears.

…

It should be said that there is nothing wrong with Hayakawa Yoji's plan on paper.

However, he didn't know that the first helicopter that had just left had already been conducting submarine searches for a period of time before tracking him.

Therefore, there are some problems with rhythm control...

"Captain, it's been 20 minutes. Why doesn't that helicopter have any intention of retreating?"

As time passed by, the command module, which had just regained its composure, became tense again.

In the extended spiral submarine search mode, the helicopter's current position was only about 10 nautical miles away from them.

In principle, the ability of hoisted sonar to judge the target direction is relatively weak. If there is only one helicopter searching for submarines, even if the distance to the target is found in active mode, it often requires multiple measurements to finally determine the specific location.

But 10 nautical miles is really a bit too close.

Even Hayakawa himself gradually began to doubt his previous judgment.

"Captain, if this continues, the opponent's destroyers will get closer and closer..."

The first mate's voice sounded next to him again.

Compared with carrier-based helicopters, which have limited air time, conventional submarines will lose if they are entangled by surface ships.

There is almost no alternative but to surrender.

Hayakawa originally wanted to find the safest way to leave, but the opponent's helicopter stayed in the air for far longer than expected, which made all previous plans come to nothing.

Under tremendous pressure, he finally changed his mind:

"Start the battery and maintain a speed of 4 knots."

But this decision was made a little too late...

Above the water, the French AS565 helicopter, which first returned to replenish its losses, returned to the mission area.

Although there is no data link, the pilots of the two countries can still communicate in awkward English through the most basic radio.

In fact, aircraft No. 9696 has detected the existence of targets about 8-10 nautical miles away, but has never been able to determine the direction.

Therefore, the Chinese sonar operator who waited for 20 minutes and finally waited for support asked the French helicopter to drop another wave of sonar buoys.

The latter was completely unaware of the situation and still thought it was part of a normal exercise, so naturally he did as he was told.

They even brought a few extra buoys with them during this takeoff, trying to save some face for returning early.

"Look at these Chinese people. Although their naval equipment is not advanced, the content of the exercises is so realistic..."

The pilot of the AS565 helicopter said with a slightly emotional tone while releasing the buoy in a circular route.

The co-pilot next to him also agreed:

"Yeah, it's even more like an actual battle than a NATO joint exercise. When I was talking to them on the radio just now, I felt a bit of a tense atmosphere."

"It seems that after the end of the Cold War, our navy has been too relaxed, and many exercises are just a formality..."

"We must admit that, at least in terms of exercises, we have completely underestimated the seriousness of the Chinese people..."

"..."

Although the accuracy and sensitivity of active and passive sonar buoy arrays are insufficient, thanks to the fact that many are thrown out at once, the search efficiency is far higher than that of suspended sonar.

Soon, the French sonar operator discovered an accelerating target at a depth of about 60 meters underwater.

Two helicopters quickly rushed in that direction...

On the underwater Winter Tide, Captain Yoji Hayakawa knew that things were going to be bad when he heard a total of eight things entering the water.

Sure enough, within a few seconds, sound waves from several directions hit the surface of the submarine.

Now, I can’t hide it no matter what:

"Quick, move forward at maximum speed!"

"The ballast water tank is filled with water, and the diving depth has increased to 100 meters!"

"Also, put the unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) out and use decoy mode!"

As his order was issued, a small unmanned submarine fixed behind the hull of the Winter Tide broke away from the mothership and then headed in another direction.

Because the bait mode was turned on, its propeller left a long series of air bubbles behind it.

While attracting the attention of sonar, it can also have a certain shielding effect on the mothership itself.

Sure enough, the sonar operator on the French helicopter quickly lost his original target.

"The Chinese also arranged submarine decoys in the exercise?"

The three French soldiers on the helicopter were already a little doubtful about life.

But no matter what, today is here. The dignity and face of soldiers require them to fight this "imaginary enemy" to the end.

After a brief communication via radio, the two helicopters began to simultaneously use hoisting sonar to conduct submarine search operations in accordance with the circular search mode of dual-machine collaboration.

Not long after, the third helicopter, the returning No. 9686, also joined the search team.

In this case, the bait, which has a short acting time, naturally cannot always protect the safety of the Winter Tide itself.

The sound waves emitted by active sonar are like gongs and drums, resounding in the ears of the entire submarine crew.

100 meters underwater, this scene is definitely like a horror story.

Hayakawa still wanted to struggle with the last bit of battery power.

But he soon heard the heart-stopping payoff.

"3 nautical miles, the projectile entered the water, the speed was 30 knots!"

Everyone knew that this was an anti-submarine torpedo.

"Dong——"

Before anyone could react, they heard a sound far louder than any previous sounds, as if a gong was hitting their ears.

Captain Hayakawa shivered, and it took him a while to realize the source of the sound——

The torpedo struck, but did not explode.

It should be a thunderbolt.

Despite this, the moment the sound rang out, there were already people with poor psychological quality who fainted in the command module of the Winter Tide.

Hayakawa couldn't guarantee that if he persisted in not floating, the next time he dropped it would be a live ammunition.

Moreover, the battery capacity is no longer optimistic.

"What a bunch of lunatics..."

Hayakawa sat slumped in front of the podium:

"Come up, come up now!"