Binjiang Police Affairs
Chapter 261 - 189: Initial Victory in the First Battle (Part 2)

Chapter 261: Chapter 189: Initial Victory in the First Battle (Part 2)

It’s late into the night, yet the sixth floor of the Linghai Shipping Company remains brightly lit.

Since yesterday, this place has become the main command center and the command post for the emergency coal transport operation.

The Police Commissioner Ding from the Police Bureau is stationed here. The Transportation Bureau has sent a deputy director, Manager Jiang from the shipping company is present around the clock, and representatives from the coal company have also arrived.

Considering that the action being taken is directly related to the coal supply of the entire county, the county leaders have approved a fund of twenty thousand yuan.

The main responsibility of the Transportation Bureau is to organize transport capacity, since neither the fleet of the county shipping company nor the vessels of the township shipping enterprises can just sit at home waiting to haul goods.

They must use the high-power radio station in the neighboring telegraph room, to keep track of the movements of the shipping company’s fleet operating in other areas, find out where they are, how long they will take to unload goods, how long it will take to find northbound cargo, and how long to load the cargo and rush to the Yangtze River waters near Yangzhou.

Some of the township shipping enterprise fleets have radios, some do not.

Now we can only organize the fleets that we can contact to participate in the emergency transport; there’s nothing that can be done about those we can’t contact for the time being.

After grasping the above information, we will then study and decide which fleets and the individual outboard boats affiliated with various shipping companies will join the second batch of armed escort fleets that are about to depart...

Commissioner Ding’s main responsibility is to maintain contact with the front lines, and to coordinate with the Water Police Station.

After all, the police power for armed escort mainly comes from the Water Police Station, and dealing with the Canal Police Department and the local police along the banks of the canal is mainly handled by the Water Police Station of the City Bureau.

Such an operation is unprecedented!

After Commissioner Ding finished contacting Scholar Yu, who is far away in Huaiyin, he immediately picked up the telegraph that the radiotelegraphist from the shipping company had just delivered, and urgently called Director Yang to report.

Director Yang is still staying in his office. As soon as he hears the phone ring, he sits up to answer it.

"Old Ding, what’s the situation? Has Xu Sanye caught up with Salted Fish?"

A good fleet, and it’s been scattered just like that.

Director Yang is not worried about Xu Sanye, who was left behind. Even if Xu Sanye were without a single officer under his command, he could handle any situation.

What Director Yang was really worried about was Salted Fish; that kid had somehow inexplicably become the vanguard.

The leading fleet, including Salted Fish, has only three officers and six members of the Cooperative Defense Team. This includes the over-sixty-year-old Captain Wang and Zhu Baogen, who used to collect the bodies of the deceased and has now turned into a mechanical engineer.

Although Salted Fish and his team have guns, they can’t just fire them whenever they want.

If they accidentally injure or kill someone, the superiors will definitely hold them accountable.

If they get injured by the water bandits or even have their guns taken away, that would be a problem too...

Commissioner Ding knows what the director is worried about. In fact, he shares the same concerns. However, he now feels much more at ease and hastens to say, "Director Yang, the canal is not the Yangtze River. The waterway is narrow and the boats are dense. It is said that on average, two boats pass by every minute.

Xu Sanye and Chen Zikun from the Water Police Station are on a tugboat. With the large Changlong they are towing, they can’t move fast, only traveling five or six kilometers an hour. Outboard boats, self-propelled ships, any motorized cargo vessels—if they see them and have the opportunity, they’ll pass by.

The number of boats in front just keeps increasing, and the distance between them and Salted Fish and Captain Wang is getting wider and wider. Now they have been left behind by at least a day and a half’s journey. If there are more boats waiting at the Shaobo lock, the distance could be even further."

Director Yang, his brows furrowed, asks, "So you’re saying they can’t catch up?"

"Definitely can’t catch up."

"Can we get the lead boat to wait?"

"I initially thought so too, but Xu Sanye disagreed, saying that the shipping company is going through its most difficult period and we can’t cause additional economic losses to them."

Commissioner Ding doesn’t want the director to be worried and unable to sleep well, so he immediately changes the subject, "Our main concern is whether Salted Fish can handle the complex situations on the canal. Now it seems that Xu Sanye has taught him well, and that kid hasn’t gone to the East Sea to train in vain. We have nothing to worry about."

Director Yang asks subconsciously, "Nothing to worry about?"

"Two hours ago, the lead fleet encountered a group of water bandits trying to board the ship and openly rob the cargo. When the bandits discovered that the fleet was transporting sand, not wanting to leave empty-handed, they then claimed that the fleet had damaged their fishing nets, extorting them and demanding three thousand yuan from Salted Fish."

"Then what?"

"Salted Fish played it cool and negotiated with them. After gathering evidence, he organized two officers from the Water Police Station, three members of our bureau’s Cooperative Defense Team, and the crew of the fleet. They managed to take control of twelve bandits without firing a single shot or bullet..."

Not only did they catch them red-handed, but they also pursued the victory by destroying the bandits’ floating den on the lake and seized a cement ship full of stolen goods.

Director Yang couldn’t believe his ears and took a while to respond before he laughed and said, "It seems Salted Fish has really grown up."

"He’s grown up now, he even has a romantic partner!"

"Salted Fish has a romantic partner?"

"It’s the girl who was previously assigned to Bailong Port by the Port Supervision Bureau. Xu Sanye played cupid, both families have met, and the relationship has been confirmed. They are pretty much engaged now."

That kid, when he first reported to the bureau, was just a child and in the blink of an eye, he now has a girlfriend.

Director Yang feels time has passed so quickly and can’t help but silently contemplate whether he’s getting old.

Commissioner Ding doesn’t know what the director is thinking, and looking down at the phone record, he smiles and says, "Salted Fish’s first battle was a victory, and Wu Ren Guang will also take action tonight. If everything goes well, we can report the success to Secretary Chen and County Magistrate Gu by tomorrow morning."

"What is Wu Ren Guang up to?"

"Wasn’t there a cement ship fully loaded with yellow sand that deliberately collided with the fleet of the shipping company? After the ship sank, the ship owner detained the fleet and eventually extorted 150,000 from the shipping company," said Commissioner Ding as he lit a cigarette, continuing, "At that time, not only did they seek help from the Port Supervision Bureau, but they also reported the incident to the local police station. It was easy to find out who that jerk who deliberately caused the maritime traffic accident was, including his name, address, and other details.

Given the large amount of money involved, Director Yu personally made a visit. The leadership of the Canal Police Department took it very seriously. In the past few days, they have been bringing Director Yu to visit the local police, and with their assistance, they have conducted a side investigation which has yielded significant results."

If the 150,000 economic loss could be recuperated, although it wouldn’t fundamentally solve the deficit of the shipping company, at least it would give them some breathing space...

Thinking of how seriously the county took this matter, Director Yang eagerly asked, "What findings?"

"The investigation revealed that the ship owner makes a living by intentionally causing maritime traffic accidents. After sinking his own ship and extorting money from our Linghai Shipping Company, he gathered eight villagers. Then, they went down to the Lixia River and spent 9,000 for three old cement ships.

After buying the ships and entering the canal, they headed north along the river without even carrying any cargo. Before they could even reach their hometown of Pizhou, they had already ’compensated’ over 13,000 yuan along the way. This caused a sensation in their village. He became a ’big shot,’ inspiring many other villagers to eagerly try their luck."

One incites another.

No.

One incites a whole bunch!

Director Yang couldn’t help but think of the scenes around this year’s Spring Festival when many people along the Yangtze River were driven by profit to illegally fish for eel larvae, and he mused, "The problem over there is so serious..."

"More serious than we imagined. The leadership of the Canal Police Department told Scholar Yu that in some villages along the river, over seventy percent of the population had participated in illegal activities on the water. This has developed into trends of normalization, openness, seasonality, violence, and mechanization."

"While we’re working on four modernizations, they’ve already achieved ’Five Modernizations’!"

"I’ve just mentioned the normalization - so many villagers involved. Those people are completely shameless, daring to rob and plunder in broad daylight, engaging in illegal activities on the water without any concern."

Commissioner Ding sighed softly and said, "Since the participants are mostly farmers living along the river, waterborne crimes are somewhat seasonal. Crime rates are lower during busy farming periods, but now that it’s the agricultural off-season, it’s the peak period for crimes.

At times they may merely insult, intimidate, or beat people, but at other times they turn to violent crimes such as murder; this is the violence aspect. As for mechanization, it means they use iron-sheet welded boats equipped with diesel outboard engines, with shallow draft and fast speed.

The law enforcement boats of the Canal Police Department are very outdated and can’t catch up with them. The local police are severely understaffed and lack maritime law enforcement equipment, so there’s nothing they can do about it."

Regardless of the type of illegal activity, once it becomes a common practice, it turns into a huge issue.

Director Yang felt some sympathy for the leaders of the Canal Police Department and, after a moment of silence, asked, "What are Wu Ren Guang’s actions tonight?"

"He is involved in the arrest of the criminals who caused the sinking ship accident and extorted the fleet of the shipping company, but he’s only following along since we don’t have jurisdiction over the case. The main force is from the Canal Police Department, which has mobilized over thirty officers. Local police are very helpful, too, deploying more than twenty people to assist."

"How many criminals are you planning to catch?"

"Two masterminds and three accomplices. Investigators from both the Canal Police Department and the local police have confirmed they’re all at home. It’s not difficult to arrest them with so many police arranged, but it won’t be so easy to successfully bring them back."

"Will there be interference?"

"In that village, more than half of the people have been involved in illegal activities on the water, and unlike here, that area is in the north where people prefer to live in compact communities. A village with several thousand people can gather quickly with one shout. If you only send three or four officers to make an arrest, they really could be beaten up."

"So, the local police bureau also regards this as very important."

"Since Director Yu has visited them, if they didn’t take it seriously, they would have to answer to the Provincial Department."

"Hahaha."

"Director Yang, what are you laughing at?"

"Scholar Yu, the chief of the Water Police Station, has been well-trained by Xu Sanye. When we have time, we should invite Old Wang to a meal and let him know that we will support him just as Xu Sanye has supported Scholar Yu. We will be his strongest backing."

"And then?" Commissioner Ding asked subconsciously.

Director Yang laughed and said, "If the Water Police Station needs people, he can request transfers from his ’hometown.’ There are so many lacking positions on his side—big commanders, instructors, deputy captains, deputy instructors, squad leaders, and guides—the team building has a long way to go and we should help him."

There aren’t many officers in the county police bureau, and even fewer positions.

Many comrades have worked hard for years, and even if there’s no credit, there’s hard work, and if they have nothing to look forward to, they won’t have motivation for work.

The Water Police Station has many positions, which can serve as a promotion pathway for officers from the Linghai Police Bureau.

Anyway, the headcount won’t change. As long as it’s not a secondment, one departure allows for one recruitment, or helps to solve the administrative status for contract officers who perform well.

One hole for one carrot.

As long as there’s personnel movement, the grassroots officers will have something to look forward to, the team’s cohesion will be stronger, and the officers’ work enthusiasm will be higher.

Commissioner Ding caught on and laughed, "That’s a good idea. Once we’re done with the current business, we’ll invite him to dinner. If he doesn’t have time to come back, we can go to Binjiang to invite him."

"At that time, let’s also call Xu Sanye. He might oppose other matters, but he should support this one."

"No matter what, he is also an officer from our bureau, his sense of ownership is stronger than yours and mine. He will definitely support this, and he must support it."

"Let’s settle on that."

After thinking it over, Director Yang smiled again and said, "Old Ding, don’t forget to send a telegram to Salted Fish in the name of the bureau party committee. Congratulate him on his initial success, remind him that the real challenge lies ahead, the next leg of the journey will be more complicated, and we hope he deals with it carefully and properly. Tell him to keep up the good work and achieve new merits."

"Sure, but the telegram can only be sent to Xu Sanye, and he has to relay it to him via the radio."

"Letting Xu Sanye relay the message is also fine. We should commend when it’s time to commend."