Damn the World, Ride a Submarine - Chapter 83



Only Krnovel

Episode 83 – Fotis Fortuna Adiuvat

The vibrations of the explosion heard from the side of the Lee Hoe-young could be felt throughout the body even without the use of sonar.

I wasn’t the only one who got goosebumps all over my body from scary thoughts.

– Seo, no way… Lee Hoe-young.

– Don’t say useless things!

– Oh, probably not…

I asked the sound inspector once again.

“How many explosions did you hear? What about other sounds or sonic reverberations?”

– yes. Exactly two explosions were heard.

– Afterwards, no sound is heard other than the sound of what is assumed to be an enemy ship. Not only the screw, but also the shaft sound…

Although it was a scary thought.

The agitation of the ARK crew also had to be prevented. I had to tell a hopeful story. No, I believed that.

“In order to deceive the enemy, the Lee Hoi-young launched two underwater drones equipped with explosives.”

“…”

“There were two explosions. If you don’t hear anything. “The Lee Hoi-young will definitely deceive the enemy and lie in ambush somewhere.”

Lieutenant Colonel Park Seo-joon added the chuimsae.

“That’s right. What if Captain Choi Eun-seok was hiding? “We won’t be able to find it, let alone the enemy.”

Nevertheless, the anxiety in the command and control room did not seem to have subsided. I made eye contact with Lieutenant Colonel Park Seo-joon and opened my mouth.

“Everyone, pay attention.”

– Jitongsil, all members pay attention!

“You’ve all seen the movie John Wick, right?”

– yes

– Yes, of course.

– I watched all 5 episodes.

“Then, do you know the tattoo on John Wick’s back?”

– I saw it, but… / It was kind of cool…/??

“The phrase engraved on John Wick’s back… “Fotis Fortuna Adiuvat”

– ?

– ??

-…?!

“In Latin, ‘Luck blesses the brave.’ It means that luck helps the brave.”

– ah ···.

“It is actually the slogan of the U.S. Marine Corps stationed in Hawaii.”

-…

“Captain Choi Eun-seok and the crew of our Lee Hoe-young have the courage, wisdom, and skills to bring good luck.”

– ah ···.

“Don’t doubt their courage.”

Before I knew it, anxiety and fear were giving way to anticipation, hope, and faith.

Now I had to think about the next step.

“Vice Captain, let’s retrieve Torpedo Boat No. 2.”

“Oh, wouldn’t it be dangerous? To retrieve the torpedo boat…”

“We will have to refloat the landed ARK underwater. There will also be noise.”

“yes. I guess…”

“Let’s do some preliminary reconnaissance and give it a try. “The Chinese aircraft carrier squadron will probably be busy rescuing its own troops and cleaning up after them.”

“Ah… I see. Moreover, since Torpedo Boat No. 1 and the underwater drone of the Lee Hoi-young were blown up, one might think that the danger has been eliminated.”

“I don’t think there will be a chance if it’s not now. “China still has two more aircraft carriers.”

“all right. Float Torpedo Boat No. 2 and scout for enemy targets. “I will also receive a communication cable from OSS Command.”

“yes. Vice Captain. Please work hard.”

Torpedo Boat No. 2 was destined to be abandoned anyway, but managed to survive.

Even if you are discovered by the enemy. It was worth it just to be able to observe the conditions on the sea and receive communications.

…

– Wow~ Yaaaaa~

As the crew held their breath and swallowed their voices. were cheering. I thought that this sight of whispering and shouting was a sight that could only be seen in a submarine.

Everyone gathered in front of the main monitor in the command and control room.

The screen showed the enemy lines seen through the electronic periscope of the unmanned torpedo boat.

The Chinese aircraft carrier was tilted halfway, and the flight deck was clearly visible. For some reason, the aircraft carrier was not visible.

One enemy destroyer was also sinking.

Judging by its position, it appeared that it had jumped into the torpedo line of fire to protect the aircraft carrier.

It was happy, but it was also scary.

– It looks like all the aircraft on deck have fallen into the sea.

– wow! We really did it!

Aside from Jitong, other crew members also lined up and wanted to see the scene.

The interior of the ARK was staged as spectators waiting to enter a baseball stadium, entering the communication room, watching the scene, and returning.

I spoke to Lieutenant Colonel Park Seo-joon, who was with me.

“If this is the case, recovery is impossible, right?”

“yes. We don’t know if it will sink. Even if we prevent the sinking, it will take years to recover.”

“It’s all thanks to the vice-captain.”

“It’s thanks to our Navy’s hard work. haha.”

“Uh, it looks like a torpedo was hit in one place. “How can you do that?”

“hmm. “It appears that it was further destroyed while making an evasive maneuver to protect the aircraft carrier’s vital parts.”

(Vital parts: important parts of the ship such as engines, fuel tanks, etc.)

“…?”

“It appears that while maneuvering to reduce damage from the torpedoes launched by Torpedo Boat No. 1, four torpedoes from Torpedo Boat No. 2 hit one place.”

“ah ···.”

“They didn’t expect torpedoes to be launched from two different locations. Moreover, since it was blown up, I was devastated.” (Explosion: A chain explosion of ammunition, fuel, etc.)

“At this point, even if we retrieve Torpedo Boat No. 2, I don’t think we will have time to look back.”

“yes. All right. “We will make sure to complete this before rescue and reinforcements arrive.”

Thus began another difficult operation to retrieve the unmanned torpedo boat from underwater.

ARK surfaced below the thermocline and carried out a recovery operation to torpedo boat No. 2.

(Thermocline: A layer in the ocean where the water temperature decreases rapidly. The speed of sound waves also changes rapidly, making it difficult to detect submarines.)

Intelligence analyst Choi Tae-il came to the command and control room with cables and intelligence reports from OSS.

He and Lieutenant Colonel Park Seo-joon moved to the drafting table.

The intelligence analyst began the briefing by recording the battle situation on the chart on the table with a somewhat nervous expression.

“… The most noteworthy intelligence report is that China’s 002 aircraft carrier group departed here.”

“Well… it was somewhat expected.”

“According to what was confirmed by satellite, the scale of the flyer appears to have become slightly larger.”

“is it so? “Please explain in more detail.”

“yes. First of all, the enemy seems to think that the anti-submarine threat has largely disappeared.”

“But why?”

“It is believed that the scale was increased to recover the sinking aircraft carrier 003 and rescue the sailors.”

“What is the movement route of the 002 aircraft carrier strike group?”

Intelligence Analyst Choi Tae-il continued speaking while drawing a long line on the chart.

“like this. It’s moving in a straight line. “This is the fastest route possible.”

“Then what is the estimated time it will take aircraft carrier strike group 002 to get here?”

“Considering the follow-up ships departing from Yulin Naval Base on Hainan Island, it will arrive in 12 to 15 hours.”

Lieutenant Colonel Park Seo-joon and Intelligence Analyst Choi Tae-il were looking at my face. It was time to make a decision.

“Vice Captain. Has Torpedo Boat No. 2 been recovered?”

“yes. “The recovery has been completed and the payload module is being drained.”

“How long will it take for our ship to move and load and charge torpedoes on the torpedo boats?”

“The charge will only be about 15%. Reloading torpedoes takes just 2 hours. The current battery status of Torpedo Boat No. 2 remains at about 60%.”

“great. By activating the ARK. Let’s ambush. “There are several ambush sites along the route that Captain Choi Eun-seok had marked out in advance.”

“yes. All right. But what about Lee Hoe-young?”

“Perhaps if we maneuver, Captain Choi Eun-seok will notice.”

“Well, he will know our intentions just by detecting the movement of the ARK.”

“However, if the Lee Hoi-young’s maneuver is confirmed, we will send a security message via underwater communication.”

“yes. “We will mobilize immediately.”

ARK started moving for another challenge. They began a stealth maneuver, also known as silent running.

The advantage was that I knew the enemy’s movement path quite accurately. The disadvantage was the lack of means of attack.

While the Chinese fleet was busy, the ARK began diving underwater. She was a secret voyage, searching for valleys and thermoclines on the ocean floor.

– Sonar report. I can hear the sound of the Lee Hoi-young’s screw.

– Wow~ As expected!

– Well then, what kind of person is Captain Choi Eun-seok?

– Sonar report. The movement trajectory of the Lee Hoe-young is heading toward the same point as the ARK.

Everyone was impressed by Captain Choi Eun-seok’s judgment.

In the deep sea, where nothing could be seen and no communication could be made, he was seeing through the hearts of enemies and allies.

Lieutenant Colonel Park Seo-joon ordered the Lee Hoe-young to send an underwater communication cable. It was an operational plan, including the movement route of the enemy aircraft carrier group and the location of our ambush.

There was no reply from the Lee Hoe-young that the security message was received successfully. This may be a tactical reason to avoid unnecessary communication.

Perhaps Captain Choi Eun-seok was protesting inside the Lee Hoi-young, asking, ‘Why are you sending something like this for?’

Nevertheless, the Lee Hoi-young was cutting through the deep sea in the exact direction toward the ambush site.

…

After diving for about 3 hours, we arrived at the ambush area. Both ARK and Lee Hoe-young landed on the bottom of the optimal ambush area below the thermocline.

I turned off the engine and it was time to wait.

It seemed that Lieutenant Colonel Park Seo-jun was busy calculating in advance the torpedo setting values ​​according to the enemy’s appearance location.

This time, since there was a high probability that a situation would arise where a torpedo would have to be launched directly from the ARK, it seemed to be done even more thoroughly.

The enemy aircraft carrier group also advanced for three hours, and we also faced them and waded underwater for the same amount of time. The distance was three hours closer than their destination.

It was expected that we would encounter the enemy within three hours at the earliest.

Is there something that can compensate for our weaknesses? After much thought, it flashes! There was something that crossed my mind.

“Lieutenant Colonel Park!”

“Yes, Captain.”

“A good idea occurred to me.”

“yes?”

“Let’s launch the unmanned torpedo boat and SDS together.”

– SDS (SEAL Delivery System)

“SDS is for transporting SEALs…”

Lieutenant Colonel Park Seo-joon turned his head as if he was puzzled, then continued the conversation by snapping his fingers as if through telepathy.

“ah! Ah, that’s a good idea.”

“yes. “The enemy will not be able to tell whether the SDS is a transport submersible, an attack submersible, or an underwater suicide drone.”

SDS is a manned submersible and is generally operated by humans. The SDS on board the ARK is designed to be remotely controlled wirelessly.

“Captain. Great idea. Even so, we were struggling because there was only one torpedo boat left. ha ha ha.”

Lieutenant Colonel Park Seo-jun stopped talking and was instructing the crew to inspect and prepare for launching the SDS.

I was muttering to myself without realizing it.

“Fotis Fortuna Adiuvat”

One of the crew members must have heard the sound and repeated the same words in a low voice. Like a spell, everyone started chanting those words.

…