owlsbooks Chapter 122 The Unsuccessful Journey to Find the Ship
Chapter 122 The Unsuccessful Journey to Find the Ship
The two ships slowly left the naval base and headed northeast.
On the way to the museum, Lorraine checked the specifications of the newly equipped weapons.
The Flying Knife II anti-tank loitering munition has a maximum range of 60 kilometers, a maximum level flight speed of 240 kilometers per hour, a maximum dive speed of 360 kilometers per hour, and a maximum endurance of 60 minutes. It employs a combined electro-optical and television guidance system.
[Effective payload of 8 kg; can employ armor-piercing warheads or tandem warheads; when using tandem warheads, it can penetrate 800 mm of homogeneous steel plate.]
It can be launched from either the ground or the air.
JP-26 Single-Barrel 76mm Stealth Naval Gun
[Adjustable rate of fire, maximum rate of fire 120 rounds per minute, maximum range 17 kilometers, anti-aircraft capability, maximum anti-aircraft altitude 1 meters.]
The muzzle velocity is 1100 meters per second, and the elevation angle is -15 degrees to 85 degrees.
The ammunition reserve is 160 rounds, capable of firing various types of ammunition, including proximity-fused pre-fragmented rounds and semi-armor-piercing extended-range rounds.
Before they knew it, the ship was only 10 nautical miles away from the museum.
After receiving Cleveland's warning, Lorraine launched a reconnaissance drone to investigate the area around the museum.
Once the drone arrived over the museum, the flagship was only 15 kilometers away from the museum shortly after, and connected with the drone.
Looking at the transmitted images, Lorraine discovered that there were only a dozen or so zombies scattered around the museum.
To ensure safety during the landing, the robotic dogs boarded landing craft and went ashore first to clear out the zombies.
Two small boats braved the wind and waves and soon reached the shore, bringing the six robotic dogs ashore.
The six mechanical dogs then split into three teams: Roy and Cat were in one team, responsible for guard and sniping; Tengu, Qiexue, and Xuantie were in another team, responsible for frontal breakthrough; and Diting was in a separate team, responsible for forward reconnaissance.
With its low-profile body, Diting easily passed through the ticket gate and entered the park. Then, it headed straight for the history exhibition hall to explore places that the drone could not detect.
The assault team, relying on their strong jumping ability, crossed the ticket gate and entered the park.
As soon as the mechanical dogs landed, they killed all the zombies wandering around the park.
Several robotic dogs then approached the entrance to the history museum, took their positions, and pointed the Gauss rifles on their backs at the entrance.
Before long, Di Ting darted out, followed by dozens of zombies.
With the crossfire of the three mechanical dogs, the zombies were easily wiped out.
At this moment, the cats on guard outside noticed something amiss.
"Cat is calling for the flagship: some large birds have been found gathering near the museum. They are about 50 centimeters long, black and white, with blue and slightly cloudy irises."
"Flagship received."
Lorraine then input the information the cat sent back into Cleveland, thus obtaining information about the bird.
The target bird is most likely a black-backed hummingbird, an omnivorous animal with a diverse diet, and typically exhibits strong aggression during the breeding season.
Based on the returned images, the bird's behavior is questionable and it is suspected of being infected with a virus. Please take necessary precautions.
At this moment, Lorraine had just put on the exoskeleton armor and immediately changed his plan to have the flagship dock directly.
Lorraine glanced at the distance between the flagship and the museum and abandoned the idea of switching to transport ships for landing. Instead, he recalled the two landing craft that were moored on the shore.
Then, he and Ouyang Nian slung the Gauss rifles behind them, took out shotguns, and loaded buckshot into the magazines.
"Fire control radar activated, data link established, laser weapons ready, poised to fire at any time."
Lorraine and the others then boarded the landing craft, preparing to land.
With a thud, the landing craft's lowered ramp hit the ground. As soon as Lorraine peeked out, he noticed that all the large birds around him were staring in his direction.
After Platinum came out, she also saw this scene and asked Lorraine in a low voice.
"Commander, should we strike first?"
Lorraine shook her head.
"Don't alert them yet. After all, we don't know how many they have. Our primary objective right now is to open the floodgates and release the warship into the water."
The three men, clad in armor, quietly entered the museum under the watchful eyes of the flock of birds.
"Commander, all the zombies in the museum section have been cleared and are waiting for orders."
[Data link established; fire control radar has identified and locked onto the target.]
"Pay attention to the instructions transmitted via the data link and prepare for air defense operations."
Several mechanical dogs guarded the three of them, their guns pointed diagonally at the sky.
Upon arriving at the control room, Lorraine pulled the emergency power switch, but after waiting for a long time, no lights came on.
"Listen, go and see if there are any usable generators around here."
Upon receiving the order, Di Ting went out and searched all possible places where the generator could be stored, including the storeroom and warehouse, but found no generator.
Upon learning this news, Lorraine turned her attention to the backup mechanical opening and closing mechanism.
Subsequently, after a closer inspection by Di Ting, Ouyang Nian discovered that these mechanical devices were severely rusted and corroded, and had probably lost their original function.
Therefore, this proposal was also rejected.
Seeing Lorraine's worried expression, Platinum suggested a rather simple and direct method.
"Use the 76mm main gun to directly hit the gate, or use 30mm armor-piercing discarding sabot rounds to 'cut' the gate open from both sides. After all, our current laser weapons are not enough to cut such thick steel plates."
Without hesitation, Lorraine decisively ordered Cleveland to turn the 30mm cannon around, ready to carry out the order.
To ensure accuracy, Cleveland used a slower rate of fire, cutting the gates on both sides little by little from top to bottom.
As the clanging of metal continued, more and more birds flew over and gathered on the building not far away.
Lorraine cautiously raised the shotgun in his hand and pointed it at the entrance to the control room.
Ouyang Nian moved to the other side, raising a Gauss rifle equipped with a large drum magazine.
Through the robotic dog's vision, Platinum noticed that the flock of birds outside was not moving for the time being.
"Commander, we're no longer needed here. Let's prepare to evacuate before they launch their attack."
As he spoke, Platinum took more flashbangs and smoke grenades from the horse behind him.
Luo Linjiang brought the electromagnetic rifle from behind his back to his front, and after confirming that it was loaded, he disengaged the safety and put it in a ready-to-fire state.
After checking, Lorraine patted Platinum on the shoulder, raised his shotgun, and stood behind her with Ouyang Nian.
Platinum raised his shield and followed the mechanical dog as they slowly walked out of the control room.
To prevent the gate from suddenly collapsing and making a loud noise, Lorraine gave instructions to Cleveland.
"Cleveland, reduce the rate of fire."
Subsequently, the intervals between the metallic clanging sounds increased significantly, followed by Cleveland's warning.
The gate is expected to be opened in 5 minutes.
Lorraine glanced at the distance between the control room and the ticket gate and had Cleveland set a four-minute countdown.
"Platinum, we have 4 minutes left. After 4 minutes, the machine gun will reach its maximum rate of fire and cut open the two gates within 10 seconds."
"clear."
After receiving Lorraine's message, Platinum silently quickened his pace, testing the birds' warning line.
Bai Jin quickened his pace until he noticed the flock of birds becoming restless, at which point he stopped accelerating and walked towards the ticket gate at a near-jogging speed.
[Commander, 4-minute countdown: 10, 9, 8, 7... 1, 0.]
The moment the countdown reached zero, the machine gun's rate of fire suddenly increased. Platinum threw the flashbang in his hand into the air, and Kheshig fired four smoke grenades, briefly obscuring everyone's figures.
Two smoke grenades then rolled out, creating a smoke trail leading to the ticket gate.
The three men and three dogs moved quickly through the smoke tunnel. When they reached the ticket gate and revealed themselves, the gate collapsed with a loud crash, and water rushed into the dock.
Taking this opportunity, Platinum drew his sword and, using the momentum of his charge, cleaved open the iron gate of the ticket checkpoint.
The iron gate was knocked to the ground by the charging Platinum, and the group quickly passed through, the noise they made not attracting the attention of the birds.
Platinum then threw two more smoke grenades, briefly obscuring the figures of the group.
Just as the group reached the landing craft, believing it would be a safe journey...
As the kheshig turned to prepare to launch a smoke screen, a swarm of birds rushed in, like a dark cloud.
"boom"
The newly equipped 76mm naval gun roared, and a proximity-fused pre-fragmented shell exploded among the birds, blasting a large hole through the dark clouds that allowed sunlight to penetrate.
The large hole didn't last more than a few seconds before it was filled by a flock of birds that followed.
Meanwhile, the twin-mounted 30mm cannons continued to spew out proximity shells, killing flocks of birds that were a little distance away from Lorraine and the others.
Then, the air was filled with the smell of burning protein as six laser interceptor weapons on the two warships continuously scorched the flocks of birds in the air.
With their view unobstructed, Cat and Roy continued to shoot down the flock of birds.
Under the cover of shipborne fire, Lorraine and his two companions boarded a landing craft and moved away from the area.
The mechanical dogs boarded the Vanguard high-speed transport ship via the ramp, lined up at the stern, and unleashed their full firepower on the flocks of birds in the sky.
Among them, the cat's performance was the most outstanding. The 14.5 mm steel nail, accelerated by more Gaussian coils, had stronger penetrating power, and each shot could tear a path through the flock of birds.
Before the ramp was fully retracted, the Vanguard and the flagship were already at full speed, ready to leave the area.