Li had no doubt that there were nervous eyes watching Bao’s bulkheads also, even though they had yet to suffer the character building and brown adrenaline producing experience of a depth charge attack.
Bao was off their port quarter and in the process of moving into position a quarter mile behind them as Dai aimed for the gap that lay between the three islands that formed an unequally sided triangle off the coast of French Guiana.
The submersible was still riding piggy-back as they edged closer to the islands, seeking both traditionally chain anchored mines and bottom seated magnetic mines.
The Juliett carried shortwave ultra-low frequency sonar that was first devised by a clever man in a shed as a means of avoiding reversing ones car into walls or other cars when parking. The invention was then stolen by an even cleverer lady who adapted it as a tool for ships and submarines to find sea mines without being overheard at a distance by the people who had planted them. China called its own pirated version the Mouse Roar.
For thirty minutes they cautiously closed on the notorious islands.
“There isn’t such a thing as a stealth mine is there?” whispered Jie who was now clad in black wet suit, and with his hands and features painted for war, daubed dark green, grey and brown with greasy waterproof camouflage paint.
“Thank you so much for inserting that seed of doubt.” The captain murmured. “But no, there is not.”
There was a long pause as the soldier thought about that.
“But if there was, we wouldn’t know about it would we, because they are stealthy, right?”
The captain glared at him.
Jie shrugged. “Just saying.”
They crept on in silence, feeling their way closer to the land.
Just as Li was beginning to think the French were very lax with their security an urgent voice declared otherwise.
“Conn, sonar…stationary object, range zero six five, bearing two nine nine…classify as anchored sea mine…conn sonar, stationary object range zero nine nine…bearing three one five, classify as anchored sea mine…conn, sonar…stationary object…”
“Both engines back slow together…!”
Already barely making headway the Dai lost way almost instantly and backed off from danger. Behind her the Bao did likewise as its hydrophones tracked the Juliett and heard the brief flurry, knowing what it must mean.
…all stop, helmsmen hold this position.”
He and the Exec studied the chart with Jie Huaiqing close by.
“Well we knew they probably had one and indeed they have, off our starboard quarter…” Li carefully marked the mines discovered by the Mouse Roar sonar. Li suspected that going active with their main search sonar would reveal a dense minefield and possibly one that also contained magnetic proximity mines.
“Bring us slowly up to sixty feet…raise ECM.”
They remained there for ten minutes with the ECM sensors listening to localised radio and microwave transmissions as well as feeling for radar energy.
The ECM board warrant officer swivelled in his seat.
“Captain, four brief bursts of microwave transmissions, all from landward and all digitally encrypted, otherwise the board is clear, no radar energy seaward or landward at this time.”
Jie looked at the chronometer above the chart table; it was set to Beijing time. He did a quick mental sum and smiled to himself.
“Exactly 7pm local time, five digitally encrypted transmissions…” he muttered and then raised his voice enough to address the ECM operator.
“Range and bearings?…I’ll bet the first and fifth transmissions were from the same point inland and the other three are spread out along the shore, back in the undergrowth somewhere?”
The two naval officers were watching him quizzically.
“Encrypted microwave transmissions of short duration, that’ll be from man-portable battlefield radio sets.” He enlightened them. “Radio checks on the hour to observation posts or patrols watching the beach.”
“Major?” responded ECM. “Approximate ranges only, based on signal strength…” he rattled off four sets of ranges and bearings which the captain marked on the chart.
“I think you were right Captain.” said the Exec. “If he’d gone to my school I’d definitely have bullied the smug, swatty bastard.”
Jie grinned, and noted the approximated locations whilst the captain stepped over to the periscopes.
“Raise ‘Search’.” It slid smoothly up and he grasped the handles before pressing his face against the eye shield, switching to lo-lite TV and swinging the device around through 360°, ‘Dancing with the Grey lady’ as it is known, his hand cranking the prism elevation upwards as he looked for aircraft as well as surface craft. After several revolutions he was satisfied they were in no immediate danger and turned to study the land.
During their journey north along the Atlantic coast of South America Li had noted the twinkling lights on the shores of the neutral countries, Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil. In towns, cities and ports the lights blazed away, illuminating shipping to landward of the Dai, silhouetting them against that carefree absence of blackout regulations. It had been enough to make a grown predator weep, all that tonnage there for the sinking but being unable to do so without compromising the mission.
Here though, French Guiana was in total darkness, a sinister dark mass on the horizon.
He took a step backwards.
“Down ‘scope, lower the ECM, come left to two zero zero …port motor back slow, starboard motor ahead slow…now slow ahead together, helm amidships.”
Again they inched forward and Li stared hard at the chart as if trying to divine whether the French had also mined the deep water to seaward of the ancient volcano that Ile Diable and her two sisters sat atop of.
“I assume we know that there isn’t some kind of enemy position or listening post on those islands?” asked the Exec.
“It’s a bit late now to be worrying about that, but no, the islands are directly beneath the launch path of the rockets and were abandoned because of that…as our resident anorak on western health and safety laws can confirm?”
Captain Huaiqing’s blacked up face suddenly sprouted a set of pearly white teeth.
“Conn, sonar, sharp rise in the sea bed…six hundred feet… five fifty…five hundred….” The granite pinnacle arose steeply from the depths, its sides almost sheer in places.
“All stop.”
“Conn, sonar, Bao is matching us Captain.”
“Thank you” answered Li. “Raise the ECM… raise ‘Search’.”
Again the area was clear of detectable threats and as the periscope slid back down again Li looked at the chronometer.
“Half an hour to high tide Major, and there are no mines in the vicinity.” He turned and faced the soldier. “The French had a six hundred foot long cable car affair running from Royale to Devils Island as the tidal race is too fierce for boats in the channel so don’t hang about…and the very best of luck to you Major.” He held out his hand.
“Thank you for the excellent job of getting us here Captain, and whether or not we succeed I hope to see you on the dock in six hours.” The handshake was brief but firm and Li hoped it did not betray the guilt he felt.