Chapter 726 Requesting Mingzhou Group’s Rescue

“According to the on-site analysis, the submarine’s accident was caused by a battery explosion.” Hooper told Clemmings on the command ship Colorado.

"The battery exploded? It's really pitiful, but I'm curious, how can it survive so well before the battery explodes? In my impression, the quality of manufacturing in island countries is not that bad." Clemings said.

If the torpedo cabin exploded, it would be understandable. After all, torpedoes are risky. If an accident occurs to the warhead or the engine fuel tank leaks, it may cause danger.

 However, the battery is very safe. If this thing explodes from time to time, is it okay?

“If it is a conventional lead-acid battery, of course there is no problem, but I don’t know what the islanders think. They actually use lithium batteries instead of lead-acid batteries.” Hopper said.

"lithium battery?"

"That's right, it's just like the battery pack used in my laptop. It contains cylindrical batteries that are welded together in series and parallel. They just take it for granted." Hopper got those After taking the photo, I was immediately shocked, no wonder something happened! This kind of submarine can only be opened at noon.

“Why did they use this method?” Clemmings said: “Don’t they know that lithium is a chemically very active element? Using lithium to make batteries is very easy to explode.”

"Maybe it was stimulated by the Orientals. The Stirling engine used by the Orientals has successfully increased the submarine's underwater lurking time to more than a week. Similar to nuclear submarines, the islanders also want to increase the submarine's endurance time, but They don't have a Stirling engine, so they simply increase the battery capacity by replacing the lead-acid battery with a lithium battery in the original battery compartment, which can triple the original capacity, which means that the underwater endurance time is increased. Three times the original amount, but they ignored the risks of lithium batteries!"

Lithium batteries are too risky. I don’t understand what the islanders think. Are they willing to take risks for the sake of battery life?

 “Okay, so what now?”

“Not all lithium batteries have exploded. Some lithium batteries are temporarily safe. However, when soaked in sea water, these lithium batteries are slowly discharging and may explode at any time.” Hopper said.

“It will explode at any time? In other words, the salvage work will be in danger?”

"Yes, even if our DSRV comes over, I do not recommend continuing the salvage rescue. After all, the scene is too dangerous, and we cannot let our own soldiers take risks because of the rescue. What's more, we are not Americans inside. "

The US military does not have any ideals, but they still need to have faith. This can be seen from various movies made by Americans, such as "Black Hawk Down" and so on. In the movies, you cannot see why they are fighting. This is also true. It's enough of a headache for movie directors. They have no reason to be superior, so they can only rack their brains and think of other ways.

They can only promote comradeship. In order to rescue a comrade in distress, they may sacrifice more lives. In movies, the saying "I owe you a life" often appears. These people are fighting for their comrades. This is interesting enough.

However, this comrade-in-arms also has a prerequisite. He must be a tall American. I am a foreign brother. I'm sorry, but I won't accompany you.

Now, the Hayashio submarine was in distress during the exercise, but after all, it belongs to the island country, not the United States. If there are no other circumstances, they can do their best to rescue. But now, the situation is very obvious. If they go to rescue, You may encounter danger at any time!

Risk yourself to be blown up to rescue a submarine that has nothing to do with you? forget it.

“Yes, we cannot put our soldiers in danger because of rescue, but you should also know that the island countries are our allies after all. If we don’t save them, we will have a bad reputation.”

Clemmings also has a sense of shame. The boss is playing with his younger brother. When he sees his younger brother drowning, the boss must find a way to save him. If he just sits idly by and lets his younger brother die, what will the other younger brothers think? How will they lead other younger brothers in the future?

"We are not ignoring death, but the situation at the scene is too complicated." Hopper said: "In that case, our rescue device simply cannot be successfully docked. After all, our DSRV has a history of more than 20 years. It is outdated. Our navy needs to develop a new rescue device that can rescue in more severe conditions, but now, we are helpless."

 You have to save, and you can’t save, so you can only shirk responsibility from the equipment. Because you don’t have the equipment, you can’t rescue. It’s that simple.

"Hope, you are not only an excellent technical talent, but also an excellent staff officer. Do you want to be transferred to the headquarters?" Clemings said.

Because Hopper is talented in computers and automation, Clemmings called Hopper over to ask for advice. He originally wanted her to play a role in the rescue work, but he didn't expect that she could provide so many valuable suggestions. This made Clemmings very emotional.

“No, I still like computers. Dealing with computers is better than dealing with people.” Hopper said.

“But we should do something, right?” Clemmings continued.

“We can let the islanders do the rescue on their own, and we will provide full cooperation. We can also invite third parties. For example, isn’t the Mingzhou Group very good at rescuing wrecked submarines? Just ask them to come and help.”

Clemmings’ eyes lit up, yes, this is a good idea! Everyone was happy when they were rescued, but when they couldn't be rescued, there was a bang and the Mingzhou Group's deep-sea lifeboat was wrecked. We could even put a **** basin on the head of the Mingzhou Group.

  Qiongzhou.

Qin Tao was dumbfounded when he saw the latest information, especially the photo.

“Look at this, the explosion occurred in the battery compartment, but we are very curious, how do they use this kind of battery?” Wu Shengli asked.

"Island people are really obedient. They must have been moved by what I said." Qin Tao said: "Using 18650 batteries instead of lead-acid batteries, the capacity of the same volume has increased a lot, which is what we now use in electric vehicles. technology."

“Electric cars? Is it safe to use this kind of battery in your electric cars?”

“So we are not rushing to market, we have to conduct a lot of experiments.” Qin Tao said: “We only used a few thousand cells, and the number of batteries they used was at least a hundred times that of ours.”

 A special battery pack is composed of 7104 18650 lithium batteries. Qin Tao is not sure how many 18650 lithium batteries are used in the Golden Sun electric car, but what is known is that it must be several thousand. One hundred times, that is hundreds of thousands of batteries. With so many batteries, the failure rate is definitely not low. Who would have thought that people from the island country would really dare to play like this.

 “Are you deceiving?” Wu Shengli reacted and looked at Qin Tao curiously.

Qin Tao nodded: "Well, we fooled them, but they are really obedient."

Qin Tao also lamented the obedience of the island nation. Although the submarines of later generations of the island nation also used lithium batteries, that was a matter of time. Twenty years have passed since then, and the technology has matured. Now, they actually dare to It's really brave to play like this.

“Looking at the situation at the scene, only part of the lithium batteries were blown up. There are still many lithium batteries in the battery compartment. During the rescue process, once these lithium batteries explode, it will cause harm to the rescuers.”

Underwater explosions, driven by seawater, will increase the power of the explosion many times, especially in deep water. Once the shock wave surges towards the rescue submarine, it will not only make the rescue submarine unable to maintain its state, but may also directly damage the shell of the rescue submarine. In this case, Americans will also be in a dilemma.

To save or not to save?

“It is very difficult to rescue this submarine when it is submerged in the water.” A leader of the submarine force present said: “Once the rescue fails, the Americans will be discredited. I never thought that they would also have this day.”

"The performance of the Americans' DSRV is quite good, with a maximum tilt angle of 45 degrees. In this case, it should be possible to carry out rescue." Qin Tao said: "In terms of submarine rescue, the Americans still have a few skills."

Even if we don’t talk about the more advanced rescue submarines in later generations, this old-fashioned one is still very powerful. The normal working depth is 600 meters and the maximum depth is 1500 meters. There is no need to go deeper. Under the huge seawater pressure, those who can only A submarine that dives three to four hundred meters will definitely not survive in water below 1,500 meters. Rather than carrying out meaningless salvage, it would be more realistic to hold a memorial service.

Now, Qin Tao still has the mentality of a spectator. However, the arrival of another piece of information made Qin Tao dumbfounded.

"The Americans and the islanders have discussed and decided to ask for help from our Mingzhou Group?" Looking at the news, Qin Tao touched his nose helplessly: "What do these people think? They are afraid of the lithium battery exploding, so they Let us go over and help?”

 A dead Taoist friend is not a poor Taoist!

"Their drills were aimed at us, and now they actually want us to go rescue them, and they even want to trick us. Of course we cannot agree to this request," Zhao Ling said.

She has always been by Qin Tao's side. She only acts as a secretary and seldom speaks. She will only speak at critical moments. Now, she also wants to express her opinions.

 “Yeah, it’s best for us to stay out of it.”

Listening to the discussion of the others, Qin Tao smiled: "Yes, it is best for us to stay out of the matter, but they will use various reasons to convince us. If we don't go, then they will deduct our money. In addition to all kinds of moral hats, they will also doubt what we know."

Mingzhou Group is a private company. If you have money, you have to make money. Now we have encountered a big deal. It can not only make money but also increase your prestige. Why not do it?

Does Mingzhou Group already know that the submarine sank below was caused by the explosion of lithium batteries? How did Mingzhou Group know?

If we think deeply about this matter, we will be in a lot of trouble.

Now, Dongfang has successfully invaded the Americans' C4ISR system with the help of professional hackers. However, if the Americans find out and change the password of this system and enhance the security, it will not be easy to invade again next time. .

"But if we salvage, we will encounter danger." Wu Shengli said. He already understood his son-in-law's thoughts. It would be good to salvage it, but the salvage process was a bit dangerous.

“Yes, there will be danger.” Qin Tao said, “But it is also an opportunity for us.”

"what chance?"

"When the accident happened, the U.S. Navy was in chaos. None of the torpedoes launched were recovered. We originally had no chance to enter that sea area. Now, we can go in openly and get some other things while salvaging. Something like, MK48.”

 Everyone’s eyes lit up.

 For a long time, domestic torpedo technology has stagnated.

After the founding of the motherland, the first thing we built was an air-to-submarine speedboat. This speedboat was not a missile speedboat, but a torpedo speedboat. It used Lao Maozi's 53-51 torpedo. Using this torpedo as a basis, the country developed its own first type. Domestic torpedo, codenamed Yu-1. The technology of this kind of torpedo is not advanced. It is a direct-flying anti-ship torpedo that uses high-pressure gas as fuel. Even so, the design was not completed until 1971.

In 1954, China imported the solid-fuel-propelled short-range air-to-ship torpedo RAT-52 from Lao Maozi, and equipped it with the Navy's bomber force to carry out air attack missions. Based on this torpedo, domestic imitations Fish-2 came out. It was not until 1971 that it was successful.

 After that it’s Fish-3.

In order to have a triad of nuclear power, the country has begun to develop nuclear submarines and also needs specialized deep-water anti-submarine torpedoes as matching weapons, which can be used as the main offensive weapons of attack submarines and as self-defense weapons for ballistic missile nuclear submarines.

The technology of this kind of torpedo is very advanced. It uses batteries as power. The biggest advantage is that it does not emit bubbles during navigation like a thermally powered torpedo, thus concealing the enemy. It is also equipped with a passive acoustic homing system, so that it can be achieved The target of autonomous attack.

 However, the technology of this torpedo is very high, and its research and development will inevitably be delayed. It was not until 1975 that it began to be finalized. After that, we had good relations with the West and slowly introduced advanced Western technology to improve it.

However, the West will not bring over the most advanced technology. The navy's torpedo technology is still backward. After the collapse of the Red Empire, under the operation of Qin Tao, some Lao Maozi's torpedoes were also obtained. However, in In this era, the most advanced submarine heavy torpedo is the MK48!

Of course, if compared with indicators such as speed, Lao Maozi's torpedoes must be abnormal. However, those torpedoes are not fully developed, and some even use dangerous fuel. The explosion on the Oscar nuclear submarine was the torpedo's fault. .

If we want to talk about balanced development, it is the American MK48.

"Yes, just like our Yu-7, if we can find a way to catch one or two MK48s this time, our torpedo technology can continue to take a big step forward!" Speaking of this, the leaders present also became excited. .

Twenty years ago, fishermen in the southern waters fished out a big thing from their fishing nets. Looking at the cylindrical tail with a propeller, the fishermen knew that this thing was special and immediately handed it over to the superiors. When people take a look, it is the most advanced MK46 air-dropped torpedo of the U.S. Navy!

The torpedo was quickly sent to the 705 Institute for research. In the second year, another one was fished out. Well, we have the sample bombs, so let’s imitate them. The domestic short torpedo is also the Yu-2. It’s out of date and it’s time to update it.

However, torpedo technology was still too advanced, and imitation alone was not enough. Later, in the 1980s, when we entered the honeymoon period with the West, domestic technicians communicated with Americans, inspected their production lines, and finally developed various technologies. Mature, Yu-7 was finally finalized and equipped with troops.

Now, the navy still needs advanced torpedoes, especially the MK48, an advanced torpedo that can be used for both anti-submarine and anti-ship purposes. Even if our own side does not imitate it, we can study American technology after fishing it out to study our own torpedo avoidance tactics. Also useful.

“Taozi, are you sure?” Wu Shengli asked with concern. He heard about the torpedo project and naturally valued it, but there was a prerequisite: safety must be ensured!

Qin Tao smiled: "When we go there, the focus is to find scattered torpedoes, not rescue. Let them pray for themselves whether those people can be rescued."

There is cruel truth in this smile.

 Others nodded.

 A few hours later, in a villa at a coastal tourist resort in Qiongzhou.

"Mr. Qin, you are really leisurely. This kind of life like a couple of gods and gods is enviable." A short island man appeared in front of Qin Tao and said to him.

“Your Excellency Moriyama Nohito, you are also very interested in coming to our place for vacation. Don’t you prefer to go to Hawaii to bask in the sun?”

Qin Tao also did not expect that the person who came was actually Moriyama Nohito, an old friend. When Qin Tao introduced catamarans to the international market, Moriyama Nohito became a big customer and purchased ten of them. Fifty million US dollars, that money has actually developed the Mingzhou Group. Qin Tao has always been very friendly to old friends.

"Mr. Qin, I came here to see you. There is a big deal. Do you want to do it?" Moriyama Nohito said.

 “What deal?”

“Rescue the sunken ship.” Moriyama Nohito said: “A submarine in our island country unfortunately sank into the sea and is in urgent need of rescue. If you can go over and help with the rescue, you can pay the rescue expenses as you wish.”

"Submarine?" Qin Tao shook his head repeatedly: "This is not possible, Your Excellency Moriyama Nohito, our Mingzhou Group does not do this kind of business. If not, the rescue will not come, we will not get the rescue fee, and we will be in trouble. We don’t want these hundreds of millions of dollars in rescue fees.”

 Hundreds of millions? Even if you just drive it, it doesn't cost hundreds of millions, right? Even if the sunken ship is salvaged, it will not take so much, not to mention that it is just to rescue the people in distress on the submarine.

"President Qin, there is a saying in the East that it is better to save one life than to build a seven-level pagoda. Now, dozens of sailors in the submarine are in urgent need of your rescue." Moriyama Nohito said: "Please rest assured, I can Guarantee, even if the rescue fails, you will not be held responsible. After all, this kind of rescue is all about God."

This guy seems to have been doing business in the East a lot in recent years, and he keeps saying these things.

Qin Tao nodded: "Okay, when we signed the rescue agreement, we need to point out that we are only rescuing out of the spirit of internationalism. We are lucky to be able to rescue. If we can't rescue, we can only blame them." Unfortunately, I didn’t go to the Leshan Giant Buddha to worship.”

Moriyama Nohito nodded.

“Also, the rescue cost is tentatively set at US$500 million. You need to pay in full. Once the money is received, we will set off immediately.”

"Mr. Qin, isn't this $500 million a bit too much? This money is enough for us to build a new ship." Moriyama Nohito said.

In a normal transaction, a diesel-electric submarine costs two to three hundred million US dollars. The one from the island country is more expensive, and it does not reach 500 million. Qin Tao asked for 500 million. This is not salvage, just rescue. This is too dark. , fifty million US dollars is already a sky-high price.

"Of course, I think half a billion US dollars is a lot. It's not a good deal for you. Those sailors don't have much money to pay directly for death pensions. Instead of spending huge sums of money on rescue, it is better to directly issue death notices." Qin Tao said: "A dispatch of our Jiaolong is very expensive, especially to rescue a submarine in distress, which carries various potential risks. If our Jiaolong is in trouble, the US$500 million will not be enough to compensate. Moreover, we are now in the process of rescuing a submarine in distress. If other projects are to be carried out, if rescue is to be carried out, this project will have to be stopped, and the preliminary research will be in vain, and a lot of money will be wasted.”

“But when you rescued Da Mao, you didn’t ask for so much!”

We don’t ask to be the same as others, at least we have to be the same as Da Mao.

“Your Excellency Moriyama Noren, our Jiaolong was nearby at that time, and we are friends with Da Mao.”

"But we are also friends. It has been 18 hours since the submarine crashed. Rescue is imminent. The people inside can't hold on for long. Mr. Qin, you must extend a hand of friendship and help us."

Qin Tao thought for a while: "Yes, we are also friends, so I will give you a 20% discount, 400 million U.S. dollars, which is already the lowest price. You don't need to stay here anymore. Go back and discuss it. I think If it's cost-effective, just send the money and we'll go out immediately. If it's not cost-effective, we'll prepare a memorial service."

Moriyama Yeren stood up and said, "Mr. Qin, we cannot agree to your request. Four hundred million is too much. Two hundred million is not enough."

 After he finished saying this, he suddenly regretted it, 200 million was more than that!

"Okay, then for your sake, 200 million, we will suffer a loss this time. However, I still value friendship. Now that we have reached an agreement, you can quickly pay Well, after the payment is made, let’s discuss the subsequent salvage details?”

Moriyama Nohito's face was extremely ugly, turning red and white at one time, but in the end he swallowed and said, "Okay, I'll make a phone call."

 (End of this chapter)