A nation's industrial development begins with junior engineers.

Chapter 642 We are Sea Eagles! We'll still say, let the storm rage on!

"Hurry! Fight the wave!"

Before the words were even finished, the black wall of water crashed down!

Boom——!

It felt as if it had been struck by an invisible, massive hammer. The small hull of the "Sea Eagle" emitted a sickening metallic groan as it was tossed out of the water and then crashed back down.

The icy seawater poured down from all directions like a waterfall, violently pounding the foredeck, the bridge windows, and even flooding the open hatches. The hull rocked and listed violently at such an angle that it seemed as if it would capsize at any moment.

The alarm wailed shrilly inside the control panel, and the gauges swung wildly. The helmsman clung to the steering wheel with all his might, his feet braced against the floor, his body thrown almost off the ground by the immense inertia, his teeth grinding as he barely managed to maintain course.

Every soldier at their post staggered under the force of the blow, crashing against the cold bulkheads and equipment, but no one let go of their post; their hands remained firmly gripping whatever could hold them in place. The salty seawater filled their mouths and noses, a suffocating and dizzying sensation mingling, the chilling tentacles of death seemingly already brushing against their spines.

However, there was no panic, only heavy breathing suppressed by the extreme turbulence and an iron-like silence. They used their bodies and wills to forcefully endure the unreasonable provocation of this steel behemoth.

Seawater streamed down Liu Huaqing's soaked hat brim, blurring his vision, but it couldn't extinguish the flame in his eyes.

"So...I want a large warship..."

"However, you think you can overthrow us? Dream on! All stations, report damage! Engine room? Weapon systems?"

"Engineer report: main engine overload, bearing temperature too high, but still spinning!" The chief engineer's voice roared out from the noisy communication tube.

"No structural damage to the foredeck! The 37mm gun is normal and has no water ingress!" The gunner's response followed immediately.

"Radar... radar echo was briefly interrupted, but is recovering! Sonar system damaged! Unidentified fluctuations were detected before the damage!"

Xiao Zhao took off his headset, and a trickle of bright red blood slowly flowed from between his fingers...

Seeing the captain's worried look, Xiao Zhao smiled and gave a thumbs up: "We can fight!"

Liu Huaqing felt a little more at ease. As long as the ship could still sail and the cannons could still fire, he absolutely could not give up!

On the bridge of the USS Blue, the captain watched the small boat struggling violently in the towering waves, yet miraculously neither capsizing nor retreating. For the first time, the playful smile on his face vanished.

"Damn it... such a small boat, how did it not fall apart after catching the tail wave? Are these people... made of iron?"

Like a stubborn leaf bobbing in a storm, the Seahawk remained on course, firmly anchored in the less than 100-meter stretch of sea between the Blue and the P2V wreckage.

The distance between the two ships teetered on the edge of danger. At their closest point, the towering gray hull of the USS Blue, resembling a sheer cliff, almost completely obscured the starlight above the USS Seahawk. In this suffocating close standoff, the imposing presence of the USS Blue's massive hull reached its peak.

Its cold, heavy steel plates, the patterns on the rivets, and the huge anchor chain holes, like the nostrils of a monster, are all so clearly visible that they are chilling.

The deep rumble of the ship cutting through the seawater at high speed was like the panting of a giant beast, pressing down on the eardrums and nerves of everyone on board the "Sea Eagle" at close range.

Liu Huaqing stood tall and straight before the violently shaking bridge window, his gaze piercing, meeting the towering gray wall without flinching. He knew there were eyes watching them from the other ship's bridge. He wanted to show them with his bearing: the backbone of the Chinese soldier is harder than steel!

"Gunner!" Liu Huaqing's voice pierced through the wind and waves.

"To!"

"Fire! Main guns! Target: waters in front of the enemy ship's bow! Warning fire! Single shot! Ready—"

"boom--!"

The roar of the 37mm cannon suddenly rang out, sharp and short, yet sounding so thin on the vast sea.

A brief but blinding flash of light shot out from the muzzle.

A tiny tracer bullet, trailing a crimson tail, like an indomitable flame, tore through the air and exploded with a bang on the sea surface just a few hundred meters in front of the bow of the "Blue"!

A small white spray of water shot into the sky, only to be swallowed up by the rolling waves.

The cannon shot, like a spark thrown into boiling oil, instantly ignited the atmosphere of extreme tension!

The massive hull of the "Blue" seemed to pause slightly.

Immediately afterwards, loudspeakers on both sides of the bridge suddenly burst forth with thunderous English warnings, like invisible giant hammers slamming into the sea, drowning out the wind and waves:

"CHINESE NAVAL VESSEL! THIS IS USS BLUE! CEASE PROVOCATIVE ACTIONS IMMEDIATELY! CEASE DANGEROUS APPROACH! STAND OFF IMMEDIATELY OR SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES!"

"Captain! What is he saying?"

"Hmph, they actually tried to pin the blame on us and told us to stop provoking them?" As one of the few top students in the North Sea Fleet, Liu Huaqing was fluent in two major foreign languages.

Hearing that this destroyer was blatantly disregarding the facts, he was naturally furious: "Fuck you! This is my territory!"

"Main guns! Aim at its bridge! Let them see clearly! Secondary guns, two tracer rounds in front of the enemy ship's bow!"

"Helmsman, dare you get any closer to it! If you get too close, its main gun will be useless!"

"understand!"

…………

"boom--!"

"boom--!"

Two tracer rounds, carrying the soldiers' final, resolute declaration, whistled as they left the chamber once more!

…………

The P2V-7U crew had already retrieved the package dropped by "KJ-1," which contained a survival kit that Jiang Xia had haphazardly put together for "KJ-1."

It was filled with a variety of things, including but not limited to self-heating food packs, self-defense weapons, compasses, and other odds and ends.

However, the P2V-7U crew did not look at it at that moment; they just stared blankly at the minesweeper that was fighting the Bald Eagle destroyer in the distance.

"Holy crap, aren't they afraid of dying... 500 tons trying to stop 3000 tons?"

"Oh dear... they've been thrown up by the wave..."

"They...fired!" The navigator pointed at the minesweeper in the distance, letting out a series of clucking sounds like a little hen. "How dare they, how dare they..."

"Dare my ass!"

The squadron leader picked up a piece of aircraft debris that had just been retrieved from the sea and began to dig it up with all his might, using it as a paddle.

"Hey? Senior, what are you doing?"

"That damn destroyer's bow is pointed at us! Do you think they'd dare ram it?"

"Holy crap! Is this a rescue or a murder...?"

The crew shivered and all crouched down, using whatever was at hand, just wanting to break away from the destroyer's course.

The navigator paused briefly as he rowed.

"Were they going to their deaths? That's why they didn't pull us onto the boat?"

The squadron leader wiped his face, unable to tell if it was seawater or tears.

"You know that already, so what are you babbling about! Hurry up and make the deal! The more that damned bald eagle wants it, the higher our stakes will be!"

After shouting, the squadron leader looked at the minesweeper with concern.

"You...don't die!"