Chapter 65

The ship that had been riding the waves finally reached the edge of the sea area and then joined up with the other several fast boats led by Xu Qiang. Xu Qiang was now aboard a second-hand Type 054A missile frigate recently transferred from the Heavenly Dynasty, the only ship under his command with anti-submarine capabilities.

Through the ship's communication system, Ji Feng knew that the five North Korean submarines were now less than 10 nautical miles from his territorial waters and showed no signs of slowing down. This couldn't help but make Ji Feng inwardly curse the young Kim for stirring up trouble. "Why don't you just be a dictator in your own North Korea? I haven't provoked you or slept with your wife. Why do you have to look at me with such disdain?"

"Son-in-law, why don't we just take them out directly? I'm afraid they'll run away if we just warn them," Xu Qiang suggested through the communication system, unable to contain his restlessness.

Ji Feng shook his head quickly. "Dad, let's wait a bit. We'll issue a warning when they get within 5 nautical miles. If they still don't listen, we'll think of a way to capture them. It's best to capture them when they get close, so they don't escape to South Korea or the Heavenly Dynasty's waters, which would put us in a difficult position."

Xu Qiang, after considering Ji Feng's insistence on capturing them, agreed and ordered all the fast boats to retreat 10 nautical miles, leaving some space for the five submarines to enter.

Ji Feng didn't understand the technicalities of capturing submarines, but fortunately, there was an expert like Xu Qiang. Although Xu Qiang wasn't from the navy, he was a graduate of a military academy and had served in the South Korean Ministry of National Defense, making him much more knowledgeable in this area. Ji Feng was there mainly to watch and lend a hand if necessary.

After just a few minutes, the five submarines approached within 5 nautical miles of Jeju Island's waters. Seeing that Xu Qiang was still waiting, Ji Feng asked the boat captain, "Why haven't we issued a warning yet? Or is it that we can't receive the warning?"

The boat captain smiled. "Commander, the commander probably wants to capture them directly. If we warn them, they might run away, and then we won't have a chance to capture the submarines." The other soldiers on the boat also laughed.

Ji Feng's forehead was instantly filled with black lines. "How devious. He's not even going to warn them and just attack directly." Well, since he didn't understand, he'd let Xu Qiang handle it. After all, Xu Qiang was his father-in-law.

Through the surveillance laptop, Ji Feng and the dozen or so soldiers on the boat could clearly see the five submarines entering their waters about 20 minutes later, and they seemed to have noticed the missile frigate named "Jeju City."

At this moment, Xu Qiang's voice came through the communication system: "Base, this is 001. I order the helicopter squadron to take off immediately and assist me in the anti-submarine operation."

"Helicopter squadron understood, arriving in 15 minutes," the base replied. It turned out they had been waiting for Xu Qiang's order. In the military equipment purchased from the United States, Ji Feng had also bought four AH-64D Apaches, just to meet the $1.5 billion military equipment quota. The U.S. wanted to sell him more, but any more would have exceeded the limit, so Ji Feng insisted on just four, with ample ammunition.

Adding the domestically produced anti-submarine helicopter on the "Jeju City," there was one for each submarine. With the dozen or so fast boats, Ji Feng estimated that capturing the five submarines shouldn't be a problem, given how outdated they were.

The five submarines clearly charged towards them, and when they were about 10 nautical miles from the fast boat fleet, the surveillance system suddenly detected four new red dots, which quickly separated from the submarines and rushed towards them. Ji Feng knew they were torpedoes, and they were all aimed at the "Jeju City."

However, these old submarines were equipped with 533mm torpedoes, which were not smart but rather old inertial torpedoes. Ji Feng didn't know this, but as the red dots representing the torpedoes got closer, he quickly grabbed the communication handset and pressed the button. "Dad, four torpedoes are coming. You need to evade quickly."

"Haha, son-in-law, don't worry. They're just four old torpedoes. They can't do anything to us. Just watch from the side," Xu Qiang laughed loudly, and the other officers in the command room also laughed.

Ji Feng touched his nose, thinking, "I didn't know that. What if you can't evade them and end up looking foolish?"

However, Ji Feng's wish was not fulfilled. The "Jeju City" was clearly equipped with an automatic buoy monitoring terminal. After Ji Feng's warning, it immediately alerted the surrounding friendly boats to evade. The new high-speed computer on the missile frigate calculated the trajectories of the four torpedoes in just over 30 seconds. The "Jeju City" slightly moved to the side, and a few minutes later, Ji Feng saw the four torpedoes pass by, leaving white trails that made him break out in a cold sweat. The closest one was less than 5 meters away. If it had hit, the ship and everyone on it could have been destroyed.

Ji Feng realized for the first time how close war was to him. In the past, he would rather stay at home and practice than deal with North Korea's provocations. But seeing the submarines launch four torpedoes at the "high-end" equipment he had spent $200 million on, he felt angry.

"Damn, you think I can't do anything about you, fat Kim? You wait, this isn't over."

While Ji Feng was seething, Xu Qiang had already ordered the attack. The dozen or so armed fast boats suddenly started, speeding towards the area where the submarines were hiding. For a missile frigate with a maximum speed of 27 knots, it would take less than 20 minutes to cover 10 nautical miles, let alone the faster armed fast boats.

Seeing the "fleet" coming, the five North Korean submarines clearly became anxious. They knew their location had been exposed. The lead submarine launched six torpedoes at the "Jeju City," while the other four launched two each at the approaching fast boats.

However, these torpedoes once again disappointed the North Korean submarine crew. Within the range of the automatic buoy monitoring system, all the friendly fast boats could easily evade them under Xu Qiang's command.

A few minutes later, the North Korean submarines realized the situation was unfavorable. They knew their mission was impossible, though Ji Feng still didn't know what their mission was. Seeing the five submarines turn and try to flee, they were already deep in the territorial waters, and it was impossible for them to escape the fast boats on the surface.

At this moment, the sound of helicopters filled the sky. Four AH-64D Apaches flew over the "fleet" and quickly approached the area where the submarines were hiding. Equipped with automatic buoy monitoring systems, they easily found the five submarines. The four armed helicopters fired warning shots with their machine guns, and long streaks of fire appeared on the sea surface.

Ji Feng didn't know that the North Korean submarine crew was already terrified by the continuous sound of bullets hitting the hull. If the hull was penetrated, they would have no chance of escape. They also realized that their location had been discovered and that they were being forced to surface. Otherwise, they would be sunk by the approaching "fleet."

However, they still tried to escape to South Korean waters, hoping for a chance.

But their dream was shattered in just a few minutes. Two armed fast boats carrying deep-water bombs dropped them 300 meters ahead of the submarines, causing two massive water columns to rise, and the underwater shock waves made the submarines shake.

Seeing the fast boats with deep-water bombs and knowing that their torpedoes couldn't hit the fast-moving and irregularly moving fast boats, and with the large frigate hiding a few nautical miles away, they realized they couldn't do anything about it.

As they hesitated, two more deep-water bombs exploded 150 meters away, pushing the nearest submarine several meters to the side, and the crew inside was thrown around.

The five submarines, realizing they had been given an impossible mission, were forced to surface under the pressure of six deep-water bombs, five helicopters, and a dozen fast boats.

When the black iron hulls gradually emerged from the water, the clear North Korean flag on them finally put Ji Feng's mind at ease. At least they hadn't attacked the wrong target. If it had been submarines from another country, he would have been in trouble. None of the countries near him were ones he could afford to provoke, and with the limited equipment he had, few would take him seriously.

(On the way to buy breakfast, I overheard a few girls chatting. A said to B: "Looking at your rosy face, I know you didn't resist the Japanese yesterday..." B calmly replied: "Although I didn't participate in yesterday's anti-Japanese war, I stood on the front line of the anti-Japanese movement...")

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(End of the chapter)