pjbooks Chapter 38: Clues
Chapter 38: Clues
Time passed calmly, and before we knew it, it was time to go on duty.
At five o'clock in the morning, Tang Zhenghong carried the luggage he had prepared before going to bed and arrived at the railway police station on time.
This trip involves an international intermodal express train from Sijiucheng to Hanoi, with hard-seat, hard-sleeper, and ordinary passenger trains. Trains departing from Sijiucheng are always on odd-numbered days, while those returning are on even-numbered days. This is the 39th intermodal train.
The domestic section covers a total distance of 2792 kilometers and ends in Pingxiang City, Guangxi, which is directly under the jurisdiction of Guixi Zhuang Autonomous Prefecture. By the end of December, it will be placed under the jurisdiction of Yongning Special District.
The estimated journey time is from 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday to 6:34 a.m. on Saturday, a journey of at least 71 hours, passing through five provinces: Hebei, Henan, Hubei, Hunan and Guangxi. It can be said to be the longest international passenger train service to date.
Since the signing of the Sino-Vietnamese Railway Intermodal Transport Agreement and the Sino-Vietnamese Border Railway Agreement in 9, and the opening of the first international intermodal passenger train on September 20, exchanges between the two countries have gradually increased. Because the section from Pingxiang to Hanoi is meter gauge and has no bogies, passenger trains cannot run directly through the area. Passengers need to transfer at the border inspection station in Pingxiang. The jurisdiction of the railway police in China also ends here.
In 1954, after the international community reached the Geneva Accords, the northern and southern countries of this destination seemed to have settled down with the 17° North latitude line as a temporary military demarcation line.
This created a situation of confrontation between the Democratic Republic of Vietnam and the Republic of Vietnam. However, the covert struggle between the two camps and major powers had only just begun, and they joined the war in the 1960s and 70s. This year, the leaders of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam made a trip to the north.
Just as Lu Zhanggang emphasized at the meeting, there were rumors not long ago that the border garrison had discovered lurking Vietnamese Communists, so this mission was not easy.
The four arrived at Qianmen Station two hours before departure. The locomotive depot staff were cleaning the train, boiling water in the boiler, and conducting safety checks in the depot.
Forty-five minutes before departure, the tractor pulled the train to the platform.
The pre-departure safety meeting had just ended, and Tang Zhenghong also got to know the departure crew at the meeting.
Train conductor Sun Qin is a former member of the "March 8th Women's Special Train Crew" and graduated from the cadre class of Tangshan Railway Institute. She was just transferred from Shenyang Railway Bureau to Sijiucheng Locomotive Depot this year.
The Iron Lady's style of speaking was concise and to the point, without the long-winded speeches of "I'll just say a couple of sentences," which made Tang Zhenghong feel a sense of goodwill towards her.
Of course, taking notes is necessary; security is a top priority for both the department and the leadership.
Train No. 39 has an exceptionally long route and a large passenger volume, so it is equipped with thirteen carriages, making it the longest-hauling train of its time. Apart from the locomotive and the water car, carriage No. 1 still belongs to the post office, carriages No. 2 to 6 are hard-sleeper carriages, No. 7 is the dining car, No. 8 is a soft-sleeper carriage, and carriages No. 9 to 13 are soft-sleeper carriages. Among them, carriage No. 9 is a soft-sleeper carriage, and those who can sit in it are at least at the division-level cadre level.
Tang Zhenghong and his group's camping vehicle was in carriage number 12.
Because of the vehicle's speed and horsepower, there were far too many thieves jumping off or climbing onto the vehicle to rob people along the way. In addition, this was a long-distance trip, so the mission was not easy.
As the tractor pulled the train into the station, a special passenger arrived.
He was a vice minister who went south to inspect the construction progress of the Yangtze River Bridge in Jiangcheng. The leader only brought one secretary and one bodyguard, so the station was under martial law by the Public Security Bureau.
Before boarding the vehicle, the leader made a point of shaking hands with the maintenance crew to express his appreciation.
Unfortunately, Tang Zhenghong could only pay homage from afar while following his master on the periphery. The leaders did not stay on the platform for long, for fear of affecting passengers boarding the train.
After the temporary curfew was lifted, passengers entered the station and began ticket checks and boarding.
Tang Zhenghong was surprised to find so many people at the departure station of such an early passenger train. He could even hear a few awkward foreigners speaking Mandarin in the crowd asking for directions.
Fortunately, officers from the local police station were there to maintain order, so nothing went wrong.
The leaders were there to inspect the construction progress of the Yangtze River Bridge, so at that time, trains needed to take ferries to cross the river. This meant that the group of people had to stay on duty until they reached Hankou before they could take turns resting.
"Comrades, you all know what happened before departure, right? So, I'm asking everyone to remain vigilant before the ferry departs, and to increase patrols and security checks in the carriages. Yi Shui, you and Zheng Hong will be in charge of carriages two through seven, is that alright?"
With a long whistle from the steam engine, the train slowly pulled out of the Sijiucheng Station, and Lu Zhang gave instructions on the tasks.
Zou Yishui was somewhat surprised that Lu had put him and Tang Zhenghong on the same team.
But he could understand what was going on. The hard-seat carriages were crowded and chaotic. Tang Zhenghong was meticulous, and Captain Lu was responsible for the safety outside the compartments and couldn't leave, so he gave his apprentice to him.
"no problem."
"Alright, let's check the equipment and get started."
Although Tang Zhenghong was puzzled as to why the leader wasn't on the special train, it wasn't his concern right now. He took out his gun and other equipment, carefully checked them, and then re-equipped them to his waist. With the leader around, he couldn't be too cautious.
Of course, sometimes for safety reasons, special plainclothes guards will blend into the crowd to provide support.
"Zhenghong, how did you and Captain Lu coordinate when you were on duty?"
On the way to the hard-seat carriage, Zou Yishui had some things he couldn't say directly. Since both of them were ordinary railway police officers, he could only ask indirectly.
"Brother Zou, you're very experienced. I'll be in charge of keeping watch when you're inspecting later. Everything will be done according to your orders."
Tang Zhenghong understood the meaning behind the words: when carrying out a mission, the worst thing is when a hothead rushes in without thinking.
Disobeying orders can easily lead to accidents or chaos caused by poor coordination.
"Okay. You have a keen eye and are very meticulous, which is why Captain Lu asked us to work together. If anything seems amiss, please remind me. With a leader present, we absolutely cannot afford any mishaps. Also, there are quite a few foreign passengers on this train, so we need to be mindful of our approach and ensure civilized law enforcement."
Zou Yishui's reminder was absolutely right.
At that time, the country was in dire need of rebuilding, but the Korean War made many countries re-evaluate this new country. Some ill-intentioned foreigners came here under the guise of international friendship, and used a magnifying glass to find out about some staff members' affairs and exaggerate the reports. As a result, it was not until the new century that they realized that they had been falsely reported by their own country's media for so many years.
The starting station wasn't full; many seats were empty.
Some clever ones have already taken the opportunity to lie down on top and catch up on sleep.
After the train sped up, a cool breeze blew in through the windows, which improved everyone's mood considerably.
Upon entering carriage number six, Zou Yishui would randomly check the tickets and letters of introduction of some people who looked unusual.
Tang Zhenghong was following behind on guard duty when he suddenly felt someone staring at him from the side. He turned his head and saw a little girl staring straight at the two of them.
When she saw Tang Zhenghong looking over, the little girl timidly hid behind her mother, but after a while she secretly peeked out again.
Tang Zhenghong smiled kindly, and the little girl probably sensed his goodwill, so she mustered up her courage and gave a proper salute.
Very standard, this must be a military dependent.