Chapter Eleven: Secret Transfer

  About 2,300 kilometers southeast of the Hawaiian Islands, the super-large bulk carrier "Dongfang God" with a full load of copper ore in its cargo hold was sailing at an economic speed of 16 knots along the trans-Pacific route to its destination on the other side of the ocean. This super freighter, which can carry 150,000 tons of cargo, has only 34 crew members, and eight of them, including Captain Cao Xuehua, are now on the lookout platform at the top of the bridge.

  "Old Cao, it's already half past eight, will they run into some trouble?"

  "They won't, they'll definitely arrive on time. Continue searching, don't be careless." After finishing speaking, Cao Xuehua picked up the low-light binoculars and looked out at the southern sea.

  Three years ago, Cao Xuehua, a Navy major who had served for 14 years, received his retirement notice. On the same day, he received a secret appointment. Over the next two years, Cao and more than 100 other retired naval officers, including 33 sailors on this ship, underwent special training from the military intelligence bureau as employees of the China Ocean Shipping Company. Later, Cao became captain of the Dongfang Zhili. In one year, he ran three round trips between Chiklaio and Shanghai with his 33 comrades who were also carrying out a special mission.

  Apart from the time spent in foreign ports, where crew members can freely move around the visa-free area while the ship is loading and unloading cargo, a sailor's life is quite dull. After the ship sets sail, among the 34 crew members, apart from the captain, the other 33 are divided into three shifts - morning, noon and night, each working eight hours, taking turns to "serve" this super-large vessel until it docks again.

  Three days ago, a special telegram broke the peaceful life on the "Dongfang Shenli" ship.

  This was the first time Cao Xuehua and his team received a secret mission. Before this, they had "executed" secret missions many times in simulated ways during training at the base or in routine drills.

  Time flies second by second, Cao Xuehua couldn't help but feel a little anxious in her heart.

  The scheduled meeting time was 9 o'clock at night, and as the time approached, there were no signs of it. Had the submarine that had traveled thousands of miles encountered trouble?

  "Old Cao, look quickly, in the direction of seven o'clock."

  Deputy Liu Wanhai's sudden shout scared Cao Xuehua.

  Six hundred meters away, a periscope emerged from the surface of the sea.

  "Flash light signal and ask for identification."

  Liu Wanhai immediately blew a whistle towards a sailor standing at the top of the mast and then gestured.

  As the "Dongfang Shenli" sent out a light signal, the periscope that extended above the sea surface also sent out a light signal.

  "It's here, it has finally arrived."

  "Reduce speed to four knots, Little Liu, take the helm yourself and have everyone else go to the left deck."

  "Yes!" Liu Wanhai immediately rushed onto the ship's bridge. He was also very excited for his first special mission.

  She glanced at her watch and then looked up at the starry night sky, only to let out a slight sigh of relief. 8:55, very punctual. According to the "star chart" provided by the Intelligence Bureau, there was only a 25-minute window of opportunity. In other words, within these 25 minutes, no reconnaissance satellite's scanning range could cover this sea area. After 25 minutes, a reconnaissance satellite would pass over from above. The transfer operation had to be completed within 25 minutes, and then separate from the submarine and return to its original route.

  The submarine slowly approached, and the crew had already prepared the ropes and pulleys.

  The "Octopus" attack submarine slowly pulled up alongside the "Eastern Power". As crew members threw ropes to the submarine, several soldiers appeared on the submarine's conning tower. Once the two vessels were relatively stationary, a crane on the ship sprang into action, first lifting over two of the soldiers and then a third soldier and a very special machine.

  The submarine officer standing on the command platform waved his hand at the three soldiers who had boarded the "Dongfang Shenli" number.

  After sending a farewell signal, the seawater around the submarine churned up. About half a minute later, the massive submarine plunged into the sea. The "Dongfang Shenli" continued to move forward slowly for about five minutes before Cao Xuehua let the freighter speed up after leaving the rendezvous area.

  "Take them to the captain's quarters, I'll be there in five minutes."

  Putting down the wireless intercom, Cao Xuehua looked up at the night sky above her head again. It only took twenty minutes from start to finish, and everything was under control.

  Compared with any other warship, the captain's cabin of "Dongfang God" is much more "luxurious", not only has a single bed as wide as 1.2 meters, but also has an independent bathroom, and daily household appliances that are rarely seen on warships, such as large-screen LCD TVs, double-door refrigerators, and even a set of high-end audio equipment.

  All of this made Lu Chengwen feel very envious, because their barracks didn't even have a 52-inch LCD TV.

  "This is something I bought with my own money."

  Upon hearing the sound coming from the door, Lu Cheng immediately withdrew his hand that was placed on the TV.

  "Life at sea is too boring, usually can only watch movies and so on, so I spent my own money to buy this home theater. It's just that it's too narrow here, the effect is not obvious." The captain walked in and stretched out his hand, "I'm Cao Xuehua, the captain of 'Dongfang Shenli'."

  Lu Chengwen said after shaking hands with the other party: "My surname is Lu, the commander of this operation."

  "Major?" Cao Xuehua looked Lu Chengwen up and down, seeing the surprise on his face, he continued, "I'm also a military man, I served in the navy for 14 years, when I retired, I was a major. Now the navy has given me the rank of reserve colonel, I don't know if that counts as being comrades-in-arms."

  "Of course it is, you're all military personnel, aren't you?"

  "Right, we are all soldiers." Cao Xuehua brought over four glass cups and took out a bottle of beer from the refrigerator. "Please sit down, you must be tired from your journey. After receiving the order, we changed our flight schedule and waited for you here for several hours."

  Lu Chengwen sat down on the stool opposite Cao Xuehua, while the two special soldiers following him did not sit down.

  "Is your mission this time very important?" Cao Xuehua asked knowingly. If it wasn't important, the Military Intelligence Bureau wouldn't have urgently "activated" these secret personnel.

  "This..."

  "I know, when we were receiving training, the instructor told us not to ask questions that shouldn't be asked." Cao Xuehua chuckled, "You guys go take a bath first, it looks like the conditions on the nuclear submarine can't compare to this merchant ship. Also, I'll arrange a separate room for you, and before you return home, no one will come to disturb you."

  "Colonel, we have something that needs to be taken care of."

  Cao Xuehua slightly furrowed her brow and glanced at the device placed between the two special forces soldiers.

  "Is this ship carrying copper ore?" Lu Chengwen drew Cao Xuehua's gaze, "The goods we are transporting have radiation, although they do not harm the human body, but can be detected."

  "Bury it in the copper mine?"

  Lu Chengwen nodded. "Metallic minerals can shield radiation, for safety's sake, we must do this."

  "I'll take you to the cargo hold." Cao Xuehua put down her wine glass and stood up first, "The rear cargo hold is loaded with carefully selected copper ore, all of high grade, and the shielding effect should be better."

  Lu Chengwen didn't hesitate and immediately called two of his men to follow Cao Xuehua out of the captain's quarters.

  The cargo ship has a total of five cargo holds, each divided into nine smaller compartments. When loading goods, the selected copper ore is generally placed in the cargo hold closest to the stern. Although each small compartment only loads more than 3,000 tons of goods, the more than 3,000 tons of copper ore piled up in the tens of square meters of cargo holds are also nearly ten meters high.

  Cao Xuehua called over several sailors and spent several hours burying the goods.

  Lu Chengwen then used the radiation detector brought by Band to test it, and after confirming that there was no problem, he left two of his men behind to take turns keeping watch, while he followed Cao Xuehua out of the cargo hold.

  Over the next seventeen days, the Dongfang Zhiliu sailed 12,000 kilometers at a speed of sixteen knots.

  During this time, no trouble occurred. Cao Xuehua made some manipulations on the crew list and navigation log, increasing the number of crew members to thirty-seven. Lu Chengwen and others also took advantage of these more than ten days to learn some navigation skills from other crew members.

  On the eighteenth day at noon, the "Dongfang Shenli" arrived about 250 nautical miles southeast of the Ryukyu Islands.

  "Before dawn tomorrow, we will enter the East China Sea." Cao Xuehua pointed to the vast ocean in front of him, "The General Staff Department must have made arrangements and will dispatch warships and fighter jets to escort us. I didn't expect that after serving in the navy for 14 years and retiring for three years, I would finally carry out my first mission."

  Lu Chengwen didn't relax in the slightest, and while Cao Xuehua was speaking, he picked up his binoculars and looked northwest.

  Above the sea level, two moving objects caught Lu Chengwen's attention. He immediately adjusted the focal length of his telescope, and two low-flying "Sea Eagle" helicopters appeared in his sight, causing Lu Chengwen to reveal a tense expression.

  "SH-60J, anti-submarine helicopters of the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force. They seem to be conducting an anti-submarine search, are they targeting us?" Cao Xuehua also saw the two helicopters.

  "I don't know." Lu Cheng heard and slightly shook his head, "However, we'd better be prepared. Old Cao, you quickly go make arrangements, absolutely cannot let others board the ship."

  Cao Xuehua did not hesitate and immediately whistled towards Liu Wanhai inside the boat, making gestures to prepare for battle.

  "Is there a coded radio on the boat?"

  "Yes, in my quarters, you want to contact HQ?"

  "No... " Lu Cheng heard hesitated for a moment and said, "No need to use encrypted radio, we'll just call with the ordinary radio."

  "Ordinary radio?"

  "Yes, we are ordinary merchant ships. If intercepted by other countries' ships, we can only call with ordinary radios. Using encrypted radios would be self-exposure."

  Cao Xuehua immediately understood Lu Chengwen's meaning and admired this special forces lieutenant colonel even more.

  Five minutes later, a group of electromagnetic waves flew out of "Dongfang Shenli" and the Pacific was no longer peaceful.