Binjiang Police Affairs
Chapter 170 - 138 Major Operation (Part 2)

Chapter 170: Chapter 138 Major Operation (Part 2)

Han Xiangning and Little Salted Fish left, and only Scholar Yu could personally get in touch with the Port Supervision Bureau.

The past twenty days for Yanjiang Police Station had been stifling. As the main department in charge of the Yangtze River Waterway Safety, the Port Supervision Bureau had an even tougher time.

Director Feng received a report from the duty officer, learning that Xu Sanye planned to detain eight fishing vessels and arrest over forty criminals who blocked the waterway, robbed fleets, and assaulted sailors, feeling it necessary to use this opportunity to intimidate those who disturbed Yangtze shipping with their illegal acts.

He not only agreed to deploy Supervision 36, Supervision 37, Supervision 39, and a newly added small speedboat without a number to participate in the operation, but also suggested contacting the Fishery Station.

Although Fishery Administration is the main department for cracking down on illegal fishing, it is the weakest among the law enforcement units on the Yangtze River, which is evident from the administrative level of the unit.

Binjiang Changjiang Port and Navigation Supervision Bureau is a main department-level institution under vertical management. Binjiang Port Police Station, affiliated with the Ministry of Transport Police, and Customs hold the same level of authority.

They are all "Bureaus," while Fishery is just a "Station."

Scholar Yu was not familiar with them, nor did he believe they could be of much help, but considering they had law enforcement authority, he simply entrusted the Port Supervision Bureau to contact them on their behalf.

Director Feng assigned this task to Director Dong, who was on duty today.

Port Supervision and Fishery Administration have a lot of contact in work and also share origins in ship inspection.

The ship inspection department of Port Supervision and the fishery vessel inspection department of Fishery Administration used to be the same organization, but were separated after institutional restructuring and now conduct their respective inspections.

Director Dong was familiar with Deputy Station Chief Zheng who was in charge of fishery vessel inspection and certification exams at the Fishery Station. Assuming Deputy Station Chief Zheng might not be working today, Director Dong called the Fishery Command with the mindset of trying his luck, but surprisingly Deputy Station Chief Zheng was actually in.

"Old Zheng, they’re going to deploy dozens of police officers, mobilize fifty basic civilian soldiers, and they’re not asking you for a penny. Where else can you find such a good deal? Hurry up and ask Station Chief Wei if he wants to participate in the operation, or if he wants to conduct a joint law enforcement."

"Station Chief Wei is out on the river, I can’t contact him right now."

"He went out on the river for law enforcement himself, do you think you can solve problems on your own?"

"Today is mainly about accompanying journalists to observe the situation on the river, of course, to drive away any illegal fishing that’s spotted."

"Which journalists are you accompanying?"

"It’s someone from the news department of Binjiang People’s Broadcasting Station, his last name is Wang, Wang Xiangguang, the journalist who exposed the thieves around Binjiang Port last year, and reported the difficulty in purchasing tickets at Binjiang Port and Bailong Port due to scalpers."

Reporters and correspondents from Binjiang together are numerous, but there aren’t many who specialize in supervising public opinion.

Director Dong has never met Reporter Wang, but he had read his news stories in the newspaper more than once and listened to the news written by Reporter Wang on the radio more than once.

Reporter Wang’s news stories seemed to be all negative. Any individuals or units that caught his attention never got off easy.

Last time, Sister Zhu said that Reporter Wang reported on the Yanjiang Police Station, with a news story titled "I’m stationed at the tail of Yangtze River, guarding the eastward flow of spring waters."

At that time, everyone was surprised and couldn’t believe that Reporter Wang would say something nice about someone.

Director Dong straightforwardly thought that the Fishery Station must be desperately seeking help, hoping to get Reporter Wang to give a favorable report on the current situation on the river, to see if it could draw the attention of superiors through public opinion.

But even if Reporter Wang is powerful, he’s just a journalist from Binjiang People’s Broadcasting Station. Even if his news could make the front page of the Binjiang Daily, it couldn’t solve the problem.

After all, this involves districts and counties from two provinces and cities, and if you count the home locations of the fishing vessels, it could involve dozens of districts and counties from seven or eight provinces and cities. What’s the use if you act and others don’t.

Yet on the other hand, having the media expose the issue is better than having people on shore completely ignorant about it.

Director Dong composed himself and said, "Old Zheng, the operation is tentatively set for tomorrow morning at six-thirty. The large group will leave Bailong Port at midnight and should arrive here at around one forty. Just give me a reply before midnight."

"Director Dong, you plan to sail at night?"

"Don’t worry, their law enforcement rescue boats have radar, water depth detectors, and even mortars."

"What do you need mortars for?"

"To fire illumination rounds if necessary."

Afraid his old friend wouldn’t believe him, Director Dong explained, "The passenger ferries here at Binjiang Port are always late, but at Bailong Port, they only get delayed on the twenty-second, twenty-third, and twenty-fourth of the twelfth lunar month. The rest of the time, they depart and dock on schedule."

Deputy Station Chief Zheng asked in astonishment, "How is that possible, don’t they fish for eel fry over there?"

"They do, and quite a lot, but they have guns and cannons. They dispatch law enforcement vessels to escort the passenger and ferry boats, fully ensuring the smooth operation of the spring travel season."

"Okay, I’ll ask him when Station Chief Wei returns."

"You must reply by midnight, I need to coordinate with them before the main force arrives in Binjiang."

"I understand, thank you."

"We’re in the same boat, what’s there to thank for, I’m hanging up now."

...

At five forty-eight, Minister Lei and Staff Ma from Four Factory Town Military Department led twenty-five civilian soldiers to Bailong Port.

They arrived by bicycle, with ammunition pouches strapped to them, carrying long shovel handles or wooden sticks tied to their bike frames, backpacks on their shoulders, military water bottles slung across their bodies, and some even brought along washbasins and rice bowls.

The sudden arrival of so many people overfilled the dunship.

Xu Sanye made a phone call to Principal Wu of Bailong Port Primary School and drove the jeep to lead everyone to the school.

"Attention to the right, eyes forward, number off!"

"One, two, three, four, five, six..."

After parking their bicycles, Staff Ma had the Civilian Militia Camp Commanders form up the troops.

Xu Sanye hopped off the jeep and hurried over to offer Minister Lei a cigarette, jokingly saying, "You came zooming over on a bicycle—Minister Lei, are you leading Civilian Soldiers or an Eighth Route Army work team?"

"If you’re dissatisfied with their military appearance, why didn’t you arrange for a vehicle to pick them up?"

"I’m just teasing you, thanks."

Minister Lei lit up the cigarette and pulled him aside: "Director Xu, is the subsidy really twenty yuan per day? You can’t scam me."

Xu Sanye had money and the confidence of a big boss as he grandly promised: "Why would I deceive you? Whatever amount I said it will be, that’s what it will be, you’ll get paid right after the mission is done!"

Minister Lei chuckled and glanced back at his men: "I told them it was ten yuan a day."

"You’re trying to save me some money?"

"If I said twenty, it’s twenty, no reneging."

"Old Lei, what exactly are you up to? You’re not trying to make a profit off the difference, are you?"

"Our funding is really tight, you should understand that better than anyone. Later, settle up with Xiao Ma, and make sure not to mention twenty yuan per day to the Civilian Soldiers."

From July of ’85, the County Armed Forces Department was restructured under local governance, implementing dual civilian and military leadership. Ministers, Political Commissioners, staff officers, and administrative staff were no longer active duty officers, but had all become local civil servants.

Previously, funds were military expenditures and had to be fully allocated without being misappropriated.

Now, all the funds come from county finance, but the county has too many expenses and ranks the Armed Forces Department even lower than the Police Bureau in funding priority. They are tightfisted even with recruitment expenses.

The situation of the County Armed Forces Department is already like this, not to mention the Town Military Departments.

In fact, the Village Military Affairs Minister is just an ordinary civil servant, only getting a taste of the military during recruitment and Civilian Soldier training, spending the rest of the time doing all sorts of odd jobs for the town.

Xu Sanye wholeheartedly supports the big military reduction since the officer-to-soldier ratio in the army had reached an unbelievable 1 to 2.3. If everyone became officers, who would go to war?

He found it baffling to place the Armed Forces Department under local governance, considering it involves the national defense reserve forces.

As an experienced Civilian Soldier, he fully understood Minister Lei’s difficulty and patted him on the arm: "Okay, I won’t talk nonsense. We’ll settle up together when the time comes."

"Thank you."

"You’ve done me a great favor, I should be the one thanking you."

Xu Sanye rolled up his sleeves to check his watch, then added, "I’ve asked Bailong Port Passenger Pier’s cafeteria to cook for us. They have large thermos containers, and will deliver the food by car once it’s ready—dinner will be ready at 6:30 sharp. After eating, have the Civilian Soldiers rest as much as they can."

Minister Lei asked: "What time will we depart?"

"We line up at 11:45 to head to the riverside and board the ship, then continue resting on board."

"Is there an operational plan?"

"I’m working on it. I’ll inform you once it’s ready."

"I’ll head back with you. It’s fine to leave Xiao Ma here."

"That’s fine, but we have to wait for Old Mei."

No sooner had Xu Sanye finished speaking than Minister Mei from Sanhe Town Military Department, just like Minister Lei earlier, arrived at Bailong Port Primary School’s playground on a bicycle with about twenty Civilian Soldiers, rushing over like an Eighth Route Army work team.

...

Meanwhile, Han Yu’s dorm was shrouded in smoke, so dense it was nearly impossible to step inside.

His dad and elder brother arrived, along with six drivers that Captain Wang found—old neighbors from the shipping company who usually drove boats. Being rare for them to gather together, of course they had to catch up properly.

The chairs weren’t enough, so they drew back the curtains and sat on the edge of the bed.

Even that wasn’t enough room, so Han Xiangning helped bring two benches from the next dorm, then assisted with tea and water, only leaving when she could no longer bear the thick smog.

Han Yu said with embarrassment: "Sister Xiang Ning, thank you."

"You’d do the same when my parents come over," Han Xiangning pointed to the adjoining dorm, urging, "You should go check on Xiao Yu. Better take him to the clinic."

Liang Xiaoyu was brought back by Ma Jintao but seemed unable to join the night’s mission.

Suffering from severe diarrhea, Ma Jintao mentioned that on the way back, they had stopped the car five times for Liang Xiaoyu to relieve himself, and after arriving, he kept rushing to the toilet on shore.

Han Yu didn’t expect such a situation after a New Year visit and entered the communal dorm, inquiring, "Xiao Yu, what exactly happened, did you catch a cold?"

"No, it seems like... like I’ve got a bad stomach."

"What did you eat?"

Liang Xiaoyu grimaced and said: "Mooncake."

Perplexed, Han Yu asked: "It’s the New Year, not Mid-Autumn Festival. Why mooncakes?"

With intense stomach pain and an urgent need for the toilet, Liang Xiaoyu mustered strength to stand up and, while heading out, said through a pained expression: "They were last year’s Mid-Autumn mooncakes. My mom couldn’t bear to eat them and kept them for me. They had mold on them already. I didn’t want to eat, but she insisted..."

"And you ate it?"

"If I didn’t eat, she’d be upset. Ouch, it hurts."

"Go to the toilet first, I’ll get the helmet. I’ll drive you to the health clinic."

"It’s okay, it’ll get better after I go."

"Ache like this and still say it’s okay, stop being stubborn, just listen to me."