Under the gray sky, the waves lapped against the hull of the advancing giant ship. On the deck, sailors wearing orange-red vests were busy with their work.
They have been drifting on the sea for nearly 25 days. During these 25 days, the giant ship under their feet has been moving at a speed of more than 30 kilometers per hour.
Working at sea is not an easy task. It is not only boring, but also full of dangers. The range of activities every day is so small, and sometimes even the quality of food cannot be guaranteed.
The treatment of being a sailor in the Tang Dynasty is definitely good. Their transport ships have their own sports rooms and leisure and entertainment areas. Many ships are even so big that they can run circles on the deck.
According to the industry standards of the Tang Empire, ships crossing the endless sea must have refrigeration systems that can carry enough fresh food to meet the basic living needs of the crew.
However, it is miserable to work on small transport ships in other countries. In order to carry more things, the crew members of many transport ships even still use hammocks from decades ago...
The brand-new transport ship in front of us has a displacement of nearly 20,000 tons. It can transport many, many containers at a time, and its loading and unloading speed is several times that of previous ships.
Only newly built ports can help it quickly load and unload cargo, but almost all ports on the eastern continent are or have completed modernization.
The sound of the whistle echoed on the distant sea. Behind the giant ship, on the visible sea level, a formation of ships was cutting through the waves and moving forward quickly.
Although the models are completely different, these transport ships all fly the dragon flag of the Tang Empire. From the Western Continent all the way to the east, they have crossed the endless sea that was impossible to cross directly a few decades ago.
Now, regardless of the influence of the monsoon and almost no delays by the weather, an entire fleet can ride the wind and waves to the other end of the endless sea according to demand, transporting countless supplies there.
The large fleet includes cruise ships that transport fuel, passenger ships that transport people, and transport ships that transport various materials. The oldest of these ships was built more than ten years ago, and the latest was just launched and accepted a few months ago.
The Rule transport ship is a new ship that was just launched a few months ago. It is luxuriously equipped with radar and advanced navigation systems, and its degree of automation has also been significantly improved.
With a crew of less than 90, it has a displacement of nearly 20,000 tons. This size is already a giant in the serious high-speed transport ship class.
Therefore, in this maritime operation, this new ship that had just been commissioned served as the flagship of the transport fleet, responsible for leading a fleet of hundreds of ships to the hot wind port, which was not so safe at the moment.
The front end of the strangely shaped flat bridge was almost completely obscured by stacked containers. The radar at the top was rotating constantly, and the red dragon flag on the mast was being blown by the sea breeze, proving that the current sea conditions were not too bad.
good.
"The weather is not very good...the temperature is also very low." In the bridge, the adjutant on duty handed a cup of hot tea to his captain.
The captain took the cup of hot tea and said thank you: "After all, it is already October, and there are no ships operating on the endless sea at this time in the past."
"The waves are getting bigger and bigger, but luckily we will arrive at Rewind Port soon." The adjutant smiled. This is the first time they have carried out such a transportation mission, but it is not the first time in the true sense.
.
He, the captain, and at least one-third of the sailors on the ship actually frequently traveled to the Endless Sea. The captain even commanded larger maritime transport formations on previous transport ships.
However, after they were transferred to the new ship, it was indeed the first time they performed a similar mission: they had new communication equipment, advanced radar systems and weather systems, and even something called satellite navigation that was only available on warships in the past.
Compared with the past where they relied solely on charts and experience, there are so many things they can refer to now, so much that it feels a bit boring.
"I hope they are ready to receive us over there." The adjutant said as he reached out and grabbed the ringing phone hanging on the bulkhead behind him: "This is the 'Rule Number', please speak."
"Escort fleet 'Hammer' destroyer... the radar has detected a suspicious target, please be prepared to meet the enemy." The voice of the escort ship's liaison officer came from the receiver of the phone.
Although the Tang Empire's military only names destroyers by their hull numbers, each destroyer still gives itself a name in private. This can facilitate communication and give the officers and soldiers on the ship a sense of belonging. This habit has been adopted in the past year.
It has just emerged, and the top brass of the Navy have also acquiesced in this behavior.
Anyway, they also have a tradition of naming warships with meritorious service, so this is more convenient: as long as there is a warship that has made meritorious service, just use the name that was chosen privately.
"Understood, do you need to change course?" The captain of the Rule frowned and asked after taking the phone receiver from the adjutant.
"It's not necessary for the time being. I hope you can calm down the sailors' emotions. After a while... the noise may be a bit loud." The person over there seemed to speak in a relaxed tone, and it seemed that the problem was not too big.
Despite this, the captain of the transport ship, who was not a regular combatant, was still a little nervous. After hanging up the phone, he immediately gave the order for all crew members to prepare.
Then he grabbed the radio next to him again and adjusted the channel on it: "This is the Rules, this is the Rules... I am speaking to all members of the fleet now, repeat, I am speaking to all members of the fleet now!"
"The escort fleet encounters the enemy! Repeat, the escort fleet encounters the enemy! The fleet keeps its course unchanged! The fleet keeps its course unchanged! Pay attention to the follow-up semaphore and light contact! Pay attention to the follow-up semaphore and light contact!"
"The Gale understands!" "The Brilliant understands!" "Free Sea No. 9 understands!" "Nanshan Port Beauty receives it!" Next, a series of confirmation responses came from the channel.
The color of the sky has become darker, and it seems that the weather is indeed not very good. A storm will come soon, and the cold waves are smashed by high-speed ships. Everyone's mood seems to be as depressed as the weather.
After a brief silence, a burst of fire suddenly burst out not far away, and a white smoke column rose into the sky, and then rushed towards the distant horizon as the sailors watched.
Soon, a sound more surging than the waves came over, and everyone heard the terrifying roar when the anti-ship missile was launched.