Happy Tycoon

The central and southern parts of Baffin Bay and Smith Strait are between 70 degrees north latitude and 80 degrees north latitude. Even in midsummer, the daily average temperature here is only a few degrees above zero. At night, you don’t wear cotton clothes. People won't be able to stand it.

When they first entered the Smith Strait, the crew were very happy, because the temperature rose rapidly due to the sunny days for several days in a row. The ice on the sea surface could even thin and melt at a speed visible to the naked eye. Some sea areas even Revealed a rare blue.

Sailing in polar seas for a long time is a great test for both the crew and the passengers. Because sailing here, except for the blue of the sky and the white of the sea, you can hardly see other colors, which is very, very boring. And in summer, even if you want to see an aurora, you can't see it.

Gege wanted to see the aurora after she came out of Nuuk, but her wish was doomed to fail. In this season, the sun hardly sets and the sky is bright all day long. Where can I see the aurora?

Grid even stayed up for two nights trying to witness the aurora, but she was extremely disappointed in the end. Here, even though the sun has set, the sky is still very bright.

This kind of situation is something Ge Ge didn't think of before. Originally, she wanted to see the aurora when she said that she would go to the North Pole this time, but all her thoughts fell through.

Except Grid's wish was thwarted, the joy of the crew and Captain Andre because of the good weather did not last long.

The weather changes in the polar seas are like a child's face, it really changes as soon as it is said. Just like today, the sun was still shining before eating at noon, and the warm sunlight shone on people so comfortably that they wanted to take a nap. But when lunch was over, the sky immediately changed its face.

In less than an hour, the originally warm south wind turned into a knife-like north wind. Driven by the roaring north wind, the thick dark clouds rolled forward at a frightening speed. Then, almost in a moment, the goose-feather-like snow fell on the head and face.

Yang Jing and Ge Ge dare to swear that they have never seen such a big snowflake in their life. Feather-like snow? Too weak, have you ever seen a palm-sized snowflake?

The snowflakes falling from the sky, wrapped in the north wind, are the legendary palm-sized snowflakes

Visibility immediately decreased a lot. Before, I could still see the snow-capped mountains along the coast of Ellesmere Island and Greenland, but now I couldn't see anything. Even the sun, which had been circling above everyone's heads, had completely disappeared.

A super snowstorm came so suddenly.

Visibility quickly dropped from tens of kilometers before the snowstorm to only a few hundred meters, which made Captain Andre have to carefully reduce the speed of the ship again.

Although the Blue Whale is a PC1-class icebreaker, this kind of icebreaker is the highest-grade icebreaker that can sail in all polar seas all year round, and the Blue Whale also has the highest A5-class icebreaker rating, which can be used in extreme severe conditions all year round. Sailing in icy waters, but this ship is not a panacea.

Just like last year when the Blue Whale went to Antarctica for scientific research, it encountered a severe snowstorm on the Ross Ice Shelf. As a result, the thickness of the ice layer on the Ross Ice Shelf increased rapidly, and finally the Blue Whale was trapped in the ice shelf .

The maximum ice-breaking capability of the Blue Whale is to break through the first-year ice layer with a thickness of 3 meters or the multi-year ice layer with a thickness of 1.8 meters at a ship speed of three knots. Beyond this limit, even the Blue Whale is helpless.

This is also the main reason why the Blue Whale was trapped on the Ross Ice Shelf last year.

And now, although the Blue Whale has not yet entered the Arctic Ocean, it is already infinitely close. In addition, this is the Smith Strait, which is very narrow, and there are icebergs breaking off from the glacier and falling into the sea water. In addition, the visibility As the temperature became lower, the temperature dropped rapidly, and the ice layer that had started to melt thickened again, which made Captain Andre reduce the speed of the ship to the safest three knots.

Only by driving at this speed can the safety of the Blue Whale be ensured.

Andre doesn't want to repeat the mistakes of his previous boss. He doesn't want the Blue Whale to be trapped in the Arctic waters or hit an iceberg again.

Chris and the others are also well-informed people. They have been to most places in the world, but they have never seen such a violent snowstorm.

Oh Shet! Shet! The tall and burly Clark ran in from the cold outside, and started to curse as soon as he closed the door, Damn it, this damn weather, this damn blizzard! I can't stand up, I was almost blown down by a gust of wind just now!

John Bruno joked with a smile: Who made you so blind? Now that the blizzard is starting, why don't you hurry back to the cabin, do you want to become a frozen sculpture outside?

Shet! Clark patted his head and the snowflakes on his body, Aren't I on duty? Safety first, do you know that?

Kevin Martin on the side smiled and said: Clark, do you think there will be any pirates in this kind of weather and in this kind of sea area? Even if there are pirates, we probably won't need us. Can kill all enemies! You see, I also came in early to escape the snowstorm.

A group of people around burst into laughter.

Okay, you won! Clark McCann spread his hands helplessly, and then cursed: This damn, bloody snowstorm! Chris handed over a cup of steaming coffee, and Clark immediately smiled.

Yang Jing clapped his hands and said: OK, guys, you don't have to be on duty outside in such a big snowstorm. We walked this way, and we couldn't even see a ghost for several days. Don't worry about safety. Problem. But if you want to go out of the cabin, you must be careful on your feet. Don’t get hurt because of slipping, then the loss outweighs the gain.”

A group of people nodded. Including Karl Morris and their eight-member mercenary squad.

More than ten days have passed since leaving the port. During the past few days, Yang Jing, the boss who is bold and careless about small details, has already won the favor of the eight-member mercenary team.

Vice-captain Kevin Martin said: This blizzard is really terrible. I have never seen such a violent blizzard since I was a child. When I was in my hometown of Montana, I thought the heavy snow in our hometown in winter was the most terrifying. That’s right, but compared to this, it’s child’s play. By the way, Brian, did you ever see such a blizzard when you were serving at Thule Air Force Base?”

Brian Scott is the messenger in the mercenary team. He is very thin and small. Compared with Clark McCann, he looks like a deer standing next to an elephant. He was sitting behind a table in the restaurant, holding a cup of hot coffee in his hand and staring at the heavy snow outside in a daze. Hearing this question, he nodded and said, It's very common. I served in Thule Air Force Base in 2010. At least dozens of such blizzards a year.

As he spoke, Brian Scott pointed to the southeast direction and said, Actually, we passed by the place where I served in the past yesterday.

Grid asked curiously: Brian, did you ever serve in that military base that is known as the northernmost tip in the world?

Brian Scott smiled and nodded, Miss Boss, to be precise, that place is only the northernmost military base of the US military in the world. I served in the 821st Air Force Regiment of the US Army, and the place where I served was indeed in Tu Le Air Force Base.

Yang Jing seems to have vaguely heard about this Thule Air Force Base before, and it seems to be a pretty awesome air force base. So he said with a smile: Brian, if you can, I mean, if there are no confidentiality restrictions, can you tell us about the mysterious Thule Air Force Base?

Brian nodded and said: Actually, there is nothing to say. I can find what I should say on the Internet, and I can't touch what I shouldn't say. Boss, when I was serving there, I was an ordinary signal soldier. .”

Yang Jing raised his hand and looked at his watch, and found that it was almost eleven o'clock at noon, so he shouted loudly towards the kitchen: Garcia, let's have something rich and good at noon today, and besides, save me Grab some of those Mexican tequila shots from here, it's so cold today, I think the guys need that to cheer them up.

OK! You are the boss, you have the final say! A loud answer came from the kitchen. Garcia is the head of the restaurant on the Blue Whale, a chef who is good at making Mexican dishes and has served on the Blue Whale for ten years.

After hearing these words, a group of people immediately cheered. For these retired soldiers, there is nothing better than a glass of high-strength tequila in the cold winter. If there is one, it is two glasses

Chef Garcia quickly brought up tequila and some nuts. Yang Jing poured a glass of wine for Brian himself. After Brian thanked him, he said, Actually, Tule There is nothing mysterious about the Air Force Base, it’s just a ground-based radar station. Now the US 12th Space Warning Squadron and the US 821st Air Force Regiment are stationed there.”

Kevin Martin leaned into Clark McCann's ear and whispered: Let Brian have a drink or two later, and he will tell everything he knows, I promise. Obviously, in this scene, Kevin .Martin and the others have experienced it countless times.

Clark McCann immediately poured wine into the glass that Brian had just emptied. Brian smiled slightly, raised his glass and touched Clark, and drank the wine in the glass again.

Sure enough, after a few glasses of wine, Brian's chatter was completely opened.