This is a combination iron gate, which is easy to see and is welded together by iron plates of different sizes. The thickness of the iron plates is astonishing, and they are covered with rivets the size of a thumb. The frame around the gate is pressed with iron mortar and cement, and it is unknown how much was poured. Near the latch of the gate, there are four iron grooves, and the entire iron gate is pressed into them, thick and heavy. When we step on it, there is no depression or shaking at all.
The door has double doors. In the middle of the door, there are three huge torque door pins, which have been welded together. Even the gaps in the door are welded tightly and cannot be moved even with force.
At this moment, the deputy platoon leader glanced at a soldier beside him, unsure of his intentions. The soldier pressed down hard on something and whispered to him, "It's blast-proof. The iron plate has a layer of cotton and springs inside."
"It seems that the Japanese have no plans to return after leaving," murmured Wang Sichuan on the side.
"We all nodded our heads, which was obvious."
Indeed, according to the situation here, the passage that continues downward is very likely behind this closed iron door. The level of closure here shows a determination to seal off this place, without any plans to reopen.
"However, if that's the case, then we have nowhere to go from here. How would Yuan Xile explain it? Where are the others who were with her? Even if they died, there should be bodies or at least some traces. But we haven't found anything all the way here."
"Could she have come in alone? This is absolutely impossible."
"Moreover, I don't know if I was overthinking it, but at that time I had a strange feeling: the Japanese people sealed this door not to prevent us from entering, but rather to prevent something inside from coming out."
Because if the Japanese want to close off an area, based on our experience exploring some of Japan's underground bunkers in the Inner Mongolian mountains, their approach is extremely decisive. The Japanese not only destroy the entrance tunnel to the underground bunker, but also drill directional explosives in the dome and load-bearing walls of the bunker, completely destroying the entire underground structure. This is the most effective way to ensure that data and supplies do not fall into enemy hands, and the bunker is completely scrapped and cannot be used by the enemy.
"But here, only an iron gate is closed, covered only by a shallow layer of stones, which is not typical of the way Japanese people act."
However, thinking too much at the time was useless because with our equipment, we had no way of getting through the iron gate. Not only us, even the mechanics from the geological engineering unit couldn't do it. To open this kind of door, a large quantity of oxyacetylene cutting torches would be needed.
"At first, we were not very discouraged and felt that there should be a way to open the door. However, after squatting on the iron door for a while, touching and knocking on it in all directions, there was no progress. Several people looked at each other without being able to say a word."
"In the end, Pei Qing raised the question: 'What should we do now? Are we really just going back like this?'"
We all forced a wry smile, for what could we do if we didn't return? With this thing present, no matter how unwilling we were, we couldn't continue forward. This exploration mission had truly come to an end here.
"We followed the regular work procedure, collected hydrological and geological samples, roughly depicted the appearance of the iron gate, and then packed up and prepared to leave."
Several warriors seem to have grown tired of cave exploration and were more than eager to return, helping to carry our gear as we made our way back.
However, after only a few steps, suddenly everyone felt that something was wrong with their feet. At that moment, we hadn't realized it yet, but the deputy squad leader had already awakened and uttered in a low voice, "Uh-oh!"
"We all looked down and suddenly realized that the dark river that was originally flowing in the crevices of the rocks had already overflowed to the edge of the stones, and it would soon rise over our feet."
"A few people looked at each other and turned white in the face because, as explorers and engineers, we knew too well what was about to happen - the underground river was rising!"
"Run!" someone shouted, and we immediately dropped everything we were carrying and ran in the direction we came from. I shuddered, feeling something was very wrong: we were too low and our position was not safe.
We will be warned to pay attention to the issue of rising underground water level in any cave exploration and expedition, as well as anything involving underground water systems, especially in Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau where there is sufficient rainfall. The water flow inside the caves will change completely after rainfall, causing various water systems to reverse and easily changing the water level of the underground river. It is very dangerous.
Just here, we never thought we would encounter such a thing. In Inner Mongolia, the drought in the 1960s was famous. The day we entered the cave, the sky was clear, and no one thought it would suddenly rain after a few hours. Moreover, because the water here flows under the rocky beach, the rising of this underground river was silent, which is really frightening.
Thinking about this, I suddenly remembered the sound of nails scratching on the stone that I heard just now under the iron gate, and I felt like slapping myself. God, that is not a strange sound at all, it's just the sound of dry caves flooding! I didn't even realize it at the time.
"The sudden increase in water volume in the cave, coupled with the enhanced impact force, will cause very subtle changes in the structure of the entire rock beach. The friction between the rocks will produce that kind of sound. It has been memorized in our textbook, but we have never experienced such a thing before, so we didn't even think of that aspect at the time."
At that time, we really ran wildly. Friends who live by the seaside know how fast the tide can rise, and the rising speed of the underground river is much faster than the tide! At first, we ran for our lives, imagining the danger only a few steps away, but later we could see with our own eyes the water seeping up from the cracks in the rocks.
"Go to the water dungeon!" Wang Sichuan, running at his usual speed, yelled at us from the front, "The water won't overflow there!"
After a brief thought, I knew it was already too late. The road here was too difficult to traverse. Before we even reached there, our feet would definitely not be able to touch the bottom of the water. At that time, with our strength, we would be unable to resist the currents rising with the tide.
But I still ran forward regardless of everything. If I could have stopped and thought clearly at that time, the wisest thing to do would have been to gather some floating things and prepare for drifting. However, at that time, all I could think of was running.
We ran all the way without knowing how far we had gone. The water was already up to our knees. This was the watershed. We couldn't see the stones under the water, and Wang Sichuan was the first to fall. It was not a casual fall. When he got up, his head was covered in blood, but he still kept going forward. Then, one by one, the rest of us fell down and then got up again.
Now, as I recall, it seems that every time I got up, it became harder and harder, my knees were cut, my palms were cut, and I didn't even realize it.
But in this situation, our speed is almost negligible, the force of water flow begins to manifest, we cannot stand upright, and as soon as we loosen up, we will be pushed backwards by the water. We are completely unable to move forward.
"Finally, Wang Sichuan, who was at the forefront, gave up running wildly and began to walk towards a huge rock on the side with all his strength. We knew his plan and knew that self-rescue was hopeless, so we followed him."
"When we reached the rock, the water was already up to our waist. Every step felt like risking our lives. The sound of rushing water filled our ears, especially deafening in the narrow space. We shouted to talk and first lifted Wang Sichuan up. Then he pulled each of us up onto the rock, one by one."
"In the end, the few of us huddled at the highest point of the rocks, looking down at where there was once solid ground, utterly bewildered."