50s: Starting with a storage ring

Chapter 695 Coast Guards in a Stilt House

After the cargo ship Hai Sha came to a stop, Sun Zhiwei had them lower the two large speedboats that had been prepared in advance, and then called on the soldiers on board to help unload the supplies.

Once both speedboats were full, Sun Zhiwei boarded one of them, then called three others to take the other speedboat with him, and together they set off westward.

Sun Zhiwei knew his current location and the general direction of Nanxun Reef, but in the days before satellite positioning, finding an underwater island or reef was not an easy task.

Fortunately, there is now a stilt house on Nanxun Reef that is above the water, so it is easy to spot if you are close enough.

The two speedboats separated by one kilometer and headed west together. Ten minutes later, Sun Zhiwei was the first to spot a small black dot in the distance, slightly to the south.

There are many reefs in this area, and it's not a shipping channel. The only place that could be spotted from a distance must be the stilt house on Nanxun Reef.

He honked the horn on his speedboat to signal another speedboat to follow him, then readjusted his course and headed directly toward the small black dot in the distance.

They quickly approached the other side, and the small black dot transformed into a stilted house on the sea.

When they were about a kilometer away, he began to slow down, and the other speedboat following behind also slowed down.

Sure enough, a gunshot rang out from the direction of the stilt house; it must have been a warning from the soldiers on duty up there.

Sun Zhiwei remained calm and instructed another soldier on the ship to retrieve a red flag that had been prepared beforehand, unfold it, and plant it at the bow of the ship.

The other speedboat followed suit and also hoisted a red flag. Then the two boats slowly approached the stilt house.

When they got closer, Sun Zhiwei finally saw the full view of the stilt house.

Beside a small rock less than a meter above the water, there was a simple hut made of planks and bamboo. A bamboo pole stood on top of the hut, with a national flag hanging from it.

The entire hut was probably less than 10 square meters in size. Sun Zhiwei didn't know how such a small stilt house could accommodate 11 people, but he felt a pang of sadness in his heart.

On the rocks next to the hut stands a cement stone tablet with the three large characters "Nanxun Reef" painted in red on it.

Two soldiers, weapons at the ready, stood guard at the two approaching speedboats, one beside a stone monument on the reef and the other at the door of the hut.

Sun Zhiwei had good eyesight; he saw several gun barrels protruding from the windows of the stilt house, pointing at their speedboat.

Sun Zhiwei instructed the speedboat behind him to stop at a distance while his own boat slowly approached.

When they were only a few dozen meters away, the soldiers on the reef shouted, "Who are you?"

Sun Zhiwei stood at the bow of the ship, stretched out his hands to signal, and then answered loudly against the sea breeze: "We are overseas Chinese from the Nansha Islands."

"We heard that our soldiers are stationed here, so we made a special trip to visit you before returning home and bring you some New Year's gifts."

Although he had promised his father-in-law that he would deliver supplies to the border guards, he did not intend to reveal his identity.

The veterans only knew him as James Robert, but not that he was called Sun Zhiwei, and he had no intention of letting them know.

However, the soldiers on the island, perhaps out of wariness of strangers or out of genuine discipline, were quite resistant to them and directly refused the speedboat's approach.

"No need, folks. We have rules and we don't accept a single needle or thread from the people."

Sun Zhiwei did not insist, and stopped the speedboat at the edge of the reef a few dozen meters away, without going any closer.

Then he replied, "Comrades, we're not from the same hometown, we're all veterans. The boat won't go, but I need to bring you supplies." After saying that, Sun Zhiwei jumped off the speedboat, stood on the waist-deep reef, and then signaled to another soldier on the speedboat to drop a supply package.

To prevent the supplies from getting wet, after receiving them, he put the package on his head and waded step by step towards the island.

The soldiers on the island saw that he was alone and clearly unarmed. They looked at each other, unsure whether to stop him.

Before long, they seemed to have reached a conclusion.

The two soldiers outside remained on guard with their guns, but two more soldiers came out of the small house.

They were unarmed and jumped into the water together to meet Sun Zhiwei.

Soon, Sun Zhiwei met up with the two soldiers in the middle of the reef.

Without any pretense, he handed the large package on his head to the two soldiers, then immediately turned around to retrieve the next package.

This speedboat is loaded with 10 large bags of supplies.

Sun Zhiwei was strong and fast. By the time the two soldiers in the water had delivered the first package of supplies back to the hut, he was already carrying two more large packages toward them.

After several rounds of relaying, the supplies in 10 large packages were quickly delivered to the stilt house.

Looking at the small size of the cabin, Sun Zhiwei didn't plan to send any more supplies from the speedboat behind it; there definitely wouldn't be enough room.

Even now, although he can't see what's inside the hut, he's certain there's barely any room to step inside.

The soldiers inside the small hut had probably already opened the first few large packages and seen the supplies inside. The soldiers finally confirmed that Sun Zhiwei and his men meant no harm.

They were all a little embarrassed at this point, and saluted the speedboat and loudly expressed their gratitude.

Sun Zhiwei returned to the speedboat, saw them saluting, and turned around to salute in return.

He didn't know how these soldiers managed to persevere in such harsh conditions; he certainly wouldn't have been able to do it himself.

Therefore, Sun Zhiwei has great respect for these maritime border guards.

But the more this was the case, the more he wanted to do something for them.

Looking at that simple first-generation stilt house, it was obvious that it was not very sturdy. If it encountered a big storm, it might collapse and kill people.

This is not an exaggeration; the South China Sea experiences many storms and even typhoons every year.
Who knows, after a storm, this stilt house and the soldiers inside might suddenly disappear into the vast sea.

This situation only improved two years later when the second-generation stilt houses were built.

At this moment, Sun Zhiwei suddenly thought of a good way to help them, and he immediately jumped back into the water and swam towards the stilt house.

This time, the soldiers didn't point their guns at him. After he got close to the reef, one of the soldiers on the reef pulled him up.

"Comrade, is there anything else you want to say?" the young soldier asked him.

Once he had a firm footing on the rocks, Sun Zhiwei asked them, "I have something to say. Who is the class monitor?" He wanted to find someone who could make decisions.

(End of this chapter)