Invasion of America

Chapter 118 Fire
"Your Excellency, Harden is in trouble. His helicopter has lost contact with the ground."

Less than half an hour after Harden went missing, the White House learned of the plane crash. The chief of staff personally informed the vice president, who was still in his office.

The country bumpkin, already troubled by the fact that "government orders don't leave the White House," heard the news, and his tired face instantly turned stiff and ashen. He angrily demanded, "Who did this?"

The chief of staff didn't dare to make a judgment, but only gave a general overview of Harden's schedule for the evening: "Based on the information we have so far, Harden has been invited to attend a Navy gathering on the USS Ford tonight."

General Alvin of the military showed unusual enthusiasm in trying to win over Harden.

However, according to the reports from the people I arranged to be on site, Harden appeared very distant at the party, only exchanging brief greetings with the people present out of courtesy.

Considering the sudden plane crash, it can be concluded that Harden is loyal and did not defect because of attempts to win him over.

Although a search and rescue operation has been launched, unfortunately, his chances of survival are extremely slim.

The 'country bumpkin' immediately sighed deeply, pounded the table, and cursed angrily.

When he promoted Harden, he acted on impulse, thinking that the man was unconventional and very different from those bureaucrats who were either obsequious or openly defiant, so he took a gamble.

After the appointment was made, the "country bumpkin" regretted it and was uneasy. In particular, when he learned that "Harden" had agreed to attend the Navy party, he was so angry that he thought about firing him immediately.

But the harsh reality before him was like a resounding slap in the face to the Vice President—Harden wasn't being disobedient at all; this was clearly a display of unwavering loyalty deep in enemy territory!
People need to know people to get things done. By ruthlessly ordering the abandonment of treatment for 'elderly patients,' he has already offended too many people and has no way out.

It must be that bastard Alvin's attempt to win over Harden failed, and fearing that Harden would play a role, he didn't hesitate to break off relations and cause this "crash" incident.

"It's all my fault. I didn't trust Harden enough, I didn't pay enough attention to him, and I failed to arrange for special agents to accompany him."

The "country bumpkin" didn't have many friends to begin with. He finally managed to recruit someone with no background, outstanding abilities, and unwavering loyalty, but that person just died so easily.

This made him feel a deep sense of powerlessness and regret.

The chief of staff also looked grim. Harden's "crash" was a major blow to the vice president's power base—how could someone who couldn't even protect his own subordinates expect loyalty from others?
About 100 kilometers north of the Norfolk Naval Base. The sky was dark, so dark you couldn't see your hand in front of your face.

Half an hour ago, a Bell 407 helicopter that was flying smoothly suddenly went out of control, its rotors spinning wildly, and with a shrill scream tearing through the air, it crashed into the dark river below in a very embarrassing manner.

"Crack-!"

A huge splash of water shot into the sky, making a loud noise briefly, before being quickly swallowed by darkness and disappearing without a trace.

In the instant of impact, the enormous potential energy was converted into a powerful shock, violently tearing apart the helicopter's fragile fuselage.

Inside the cabin, the four people, including the pilot and co-pilot, were struck as if by a giant hammer, their consciousness instantly engulfed by darkness, and they fell into a coma.

Only Zhou Qingfeng, with his extraordinary physique, withstood this irresistible impact and managed to maintain a sliver of consciousness.

The fuselage bobbed on the water's surface, and the intense pain felt like countless steel needles piercing my bone marrow.

But he couldn't care less about that at the moment. He gritted his teeth, broke free of the tight seatbelt, pulled open the deformed hatch, and leaned out, trying his best to search for his surroundings in the blurry night.

The situation is terrible!

The crashed helicopter, like a twisted iron coffin, swayed precariously on the icy river, each sway accompanied by a sickening metallic scraping sound.

Even more frightening is that it is sinking little by little.

Using the faint starlight and the direction of the water flow, Zhou Qingfeng determined that this was not a calm bay, but most likely the mouth of a river.

Looking out, all you can see is endless darkness and shimmering water; you can't tell which way the riverbank is, as if you're in a vast, black swamp.

Recalling the moment before the crash, the hydraulic system suddenly failed, but the helicopter's engines were still roaring, bursting out in a final struggle.

The experienced pilots demonstrated exceptional professionalism in the life-or-death moment, managing to control the out-of-control aircraft and miraculously stabilize its attitude when the altitude dropped to less than 100 meters.

Ultimately, the unfortunate helicopter crashed relatively gently into the river north of Norfolk.

However, the overturning of the fuselage caused the people inside the cabin to be tightly strapped to their seats in a twisted position by their seatbelts.

Before falling, Zhou Qingfeng subconsciously made an absolutely correct decision: taking advantage of his good balance, he fastened the seat belts for Lao Xiao and Xia Ni.

But that wasn't enough. In that life-or-death moment, he even tore off his own clothes without hesitation and quickly used them to fix the heads and necks of the two men to the deformed seat back.

This seemingly simple action played a crucial role, minimizing the violent shaking of their fragile cervical spines under the immense impact and preventing them from breaking.

Nevertheless, Lao Xiao and Xia Ni were still severely injured by the violent impact. Blood gushed from their mouths and noses, and their faces were covered in horrifying bloodstains, making them look extremely disheveled.

Zhou Qingfeng confirmed that his two companions were still breathing, untied their seatbelts, dragged them out of the cold cabin, and placed them on the floating wreckage.

As for the two dutiful pilots, their necks were twisted at bizarre angles as they tried their best to save the three people inside the cabin but failed to protect themselves.

"We must get ashore, as soon as possible!" Zhou Qingfeng endured the excruciating pain throughout his body and pulled out the special phone given to him by 'Grey Shark'.

Although this thing has simple functions, it is drop-proof, waterproof, sturdy and durable. The screen stays lit after unlocking. More importantly, it comes with a built-in electronic map and satellite positioning system.

Opening the map, the faint light on the screen stood out starkly in the pitch-black night.

In a split second between life and death, the two pilots chose the most suitable crash site—a river called 'Topahhannock'.

He strained to read the electronic map on the screen, quickly determined his distance and location from the nearest riverbank, and pressed the prominent red 'SOS' button on his phone without hesitation.

The moment the button is pressed, this specially designed phone automatically sends out a distress signal containing precise satellite positioning information.

Just a dozen seconds later, the phone rang urgently in the silent night sky, and the screen showed 'Grey Shark' as the caller.

"Victor, what happened?!" came 'Grey Shark's' anxious and hurried voice from the other end of the phone.

"Have Chen Rui fly 'Holy Light One' over. The helicopter I'm on crashed into the river, and two people are seriously injured and need medical attention." Zhou Qingfeng said concisely, without wasting words. "Understood. Stay in touch and hold on!" 'Grey Shark' responded immediately, then called out to Chen Rui, who was in the 'Playground' shelter.

At this moment, Chen Rui was about 150 kilometers away from the location where Zhou Qingfeng's plane crashed.

After receiving the emergency call from 'Grey Shark', he immediately rushed to the makeshift hangar in the shelter, started up 'Holy Light One' which had not been deployed for a long time, and simultaneously connected with Zhou Qingfeng.

"President Zhou, what happened?!" Chen Rui asked urgently.

"The helicopter's hydraulic system is most likely tampered with; someone has probably made a small hole in the hydraulic lines."

Zhou Qingfeng's voice was filled with anger.

The Bell 407 is a reliable old aircraft. Although the flight control and operating instruments have been continuously upgraded, its core power and mechanical structure are not prone to failure.

However, by simply creating a tiny gap in the hydraulic lines or leaving an imperceptible defect, the helicopter will definitely lose control suddenly during flight under the impact of hydraulic oil at the megapascal level.

"President Zhou, I will arrive in half an hour!" Chen Rui input the coordinate signal sent by Zhou Qingfeng into the navigation system of 'Holy Light One'.

With a deep roar, the low-altitude aircraft took off vertically, like a sharp arrow in the night sky, speeding towards Zhou Qingfeng's location.

The medical staff recruited at the shelter were also quickly mobilized to take over two seriously injured people who were at high risk of fractures and internal bleeding.
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Meanwhile, aboard the USS Ford, Admiral Alvin was secretly pleased with his little trick.

Assassinations in American politics are not uncommon; they are the inevitable price anyone who dares to harm vested interests pays.

The bureaucratic group of the 'deep government' has long separated itself from the grassroots, and the most closed-off military is the most stubborn.

Even if Harden backs down, he's only postponing his own demise; he won't be removed from the death list. Once he's no longer of use, he'll inevitably be dealt with.

General Alvin didn't care what the vice president thought; a puppet who couldn't even protect himself had no right to speak.

Just as the high-ranking general was immersed in his sense of control, the sound of hurried footsteps broke the silence like a sudden downpour.

The lieutenant colonel adjutant, who had accompanied Zhou Qingfeng on a tour of the aircraft carrier, rushed to the general, his face covered in sweat, his voice sharp and trembling with extreme fear:

"General! Something's happened! The lower-level living and residential area, which is currently under renovation... is on fire! The fire is huge, and... and it's spreading rapidly!"

The lieutenant colonel's cold sweat poured down his face like broken beads, his eyes flashing with terror as he could already see the ashes of his career and even his future.

"I have already arranged for damage control personnel to rush to put out the fire, but... but tonight is the sailors' party night, and most of the fleet personnel have gone ashore on leave."

Furthermore... the construction workers were in complete disarray, running around everywhere, and impossible to organize effectively!

"Fire?!" These two words pierced General Alvin's eardrums like sharp icicles, instantly freezing his relaxed expression.

For a large and complex warship, with its intricate internal structure, fire is undoubtedly the most terrifying nightmare.

Especially for supercarriers like the USS Ford, which are filled with sophisticated instruments and flammable materials, the consequences of a fire getting out of control would be unimaginable.

Zhou Qingfeng had urinated on the renovation debris, which accidentally short-circuited the wiring in the disassembled cabin.

Originally, it was just a short circuit; if it had been detected and dealt with in time, it might not have caused such a disaster.

However, the lieutenant colonel forcibly stopped the construction workers who were working at the time, leaving the site deserted and missing the best opportunity to make amends.

Worse still, the renovation process requires the use of a large number of cutting tools and welding equipment, which are prone to generating high temperatures and sparks during operation.

To avoid accidentally activating the sensitive automatic fire suppression system, the renovation workers shut down the relevant important fire-fighting equipment without authorization!

The most fatal thing was that, in order to cover up Zhou Qingfeng's urination, Xiao Jinlang specially brought over a large amount of construction waste to completely cover up the short circuit.

Most of the waste materials are flammable materials such as polyester foam and sound insulation cotton. Once ignited by sparks from a short circuit, they will burst into flames like dry tinder.

Flames, like the tongues of demons, leaped up rapidly along the floor, greedily licking the ceiling, and spreading wildly throughout the cramped living quarters.

The living quarters were filled with a complex array of cables and pipes. Once engulfed by flames at temperatures exceeding a thousand degrees, the fire quickly spread to an uncontrollable level within a minute or two.

"Is the fire suppression system... activated?!" General Alvin stared intently at the pale-faced lieutenant colonel adjutant, trying to find a glimmer of hope in his expression.

The lieutenant colonel shook his head in despair, large beads of sweat rolling down his forehead, dripping onto the floor and shattering.

"Immediately! Immediately close all fireproof doors in the living and residential areas! Stop the fire from spreading!"

Although General Alvin was terrified, his years of command experience allowed him to quickly make the most "rational" decision.

"General! There are still hundreds of sailors and workers down below." The lieutenant colonel's adjutant looked as if struck by lightning, his face turning even paler, and he pleaded in a hoarse voice.

Once those heavy fireproof doors are closed, those people in the fire or smoke-filled areas will either be burned to death or die from suffocation.

"Idiot! If the fire gets out of control, the nuclear reactor in the power station is right above the living quarters! If something goes wrong, we're all doomed!"

General Alvin no longer cared about the lives of the ordinary soldiers. He roared hoarsely, his eyes filled with fear and determination.

Although some living quarters were burned down, resulting in heavy losses, the USS Ford might still be salvageable, and the incident could still be covered up.

But if the flames spread to the core nuclear reactor, things could get really messy!
At that point, let alone whether this supercarrier, which cost a fortune to build, can be saved, the entire Norfolk naval base will likely face unimaginable catastrophic consequences.

"First, shut down the burning compartment to prevent the fire from spreading! Immediately mobilize all available damage control personnel from the port!"
Once we have enough manpower, we need to find a way to pump water in from adjacent compartments! In short, we absolutely cannot allow the fire to continue spreading!

Admiral Alvin forced himself to calm down, and he issued a series of orders in a stern voice, gathering all available personnel on the aircraft carrier.

He absolutely could not stand by and watch this supercarrier, which had just achieved combat readiness, be engulfed by a sudden fire.

(End of this chapter)