Chapter 132: Ship Shadows

The regular weekly meeting of the Executive Committee was in progress on the Fengcheng Maru. The weekly meeting was originally held in the conference room of the Executive Committee compound. Recently, the infrastructure of various departments had been developing well, so it was changed to be hosted by departments with the right conditions in turn. At present, it was mainly hosted by the Agricultural Committee, the Ministry of the Navy, the Ministry of Health, and the Communication Center, the latter of which had just completed a three-story communication building.

The members of the Executive Committee, the leaders of the professional groups, and the advisors had just enjoyed a serving of milk and honey ice cream made from the ship’s cold storage, topped with a lot of tropical fruit cubes—the honey and fruit were brought back by the long-range exploration team.

Just as they were enjoying it, a person suddenly burst in from outside the door.

“Bosses! The ship’s radar has detected a fleet approaching!”

Chen’s reaction was the fastest. “Who’s at the radar?”

Two minutes later, the mobile phone connected to Le Lin.

“Report the other party’s position and number?”

“Uh, at the bottom right of the screen…”

“I’m not asking you to say that. Report the bearing, distance, speed, and so on.”

“Ah…” Le Lin was dumbfounded. He had never used a radar, let alone how to interpret the target from the radar screen. The several duty personnel around were also dumbfounded.

“Call Monde!”

“He’s not here—”

“Where did he go?!” Chen Haiyang was about to get angry when he suddenly remembered that it was not Monde’s shift today. “I’m coming.”

Everyone crowded over. There were five or six dots on the screen, moving at a very slow speed. From their course, they did not intend to approach Bopu Port. The collision avoidance radar on the cargo ship was displayed in a very intuitive plan view. After referring to the land reflection waves, Chen Haiyang roughly determined that the target was about six nautical miles east of the port.

“What kind of ships?”

“One is relatively large, over a hundred tons.” Chen Haiyang looked at the radar screen for a while, picked up the microphone, and called Li Di on the fort, asking about the observation of the sea surface.

“There is no moonlight in the sky, and nothing can be observed. Should I turn on the searchlight?”

“No, not for now.” These ships were 6 nautical miles away, and the searchlight did not have this range. He looked at Ming Qiu, “Do you think this is a preparation for infiltration?”

Ming Qiu nodded, “On a starless and moonless night like this, it is indeed a day for smuggling and infiltration.”

The transmigrators’ control over Bopu was limited. Whether it was the observation post on the fort or the hidden sentry on the beach, there were always a large number of blind spots. Not to mention the large area of mangrove forest along the coast here, which was simply a natural infiltration channel.

“Send someone with night vision equipment to search the beach.”

“Bei Wei has a reconnaissance team stationed here. I’ll call him right away.”

Ma Qianzhu saw that they were handling it properly and had nothing more to say. He had a feeling that he, as the chief of the general staff, was a bit of a figurehead here in the navy. Ma Qianzhu felt that the army officers, dressed in uniform Year One military uniforms, were more lovable than the people in front of him, who wore naval uniforms of various different eras and nationalities, and had less of that blustering empty airs. When the ice cream was served just now, he noticed that the sailors were even wearing white gloves—they really couldn’t do without putting on airs wherever they went.

“Should we transfer an infantry platoon over?” Ma Qianzhu suggested.

“Yes, we only have one marine company here as a formed unit, and we also have to take care of the ships. Our forces are not enough,” Chen Haiyang said without hesitation. This at least reassured Ma Qianzhu—it seemed that the army-navy dispute had not yet reached the point of acting on impulse.

After waiting for a while, the radar screen showed that these ships had no other unusual movements, just continuing to sail slowly at a speed of 2-3 knots on the side of the Leizhou Peninsula.

At night, the navy could not send out ships for inspection. It was decided to temporarily only strengthen observation and at the same time increase the hidden sentries in key areas.

After the meeting, Wu De declined the invitation to stay on the Fengcheng Maru. He felt that it was more comfortable in the Bopu camp—the bunks on the ship were really too small.

The Bopu camp had now become a base. The tents had been replaced by rows of brick and tile houses. The roads had been leveled, and the biogas lamps along the roads illuminated the camp brightly—even Bairen City did not have this facility. Although the biogas digester in Bairen City was much larger than here, most of it was used by the canteen. The simple natural baths by the river beach were also gone. Although Wu De had moved to the Bairen Commune to live a long time ago, the Indian-style tent he had built in the woods near the camp’s infirmary on D-Day had been preserved. Every time he came to Bopu, he would pull out the grass, clean the tent, and stay here for a few days—like a vacation. Speaking of which, the environment here was indeed good. Outside the woods was the beach and reefs, sheltered from the wind and facing the sun, and there were no mosquitoes.

He walked past the Bopu infirmary, which was still lit. This medical tent had also been converted into a two-story brick and wood building. The small path leading to the “villa” had been repaired and carefully paved with crushed stone. He smiled a little awkwardly. Being an official was indeed a good thing.

The “villa” was no longer an Indian-style tent, but a much more comfortable thatched hut. He had built it himself: wooden beams and pillars, bamboo-woven fences, plastered with straw and mud on the outside, and lined with bamboo mats on the inside. The floor was mud, and the roof was thick, new straw, emitting a fresh fragrance. The skill of building thatched houses in the countryside back then had not been forgotten. The side of the house facing the sea had a thatched-roofed veranda, and a fire pit was built with bricks on one side. When he got tired of eating in the canteen, he would cook some wild food here and also entertain friends he got along with. The table and a bed inside were bought from the women’s cooperative, second-hand goods, very sturdy and durable.

The room was very neat and tidy. There were not many things, but they were all in order. A porcelain vase stood incongruously on the table—in another time and space, it would be worth at least a hundred thousand RMB. Now it was filled with a large bouquet of wildflowers. Wu De knew that this was Chu Yu’s doing—ever since this girl had come to Bopu with him once, she would come to help him clean up this villa almost every three to five days.

Since Chu Yu had come to his side, she had been acting as if she were ready to entrust her whole life to him, taking care of his daily life with great diligence. Several times, she lingered in his bedroom before he went to sleep, her face as red as a peach blossom. But Wu De had never made a move, not because he was immune to temptation—who could not be moved by a woman? It was just that Chu Yu looked too young, and he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Besides, none of the others had a life secretary yet, and it would not be good for his image to be the first to get involved with a woman.

Coming down from the ship, he was a little hungry. It happened that Ma Qianzhu said he wanted to come over for a drink and a chat. He might as well make some seafood. It had been a long time since he had eaten seafood. Wu De stretched, took off his coat, and hung it up. He dragged a wooden box from behind the bed and unlocked it. Inside the box, besides a sleeping bag and other bedding, there was a complete set of emergency wilderness survival items, all neatly organized. At the bottom was a black canvas gun bag, containing a Type 56 semi-automatic rifle and two boxes of ammunition. In case of any accident, he could grab his bag and gun and survive independently—in these times, one had to trust the organization, but also trust oneself.

He took out a horse lantern from the box, a 2-meter wide nylon net, with two sturdy poles attached to the sides, and a stone tied to one end. He was about to go out when he saw Ma Qianzhu strolling over, carrying a rattan basket.

“What’s that?”

“Wine. Waiting for you to make a late-night snack.”

“Sure. Wait a moment.”

He went out to the bay, took the fishnet, and waded into the sea up to his waist. He opened the net and drove the poles deep into the mud, then went back to the shore to get stones to weigh down the bamboo poles. He hung a horse lantern on the other pole and waited for the crabs to come. This fishnet was a robber’s net. The mesh was as fine as a sieve. Even the Dragon King of the Sea would be finished if he got caught. Small fish would be killed directly, and large fish would get more and more entangled. The most amazing thing was that this nylon net would not rot for a thousand years and hardly needed any maintenance.

He smoked a cigarette on the shore and then went to the place where he had set the net. Seven or eight crabs had already been caught. He put on thick canvas gloves, took off the crabs, and skewered the fish and crabs with a sharp willow branch. He then went to the bay to pry some oysters and returned to the villa.

He returned to the veranda, hung up the horse lantern, and added some firewood to the fire pit. The fire blazed up.

“There are no pots, oil, or salt here. Let’s just have grilled crabs.”

He took out a barbecue grill and placed it on the stones. He broke open the crabs and used the large shells as a base for grilling. He also placed the oysters directly on the grill. After a while, a few oysters popped open with a “pop,” steaming. A fresh and savory aroma filled the air.

“Come, have a drink.” Ma Qianzhu poured wine into an enamel cup—this was locally produced yellow wine, with a low alcohol content, but the taste was average. Wu De also knew how to make wine and had brought some yeast, but now grain was still an important resource. Before the transmigrators’ first grain harvest, it was a bit too early to make wine.

The two mainly talked about the current dispute between the army and navy. Wu De was also well aware of this issue. Although nothing had happened yet, and the cooperation between the two sides was still in place, the signs were already there.

“This is just the beginning,” Wu De said, slowly drinking his wine. “The army is still small, and the resources are sufficient. When we enter the army expansion period later, you’ll see, there will be a lot of trouble.”

“I also feel that the army is showing signs of being out of control,” Ma Qianzhu stared at the flames in the fire pit and said in a low voice. “Especially the navy.”

“Hmm.” Although his background made Wu De reluctant to speak ill of the navy, he also felt what Ma Qianzhu said.

“Don’t we have the internal guard now—” Wu De said.

“Only 20 people, not much use. We still have to work on the balance of power.”

“The Ministry of Internal Affairs?”

“Hmm,” Ma Qianzhu casually threw an oyster shell to the side. “If we don’t put a leash on the army, it will be a joke if a military government emerges later!”

“It’s not that exaggerated.” Wu De felt a twinge of nervousness in his heart. He was not a supporter of democracy, but a military regime was obviously not a good thing.

“Right now, I want to talk more with Ming Qiu. He is an old soldier and used to be a party member. He should have this awareness. With him keeping the young turks of the navy in check, they won’t go too far.”

“I think so too!” Wu De agreed. “You can talk to He Ming about the army.”

“Yes, so I also want you to play a greater role. You are also an old navy man,” Ma Qianzhu said sincerely.

So that’s what you were waiting for, Wu De thought. But he had this intention himself, so he readily agreed.

“Actually, you don’t have to be so paranoid. Everyone is still very good. Although there are some disputes, they are all for the collective, with no selfish motives. This is the first time in decades that I have seen such a united collective,” Wu De said. “Today’s battle was fought well, and the army performed very well. We also captured a lot of prisoners.”

Ma Qianzhu snorted, “I was about to talk to you about this.” He picked up a crab leg, blew on it, and began to gnaw on it. “This victory was strange.”