Chapter 7

The vitrification of rocks generally occurs after volcanic eruptions, lava flows, and reactions with rocks, which require extremely high temperatures. Intense explosions and burning can also lead to such phenomena. Wang Sichuan's inference is basically correct, but whether it was caused by an explosion or burning remains to be verified. Wang Sichuan's initial impression of an explosion may be due to the fact that the Japanese may have wanted to close the cave when they left, and the standard military approach would be to demolish the mountain. However, the yellow explosives used at that time would require a considerable amount to achieve this effect, and after the explosion, half of the mountain would probably have been blown away. I personally believe that it was due to long-term burning, because if a major explosion had occurred here, the cave would not look like this now.

"If it was burned, this hole should have been continuously roasted for more than forty hours. I don't know what they were burning at that time."

"We walked two rounds in the cave by wading through the water. The depth of the dark river was not even, with one foot deep and one foot shallow, and there were cobblestones below. With a flashlight shining in the water, we could see many small fish. If it were in the south, this would definitely be a good place to escape the summer heat. Unfortunately, it's a bit too cold in the north, even wearing rubber shoes is a bit chilling."

"The people above were lowered down one by one, and I also knew some people from other teams. We passed cigarettes to each other and discussed the situation in the cave. The specific work was being done by the engineering soldiers, so we didn't have to worry. The items were gradually moved onto the bamboo rafts."

During this process, we also talked about the Japanese soldiers. There were often rumors during those years that Japanese soldiers who had not retreated were caught in the mountains, some of whom had become like wild people. They did not know that World War II had ended and still thought they were fighting. It would be interesting if we really encountered such a situation in this cave.

Two hours later, everyone went down below and all eight rubber rafts were fully inflated and floating on the water.

Everyone was a little nervous, some were talking nervously and the whole cave was noisy. At this time, the colonel was also lowered down, he changed into field clothes, and it was only then that I recognized him. He turned out to be my instructor during military training, but obviously, he didn't recognize me anymore.

"The Colonel gave us a mobilization speech, mainly emphasizing safety and asking if we had confidence in completing the mission. We all reflexively said yes! Then he announced the departure and we took a deep breath, put on our raincoats, got on the rubber rafts, and were ready to officially depart."

Based on the analysis of the geological imaging photos, the location of the plane is somewhere along this underground dark river, but the vertical distance we have discovered is not equal to the actual distance. The river meanders underground and its length cannot be determined, but it must be much longer than 1,200 meters.

We are the second group. One minute after two rafts from the first group were pushed downstream into a cave, we also set off. The engineering team ahead of us turned on their boat lights to guide us, while we held our paddles and supported the sides to prevent the rafts from hitting the cave walls.

Soon, the sounds around them converged due to the narrowing of the opening and the light contracted around the skin raft. Shining a flashlight into the water at this point revealed that it had become quite deep, which is a characteristic of the cave's structure, as the shifts in the cave's shape are sudden and enormous.

"The cave is not wide, only about ten meters when you get here, but is quite high. Looking up, the crack cannot be seen top, giving the feeling of being in a narrow canyon. Shining a flashlight upwards, you can still see the roots of the plants."

"The scenery is still very impressive. We were all amazed for a while. Chen Lohu even took out his camera and took two shots with the flash."

Drifting forward for less than 30 meters, a fork in the road appeared. After gathering here, we each went into a different fork and finally entered the tense area. Cave exploration feels completely different for a 50-person exploration team and a 5-person exploration team.

"We dropped several wireless buoys so that if any issues arise ahead, the signals will be affected, allowing us to give early warning."

However, the water flow is very slow. We watched the buoy with a light bulb slowly drifting ahead and followed it with peace of mind.

The danger of cave exploration is often exaggerated in novels. In fact, as long as proper procedures are followed and caution is taken, cave exploration can be relatively safe. The main danger is unstable rocks, which can cause injury or death if the cave collapses after people enter. At this point, the engineering soldiers ahead all tightly grip their guns, which makes us feel quite ridiculous.

However, without the experience we have accumulated over the years, it is difficult for people not to feel nervous when they see the darkness in front of the cave, and this is understandable.

In the first four hours, everything went smoothly as we quickly drifted more than 2,000 meters into the water. The current became faster, and we encountered short waterfalls with turns and steps. Large boulders started appearing under the water, and some things were jammed in the gaps between rocks. These were things left behind by the Japanese, such as wooden boxes and cans rusted with holes, with some unclear numbers painted on them. We couldn't understand Japanese, so we didn't know what they meant.

Just as our attention was drawn to these things, we encountered the first obstacle. Suddenly, the boat in front of us stopped as if it had caught onto something. Our boat crashed into theirs and the people on the edge almost fell into the water. Our boat turned around with the current and got squeezed in with theirs.

"We all feel strange that we can't see anything on the water surface, but both boats are able to stop abruptly here. Is there something underwater?"

"We stirred the water with oars and sure enough, we encountered an obstacle. With a strong pull, we lifted a bunch of wire mesh from the water."

"The damn little Japanese even gave me a sneak attack." The squad leader cursed and ordered two engineers to dive into the water and cut it off.

Two warriors immediately took off their clothes and jumped into the water, holding their flashlight in their mouth and diving into the water. The water splashed up with a chilling coldness, causing us all to shiver. I really admire their courage to jump in without hesitation.

Unexpectedly, in less than three seconds after diving, both of them floated to the surface. The squad leader asked what happened and one person trembled and said, "Reporting to the squad leader, there is a dead body hanging underwater."