Siheyuan: I eat melons while doing scientific research

Chapter 1457 Suspected (3k words, my eyes are sore from holding this in, that's all for today)
It must be said that, as fellow enthusiasts of firepower, our comrades in the North always manage to come up with some impressive but ultimately unappealing projects, though sometimes these projects aren't all that great.

At the same time, they also helped us avoid a lot of pitfalls. These pitfalls looked very tempting, but at least Gao Zhendong saw the consequences. When things went wrong, they really went wrong.

Of course, no matter how bad the situation is, it can't compare to the huge mistake they made by digging a hole that sealed their own fate.

Returning to the issue of deploying combined missiles and guns on ships, Gao Zhendong's suggestion is that short-range air defense missiles should not be deployed on ships, at least not in the form of combined missiles and guns; other methods are acceptable.

After all, the range, size, weight, and price of this missile are quite suitable for small and medium-sized auxiliary vessels, at least ensuring they are not completely helpless.

The chief engineer carefully recorded Gao Zhendong's persistence. This matter needed to be reported back to the Navy, and then an experiment needed to be organized before any results could be obtained.

After all, Gao Zhendong's current identity is that of a technician. What he said may be correct, but reality does not always go according to plan.
-
A ship is operating in the southern part of the Bohai Sea.

As it moved forward, it dropped down what looked like metal buckets.

If we're talking about resemblance, some of them look like depth charges, and these things did indeed produce a huge explosion when they entered the water.

Not far away, a fishing boat watched the ship moving forward, and the captain clicked his tongue in amazement: "Hey, what's going on? Now they've switched to blasting fish?"

A fisherman nearby laughed and said, "I haven't seen them catching anything."

The boat captain took a drag of his cigarette: "You don't understand. See that rope at the stern? I reckon it's dragging a net."

The ship was indeed towing something, but it wasn't a net; it was an instrument. Data from the instrument was being continuously transmitted to the ship via wires in the towing cable.

"Spring has arrived, and thankfully we no longer need the help of icebreakers." One comrade looked at the nearly empty sea ice and was very pleased.

Before this, they operated in the northern part of the Bohai Sea. Apart from the near shore, they could walk around, but for any distance further, they had to rely on icebreakers to clear the way.

We are now close to the southern part of the Bohai Sea. With the discovery of the oil field in the northern part of the Bohai Sea, our comrades are full of confidence in the oil and gas reserves of the Bohai Sea.

The other crew members on board were unaware of why the superiors had changed the exploration plan from north to south to south to north. What puzzled them was that, according to traditional experience, the topography and geological structure of this seabed area made it unlikely to yield oil.

Does this mean we should first eliminate those that have no chance and then focus our efforts on exploring traditional oil-producing structures?
Regardless, the comrades all had one thought: since the higher-ups made this arrangement, there must be a reason for it.

The explosions continued intermittently, but the data kept coming back.

"Captain, come and take a look at this!" the comrade guarding the seismograph data processing machine suddenly exclaimed.

"Behave yourself, stop making a fuss." The captain, with half a mouthful of noodles in his mouth, turned around and mumbled incoherently.

"Oh my god!" When he finally saw what was displayed on the screen, he almost spat out half a mouthful of noodles.

"What is this?"

From the image, it appears to be a dark, low-density shadow.

"Low-density shadow? But... but I can't see the thickness!"

This shadow is quite deep underground; below the low-density shadow, there is still a low-density shadow, and the bottom cannot be seen.

If it weren't for the significant improvement in the performance of seismographs compared to the past, it would have been impossible to see anything at this depth before.

Although the depth is relatively deep and the detection range is limited, the thickness of this low-density shadow shown in the image is still astonishing, since the bottom is completely invisible.

"Is it an error?" one of the comrades asked.

"Not at all. It's still within the detection range. The accuracy might decrease, but it's impossible for them to distort the truth and call a deer a horse," another comrade said.

"No, it's still continuing..." The ship was moving forward, and the data imaging was also moving forward. At the bottom of the computer screen, a continuous black band had formed.

Its continuity even led some comrades to have the illusion that it was the seabed and the dense area above it was seawater.

After all, the most common material with such a large thickness and such continuity is the seabed.

However, the comrades were professionals after all, and they had already realized what was going on.

If the data is correct, it means that there is a thick, large, and possibly extensive low-density area in the rock layers deep beneath the seabed.

As for what it is, it could be fresh water, it could be seawater, or it could be—oil.

"Did you write down the starting point?" Looking at the dark band of color that was still advancing continuously, the captain turned to look at the first team member who exclaimed in surprise.

"Captain, it's automatically recorded; the data is on the tape," the teammate said with a smile. The captain inwardly cursed himself for being so preoccupied that he'd forgotten about this. But seeing the teammate's smiling face, he decided to stick to his guns; he couldn't lose face, could he?

"What are you saying? A bad pen is worse than a good memory. What if the tape malfunctions? This is valuable firsthand information; we need double insurance, understand?"

The team member chuckled, offering no rebuttal. He simply made a mental estimate and jotted down some data in his notebook. The boat's forward speed was roughly uniform; by working backward from its current position, they could determine the starting point.

However, as everyone knows, this starting point is no longer very important, because by now, the boat has traveled two miles, but the situation remains the same.

"Did they do something big?" one comrade asked, his eyes brimming with excitement.

"Hmm, don't get excited, it's not certain yet. Run until you can't see the low-density shadow anymore, then go back to the midpoint and probe towards both ends of the perpendicular bisector of this line!" The captain quickly made a decision.

Although he told his teammates not to get excited, his own lips were actually trembling more than theirs.

"Good!" The comrades were full of energy and high spirits.
-
In the office of the leader of the Ministry of Foreign Trade, a telephone rang.

"Hello, who is it?"

"Ah, it's Old X from the Ministry of Land Resources, hahaha, long time no see, long time no see."

The leader of the Ministry of Foreign Trade laughed heartily, but there was a hint of embarrassment in his laughter that was not easy to detect.

On the other end of the phone, the leader from the Ministry of Land and Resources had a very loud voice; he almost rushed out the door through the microphone.

"What do you mean 'long time no see'? I just asked you guys for a favor last month. Stop pretending! How's that shallow-sea oil extraction technology transfer going?"

This is the reason for the embarrassment of the leaders of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation – they have failed in their mission.

"Well... things always take time, hehehe. Why are you in such a hurry? Is oil like water in the sea, so easy to find? You take your time finding it, we'll import it as soon as possible, and I promise it won't delay your plans."

Everyone knows how troublesome it is to find oil.

There's a precedent of the Japanese soldiers guarding that huge oil field in Northeast China, missing it by just a few hundred meters but failing to find it.

However, the way things unfolded was clearly beyond the expectations of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation leaders.

"Wow, you're like Pigsy crossing the river—turning the tables on me! You think I'm rushing you? But you know, we might need it soon." The other person joked, with a hint of smugness in their tone.

"Use it? I know you've already found an offshore oil field, but there's no rush. The onshore oil fields are much bigger than that one, so let's mine the onshore ones first."

"Oh, this might be old news. Things have developed a bit beyond our expectations," the comrade from the Land Resources Department said, his voice filled with unexpected surprise.

"Huh? What do you mean? You've discovered something new?" The Ministry of Foreign Trade stopped joking and arguing; this was no small matter, but a big deal to be happy about.

Its significance lies not only in the discovery of another oil field, but also in the fact that the successive discoveries demonstrate that we have mastered an effective method for offshore oil and gas exploration.

"It's not certain yet, but the situation is relatively optimistic. Our comrades have already gone to drill. If it really is oil, the reserves are at least 3 million tons!" The Ministry of Land and Resources said cheerfully.

Although they lack mining technology, they still have the capability to drill in shallow waters, especially in the calmest shallow seas.

The tranquility here refers not only to the absence of conflict, but also to physical tranquility—the waves here are the calmest among all the seas.

"How much???!!!" Although resource reserves and recoverable reserves are two different things, and this number is not even enough for our annual consumption in the 21st century, the oil field, as the second largest integrated oil field in the country until the 21st century, still had a lot of prestige and almost scared the leaders of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs off their feet.

"Preliminary estimate: over 3 million!" came the affirmative voice from the other end of the phone. Because it's a complete oil field, a rough estimate could be made after thorough surveying, although the margin of error was large, the order of magnitude was correct. The reserves of this oil field are 6 million tons.

"Really?"

"Really! Our comrades didn't expect this either. Originally, they were just trying their luck on this ship, since the comrade who suggested this location, although not from our system, had some inexplicable expertise in this area. But unexpectedly, they actually discovered this structure, which is suspected to be a complete oil field, in the very area he specified."

The comrade from the Ministry of Land Resources made a very apt observation; the reasons behind Gao Zhendong's presentation on this matter are truly unclear.

But whether it can be explained clearly or not, the structure of what appears to be a multi-million-ton oil field is there, and that can't be faked.

The foreign trade ministry officials felt a strange sense of familiarity upon hearing this.

However, now is not the time to discuss this; there are more important things to say.

(End of this chapter)