Chapter 1291 Depth Charge
"General Lascaux, when laying mines, is it possible for deep-sea monsters to detect them?"
Li Shaohua, who was sitting next to Zhuang Rui, suddenly stood up and raised an objection to Lasco on the stage. He had heard Zhuang Rui mention the horror of prehistoric creatures before, so he was much more cautious about this matter than the others in the audience.
"Gentlemen, over the past three days, we've sent small vessels to that area for reconnaissance. The facts have proven that the entry of small vessels won't attract the attention of the deep-sea monsters. With helicopter support, we believe we can successfully complete the mine-laying operation..."
After hearing Li Shaohua's words, Lasco confidently gave an explanation: things were just as he said; some slight movements on the sea surface were not enough to make the sea monster go berserk.
After analysis by Lascaux and many other biologists, it was concluded that the sea monster was too large to easily move its habitat, thus giving humans enough time to plan the operation to capture it.
"Thank you, General Lascaux, I'm all right now..."
Upon hearing Lasco's explanation, Li Shaohua sat down.
From the perspective of the action plan, there is indeed nothing that has been overlooked. The only thing to focus on now is to locate the area where the monster is located, but that is not a problem. The most advanced military technology on this planet is currently in the hands of these people present.
The meeting proceeded quickly. After the observers from various countries raised no objections, General Lasco immediately announced the end of the meeting. He still had a lot of work to do and didn't even have time to attend to Zhuang Rui. He simply sent an assistant to inform Zhuang Rui that he would be acting with the observers from various countries.
With the involvement of military forces from various countries in this operation, Zhuang Rui's role became dispensable. General Lascaux no longer needed Zhuang Rui's keen judgment, which was to be expected.
Zhuang Rui didn't care about this. He was more than happy to stay in the safe rear with these observers. After experiencing the prehistoric creature incident in the Central African forest, Zhuang Rui had a feeling that these deep-sea monsters might not be so easy to deal with.
As the host country, the Portuguese Navy prepared accommodations for observers from various countries, and Zhuang Rui naturally stayed with Li Shaohua and others.
For the next few days, everyone had nothing to do but wait for the Portuguese military to complete its preparations. The constant taking off and landing of helicopters at the military camp every day showed that the preparations were proceeding intensively.
On the morning of the fifth day, the observers from various countries, along with Zhuang Rui and others, were invited to a strangely decorated conference room. The entire room was filled with various electronic devices that Zhuang Rui couldn't identify.
Before Zhuang Rui and his group arrived, there were already over a hundred people seated here, but they were very well-disciplined, with no one whispering to each other, all waiting for the operation to begin.
"Brother Li, what are these screens for? Can we see what's happening on the sea?"
Before Zhuang Rui even sat down, he noticed that there were four huge screens hanging on the walls around the conference room, making him feel like he was in a scene from a science fiction movie.
Li Shaohua, however, was already used to these electronic screens and said dismissively, "Of course you can see them. You can probably even see what's happening underwater. You'll see soon enough..."
It's important to know that in space outside Earth, there are thousands of satellites of various types, both military and civilian, monitoring this planet every moment. With current technology, it's not impossible for them to monitor not only the surface of the sea, but also to spy on you taking a shower through your window.
Of course, Zhuang Rui was unaware of all this. When the huge screens were turned on, Zhuang Rui was immediately dumbfounded. What was presented to everyone was the military camp they were in.
At first, the image was a bit blurry, but as the settings were adjusted, the image gradually became clearer, and even a mole on the sentry's face was clearly visible.
"Cough cough..."
About five or six minutes later, a soldier in a Portuguese army uniform walked to a large screen in the conference room, coughed twice to attract everyone's attention, and said, "Generals, you will see the entire operation here. Since General Lascaux is in charge of commanding this operation, I will be explaining it to you..."
When is the operation scheduled?
"Yes, has the preliminary mine-laying work been completed?"
"Besides the US military, are there any other countries besides the Eurozone participating in the operation?"
As soon as the spokesperson finished speaking, the people sitting in the conference room began to ask questions. For the past few days, Lasco had been ignoring these observers under the pretext of preparations, which had made them very frustrated.
"Please be quiet, everyone. In one and a half hours, at 9:30 AM, the operation to strike this deep-sea monster will officially begin... As for the preliminary preparations, they have all been completed, and you can see..."
As the soldier spoke, the image on the large screen in front of him changed, shifting from the military camp to the vast ocean. He continued, "Within a ten-nautical-mile radius of this sea area, we have laid a large number of mines. No matter where the sea monster surfaces, it will be struck by these mines..."
"Excuse me, won't the fact that you've laid so many mines in this area pose a threat to ships passing through after the sea monster is cleared?"
Suddenly, a voice rang out in the conference room, but to the naval officers, it was somewhat off-topic. They were soldiers, their only concern was eliminating the enemy; what did future troubles have to do with them?
Just like the United States during the Vietnam War, which planted millions of landmines throughout Vietnam.
Even today, many landmines planted back then have not been removed, causing great harm to the Vietnamese people. In many Vietnamese villages, almost everyone is disabled, but even so, the Americans have never said a word of apology.
However, Zhuang Rui, who asked the question, didn't think so, because he still needed to search for treasure in this post-war sea area. If these mines couldn't be cleared, he would still return empty-handed.
"Sir, please rest assured that all mine detonation systems are electronically controlled, and each mine has a recovery signal source. After the operation, we will shut off the detonation switch and recover the mine based on the signal source. It will absolutely not have any impact on the safety of the sea area..."
The soldier's words put Zhuang Rui at ease. If these guys really did kill without burying, Zhuang Rui would suffer a huge loss, and his long-planned salvage operation would ultimately yield nothing.
Fortunately, things are not like they were decades ago. In Europe, where human rights are on the rise, they ultimately dare not turn this sea area into a dead sea, and besides, it would not be in the interests of European countries.
After Zhuang Rui finished asking his question, the people in the room had no more questions and gathered together to discuss quietly, waiting for the operation to begin.
More than an hour passed quickly. When General Lascaux's face appeared on the big screen, everyone was shocked. They realized that this multinational joint operation was about to begin.
"Attention all action teams, I hereby announce the official commencement of the operation!" General Lasco, in high spirits, issued the order to begin on the screen. At the same time, the scene shifted to various military camps along the coast, where helicopters that had been waiting for orders immediately took off, forming three formations and flying towards the designated sea area.
As the saying goes, experts see the details, while laymen just watch the spectacle.
The formation of hundreds of helicopters, a sight rarely seen even in modern times, completely blocked out the sky. Zhuang Rui, who knew nothing about military affairs, was thrilled and felt that even if the trip yielded nothing, witnessing such a large-scale military operation would make the trip worthwhile.
The generals from various countries inside the field were paying more attention to the helicopter formation. Such a large-scale operation requires extremely high skill from the pilots. The slightest mistake could result in a collision that could lead to the destruction of the aircraft and the loss of life.
Fortunately, this did not happen. After the first wave of the formation arrived at the designated sea area, General Lasco gave the order, and nearly a hundred depth charges were launched into the sea from the anti-submarine helicopters like dumplings being dropped into a pot.
After the depth charge was dropped into the sea, the camera on the large screen immediately switched from the surface to the underwater area, where the lights and miniature cameras mounted on the bomb transmitted the complete underwater situation.
Meanwhile, the helicopters of the second formation dropped a large number of depth charges on the designated sea surface and quickly flew away from the area.
In order to maximize the damage to the sea monster, the depth charges have been modified to detonate simultaneously. Now, all that is needed is for the third squadron to complete its deployment before they can be detonated.
Beams of light illuminated the seabed, and countless depth charges, each a meter long with a rocket-like tip, densely covered the entire large screen before rapidly sinking into the deep sea.
The first squadron's depth charges had reached a depth of nearly two thousand meters on the seabed. However, according to the pre-arranged plan, this batch of depth charges would land next to the sea monster, forming an encirclement with the depth charges from the other two squadrons.
"Oh my god? That...that's a deep-sea monster?"
After the bomb penetrated to a depth of 2,000 meters in water, the powerful flashlights mounted on the bomb, along with a camera, captured images of the monster.
The bombs were nearly a kilometer away from where the monster was entrenched. From a distance, it looked like an underwater volcano. If you didn't know beforehand, you wouldn't believe that it was a living creature.
Chapter 1292 Encirclement and Suppression
Thousands of meters below the seabed, even with spotlights mounted on multiple depth charges, and some of the bombs landing not far from the monster, the light was still very dim, and only the monster's general outline could be vaguely seen.
Even so, everyone was stunned. No one could believe that the enormous creature that was still on the seabed was actually a living being.
Even the most imaginative director on this planet probably couldn't have portrayed such a scene. Even the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park, which shocked the world, and King Kong, standing atop the world, weren't this large.
"My God, how could such a monster possibly exist on Earth?"
Although they had seen a glimpse of the monster's body in the footage taken from the helicopter, the constantly shaking scene before them still shocked everyone.
One of the biologists in the room couldn't help but mutter to himself, "Did it grow naturally? Why is its size not limited by gravity?"
As we all know, the Earth itself has a considerable mass, so it exerts a gravitational pull on any object around it. The larger the object, the stronger the gravitational pull. Logically speaking, such a large object should not be able to survive.
A soldier standing next to the biologist overheard his words and scoffed, saying, "Who cares how it grew? All I know is that this giant thing will threaten us humans..."
Indeed, as the soldier said, this sea monster has exceeded the limits of human tolerance. People can tolerate its rampages at sea, at most losing a few ships.
But if one day this guy feels that there isn't enough food in the sea and goes for a stroll on the shore, then the disaster movies on the screen might actually become a reality.
Perhaps the damage this monster could cause to humanity wouldn't qualify as a disaster, but if news of it were to leak out, the resulting panic would absolutely cause headaches for any government.
This is also the main reason why other countries reacted so quickly after Portugal revealed the existence of the monster.
Only by nipping this danger and possibility in the bud can politicians sleep soundly; after all, nobody wants citizens throwing tomatoes at their government's doorstep.
After the first and second anti-submarine helicopter squadrons finished dropping their bombs, the third helicopter squadron arrived at the designated location. The depth charges they were about to drop would land directly above the deep-sea monster, which was also a major factor in determining the outcome of this battle.
After sixty or seventy helicopters simultaneously unleashed all their bombs onto the sea, General Lascaux in the command center, as well as the generals and scientists from various countries watching in the conference room, all breathed a sigh of relief.
The monster was surrounded by depth charges on its left, right, and top, and its only escape route was blocked by a real volcano that was much larger than it.
In everyone's eyes, this deep-sea monster was doomed. It was likely that the two B2 bombers carrying the BLU-82 thermobaric bomb, which were waiting at a secret military airfield on the coastline, would be useless this time.
"Alright, no matter how big this guy is, he can't escape now..."
"That's right, on Earth, there's probably no living thing that could withstand an attack with so many bombs..."
"What a pity, such a creature was destroyed. I wonder what useful information could be extracted from its genes?"
The atmosphere in the conference room became more relaxed after the last helicopter formation on the screen was about to return. Some people were discussing the pros and cons of the operation, while others were crocodile tears, saying, "Why didn't you say it was a pity earlier?"
Zhuang Rui sat there with a furrowed brow, silent. Compared to these optimistic soldiers, he felt a vague sense of unease.
Having witnessed prehistoric monsters in the forests of Central Africa, Zhuang Rui instinctively felt that this deep-sea monster was not so easy to deal with; its countless tentacles alone could help it withstand the first wave of bomb attacks.
"Zhuang Rui, what's wrong?"
Li Shaohua, who was sitting next to Zhuang Rui, was the first to notice Zhuang Rui's unusual behavior.
Zhuang Rui shook his head and said, "It's nothing. I just feel like things are going too smoothly. This monster is alive; there's no reason for it to be so obedient, is there?"
"Even if they're alive, they're monsters. Creatures without intelligence, how can they compare to humans? I think you're just worrying unnecessarily..."
Li Shaohua laughed upon hearing this. He held the operation in high regard. After all, helicopter formations are among the most accident-prone operations in modern warfare. Even during routine training, news of crashes and fatalities is common, let alone formations.
These three large helicopter formations were composed of military personnel from several countries, and their ability to complete the mission so successfully was enough to earn the admiration of the generals from those countries.
Zhuang Rui waved his hand without saying a word, his gaze drawn to a scene on the screen directly in front of him.
At the camera mounted on a depth charge on the right, what was originally an empty expanse of seawater now appears as if a wall has suddenly appeared.
Indeed, from the angle of the camera mounted on the bomb, it looked like a thick wall, completely obscuring the light from the bomb.
Zhuang Rui wasn't the only one who noticed this scene; many people in the room saw it, and the originally noisy discussions immediately quieted down as everyone's attention was drawn to it.
"Is it going to be contact so soon? It seems like the depth charges above were just dropped..."
Everyone who witnessed this scene had the same question in their minds: at the speed of a depth charge, it would take at least several minutes to reach the monster's location.
"Oh no, those are monster tentacles..."
Of the more than one hundred people present, only Zhuang Rui, Peng Fei, and Captain Clyde, who witnessed the monster surfacing, realized what the object that made such a rapid contact with the depth charge was.
Meanwhile, General Lascaux, in the command room, also became serious. He realized that the monster had already detected his operation.
However, General Lascaux believed that even if the monster noticed, it would not escape its fate, because bombs were placed above and on both sides of the monster, and it would suffer a fatal blow no matter which direction it tried to escape from.
Just as the camera's view was blocked, the explosion occurred. Thousands of meters deep in the ocean, the bomb was subjected to immense water pressure, and its signal strength from the surface became weak.
Despite the modifications, the depth charges still exploded upon impact, causing the screens in the conference room and command center to shake simultaneously.
The once clear seawater instantly turned murky, as if a magnitude 10 earthquake had occurred on the seabed. Even the depth charges dropped from the top and left side were churned and spun around by the seawater.