I can upgrade the shelter-Chapter 799 - 697: Plan Begins

On the frozen surface of Dongting Lake Region, a group of engineers were drilling into the ice layer and, once they reached a certain depth, burying pre-prepared explosives.

They didn’t intend to blast open the ice layer but planned to use the shockwaves generated by the explosion to conduct geological surveys underground and determine the position and trajectory of the subterranean caverns.

This was in preparation for the excavation-based attack plan devised by Chen Xin.

Although Chen Xin had prepared for how to defend against the alien life forms in the underground caverns that might damage the shield tunneling machine and tunnel when designing this plan, both the military and Chen Xin himself hoped to find a tunneling route that could avoid the existing underground caverns.

This would certainly save a lot of trouble, as being able to dig directly downwards to the alien life forms’ nest and then attack would be very efficient and easy.

For the military, this was undoubtedly the most ideal situation.

On the other hand, it was to minimize construction difficulties during the excavation process.

The shield tunneling machine prepared by Chen Xin for this excavation task was at least over seventy meters long and more than ten meters in diameter. Such a massive machine would be severely damaged if it fell into a cavity during excavation.

Therefore, planning a reasonable excavation route became an important precondition for implementing the entire plan.

While these soldiers were burying explosives, another group of soldiers was working alongside engineering personnel at the location of the original city, engaging in intense construction work.

Their task was to dig a large foundational pit here to place the shield tunneling machine.

Although this excavation offensive did not require digging down first and then hoisting the shield tunneling machine down like subway construction, a pit still needed to be pre-dug to clear the starting position for excavation.

After all, the entire shield tunneling machine measures dozens of meters in length and weighs a great deal, and the digging is at a certain angle in a downward slope, so it’s impossible for the tail of the machine to point up at the sky.

On the construction site, Chen Xin was inspecting the progress of the work.

"The timeline is very tight. Are you confident about completing the task?" Chen Xin asked the construction manager next to him.

Both the senior levels and the military hope to resolve the issue in the Dongting Lake Region as soon as possible, hence they have set very strict deadlines.

"Rest assured, we’ve divided the workers into three shifts, working 24/7 with machines continuously running, ensuring the foundational pit construction is completed within the set timeline!" The manager spoke with conviction, exuding confidence.

Indeed, the manager was confident in completing the construction. On one hand, he had sufficient manpower, with the military even providing some engineer troops to assist with construction.

On the other hand, the construction task itself was not particularly complex or extensive, just digging a deep pit to complete the foundational pit for the shield tunneling machine setup.

Although the construction requirements were very strict and the timeline was tight, it was still within an achievable range, though it required very efficient construction with no room for errors or wasted time.

However, this was not an overly harsh demand, as long as there were no mistakes during construction, the mission could be completed smoothly.

Chen Xin nodded in satisfaction. Since the manager showed such confidence, he naturally had nothing more to say.

Meanwhile, as construction was underway, a giant shield tunneling machine was being assembled on the side of the site.

This machine was acquired by Chen Xin through system upgrades of a shield tunneling machine purchased from a factory, tailored for the needs of this mission.

He had spent nearly a week repeatedly experimenting to finally obtain this machine capable of excavating fifty meters per day.

Chen Xin drew on concepts and ideas from some sci-fi movies he had watched long ago, making further improvements to the cutterhead of the shield tunneling machine.

In addition to enhancing the material and structural efficiency of the cutterhead, Chen Xin also installed directional sound wave emitters on it.

This was somewhat similar to a sonic cannon; the emitter would emit ultra-high-frequency sound waves in the direction of excavation to loosen soil and crush rocks, thereby improving excavation efficiency.

In fact, fifty meters per day was not the limit of the machine. According to Chen Xin’s design and simulation results, the machine could potentially excavate more than a hundred meters per day at maximum power, but the subsequent tunnel construction couldn’t keep up then.

So after careful calculations and evaluations, Chen Xin controlled the excavation speed to an optimal fifty meters per day.

This ensured that each excavation segment’s construction was guaranteed, as was the excavation speed, without delaying too much time.

According to Chen Xin’s estimates, the entire excavation project needed to dig down approximately four to five thousand meters. Since it was diagonal tunneling, the distance was several times the vertical depth.

He allocated about nine months for the entire plan, with a construction period of about three to four months, leaving the remaining time for military operations.

The military had no objections to this. According to their estimates, if they could successfully eliminate the alien life forms’ source of combat spawn in the first offensive, thus cutting off their supply line, they were confident in concluding the battle within three months.

However, Chen Xin was not optimistic about this, as he always worried about the existence of higher-level alien units and was uncertain what else remained hidden a thousand meters underground.

The military’s estimation of concluding operations in three months was based on the existing situation.

According to Chen Xin’s calculations, even if everything went smoothly, the military might need four to five months to finish the entire cleanup operation.

In the event of unexpected incidents, the operations could last longer.

Chen Xin had previously expressed his concerns to the military, who made precautions and adjustments in response, but they didn’t plan to change the original schedule, still aiming to complete the cleanup operation within three months.

This inevitably made Chen Xin a bit worried, suspecting the military might be overconfident.

However, the military’s operational plan was very rigorous, providing ample contingencies for emergencies and preparing backup plans. It didn’t seem like they were overconfident.

In this situation, Chen Xin could only set aside his concerns and focus all his energy on executing the plan.

After all, reaching a depth of over a thousand meters underground within three months while also conducting large-scale operations involved numerous considerations and preparations. As the proposer of the plan, Chen Xin still had many things to do.