Binjiang Police Affairs

Chapter 1452 - 241: Of Great Significance

To reach Cape Town, you must pass Cape Horn.Before passing Cape Horn—in fact, even before the formation set sail—everyone was tense, from the Commanders down to the warriors who had just enlisted last year.

Anyone with some knowledge of marine navigation knows that besides its constant gales and raging waves, Cape Horn is often haunted by "killer waves." Those waves come crashing down like mountains, terrifying at first sight; ships sailing there are often lost.

Shipwreck after shipwreck at Cape Horn since the Age of Discovery has taught people that this is one of the most dangerous sea areas in the world. Even for an old mariner like Captain Qian, Cape Horn is a place of good hope but hard passing.

Han Yu still clearly remembers that when he first went to study at the Marine Bureau, every time the veteran seafarers on foreign assignments talked about their experiences of passing Cape Horn, those of them who had never sailed blue water would get chills down their spines. While envying the foreign-assigned crews for their high pay, everyone also secretly felt glad they didn’t have to run such a dangerous South Africa route, and firmly believed they themselves would never go to Cape Horn.

He never imagined that later he’d muddle his way into being sent abroad, and on the second voyage after boarding the ship he’d be running the South Africa route—heading straight for Cape Horn. Even more unexpected was that after finishing his training and having been ashore for several years, he would come to Cape Horn a second time, now accompanying a visiting Chinese Navy formation in the capacity of a Ministry of Transport military–civil liaison officer!

Most unexpected of all, just after they cleared Cape Horn and entered the South Atlantic, they actually encountered Chinese fishing boats that had come all the way across half the globe to fish here.

Han Yu and the officers and warriors waved their hands in deep emotion, bidding farewell to the fishermen. The "Shenzhen" and "Nancang" ships, carrying both the fatigue and the pride of having just fought their way through storm and towering seas, sailed on. The sea that was usually high-winded and rough now lay calm, like a gentle girl with no temper.

Because they had been sailing far from land before this, everyone knew they had passed Cape Horn, but didn’t know where Cape Horn actually was, nor what it looked like.

More and more people gathered on deck. The flying Big Commander who had come aboard with the helicopter before departure had excellent eyesight. He was the first to spot that faint bluish-gray silhouette of mountains on the starboard horizon, and he shouted in delight, "Look! Cape Horn!"

"Where?"

"There!"

The officers and warriors rushed in unison to the starboard rail and looked in the direction Captain Zhao was pointing.

As the formation kept advancing, the meandering mountain shadows stretched toward the end of the sea, forming a crescent bay. The outline of Cape Horn grew clearer and clearer. That great round white lighthouse stood majestically on the rocks of the cape, towering into the clouds. Its beacon flashed rhythmically, quietly welcoming the Chinese Navy, here for the very first time.

The rocky promontory twisted and thrust straight into the seabed, showing how tenaciously it had withstood the wind and waves.

Far to its north, against a backdrop of crimson clouds, South Africa’s famous Table Mountain loomed faintly, stirring the imagination. The officers and warriors gazed from the deck with joy, craning their necks and talking in low excited voices.

Standing on the bridge, Han Yu couldn’t hear what they were saying, but he could easily imagine that they must be finding it strange—this was Cape Horn, after all; how could it possibly be this calm!

Every time the United States Navy ships pass Cape Horn, they hold a ceremony to celebrate.

This was the Chinese Navy’s first time coming to South Africa, its first time passing Cape Horn; all the more reason to celebrate.

Political Commissioner Shen, still dizzy from several days of seasickness and not yet fully recovered, discussed it with Chief of Staff Zheng and decided to hold a celebration ceremony for the Chinese Naval Fleet’s breakthrough past Cape Horn. The sailors hung up the banners they had long prepared.

The "Nancang" ship’s whistle let out a long blast, and the "Shenzhen" ship’s military band struck up a sudden fanfare.

Amid the salute of guns, the officers and warriors drawn up in ranks on the foredeck, the command platform, and the signal platform burst into jubilation; the Five-star Red Flag and the Navy ensign whipped wildly in the sky.

The officers and warriors cried out in unrestrained excitement: "Cape Horn, here we come!"

"Atlantic, here we come!"

"Hello, South Africa!"

...

The cheers rose and fell, sweeping away the fatigue of days at sea and, carrying the pride of the Chinese Navy officers and warriors, spread ever farther over the water.

Today truly held great meaning for the Chinese Navy.

Chief of Staff Zheng gazed toward the coastline and sighed, "They say Cape Horn is a sailor’s grave. I say a sailor who hasn’t rounded Cape Horn is not a real sailor!"

"Then what about Navy men who haven’t passed Cape Horn?" Political Commissioner Shen asked with a smile.

"Haven’t we just passed it?" Chief of Staff Zheng thought for a moment, then said with feeling, "In the past we didn’t come, not because we didn’t want to, but because we didn’t have the conditions. If we can come once, we can come a second time, a third time!"

"Salted Fish, we really have you and Captain Qian to thank this time. Especially you—you not only had to offer your ideas and suggestions for the formation’s navigation, but also had to help us rush to repair breakdowns."

"Commander, this is all just what I ought to do."

Thinking of all those malfunctions that occurred during this voyage of the "Shenzhen" ship, Han Yu couldn’t help recalling a saying and sighed: "There isn’t a single ship sailing on the ocean that has never been wounded; more often than not, the strongest ship is also the one with the most scars."

Chief of Staff Zheng was taken aback for a moment, then turned back and laughed: "That’s a good line, Salted Fish. Do you write poetry or something? What you just said is poetic and philosophical!"

"Commander, that line wasn’t something I came up with. I read it in a book, though I’ve forgotten which book it was."

"It’s already good enough that you remembered it. When I was young I was a literary youth too, read a lot of books, copied down many famous quotes, but how many of them can I still remember now?"

From here to the Simons Town naval base in Cape Town there were still two days of sailing left.

This was the first time the Chinese Navy had pushed past Cape Horn and was going to visit South Africa; they had to enter port with their best military bearing and spirit. After celebrating their passage around Cape Horn, the officers and men once again threw themselves into busy work.

Chipping rust and repainting, wiping down the weapons and equipment on the ship’s deck.

Putting their quarters in order, cleaning and tidying up.

Preparing for the open-ship events after entering port, taking inventory of various supplies, counting what kinds of replenishment would be needed after they docked...

Everyone was run off their feet, but at Chief of Staff Zheng’s suggestion, Han Yu continued giving classes to the officers of the "Shenzhen" ship. However, he was no longer lecturing on international marine conventions and navigation rules, nor on machinery maintenance, but on meteorology.

Meteorology is a "required course" for a Captain, even a ship captain!

"For a Captain, no matter where you’re about to sail, you must attach importance to, and even do a solid job of, analyzing, studying, and grasping the meteorological situation in that sea area."

Han Yu also felt it necessary to talk about this. Pointing at a pressure chart, he spoke fluently: "Take this voyage of ours as an example. When the formation departed from Tanzania, a cyclone over the Atlantic was just passing over southern South Africa, and at that time Cape Horn was in the midst of raging gales and heavy seas.

The power of nature is not something humanity can resist. As for gales and heavy seas, if you can avoid them, then avoid them; there’s no need to plunge into them and struggle to the death in terror. If this were a merchant ship and I were the Captain, I would calculate the distance, slow down, proceed cautiously, avoid the threat of the storm, and gradually approach Cape Horn."

"Han, how do you study cyclones?" a Lieutenant raised his hand and asked.

Han Yu pointed again at the pressure chart and patiently explained: "This is relatively abstract. Let’s expand our field of view from the Atlantic and the southern part of Africa, first clarifying how cyclones form and develop, and figuring out how the gales and heavy seas at Cape Horn come about and their patterns.

From this chart we can see that Cape Horn, at the southern tip of Africa, is, like the Tasman Sea of Australia, a sort of corridor for the West Wind Zone. To its south the ocean is vast and unobstructed, with no cover at all; the raging winds and waves are lawless.

Whether in winter or summer, the West Wind Zone and the Subtropical High of the Southern Hemisphere directly affect Cape Horn; in summer, if the Subtropical High is in control, the weather at Cape Horn will improve; in winter, when the Atlantic Subtropical High shifts northward, Cape Horn becomes part of the West Wind Zone.

As for the formation of circumpolar cyclones, their centers carry a cold front northward, crossing Cape Horn and whipping up towering gales and huge seas in this area, with the conditions lasting for quite a long time; when the cyclone shifts southward, or the Subtropical High passes over Africa heading east, Cape Horn will then enter a brief period of calm, with winds and waves suddenly subsiding. That is the best time to pass through Cape Horn..."

In the face of nature, human strength is insignificant.

This is especially true in marine navigation; one must fear Heaven and respect the Earth.

The first task is to discover nature’s laws; once you’ve found them, you must toe the line and follow objective规律.

Han Yu spoke for nearly two hours straight, teaching while he lectured, showing everyone how to read weather charts, how to use upper-air charts to view the distribution of high and low pressure and their trends of development, what an air mass is, what a cloud cluster is, and how to combine these meteorological data for analysis and re-analysis.

Seeing that everyone was sitting there earnestly, Han Yu simply did a "live connection," inviting Captain Qian on the "Nancang" ship to "share his experience" over the intercom.

Once Captain Qian understood what was going on, he couldn’t help laughing: "When I was running ships, what I cared about most was the weather. Every day I had to study and analyze meteorological data. When I was on board, I would repeatedly instruct the radio officer to copy extra weather reports.

I never felt I had too much weather information—copy more and more, the more the better! You could say that studying and analyzing meteorology is a Captain’s daily required course; you must keep a constant eye on the changes in high and low pressure systems along the route, and you have to maintain a clear grasp of their activity at all times!"

"Thank you, Captain Qian."

Ending the call, Han Yu put down the intercom and smiled: "You all heard him. In the past we might only have known that a Captain’s pay and benefits are high, but it’s hard to imagine how great the pressure and responsibility on a Captain really are. I feel this very deeply. When I first went to sea, I saw the Captain always staying in his room and rarely going up to the bridge except when on watch.

Later I learned that the Captain wasn’t just napping away in the Captain’s cabin. He had a lot of work to do, and studying and analyzing meteorology was only one part of it. Yet even that one part—those meteorological charts, one after another—would accompany him under a lonely lamp through one sleepless night after another."

The ones attending class today were all young officers.

Seeing their thoughtful expressions, Han Yu continued: "All of you are the elite of the Navy and will one day become boat captains or even ship captains. When the time comes, you’ll not only be responsible for these extremely costly ships, but also for all the officers and men aboard, so even more than we merchant seafarers, you must strengthen your studies.

Just as Captain Qian said just now, meteorology is a required course for us seafaring people. You not only have to study it conscientiously, but also constantly combine it with practical situations, analyzing and re-analyzing. Only in this way will you be able to continuously and timely adjust your ship’s course and speed, and make the most correct decisions and responses when the time comes!"