At 5:31 a.m., Han Yu and Political Commissioner Chen arrived safely at Lvsi Port aboard a Sea Patrol Boat.

When they had just departed from Changxing Island, the waves at sea weren't big, but after sailing for more than half an hour, under the influence of the tides the wind and waves grew stronger and stronger.

Political Commissioner Chen couldn't bear the seasickness, he threw up all the crab he'd eaten and felt absolutely miserable.

The Sea Patrol Boat came alongside a fishing boat anchored in the harbor, and Han Yu hurriedly asked a staff officer from the Military District to help Political Commissioner Chen ashore to rest.

The harbor was brightly lit; the Armed Forces Ministers from the four coastal districts and counties had all arrived and were busy organizing the ship captains and crews of the fishing boats to clean the decks. After all, the task ahead was transporting troops; if they weren't cleaned properly, the officers and soldiers wouldn't be able to stay on them.

The Command Center was set up in the office of the Fishery Administration and Fish Port Supervision Station on the pier. Led in by a Political Work Officer from the Military District, Han Yu walked into the Command Center and met the "brigade Political Commissioner" who likewise had not slept all night—Li Mingsheng, the Civilian Corps leader from Si Gang.

Li Mingsheng was forty-seven, short and thin, wearing a set of camouflage fatigues with Civilian Soldier shoulder boards and collar badges. At first glance you'd really think he was a Human Resources Officer from some township.

He was busy to the point of being frazzled, repeatedly using a walkie-talkie to contact the ship captains of each fishing boat.

Worth mentioning was that no one here called him Political Commissioner Li, and no one addressed him as Mr. Li either; everyone called him Village Chief Li.

Director Zhang of the Binjiang Ocean and Fishery Bureau Fishery Radio Station was there too, and he had brought the station's radio set with him. He was working with the Radiotelegraphist, using the radio to contact fishing boats that were on their way back.

The temporary overall commander was Chief of Staff Qian from the Military District. As soon as he saw Han Yu he said anxiously, "Salted Fish, you're finally here. This is Comrade Li Mingsheng, the temporary Political Commissioner of our Binjiang Reserve Corps and simultaneously Big Commander of the Binjiang Civilian Transport Team. You know Chief of Staff Zhang from the East Sea Base very well, so I don't need to introduce him."

Only then did Han Yu notice that the Navy had also sent someone—Chief of Staff Zhang from the East Sea Base Command.

When the Rescue Boat Team held its founding ceremony, Chief of Staff Zhang had accompanied the East Sea Base Commander on a visit to Binjiang.

Because the command relationship for the Navy Reserve Forces and the Army Reserve Forces was still unclear even now, Chief of Staff Zhang was not formally designated to handle liaison with the Rescue Boat Team, but in practice that work was his responsibility.

"Secretary Han, we meet again." Chief of Staff Zhang knew very well how strong Han Yu's background was, and he quickly stepped forward to salute.

On his way to report in at Lvsi Port, Li Mingsheng had received a phone call from Old Lu, the former Lao Liangzhuang Town Party secretary and now Deputy Researcher in the county people's government. From that call, he knew Han Yu was half a fellow townsman; he just hadn't expected Han Yu to be so young.

He froze for a moment, then came up with a smile and said, "Secretary Han, Secretary Lu called me yesterday afternoon and said you're our Si Gang son-in-law."

"Hello to you both, I'm late."

"You're not late—we only got here yesterday afternoon as well."

Fully aware of how tight the schedule was, once the three had finished their brief greetings, Chief of Staff Qian went straight to the point: "Village Chief Li, Salted Fish has just arrived and isn't up to speed. You introduce the situation first."

"Okay." Li Mingsheng picked up a handwritten document, handed it over with a smile, and said, "Secretary Han, we've requisitioned a total of 55 fishing boats. Forty-eight have already arrived; the remaining seven are on their way back. Based on their current positions and speeds, the entire force will have assembled no later than 9 o'clock this morning." 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

"What about personnel?" Han Yu asked while looking over the document.

"Given that the upcoming task is transporting troops rather than going out to fish, there's no need for that many people on each boat. I sought instructions from the Chief of Staff last night: each fishing boat only needs five Civilian Soldiers including the ship captain."

"The extra five boats we requisitioned will also take part in the operation. With five Civilian Soldiers on each boat, our transport flotilla alone has 275 people."

"If those extra five fishing boats also participate, our Civilian Transport Team will have more than two hundred Civilian Soldiers in the fight on our side."

"Have you formed them into units?"

"Yes. One squadron per district/county, four squadrons in total."

He wasn't just a professional Coastal Defense Civilian Corps leader; he was also a township head with extensive grassroots experience, and he had organized Sea Militia to take part in military operations more than once, though none of the previous operations had been as large in scale as this one.

With Li Mingsheng there, Han Yu didn't need to worry about the organization, management, and logistical support of the Civilian Transport Team, so he simply turned and asked, "Chief of Staff Zhang, has our Superior made it clear which unit our Binjiang Civilian Militia Reserve Force is to cooperate with and whose command we'll come under?"

"It's clear; it was clarified at 2:30 a.m."

Chief of Staff Zhang opened his briefcase and took out a document: "The Superior orders the Binjiang Civilian Transport Team to coordinate operations with the East Sea Fleet's Third Transport Detachment and to come under the command of the Third Transport Detachment. The Linghai Reserve Camp Water Rescue Team will cooperate with the East Sea Base Landing Craft Group and come under the Landing Craft Group's command.

For ease of command, the Binjiang Naval Reserve Rescue Ship Brigade will operate together with the Civilian Transport Team and jointly come under the command of the Fleet's Third Transport Detachment. I will serve as liaison officer and will accompany you throughout the operation."

Looking at the operation order, Han Yu asked, "When do we sail? When does the operation start?"

"We have one day to prepare. The Superior has ordered that the Field Battle Group we are responsible for transporting will board at Lvsi Port at 9 p.m. sharp tonight. The regiment has already received the order, and its vanguard elements will arrive here by 12 noon today."

"We're responsible for transporting a whole regiment!"

"They're calling it a regiment, but in fact the officers and men taking part in the landing exercise number only 1,200. I've been aboard the fishing boats and gone over it with Village Chief Li. If we squeeze a bit, they should all fit."

"What about weapons and equipment?"

"All individual gear, all light weapons—no heavy equipment."

"All light weapons!"

"Heavy equipment is being transported by Roll-on-roll-off ship and car-and-passenger ferries, mainly concentrated over by the East Sea and Zhehai." Chief of Staff Zhang hesitated a moment, then added, "And… and whether in the Navy or the Army, the amount of heavy equipment that can actually be committed to a cross‑sea landing isn't very large."

In this day and age, they still had to summon so many civilian vessels, still had to mount a "ten thousand boats setting out together" type of mobilization.

Chief of Staff Qian from the Military District let out a quiet sigh and said gravely, "The only truly heavy equipment capable of executing the first wave of beach‑seizing landings should be amphibious tanks and amphibious infantry fighting vehicles. As far as I know, there aren't many units equipped with amphibious tanks and amphibious IFVs."

Han Yu wasn't thinking as broadly as Chief of Staff Qian; she was focused on how to accomplish the mission. Furrowing her brow, she said, "What are 1,200 people going to eat and drink at sea? How are we going to handle logistical supplies?"

Chief of Staff Zhang quickly replied, "The main force boarding tonight doesn't mean the transport flotilla will sail tonight. The Superior will definitely calculate the voyage and timings properly. That is to say, the Army units taking part in the operation won't be at sea for too long, so the logistical supply pressure won't be that great."

Calculate the timing properly and get the troops to the exercise waters.

Once you reach the designated position, if conditions allow, use the landing craft to ferry them ashore for an assault landing, or ride the tide to rush the fishing boats straight onto the beach; if conditions don't allow for that, just have them jump into the sea and conduct an armed swim…

But the only unit participating in the landing exercise isn't just this one regiment from Binjiang responsible for transport; on the sea patrol boat, Political Commissioner Chen said there were tens of thousands of officers and soldiers taking part in the military exercise.

The beach to be landed on is only so long, and the sea surface is crammed full of fishing boats, cargo ships, and warships. There's no way you can have them land the moment they get there. In other words, it's very hard to control how long they'll be stuck on the boats—might have to wait an entire day.

More importantly, this isn't just a simple military exercise.

The Taiwan independence forces are jumping around like crazy. If those ungrateful bastards who forget their ancestors refuse to come to their senses, and if the Central makes up its mind to solve the problem, the participating units will point their swords at Taiwan Island. If logistics support can't keep up, how are you supposed to throw them into real combat?

Thinking of this, Han Yu pondered and said, "The fish holds on the high-horsepower fishing boats aren't fit for people to live in. Once the Army brothers come aboard, they can only squeeze into the crew cabins and the deck. We can totally make use of the fish holds to load more fresh water and dry rations."

Everyone knows that when it comes to logistics support, the more supplies you carry the better.

The problem is that fresh water is easy to deal with; how do you deal with dry rations?

Chief of Staff Qian reminded him, "Salted Fish, the superior only requires us to handle logistical resupply during the sea transport phase. Our conditions are limited—we don't have that many dry rations, and even if we did, we don't have that many ships to haul them."

"The active-duty units have compressed biscuits and all kinds of canned food, don't they? Chief of Staff Zhang, can you get in touch with the leadership of the field battle group and ask if they can bring more food along?"

"Sure, I'll ask."

...

Do not concern yourself with governance if you are not in that position.

If you talk too much, who knows whether the superior will be displeased. After all, with an operation of this scale, who are you, a mere Reserve Officer, to wag your finger? The only thing you can do is carry out the mission resolutely.

Han Yu didn't want to say too much. Seeing that there wasn't anything else here that required him, he exchanged a few more polite words with Li Mingsheng and Chief of Staff Zhang, then went out to ask around where there was a cold storage and where he could get foam boxes on the dock.

With the help of friends in the Fishery Administration department, he found some ice and two big foam boxes, put the crabs that were still alive into them, taped them up, and asked the Military District's driver to take them home.

At 6:30 in the afternoon, Han Xiangning got off work and came home, and as soon as she walked in, she saw Little Han Han playing with crabs in the living room.

"Mom, how much does this sea crab cost per jin?"

"Didn't cost anything. San'er had someone bring them back."

Director Xiang was busy in the kitchen. After a moment's thought, she turned back with a look of regret and said, "San'er had someone bring back two big boxes. Must be about twenty jin in total. It's a pity more than half of them died—only six are still alive."

Han Xiangning asked with a smile, "Can't we eat the ones that died?"

"I'm checking. Some can be eaten, some can't. We'll steam the live ones in a bit, and stir-fry the dead ones with scallions and ginger later."

"Han Han, stop playing. If you keep it up, even this one will be played to death by you."

"Don't eat it, I want to raise the crab."

"This is a sea crab, you can't keep it alive!" Han Xiangning was not about to indulge her daughter. She squatted down and carefully grabbed the swimming crab, then stood up and carried it into the kitchen.

She was just wondering when San'er had become so extravagant that he was actually willing to spend money on crabs, when Director Xiang, chopping up the crab she was about to stir-fry, said with a smile, "The driver from the Military District said these crabs were hooked by San'er out at sea. He didn't expect crabs to be so easy to catch—he caught this many in one go."

"Hooked? I thought he bought them."

"You only gave him fifty yuan when he went to Qingdao. How would he have the money to buy so many crabs?"

"I'd wanted to give him more, but I only had fifty on me at the time." Han Xiangning didn't think her junior was especially wronged and immediately changed the subject: "How did he end up running into the Military District's driver? Did he say when he's coming back?"

"Didn't your dad tell you? He's got a new assignment; he may have to be gone for a month before he can come back."

Director Xiang was a transferred cadre, with a high level of political consciousness and a strong sense of confidentiality. Smiling, she added, "As for where he ran into the Military District's driver, I didn't ask. What shouldn't be asked mustn't be asked carelessly; what shouldn't be inquired into mustn't be pried into."

These days the situation in the Taiwan Sea is very tense.

Han Xiangning didn't know much else. She only knew that when foreign ships docked, it was no longer as easy as before for crew members to come ashore; the border inspection station had tightened control a lot.

She was silent for a moment, then pressed on: "Where's my dad?"

"He should be at Lang Mountain, with Ge Diao."

"Even if there's some urgent task, what's he doing tagging along and joining the fun?"

"Director Feng is back."

"Director Feng is back? When did he come back? How come I didn't know!"

"He's been back for two days. Director Zheng had people clean up the small building he used to live in, but after he returned, he didn't go stay in the retirees' compound."

"Did Aunt Yao come?"

"No. Director Zheng said Director Feng came back alone this time."

What exactly are the Rescue Boat Team and the Linghai Reserve Camp up to? Are they really going to recover Taiwan this time?

Thinking about how her junior had received the anti-smuggling boat but hadn't brought it back to Binjiang as originally planned, Han Xiangning suddenly felt a bit worried. Recovering Taiwan would of course be a good thing, but recovering Taiwan means fighting a war. Her junior is out at sea—if there really is a war, it will definitely be dangerous…