Great warships

Chapter 1262 The Beginning of the Nightmare

The contract has been signed, and the Russians should execute it according to the contract. Their fleet has been waiting here for a day, and they are very nervous when they see the floating ice outside. The Titanic sank after hitting the floating ice, and they don't want to repeat that scene.

Now, where are the Russians?

Just as he was hesitating, a huge ship appeared on the ice in front of him. It had a wide hull and many buildings on the upper floors. It looked like a cruise ship, and all the buildings were painted brick red. It was particularly conspicuous on the white ice. As it moved forward, it kept pushing away the ice in front of it and broke through the ice all the way forward, as if it was floating on the ice.

This icebreaker looks really cool!

Norway is close to the Arctic and also has icebreakers, but they are all small and none of them are nuclear-powered. If you want to travel on the ice all year round, nuclear-powered icebreakers are the best choice.

This type of ship does not need to worry about running out of fuel and has almost unlimited endurance. In the cold Arctic, only this kind of power can keep every cabin warm!

The Arctic is full of ice, so there is no need to worry about the source of fresh water. As for food? If the food on the ship is really eaten up, you can go hunting and catch a polar bear to eat for several days.

But if there is no energy, we will soon freeze to death.

However, not everyone can build a nuclear-powered icebreaker. The technology required for this thing is too high. The icebreaker has to break the ice by impact. If it is not strong enough, the nuclear reactor may have an accident, which can be fatal.

The Russians have this technology, and the East also has this technology, but other countries can only sigh in despair.

Now, seeing this nuclear-powered icebreaker coming, everyone became excited. Sollot let out a long sigh: "Okay, next, let's go!"

The icebreaker turned around on the ice in front of them and became the vanguard of their formation.

"Hello, my friends." A voice came over the radio: "I am your leader Zaitsev. Now, let's get on the road. As you requested, we will maintain a high speed of 18 knots!"

"No, no, some ships in our fleet can only sail at 15 knots!" Sollot quickly replied: "Please sail us at knots!"

"Received, fifteenth section, let's go now!"

The calls on the radio were relatively brisk, and the huge nuclear-powered icebreaker also moved very briskly. Although it was such a big guy, it could swim freely on the ice, as flexible as a loach. Wherever it went, there would be the sound of ice breaking, and a sea passage would appear in the originally intact ice layer.

The Docwise Vanguard followed closely behind, and the other semi-submersible ships also followed, forming a long snake formation and moving forward in a mighty manner.

For some reason, Sollot didn’t feel particularly cold anymore. Maybe he was in a better mood?

Two hours later, it was dark outside.

"Damn, the day only lasted three hours." Sollot continued to complain.

"This is already very good. Let's continue going deeper and entering the Arctic Circle, where we will begin a long dark night," said the bearded captain.

The Arctic route cannot be used in winter. On the one hand, it is extremely cold and the ice is too thick. On the other hand, the days are too short. There is even a long polar night in the Arctic Circle, with no trace of daylight at all. The sun may just peek out from the horizon and then sets.

Therefore, this place is not suitable for sailing at all, but Thorlot doesn't care at all. In his eyes, everything here is good! Compared with other routes, they can save half the time and return to Norway as soon as possible!
"I know it's polar night, but I still hate it." Sollot is Norwegian and must know about this phenomenon, he just doesn't like it.

The bearded captain smiled and said, "But I like it. This way we can change shifts. First mate, you will drive the ship and keep up with the nuclear-powered icebreaker in front!"

Ships have no brakes when sailing on the sea. When encountering a situation, they can only reverse the propeller to reduce speed. It takes a long distance to stop. Now it is a single icebreaking road, so in order to avoid collision, almost every two ships have to be separated by a distance of about one kilometer. In this way, the entire formation is stretched out for nearly ten kilometers. In the dark night, the navigation lights pull out a very beautiful light band, extending on the ice surface.

Ahead, on board the nuclear-powered icebreaker.

"If we speed up to 18 knots now, we can quickly leave them behind," said Captain Ilovich.

"No, they have just come in. If they find out that we have tricked them, they can retreat at any time. We have to lead them forward and talk about it after three days." Zaitsev said.

"Okay. Let's wait a few more days. How desperate they will be when they are forgotten on the ice, these poor creatures..." Ilovich's eyes were full of excitement.

More than twenty hours later, the sun slowly rose from behind them, but just as it appeared above the sea, it fell again. However, the ice surface did not turn completely dark.

Although the sun cannot shine within the Arctic Circle, there is still diffuse reflection because there is ice and snow everywhere. Therefore, the sky at this time looks like a cloudy day, the kind that looks like it is about to rain, but it just doesn't rain.

This light lasted for less than two hours, and then the entire ice surface fell into complete darkness again.

However, the scenery is still very good. For example, if you look up at the sky on the right side of the ship, you will occasionally see a special light.

This light is not green, but slightly milky white. This is the aurora unique to the Arctic. Under the camera lens, as long as the exposure time is a little longer, it will appear green.

The photos are beautiful, but the actual scene is even more beautiful. At this moment, looking at the sky, Sollot felt even better.

Today is a very good day. We are sailing normally at a speed of 15 knots. Humph, that Qin Haiyang is really a liar. He wants to trick us into taking the normal route and wasting more time!
Although hiring nuclear-powered icebreakers costs a lot of money, these eight ships can save almost half of the fuel and a lot of transportation costs by going this way, which is almost not considered extra money.

However, time is saved! By saving half a month, they can mine oil and gas half a month earlier. The recent energy prices are very good, and they will make more money!
With beautiful fantasies, Sollot went back to sleep. When he was sleeping soundly, there was a knock on the door.

Bang, bang, bang!
"Mr. Sollot, something happened!"

"What happened?" Sollot got up in a daze, opened the door, and saw the bearded captain's face full of tension.

"The Haiyan semi-submersible ship at the end of our fleet is frozen!"

"What?" Sollot said in surprise, "How is that possible? The route opened by the icebreaker can last for three hours!"

It is certain that the ice surface broken by the icebreaker will freeze. The key is time. According to general rules, it will take three hours for the ice to freeze after it is broken. Therefore, their eight semi-submersible ships can follow suit. Even if the distance is thirty nautical miles, they can all pass through in two hours. There will be no big problem.

We have only pulled a distance of ten kilometers, and the last ship is frozen?

This is unscientific!
"Hurry up and ask the Fifty Years of Victory ahead for help."

"I can't call you!"

"What? Can't make the call? Why?"

"I don't know. Maybe the magnetic field is so strong here in the Arctic that radio communications are being disrupted."

"Then how can we get in touch with the Petrel?"

"We all use the same radio, but the one they use in Da Mao is different from ours."

"Damn it!" Sollot gritted his teeth: "Then what should we do?"

If there was a way, I wouldn't come to you! The bearded captain looked helpless.

"Contact with lights!"

In the era without radio, maritime communications were conducted using lights. Now there is a series of commonly accepted light languages. In this situation, we can only communicate using lights.

Soon, three long, three short, and three long light signs flashed over.

On board a nuclear-powered icebreaker.

"They started using light language to ask for help. What should we do?" asked Ilovich.

"Humph, this has nothing to do with us." Zaitsev said, "We are just leading the way as stipulated in the contract. Their last ship was frozen. This is an accident. We have to pay extra!"

Zaitsev did not expect it to be so smooth. He originally planned to take action in two days. Unexpectedly, the opportunity came this way!
Under normal circumstances, the route opened by the icebreaker must be maintained for three hours, but there are also accidents. For example, if a cold current appears somewhere, this part of the sea will naturally freeze faster. There is no doubt that this is the weather we are encountering now, which is definitely force majeure!

Ilovich's eyes lit up: "Yes, it costs money! Now we reply to them! But what should we use to reply to them?"

Light language can only convey simple messages, and it is absolutely impossible to say things like adding money, let alone bargaining. Do we need to restore radio communication? When the other party called just now, we ignored it. If we restore the call now, will it seem a bit hypocritical and make it easy for the other party to know that we did it on purpose?

Zaitsev didn't care and picked up the radio.

"This is the Fifty Years of Victory nuclear-powered icebreaker. Just now, one of the tubes in our radio burned out, so we lost contact for a while. Now the radio has been restored. Could you please describe what happened?"

The tube is burnt out? What era is this? Is there still such an excuse?

The people behind him were also a little stunned: "Your radios are still using vacuum tubes?"

"Yes, only electron tubes can block the influence of various rays in the Arctic region. Other radios are prone to malfunction. Now tell us, what happened?"

"Our last semi-submersible ship, the Petrel, is frozen and needs rescue!"

"What, frozen? This is impossible! Today is not April Fools' Day. The route we have opened can be maintained for three hours, unless..."

"Unless what?"

"Unless we encounter a special cold current, there may be such a cold current in the sea area where we are now. So, if we turn back to rescue this unfortunate semi-submersible ship, other ships may also be frozen!"

Sollot's face changed drastically: "Then what should we do?"

"In another eight hours of sailing, we will reach the New Siberian Islands. There are military bases on the islands and we can call for air support at any time. Once we get there, we will be safe and our nuclear-powered icebreaker can come back to pick up the trapped ship."

"Okay." Sollot knew that he had no other choice now. Although one ship was frozen, it was better than all of them being frozen. The remaining seven ships should hurry to a safe area and then come back for rescue.

Such a round trip would probably take a whole day, but there was no other way.

The semi-submersible ship Haiyan was frozen to the sea surface, alone watching the other fleets sail away. For some reason, the crew members all had an ominous premonition in their hearts, as if something terrible was about to happen.

Time passed little by little, and eight hours later, a piece of land appeared in the distance.

This is the New Siberian Islands, which consists of three islands. There are nine months of freezing period in a year, so there are almost no people living on the island, and there are no trees. It is all tundra.

During the Red Empire era, soldiers lived here. However, for a long time after the collapse of the Red Empire, due to tight military spending, the Russians withdrew all their troops here. It was not until the Arctic route was reopened that this place was given importance and the troops were redeployed.

There is no suitable port on the island, but there is an airport. If someone is trapped, helicopters can be dispatched to rescue them, and transport planes can also be dispatched to send people directly to big cities for rescue.

Seeing that they had reached a place where rescue was possible, everyone on the seven ships finally relaxed. Sollot picked up the radio and started making contact.

"Calling the Fifty Years of Victory, please go and rescue the Petrel immediately. They are eagerly awaiting you."

"Of course, please pay us $500,000 for the rescue immediately."

"What? You still want money? How can you do this?" Sollot was anxious: "We have already paid."

"Yes, you have paid, but this money is for a one-way trip. Now, if we go back to rescue you, we will have to spend more of our resources. This is a project outside of our contract. If you don't pay, then we can only take you on."

"No, no, you can't do this!"

Listening to the almost desperate roar on the radio, Zaitsev and Ilovich looked at each other and smiled.

Humph, now that you are in our territory, you have to listen to us, right?

"I will publicize your actions and let the whole world know that the Arctic route is unreliable!"

"Mr. Sollot, can I understand this as you want to terminate the employment relationship with us? If so, we will not refund the money. After all, we have to return the same way and spend our money. So I wish you a pleasant journey."

What a joy! If they leave the nuclear-powered icebreaker, they will all be frozen here. Even if the people can leave, what about the equipment and the ship? They have to wait until next summer to move. How much compensation will they have to pay?
Sollot trembled all over: "We, we don't mean that. We ask you to help us rescue the ship first, and we will pay for the rescue later, okay?"

"No, we have already encountered many cases of defaulting on payments. You are a big company in Norway, you can't be unable to come up with even $500,000, right?"

Sollot felt very cold, cold to the bone. After turning off the radio, he picked up the satellite phone and called the company back.

At this moment, Oryang was taking a sauna, comfortably enjoying his favorite thing every day.

Norwegians may not travel, may not party, and may not even do that kind of thing with their partners, but they must go to the sauna. It is a habit they have had since childhood, just like brushing their teeth and washing their face, they want to do it every day.

The phone rang three times before he finally came out of the sauna, wrapped in a bath towel, feeling the beauty of life.

"Hey, Sollot, are you guys okay? What?"

The phone in Oryang's hand suddenly fell to the ground. How could this happen? Damn it, another unexpected expense!

Where to get money?
Oriental, Minnesota Group.

Qin Tao sat in a wide chair and listened to Xu Zhengyang's report.

"It seems that this is just bad luck for them. Damao has clearly marked the price and never cheats anyone."

"Yes, it is indeed their bad luck. Who could have expected that they would encounter a cold wave? They can't blame anyone else for this."

"Now, they are afraid that they can't get any help from heaven or earth. Haha, why did I suddenly think of a place?"

"where?"

Qin Tao didn't say anything, but just looked at the map of the motherland. There was a famous tourist attraction there. Tourists who had never seen snow ran there from far away. They originally came to enjoy the beautiful snow scenery, but they didn't expect that they would have to bleed themselves.

Accommodation, the price we agreed on originally, but after we got there, the other party refused to honor it, and we had to pay more, sometimes five or ten times more. If we didn’t stay, wouldn’t we freeze to death outside?

Traffic, the car asks for more money halfway through the journey, and won’t drive away unless you pay. You have to walk back, or you will freeze to death before you even get halfway!

Can you just go to a place far away where the sky is high and the emperor is far away?

"Will this affect the reputation of the Arctic route?" Xu Zhengyang thought of something and asked.

"The facts are clear. How can it affect your reputation? Doesn't rescue cost money? This $500,000 is absolutely a fair price." Qin Tao said, "Don't you see how much it costs to call an ambulance in the United States? Anyone who wants to make a fuss about this will be refuted completely."

To be fair, half a million dollars is not a lot, but it's just the beginning!

Seadrill also realized this. After Oryang picked up the phone, he quickly notified others to hold a meeting. Five hours later, the money was collected and transferred to the Russians.

(End of this chapter)