50s: Starting with a storage ring

Chapter 867 Catching Up

Unwilling to give up, Sun Zhiwei sneaked into the shipyard and found the sea trial records of the Costrom.

The record clearly states that the Costrom completed its basic tests in the inland waterway at the end of December and is currently en route to the White Sea in preparation for deep-sea trials.

Upon seeing this news, Sun Zhiwei immediately perked up. The report showed that the Costrom had only been at sea for two days.

He immediately found a secluded spot, took out a map, and carefully checked the route.

The straight-line distance between Gorky and the White Sea is 1000 kilometers. The actual flight path is: Volga River - Rybinsk Reservoir - Sheksna River - White Lake - Neva River.

This route is winding and requires crossing three rivers, three lakes, and several sections of canals, with the actual journey exceeding half of the route.

The Alfa-class nuclear submarine typically cruises at no more than 12 knots in shallow waters, and at that speed, it would take at least four days to reach the White Sea.

Furthermore, along this route, many canals require passage through multiple locks due to differences in water level, which takes even longer.

In that case, there is still time. As long as he reaches the mouth of the Neva River, White Sea City, within two days, he can intercept the Costrom.

However, although Baihai City is known as the northern water and land transportation hub, it is actually a small city with a total population of only 1 and no airport.

Although he knows that he can intercept the escaped Costa Roman if he rushes over, he actually can't get there in time.

If it were another small country, it would be fine; he could just fly there in his space using a Black Hawk or Apache helicopter. Even if he were discovered, the small country wouldn't dare to fire upon seeing an Apache.

But he wouldn't dare do that to the Russians.

There are hidden anti-aircraft missile bases everywhere here. He could be hit by several anti-aircraft missiles no matter where he flies. He didn't want to do that.

Sun Zhiwei tapped the map in frustration, and then he saw a familiar name not far from Baihai City: Severodvinsk.

Severodvinsk is a major shipbuilding center on the Arctic coast, and its naval base is a key strategic point for the Northern Fleet in the Arctic.

The Severodvinsk shipyard is one of the most important nuclear submarine manufacturing plants.

The world's first titanium alloy nuclear submarine, the Project 661 cruise missile nuclear submarine, the Komsomolskaya Prussian nuclear submarine, and the Frunze nuclear-powered strategic cruiser were all built there.

The city of Beihai is only two or three hundred kilometers away from Severodvinsk, which should only take a few hours by car.

He remembered that Severodvinsk had an airport. If he went to Severodvinsk first and then drove to White Sea City, would he have enough time?

Sun Zhiwei immediately began to replan the route. In theory, this was feasible, depending on whether there were any flights from Gorky to Severodvinsk in the near future.

Time was of the essence, so he immediately packed his things and headed to the airport.

Half an hour later, at Gorky Airport, Sun Zhiwei obtained the crucial information.

Airport staff pointed to a Tu-124 on the tarmac and said that flights to Severodvinsk run every three days, and the next flight is scheduled to depart in one hour. Check-in has already stopped.

Looking at the small plane, Sun Zhiwei was overjoyed. He had actually made it! Luckily, he hadn't dawdled and had come straight to the airport.

As long as it hasn't taken off, getting on is easy; just pay up.

From the staff he inquired with to the ticket seller and waiter, Sun Zhiwei used rubles to pave the way, and boarded the plane smoothly in just twenty minutes. As for the ticket, he simply handed twice the amount of rubles to the ticket seller to buy it for him, and then left with his boarding pass.

It was fortunate that Gorky was a peaceful inland city with no KGB agents at the airport, which allowed his little bribery trick to go smoothly.

He wouldn't have done that at the Moscow airport.

One day later, not far from Whitesea City, upstream from the mouth of the Neva River, there was an uninhabited hunter's cabin next to the forest on the riverbank.

Sun Zhiwei had just arrived here by car through the wind and snow. He found the location of the hunter's cabin to be very suitable, and since he was too cold to bear it any longer, he decided to wait here for his prey.

He lit the fire in the hunter's hut to warm the room, and then, shivering, began to prepare something for himself to eat.

He drove for several hours in the heavy snow and was completely frozen.

It was his own carelessness that led him to acquire several Russian vehicles.

The vehicles from the Maoxiong family have taken extreme cold weather into consideration, with special designs for insulation and antifreeze, and the heating power of the air conditioning in the vehicles has also been enhanced.

The spare vehicles in his space were all from America, none of them were designed for cold climates, and the heating effect of the air conditioners on the vehicles was practically non-existent in this place close to the Arctic.

If he weren't afraid of attracting attention, he would have taken out his "Kharkovchaka" all-terrain vehicle.

However, Kharkivchaka was too slow, so in order to save time, he had to make do with driving a regular car with antifreeze fuel. As a result, two of his cars broke down along the way.

As the firewood flames in the hearth rose, the temperature inside the hunter's hut also increased, and the steaming luncheon meat and vegetable stew hanging above the flames emitted a sweet aroma.

He felt alive again after enjoying a late lunch.

He found several thick quilts in the space and comfortably rested on the bed not far from the fire pit. At the same time, he opened the space to monitor the bottom of the Neva River not far away.

We can't sleep yet; the Costrom could appear in the riverbed at any moment.

Time passed by, and the next morning, while he was making breakfast, the Costa Roman appeared.

Photo: The Kostroma returned to the shipyard for repairs after colliding with the Baton Rouge in February 1992.

The Sierra-class attack submarine is 107 meters long, has a displacement of 8200 tons, a top speed of 35 knots, a maximum diving depth of 800 meters, and can carry a total of 42 torpedoes or missiles.

It was built in the same era as the Type 971, Type 685, Type 705, and Type 661 submarines. Although it had superior performance, it was expensive to build and produced in very small numbers, making it one of the most mysterious nuclear submarines in the Soviet Union.

Because it was never exposed to the outside world, much of its data was released by the Soviet Union itself, and outsiders knew very little about the details of the Sierra-class.

Sun Zhiwei went to great lengths to catch up with the Costrom because he had high hopes for it.

He has been running for so many days, and has successfully obtained the Communist Youth League member number and "K-123" number from the four goals originally planned.

However, one of the submarines was damaged and the other had technical problems with its reactor, so neither could be put into use immediately, which kept him in a bad mood for some time.

(End of this chapter)