Invasion of America

Chapter 58 This is picked up

It was just getting dark, and a thin layer of mist covered the ocean surface south of Guam. The sea breeze was humming, and the waves hit the hull of the ship, making a rhythmic, dull "pa pa" sound.

The Polaris research vessel and the Watson vehicle transport ship approached quietly.

The two behemoths were like ghosts in the night. They each broke away from the protection of the formation, deliberately lowered their speed, maintained a distance of two or three nautical miles, and sailed side by side.

On the radar screen, the two signals slowly approached each other. The lights on the ship were deliberately dimmed, leaving only a few navigation lights flickering in the fog, looming like will-o'-the-wisp.

On the bridge of the Watson, Captain Bull stood at the porthole, telescope tightly in hand, carefully assessing the ship on the opposite side. The bags under his eyes were large and dark, and it was obvious that he had not slept well in the past few days.

He was worried and wondered if he had fallen into a trap - if the contraband in the cabin was exposed, not only would he not make a fortune, he might even lose his life.

In the dim light, the hull number of the Polaris was faintly visible. The hull was painted with the white paint of a scientific research vessel, and the four large spherical radar antennas were extremely obvious.

Hahabul finally breathed a sigh of relief and laughed, "Damn it, it's the electronic reconnaissance ship of 'Dongda'. This is absolutely true."

A few minutes later, a Z-18 took off from the Polaris and headed straight for the Watson.

Through the porthole, the landing deck of the "Watson" in the distance gradually became clear, and the yellow 'H' landing aid mark was right in front of him. A crew member was standing below directing the landing.

The Z-18 landed steadily, the rotor gradually stopped rotating, and the hatch popped open with a click, letting in a sea breeze mixed with the smell of diesel.

Xiao Jinlang was the first to step out of the cabin, his leather boots making a crisp sound as they stomped on the deck. He was wearing a casual windbreaker, the hem of which fluttered violently from the propellers.

Following behind him were two naval intelligence officers, young and capable, dressed in casual clothes but with a military temperament. They carried black briefcases and walked with steady steps.

Immediately afterwards, an old academician in his seventies walked out tremblingly, holding the handrail, his silver hair disheveled in the wind, and thick glasses perched on his nose. He looked both serious and excited.

As he came down, he looked around and said with emotion: "I am still too young. This is the first time I have encountered such a thing."

Two researchers in their forties and fifties followed behind the academician, carefully holding his arm and whispering to remind the teacher to pay attention to his feet.

Bull stood on the bridge, watching the group of "guests" from afar, a beaming smile on his face. He grabbed the intercom and ordered his men, "Send our savior to the bridge."

Led by the crew of the Watson, Xiao Jinlang and his party walked through the narrow passage between the cargo holds and walked towards the bridge along a row of stacked containers.

To express his welcome, Captain Bull opened his arms, hugged Lao Xiao with a big laugh, and even asked his friend from Dongda if he wanted to have a drink.

"Let's take a look at the goods first." Xiao Jinlang smiled neither arrogantly nor humbly. "Once we're done, I can drink with the captain until dawn."

"Follow me," Captain Bull said without hesitation, leading the way. But he emphasized, "Your helicopter deck is a bit small. I'm afraid it will be difficult to speed up the transfer."

"Don't worry, we have other ships and helicopters on standby not far away." Xiao Jinlang reminded the other party intentionally or unintentionally.

Captain Bull, who had been happily leading the way, froze upon hearing this. He turned sharply back and stared at Lao Xiao. After a few seconds, he shouted in a surprised tone, "You're using an aircraft carrier to pick up the cargo?"

Lao Xiao thought something serious had happened and thought, "You just realized it?" He replied speechlessly, "What's the problem?"

Problems? Of course there are!

"We only smuggle occasionally, and our main mission is training."

"We only receive deliveries occasionally, and our main task is to conduct exercises."

"America is no longer viable. I always believed that you, with your ideals, were the beacon of hope for humanity. I never thought you would become corrupt, too."

Lao Xiao was speechless. "We never thought that you, who were once number one in the world, could be so corrupt."

Bull suddenly laughed out loud, as if to strengthen their relationship. He stepped forward, patted Lao Xiao on the shoulder, and whispered, "How much can you earn on this trip?"

"I don't have any money, I just want to complete the task." Xiao Jinlang replied.

"It's such a dangerous thing, and your superiors don't even pay?" Bull was even more surprised. He patted Lao Xiao's shoulder with some sympathy and said, "If you want to make money in the future, come to me and I'll help you make the connection."

Lao Xiao quickly agreed, saying he would remember him if he got any benefits in the future. The two of them walked into the cabin arm in arm, and soon they were eager to "chop off the chicken head and become sworn brothers."
-
The 'Watson' is a large ship of over 60,000 tons, with a cargo hold of nearly 40,000 square meters, divided into multiple decks running from the middle to the stern of the hull.

Its interior is a series of vast steel caverns, its walls painted with rust-resistant gray paint, and the air smells of motor oil and metal.

The lowest level is the heavy vehicle area, which can accommodate M1A2 Abrams main battle tanks. The tank tracks cause the deck to sink slightly.

Above that is the medium-sized vehicle level, typically filled with Humvees and armored personnel carriers, their chains clinking.

The next level up is the light equipment area, with rows of containers that may contain weapon parts or field supplies.

Each deck is connected by a fixed ramp and a hydraulic lifting platform. The ramp is wide enough for two trucks to pass side by side.

The cabin is equipped with an environmental control system to maintain constant temperature and humidity to prevent equipment from rusting. It also has a foam fire extinguishing and drainage system to deal with emergencies at sea.

Thick ventilation ducts hung overhead, humming like the ship's breathing.

Xiao Jinlang and the others first went to the middle vehicle deck to see the ten heavy trucks parked there. The rear compartments were open, revealing wooden packing boxes sealed with foam and plastic wrap.

There are heavy forklifts on board to take the boxes out and check their integrity.

"What kind of cargo are these?" Bull didn't know what was in the ten heavy trucks; he was just transporting the cargo.

"They are some cabinets." Xiao Jinlang only said half of the sentence, and naturally did not mention biochemical equipment and the like.

Oh. Bull nodded, not quite understanding, and continued to ask, "How much is it worth?"

"About 20 million." Lao Xiao didn't dare say 300 million US dollars. He was afraid that if he said it, the "cigarette and alcohol dealer" would feel unbalanced.

Bull exclaimed, "Wow!" "No wonder you sent an aircraft carrier to pick up the goods. This is a huge sum of money."

The two sides began to discuss how to transfer the goods, and the first things to be transported would definitely not be expensive cabinets and dangerous biological and chemical items.

The 'Watson' is essentially a roll-on/roll-off ship, so the most convenient way to transfer is naturally through the roll-on/roll-off ramp at the stern and the side ramp.

Alternatively, there are two 110-ton twin-column cranes located near the helicopter deck. However, these are now unusable, so the only option is to use helicopters to carry out the ant-like moving.

Since this was the first time the two teams had collaborated, and there was no early adjustment, they decided to try out some low-risk cargo first. They planned to ship Bull's cigarettes and alcohol. Bull expressed his gratitude and called in two CH-53K Super Stallion heavy-lift helicopters.

When it appeared, its seven huge rotors spun like a hurricane, and the roar of its engines caused ripples on the sea surface.

The Super Stallion has a maximum takeoff weight of 18 tons and a maximum external payload of tons. Compared to it, the Z- is a mere child.

The crew of the Watson was very efficient. Several containers of cigarettes and alcohol were packed into standard pallets, wrapped with steel mesh, and hung under the hooks of the Super Stallion.

If it weren't for the fact that the Polaris's helipad wasn't big enough, it could have lifted all the cigarettes and alcohol at once.

But even so, its lifting efficiency is three to five times higher than that of the Z-18 - there is no other way, the maximum take-off weight of the Z-18 is less than fourteen tons, and its maximum external lifting capacity is only five tons.

The first few hoisting operations went smoothly, but because they were too smooth, the cargo hoisted onto the Polaris could not leave the take-off and landing deck quickly, and instead became a bottleneck that limited the speed.

Bull took the initiative to request that the 'Super Stallion' go to other 'Dongda' ships to unload cargo - Xiao Jinlang hesitated and did not dare to make a decision.

But the accompanying naval intelligence officer nodded and whispered, "We're in real-time contact with the fleet. The commander wants to experience the Super Stallion firsthand."

You can't see this thing anywhere else.

To be on the safe side, a Z-20 flew in from a low altitude in the distance, carrying two aviation dispatch officers who were specifically responsible for guiding the takeoff and landing of the "Super Stallion".

This time we are transporting cabinets.

Ten units were stacked heavily on standard pallets in a group and wrapped with steel nets. With a hook, the "Super Stallion" was lifted up and headed straight for the No. 901 comprehensive supply ship fifty nautical miles away.

The crew members of the two CH-53K Super Stallions had realized that something was wrong at this moment. When they confirmed the outline of the Polaris, they were as frightened as Bull was.

What a bullshit research vessel! Isn't this the famous "street scooter" in the western Pacific?

Every time the US military comes to the Asia-Pacific for exercises, this guy sticks on like a dog-skin plaster to conduct electronic reconnaissance - I didn't expect that a guy with thick eyebrows and big eyes would also engage in corruption?

When the two 'Todai' dispatch officers boarded the cockpit of the 'Super Stallion', the atmosphere became even weirder.

The officer greeted them in fluent English as soon as he came up, holding a radio in his hand, obviously wanting to communicate and coordinate with them face to face.

The crew members turned their heads to glance at the "uninvited guest" who had come aboard, wondering, "When did this 'street slicker' get officers like those found on aircraft carriers?"

But the American pilot remained silent. At this point, anything was no surprise. The Super Stallion's engines roared as the cabinet steadily lifted off and flew towards No. 901.

However, the helicopter deck of No. 901 is still pitifully small. Once a pallet full of cabinets falls down, it will take the officers and soldiers on board at least half an hour to move it away.

This inefficiency was maddening. After hearing the report, the commander on the aircraft carrier gritted his teeth and stamped his feet: "I have a large enough deck here. I want to see how much this 'stud' can carry and how much it can carry."

Then, the two "Super Stallions" received new instructions and rumbled towards the "Scallion".

In the night sky, the sound of the wind stirred up by the rotor was deafening. When the crew members saw the ski-jump deck from afar through the porthole, they were all stunned.

One pilot swallowed and muttered, "Oh my God, what are we doing?"

The co-pilot stared at the cleared deck below, a large flat area with runway lights flashing for landing assistance, and couldn't help but curse: "Fuck, this is the aircraft carrier of 'Tokyo University'!"

The original plan was to lower the external crane and leave, but after a pilot spoke with the aircraft carrier's bridge, he actually controlled the helicopter to slowly land.

Without waiting for the rotors to stop, he pushed open the hatch and jumped out. As soon as his feet touched the deck, he shouted at the top of his voice: "Am I the first American pilot to land on the Dongda aircraft carrier?"

Good man, since you came here by yourself, if you don’t go up to take a closer look, you would be wasting this opportunity that fell from the sky.

Seven or eight heads suddenly appeared on the deck, and they surrounded us and greeted us with smiles, as enthusiastically as if we were old friends.

The three US military crew members were invited to the aircraft carrier restaurant to have some food and drinks, and to have a good chat to enhance the relationship between the two militaries. As for the "Super Stallion", it would not be lost if it was left there, and not even a hair would be lost.
-
The secret sea transfer operation lasted from nightfall until dawn, without stopping all night.

The helicopters of the two aircraft carrier battle groups shuttled back and forth like night owls, the roar of the rotors tearing through the darkness, and the heat waves from the engines stirred up the sea surface into rolling waves.

The two aircraft carriers each carried out night flight training. The decks were brightly lit, and the Z-18 and CH-53K took off and landed in turn. A lot of fuel was burned, but the results were impressive.

The freight was smooth, the training was in place, and both parties gained a lot of experience.

It was just dawn and the morning mist had not yet dissipated when the two fleets quietly distanced themselves from each other and completely broke off contact.

The "Reagan" turned north and headed straight for Tokyo Port; the "Green onion" circled Guam and slowly returned to the South China Sea.

But on the second day after the incident, the storm arose again.

The USS Ronald Reagan announced that a CH-53K Super Stallion suffered a mechanical failure during night flight training, and its engine roared out of control and plunged into the dark sea.

Fortunately, the three crew members were lucky enough to survive the plane crash - they escaped successfully after crashing into the sea, and relied on life jackets and flares to hold on until the search and rescue helicopter arrived.

At least no one was killed.

But after losing a helicopter, the US Navy Department could no longer sit still and asked the Pacific Fleet to set up an investigation team to find out the specific reason why the "Super Stallion" crashed into the sea.

Mechanical failure? Human error? Or simply the stress of night flight? There has to be an explanation.

The Minister of the Navy also issued an order: try to salvage the priceless wreckage as much as possible, even if only a rotten frame is left, it should not be thrown away in vain.

This is no joke—the CH-53K "Super Stallion" is ridiculously expensive, costing $1 million just to build one.

If you take into account R&D expenses, inflation and the full set of procurement costs, each aircraft will cost close to 1.4 million US dollars, which is almost 10 billion RMB!
This price can buy an F35 stealth fighter. Even the rich and inhumane US military would be heartbroken if they lost one.

Equipment always needs to be used, and when it is used, there will be losses. If it is lost, you can ask Congress for money to buy it again. Now there is a "military expenditure crisis", and the US military hopes that the "Eastern University" will be stronger.

Back in the day, during the Cold War, under the Soviet Union’s threat of war, the US military’s funding requests were never rejected.

Today's US military really misses the days when the Soviet Union was still around.

As for the "Green Onion", there is indeed an extra seven-rotor heavy helicopter under the deck - but it was picked up, and I don't think anyone wants it.

(End of this chapter)