The route from Qingdao to the East Sea, Han Yu was very familiar with.

Back when studying on the ferry of the Marine Bureau, this was the very route he first sailed.

Under normal circumstances, it takes only thirty hours to sail from Qingdao to the East Sea. The anti-smuggling boat is faster than the ferry, and as long as there is no bad weather, it can reach in at most twenty-four hours.

But both the 825 and 823 boats are newly launched, with several trial sailing subjects yet to be completed. Moreover, the crew is not very familiar with the boat conditions, so they dared not sail at full speed.

Considering the superior's requirement to reach the dock of Zhuangming Maritime Bureau on Changxing Island within four days to receive specific tasks and resupply, Han Yu decided to utilize this valuable time to organize all the crew to familiarize themselves with the boat conditions and conduct training on subjects such as live-fire target practice at sea, maritime pursuit, boarding, and sea rescue.

The vast blue ocean stretches under the blue sky and white clouds, with silver-white seagulls freely soaring over the sea surface, and schools of fish leaping not far away.

According to the training plan, the 823 boat sailed to the left front of the 825, lowering the target tied to the rope, dragging it at a speed of seventeen knots per hour.

Wang Zhixin had been preparing since dawn, waiting for this moment.

He personally served as the gun captain, helmet on head, standing to the right of the autocannon, closely watching the target.

The first shooter was sailor Chen Shilong, drawn from the deck department, who was concentrating on operating the autocannon aiming at the target floating on the sea. The second shooter, drawn from the engine department, was the mechanic Ding Wandong, ready to take over from Chen Shilong at any time, standing by the side of the boat.

Loader Xu Qijun, drawn from the engine department, stood by the left side of the autocannon, ready and waiting. Third officer Liu Wei and sailor Xiao Chen were responsible for transporting ammunition.

Sandbags were laid on the front deck to prevent slipping and to avoid shell casings from rolling around during shooting. It's said that the shell casings are very hot and could burn people if touched.

Since the days of the Old Yanjiang Police Station, Han Yu had hoped to equip 001 with a dual-purpose machine gun.

Now this wish has finally been realized, and even exceeded, with not a machine gun but an autocannon installed on 825.

With mixed emotions, Han Yu could not help but glance back at Guo Weitao.

Guo Weitao's assault team was also ready for live-fire shooting, equipped with the Type 81, all wearing life vests and helmets.

Using the ship's side as cover, some were lying on the deck, some crouching, aiming their guns.

The Smuggling Crime Investigation Bureau is different from the Local Police and Armed Police Forces; although it is a newly established unit, it is equipped with the best weapons.

For example, 823 and 825 boats each cost as much as 26.5 million!

And the light weapons used by the anti-smuggling police, the Qingdao Smuggling Crime Investigation Bureau, were equipped with both the Type 81 and rifles identical to those of the Hong Kong Garrison's Type 95 automatic rifles.

The Type 95 looks very beautiful and advanced, but Han Yu ultimately decided to borrow the Type 81 because the caliber of the Type 95 was too small and the firepower was not strong enough.

"Captain, the gun crew is ready!"

"Captain, the assault team is ready!"

Listening to his subordinates' reports, Han Yu came back to his senses, raised his binoculars, and observed the sea, saying, "Observation and communication team, report the situation."

Xue Wenping closely monitored the radar and shouted, "Report to the captain, there are no other ships within four nautical miles on the port side."

"Deputy Captain Jiang, fire the signal flare."

"Yes!"

Jiang Shengqi responded, then immediately raised the signal gun and fired a shot into the sky with a bang.

Second Officer Liu Chuanjun also raised his binoculars, looking at the 823 boat sailing ahead on the left, and reported, "Report to the captain, the 823 boat is ready."

"Gun crew attention, immediately fire."

"Yes!"

Following Han Yu's command, Wang Zhixin swung his arm vigorously, and Chen Shilong gently squeezed the trigger.

Da-da-da, a burst was fired.

The second shot was a tracer, clearly showing the trajectory of the shell.

However, the target was being towed by the 823 boat and moved with the waves. The 825 boat was also in motion, constantly pitching under the influence of swells.

The burst was completely off-target, and through the binoculars, the impact point could be clearly seen far from the target.

"Correct the position, aim and fire!"

"Yes!"

Da-da-da...

Da-da-da!

Three consecutive bursts, this time the impact points were closer than before.

Shooting at sea is different from shooting on land, and involves moving targets. Moreover, whether machine guns or autocannons, they are meant for suppressing fire, not like sniper rifles; hitting every shot is impossible.

Watching the gun crew loading and aiming, Han Yu said, "Don't be nervous, continue."

Xiao Gong stood on the bridge, feeling his blood boiling, wanting to go down and fire a few rounds, but he was currently injured, with his right hand and arm burned while troubleshooting a cooling pipe blockage. Even staying still, they hurt fiercely; moving them hurt even more, so he could only watch his comrades target practice from above.

Aim, fire.

Re-aim, re-fire.

The live ammunition training lasted for one and a half hours, only ending after using up one stock of ammunition.

While the artillery team was tidying up the shell casings, Han Yu ordered the duty crew to adjust the course. When the 825 boat was about fifty meters from the target, he commanded the assault team to conduct live ammunition shooting.

Guo Weitao not only had agile movements but also decent shooting skills.

Originally thought a fifty-meter moving target wouldn't be too difficult, but after shooting, it turned out hitting it wasn't as easy as expected.

Organizing such training, Deputy Captain Jiang Shengqi was the professional. Han Yu asked Jiang Shengqi to evaluate the just-concluded target shooting and simultaneously ordered the duty crew to signal the 823 boat to organize live ammunition shooting.

The 825 boat subsequently became the towing target ship, sailing to the left front of the 823 boat and dragging the just-lowered target to assist the 823 boat's training.

Everything proceeded in an orderly fashion.

When the 823 boat was about to finish target shooting, the observation and communication group reported that the radar showed anomalies on the sea surface ahead. From the radar: it looked like a heap of floating garbage.

The cooling pipe was blocked once before, now everyone is on edge.

Han Yu knew what they were worried about and ordered, "Sail over and have a look, and see what it really is."

"Yes!"

Adjusted the course and sailed for about twenty minutes; what lay ahead left everyone stunned.

On the sea, there were actually more than a dozen thick and long logs floating, clear bird droppings could be seen on the wood, indicating it's been floating for quite some time, otherwise sea birds wouldn't use it as a temporary resting place.

Some of the logs had fishing nets tangled around them, not the disposable gill nets for crab fishing but more robust and expensive trawl nets, indicating how much loss these thick and long logs had caused the fishermen.

Guo Weitao hadn't been out to sea much; standing by the ship's side, he muttered, "How can logs float in the sea, these logs should be worth quite a bit of money!"

"Logs floating in the sea is quite normal; they should have fallen off a cargo ship transporting wood," said Han Yu casually after walking over and having a look. "Not to mention logs, I've even seen shipping containers floating in the sea."

"Secretary Han, what should we do now?" Jiang Shengqi asked softly.

"There are hundreds of fishing vessels fishing behind us, and this area is a commercial shipping waterway. Letting them drift with the waves is dangerous. Wei Tao, now it's up to you guys."

"Up to us?"

"Hmm."

"How to salvage these logs that are so long and thick? Even if we could salvage them, our boat couldn't hold them."

"What do you mean by even if we could salvage them; it's practically impossible to salvage them!" Han Yu chuckled, turned, and patted his arm, "We have so many ropes; we can tow them away."

Guo Weitao, half amused and half bewildered, asked, "Tow them away."

Han Yu nodded, casually saying, "Towing and rescue are already part of our training program. Find a way to bundle these logs into a raft, treat it like a powerless fishing vessel, and tow it back."

"Alright, I'll take some people down to try."

"By the way, don't damage those fishing nets; find a way to detach them, I have a big use for them."

...

The anti-smuggling boat worth 26.5 million is really advanced; it only takes ten seconds to lower the 9-meter-long motorboat!

Guo Weitao led assault team members, drafted from deck and engine departments, taking ropes aboard the motorboat to "rescue" the giant logs.

Tying up logs with a diameter of near one meter was tough enough, let alone bundling more than a dozen logs into a raft. Guo Weitao and others tried several times, all ending in failure, so they simply drove the motorboat to the anti-smuggling boat's side to ask for hammers, nails, and wire tools and materials...

Through binoculars, Captain Liu of the 823 boat saw everything clearly and realized Han Yu was conducting sea rescue training in this way. He simply lowered the motorboat and got the crew together to help.

Unexpectedly, while working, they found out that the logs floating on the sea weren't just the dozen or so ahead.

Ten crew members braved the wind, waves, and the scorching sun on the sea for more than four hours, not even bothering with lunch, finally dragging more than sixty logs, each thick and long, within a two-kilometer radius of the sea surface, bundling them into two big rafts about eight meters wide and fifteen meters long using wires and ropes.

The 823 boat towed one, the 825 boat towed the other, continuing to navigate as planned.

The fresh water on board was precious; Guo Weitao dared not shower and could only wipe himself with a towel dipped in water. He sat in the spacious lounge, equipped with air conditioning, a full-channel TV reception system, and even laser audio equipment, eating and laughingly asking, "Secretary Han, dragging these logs back should bring in quite a bit of money, right?"

Han Yu came over to the engine department, got a piece of rebar, and while working casually said, "They can bring in some money, but it's not a good deal."

"Not a good deal?"

"Think about it, how many people did we deploy for these logs, how much oil did we burn? What's the risk involved in maritime salvage operations! If we convert everything we've done into salvage costs, it would be at least three hundred thousand; is that pile of logs worth two hundred thousand?"

"Then why did you have us salvage them!"

"This is the near sea; just a bit further west is our territorial sea. If we came across them and didn't salvage them, letting these big logs drift with the waves, what if they collided with a fishing vessel during a storm? What if they hit a cargo ship's propulsion system?"

"That's true, but this is a Marine matter."

"The coastline is so long, the sea area so big; the Marine Bureau can't manage everything; keeping entry and exit waterway hazards free is already a lot."

On the river, he manages everything.

Unexpectedly at sea, he manages everything the same.

Guo Weitao couldn't help laughing, then looked at the piece of rebar Han Yu had just bent and asked, "Secretary Han, what are you doing with this?"

Han Yu looked up at the people eating, smiling widely, "You guys worked hard all day, doing great merit. I'll use this along with the fishing net you salvaged to make a dip net; later, I'll treat you all to seafood!"