Chapter 2842 Separating the Crowd

The operation began after Jiang Yunpeng and Zhang Xinming finished their mutton soup. Teams of police officers in full riot gear marched from several directions toward the group of migrant workers blocking the road at the intersection.

The migrant workers were stunned by the scene. Some were so frightened that they instinctively tried to run away, but were stopped by the "fake migrant workers" next to them who pointed at them and threatened them, so they obediently stood still.

Police officers wielding shields taller than a person forcefully cut through the crowd, dividing the migrant workers into several small groups. They then gradually forced the workers back until they reached the roadside. Traffic police officers who had been standing nearby then went out to direct traffic. Although one lane was still blocked, traffic flow had resumed. The entire operation, though seemingly quick, was actually a step-by-step process that took half an hour to restore smooth traffic.

Seeing that traffic had been restored and that the migrant workers who had caused the disturbance had not rioted as expected, Jiang Yunpeng and Zhang Xinming breathed a sigh of relief.

Jiang Yunpeng handed Zhang Xinming a cigarette and said with a smile, "It seems we thought they were too smart. See, they're not that hard to deal with."

Zhang Xinming nodded: "I didn't expect it to be resolved so easily, but Director Jiang, we still can't let our guard down. After all, the person is still here and hasn't left."

"It's not a big deal. The key to dealing with these kinds of mass incidents is to break up the large groups and prevent them from gathering together. Now that they've been divided into several smaller groups and are no longer in contact with each other, they generally won't cause any more trouble."

"Our people and government officials will be there soon to do ideological work and persuade them to leave. Don't worry, nothing will happen," Jiang Yunpeng said confidently.

Just then, from afar, someone in one of the groups surrounded and separated by SWAT officers shouted, "They're beating people up... they're beating people up... they've killed someone..."

Upon hearing this sound, Jiang Yunpeng and Zhang Xinming both realized that something had happened.

Sure enough, following that sound, someone else shouted, "Bleeding... Someone's been beaten... Someone's been killed..."

More and more people shouted this, and the people standing on the side kept taking pictures and recording with their phones. Some passing vehicles also stopped to watch the commotion.

Upon hearing this sound, the divided groups of people immediately "rioted," with some charging and attacking those holding shields. Their "anger" seemed to ignite instantly, and the situation on the scene quickly became tense.

Zhang Xinming and Jiang Yunpeng stood in the command post, their brows furrowed as they observed the situation. At that moment, the deputy in charge of on-site command walked in and reported to Jiang Yunpeng: "Director Jiang, something has happened again."

"What's the specific situation?"

"One of the people in one of the isolation zones suddenly collapsed, his head covered in blood. Then someone started shouting that someone was being attacked. People in the other isolation zones started to riot. Some tried to break through our barriers, and many others attacked us directly..."

"Assess whether the person who fell to the ground was acting or if the injury was genuinely caused by our actions?" Jiang Yunpeng asked.

"I can't give a precise answer to that. Time was too tight and the situation on the ground was chaotic, so there was no way to investigate. But I judge that the possibility of it being caused by our actions is too low. We made sufficient contingency plans before we came. Our people were all hiding behind shields and would not have direct physical contact with them. Moreover, our advance was very slow, so it was impossible for us to push or knock people down during the process."

"Even if he really fell, there wouldn't be that much blood; it doesn't make sense. Besides, judging from the shouts of the people at the scene and the reactions of the other contingents, it seems more like a pre-rehearsed coordinated action," the deputy analyzed.

"I understand. Then we'll proceed according to the plan we started with. We'll get the ambulance up here, and regardless of whether it's real or not, we'll get the person to the hospital for emergency treatment as soon as possible."

"Maintain order on the ground and prevent them from breaking out of the designated area. Do not retaliate against any of their attacks. Continue to advance and further divide the crowd, keeping them away from the road."

"Drive all these onlookers away and don't allow any vehicles to stop. Once things have calmed down, have government officials come and do some persuasion..." Jiang Yunpeng began to make the arrangements one by one; these were all plans that had been prepared before the operation began.

Because this situation had been anticipated and a contingency plan had been prepared, there was no chaos at the scene when Jiang Yunpeng gave the order. No matter how much the divided crowd "rioted," the police's perimeter remained unbreakable, and the tall shields firmly formed a wall to keep the crowd inside.

When the ambulance arrived, the special police forcefully broke through the crowd and put the injured person on the ground into the ambulance and took him away. During this process, the crowd was very agitated. They not only tried to break through the barriers, but also attacked the people who rushed in to rescue him. However, the police endured it and did not fight back. After successfully rescuing the "injured" person and putting him on the ambulance, they locked the barriers again.

After the ambulance left, the police began to further divide the crowd, starting with two divisions, gradually increasing to four, eight, and finally sixteen divisions.

There were about two hundred people gathered at the scene. At first, there were one hundred people in each of the separate circles, but by the last circle, there were only about ten people left.

Moreover, as the police gradually pushed back, each dividing line became farther and farther apart, and further and further away from the intersection.

At this point, the matter is basically over. When dealing with such mass incidents, being gathered together poses a great threat, but as long as they are dispersed, there is no threat at all.

After successfully dividing the area into sixteen separate zones, government, community, and police personnel began to work with the residents of each zone, understanding their needs, explaining the legal principles to them, and educating them about the law. Then, they arranged transportation to take them away.

The whole thing lasted two hours, and the "farce" ended very smoothly, with traffic in Shazhou City returning to normal.

Jiang Yunpeng resolved the matter perfectly; the only shortcoming was the person who fell to the ground.

Seeing that the scene had been perfectly handled, Jiang Yunpeng felt no relief. He didn't think his handling of the situation was particularly smooth or perfect, because he was well aware of the threat posed by the person who had been sent to the hospital and by this incident. No one knew whether the other party would use this incident to their advantage, or how much of a problem they might have already created.

If this matter really escalates, he will be the person primarily responsible as the on-site commander.

So right now, he has no idea what he's going to face next.