National Forensic Doctor-Chapter 1005 - 941: Inspect the Guns

The team marched in the rain for over an hour before entering Chang Le City and then, following Huang Qiangmin’s suggestion, headed straight for Changqiang Military Barracks.

At the same time, Changqiang Military Barracks was also assembling and boarding vehicles, with the sound of roll calls echoing through the camp.

"Which one is Jiang Yuan?" An officer of the Changqiang Military Barracks came looking for someone.

"I am." Jiang Yuan got out of the vehicle.

The officer checked him against a photo, then said, "You take a few people off the vehicle, the rest will return to Jiali Village with us."

"Am I not going?" Jiang Yuan hesitated, then added, "Since I’m following you all, I might as well go along."

"The orders I received are as such. If you have other thoughts, communicate with your superiors," the officer stated firmly, then turned away to attend to other duties.

Seeing this, Jiang Yuan didn’t belabor the point. He found shelter under the eaves and called Huang Qiangmin, saying, "Commissar, I request to go to Jiali Village as well. I can recognize the vehicle that was following mine, and if necessary, I can also track them in reverse."

Huang Qiangmin chuckled and said, "I was worried about you getting hurt, which was why I had you all pulled out. If you’re going back now, why would I have had you withdraw in the first place? The twenty-odd people in your five vehicles could just head straight to Jiali Village and capture them."

"With the enemy situation unclear and us without any equipment, not even in uniform, it indeed involved risks going to Jiali Village at that time. Having developed for only a few years, Jiali Village definitely has guns. Now, accompanying the armed police with full equipment, the risk is controllable, and it’s also conducive to catching the suspect," Jiang Yuan had solid reasons as well.

"Hmm," Huang Qiangmin grunted in acknowledgment, "You have a point there, but Jiali Village has more than just guns. They have a hunting team called the Jiali Protective Farming Hunting Team, with 15 guns and over 20 members. The hunting team’s shotguns are equipped with scopes, night vision, and thermal imaging devices. Currently, there are 4 guns and over 50 bullets out there, including a single-projectile cartridge."

In many places, protective farming hunting teams are established, initially intended for hunting wild boars with very strict management. The approved firearms had to be centrally managed, stored in designated gun cabinets, and limited bullets were issued mainly comprised of birdshot and buckshot, with very few single-projectile cartridges. Birdshot contains dozens of small pellets upon firing, while buckshot has 8 pellets.

As the name suggests, a single-projectile cartridge contains one pellet; shotguns are issued with these mainly for dealing with animals on the level of bears or tigers.

In Chang Le City, each gun is issued about 10 bullets, and single-projectile cartridges are generally not issued; used cartridges could be exchanged for new ones.

Strict protocols notwithstanding, the time involved in hunting trips, which can take a whole day and night or even two days and nights, especially when deep in the mountains, means that getting lost is not a rare occurrence. Consequently, the daily return of firearms to the cabinets can’t be guaranteed, and occasionally, guns remain outside.

The bullets, similarly, once issued, are difficult to check. It’s also known that some people take their issued bullets home.

Of course, this doesn’t mean the hunting teams are problematic. Normally, those who can join the hunting team are politically vetted, with family histories checked up to three generations, and the vetting is similar to that of police officers.

While this is the principle, the reality is that there are 4 guns outside in Jiali Village. Moreover, today’s hunting teams are combat-ready, usually accompanied by dogs and armed with thermal imagers while hunting. Their firing range can vary from a few dozen meters to three or four hundred meters, and if there are any issues, their lethal capability is extremely alarming.

Even if we take a step back, if there are people with issues in Jiali Village, the possibility of gun theft exists. People who aren’t good won’t adhere to proper standards.

Jiang Yuan had likely considered these risks but still insisted on his point, saying, "I am a technician in the first place, and I don’t go to the frontline. I’m worried the suspect might flee. If they decide to escape into the mountains beforehand, I believe I could be of help."

"The suspect might have a gun," emphasized Huang Qiangmin.

"With 4 guns, we should be able to identify the owners," Jiang Yuan, aware of some aspects of gun management, stated. Not to mention, taking and returning guns from a fixed location’s gun cabinet was recorded, and even by calling one by one, they should be traceable—under the management of the police.

Of course, at this stage, calling would definitely not be secure.

Huang Qiangmin thought for a moment, then said, "Alright. But you must first verify the guns before you follow them into the mountains. If there indeed are missing guns, you are not allowed to go in."

Jiang Yuan agreed without hesitation.

Shortly after the phone call ended, the same officer came over and said to Jiang Yuan, "You’ll come with us. There are two civilians in the vehicle, right? Have the civilians unload here; there are separate rooms for accommodations. They can leave after we return."

"We’ll drive ourselves and follow you," Jiang Yuan, having obtained Huang Qiangmin’s permission, was unwilling to listen to the military officer’s commands any longer. Although the armed hunters provided support for the criminal investigation, the main force was indeed the hunters, the detectives themselves determined the targets of the mission and alike, and Jiang Yuan naturally did not want to become merely a protected individual.

The convoy was organized and set off back along the same route they had come by.

Jiang Yuan wore a bulletproof vest, with a ceramic plate inserted, sitting in the back seat of a Humvee. He felt it was unnecessary for him to be protected to such an extent but on this matter, everyone else disagreed, and Jiang Yuan could only pretend to doze off while holding the ceramic plate.

By the time they returned to Jiali Village, it was already very late.

Some streetlamps in the village were still lit, as were a few guesthouses and bars. Since they were in the tourism business, they pretended to work even on this rainy day—after all, even the tourists who had come had little choice but to pretend to be enjoying themselves as they spent their money.

The noise of the convoy’s engines broke the quiet of the village, attracting the attention of some tourists.

Some people truly had nothing better to do, venturing out under their umbrellas to enjoy the spectacle, seemingly unworried about the purpose of so many police vehicles arriving.

Jiang Yuan stayed in the vehicle and did not get out, listening to the commands coming through the walkie-talkie: "Wang Qiang, your team is to block the village; firing is authorized if someone or a vehicle attempts to break through. Teams one, two, three, and four, report when in position. Report when in position!"

These four groups were pre-arranged to head to the homes of the six armed hunters.

Some of the hunting rifles were held by two or three people. Even though it was said that the person who signs for it when withdrawing the rifle is held responsible, precautions were still necessary to prevent someone else from retrieving the gun on behalf of another.

At the same time, the armed hunters’ snipers, with their guns ready, took aim at the hunters’ homes, assisted by spotters and thermal imagers.

It was only at this point that the head of the Jiali Protective Farming Hunting Team began to make phone calls, asking, "Do you have your gun with you? Where are you?"

Soon, the locations of two rifles were confirmed, right in their respective owners’ homes.

But the calls to the owners of the other two guns went unanswered, no matter how many times they tried to call.

The head of the hunting team helplessly put down the phone, saying, "Sometimes it’s like this, the signal is bad in the mountains; if you go deeper, there are no signal towers, and you can’t get through. However, these two people are locals, honest and straightforward; otherwise, they wouldn’t have been able to apply for guns."

"Go to their homes first," the officer quickly decided. The two teams were well-prepared and, under the watch of the snipers, entered the two households after a brief exchange.

The search turned up nothing.

No guns and no people—a slightly better outcome than the worst-case scenario. If there had been people but no guns, that would have been truly worrisome.

Only then did the officer hand back command, approaching the Humvee to ask Jiang Yuandao, "Captain Jiang, what shall we do next?"

"Next, we search for vehicles. The one following us was a Toyota Land Cruiser; first, let’s see how many Land Cruisers are in the village," Jiang Yuan had come to the mountain not to search for guns. Searching for guns was to guard against danger, but the primary objective was to track the vehicle and individuals following them.

The officer agreed, saying, "Then we’ll search from west to east. The terrain is higher in the west, and we have the high ground there."

"Sounds good. Also, make sure to block the roads to prevent armed hunters from returning; we’ll assume they went out hunting. And internally, we need to prevent anyone from escaping by car through the barriers," Jiang Yuan added a reminder.

"Understood," the officer agreed, then added, "Captain Jiang, you should stay and direct from the command vehicle. I can lead the team."

"I’ll come with you. If I stay here, you’d have to leave men behind. Besides, we have control of the high ground, and the aim of the other party is not to assassinate me. It’s safer for me to follow you," Jiang Yuan was not acting recklessly.

The officer hesitated, then said, "If you are coming, then you must wear your bulletproof vest and helmet, and keep the ceramic plate with you."

"Alright," Jiang Yuan agreed as he put on his helmet, stepped out of the vehicle, and rechecked the safety on his Type 92 pistol that he was carrying.