Binjiang Police Affairs

Chapter 1454 - 242: Squadron

The Kursk submarine, it’s very famous.Han Yu had seen it more than once in ship magazines and exclaimed, "That’s a nuclear submarine!"

"Yes." Adviser Wu looked again at the pavilion where the reception was being held and said softly, "So the international community is very concerned. If the reactor explodes, causing a nuclear leak, it would be similar to the Chernobyl nuclear accident."

"It’s not only a nuclear submarine but also a large one. The crew is estimated to be over a hundred. Do you know if the crew is okay?"

"A submarine is not like a surface ship. Either nothing happens, or if something does, the chances of the crew surviving are slim."

"Does the Commander know?"

"Even I know, how could the Commander not know."

"As long as the Commander knows."

Adviser Wu asked puzzledly, "What do you mean?"

Han Yu touched the corner of his mouth and whispered, "Our submarines are all modeled after theirs. Not only modeled but we also introduced several Big Sharks. They have such a big incident with their own submarine; who knows if it’s an operational error or a fault with the submarine itself?"

Adviser Wu realized this and quickly patted his arm, "Don’t worry, the superiors will definitely take this seriously. When one person gets sick, the whole family takes medicine! I bet our submarine forces are checking everything right now, even if the submarine that had the incident is not the same model as ours."

"That’s good."

...

Successfully passing Cape Horn and safely arriving in South Africa, the fleet command gave Han Yu and Captain Qian some "benefits." As soon as the reception banquet ended, they were allowed to go ashore with Adviser Wu to make a call home.

This is an international call, and the call fees are very high.

The Commander was generous, or maybe it was the embassy being generous, as they were each given fifteen minutes.

There was only one phone, so Han Yu let Captain Qian call first and stood outside calculating how to use this precious fifteen minutes of call time.

Perhaps because of long-term drifting at sea, Captain Qian valued his family more than most. Dialing the number home, he unknowingly chatted with his partner for fifteen minutes.

Han Yu dared not be so extravagant; considering there was a six-hour time difference between South Africa and home, he worried his senior was on duty at the unit and hadn’t gone home, so he directly called her mobile.

"San’er, is that you?"

"Ningning, it’s me. I just arrived in Cape Town today. The Commander specially allowed me to call home. How is everything at home?"

"Everything’s fine at home. Mom and Dad and Han Han are all there. How about you?"

"I’m fine too. We’re visiting South Africa for several days, and we’ll return once the visit is over."

"When roughly will you be home?"

"Around September 2nd. By then, Han Han will definitely have started school. Once we’re back at Zhanjiang Base, I’ll call the bureau to help me book a flight to East Sea and visit Mom, Dad, and Han Han first before going back to Binjiang."

It was midnight past twelve at home. Han Xiangning didn’t expect her junior to call in the middle of the night and got up saying, "Han Han misses you. She cried tonight, saying she wants Daddy. Hold on, I’ll call her to the phone."

Han Yu hurriedly said, "The call time is limited, and I still have to report my safety to the bureau. Besides, Han Han must be asleep by now, so let’s not wake her today."

"Okay."

"Then I’ll hang up."

He would be away for a month and would need another month to return.

Han Xiangning had so much to say to her junior, but just as she was about to speak, the call had already ended. Han Yu had no idea how disappointed his senior was as he quickly dialed Director Qi’s cell phone.

"Salted Fish!"

"Yes, it’s me."

"Where are you now?"

"We just arrived in Cape Town, South Africa today. Director Qi, call time is limited, so let’s make it short. Has there been anything at the bureau lately?"

Director Qi could imagine how hard it was for Han Yu to make this call. Without any small talk, he quickly sat up and said, "No major issues, but one minor one. The superior is very dissatisfied with the flaws in the Fire Brigade’s fire accident responsibility investigation. Li Mingsheng cannot continue as Branch Captain for sure. Arranging him is manageable. The issue now is who to have as Branch Captain."

Han Yu frowned deeply, "The superior wants to replace Old Li?"

"There’s no choice; without adjustment, there’s no way to explain it to the superiors."

"Is the superior planning to parachute someone in?"

"Hanwu over there wants us to study quickly. If there’s no adjustment soon, they might really parachute someone in."

Director Qi took a deep breath, pondered, and then said helplessly, "Firefighting is different from other work; it’s too specialized. Better to mend the fold after a sheep is lost. We can’t argue over seniority like last time.

We’ve considered several candidates and find none suitable. If you hadn’t called, we would have had to first replace Li Mingsheng and have you temporarily act as Fire Brigade Captain. But doing so would make it seem like our division lacks people, that we don’t normally focus on cadre development."

Firefighting work has certain particularities, so the choice of Fire Brigade Captain must be made carefully.

Han Yu racked his brains, trying to think, and suddenly remembered someone, "Director Qi, what do you think of Fang Guoya?"

"Fang Guoya is actually capable, but he’s a cadre at Binjiang Port!"

"He was transferred to our division initially, then later moved to the Port Authority for work needs. You should’ve heard about the situation back then. At that time, Director He had tense relations with the Port Authority, and firefighting work couldn’t be affected by it, so he was transferred to the Port Authority as the dedicated leader of the enterprise fire brigade."

"Would he be willing to return?"

"He should be willing. Director Qi, you and the Political Commissioner can talk to him."

"Okay, I’ll ask him tomorrow morning."

Han Yu still kept it short, apologized after discussing the matter, and then hung up.

With a few minutes left in the call, Han Yu quickly dialed Commissar Fang at the Navy Retirement Home, holding the phone and anxiously watching his watch as he said, "Commissar Fang, it’s Han Yu. I just arrived in Cape Town, South Africa. I’m doing well. I’m first calling to report my safety."

Commissar Fang, half asleep, awoke suddenly and was about to speak when Han Yu continued, "The call time is limited. I’m calling first to report my safety, and secondly, to discuss a matter with you."

"What is it? Go ahead."

"A reception was held on the deck this evening. High-ranking officers from the South African Navy and diplomats from several countries, including military attachés stationed in South Africa, attended. They said the Russian Navy had an incident with a nuclear submarine, fearing a nuclear leak, and everyone is very concerned."

Han Yu paused and urgently said, "A nuclear leak would be terrifying, but that’s not for us to worry about. When I heard about it, I immediately thought of the crew on the submarine, about how the Chinese Navy also has submarines, and about how our Rescue Boat Team is specifically for rescues."

A nuclear submarine accident is a huge deal!

Commissar Fang, now wide awake, asked startled, "Salted Fish, are you saying we should rescue submarines?"

Han Yu took a deep breath and said, "Our submarines haven’t had any issues, but we need to be ready for this kind of situation! Binjiang has so many large shipbuilding and repair enterprises. If we commit ourselves to building a more professional force and work hard for two or three years, we should be able to do it, at least achieve a certain level of rescue capability."

Whatever you do, you should have a specialty.

The Linghai Reserve Camp became so popular because of its expertise in flood fighting and emergency response.

As the Political Commissioner of the Rescue Boat Team, Commissar Fang had long wanted to develop a unique feature and accomplish something. Hearing Han Yu’s suggestion, he promptly said, "Okay, I’ll report to the base first thing in the morning. After all, building in this direction cannot be done without the cooperation of the active-duty forces, especially the submarine forces’ support."

"Okay, that’s settled. You first seek instructions and report, focus on the preparations that can be done now."

"I can only request, request, and report. The funding needed for force-building will have to rely on you, as with the expertise."

"Commissar, even three cobblers are better than one Zhuge Liang. You can first gather the officers and soldiers at home for some research."

"Alright, I’ll ask the Chief of Staff tomorrow when they have time."