A nation's industrial development begins with junior engineers.

Chapter 874 The Power of "Preferential Treatment"!

Wow, isn't this a real-life version of catching a turtle in a jar?

The sailors, who had just recovered from the shock of the impact, were all bruised and battered, but none of them looked dejected.

Crowbars, sledgehammers, and fire axes were quickly distributed from the cabinet in the tool compartment that had been smashed open.

The crowbar creaked under the grip, and the sledgehammer swung wildly in their hands. The young men from the repair team even dragged out an emergency welding machine.

Once the oil pipe was connected, the machine started chugging along, flashing a yellowish-white arc of light.

"If we can't pry it open, we'll just weld the hatch shut! That way, the little notebook inside won't be able to escape!"

Well, poor thing 418, because of its outdated structure, couldn't be equipped with the latest digital radios. Instead, they crammed two of the "a 200 mL displacement gasoline engine-driven arc welding generator" newly produced by the Red Star Comprehensive Machinery Factory over there.

If that idiot were here, he'd definitely be amazed by our soldiers' boundless imagination...

The idea of ​​using a welding torch to deal with armored targets in the "Battlefield" series of games was actually rehearsed by them in a real naval battle decades in advance!

Led by Zhao Gang, several sailors took advantage of the brief moment when the two boats were close together due to inertia after the collision, risking falling into the sea, and bravely jumped aboard the smooth hull of the tilting Japanese submarine.

They used both hands and feet to quickly take control of the command tower hatch and the foredeck hatch that Wang Xiaohu had previously pried open. They used the back of an axe and a hammer to firmly hold the hatches shut, like hunters guarding the entrance to a wild beast's den.

"Listen up, little notebook inside! You're surrounded! Give up resistance and come out to surrender!" Zhao Gang steadied himself, cleared his throat, and swung the crowbar in his hand, smashing it against the deck with a loud clang.

"Hey, Captain," Wang Xiaohu, who had just climbed aboard and handed over a fire axe, couldn't help but interject, "you're shouting in Mandarin, do you think those guys inside can understand you?"

Zhao Gang took the axe, weighed it in his hand, and snorted, "I don't care if he understands or not! I've shouted it! I'm going to shout it three times! Hmph, if he doesn't understand? Can you blame me?"

He pursed his lips and continued, "That's called a procedure! Understand?"

"On the northern battlefield, don't our comrades always shout something before capturing prisoners?"

Wang Xiaohu was stunned by his twisted logic, finding it strangely reasonable.

Uh, nothing's wrong. It really is like that...

Just like in TV dramas, you see Hong Kong police officers using a megaphone to shout at suspects, "You are surrounded!"

Don't they know this is unnecessary?

Of course I know, and I also know that I look really silly at this moment...

However, that's how the program works, and there's nothing they can do about it.

……

As Zhao Gang spoke, he actually slammed the hatch cover twice more, and shouted a second and third time, carrying out the "procedure" to the fullest extent.

Wang Xiaohu scratched the back of his head and was about to speak when Zhao Gang suddenly frowned: "By the way, where's Xiaolong? Is he alright? I saw him rowing just now, and his arm seemed a little off."

"Hey, I twisted my arm, it's nothing!" Wang Xiaohu pointed towards deck 418, where Ma Xiaolong was leaning against the crooked turret rubbing his arm, with the prisoner with the broken leg lying next to him.

"I told him to keep an eye on the prisoners and not to come over and cause trouble."

"Well, it's good that everyone's alright." Zhao Gang nodded, asked no more questions, picked up the fire axe, and used the heavy back of the axe instead of a hammer, and began to smash the watertight hatch joint with a "bang! bang! bang!"

eighty……

eighty……

Although Wang Xiaohu thought that the captain's smashing of the submarine's hull was a waste of time, who would be afraid of a hammer hitting something that can sail underwater?

However, hearing that noise was actually quite satisfying.

Wang Xiaohu tossed the crowbar that Zhao Gang had replaced in his hand, and without thinking, he inserted it into the gap of the watertight hatch.

"I'll fuck you to death, you bastard!"

Just then, Ma Xiaolong, who was standing on the command tower of the 418 boat, responsible for guarding the prisoners and observing the enemy situation, suddenly shouted excitedly while holding a megaphone made of rolled-up sheet metal:

"Captain! Found it! This submarine has a number on its bow! SS-521! Its name is 'Zao Chao'! It was captured!"

Without turning his head, Zhao Gang continued smashing the ship, shouting indifferently, "Who cares if it's the 'early tide' or the 'summer tide'! Anyway, it's all in my hands now, it's become the 'early tide'! Once I drag these bastards out of the hull, I'm going to tie them all to the hull of the 418 ship and parade them through the streets!"

Ma Xiaolong paused for a moment, then blurted out instinctively, "Huh? Captain, I haven't finished speaking yet. How do you know they really have a sister ship under construction called 'Xia Chao'..."

He suddenly realized that this wasn't the time to discuss this, so he quickly shook his head, grasped the key point, and shouted again with all his might:

"Captain! That's not the point! The prisoners just confessed that there's an inconspicuous emergency escape exit on the side of this type of submarine, near the stern! They might escape from there!"

"What?!" Zhao Gang abruptly stopped what he was doing, his eyes flashing with a sharp light. "Why didn't you say so sooner! An opening at the stern? Damn, this design really fits their style!"

"The side? The exact location!"

Ma Xiaolong paused for a moment, then suddenly disappeared from Zhao Gang's sight. After a while, he stood up again and shouted, "It's probably near the midships, around the waterline! He said they used it during training!"

"Also, he said there are important people on this boat!"

Zhao Gang's eyes narrowed, and he immediately grabbed his axe, waving to the sailors beside him: "Leave two men to guard this place! The rest of you, come with me! To the side!"

The group carefully moved across the smooth, sloping hull to the midship section. Sure enough, near the waterline, a rectangular cover that had been seamlessly integrated with the hull and virtually undetectable was now slightly ajar!

Several figures could be seen peeking through the gap, as if trying to sneak out and escape.

"Trying to run? Too late!" Zhao Gang held his axe horizontally to his chest and shouted towards the hatch, "Listen up, you guys inside! Get out! Hands above your heads! If you dare move, I'll whack you with this axe and feed you to the fish!"

No sooner had the words left his mouth than a loud "bang" came from inside the cabin—the cabin door, which had been half-open, was slammed shut by the people inside, and the faint "click" of the latch could be heard.

"Damn it! You're still giving me the cold shoulder?" Zhao Gang was so angry that he took his axe and hit the hatch door hard a few times, but apart from making his hands numb, it did nothing to help.

However, our valiant captain smirked and rubbed his hands together, adding, "So it's not my fault for not treating the prisoners well, hehehe... We followed the rules and called them, but they just didn't appreciate it!"

He turned around abruptly and waved to Wang Xiaohu, who was lying on the hull of the boat, repeatedly saying "eighty, eighty": "Tiger! Hurry up and come back to our boat! Let Ma Xiaolong 'interrogate' that prisoner again!"

This new type of submarine definitely has more than one snorkeling system! Ask it exactly where it is located and how many there are!

"Let Xiaolong draw a sketch! We'll find something to plug all its 'nostrils'! Let's see if it can still breathe!"

"Yes, Captain!" Wang Xiaohu responded, immediately using both hands and feet to climb back up the tilting hull, carefully jumping back onto the small boat swaying between the two boats, and rowing vigorously towards the 418 boat not far away.

Hey, don't ask why this kid didn't jump over, didn't those two boats collide?

Tsk tsk, the result of 200 tons versus 800 tons is like a car traveling at 60 km/h crashing into a truck traveling at 40 km/h. The poor 418, which was manufactured in 51, doesn't have the power of a certain electric car in later generations to flip the front of a truck.

At this moment, the hull of the familiar No. 418 boat is now covered with shocking scars.

The bow of the boat was severely deformed, resembling a flattened iron box. Obvious scratches and several leaks were visible near the waterline of the hull.

The officers and soldiers on board were carrying out damage control operations under the command of the deputy captain. The sounds of hammering, welding sparks and shouts were mixed together, and the air was filled with the smell of burnt food and the salty smell of seawater.

With the help of his comrades, Wang Xiaohu climbed up 418. He felt a tremor coming from his feet, as if his old buddy was shaking uncontrollably due to its serious injury...

Climbing further up, the familiar deck gun was tilted at an extremely unnatural angle, its barrel pointing helplessly to the sky. Below the gun barrel, Xiao Long was drawing with a notebook propped on his knee using his uninjured left hand, while the prisoner leaned against the turret, looking up at the sky.

The two exchanged questions and answers, and the atmosphere was strangely harmonious.

"Hey! This son of a bitch can speak Mandarin?" Wang Xiaohu pointed at the prisoner with an incredulous look on his face.

"Hey, don't scare people!"

As Ma Xiaolong spoke, he used his injured left hand to hold a military water bottle and carefully brought it to the lips of the ashen-faced prisoner: "Water...drink..."

Upon closer inspection, Wang Xiaohu noticed that although the prisoner's face was pale and his eyes were unfocused, his severed leg had been professionally secured with two wooden strips and bandages taken from a first-aid kit.

The prisoners were even wearing an unidentified coat to protect them from the sea breeze.

Although the prisoner's body was still trembling slightly from pain and fear, his condition was much more stable than when he was dragged onto the deck in his near-death despair.

No wonder this prisoner was so cooperative, spilling beans from a bamboo tube!

Is this the power of "preferential treatment"?