Hong Kong Island: From a small stall to a global supplier

South China Sea, XSQD.

People often say that the sea is sparkling, but that's mostly when you're standing on the shore or in a small boat. The slight ripples reflect the light, and that's true. But when you're out at sea, it's a different story. Even without wind, waves can rise three feet high.

Looking at the deep blue sea for even a little while gives you the feeling that you might plunge headfirst into it at any moment, and you will only feel a deep sense of suffocation and fear.

A warship cuts through the waves on the sea, followed by six high-speed patrol boats and gunboats, each about 12 meters long, sailing south along the South China Sea route at an economical speed.

“Boss, we are currently in XSQD, about 300 kilometers from Nan Island. Fishermen from Wenchang, Qionghai, and Wanning often come here to fish. However, in recent years, the military and police boats of the Annamite Da Nang have been patrolling the area west of the Xisha Islands, driving away and arresting our fishing boats.” Captain Wei Jinzhong said, pointing to the small dots on the sea in the distance.

This 0 ship was previously in service in the South China Sea, and Wei Jinzhong was its deputy captain.

The South China Sea is too vast, encompassing not only the Xisha Islands but also the Zhongsha and Nansha Islands. The navy's limited number of warships deployed here wouldn't even create a ripple.

"I remember they said they were going to set up a refueling ship in the Xisha Islands. How far is that?"

"About 120 kilometers away, in the southwest of Ganquan Island, lies Jinyin Island. It is about 700 meters long from north to south and 500 meters wide from east to west, with an area of ​​0.29 square kilometers. There is an ancient well on the island, hence the name Ganquan Island. Fishermen lived here as early as the Tang Dynasty. It is the only island in the entire Xisha Islands with natural freshwater."

"Okay, let's go resupply first. This 0 is still too small. Without supplies, we won't be able to go far."

Between Ganquan Island and Jinyin Island, a medium-sized oil tanker is anchored on the sea, with the Umbrella Corporation flag flying high on its mast. Next to the tanker are four gunboats, each about 12 meters long, equipped with 30mm semi-automatic cannons.

The small boat doesn't have a radar system, so you still need to aim manually. Of course, it's enough to deal with ordinary cargo ships.

Just then, a ship was refueling next to the oil tanker, and the arrival of 0⑶⒎ caused a small commotion, with everyone thinking that the army had come to investigate smuggling.

The cargo ship, which was refueling, tried to leave, and the people on the oil tanker were so angry that they jumped up and down cursing, "You fucking want to not pay? Believe me, we'll sink the ship!"

"The navy is here!"

"They're our own people, what's there to be afraid of!"

The people on the cargo ship had an air of superiority about them, saying, "That's a warship!"

"Can't you even look at the flag?!"

He looked through the binoculars around his neck, then turned to look at the flags hanging on the tanker, and his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

Holy crap, are all fuel smuggling operations now backed by such powerful connections?
They are legitimate cargo ships that operate on the Hong Kong route, but they don't have much contact with Hong Kong's powerful figures. Furthermore, local Hong Kong residents don't know much about the "protective umbrella" (referring to the government's influence over Hong Kong).

Who would bother to remember which company owns the armored trucks that run around the city...?

In the short time that followed, several fishing boats that were preparing to refuel scattered and fled, forcing the dispatch of gunboats to chase and intercept them, causing quite a bit of chaos before it finally ended.

Wang Yaotang took a small boat onto the oil tanker to rest. The conditions here were much better than on the warship. At least the rooms had air conditioning, fresh water was plentiful, food was plentiful, and there was a dedicated cook.

After preparing a table full of fresh seafood, Wang Yaotang invited the captains of several fishing boats to join him for the meal. The Hainanese dialect was so fluent it was almost indistinguishable from a foreign language, and thankfully, he could understand it.

"They charge RMB for gas?" Wang Yaotang asked with a smile.

"Yes, all the supplies on board are purchased from Sanya, which costs a lot of RMB," the tanker captain explained with a smile.

"So, after what happened here, has anyone from the South China Sea region come to investigate?"

"Yes, of course we do, but it doesn't matter. We deliver supplies to nearby Zhao Shu Island, Jin Qing Island, and Ya Gong Island. They're cheap, and they even gave us a special permit so we can do business here." The captain raised his eyebrows meaningfully as he spoke. "Back home, we often have to replenish the fuel supply."

Wow! Wang Yaotang looked him up and down. "So you've become a quartermaster."

"No, no, just a little bit, whatever I can manage." The captain chuckled, making a gesture that insulted South Korea.

Wang Yaotang looked over, and Wei Jinzhong nodded, "The fuel ration is so limited, we have to calculate the route mileage when carrying out missions and dare not drive too much, there's no other way."

Wang Yaotang then looked at the boat captains and asked, "Don't you guys have enough fuel either?"

"Most of the oil we use is smuggled oil," several boat captains said with a laugh. "Smuggled oil is cheap; otherwise, we could only fish in the area with small boats."

"How about going to the open sea? It must be very profitable, right?"

"There's hardly any profit to be made; we're barely making ends meet."

"Wang Sheng earns in a day what you earn in a lifetime? Answer all your questions, stop talking nonsense," the tanker captain scolded irritably.

"That's an exaggeration. If I don't earn enough, you'll have to make up for it," Wang Yaotang said with a laugh.

"It's really not very profitable. Most of the fish caught in a net are only worth a few cents a pound. It's not even enough to cover the fuel costs when you bring them back. They all have to be dumped back into the sea. Even the ones worth selling to the fish-collecting boats only fetch half price. You still have to pay a high price to get supplies from the fish-collecting boats. After deducting the costs of fuel, ice, and crew, you don't make much money from a trip out to sea. It all depends on luck. If you're unlucky and encounter a typhoon, it's a matter of the boat being destroyed and people dying."

Several boat captains complained, "It's bad luck to run into a typhoon, but the worst thing is to run into the military and police boats of the Annamese scum. At best, your catch and nets will be stolen, but at worst, you and your boat will be wiped out."

"They killed people and hijacked the ship?" Wang Yaotang frowned slightly.

"It would be better to be killed; they capture people and sell them as pigs."

"Selling piglets?" Wang Yaotang didn't understand.

"Yes, they were sold to work on large fishing boats in the south and west. They had to work 16 to 18 hours a day. If they couldn't work, they would be beaten. If they died from exhaustion, they would be replaced. Some were sold to islands in western Indonesia to work as sea slaves, catching crabs, lobsters, and abalone. They died from exhaustion after a few years."

"Huh?" Wang Yaotang looked incredulous. What era is this? There are still things like selling 'slaves'? But then he suddenly thought of northern Myanmar, and it didn't seem so hard to imagine.

"Mr. Wang, don't disbelieve me, it's true. They like us Chinese the most, we sell for the highest price. Then it's the Annamese monkeys. Malays and Indonesians are the least popular, they're too lazy, nobody would want them as slaves."

(This is a true story. In 2014, a journalist went undercover and was rescued, and reported that 2000 people were rescued from Bangina Island in Indonesia. However, this is only the tip of the iceberg, and the island still exists today.)
Wang Yaotang's expression was not good. He turned his head and asked, "Did you encounter any Annamite outcasts?"

The tanker captain said in a deep voice, "We've encountered them three times. The first time was a coast guard ship. As is customary, we could have just paid them off, but they ran away after seeing the gunboat. They came twice more after that, and we fired and drove them away."

Generally, refueling ships at sea move along a line, using radio to contact passing ships for refueling. They are not fixed in one place. The advantage is that they are not easily monitored by the authorities, but the disadvantage is that they are costly.

This was the first time the coast guard vessels in Da Nang had faced such a tough opponent with a powerful protector, and they suffered considerable losses as a result.

"Well done! We can't be polite to these bastards. Beat them hard, sink them all, and we'll give you a bonus!" Wang Yaotang slammed his hand on the table.

One sentence made everyone at the table feel excited. With the boss's guarantee, they felt more confident. The previous two times, they had scared people away by firing their guns and hadn't dared to attack the ship at all.

"Are there many Annamese fishing boats here?" Wang Yaotang asked again.

“Many, those Annamese bastards are fucking… uh, sorry.” A boat captain said, lightly slapping himself on the face. “They mostly operate around Zhongjian Island, and they rarely fish properly. They mostly use explosives to fish, electrofish, or poison fish.”

Wang Yaotang's temper flared up instantly. He occasionally enjoyed fishing, but he hated electrofishing and blasting fish more than anything else in his life!

"Let's rest for two days, and wait for the Xingye to arrive. We'll take a trip to Zhongjian Island these two days, and sink any fishing boats belonging to the Annamese barbarians," Wang Yaotang said angrily. "These are all my fish!"

It wasn't mentioned that someone committed murder, but if the ship sank, could they still swim over 200 kilometers back?

It's 90 kilometers from here to Zhongjian Island. That day, Wang Yaotang stayed on the oil tanker, while Wei Jinzhong led the fleet south. ...

XSQD has numerous islands, all formed by coral reefs. Below the surface are even more coral reefs, resembling underwater mountains, with seaweed, fish, shrimp, and shellfish, making it exceptionally beautiful.

These coral reefs support a large number of fish, but due to the complex terrain, it is impossible to fish here with nets, resulting in a large number of high-value economic fish species.

A 23-meter wooden fishing boat was moored at sea, with a long power line extending from the bow to a coral reef hundreds of meters away. Seven or eight people were standing on the deck, and the leader pressed the detonator heavily in his hand.

"Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!"

Eight water columns rose simultaneously from the sea surface, which was more than 200 meters in diameter, and the spray of water floated in the air, forming a rainbow.

The shockwave from the explosion swept past the bow of the ship, lifting several small wooden boats moored beside the fishing boat high into the air before they fell back down, rocking for quite a while.

"Get on board!" the captain shouted. Several crew members quickly went to the ship's side and went down the rope ladder to several small wooden boats. Then they started the diesel engines, making a rattling sound, and the small wooden boats headed towards the explosion zone a few hundred meters away.

On the sea surface, the waves shimmered with colorful light, and upon closer inspection, one could see various corals and fish floating about.

A dense layer covered almost the entire sea surface. The boatmen used landing nets to scoop the floating fish onto the deck one by one, while another person quickly sorted them. Those that could be sold for a price were thrown into a rubber bucket filled with ice, while those that couldn't be sold were left aside. After all the dead fish nearby were scooped up, they were dumped back into the sea.

The explosion is even more powerful in the sea, killing all fish, regardless of size or species, even shellfish clinging to rocks.

What's most hateful is that powerful bombs can kill coral reefs and coral polyps, completely destroying the environment and causing utter devastation, making it even more abhorrent than electrofishing!
"Captain, sonar has received a signal of continuous explosions about 30 kilometers to the southeast."

0⑶⒎ It has anti-submarine capabilities, and both its active and passive sonar are highly sensitive, so such an explosion can be detected even from hundreds of kilometers away.

"Full speed ahead, adjust course and go take a look," Wei Jinzhong ordered.

Twenty minutes later, a wooden-hulled boat appeared in the telescope's field of view. After slightly adjusting the focus, Wei Jinzhong raised an eyebrow at the Annamese inscription on the hull. "I give the order!"

"Yes, sir!" The communications soldier switched channels.

"This is Wei Jinzhong. Enemy ships have been detected carrying out large-scale sabotage activities against our islands. Target: Sink them!"

"Yes!" A chorus of shouts rang out in the channel.

The six gunboats accelerated suddenly, shooting off like arrows, leaving six long white trails in their wake on the sea.

Without any communication or warnings, the Annamese fishing boat was less than 3 kilometers away from the speedboat when it noticed it approaching.

"Coast Guard! Coast Guard!" shouted the Annamese man on the ship, straining his neck. "Captain, what do we do? What do we do!"

The captain of the lowly boat suddenly turned his head and felt a chill run down his spine. How could the coast guard have deployed so many speedboats? Something was wrong.

At this point, it was impossible to start the fishing boats and escape.

Furthermore, fishing boats tend to be slow in order to save fuel, not to mention those diesel-powered fishing boats that have a lot of running.

"Quickly, raise all the flags to show our identity!"

"Stop fucking fishing, dump all the fish out!!" the captain yelled at the sea.

Although frying fish is not explicitly banned, everyone knows how bad it is, and getting caught is very troublesome, especially since they are Annamite scoundrels.

"Captain, what should I do?"

"What are you afraid of? Do you think they'll dare to fire? We are Annamese, they wouldn't dare. This is our Annamese waters, they are despicable invaders. Yes, that's it, at most they'll drive us away!" The despicable captain shouted to encourage everyone.

The sheer force of the six speedboats charging forward at full speed was truly impressive, quite unlike anything seen before.

One point worth noting is that, including during the "counterattack against the enemy," neither side went through formal diplomatic procedures to declare a state of war with the other, meaning they have maintained a state of "peace" ever since.

Therefore, in theory, it is not allowed to fire.

"Wait, what flags are they flying?" The scoundrel captain stared intently at the speedboat rushing towards them. The absence of a national flag made his heart skip a beat, and large beads of sweat dripped down his forehead.

"No, no, no, no, impossible! The Chinese would never do such a thing! You are a nation of etiquette, it's impossible!"

The speedboats slowed down after traveling about a kilometer, and the four speedboats rushed toward several small boats on the sea. The last two speedboats came at an angle.

500 m.

300 m.

100 meters...

"Boom boom boom!"

"Boom boom boom!"

"Boom boom boom!"

The two gunboats opened fire simultaneously from the left and right. The 30mm cannons left long waves on the sea and slammed into the fishing boat. The bullets pierced the wooden hull and exploded with a bang. The bullet fragments, along with the wood chips from the explosion, swept across the cabin.

"Don't shoot, we surrender..."

The captain's shrill screams were drowned out by the sound of exploding shells. The gunboat adjusted its design angle and aimed at the waterline. Soon, a row of holes was opened below the waterline, and seawater rushed in.

"Boom boom boom!"

"Boom boom boom!"

After firing about a hundred rounds, the two gunboats circled around to a distance and sailed slowly. The small boat had sunk, so there was no need to waste ammunition.

On the other side, four gunboats rushed over and saw a large number of dead fish floating on the sea. The crew members' eyes also started to blaze. This was clearly fishing with explosives!

During live-fire training at sea, many fish are often killed, but these are in deep waters where there are no coral reefs and the environment is not damaged.

Although no war has been declared, border conflicts have continued. In recent years, the Annamese warships have frequently sneaked over to cause trouble, resulting in numerous clashes.

These Annamese bastards have come here again to destroy our territory, and they even want to make money and leave. They deserve to die!

I've encountered similar situations before when I was serving at sea, but because of my position, I could only drive them away with water cannons and have to endure their insults. Now, it's all over. What goes around comes around!
Kill them all!
"Boom boom boom!"

Watching the fishing boat capsize, Wei Jinzhong coldly observed several Annamese scoundrels jump off the boat and swim towards a distant island. He didn't order them to be killed, as that would only dirty his hands.

What good would it do to let them go to the island? There's no fresh water there; they'll only suffer more painful deaths!
"Form ranks, let's go!"

Expand the search area further. The boss has ordered: sink them! (End of Chapter)