Binjiang Police Affairs-Chapter 899 - 606: Waterborne Convoy Formation (Part 2)
A high-power tugboat is pushing at the rear of the fleet, while another high-power tugboat pushes on the left or right side of the foremost barge. The tugboat at the front not only enables the fleet to navigate faster but also coordinates with the rear tugboat to adjust the fleet’s course.
The reason for not having a tug tow at the front of the fleet is that even with a high-power tug like Linggang Tuo 001, the fleet’s upstream speed wouldn’t exceed 6 kilometers per hour.
In comparison, pushing is more efficient.
As long as there are two high-power tugboats pushing, the planned 25,000-ton fleet can achieve an upstream speed of 10 to 12 kilometers per hour, increasing the speed by forty percent.
The total voyage from Sanhe to Jingzhou is about 1550 kilometers, and only by forming a pushing fleet can both the logistics and transport fleets arrive within five to six days.
Forming a fleet is not as simple as tying together unpowered barges and dunships with ropes or cables. There are strict requirements for the draft and load of each vessel to minimize resistance during navigation.
Fleet assembling even requires uniformity.
For example, the alignment of parallel-fixed "two dragons" must be straight, and the rear pushing position of the tug must align with the centerline...
Han Xiangning couldn’t afford any delay, quickly grabbing a flashlight to check the draft line.
Meanwhile, Anchorage No. 3 has transformed into a large over-the-water operation and command base for fleet assembly.
A large amount of equipment and materials needed to be loaded. Waiting to pass through locks was too troublesome, and there weren’t enough self-propelled ships available, nor enough tugs to tow them.
The original plan was to load at the Jianghai River Harbor Pier, but Jianghai River Harbor is not just a harbor; it’s also an access waterway for the Yangtze River. Towing so many unpowered barges and dunships in would affect the navigation of cargo ships entering and leaving the Yangtze River and inland rivers.
Several piers at Linghai Port are still under construction, showing only an outline. Loading and unloading operations won’t be possible until at least this time next year.
Wu Hai Li and Gu Pengfei discussed it and decided to make use of existing transportation infrastructure and equipment advantages. They sought assistance from the Lingda Ferry Company to first transport all the equipment and emergency supplies by truck.
The trucks deployed by the Military District in the afternoon came in handy, hauling transportable equipment and materials to Lingda Car Ferry. According to the overall arrangement at Lingda Car Ferry, the trucks were promptly driven onto ferry ships incorporated into the Reserve Camp, which transported the convoys loaded with equipment and materials to Anchorage No. 3, docking on the left side of the floating crane ship.
Lingda Ferry 22 is a side-loading ferry, with minimal structures on the deck, located on the left side of the deck, thus not affecting lifting operations.
Crane operators on the floating crane ship and workers at the floating crane pier either used cranes to directly load equipment and materials from trucks onto the barges docked on the right side of the floating crane ship or installed more than thirty-meter-long belt conveyors to directly send the sacks of materials into the cargo holds of the barges. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦
The efficiency was high, and in a short time, the nine tons of rice recently purchased from Longgang Rice Industry were loaded onto the integrated supply ship.
Safety first during river operations.
Supervision 39 and Binjiang Police 002 were flashing their police lights and sirens, guarding the operational water area upstream and downstream vigilantly.
A high vantage point provides a broader view.
Deputy Battalion Commander and Second Company Commander Wu Hai Li stood in the crane cabin of the floating crane ship, overlooking the waterborne gas station towed over from Bailong Port by Linggang Tuo 001, holding up a walkie-talkie: "Station Chief Li, this is Wu Hai Li, do you copy?"
"Gas station receiving, go ahead, Captain Wu."
"How much oil do you have on your ship? Report the total tonnage and draft."
"I only have diesel and a bit of lubricating oil here, 685 tons of diesel, less than two tons of lubricating oil, total tonnage around 900 tons, draft two meters three."
Waterborne navigation safety Deputy Commander Gu Pengfei, squeezed into a corner of the cabin, quickly noted the data.
Turning back, Captain Wu asked, "No gasoline?"
"Captain Wu, you know nobody uses gasoline on the river. Our gas station hasn’t supplied gasoline in years."
"But we have three off-road vehicles, the ones President Hao and the others drove. We can’t be without fuel, think of a way to prepare two to three tons of gasoline."
"You’ll have to use large oil barrels to fetch it from the company, as I can’t make space in the oil tank here."
"Quickly contact your company. They must have large barrels; I’ll arrange for vehicles to fetch it."
"Contacting is no problem, but there’s something I want to ask."
"What is it?"
"How will this fuel be accounted for?"
"Contact the administrator and have them find Director Huang."
"What if Director Huang refuses to acknowledge it? Captain Wu, it’s not that I don’t support flood relief efforts. If we didn’t support it, we wouldn’t have relocated. You know the situation with our gas station: since our fueling barge was constructed and towed to Bailong Port, it hasn’t moved an inch—this is the first time!"
"I know; rest assured about the fuel bill. Salted Fish has used so much of your fuel before, and did you ever not get paid? He won’t make it difficult for you, nor will he make it difficult for your leaders."
"Alright, that’s reassuring."
"One more thing."
Wu Hai Li leaned forward, watching the water factory ship and the cooking ship being assembled, and said, "For safety, Director Gu and I decided to place your fueling ship at the very front, with a barge loaded with rocks on one side of you, and several barges with steel pipe fasteners and non-flammable, non-explosive equipment loaded behind you."
Station Chief Li immediately responded, "No problem, we’ll follow orders and commands. If we’re to lead the way, we lead the way."
"It’s not a matter of letting you lead as if your barge could motor to Beihu by itself."
Wu Hai Li chuckled, candidly stating, "Director Gu and I are concerned about your fire safety. Station Chief Li, let me make it clear: if your fueling barge catches fire, we’ll immediately cut the cables and let your fueling barge detach from the fleet!"
Station Chief Li asked with a wry smile, "Then what should we do?"
"First, see if you can save yourselves. If the fire gets out of control, quickly jump into the river. The patrol and protection squads will conduct rescue operations promptly, and Linggang Tuo 001 will immediately take firefighting actions."
"You expect us to jump into the river?"
"If not jumping into the river, do you plan to perish with your fueling barge?"
"Alright, we’ll pay attention to fire safety."
"It’s not just you who needs to be cautious; we’ll be cautious too. Shortly, we’ll arrange for a fire supervisor to be aboard your ship."
"That’s more like it." Station Chief Li finally felt somewhat relieved, then curiously asked again, "Captain Wu, should Mayor Shen and Salted Fish have arrived in Jiangcheng by now?"
"They arrived early on and have already gotten on the Jianghe Highway."
"Did they meet with the General?"
"Yes, they did."
It’s quite a sight: the Provicial Military District Commander is typically a Lieutenant General, which corresponds to provincial leadership, roughly equivalent to a Deputy Provincial Leader.
Having been with the Port Supervision Bureau for many years, Wu Hai Li casually mentioned, "It started raining in Jiangcheng. Xiao Yu called and said the Provincial Military District Commander and Political Commissioner didn’t want them to get caught in the rain or have their time wasted, so they weren’t ordered to get out of the car for formation. They only spoke with them in the car and then led them to the entrance of the Jianghe Highway."
Station Chief Li watched Xiao Yu grow up, and he followed up, "Did Xiao Yu say anything else?"
"He mentioned the Port Authority’s large vehicles were loaded with so much equipment and materials, they couldn’t travel fast. It’s started raining again over there, and although there’s a Military District vehicle leading with police cars in the rear, the convoy’s speed was slow, only maintaining about 60 kilometers per hour. Expecting to arrive within 24 hours might be challenging."
"Once the rain stops, they should be able to speed up."
"Even with clear skies, speeding up is difficult."
"Why is that?"
"There’s no highway from Hefei to Hanwu. Xiao Yu called President Hao, and President Hao mentioned that the road conditions from Hefei to Lu’an aren’t very good. After Lu’an, they’ll have to traverse Dabie Mountain; mountain roads are even harder to navigate. Under normal circumstances, that more than 300 kilometers from Hefei to Hanwu takes around thirteen hours to drive."
