Chapter 375: Distribution of the Spoils

The OA announced the types, quantities, and distribution intentions of all the materials obtained in Incident A. Clothing, shoes, and cigarettes would be distributed in batches to every Transmigration member as welfare. Food, alcohol, professional clothing, tools, equipment, and materials would be stored and distributed centrally by the Planning Yuan.

Although this batch of materials was not of particularly great significance, it was still very popular with everyone, especially the clothing and shoes. It had been almost two years since they landed, and clothes and shoes were consumed particularly quickly. Although there was now a clothing factory that could produce its own shoes, hats, and clothing, the styles and colors were always very rustic and could not be compared with this batch of sportswear and casual wear. As for the shoes, that went without saying.

Unfortunately, there were no underwear or socks, which were the products with the largest gap at present. The local products still had defects in fit and comfort.

The General Office distributed the first batch of clothing and shoes on a per capita basis. Although there were no children’s clothes or shoes, children were also given one share per person to show absolute fairness. Even cigarettes were distributed absolutely evenly, one carton per person regardless of gender or age. Those who did not smoke could use it to exchange for other things.

The leather goods were not very useful and were not distributed for the time being. Briefcases were listed in the “publicly allocated materials for official use” catalog and distributed to those who needed them.

Alcohol and pornographic magazines were not distributed. Xiao Zishan handed over all the pornographic magazines to the Great Library for collection. Transmigration members could borrow and read them in the library. The whiskey was reserved for emergency use.

As for the other scattered daily necessities, clothing, and items found on the ship, they were dealt with by auction. They were listed on the BBS, and those who wanted to buy them could bid. The highest bidder would get them. The circulation coupons obtained from the sale were deposited into a special dividend account and distributed to all elders at the end of the year according to their shares.

The method of disposal did not cause any controversy. The only thing that caused controversy was this batch of weapons. No one competed for the CZ99 pistols, but how to distribute the automatic rifles, submachine guns, and machine guns caused a fierce debate. The officers of the navy and the army had a big war of words on the BBS for these guns, each stating the importance and necessity of automatic weapons for their own army.

This discussion began with a calm presentation of facts and reasoning, and finally ended with insults without exception. The result was naturally that all the posts were deleted.

This debate then moved to the newspapers:

“Automatic rifles, submachine guns, and machine guns have always been the standard weapons of the army. It is natural and right for the army to possess and use them,” an article signed “a loyal and fearless army officer” was published in the “Lingao Times.”

The next day, an article titled “The Application of Automatic Weapons in Boarding Actions” was published in the newspaper, explaining the importance of automatic weapons to the navy in the current naval warfare from a tactical perspective.

The navy’s move was very clever. Those who didn’t understand only thought it was an academic discussion, but in fact, it was “moistening things silently,” giving the public the concept that “the navy also needs automatic weapons.”

Then the navy successively published several “academic” articles in the “Lingao Times,” including: “The Tactics of the Marine Corps in Amphibious Operations under the New Situation,” “Amphibious Special Warfare,” and so on.

These articles were either quite professional or simply nonsense, but the common point was the same, either explicitly or implicitly pointing out the importance of automatic weapons for combat.

“This is creating momentum!” Wei Aiwen slammed the newspaper on the table. Although he was now in the General Staff, he was essentially “an armored corps heart” and naturally stood on the side of the army. He immediately called Zhang Bolin:

“Bolin! you guys are at a disadvantage now! The navy is creating a lot of public opinion in the newspapers!”

“That’s right, I saw it too. These traitors are always playing dirty tricks.”

Because the navy of the Transmigration country had a strong flavor of the old Japanese navy in its system and titles, especially after the “Warship March” was officially plagiarized as the navy’s march, the army had put this hat on it. Of course, the hat that the navy put on the army was “Yellow Nazi,” so much so that these two words were not allowed to be openly discussed in public and on the BBS, so as to avoid conflict between the two sides.

“If this continues, the machine guns and so on may fall into the hands of the navy, or at least they will get half of them,” Wei Aiwen was very anxious—the Executive Committee had been discussing this issue for the past few days. Once they were influenced, it would be hard to say.

“The navy has many writers, and we have too few people who can do this,” Zhang Bolin was also worried about this matter. In terms of fighting, the army was definitely no worse than the navy, but in terms of polite scolding and writing articles, the army was obviously not as good as the navy.

“These traitors are going too far!” Wei Aiwen cursed. He thought for a moment, “If you can’t write it yourself, why don’t you copy it? Go to the library and search for all the tactical articles related to automatic weapons. Piece them together and publish them quickly. We must seize the high ground of public opinion!”

“Okay, I’ll do it right away!” Zhang Bolin put down the phone, found a few people to discuss it, and then they went their separate ways to find articles. He thought that it was probably not enough to just copy existing ones. It would be best to combine them with the environment of this time and space.

So he wrote a short essay: “The Machine Gun is the Cannon.” After he finished writing it, he felt quite shabby. What was this all about? But when he saw a navy gunman’s article in the newspaper that was complete nonsense, Zhang Bolin thought that it was all the same.

So the “academic paper war” between the army and the navy became more and more intense. Anyone with a discerning eye could naturally see the purpose of this sudden wave of military academic tide. After a few days of sustainability, the two sides, who had nothing “academic” to talk about, began to pick faults with each other’s articles, implying that the other side’s academic level was problematic.

The result of this “academic dispute” was that the two sides almost came to blows. Although it did not turn into a bigger incident under the strong suppression of the People’s Commissars of the Army and Navy.

“Hmph, they’re going to make a fuss over a few guns. Do they think our Executive Committee doesn’t exist?!” Ma Qianzhan slammed the table and stood up. “Neither the army nor the navy gets any. They can all go and play with their Minie rifles!”

Finally, the Executive Committee announced that one of each of the guns and rocket launchers obtained in Incident A would be allocated to the design team as samples for research and preservation; 12 automatic rifles and 6 submachine guns would be allocated to the special reconnaissance team; the remaining weapons would be temporarily stored in the warehouse. The dispute was finally settled with neither the army nor the navy getting anything.

Finally, there was the matter of dealing with the salvaged fishing boat. This fishing boat, codenamed “Ship A,” was secretly towed to a mangrove-covered bay in Bopu in the middle of the night after it was salvaged. This was not only a naval warning zone where natives were not allowed to approach, but also surrounded by tidal flats and forests on all sides, making it almost inaccessible by land. It had to be entered by small boat, which was convenient for secrecy and guarding.

After Ship A was towed to Bopu, it had undergone simple maintenance: the inside and outside of the hull were cleaned, the attached marine life was removed, and the hull was temporarily sealed. After the secrecy level was lifted, how to repair this ship as soon as possible became a top priority.

This ship was now towed to the shipyard’s dock by a steam launch, entered the dry dock, and was waiting for a complete overhaul.

A special team was organized by all parties, including Meng De, Wang Luobin, Zhong Lishi, and Qian Shuiting from North America who had experience with small boats. The purpose was to formulate a repair and utilization plan.

Although the hull number, logbook, and everything else that could indicate the origin of the ship had been destroyed, it could still be roughly known from the data that it was a 110-ton purse seiner built on the west coast of the United States. It was an ocean-going fishing boat, but it had been modified as a smuggling boat.

Most of the fishing equipment on the ship had been removed, except for the external facilities used as a cover. The freezer compartment was still there, but it seemed that the freezing equipment was rarely used. The ship’s power system had been modified, and the engine had been replaced with a more powerful one. After looking at it, Lin Chuanqing said that this ship could run at thirty nautical miles per hour. The fuel tank had also been increased in capacity, and its endurance was greater than that of an ordinary ocean-going fishing boat.

The electronic equipment on the ship was quite advanced. Not only did it have conventional navigation equipment, but it also had high-performance radar, navigation, and radio systems that ordinary fishing boats would not use. Unfortunately, most of the equipment was no longer usable due to being soaked in seawater, but Zhong Lishi believed that they could try to repair it.

The area around the bridge had been reinforced with steel plates, and universal joints of questionable purpose were installed on both sides of the bridge and at the stern, which were most likely for installing machine guns and the like.

“This ship is much more advanced than our 8154,” Meng De was very excited. “Just this speed is a first! It even has protective armor!”

“Can the engine set still be used?” Zhong Lishi was worried about the engine that had been soaked in water for several months. “Do we have the ability to overhaul a marine engine?”

“It’s possible,” Wang Luobin had studied the engine room for a long time. “I’m afraid it will need a complete overhaul.”

“That’s not possible!” Meng De shook his head repeatedly. He had been an apprentice in the shipyard. “Disassembling and assembling a marine engine is a technical job. It’s easy to take it apart, but it will be difficult to put it back together! The key is to grasp the center of gravity of this thing.”

But this was not the most difficult problem. Everyone agreed that although the engine set on the ship had been damaged to a certain extent, the mechanical department still had the ability to try to repair it. The difficult part was the propeller and rudder that had been bent and twisted by the reef.

“Without a few years of industrial technology accumulation and equipment transformation, I’m afraid we won’t be able to repair it,” Wang Luobin looked at it and shook his head. “We can try the rudder, but this propeller’s blades are a bit high-tech.”

“Use the reserved modern metal materials. We have a CNC center. We can use CAD to make the drawings and process it directly.”

“That’s the only way, but this propeller was probably cast. The machined one may not be usable.”

After evaluation, it was feared that Ship A would have to be repaired for two or three years before it could be put back into service. However, the various fishing equipment on it could be removed and utilized like the 8154 fishing boat.

As for the engine, it was decided to remove it for repair. If it was not removed, even the seawater could not be cleaned thoroughly. As for the electronic equipment, it was all removed and handed over to Zhong Lishi for research. They would repair as much as they could.