Chapter Ten: Silent Sonar, Useless Retrieval

The sea breeze always comes and goes without a trace. As the "Hanjing" had just set sail, a strong wind whipped up across the sea. The southeast wind blew fiercely through the long underground channel, accompanied by a howling roar. The rising water within the channel surged rapidly, creating towering waves that crashed against the bow of the "Hanjing," swept across the flat missile deck, and slammed against the towering conning tower’s protective casing.

"Increase speed, ahead one," Chen Jianhong issued a new order. His command was instantly transmitted through the communicator on the command platform to the control room. The "Hanjing" gradually accelerated, its immense propellers churning up ever-higher and larger waves at the stern.

The wind and waves grew fiercer, causing the submarine to sway from side to side. Those standing atop the conning tower were rocked more and more vigorously. Yet Chen Jianhong remained completely unfazed, even somewhat relieved. Such weather and the low visibility of this dark night were highly unfavorable for the anti-submarine aircraft of the Minia Federation’s Jepun forces attempting takeoff and surveillance. For the "Hanjing," which was about to submerge beneath the sea, these winds and waves were nothing more than a mere nuisance.

However, Chen Jianhong’s interest grew stronger in the few men standing behind him. He skillfully swayed his body to counterbalance the vessel’s rocking and jolting, all the while secretly observing the "guests" behind him. Those men were now standing atop the command platform, their feet seemingly nailed to the ground, bodies unmoving. The waves and the submarine’s movements appeared to have no effect on them. The youngest one, with his bright, dark eyes, and the one who liked to shout loudly, were still eagerly peering around, full of curiosity.

"Impressive!" Chen Jianhong thought to himself. With this kind of poise, even many seasoned submarine veterans who had spent years navigating beneath the waves could not compare. He had no idea which unit these men belonged to. "But now is not the time to ponder that," he reminded himself. For the next stretch of time, he had to stay fully focused.

"Control room, depth?" Chen Jianhong asked through the communicator.

"Keel to seabed, 100 meters."

"Increase speed, ahead two; left rudder ten degrees," Chen Jianhong ordered.

The "Hanjing" slowly accelerated. The massive, tens-of-thousands-ton body trembled slightly under the power of the engines. The bow cut through the waves with greater force, turning the black sea water into frothy white surf that crashed over the flat missile deck and splashed noisily against the conning tower’s casing.

"Control room, depth."

"Keel to seabed, 130 meters."

"Maintain speed, ahead two."

"Understood. Maintaining speed, ahead two," the control room repeated the command.

Chen Jianhong gazed unblinking into the darkness of the channel. Every time he set sail, he assumed the same posture and wore the same expression.

The "Pangu" class strategic nuclear submarine had been in service for over two years, and Chen Jianhong was the first commanding officer of what was currently the largest submarine in the world. Compared to the "096" Han-class nuclear submarine he had previously commanded, the Pangu class was undoubtedly more advanced, stronger, quieter, and more captivating. Yet its biggest drawback was obvious: it was simply too large. Even with unimaginably powerful engines and the latest propulsion devices, its enormous size made changing depth a much greater challenge. Whether surfacing or diving, it required a considerable amount of time.

The dense reconnaissance by the Minia Federation and Jepun forces’ numerous anti-submarine aircraft forced him to command his submarine to complete its dive in as short a time as possible.

Although every officer and sailor aboard this submarine was a battle-hardened naval elite drawn from various submarines and had undergone extensive joint training, and although the channel beneath their feet was designed with this in mind—an extraordinarily long underground passage cleverly camouflaged—Chen Jianhong still had to concentrate fully and meticulously each time they set sail.

Of course, Chen Jianhong never let the sailors see or hear his inner thoughts. Standing on the command platform in his handsome linen uniform, he was the steady anchor amid the storm—serious in expression but commanding with absolute certainty.

"Control room, depth."

"Command platform, 150 meters below keel."

"Prepare to dive." Chen Jianhong turned, "Evacuate the command platform." The lookout and the navigator acknowledged and were the first to leave the conning tower. Leidong and the other crew members followed closely, descending along the outer casing of the conning tower to the pressure chamber inside the submarine, then further down to the control room.

---

Not long after, Chen Jianhong, having checked the hatch seals, also entered the control room. Behind him, a junior officer on duty closed the hatch door, which automatically locked with a sharp "click," sealing tightly.

"Inspect hull integrity!" Chen Jianhong walked to the periscope, observing while issuing commands.

"The hull is sealed," the navigator reported.

"Check diving apparatus, check circuits, check hydraulic indicators, check ballast tanks..." Rapid commands flew from Chen Jianhong’s lips.

"Mechanical inspection complete, all normal!"

"Circuit inspection complete, all normal!"

"Hydraulic indicators checked, all normal!"

"Ballast tanks normal, water intake complete..." The responses came in quick succession, followed by the navigator’s summary: "Dive preparations complete."

"Dive!" Chen Jianhong issued the command swiftly, his eyes never leaving the periscope. The navigator sounded the dive alarm; the submarine was filled with the wailing of the horn.

"Main ballast tank flooding. Lower horizontal rudder, dive angle ten degrees," the navigator issued a series of orders as the crew began their rapid operations.

Once the exhaust valves at the top of the ballast tanks opened, seawater rushed in from the bottom, displacing the buoyant air through the vents, creating a hissing sound.

The entire diving process was extremely time-consuming. Throughout, Chen Jianhong’s gaze remained glued to the periscope.

"Periscope depth reached." After more than ten minutes, Chen Jianhong exhaled, finally removing his eyes from the periscope to look at the crew standing nearby. "Anyone interested in a quick look at the surface?"

Wuyun enthusiastically replied, "Of course, of course," and stepped forward. Unexpectedly, a shadow flickered before him—Leidong was already blocking his way, eyes glued to the periscope.

"Damn!" Wuyun grumbled, flipping Leidong the middle finger behind his back. Yet how could the highly trained Leidong miss that? With no hesitation, Leidong bent his arms behind and returned two middle fingers with force.

At this moment, the submarine was about to exit the underground channel. Ahead, a massive, cleverly camouflaged doorway was clearly visible, the faint dawn making the outside seem exceptionally bright.

The periscope floated just above the surface, hovering low. In Leidong’s eyes, frothy waves with sharp edges appeared. In the distance, faint silhouettes of motorized sailboats bearing the character for "fishing" on their bows patrolled the sea.

After a few glances, Leidong decided it was time to hand over the periscope—mainly because there was little of interest to see. Though Leidong would never admit it, just as he was about to look away, a cluster of small black dots appeared in an inconspicuous spot at the bottom of the view.

"Huh?" Leidong quickly brought his eyes back to the periscope and took a closer look. His expression suddenly turned serious as he spun around. "Sonar buoys!"

Wuyun and the others were visibly stunned, all eyes turning to Chen Jianhong.

Chen Jianhong raised his eyebrows, seemingly very surprised, yet made no move or command. Instead, he merely waved his hand gently, signaling Leidong to continue observing.

Leidong was puzzled by Chen Jianhong’s reaction. Frowning, he scanned the surroundings but saw that the other submarine officers and sailors appeared completely unfazed. More confused, he returned to the periscope.

Wuyun and the others were equally bewildered. Those were sonar buoys! Why did this group of naval personnel show no reaction?

Sonar buoys are floating sonar devices used to detect underwater targets. They are a type of acoustic remote sensing equipment. Together with buoy signal receivers and processing devices, they form a buoy sonar system used for airborne anti-submarine detection and fixed sonar surveillance systems to provide early warning of submarine activity.

Depending on their use, sonar buoys are classified as airborne or anchored. According to operational mode, they are active or passive; by orientation, directional or omnidirectional; and by transmission method, wired or wireless.

Once deployed and floating upright in the water, the umbrella-shaped antenna extends above the surface, and the sonar array detaches from the housing, hanging by its weighted cable to a preset operational depth. After about a minute, the power supply activates, and the buoy enters operational status. After exceeding its working time, a self-sinking mechanism triggers, flooding the buoy to sink it to the seabed. When operational, the sonar array receives either submarine emitted noise (passive) or echoes reflected from targets (active), amplifies, processes, and modulates the signals into ultra-high frequency waves, which are radiated via the antenna for airborne receivers to monitor.

In short, this device is the enemy’s anti-submarine aircraft reconnaissance outpost, especially deadly for submarines just leaving their home port and not yet deeply submerged, with exceptional detection capabilities.

Yet from the expressions of Chen Jianhong and his crew, not a trace of worry was visible.

Could they have another trick up their sleeves? Wuyun glanced at Chen Jianhong and then Leidong, noticing Leidong’s expression had again changed dramatically.

It was a bewildered smile, as if witnessing something unbelievable—his expression growing stranger and more amusing until finally, he burst out, "Holy crap—this actually works?"

Wuyun, itching with curiosity, asked urgently, "What’s going on, boss? Say something—"

Leidong turned with a strange grin and dragged Wuyun over to the periscope, "Look for yourself!"

On the vast ocean, groups of fishing boats seemed to be coordinated, or perhaps had prearranged territories like gangs. Each fishing boat formed a formation resembling a naval battle array. As they moved about, one after another, the sonar buoys were scooped up by fishing nets, jingling as they were hauled aboard. In a blink, dozens of sonar buoys were cleared from the surface, and the fishing boats, laden with their rich haul, sailed away gracefully.

The sonar buoys hauled onto the boats appeared as black dots through the periscope. Thanks to his sharp eyesight, Wuyun easily identified them as the Minia Federation’s latest model, the NNS-1600 airborne sonar buoy—an active buoy with a 48-hour endurance capability, able to detect submarines moving under six knots from over six nautical miles away in sea state three conditions. Such excellent devices, all caught in a single net—one could only imagine how furious the Minia naval commander who had spent great effort deploying them near the Republic’s coast would be!

However, what made Wuyun’s expression even more priceless was not the buoys themselves, but the eight large red characters clearly printed on the buoys, written in the unique block script of Chakna:

"Sonar useless, copper-free, useless to haul."

Wuyun turned back to Chen Jianhong and the submarine crew, echoing their exact words, "Holy crap—this actually works?"

"Retract periscope, dive to 100 meters. Reduce speed to ahead one. Activate all passive sonar systems," Chen Jianhong calmly ordered, ignoring Wuyun’s excitement. He turned and walked away leisurely, humming the famous song:

"Diligent and brave Chakna people, spiritedly stepping into a new era, ah ha ah ha ah, we stride boldly into that new era..."

Behind him, Leidong, Wuyun, and the others exchanged stunned glances, mouths agape.