Riverside police

If you want to go to Cape Town, you must go to the Cape of Good Hope.

Before crossing the Cape of Good Hope, in fact before the formation set sail, everyone from the commander to the soldiers who had just joined the army last year were very nervous.

Anyone with a certain understanding of navigation knows that in addition to constant storms and rough seas, the Cape of Good Hope also often has "murderous waves". The waves come like mountains and are daunting, and ships sailing there often get into trouble.

A shipwreck that occurred at the Cape of Good Hope since the Age of Discovery tells people that the Cape of Good Hope is the most dangerous sea area in the world. Even for an old sailor like Captain Qian, the Cape of Good Hope is hard to come by.

Han Yu clearly remembered that when he first went to the Maritime Transport Bureau to study, the veteran sailors who were dispatched often talked about their experiences at the Cape of Good Hope, and they, who had never traveled across the ocean, always shuddered. While everyone is envious of the high wages that expatriate crew members can earn, they are also secretly glad that they don't have to take the dangerous route to South Africa, and believe that they will not go to the Cape of Good Hope.

I never thought that I would be assigned to a foreign country by accident. The second voyage after boarding the ship would be the South Africa route, which would lead to the Cape of Good Hope. What’s even more unexpected is that several years after I finished my studies, I came to the Cape of Good Hope for the second time as a military liaison officer of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications with the Navy’s visiting formation!

What was even more unexpected was that as soon as we passed the Cape of Good Hope and entered the South Atlantic, we encountered Chinese fishing boats that had traveled halfway around the world to fish here.

Han Yu and the officers and soldiers waved goodbye to the fishing boat crew with emotion. The "Shenzheng" ship and the "Nancang" ship continued sailing with the fatigue and pride of having just weathered the strong winds and waves. The sea was usually rough and rough. Calm and calm, like a gentle girl with no temper.

Since we were far away from land during previous voyages, we only knew that we had passed the Cape of Good Hope, but we didn’t know where it was or what it looked like.

There were more and more people on the deck. The captain of the flight group who brought the helicopter to the ship before setting sail had excellent eyesight. He was the first to spot the light dark mountain shadow in the sky on the right hand side, and shouted happily: "Look !Cape of Good Hope!”

"Where?"

"Where!"

The officers and soldiers ran to the starboard side in unison and looked in the direction of Captain Zhao's finger.

As the formation continued to move, the winding mountain shadows stretched towards the end of the sea, forming a bay and a half moon, and the figure of the Cape of Good Hope became increasingly clear. The large round white lighthouse was built majestically on the rocks on the promontory, towering into the clouds. She flashed regular lights and quietly welcomed the Chinese navy who came here for the first time.

The rocky promontory meanders straight into the seabed, showing her tenacity in the wind and waves.

In the distance to her north, South Africa's famous Table Mountain looms faintly against the background of red clouds, making people think. The officers and soldiers looked happily on the deck and whispered to each other.

Han Yu stood on the bridge. Although he couldn't hear what the officers and soldiers were saying, he could imagine that they must feel strange. After all, this is the Cape of Good Hope, so it can't be so peaceful!

Every time a U.S. Navy ship passes the Cape of Good Hope, a ceremony is held to celebrate.

This is the first time for the Chinese navy to come to South Africa and the first time to cross the Cape of Good Hope, so we need to celebrate.

Political Commissar Shen, who had been ship-sick for several days and has not recovered yet, discussed with Chief of Staff Zheng and decided to hold a celebration ceremony for the Chinese naval fleet to cross the Cape of Good Hope. The sailors hung up the banners they had prepared earlier.

The whistle of the "Nancang" ship sounded, and the military music of the "Shenzheng" ship suddenly started.

Amidst the salute, the officers and soldiers lined up on the front deck, command platform and signal platform cheered, and the five-star red flag and naval ensign danced wildly in the air.

The officers and soldiers shouted forgetfully: "Cape of Good Hope, we are coming!"

"Atlantic, here we come!"

“Hello South Africa!”

…

The cheers came one after another, sweeping away the fatigue of days of sailing, and carrying the pride of Chinese naval officers and soldiers, they continued to spread to the distance.

Today is of great significance to the Chinese Navy.

Chief of Staff Zheng looked at the coastline and sighed: "It is said that the Cape of Good Hope is the grave of sailors. I can't believe that the crew of the Cape of Good Hope is not a real sailor!"

"What about the navy at the Cape of Good Hope?" Political Commissar Shen asked with a smile.

"Didn't we pass this?" Chief of Staff Zheng thought for a while and said with emotion: "It's not that we didn't want to come before, it's just that we didn't have the conditions. If we can come once, we can come a second or third time!"

"Xianyu, thanks to you and Captain Qian this time. Especially you, you not only have to provide suggestions for the formation sailing, but also help us repair the fault."

"Chief, this is what I should do."

Thinking of the faults that occurred during the voyage of the "Shenzheng" ship, Han Yu couldn't help but think of a sentence and sighed: "No ship traveling on the sea is unscathed, and often the strongest ship is also the one with the most scars." ship."

Chief of Staff Zheng was stunned for a moment, then turned around and said with a smile: "That's a good saying, Xianyu, can you write poetry? Your words are poetic and philosophical!"

"Chief, I didn't think of this sentence. I saw it in a book. I forgot which book it was."

"It's good to remember it. When I was young, I was also a literary youth. I read many books and excerpted many famous sentences. But how many sentences can I remember now?"

From here it is still two days' sail to the Simonstown naval port in Cape Town.

The Chinese navy crossed the Cape of Good Hope for the first time and visited South Africa. It wanted to enter the port in the best military appearance and spirit. After celebrating the crossing of the Cape of Good Hope, the officers and soldiers got busy again.

Knock off rust, touch up paint, and wipe the weapons and equipment on the ship.

Organize the house and clean the house.

To prepare for the opening to the outside world after entering the port, count all kinds of materials, and calculate what supplies will be carried out after entering the port...

Everyone was extremely busy, but Han Yu, at the suggestion of Chief of Staff Zheng, continued to teach the officers of the "Shen Zheng" ship, but the lectures were no longer about international conventions and navigation rules related to navigation, nor about engine maintenance. , but the weather.

Meteorology is a "compulsory course" for captains and even captains!

"For a captain, no matter where he is about to sail, he must pay attention to and even do a good job in analyzing, studying and mastering the meteorological situation in the sea area."

Han Yu also felt that it was necessary to talk about it. He pointed to a barometric chart and talked eloquently: "Take our voyage as an example. When the formation set sail from Tanzania, a cyclone in the Atlantic was passing over southern South Africa. At that time, the Cape of Good Hope was in the Great Depression. The storm is raging.

The power of nature is beyond what humans can contend with. When it comes to big storms and waves on the sea, avoid them if you can. There is no need to fall into them and struggle to death in panic. If this was a merchant ship and I was the captain, I would calculate the distance, slow down, avoid the threat of wind and waves, and gradually approach the Cape of Good Hope. "

"Han Da, how do you study cyclones?" A lieutenant raised his hand and asked.

Han Yu pointed to the air pressure chart again and explained patiently: "This is relatively abstract. We might as well expand our horizons from the Atlantic Ocean and southern Africa to first understand the generation and development of cyclones, and to understand the formation and development of large wind waves at the Cape of Good Hope. law.

From this picture, we can find that the Cape of Good Hope, located at the southern tip of Africa, is like the corridor of the westerly belt like the Tasmanian Sea in Australia. The ocean on the south side is vast and vast, with no cover or cover, and the winds and waves are lawless.

Whether in winter or summer, the westerly belt and the subtropical high in the southern hemisphere directly affect the Cape of Good Hope; in summer, if the subtropical high is controlled, the weather in the Cape will improve; in winter, the position of the Atlantic subtropical high moves northward, and the Cape becomes a westerly belt.

When a circumpolar cyclone is generated, its center is sandwiched by a cold front heading northward across the Cape of Good Hope, causing huge winds and waves in this sea area, which last for a long time; when the cyclone moves southward, or when the subtropical high crosses Africa to the east, then the Cape of Good Hope There will be a short period of calm in the sea area, and the wind and waves will suddenly calm down. This is the best time to cross the Cape of Good Hope..."

In front of nature, human power is small.

Especially when sailing, one must fear heaven and earth.

First of all, we must look for the laws of nature. Once we find them, we must follow the rules and follow the objective laws.

Han Yu spoke for nearly two hours, teaching everyone how to read weather maps and how to combine high-altitude maps to see the distribution and development trends of high and low pressures. What are air masses and cloud masses, and how to combine and analyze these meteorological data.

Seeing that everyone was serious, Han Yu simply made a "live connection" and asked Captain Qian on the "Nancang" ship to "come out and give an account" through the intercom.

Captain Qian figured out the whole story and couldn't help but smile: "When I was running a boat, what I cared about the most was the weather. I had to study and analyze weather data every day. When I was on the boat, I would repeatedly ask the information director to collect weather reports.

I don’t want all the weather news to be too much, so I’ll add more and more, the more the merrier! It can be said that studying and analyzing meteorology is a compulsory course for captains every day. They must always pay attention to the changes in high and low air pressure above the route, and have a clear understanding of their activities at all times! "

"Thank you Captain Qian."

Han Yu ended the call, put down the walkie-talkie and said with a smile: "Everyone has heard it. We may have only known that the captain's salary was high before, but it is hard to imagine how much pressure and responsibility the captain has. I feel the most. I saw him when I first got on the ship. The captain always stayed in his room and rarely went to the bridge except when he was on duty.

Later I learned that the captain was not sleeping in the captain's cabin. He had a lot of work to do, and studying and analyzing the weather was only part of it. And just this part, one weather map after another, will accompany him through sleepless nights under the solitary lamp. "

Those who came to attend the class today were all young officers.

Looking at their thoughtful looks, Han Yu continued: "Everyone, you are all elites of the navy, and you will all be captains or even captains in the future. When the time comes, you will not only be responsible for the expensive ships, but also We must be responsible for all officers and soldiers on the ship, so we, the crew members of merchant ships, should study harder.

As Captain Qian just said, meteorology is a required course for those of us sailing. Not only must we study carefully, but we must also analyze and analyze based on actual conditions. Only in this way can we continuously adjust the course and speed of the ship in a timely manner and make the most correct decisions and countermeasures! "