Desperate Forensic Doctor - Chapter 3 - The Bus Drill

At four o’clock in the afternoon, Shen Junci’s cell phone rang in the forensic office of the Bin Yuan City Bureau.

It was Chief Ding who sent the message. The drill was almost over and he was asked to go to the command room at the back to wait for him.

Shen Junci stood up and walked along Building 3 towards the back of the compound.

After Chief Ding took office, the Bin Yuan City Bureau began to place more emphasis on maintaining the physical fitness of the policemen. A large plot of land behind the Municipal Bureau was approved to develop a professional shooting range and training ground, with various indoor and outdoor drill setups and sports grounds. Routine drills and various training sessions were held there.

The full name of the Municipal Bureau’s drill meet was called the Bin Yuan City Public Security Special Criminal Police Practical Combat Training. It was equivalent to a police professional assessment. It was also held annually in the past and was a regular event.

This year, Chief Ding issued a new order to link the drill meet with police officers’ salaries and evaluations. This immediately increased the importance of the drill meet and became a yearly major event within the city bureau. Its importance is almost comparable to that of the year-end general meeting.

The drill meet would last for a week, and every department must be assessed and graded. Key events such as individual police technical skills, police dog skills, and explosive disposal drills must be conducted. Today was the last day, and it had also reached the final practical combat stage.

At this time, the previous event, which was probably a bomb disposal drill, had just ended. Several police officers wearing heavy protective clothing were taking off their protective gear. There were a few heavily armed SWAT policemen resting at the side, with guns in their hands, and two or three bulletproof shields placed nearby.

Although it was just a drill, safety measures were still very important. There were medics and firefighters on standby in the shade next to the building.

When walking through the open space, Shen Junci saw a bus parked in the middle of the training ground, and someone was transporting a mannequin onto the bus.

He didn’t join them but rather avoided the group of people and walked slowly from the corner to the command centre at the back.

The city bureau’s command centre had a very modern layout. Looking from the front, there was a huge screen that could receive and switch signals from various locations.

There were small cubicles on the left and right sides, where several police officers operated computers and various equipment to report any situation happening at any time.

The middle rows were reserved for the leaders. At that time, Chief Ding was sitting in front and commanding everyone. He saw Shen Junci greeting him and said with a smile: “Dr Shen, you can sit down first. It’s almost over. Wait for me, I’ll talk to you in detail later.”

Shen Junci sat in an empty seat right at the back and looked up at the big screen.

It was still playing the recordings of the last few drill exercises, climbing, shooting and bomb disposal. All the drills went smoothly.

The young policemen were strong, agile, and swift.

Several leaders seemed to be in a good mood, talking, laughing and were very relaxed.

The upcoming exercise was the last simulated drill. It simulated how the SWAT team would conquer the enemy and rescue the hostages on the bus after it had been hijacked by robbers.

Bus hijacking was a mandatory drill exercise for police officers in many cities, and many police branches included it as an assessment subject.

In order to see the entire rescue process clearly, there were several cameras installed inside the bus which showed the situation inside from various angles.

Chief Ding gave the command and the drill officially started.

Everyone else started to sit upright.

Shen Junci was the only one in the entire command room who was relaxed. He looked up and felt like an audience watching a police movie.

Several groups of SWAT team members were stationed everywhere around the bus, and some mannequins were placed in the bus to serve as hostages.

Some policemen played the role of the SWAT team, and some were playing the role as robbers.

Six police officers, who were role-playing as robbers, boarded the bus. This time, the people  role-playing as robbers were picked from the pool of ordinary police officers, excluding the SWAT team, by drawing lots.

Deputy Chief Chen, who was in charge of the armed police, was discussing military tactics with Captain Wang of the SWAT team.

“You all remember the key points right? You can’t use tear gas. Tear gas would not be effective. It won’t make the robbers lose control of the situation, rather it would force them to panic. Use snipers as much as possible, if there’s no other way, only then do you advance with force. The fighting must be over quickly within half an hour.”

The SWAT team Captain Wang immediately responded: “We are looking for a suitable sniper point and are preparing to snipe.”

When faced with this type of situation, the first-line of breakthrough was sniping. This was the best solution to ensure the safety of the hostages and quickly resolve the situation. However, when facing multiple robbers, this solution required multiple snipers to be in place at the same time to ensure that the robbers were killed simultaneously to prevent them from killing the hostages and launching a counter-attack.

After sniping they should then launch an attack to subdue the remaining robbers.

In such a situation, it takes a lot of time to arrange the troops and make preparations. But when the final assault comes, it is very fleeting and the battle is often over in a very short time.

Chief Ding frowned when he heard this. He whispered to Deputy Chief Dong next to him: “There’s no problem applying this kind of military tactics in the past, but this sniping method may not be that easy to apply today.”

Deputy Dong was puzzled: “Why?”

Chief Ding said: “Do you know who was picked to play the robbers?”

Deputy Dong frowned and thought: “Gu Yanchen?!”

Chief Ding nodded, “He is strong in sniping tactics, and he will definitely guard against those SWAT snipers.”

Having said this, Chief Ding turned to the staff and asked, “Let’s take a look at what the robbers are doing.”

The young police officer hurriedly cut the camera and focused on a man in the back row of the bus. This moment allowed the leaders to see the situation in the bus more clearly. It seemed that this man was the leader of the group of robbers in this drill exercise.

At this time, he was probably guarding against snipers, sitting cross-legged on the ground at the back of the bus.

All the robbers were given clown-like masks.

The man pulled the clown mask to his forehead, lowered his head, his long eyelashes drooping, as he counted the training equipment. Then he quickly disassembled the modified gun in his hand and took out the training bullets one by one to check.

Shen Junci also looked carefully.

The man in the camera had his head lowered, but you could still see that he had a high nose bridge and was handsome.

Seeing him again after so many years, Shen Junci felt his heart suddenly tremble. He frowned and stretched out his fingers to hold his chest tightly.

After pausing for a few seconds, Shen Junci took a deep breath to calm down.

He suddenly recalled what Lin Xianglan said to him back then.

He clearly remembered that at the dinner table, Lin Xianglan said proudly: “Among the newcomers in our city bureau this year, I have found a treasure. I haven’t seen such an outstanding newcomer in many years.”

At that time, he said absent-mindedly: “Is he that excellent?”

“Coolheaded, reliable, very smart, and responsible. I plan to focus on training him.” Lin Xianglan pulled up a bunch of adjectives and added, “Even the name is pretty nice, called Gu Yanchen.”

That’s when he heard his name for the first time.

Shen Junci lowered his head and rested for a while, feeling the discomfort in his chest diminish, before he looked up at the progress of the drill again.

Because it was a drill, the negotiation aspects were omitted. It was purely about defence and offence.

The robbers quickly completed their preparations. Several people cleared the seats in the back rows and moved the hostages to the seats near the window, where they were gathered together.

Gu Yanchen gave each robber a gun and equipment, and asked two of them to hold the hostages at the front and back and be responsible for keeping an eye out, while the other four robbers gathered around.

Next, they saw Gu Yanchen take out a box of playing cards from his bag, shuffled the cards in his hand, and then began to deal the cards.

Several leaders from the city bureau were sitting in the front row of the command room. In order to show the formality of today’s drill, they even wore formal clothes. Watching this scene now was a bit unexpected.

Shen Junci was sitting just behind them and could hear what they were saying.

Deputy Chen was sitting on the left side, and watching Gu Yanchen start to deal the cards, squinted his eyes, twitched the corners of his mouth and asked, “What is he doing?”

The young police officer responsible for surveillance turned to him and replied: “Deputy Chief Chen, they seem to be playing Fight the Landlord.”

T/N: Fight the Landlord (斗地主) is a popular Chinese card game

Deputy Chen’s face turned even more ugly: “I know they’re playing poker, but what is the purpose of doing this? Besides, why did they bring cards to the drill?”

Chief Ding said, “They requested it from me. As you know, you are allowed to bring some props during the exercise. Gu Yanchen said…the drill lasted too long and he couldn’t play with his mobile phone, so he asked for poker cards.”

Deputy Chen’s anger skyrocketed: “What kind of attitude is this? Is he looking down on our SWAT team? What does he think the drill is for?! Playing house?”

In his opinion, playing poker on the training grounds was very disrespectful. If word got out, it would make people laugh out loud.

Deputy Chief Dong, sitting on the right side, was in charge of the criminal investigation department. His full name was Dong Yuanda.

Gu Yanchen was about to be assigned to the Special Criminal Division, and the Special Criminal Division was managed by him, so he naturally helped to speak up for Gu Yanchen.

Dong Yuanda chuckled softly: “Deputy Chen, don’t worry, this drill had just begun. Besides, this simulation is very realistic. What can you predict those criminals will do at the scene? Even if they were having a water fight and blowing bubbles, you would have to endure it and still think of a way to capture them.”

That was true, criminals were uncontrollable, and they would often be faced with different critical emergencies.

Chief Ding separated the two people bickering, “Hey, Old Chen, wasn’t it because you thought last year’s hijacking simulation exercise was too easy? It just happened that Gu Yanchen picked the BOSS card this year, and this can also serve as a test for your SWAT team.”

Deputy Chief Chen snorted and said, “What nonsense!”

Shen Junci was sitting in the back, watching the three old Chiefs who were over fifty years old bickering like children.

He rested his chin on his fingers and looked at the screen thoughtfully.

He knew that people like Gu Yanchen, who were the embodiment of calm and steady, would never play around during a drill. The reason why he did this must have been part of a well thought out plan.

No matter how unhappy they were, the drill must continue.

Deputy Chen contacted Captain Wang and asked, “Is your sniper team prepared?”

Captain Wang replied: “Three sniper points have been found and plans are being discussed.”

Deputy Chen said: “Hurry up!”

As soon as he said this, the surveillance staff said: “There’s smoke……”

Deputy Chief Chen’s eyebrows twitched: “Smoke? Where did the smoke come from?”

Chief Ding said: “Oh, by the way, Gu Yanchen also requested for six e-cigarettes.”

Through the camera, the people in the command room saw what was going on in the bus.

At this time, each of the robbers had an electronic cigarette in their mouths, and started puffing away.

During the course of their conversation, one round of the card game had finished. Gu Yanchen shuffled the cards neatly, and it was hard to say how they were playing. As time went by, more and more white smoke filled the entire compartment, and continued to grow.

The windows were closed, and only a small window was opened on the roof. The white smoke from the e-cigarette could not be dispersed, and quickly filled the bus. Under the cover of the smoke, even the camera surveillance started to become blurry.

Deputy Chen’s frown deepened, and he turned to question Chief Ding: “Old Ding……why did you return this thing to them?”

Before Chief Ding could answer, Deputy Dong laughed and said: “A few e-cigarettes are not dangerous goods, and it’s not prohibited to bring them into the drill.”

Chief Ding said: “Yes, these e-cigarettes were obtained from items previously confiscated by the Anti-Narcotics Division, and were not purchased separately.”

Deputy Chen’s expression was not very good, and the corner of his mouth twitched: “If he dares to ask for it, will you also give them a few bottles of beer and some mutton skewers?”

Sniping requires very high visibility. This white smoke looked like an illusory mass. Although it was just a small environmental factor, it blocked the sniper’s line of sight and had a great impact on the snipers. If a hostage was accidentally injured, they would definitely lose this battle.

Deputy Dong continued: “If this exercise was too simple it wouldn’t be able to reflect the wisdom and prowess of your SWAT team. Old Chen, you will be able to handle it right?”

Deputy Chief Chen was still at a loss, and the SWAT team began to communicate with the command room again.

“We have arrived at the sniper points and are ready for sniping, but… due to the interference of white smoke, the visibility is low and it is easy to accidentally injure the hostages.”

Upon hearing this, Deputy Chen’s expression changed for a moment and he was silent.

Captain Wang hesitated and asked: “Chief Chen, are we still sniping?”

Deputy Chen’s blood pressure soared, he stood up and cursed: “What the ** are you still sniping for? Prepare to attack!”