The 823 boat is subordinate to Jiangcheng Customs and will mainly execute anti-smuggling tasks on the Yangtze River in the future.

The situation on the river is different from the sea, and there are not as many crew members as on the 825 boat. The crew composition is also not as complete as that of the 825 boat. The working experience on water of the captain, deputy captain, chief officer, and chief engineer is not as rich as that of Han Yu, Jiang Shengqi, Wang Zhixin, and others.

The main engine of the 825 boat malfunctioned, and Captain Liu and others were really frightened.

If the 825 boat got into trouble due to loss of power, apart from rescuing people in the water as much as possible, they didn't know what else they could do. It was only after confirming that the fault in the 825 boat's main engine had been cleared that all personnel on the 823 boat breathed a sigh of relief.

After figuring out the cause of the malfunction and looking at the radar display filled with bright spots representing fishing boats and nets, everyone felt scared just looking at it.

But this was just a minor episode, after all, any situation could occur at sea.

Because the anti-smuggling fleet was executing radio silence as required by superiors, Old Ge, Master Han, and Secretary Wang were unaware of the issue with the 825 boat's engine posed while at sea. The three of them were busy preparing for the departure of the rescue ship squadron, supply ship squadron, medical support squadron, and the Linghai Reserve Battalion Third Company's departure.

The dedicated dock of the Shipping Academy had become the "base" for the Rescue Boat Team.

Linggang Tuo 001 had sailed over early this morning as ordered by the superiors and was docked at the outer side of the training ship. The Deputy Chief of Staff of the Rescue Boat Team, Qian Shiming, and Teacher Xia Jiantao from the Marine Department of the Shipping Academy were busy organizing Captain Huang and seven other crew members to inspect the tugboat.

The Political Office Director of the Rescue Boat Team, Qin Weiquan, and teacher Wang Hongbing from the Shipping Academy were organizing the crew to use the crane on the ship to hoist the power boats just delivered by the large flatbed truck from Binjiang Port onto the ship.

No one knew when the superiors would issue the command to set off, but once the order was issued, the two ships had to sail immediately.

The fuel and freshwater had already been fully replenished, and other supply replenishments needed to keep up.

Old Ge sat in the dock office, looking at the supply lists submitted by Qian Shiming and Qin Weiquan, and frequently called Commissar Fang, who was busy making purchases outside.

Master Xi couldn't help and had already crossed the river back to the Yangtze River estuary Water Bureau yesterday.

Master Han and Secretary Wang had nothing to do. One took the Navy Retirement Home's car to the airport to pick up Director Feng, while the other "returned to old habits," figuring out how to make the two ships full of Binjiang and especially Linghai "elements" at the dock, and how to let the commanders know that the Binjiang Naval Reserve Rescue Ship Brigade and Linghai Reserve Camp participated in the exercise.

Ma Jintao received the order last night and arrived early this morning with the large vehicle transporting the power boats.

Considering confidentiality, he couldn't wear the reserve military uniform, so he simply changed into the dark blue work clothes Xiao Yu found, standing in the training ship's control room, overlooking the hoisting below, fearing the Navy Reserve brothers might accidentally bump and damage his equipment.

In such a large operation, Xiao Yu was definitely going to participate.

He looked down and laughed, "Old Ma, your power boat is coming up, mine will be hoisted next."

"What yours or mine, all this equipment belongs to the camp!"

"The equipment belongs to the camp, but it's assigned to me by the camp. I use it usually and am responsible for its maintenance, even the hull number is 001. If it's not mine, whose is it?"

The Linghai Reserve Camp could commandeer a lot of equipment, but the only equipment truly belonging to the camp were these six newly built power boats.

These six small iron boats were not needed daily and couldn't be left to rust in the small river behind the camp.

Under Han Yu's suggestion, Camp Commander Yang Jianbo and Instructor Sun Youyi "allocated" these six power boats to the Water Police Station, Changhang Bureau, Lingda Car Ferry, Yingchuan Port Lock Management Office, and other units.

Such small iron boats had their advantages. Due to their weight, they had good stability on the river, powerful horsepower, fast speeds, flexible maneuvering, and were safer than ordinary iron dinghies. They could serve as transport boats or be used to rescue people in the water.

No unit would refuse "free" equipment, right?

Once Xiao Yu received the power boat, he painted the hull number "Linghai Reserve Camp 001" on it with paint!

Ma Jintao found it annoying, but since Xiao Yu had already claimed hull number 001, he could only paint the one "allocated" to the Water Police Third Team with 002.

To make it more professional than Xiao Yu's, Yang Yong invited Wu Heng to repaint it. Now 002 was in camouflage, which made Xiao Yu envious, but it was too late to repaint his. He could only plan to repaint it in camouflage after the exercise.

Though it was said the Third Company was participating in the exercise, in reality, only seven people were involved, and one of them was a leader.

Looking at Yang Jianbo, who was on the phone at the dock, Ma Jintao smiled at Xiao Yu and asked, "Xiao Yu, do you think Old Yang will get seasick?"

"Do you even need to ask? He definitely will!"

"Should we prepare a bucket for him?"

"A chamber pot?"

"You kid always think of chamber pots, aren't you afraid word gets to Director Wang's ears?"

Xiao Yu laughed heartily, "Director Wang is your leader, not mine. What should I be afraid of?"

Recalling Director Wang's seasickness back then, Ma Jintao couldn't help but laugh, "A few days ago, packing up the dunship, I found the stretcher your master customized for Director Wang back then is still there."

"Really, is it still usable?"

"Usable."

"Did you bring it?"

"Forgot."

As the two joked, Chen Jian, Gao Jichun, Zhu Zhigang, and Zhang Fuquan arrived.

Some are now in the Urban Management Brigade, some in the court, procuratorate, and some working at the Linghai Police Bureau. However, they all participated in the "marine training" recently, can drive power boats, and their driving skills are quite good.

Of course, when there is a good opportunity, you have to prioritize old comrades. When determining who would participate in the military exercise, Ma Jintao didn't consider anyone else. He directly confirmed that these few would participate.

The old comrades arrived, and the two hurriedly went ashore.

Chen Jian was talking to Yang Jianbo when he saw them, lifted his head and smiled, "Director Ma, Director Yu, you're quite early!"

"We're nearby."

Ma Jintao took Chen Jian's luggage, turned and said, "Our dormitory is on the training ship; the conditions are quite tough, four people squeezed into one cabin."

"Can it be tougher than during flood fighting?" Chen Jian retorted, smiling self-deprecatingly, "Being able to get out is all that matters. Urban management is really a thankless task, getting cursed by the masses every day."

After Yang Jianbo transferred to the Linghai Armed Forces, he became equivalent to Linghai officials and knew Chen Jian's situation, so he couldn't help but tease, "If you don't want to do it, just change jobs. It's easy for you, just a phone call away."

Xiao Yu deeply agreed, pointing to him and said, "Yes, just call Secretary Ye; he will definitely help."

"You can't bother the leaders with everything, besides, going to the Urban Management Brigade was my own choice."

As soon as Chen Jian finished speaking, Gao Jichun asked curiously, "Camp Commander, Director Ma, where's Secretary Han? Why haven't I seen Secretary Han?"

"He has his tasks; he's currently at sea."

"Is he not participating in the military exercise?"

"Whether he's participating or not participating, Commander Wang said he's assisting the maritime authorities in overseeing the exercises' outer perimeters."

"How many people from the Rescue Boat Team are participating?"

"Not many participants."

Yang Jianbo looked back at the training ship and explained, "Six people on the Linggang Tuo 001, including the team-leading Chief of Staff and temporary Captain, Teacher Xia, totaling only eight people."

"Not just eight," Xiao Yu reminded, "Camp Commander, you forgot the mechanical repair team and the medical team, the mechanical repair team has five people, the medical team seems to have three people."

"Yes, yes, there's also the repair team and medical team, but the medical team doesn't board the 001; the doctors and nurses are on the training ship."

"How many on the training ship?" Gao Jichun continued to ask.

Yang Jianbo replied without hesitation, "Captain, crew, and Rescue Boat Team leading officials, in total, 17 people."

Gao Jichun looked astonished, "So, altogether, we only have 40 people participating in the military exercise!"

"Yes, exactly 40 people."

"So few."

"Nature of tasks is different; active duty forces are the main force, we are equivalent to participating in logistics support, mainly responsible for transport and rescue, not needing that many people."

Talking about transport and rescue, Xiao Yu suddenly remembered something, "Camp Commander, did the net ropes get delivered? Without putting net ropes along the ship's side, how will the landing troops get from the training ship to our power boats."

"Already transported, along with the power boats."

"What about the bridge plates for the floating bridge?"

The Third Company is now both a water rescue team and a small boat bridge company.

The six newly built power boats can perform personnel transport tasks and can also be used to construct floating bridges with steel floating boxes and steel bridge plates.

Bridge plates are ready, stored along with fixed bridge surface accessories and stakes for fixing power boats in the camp warehouse.

Yang Jianbo whispered, "Our next task is transporting active duty forces to seize the beachhead, should not need to build a bridge, and the superior has not required us to build bridges."

"What if it's needed."

Having watched many movies, Xiao Yu enthusiastically said, "Have you seen the World War II movie 'The Longest Day'; after personnel get ashore, equipment also needs to land, the beaches are so shallow, big ships can't get close, how to transfer gear and supplies ashore without bridges?"

"That makes sense, but we have only six power boats; our equipment can only build a 50-meter-long floating bridge. The beach isn't a riverbank, it's very shallow and long; a 50-meter floating bridge is not very useful."

"The Yangtze River will have tide rises, and the sea will have tide rises as well; perhaps during high tide, it can be used."

"It's not difficult to transport bridge plates and accessories for fixing bridge surfaces and power boats, but relying on just seven of us is definitely not enough to set up a floating bridge."

"Aren't there crew members on the training ship? There's a crane on board; with some ingenuity, it should be possible to set it up, just not as fast as deploying large troops to build the bridge."

Just then, the Santana from the Navy Retirement Home slowly drove over.

Xiao Yu, with good eyesight, seeing the two senior figures who just got off, grinned and said, "Director Feng has arrived, Master Han brought Director Feng."

Yang Jianbo knew Salted Fish was not at home; Director Feng and Old Ge were both actual leaders of the Rescue Boat Team and the forthcoming action, and pondered, "Regarding whether to bring bridge-building equipment, I will ask Director Feng and Ge Diao later; if they say bring it, we bring it; if they say don't bring it, we won't."