The Eight Trigrams of Life and Death Struggle

  The red light began to flash, and within half a minute, more than 100 officers and men on the submarine all entered their combat positions.

  As Hua Jianfeng walked into the command center, Le Jia immediately came up to him. "It's been confirmed three times, it's definitely 'Houston'. We've just circled around to the rear of the 'Houston', about 25 li away, an excellent attacking position."

  "Torpedo loading and firing data," Huajianfeng turned his head, saw Luchenwen nodding, and then said, "Attack sonar preparation, wire-guided mode."

  The energy of low-frequency sound waves emitted by submarine sonar is enormous and can travel tens of miles through seawater.

  "Bearing three five zero, range two six!"

  As soon as the fire control officer reported out the target's bearing and distance data, Hua Jianfeng immediately said: "Torpedo tube No. 3 filling with water, open the front cover."

  "Number three torpedo tube, flood and open forward door!" The chief armorer transmitted the order to the torpedo room through the boat's intercom.

  When the torpedo tube is filled with water, it makes a "gurgling" sound. When the front cover of the torpedo tube is opened, the metallic clanging sound from the mechanical equipment becomes more pronounced.

  "Captain, target accelerating and diving!" The sonar chief shouted out loud.

  The atmosphere inside the command center suddenly became tense, indicating that the preparations for launching torpedoes had exposed the location of "Gun Octopus", and the sonar personnel on the opposing submarine judged that "Gun Octopus" was about to launch a torpedo.

  "Torpedo number three launched. Torpedo number four ready, homing mode."

  With a hiss, the heavy anti-submarine torpedo weighing nearly two tons was pushed out of the torpedo tube by high-pressure water flow, dragging a long guidance tail line towards "Houston".

  Hua Jianfeng also walked over to the weapons control console at this time, staring intently at the image displayed on the screen.

  There are two guidance modes for torpedoes. One is wire-guided, where the torpedo is controlled by a submarine's fire control computer through a data line to attack the target; the other is autonomous mode, where the torpedo uses its own sonar to obtain target information and is controlled by the torpedo's guidance device to automatically attack the target. The former is mainly used to deal with stable targets, and the success rate of the attack is much higher. This is because the detection equipment on the submarine is much more sensitive than that on the torpedo, which can more accurately detect the activity of the target and provide more accurate attack information for the torpedo. The latter is mainly used in encounter battles, when the submarine needs to avoid enemy torpedoes while counterattacking at the same time, it cannot let the torpedo drag a long guidance line. That's why under wire-guided mode, the submarine cannot make large-scale, high-intensity maneuvers.

  Judging from the situation displayed on the screen, "Houston" is like a bear that has encountered a swarm of bees and is frantically accelerating its dive. However, the speed of the torpedo is much faster than that of the submarine, and the attack depth reached 900 meters, while the maximum diving depth of "Houston" was only a pitiful 450 meters, and the extreme diving depth was only 530 meters.

  At T minus fifteen seconds from torpedo impact, HOUSTON released three sets of decoys and then came hard left to surface.

  It seemed that Hua Jianfeng had already anticipated this situation, and with a faint smile, he issued the second attack command.

  In the dull sound of water flow, a heavy torpedo rushed out of the No. 4 torpedo tube. The torpedo traveled about eight hundred meters, and the active sonar installed in the bow fairwater began to work. Only after more than ten seconds, the sonar on the torpedo detected the "Houston" that was turning at high speed and surfacing. After receiving the reflected sound wave signal, the fire control computer on the torpedo automatically compared it with the target characteristic information input in advance. When the two groups of data matched, the fire control computer issued instructions to the torpedo's steering and depth servo device, and the torpedo shot towards the "Houston" at a speed of 55 knots.

  It can be said that every second counts at this time.

  The "Houston" has been attacked and knows the "Gunboat" is right behind her. While avoiding the attack, the "Houston" must do everything possible to get its bow pointed at the "Gunboat", then counterattack with torpedoes. To ensure absolute safety, it was necessary to sink the "Houston" before she could launch a counterattack.

  Submarine warfare is similar to, yet distinct from, aerial combat.

  The three decoy devices launched by the "Houston" had an effect on homing torpedoes, but were difficult to affect wire-guided torpedoes. Shortly after the second torpedo was fired, the first torpedo had already passed through the bubble zone formed by the decoy device and re-locked onto its target.

  Just then, the Houston turned ninety degrees and was trying its best to target the "Octopus".

  "Torpedo three switched to autonomous mode, cutting the guidance wire." Hua Jianfeng didn't plan to give his opponent any chance, "Torpedo one input firing data, torpedo one flooding."

  Five seconds later, the Chief Torpedoman personally reported the situation. "Torpedo No. 3 has switched to autonomous mode, and the guidance wire has been cut."

  "Full speed ahead fifteen, full astern ten, two-thirds ahead power, one-third port helm."

  Hua Jianfeng did not rush to launch the third torpedo, as two torpedoes would have a destruction probability of over 96% for the submarine, and "Houston" was doomed to be sunk.

  The current problem is that the counterattack time of "Houston" must be delayed, and no opportunity to counterattack should be given to the opponent. Therefore, "Gun Octopus" must stay behind the opponent's buttocks as much as possible, preferably in the lower rear direction, forcing the opponent into a dead end. If "Houston" wants to launch a counterattack, it must continue to turn at a large angle and accelerate, thereby shortening the attack distance of the torpedo and reducing the difficulty of the torpedo's attack. On the contrary, if "Houston" intends to avoid the torpedo, it must reduce the turning angle while accelerating, increase the attack course of the torpedo as much as possible, and provide more time for interfering with the torpedo. As long as the second situation occurs, the third torpedo ready on "Gun Octopus" can be put into use immediately.

  Although this was Huajianfeng's first real-life command battle, his more than a decade of service experience, three years of boat captain experience, and two combat patrols and one joint exercise each year allowed him to accumulate rich combat experience, also making him an excellent attack nuclear submarine captain.

  "Captain, 'Houston' is turning right."

  At the same time as the sonar's loud call came out, the information also appeared on the screen of the weapon operation platform.

  The Houston, which had previously turned left, suddenly turned right, indicating that the submarine had discovered a second torpedo and the first was still in pursuit. Under attack by two torpedoes, the captain of the Houston undoubtedly abandoned his intention to attack Gunrei Maru and decided to defend himself.

  But with a torpedo hit rate of 96%, could "Houston" escape?

  "First level, one-third propulsion power, follow the 'Houston'. After giving the last command, Huajianfeng let out a long sigh.

  For more than two minutes afterwards, all the crew on "Gun Octopus" needed was patience.

  When the first explosion sounded, the officers and men in the command center all cheered excitedly, then immediately closed their mouths. Next was the second explosion.

  The officers and men on the submarine all cheered excitedly.

  Both torpedoes hit home; Houston was doomed.

  The Los Angeles-class nuclear submarine, which uses a large compartment and single hull, is probably one of the most "fragile" nuclear submarines in the world. If just one compartment floods, its remaining buoyancy will not be enough to bring it back to the surface. In contrast, the Russian Navy's nuclear submarines that use small compartments and double hulls have much better survivability than the Los Angeles-class nuclear submarine.

  Not to mention two heavy anti-submarine torpedoes, even a light anti-submarine torpedo can sink the "Houston".

  The sound of the explosion had barely faded when a chilling metallic cracking noise was heard. This was the sound of the undamaged pressure hull of the Houston collapsing and rupturing under the pressure of the water as it sank. Everyone on board the Octopus remembered this sound, which was also the first time they had ever heard the sound of a submarine's pressure hull deforming and rupturing.

  Lu Chengwen also felt an unprecedented fear in his heart.

  When the pressure hull ruptured, more than 100 crew members on the "Houston" would be crushed by dozens of atmospheres of seawater in an instant. Death came extremely quickly, so fast that the dead didn't even have time to cry out for help. But wasn't the creaking sound that was transmitted at this time a call to death?

  A nuclear submarine of several thousand tons, with over a hundred soldiers on board, will forever remain in the muddy seabed more than 5,000 meters below the sea surface.

  From start to finish, the officers and men on both submarines never met, nor did they know what each other looked like, their names, ages, or whether they were married. However, in just a few short minutes, over 100 officers and men on the "Gun Octopus" became the executioners of over 100 officers and men on the "Houston". When the officers and men on the "Gun Octopus" cheered for victory, who would have thought that they had just slaughtered over 100 living people with their own hands?

  This is war, without an ounce of mercy and sympathy.

  Hua Jianfeng was also very excited, and he did not stop the cheering soldiers until Sheng Nan suddenly shouted out loud. Hua Jianfeng immediately stood up abruptly, and the soldiers in the command center also immediately closed their mouths.

  The pounding sound of attacking sonar, no, it's the slapping sound emitted by the torpedo's active sonar.

  "Depth fifteen, stern up ten, hard to port, full power ahead!" Huajian Feng gave the order in the first time, "Deputy captain, calculate the hit time."

  "Forty-five seconds!"

  "Depth?"

  Three hundred seventy-five meters.

  "Ballast tanks flooded fore and aft, dive at full speed."

  By the time Lu Cheng reacted, "Gun Octopus" had already dived into the deep sea at an angle of 25 degrees. At this point, the "torpedo" shot from behind was less than 1,500 meters away from "Gun Octopus".