Binjiang Police Affairs

Chapter 1477: Chapter 261: Brotherhood in Battle!

As night fell, the cafeteria on the fifth floor of the Marine Department was brightly lit, filled with laughter and chatter, bustling with activity.

Xiang Fan borrowed someone else’s kitchen and was busy all afternoon, setting up two large tables of sumptuous food and drink.

The evening meal focused on river and seafood, with fish, shrimp, and crabs. Especially noteworthy were the large steamed swimming crabs—over twenty on each table, piled high!

Master Han invited Old Ge, Secretary Wang, Old Zhang, and Old Ding to accompany them. Vice Mayor Han Xiangning, being the younger one, originally wanted to join Yu Zhen, who had been helping with the child all day, at the table with Xiao Yu, Ma Jintao, and Guo Weitao. However, when a junior couldn’t attend due to overtime, she was forced to sit at the main table at Deputy Chief of Staff Jiang’s strong insistence.

"Master Han, Director Xiang, Mayor Xiao Han, don’t laugh at me; I’ve never seen such seafood before, let alone eaten it. You’re too hospitable; this is so lavish!"

"What’s lavish about it? They’re just some home-style dishes."

Director Xiang, while inviting everyone to dig in, said with a smile, "Major General Jiang, Commander Liu, you start eating, I have two more dishes to stir-fry."

"It’s enough, it’s enough. There’s plenty already; no need to stir-fry more, sit down and join us."

"Major General Jiang, I’ve got them ready; just a quick stir-fry and they’ll be on the table, very fast."

"Commander, don’t worry about my mother, we’ll just eat."

No sooner had Han Xiangning finished speaking when Deputy Chief of Staff Jiang’s face suddenly turned serious: "What do you mean ’don’t worry about your mother’? Mayor Han, you’ve never been in the military so you don’t understand our camaraderie. Your father and mother were both in the Air Force like us, and they were our old platoon leaders!"

In terms of military service years, Master Han and Director Xiang were junior to Deputy Chief of Staff Jiang.

In terms of enlistment order, Master Han and Director Xiang were indeed senior to Deputy Chief of Staff Jiang.

Deputy Chief of Staff Jiang simply refused to start eating until Director Xiang finished cooking. Commander Liu of the Special Warfare Group and Political Commissioner Xu followed Deputy Chief of Staff Jiang’s lead in everything, so Master Han and Han Xiangning had no choice but to wait together.

"Mayor Han, what overtime is Salted Fish working on tonight?" Deputy Chief of Staff Jiang curiously asked after taking a cigarette from Old Zhang.

"He’s in the police force; apart from working on cases, what else could require overtime?" This wasn’t confidential as Han Xiangning already knew in the afternoon. She explained patiently, "They’re working on a criminal case at their precinct where a victim was beaten into the river by a suspect. It’s been twelve days, and the person hasn’t been found dead or alive. Now that the suspect has been caught, if the victim isn’t found, the case can’t proceed."

"Fell into the water twelve days ago; the person is probably long gone!"

"That’s why we need to search for a body. This afternoon, all units along the line, including the Linghai Maritime Bureau and our Changzhou Maritime Office, are organizing efforts to help search. From our Changzhou to where you were training in Dongqi, all units across nearly a hundred kilometers of shoreline are searching, deploying all available vessels and personnel."

"This is a major operation!"

"Considering the dispatched law enforcement vessels, commandeered civilian ships, and manpower deployed, the ongoing search operation exceeds previous joint enforcement actions in scale. Because searches aren’t confined to our side; the opposite shore also needs to be searched."

"Still searching on the river at night?"

"Every hour of delay introduces an hour of uncertainty. Searches have to continue day and night until all corners that could catch unidentified floating objects are thoroughly searched."

One doesn’t realize how wide the Yangtze River gets downstream without coming to Binjiang.

Deputy Chief of Staff Jiang murmured, "This is a substantial workload."

The junior silently instigated such a big operation as soon as he returned, but this operation wasn’t quite what he imagined a big operation to be.

Han Xiangning explained with a smile, "It looks like a huge workload, almost an impossible task, but if you break down the search task and delegate it to each relevant unit, the search doesn’t seem so daunting."

"Break it down?" Old Zhang asked instinctively.

"Yes, assigning each segment to a responsible unit. For example, our Changzhou shoreline is handled by our Water Police Third Team and our Marine Department. There’s no need to deploy so many law enforcement vessels; just mobilize each unit along the shoreline to check floating piers and Cha Port corners. And ask two ship lock management offices and small and large vessels anchored on the river to deploy traffic boats and Iron Dinghies to assist our search."

"Ningning, is the search done on the Changzhou side?"

"The search started at two and was done by five-thirty. Linghai is about the same," Han Xiangning thought for a moment, then added with a smile, "It was so quick because our shoreline isn’t very long, and what could be developed has been, with many enterprises along Yanjiang, mobilizing significant forces."

Hosting guests at home, and the eldest son-in-law didn’t even come back.

Master Han couldn’t help but ask, "What’s San’er busy with?"

"Didn’t I just say? Not only do we need to search on our side, but the opposite side also needs to be searched. He’s gone over with Luo Wenjiang to request their assistance."

Searching for a body while entertaining guests was an inappropriate topic.

Han Xiangning smiled and skillfully changed the subject, "Commander, I almost forgot to inform you. Director Xu of our Maritime Bureau has entrusted me to ask when you might have time, and if you would honor us by letting our Maritime Bureau show some hospitality."

Others might find it hard to believe.

Coming to Binjiang for training and having drinks every day!

The civil-military relations in Binjiang were surprisingly better than at the military base.

Deputy Chief of Staff Jiang genuinely felt the warmth of Binjiang and truly felt what it meant to be treated like an honored guest. He couldn’t help but ask with a smile, "What’s Director Xu inviting me to eat?"

"No one knows you better than yourself. The Linghai Reserve Camp is not only a reserve force for Linghai but also for our transportation system. Since you’re leading the team to train at the Linghai Reserve Camp, naturally, our Maritime Bureau should give you a welcome banquet."