The impending large-scale joint military exercise must be kept confidential. Binjiang has two reserve forces participating, but the City Committee and Municipal Government along with the Military District cannot hold a grand departure ceremony.

After finishing a meeting in the provincial city, Secretary Lu returned to Binjiang and hurried to the Shipping Academy's dedicated dock to visit the officers and soldiers participating in the war effort with Commander Wang from the Military District.

The mobile phones of the forty officers and soldiers participating in the exercise have been handed over, and they can only stay on the ship. To go ashore, they need to request permission and report.

Secretary Lu did not want to lead by breaking the rules, so he did not let everyone go ashore. Instead, he boarded the ship with Commander Wang, Captain Xia, and Commissar Fang from the Navy Retirement Home to comfort the officers and soldiers participating in the exercise while checking the preparations before departure.

The preparations were well done, the food on the ship was also good, and the young men were spirited and high in morale.

Secretary Lu was very satisfied, shook hands with each individual, and took group photos with them on the simulation ship's deck to encourage them before disembarking and entering the dock office.

Director Feng, Old Ge, Master Han, and Secretary Wang were all present.

As soon as Secretary Lu entered, he shook hands with Director Feng of, then looked at Old Han with a smile and asked, "Han, weren't you teaching at the National Meteorological College? When did you come back?"

Master Han didn't expect the City Secretary to know these things, and quickly replied, "Secretary Lu, I'm a specially appointed professor, not a real professor. The National Meteorological College is not an ordinary university; it's a training institution that integrates party school, administration, and meteorological professional adult education. When they start meteorological business training classes, they call me to lecture for a few days. When there's no training class, I have nothing to do."

These old comrades are all valuable assets of Binjiang.

Secretary Lu respects the old comrades very much and asked half-jokingly, "So you only earn money by giving lectures and have no money if you don't?"

"Yes, going to teach earns lectures fees."

"How about at the Yangtze River Water Resources Commission?"

"The forecasting office at the Yangtze River Commission has an expert fee, thirty-six hundred annually, which amounts to three hundred monthly. I've signed a five-year 'contract' with them."

"You're an engineer at professor level, and they only give you three hundred monthly as an expert fee; that's too little."

"It's not too little; I have my primary job where I earn a monthly salary."

"That's true. You still have your meteorological bureau salary, and the lecture fees and expert fees are extra income." Secretary Lu laughed heartily while shaking Friend Han's hand firmly, "It's good to have a specialty. When I retire, no one will invite me to give lectures, nor will any unit invite me to be an expert."

An official at Secretary Lu's level would typically be promoted to deputy provincial level upon retirement, holding positions in the Provincial People's Congress or Provincial Political Consultative Conference. It's unlikely anyone would invite him to give lectures or hire him as a specially appointed expert, but many units or civilian groups would surely invite him to be an advisor.

Director Feng knew Secretary Lu was joking, and he couldn't help but add, "Secretary Lu, Han is very modest and conservative. His extra income doesn't just come from lecture fees and expert fees, but also from participating in various evaluations."

"What evaluations?"

"Han is a member of the meteorological system expert bank now. When the meteorological system staff want to evaluate senior professional titles, their superiors will invite Han to participate in the evaluations, which also comes with money."

"Han, so you need to treat us!"

"I'll treat; I just fear Secretary Lu won't grace us with his presence."

"It's a deal then. Director Feng will be my witness; I won't be polite with you." Secretary Lu smiled slightly and turned to Old Ge: "Master Ge, I heard you've welcomed a baby girl. Congratulations!"

Old Ge vividly remembers being forced by Secretary Lu and Mayor Wang to organize a wedding ceremony last time. He's really afraid Secretary Lu would make him host a large-scale baby welcoming banquet, and he quickly says, "Thank you for your concern, Secretary Lu. Please excuse the humble occasion."

"That's quite the words. Welcoming a baby girl is a happy event. Who would laugh at you?"

Secretary Lu patted his arm, then smiled at Secretary Wang and asked, "Old Wang, I heard you were responsible for resettling the Three Gorges immigrants in Linghai. Thanks for your hard work."

Old Wang, after having run around Linghai for so long and done miscellaneous tasks for a long time, truly misses the time at Beihu during the anti-flood period where he chatted and laughed with military officers and local party and government leaders.

The Linghai Reserve Camp has a task again and is about to be deployed. Old Wang fondly remembers the feeling during the flood rescue as he holds Secretary Lu's hand tightly, smiling, "It wasn't hard. The City Committee and Municipal Government entrusted the immigrant resettlement to me, showing trust in me, and I'm honored."

Even if retiring, it seems unnecessary to act so humble when meeting the City Secretary?

Old Ge felt that Old Wang's mindset was shallow and was lowering the tone of the senior expert group, a flash of disdain fleeting in his eyes.

Secretary Lu was unaware Old Wang was looked down upon by Old Ge, and turned to discuss serious matters: "Director Feng, you're the 'Imperial Commissioner,' can you disclose when the troops will be deployed?"

"Secretary Lu is really good at joking; I'm just a retired old fellow. How could I be an 'Imperial Commissioner'." Director Feng softly smiled and continued, "I seriously don't know when they'll be deployed, but I know the East Sea Base will send an operations staff over, and that person will arrive this afternoon."

"Are they coming with orders?"

"Should be."

Director Feng thought for a moment and then smiled again and added, "The operations staff will board our ship, and they might be responsible for coordination afterward."

Secretary Lu pondered and said, "So even though we're not leaving tonight, we'll likely deploy tomorrow."

"It's possible."

"What about Salted Fish, is there any news from them?"

"No, but judging by the time, they should be nearing the East Sea. The East Sea Fleet will also send active-duty officers onto their ships. As long as it's a militia reserve force participating in the operation, the superior will arrange for active-duty officers to be in charge of communication and liaison."

The city is currently establishing a nationwide model city for civil-military unity and will face a major examination next year.

Secretary Lu didn't want to miss this opportunity. He glanced back at Commander Wang and said, "Director Feng, I had a chat with our comrades on the ship just now. They had many great ideas. I think we can consider them."

"What ideas?"

"Commander Wang, you're the expert, you tell us."

"Alright." Commander Wang quickly stepped forward, with a smile: "Director Feng, the comrades say since it's an amphibious assault drill, we definitely need to consider air defense. They suggest installing an anti-aircraft gun on the foredeck of the training ship and the aft deck of the tugboat."

Those cheeky kids can't be idle; once they're idle, all sorts of ideas pop up.

We've just had them bring equipment for setting up floating bridges, and now they're coming up with air defense schemes.

Of course, Secretary Lu and Commander Wang support them. After all, having one more unit participate in the upcoming large-scale joint military exercise means one more achievement for Binjiang.

Binjiang Reserve Group and Binjiang Militia System don't have much, but they do have many artillery units. Just arranging one reserve artillery class and one militia artillery class to participate in the operation means Binjiang gains two more national defense reserve units joining the battle.

But this doesn't just involve troop movements; it also involves the "Director Department's" unified deployment.

Director Feng had a headache and chuckled bitterly: "We'll need to report to the superiors for instructions."

"The comrades have great ideas, Director Feng. You're an old soldier; you know best how wars are fought today. Multinational forces bombed Iraq for several months first, NATO attacked the South Alliance relying entirely on air strikes; ground troops never entered the South Alliance's territory."

Secretary Lu paused and emphasized: "The comrades thinking about air defense shows they truly take their reserve roles seriously and genuinely want to protect the country. Moreover, after the United States-led NATO bombed our embassy in the South Alliance, all officers and soldiers of Binjiang's militia and reserve forces were filled with righteous indignation. As the City W Secretary and the first secretary of Binjiang Military District, I must give these eager officers and soldiers an opportunity to uphold the national territorial integrity!"

The officers and soldiers about to set out must accept naval command; Linghai Reserve Camp Third Company was merely assigned to the Rescue Boat Team. Binjiang's militia artillery units and reserve artillery units wishing to participate in the battle can only report to the Navy.

Commander Wang equally didn't want to miss this opportunity, saying expectantly: "Director Feng, isn't it just two artillery classes? The Deputy Commander of the East Sea Base is your former subordinate. Reporting should be no problem with your help."

Secretary Lu seized the opportunity and said: "Besides, the comrades' proposal is very practical, very close to actual combat." 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

"Alright, but I'll need to use the military line of the Military District to report upwards."

"Director Feng, thank you so much."

"No need for thanks. As you all mentioned, since it's a live-fire and live-troop drill, we must approach actual combat as closely as possible. The transport fleet indeed needs air defense, and it's truly important."

Having achieved the goal, Secretary Lu was pleased and asked with a smile: "Commander Wang, which two units do you think should be arranged to participate in the battle?"

"The Jiao Xie Red Flag Civilian Military Group from Si Gang and the Reserve Artillery Group from Chonggang District."

"Alright, arrange as soon as possible. The participating officers must be elite."

"Yes!"

Even choosing elite officers won't help.

Remember, this is a joint military exercise at sea. Putting a bunch of landlubbers on a ship and heading to sea will definitely cause seasickness, and they'll be so dizzy they won't be able to stand, let alone operate anti-aircraft guns for air defense. But the city leadership's attitude is so determined, Director Feng is really at a loss for words; after all, the city wants achievements.

Secretary Lu didn't know what Director Feng was thinking. He watched Commander Wang and Captain Xia, who left to make phone calls, and then smiled while turning to Old Han, asking, "Master Han, what's your Xiang Ning been busy with recently?"

"Busy with work; she's now responsible for safety inspections, always boarding and inspecting ships every day. She's been climbing on and off ships more than when she was in Linghai, losing several pounds."

"Specially inspecting foreign vessels?"

"Domestic trade ships also require safety inspections. Things are not like before; there are so many cargo ships docking. She's been working overtime almost every day lately."

"I know safety inspections; very tough work and quite a learning experience."

...

While chatting, Xiao Liu, the water police station officer responsible for alert at the pier, came running to report that Secretary Qian from Linghai, Mayor Shen, and Minister Yang from the Linghai Armed Forces Department had arrived, bringing gifts.

Upon hearing that the two from Linghai had come, recalling the numerous banners seen on the ship earlier, such as "Jiangnan Province Military District Linghai Reserve Camp," "Anti-flood Rescue Model Camp," "Anti-flood Rescue Youth Assault Team," "Heroic Assault Battalion," and "Red Saber Battalion," none related to Binjiang, Secretary Lu couldn't help but frown, instinctively looking at Old Wang.

Old Wang was startled and quickly said: "Secretary Lu, Director Feng, I... I'll go see if Doctor Liu and Doctor Yang's requested medications have been delivered."