Ling Hao controlled the mechanical arm of the "Pippi Shrimp" to grab the cable, dragged the two "steel cylinders" to the tail of the submarine, and then untied the cable. The two objects fell on the seabed, smashing A piece of sand arose.
This thing is none other than the water-proof cabin that Yuan Bing has just welded according to the size of the submarine torpedo tube. The air pressure in the wrecked submarine is the same as on the sea, and the same is true when the torpedo tubes are closed. Although the decompression chamber is connected to the torpedo tube, there is no way to pressurize the torpedo tube. Generally, submarines pressurize the torpedo tubes before releasing divers. Just open the outer cover of the torpedo tube and let seawater flow into the torpedo tube to make the water pressure in the tube consistent with the sea.
But this is a wrecked and damaged submarine. God knows whether the outer cover of the torpedo tube can be opened. If the outer cover cannot be opened, the crew will have no idea when the decompression chamber is pressurized to 37 times atmospheric pressure. Entering a torpedo tube that is not connected to the outside world and still maintains an atmospheric pressure would be really fatal.
Moreover, there is another very dangerous thing after getting out of the boat, that is, all the crew members have to be exposed to the seawater for a short period of time without protection, and are dragged by Ling Hao and others from the torpedo tube to the "Stone Crab". Although the latter can drive as close as about 5 meters to the submarine, this journey will take at least a minute and a half. Although the time is short, this is the bottom of the sea with a depth of 375 meters. The water temperature is extremely low, and the crew members have been in the wrecked submarine in a harsh environment for several days. They must be in poor physical condition. If there are any injuries, they will be even weaker. , these short 90 seconds may kill them.
Therefore, for the sake of safety, there is a common method for submarine rescue, which is to use a "waterproof cabin", which is the two thick half-section steel pipes. The opening edge of this tube is consistent with the curvature of the outer wall of the submarine, and its diameter is larger than that of the torpedo tube. There is a circular sealing door at the other end, and there is an inflation port at the bottom connected to the air pump on the "Pipi Shrimp", and another One-way valve for drainage.
Ling Hao and the others will put the two "waterproof compartments" outside the torpedo tube and weld them firmly to the submarine shell, then drill into the waterproof compartment and remove the outer cover of the torpedo tube. After it is filled with water and the pressure is the same as that of the sea, the divers climb out of the "waterproof cabin", close the sealed door, and let the "Pipi Shrimp" fill it with high-pressure helium and oxygen.
In this way, a space of more than 5 meters long was created for the crew, which not only has a high-pressure environment, but also can replace the nitrogen and oxygen in their lungs with helium and oxygen in advance, and also isolates the cold sea water, virtually insulating them. The distance immersed in dangerous seawater is shortened by half. This small difference, although very labor-intensive, may be the difference between all the crew members surviving or more than half of them dying.
Ling Hao got out of the "Pippi Shrimp", wearing a bloated hot water suit, carrying a diving welding gun, and slowly walked towards the No. 751 submarine. The speed was as slow as watching slow motion on TV. It was not him. Not wanting to go fast, but simply not being able to go fast under such huge water pressure and resistance.
Zuo Pengfei controlled the mechanical arm of the "Pippi Shrimp", struggled to lift a "waterproof cabin", found a torpedo tube, and pressed it hard.
A bright blue light lit up, and Ling Hao began to weld. This was a high-tech job. It was definitely not just as simple as welding the water-tight compartment to the submarine, but also to ensure that it was airtight and water-tight.
Tian Yong and Yang Xueting did not rest. They carefully drove the "Stone Crab" as close as possible to the No. 751 submarine. Because the seabed is generally very soft, and some seabeds are sand shells, there will be holes underneath. Maybe the shipwreck cannot collapse or sink it, but adding a heavy living cabin may cause it to collapse. The last straw for the camel. In addition, turbulence in the sea is unpredictable. The wake of the propeller and even the turbulence of the water flow caused by the passage of large fish may cause the submersible to shake and sway. Therefore, the minimum distance to avoid the risk of collision is recognized in the industry as 5 meters. If not every A distance of one meter may be related to the life and death of submariners, and they will not risk bringing the "Stone Crab" so close.
Tian Yong and the others gently sat the "Stone Crab" on the seabed, and the searchlight shone beside Ling Hao who was welding. He had been welding for an hour, and only half of the water-proof cabin was welded. . However, none of the four realized that a huge danger was approaching them.
An inexplicable flow of water caused the "Pipi Shrimp" to shake. Zuo Pengfei quickly hugged the joystick. If the mechanical arm shook, the half-welded "waterproof cabin" would probably fall down. It took more than an hour. All the hard work will be wasted.
A huge black shadow with a length of 5 meters flashed above everyone's heads like a torpedo. The sharp-eyed Yang Xueting saw it clearly. She shouted into the communicator: "Everyone, be careful, it's a hammerhead shark, 5 Meter-long big guy!"
Hammerhead shark, also called "Hammerhead Shark", is the collective name for sharks in the Hammerhead family. The largest "Hammerhead Shark" can grow to 6 meters and weighs more than a ton. It is a very ferocious shark with many Less aggressive records. The most terrifying thing is that this shark is different from the notorious great white shark, bull shark, tiger shark and lemon shark. It is a social animal. Someone once saw thousands of hammerhead sharks underwater in the Galapagos Islands. Shocking scene of swimming together, Ling Hao and others saw a school of no less than 500 hammerhead sharks during their dive this time.
Some so-called experts have deduced based on their physical characteristics that sharks are not cold-tolerant and should only exist in tropical and subtropical oceans. There are basically no sharks in the Yellow Sea and Bohai Sea. This is entirely wishful thinking. Great white sharks are able to maintain body temperature in cold seawater and often appear in cold waters. The famous big "Greenland shark" appears in Greenland near the Arctic Circle. As the oldest species on earth, and a great species whose appearance has not changed much even for hundreds of millions of years, sharks are far from being as simple as humans imagine. Lake Baikal in Russia is a cold freshwater lake, but sharks live in the lake. Bull sharks can also swim along rivers to freshwater lakes to feed. Speaking of sharks being afraid of the cold, the temperature in the deep sea is cold enough, but people have found at least 15 species of sharks in the deep sea, and the hammerhead shark is one of them.
Hammerhead sharks are social animals. If there is one shark, there will probably be a second or third one. Ling Hao stopped the welding work, looked around cautiously, took off the spear gun from his waist, and mounted it. Fish arrows.
Yang Xueting and Tian Yong couldn't sit still, so they put on hot water suits and got out of the "Stone Crab". They came to Ling Hao's vicinity, with three spearguns pointed at the dark surroundings.
"We are on guard for you, please continue." Tian Yong said to Ling Hao.
The latter is not polite either. The safest way right now is to complete the rescue work as soon as possible. The longer you stay here, the higher the risk factor.
Sure enough, a huge hammerhead shark swam out of the darkness a moment later, circling leisurely around the three of them, approaching suddenly from time to time, and tentatively launching some cautious attacks, but in the face of the sharp spear gun , it seemed that it was aware of the danger and did not really open its mouth.
In the end, Tian Yong seized an opportunity and took advantage of the giant shark swimming towards him. He punched the opponent's nose hard, scaring the guy so much that he flicked his tail and ran away.
Ling Hao had already started to weld the second water-proof cabin. The giant shark did not appear again, and the few people's anxious hearts were a little relieved. Although they all held spearguns, no one dared to launch them. Once blood was seen in the sea, more sharks would soon be attracted.
However, most of the time things don't go as expected. A group of hammerhead sharks about one meter in size swam over from nowhere, like a pack of wolves surrounding their prey, and appeared at Ling Hao and the others at the same time. Surrounded by four people. However, these smaller hammerhead sharks are not the same species as the previous one, and it seems that the target is not Ling Hao and the four of them. Instead, they are wandering close to the seabed, slapping some seabed with their tails from time to time, and occasionally seem to be grabbing. Something stirred up the sand on the seabed, making it turbid. It was impossible to see what animal they were hunting.
"Ling Hao, go ahead. These little sharks are not coming for us. Tian Yong and I can just help you keep a lookout." Yang Xueting said in the communication.
Ling Hao was concentrating on welding, but there was a hint of uneasiness in his heart. A group of secondary predators were looking for food in groups. Will the top predators be far behind? Perhaps in the surrounding darkness, huge "grooveless hammerhead sharks" were still swimming around, not just one, but in a group.
But it was useless to worry. In any case, the work at hand still had to be completed without compromise. After nearly two hours, the two water-proof cabins were all welded and the inflatable pipes were installed. The "Stone Crab" began to The "Pippi Shrimp" is charging and preparing for the final demolition and rescue work.
Ling Hao and the other four returned to the "Stone Crab" to rest. There were now 111 hours, 17 minutes and 30 seconds left in the countdown, and it was already late at night on the sea. Ling Hao contacted the surface and asked about the current situation inside submarine No. 751.
Zheng Xiurong directly spoke to Ling Hao: "The situation is not too optimistic. Because it cannot float for a long time for ventilation, the air quality inside the submarine is extremely bad. Although the oxygen generating equipment is not turned on to save power, the 'sodium peroxide' in the submarine and 'sodium chlorate' oxygen candles are enough for use, but the carbonic acid produced by excessive carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide and methyl mercaptan and other gases exhaled by the human body make the air in the boat smell bad, and there is not much drinkable fresh water left. The key is Water has begun to seep in many places on the boat's hull, and the crew members are now immersed in calf-deep sea water. The humid and sultry environment has caused many people's skin to begin to ulcerate, joint pain, ulcers, stinky air, and drinking water. The lack of water has put many crew members on the verge of mental collapse, and their bodies have become even weaker. Three previously injured torpedo soldiers have died, and now there are only 33 people left in the boat." Zheng Xiurong studied in China and speaks Mandarin. The level is basically the same as that of the Chinese.
Ling Hao was a little impatient: "Ms. Zheng, they are a group of strong-willed warriors. In such a desperate situation, how bad the environment inside the boat is. As professional underwater rescuers, we are very clear. They have so far No one has killed themselves or each other so far, which is very rare. In order to rescue them as soon as possible, I need to know their current pressure conditions."
Zheng Xiurong was a little embarrassed. She realized that she had just answered the wrong question, and quickly added: "Not long after you started to pressurize the sea, I informed them according to your request to let as many crew members as possible enter the decompression chamber to pressurize. It has been about 43 hours so far. I still need to confirm with the captain whether the pressurization is complete. Also, the decompression chambers of this old submarine are very small, each with a capacity of 3 people. They tried their best to With 6 people crammed into it, there are 12 people in two decompression chambers.”
Ling Hao let out a long sigh. It seemed that his previous good expectations of rescuing people in two batches had also come to nothing. Three batches of rescue would require the four of them to stay at the bottom of the sea for nearly a hundred hours. It's not that Ling Hao thinks that his time is more important than the lives of these crew members, it's mainly that dangerous things can happen in the deep sea. Even if he accidentally breaks any small pipeline in the living cabin, it may cause unpredictable consequences. Serious consequences. At this depth, any mistake is very fatal. Every additional hour means another layer of danger.
However, he didn't say anything. There was nothing he could do about it at this point. He could only try his best to complete the matter satisfactorily. He hoped that nothing unexpected would happen during this period.
After a while, Zheng Xiurong contacted Ling Hao again. The first batch of pressurizers on the 751 submarine had more than an hour to complete the pressurization. She had made an agreement with the captain to start action on time in two hours. Ling Hao Get the outer cover of the torpedo tube here. After inflating the water-tight compartment, tap the submarine shell three times as a sign. The torpedo tube will be opened and sent out. If there is any unexpected situation that requires a temporary stop, tap twice. Submarine hull.
Everything has been arranged. Zuo Pengfei picked up an underwater cutter and said: "The next step is my professional field. The outer cover is different from the submarine's 'pressure-resistant shell'. The thickness reaches 15 centimeters, or High-strength carbon steel is more time-consuming to cut, so I have to hurry." After that, he put on the hot water suit and left the cabin.
Ling Hao was worried that he would go alone, so he winked at Tian Yong, who immediately put on his helmet and followed him out.
