Prologue 4 The Wolf of the Deep Sea

At the moment of ascending to take photographs, the "Gun Squid" received a telegram sent by a military communication satellite

During the five days, the "Qiang Wuzui" maintained a quiet cruising speed of four knots, patiently awaiting new orders. However, before any new orders arrived, an old friend showed up: the U.S. Navy's "Houston" attack nuclear submarine.

Straight ahead, less than thirty chains. "Chain" is a unit of length in nautical terminology, where one chain equals one-tenth of a nautical mile, approximately one hundred eighty-five meters

More than a month ago, Hua Jianfeng led over one hundred officers and soldiers aboard the "Qiang Wuzai" to depart from the Yulin military port

If there are no other tasks, this silent tracking will continue until one party's chilled beer is nearly finished, necessitating a return. For the officers and soldiers on the nuclear submarine, this often means half a month, a month, or even two months. It is at this critical juncture that the "Gun Squid" received a telegram sent by a very long wave radio station

The fact that he was able to be assigned to carry out this task is sufficient to demonstrate the personal capabilities of Major Hua Jianfeng, who, at the age of only thirty-three, has already served in the military for fifteen years and has spent eleven years on submarines, including three years as a captain

Hua Jianfeng asserted the authority of the captain, leaving no opportunity for the first officer to argue

"Ascend? Does the captain of the 'Houston' want to know what we look like?" Hua Jianfeng's brows twitched slightly, "Continue monitoring, report any anomalies immediately"

However, this telegram was specifically sent to the "Gun Squid" class attack submarine

After sailing for two days and one night beneath the belly of the cargo ship, the "Gun Squid" entered the Andaman Sea, where it encountered an Indian Navy P-8I anti-submarine patrol aircraft recently purchased from the United States. A three-day simulated combat exercise was conducted, demonstrating the "Gun Squid"'s stealth capabilities while also collecting characteristic signals from sonar buoys

Longitude 46° 15′, south of the equator, in the western waters of the Somali Basin

This happened five days ago

The USS Houston is the twenty-sixth submarine of the Los Angeles-class attack nuclear submarines, designated SSN 713. It was built in the early 1980s and has been in service for over twenty years, with plans for decommissioning in a few years. Following the outbreak of the Afghanistan War and the Iraq War, the USS Houston was deployed to the United States Central Command area, based in Diego Garcia, and conducts three readiness patrols each year

The "Houston" is accelerating, no... no, that's not right, it is also ascending, rising along with us.

As a soldier, Hua Jianfeng must unconditionally obey orders, even if it may cost him his life

Reduce speed to 4 knots, prepare to float on the surface. It is also time for us to take a breather

In accordance with the pre-established combat patrol plan, the "Jianwuzai" vessel, after entering the South China Sea, successively searched for suspicious targets in the waters near Zhongjian Island, Nanwei Island, and Wan'an Shoal, intimidating two aging conventional submarines from Vietnam and Indonesia, before proceeding to the Strait of Malacca to rendezvous with an ocean-going cargo ship that had come to assist.

In order to strengthen its naval capabilities and achieve control over the Indian Ocean, the Indian Navy has purchased six "Scorpene" class submarines from France in two batches. The first submarine, built by the French company DCN, arrived in India two months ago and has been stationed at the port of Kochi. Once the Rambilli submarine base located in the Bay of Bengal is completed, the first batch of three "Scorpene" class submarines will move to their new home.

After a long sigh, Hua Jianfeng handed the telegram to the nearby Deputy Captain Le Jiacheng, then turned to the sonar chief and asked, "Is the 'Houston' still ahead, and how far are we from it?"

As usual, the "Gunsquid" stealthily maneuvered for several hours, quietly positioning itself behind the "Houston". After maintaining a constant speed alongside the target, the sonar operator on the "Gunsquid" activated the digital recorder to begin capturing the noise emitted by the "Houston". The collected sound signals will be handed over to specialized agencies within the intelligence department upon the "Gunsquid"'s return to base for comprehensive analysis, to determine the status of the "Houston" and whether it has undergone extensive modifications. The collected sound signals will be handed over to specialized agencies within the intelligence department upon the "Gunsquid"'s return to base for comprehensive analysis, to determine the status of the "Houston" and whether it has undergone extensive modifications

The telegram is sent repeatedly until the "Gun Squid" receives it. Only after a response is issued will the transmission cease. This ensures that the "Gun Squid" can receive this telegram, which is undoubtedly of utmost importance. Otherwise, it would not be sent repeatedly using precious military communication satellites towards the waters where the "Gun Squid" operates.

The content of the telegram is very brief, containing only a general coordinate, a time frame, and the command to surface in order to welcome a certain special forces unit. At this moment, the "Gun Squid" is precisely at the location mentioned in the telegram and is nearing the upper limit of the surfacing time. Most importantly, the telegram is signed by the General Staff.

What is going on?" Hua Jianfeng's expression suddenly became tense

This is a direct order from the General Staff, and we have no room for choice. Hua Jianfeng did not elaborate much to his deputy, "Issue the combat readiness order. If the 'Houston' dares to cause trouble, we will show it some consequences.

Efforts will not betray those who are determined; after nine days and nights of waiting, the target has finally appeared

Hua Jianfeng was well aware that surfacing in the waters where enemy vessels were active would inevitably expose the submarine's position. Even the mere act of surfacing would be sufficient to reveal its whereabouts. This is because, in order to surface, a submarine must expel seawater from its ballast tanks using compressed air, which generates significant noise. For a submarine that considers stealth as its "protective talisman," revealing its position is tantamount to walking into a trap. If the USS Houston managed to record the characteristic noise of the "Gun Squid" submarine, then regardless of where the "Gun Squid" operates in the future, no matter how quiet it may be, any encounter with a U.S. submarine would lead to its detection. The advanced sonar equipment on the U.S. submarine would intercept the faint noises emitted by the "Gun Squid." By comparing these sounds with the characteristic noise data in the database, the "Gun Squid" could be promptly identified and even secretly tracked.

During the three years that Hua Jianfeng served as the captain, the "Jiang Wuzai" encountered the "Houston" several times, having already recorded the characteristic noise of the "Houston". However, the "Houston" never truly captured the "Jiang Wuzai", only detecting its presence a few times and managing to escape due to its maximum speed being two knots higher.

Under constant surveillance, the "Houston" did not change course, and so on... not good...

The order was issued directly by the General Staff, utilizing the strategic communication channel, indicating that this mission is of utmost importance, and even the sacrifice of the "Gun Squid" is deemed acceptable.

In the next three days, the "Gun Squid" not only closely tracked the Indian conventional submarine conducting sea training, recording its characteristic noise and completing simulated attack training, but also, on the evening of the third day, ascended to periscope depth alongside the submarine. Taking advantage of the opportunity when the submarine was charging its batteries, it captured several precious photographs using a low-light camera installed on the electro-optical periscope. Throughout the entire operation, the Indian submarine remained unaware of the "Gun Squid" lurking nearby.

On the fifteenth day after departure, the "Gun Squid" arrived off the coast of Kochi, at the southern tip of India, and began to collect data on passing vessels, primarily various types of Indian Navy ships, especially the characteristic noise of the conventional submarines deployed in the area. This time, the primary target of the "Gun Squid" was the newly acquired "Squid" class conventional submarine of the Indian Navy.

Leaving the operational range of the Indian Navy's anti-submarine patrol aircraft, upon reaching relatively safe waters, the "Gun Squid" released a communication buoy. Subsequently, it sailed southwest at a speed of 29 knots for 53 hours, arriving at the patrol area specified in the telegram

Upon receiving the telegram, the "Gun Squid" departed from the Indian submarine and changed course to head southwest

At this moment, the command center was illuminated by red lights, and the "Gun Squid" entered combat status

The ultra-long wave radio station is specifically designed for emergency communication with submarines, particularly nuclear submarines that do not surface during missions. Generally, telegrams are sent to strategic nuclear submarines rather than attack nuclear submarines. When the captain of a strategic nuclear submarine receives such a telegram, it often indicates that the homeland has suffered a nuclear strike from an enemy nation, or that the security of the homeland is under serious threat, necessitating a strategic counterattack against the enemy or an increase in strategic alert levels. In the former case, the strategic nuclear submarine will immediately launch its onboard submarine-launched ballistic missiles to destroy the enemy within twenty minutes; in the latter case, the strategic nuclear submarine must quickly enter a state of readiness, preparing to launch missiles at any moment.

The interaction between the Somali Current, which flows north along the coastline of the African continent, and the tropical monsoon results in high winds and turbulent waves in this sea area throughout the year, making it one of the most unpredictable places in the world in terms of weather changes. Before the widespread use of meteorological radar, many vessels preferred to extend their routes rather than pass through this area. However, the fierce winds and towering waves on the surface pose almost no threat to submarines operating more than 200 meters below the surface, and they have no impact whatsoever on an attack submarine that does not need to surface until its food stored in the freezer is consumed.

Old Hua

When encountering an old friend by chance, it is only natural to go over and greet them

Collecting the noise of hypothetical enemy nations' new submarines is a primary task for any naval submarine force during peacetime

"Old Hua—Captain!" Le Jiacheng stepped forward and shook the telegram in front of Hua Jianfeng a few times, "With this telegram, are we going to surface and actively reveal our identity? For the past three years, the 'Houston' has been aware of our activities in the Indian Ocean and has been trying to ascertain our identity. If we surface now, isn't that the same as announcing ourselves?"

In the command center of submarine "Gun Squid" with hull number 409, Major Hua Jianfeng stared intently at the telegram in his hand for a full five minutes. Beside him, several officers dressed in khaki short-sleeved shirts also gazed fixedly at the major, seemingly waiting for him to issue orders

As Deng Lejia took his position as the deputy commander, he issued the order to empty the ballast tanks. Hua Jianfeng walked over to the side of the sonar chief and glanced at him.

However, Hua Jianfeng had no room for choice

General Hua Jianfeng summoned the chief of ordnance and issued the command to pre-set the firing data for the torpedoes. However, he did not hasten to order the flooding of the torpedo tubes on the submarine, as the USS Houston was in front and the USS Gun Squid was behind; if a confrontation were to occur, the USS Gun Squid would undoubtedly have the advantage.

The sonar operator did not hesitate and immediately pressed several buttons on the sonar control panel