Don't talk about martial arts, I'm a war contractor

Chapter 507: Musashi Palace, Pirate Abu

The two chatted for a while before ending this brief meeting.

Xia Yu stood up and returned to his captain's suite to begin planning the next operation.

As the boss, he had almost mastered the first phase on the ship when the branch was put into operation, and he was still keeping an eye on the second combat patrol. Seeking stability was only one aspect, and he also had other plans.

Without the cover of the Jihuo and Haiyan, Xia Yu would not be able to disappear for several weeks like he did in the early days of his business. His satellite phone would ring several times a day.

There were calls from various companies under his control, as well as calls from clients and friends. His wife was at home taking care of the baby, and he couldn't be missing for too long.

Now that a dock landing ship and a deep-sea research vessel are operating in the same sea area, Xia Yu can take advantage of the time difference and go on board to rest, waiting for the system to be completed before looking for the next suitable target.

After temporarily giving up the heavy cruiser Kaohsiung, his target this time became the only battleship with the largest tonnage in history - Musashi Goten.

Yes, that's the one that sank after being hit by more than 20 torpedoes.

"Four years ago, Mr. Paul's Octopus discovered the Musashi, but we had been looking for it for eight years before that."

A few days later, when Xia Yu was having dinner with Joseph on the Haiyan, he talked about this topic.

The ocean, which occupies 71% of the earth's surface, is extremely vast. Even though there is approximate location information left behind at that time, the Sibuyan Sea, which is 204 kilometers long from north to south and 120 kilometers wide from east to west, is not the narrow Malacca Sea after all.

With Paul's financial support, Vulcan's team searched for a full eight years before finding the Musashi before his death.

Those who plant trees will enjoy the shade. Even if Xiayu cannot put the Black Pearl into a wine bottle like in the movie "Pirates of the Caribbean", it can still be placed on the bronze slipway as a collection.

But before that, he had to collect more than 70% of the fragments.

According to the video footage shot by the ROV, the battleship was completely shattered when it was sunk, and debris of all sizes covered an area of ​​three to four hundred meters in diameter on the seabed.

It doesn’t matter if the project is large, but I’m afraid that he will put all the pieces together and the completeness will be stuck at 69%.

Otherwise, Xia Yu would have to go to Japan and cut off a part from the wreckage of the Yamato Hotel to meet the minimum requirements for maintenance.

That would be more troublesome, because even though the sinking site at a depth of about 1000 meters in the sea is not like the shipwrecks in the shallow waters along the coast of Southeast Asia that have become diving check-in spots, the Musashi has also attracted the interest of many shipwreck exploration companies over the years.

Basically, a scientific research vessel would go there to explore every year or so. If Xia Yu didn't want to cause any supernatural incidents, he would have to dismantle and print the original wreckage after the Musashi was repaired, and then put it back to its original position after aging it.

Small pieces of debris will be gone, but the big pieces must not be lost.

For this reason, before his trip to Xi County, he stockpiled 25 tons of high-grade rich iron ore in the storage warehouse.

There is no way. The price of scrap steel is too expensive. The international price is more than 300 US dollars per ton, while the price of iron ore with an iron content of more than 60% is only 50 US dollars.

Not to mention that Xia Yu bought the goods directly from Afika, and he had lowered the price to less than 1000 million US dollars.

Save where you can, spend where you can. 60% of it is already considered fine grain in the system. Uranium concentrate is still used to purify high-enriched uranium-235, which is more irritating to the throat than "cornmeal".

"It is for this reason that Paul sold me both Vulcan and Petrel. We will continue his unfinished work."

Xia Yu put down his knife and fork and said.

So many warships and submarines were sunk during World War II, but only a few of them could be located. They still had a lot of work to do.

"I have always believed this. If you hadn't taken over, the Haiyan would probably have been sold to the navy at a low price and used for military purposes."

Joseph was not flattering, he was just expressing his own guess.

After listening to this, Xia Yu thought about it carefully and realized that it was true. Jody didn't like military equipment and marine scientific research, and all of Paul's assets were on the list of assets that could be sold.

The Octopus needs to be renovated and the price reduced before it can be sold. The equipment of the Petrel does not need to be upgraded, but it is still inevitable that the price will be lowered.

If the Magnesium Navy makes the move, you can get the internal price by offering some favors.

This means that Xia Yu has intercepted the US Navy for the second time, but they themselves don't know it.

"Research vessels should be used for research. Their annual budget is so high anyway, so just let them buy new ships."

Xia Yu spread his hands and said.

If you are not short of money, don't compete with these small business owners for second-hand equipment. Building new ones can also boost the civilian shipbuilding industry!

Well, it seems that their civilian shipbuilding industry has almost no share left. Compared with the explosive production capacity during World War II, the decline is not a little bit. It can only be said that it is really lagging behind.

"That would cost three to five hundred million dollars. That's enough to buy a littoral combat ship."

Joseph, a Magnesium native, also complained that the people knew that the Magnesium army was spending money recklessly, and the president sent people to investigate, and that was it.

Such taboo topics are only discussed overseas, but after the scientific expedition is completed, the entire Vulcan team will move to Afika and completely leave Magnesium.

There is nothing wrong with the scientific expedition team members making the world their home, but everyone is still a little hesitant about sending their families to the other side of the Atlantic Ocean.

However, Xia Yu promised to invest in the construction of an international school in Kongluga that covers primary, junior high and high school departments, so that their children can go to school and their spouses can be arranged with jobs.

What are you waiting for? Just move. Prices in Magnesium are getting more expensive every day anyway. Moving to Afika will not only increase your salary but also reduce the cost of living.

Xia Yu said that building an international school is necessary. With the rapid increase in the number of employees, family problems have become increasingly prominent, especially the issue of children's schooling.

The employees have children, and he, the boss, also has children. Xia Yu's original idea was to let Xiao Youzi stay in the country to attend elementary school, but his father's industries are all in Afika.

It might be more appropriate for him to go to school in Kongluga and become classmates with the children of employees, and fly between Europe and Asia during winter and summer vacations.

"To be honest, the littoral combat ship is quite suitable for PMSC, but it is very puzzling that the Magnesium Navy uses it."

It's a bit ahead of its time to modularize vehicles, not to mention warships. The US Navy has spent so much money to verify that this approach is not feasible, and it cannot freeze orders to stop losses for the sake of the shipbuilding industry. The foreigners have to make a fool of themselves!

"So we still like the warships of the last century and look for their final resting place."

Joseph also doesn’t understand the current magnesium navy, so just explore their World War II warships!

After finishing the conversation, Xia Yu returned to his captain's suite and connected to the Haiyan's network to video chat with his wife and son. He did not prepare to leave the ship until night fell.

"Wow~Wow~~"

The helicopter left the helipad and quickly flew in the direction of the fire, but after only flying a few kilometers it turned and headed towards the Sibuyan Sea.

飞抵北纬13度7分，东经122度32分，AS 500降落在了从海面露出的折叠停机坪上。

After putting away the fennec fox, Xia Yu entered the interior of the Nautilus through the cabin door.

First, the battery of the submarine was replaced, and then it dived rapidly and soon reached the seabed a thousand meters below.

The modified double-layer titanium alloy hull did not deform at all under the pressure of 100 atmospheres. The system gave the data that the Nautilus could dive to 2000 meters. With the material stacking at all costs, it has become the deepest submarine other than manned submersibles.

However, without the assistance of ROV, it is still impossible to "salvage" sunken ships and warships sunk below 2000 meters.

"Hey~~"

The remote-controlled submersible at the bow was ejected with a long string of bubbles. After turning on the searchlight, it continued to explore downwards while dragging a long cable.

The first thing Xia Yu saw on the screen was the Type 93 15-meter baseline inverted image stereo rangefinder located on the bridge. This device made by Nikon can provide the 460mm main gun with shooting parameters for enemy ships 41 kilometers away.

I don’t know if I can take it down and look at the moon after it’s been prepared.

Record the coordinates, and the ROV extends its robotic arm to grab:
"Shua~~"

The rangefinder disappeared immediately, followed by the main gun turret and the chrysanthemum emblem on the bow...

[Project: Musashi Tank]

[Completeness: 31.3% (cannot be maintained)]

After working until dawn, Xia Yu had only gathered more than 30% of the ship's hull.

Fighting back sleepiness, he tapped a few times on the keyboard and brought up the seabed photos displayed by the Remus 6000 AUV's multi-beam imaging sonar on another screen.

Compared with the first photo taken, the remaining wreckage of the Musashi is less than 50% of the original size.

So is it a bit difficult to even get 60% this time?

It seems that he has to go to Japan this time. Two weeks have passed, and the Maritime Self-Defense Force should have withdrawn, right?
Xia Yu can also try his luck near Aomori. He will be satisfied if he can find 35% to 10% of the F-20A fragments. He does not ask for too much because that is not realistic.

He got up and went to the kitchen, yawning as he fried two poached eggs and two sausages. He also boiled a pack of instant noodles on a high-power induction cooker.

There was no time to go back to the Fire Set to have breakfast, so I could only make do with a bite on the Nautilus.

After eating and washing up, Xia Yu fell asleep. When he opened his eyes again, it was already night.

The weasel, who was not good at cooking, simply had hot pot for dinner. After eating, he continued to work. After the completeness increased to 62.4%, there was no trace of the wreckage of the Musashi within a radius of three or four hundred meters.

This shows how brutal that naval battle was. The Japanese spent 1 million yen to build an ultimate bomb-resistant ship, but it was still sunk by the Chinese aircraft fleet.

With this money, it would be better to build three aircraft carriers. War cannot be won by relying on the ultimate decisive weapon.

However, once the Musashi is ready, it will become an exquisite collection piece. After all, big ships and big cannons are the romance of men.

夏屿原先定下的2战4航8巡16驱32潜，现在来看略微保守了，得4战8航16巡32驱64潜，翻个倍共计124艘战舰才行。

After rising to a certain height, he took the last sonar imaging photo, recovered the ROV and AUV, and began to surface, finally returning to the Fire Settlement before dawn.

It's rare for instant noodles to taste so good, but the breakfast made in advance is always delicious. In addition, they are patrolling the waters of Southeast Asia, with supplies delivered by the Hexian Navy helicopter. There is no shortage of fresh ingredients on the ship, and the Navy cook squad leader brought by Xia Yu has performed stably.

For Chinese food, choose the Jihuo; for Western food, choose the Haiyan. He can choose whichever ship he wants.

But you won’t be able to enjoy it during the days you go to the restaurant, so just pack a few meals to take away!
"Old Zhao, how have things been these days?"

Once he was away, he would be away for several days. Before taking a nap, Xia Yu had to ask Zhao Yan about the situation on the boat.

"Our drones spotted a small group of pirates searching for targets at sea, but their equipment was much worse than the group we destroyed in Malacca."

Old Zhao reported to Xia Yu.

It's obvious that they made their first fortune by stealing at sea, and purchased weapons and equipment in an effort to expand and become stronger. Unfortunately, they encountered concentrated defense fire right after the transformation.

"So you captured them alive?"

"Yes, the unmanned combat boat was silenced after a burst of bullets from its machine gun. When we sent supplies yesterday, the helicopter took them all back to Xing County."

From the day before yesterday until this morning, Lao Zhao has not been able to contact his boss, but he shouldn't ask questions that he shouldn't ask. It's not too late to report now.

"It seems that the pirates in Natuna are quite sensible. As long as they meet someone other than Abu Sayyaf, they are willing to negotiate."

Xia Yu concluded.

The pirate gangs are a combination of anti-government armed forces, extremist organizations and other elements, and they kill people without blinking an eye.

If you pay the ransom, you will be beheaded. If you don't pay, you will be beheaded again. The only word to describe this is "crazy".

This group of Filipinos not only target their own people, but also target people from India, Malay, and Xianxian. They are also not vague when they meet foreigners. Two years ago, they killed an elderly German couple.

There's nothing wrong with wanting to go sailing, but it's better not to go to waters infested with pirates, because the coast guard is not like the police on shore who can be reached with just a phone call.

"Boss, when we were contacting New Jiaxi, we heard that they recently appeared on the coastline of Marley."

Lao Zhao added.

During the deployment at sea, they exchanged intelligence with Xi County every day. Xia Yu was the last to know because he was not on the Jihuo during those days.

“Haven’t they heard about what happened in Malacca? How dare they reach out to this side?”

The annihilation of a pirate gang of several hundred people is definitely big news in Southeast Asia, and Abu Sayyaf will definitely hear about it in the Philippines.

You still come here in such a situation, obviously you look down on the strength of Concentrated Fire Defense!
But this is only one of the reasons. The main reason for attacking the coast of Marley is that the Philippines is too poor. There is no money in being a pirate locally, so it is profitable to target merchant shipping routes.

"This time they were just trying to find out. They only attacked a fishing boat from Malay, not a merchant ship."

Old Zhao continued.

"How many ships are there? What weapons do they have?"

Xia Yu asked in more detail.

"One boat, five people, all armed with AKs, boarded the boat and kidnapped the captain and first mate."

As Lao Zhao spoke, he took out a warning issued by the Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia, with the specific location marked on the map.

"This is a vanguard unit that came to conduct reconnaissance. They attacked fishing boats instead of merchant ships. Their target is not money, but the captain and first mate who are familiar with the situation in this sea area."

Based on the known information, Xia Yu made his own inference.

Although this organization's actions are crazy, they still seem to have some order.

(End of this chapter)