It is enough to sit on the bottom of the sea, which can be regarded as a blessing for the heavily damaged 558 submarine. At that time, the self-weight of the submarine was greater than the buoyancy, and if the water depth in the sea area was too large, then the 558 submarine would be completely finished, and there would not even be a chance to struggle.

"Colonel, we ......"

Wen Haospear pressed his hand and signaled the second officer to pay attention to the enemy overhead, now that the enemy destroyer had not left, the self-rescue work could not be carried out. Perhaps the enemy destroyer is also checking whether it has sunk the submarine, and the submarine must be absolutely silent at this time, as the slightest noise will cause the submarine to be exposed, followed by more depth charges. The submarine can no longer withstand the blow, even a small shock, it is very likely that the pressure-resistant shell will not be able to withstand the huge pressure and burst, and when the time comes, Wen Hao spear and they will become a shark's dinner.

Everyone's mood was a little impatient, at this time the submarine had already entered the water, and if it was not rescued, I am afraid that everyone would be doomed, but the enemy destroyer was still hovering overhead, and the noise from the propellers was obvious. Wen Haomao was more anxious than anyone else, the torpedo compartment in the bow was already flooded, and the life and death of the officers and men inside were uncertain, and he had to wait for the enemy destroyer to leave.

Time passed minute by minute, and I don't know how long it took, the noise gradually disappeared, Wen Haomao looked at the listener, the listener shook his head, signaling that the enemy destroyer had not gone far, and it was not possible to act rashly now. There was another unbearable wait, perhaps hours later, when the listener took off his headphones and wiped the sweat from his forehead. Wen Haomao nodded to the chief engineer and the second officer.

"How's the torpedo bay going?" Wen Haomao walked briskly towards the bow.

"I closed the watertight door in time, but there were five brothers inside who didn't come out, I'm afraid they ......" The voice of the gunner was a little low, the torpedo compartment was so big, and it was already filled with sea water at this time. No one will survive inside.

Wen Haomao stopped in front of the closed watertight door. "Closed from the inside?"

The gunner nodded, and when he arrived, the watertight door had been closed by the officers and men in the torpedo compartment. Obviously, the sailors knew that they could not let the sea water into the back compartment, so they gave up their escape and closed the watertight door at the most critical moment, so as to win a chance for the other brothers to survive.

Wen Haomao gritted his teeth, he controlled his emotions, although there were 5 brothers sacrificed. But there were 48 other brothers alive, and he had to find a way to get them out.

"Send someone to guard here and keep an eye on the surrounding pipes." Wen Haomao returned to the command cabin after giving the order, he first looked at the depth gauge, and the pointer had already crossed the maximum reading, that is. Now the submarine is more than 250 meters from the surface of the sea, and how deep exactly. There's no way to know.

"How's it going?" During this time, the chief engineer checked the situation inside the boat.

"The door is closed, but it won't last long, and we have more than ten hours at most." Wen Haomao sighed, and the chief engineer's expression became serious.

The most important thing on the watertight door is the rubber ring used to seal the hatch, and the seawater has a certain corrosiveness, coupled with the huge pressure of the deep sea, the rubber ring will be seriously corroded, as long as the corrosion reaches a certain level, it will break, and then the seawater will shoot into the cabin like a bullet. Not only did it cause the second compartment to be flooded, but it was impossible to repair it at all. In other words, the submarine must be allowed to float before the rubber ring is corroded, and as long as the pressure of the seawater is reduced, the rubber ring is not prone to problems.

Wen Haomao rummaged through the chart table for a while, found the structure of the submarine, and then looked down.

"The only way to do that is to try to empty the ballast tanks at the bottom." The chief engineer came over, who was most familiar with the structure of the submarine, and he indicated on the structural diagram the location of the ballast tanks at the bottom.

"This is the fuel tank?" Wen Haomao immediately saw it.

"Yes, diesel cabin. How much diesel do we need to return to port? ”

Wen Haomao immediately turned over the chart and marked the approximate location of the submarine on it. "The closest to us was Puerto Rosso. There are 850 miles, and according to the range of 1000 miles, we need about 65 tons of diesel. ”

"There's about 50 tons of diesel in the tail tank, and we're trying to get .+ in, and then we're emptying the bottom tank."

"How do you empty it?" Wen Haomao frowned slightly.

"We still have about half of the charge, I'll check it later, and then connect it to the compressed air cylinder, and at the same time close the passage of the diesel tank at the bottom, open the sea valve below, and blow the air in." The chief engineer made a few strokes on the drawing, "We can only use the compressed air left once, that is, we only have one chance." ”

"Then you have to be successful." Wen Hao took a breath, "In addition, we have to find a way to ensure a balance between the beginning and the end. ”

The chief engineer nodded. "I'm in charge of checking the batteries and motors, and I also have to organize people to get some diesel."

"I'll take care of the rest."

The two said they would do it, the chief engineer called a few soldiers in the engine room to go to the battery compartment below, and Wen Haomao immediately asked the second officer to gather all the officers and soldiers, some of them to help the chief engineer transport diesel, and the other part also had important things to do.

"Send all the goods that can be moved to the aft cabin, everyone has to participate, and the action must be fast, we will have more than ten hours at most!" Wen Haomao said as he rolled up his sleeves.

In the next few hours, the 49 officers and men of the submarine were the busiest +20 people in charge of transporting diesel fuel in the bilge, and all the utensils that could be used at that time were used for diesel fuel in a supply tank behind the soldier's cabin, and a water tank that had been used up was also filled with diesel fuel. Others were sending everything that could be moved inside the boat to the aft compartment. At that time, the submarine will discharge the seawater from the tail ballast tank, and the tail will be lighter than the bow, and in order to avoid the first tilt, the weight of the tail will have to be increased.

After a few hours, more than a dozen tons of diesel fuel were delivered, more cargo was sent to the aft compartment, and finally even all the officers and soldiers who had no task went to the aft compartment.

The chief engineer climbed out of the bilge, already covered in oil.

"Drink water, how's it going?" Wen Haomao handed over the water glass.

"It was better than we thought, the battery pack was not damaged, and it wasn't too aggressive when sitting on the bottom

The valves and pipes in the cabin have been closed, and the high-pressure gas cylinders are ready to be inflated. ”

"We only have one chance?" Wen Haomao was a little hesitant at this time.

"Yes, we only have one chance, and if we run out of high-pressure air and can't get the submarine afloat, then we'll ......," the chief engineer continued, meaning very clearly.

Wen Haomao nodded slightly, and at the same time asked for the opinions of several other important officers with his eyes. The second mate and the gun commander both nodded immediately, and if they couldn't float, it was a dead end, and it was better to have a chance than not even have a chance. Finally, Wen Haomao glanced at the clock, it was already past six o'clock, to be precise, it was past six o'clock in the afternoon of August 2, they had been under the sea for about thirteen hours, and the watertight door connected to the torpedo compartment could crack at any time, and if they waited any longer, it would be a dead end. What's more, the air in the boat was already quite turbid at this time, and in order to reduce the consumption of oxygen, most of the crew stopped moving, and even if there was no problem with the watertight door, they would be suffocated to death.

"Prepare to inflate."

The chief engineer glanced at Wen Haomao again, and after Wen Haomao nodded, he pressed the button connected to the high-pressure air cylinder and began to blow air into the ballast tank at the bottom of the submarine, and at the same time exhaust the diesel fuel inside to reduce the weight of the submarine. At the same time, the ballast water tanks in the tail of the submarine began to be inflated. As long as all three ballast tanks are fully inflated, the buoyancy generated by the submarine will be greater than its own gravity!

The "sizzling" sound made when the high-pressure air is discharged is a bit harsh, and it also gives people a creepy feeling. At this time, Wen Haomao didn't think about what the consequences would be if the submarine couldn't float, he only knew that this was the only chance and he must not fail. Everyone else was nervously watching the changes in the submarine itself, perhaps not noticeably. But they had no other chance.

Ten seconds passed, the submarine did not move, half a minute passed, the submarine still did not move, Wen Haomao glanced at his watch, it has been nearly a minute since the inflation began, it stands to reason that most of the oil and water in the ballast tank have been discharged from the hull, if there is still no way to make the submarine float in the end......

Suddenly. The submarine shook violently, then there was a rapid tremor, and then there was the sound of the sea squeezing the hull, and everyone was frightened and felt that the submarine began to float, albeit slowly. It's not obvious, but there's no doubt about it. The submarine has disengaged from the bottom of the sea and is slowly floating up.

Wen Haomao looked towards the depth gauge, and several other people were looking at the gauge. The hand on it moved slightly, then regained its composure, and just when Wen Haomao wondered if he had seen the wrong place, the hand on the depth gauge vibrated again, and then turned in a counterclockwise direction. The speed at which the pointer moved was quite slow, but this time Wen Haomao was not mistaken, the depth was indeed decreasing. That is, the submarine is slowly ascending.

"Colonel, the bow is not floating!" The chief engineer noticed the longitudinal inclination of the submarine.

"Everybody go to the aft compartment and close the aft hatch!" Wen Haomao glanced at the second mate and the gun commander, "You guys also go over, and all the personnel try to get as close to the stern as possible." ”

Only Wen Haomao and the chief engineer were left in the command cabin, and the other officers and men all went to the aft cabin, and they all got as close to the stern as possible to restore the balance between the head and tail of the submarine.

The chief engineer nodded slightly at Wen Haomao. "The bow floated."

The 558 submarine left the silt on the bottom of the sea, although the first tilt was still somewhat noticeable. But the submarine has already begun to surface, and this is the best outcome.

"To the surface of the sea. Is it possible to restore the balance between the beginning and the end? Wen Haomao asked the chief engineer.

"It's up to us to get a little bit of water out of the torpedo bay, and if we can do that, we can restore our head-to-tail balance, and if we can't," the chief engineer shrugged his shoulders, "maybe we'll have to try to escape." ”

Wen Haomao nodded slightly, he knew this, there was no pump on the submarine, and no engineer considered to install a pump for the submarine, even if it was just a low-power pump. In other words, after floating to the surface, it is still necessary to organize manpower to drain the sea water from the torpedo compartment, and at the same time try to plug the loopholes. Of course, the best outcome is that the hole is above, and as long as the submarine no longer dives, there is no question of filling the hole, but who can guarantee it?

It took 5 minutes to float to the surface from a depth of 320. When the ground pointer turned to zero, Wen Haomao and the chief engineer were stunned, they didn't know whether to be surprised or suspicious. Finally, Wen Haomao walked to the pipe leading to the command platform.

"I'll go up and have a look." Wen Haomao nodded at the chief engineer, "If the situation is good, you will organize the officers and soldiers to come up, first change the air inside the submarine, and then try to start the engine, and I will arrange personnel to inspect the hull above." ”

The chief engineer only nodded slightly, saying that it was superfluous to say anything at this time.

When Wen Haomao pushed open the pressure-resistant watertight door connected to the outside of the boat, a cool sea breeze blew in, and he suddenly had a feeling of the aftermath of the disaster, but when he climbed up and saw the bow part of the boat that was still soaked in the seawater, he was not happy at all. The head tilt angle of the submarine is about 10 degrees, that is, if the balance cannot be restored, .|Sail on the sea.

Repair work began quickly, and the hedgehog bomb hit the right side of the torpedo compartment, near the waterline, and now it is completely submerged in the sea. In order to drain the surface water from the torpedo compartment, it is necessary to first plug the hole, then reduce the weight of the submarine, let the hatch above the torpedo compartment expose the sea, and then use human power to transport the sea water. It was a cumbersome task, but it had to be done in order to get the crew back to their ports.

Divers quickly found the vulnerability and began patching it. At the same time, the other crew removed all unnecessary equipment and supplies and threw them into the sea. This time, Wen Haomao did not participate in manual labor, and it was in the way of too many people, and there was no need for the captain to personally participate in these labors. Now, Wen Haomao is most worried about whether there will be anti-submarine patrol planes or anti-submarine warships of the US military, and if there are, then he and dozens of brothers on the submarine will probably have to wait for the end of the war in the US prisoner of war camp.