Binjiang Police Affairs-Chapter 1071 - 698: To Blast or Not to Blast

In the past eight days, hundreds of thousands of military and civilian people have tirelessly piled sandbags to ensure that the rising floodwaters don't breach the makeshift embankment of the Jingjiang Embankment.

This is a will-draining battle, with continuous work leaving the participants sunburned and lacking necessary rest. Many participants exhibit symptoms of heatstroke and excessive fatigue, and cases of people suddenly fainting on top of the embankment frequently occur.

Some warriors have even sacrificed their lives, succumbed to illness, or died from exhaustion!

The pressure from the provincial level is immense. They don't want more casualties among the liberation army and the people, and considering that the entire embankment has been soaked in floodwaters for over forty days, it's hard to withstand the impending sixth flood peak. A flood diversion schedule was set this morning and sent to the Jingzhou City Government.

Before 6 PM, confirm again that all people in the flood control area have evacuated.

By 9:30 PM tonight, the explosives at the Silt Barrier must be loaded.

By 10:30 PM tonight, the Silt Barrier will be detonated.

At midnight tonight, the gate will open to release the flood!

The schedule is out, and there's no longer any controversy about whether to divert the flood; it can be said that it's a done deal!

...

Before Secretary Ye returned to Linghai, he put forth a request to swap positions between the First Team and the Second Team.

Old Ge was well aware of Secretary Ye's intentions to let Salted Fish show his face in front of the big leaders, and he immediately agreed.

Han Yu had no choice but to lead the First Team upstream after sending off the fifth flood peak, waiting in the waters where the Second Team was previously anchored.

Dongdong was no longer responsible for delivering water and sat by Han Yu, looking towards the North Gate, saying, "Second Uncle, the people on the other side have all been relocated. Director Huang said over a thousand liberation army soldiers are conducting a carpet search for anyone who hasn't left. Once that's done, can't they just divert the flood? Why does Master Xi say it's better not to divert the flood if possible?"

If everything proceeds according to the schedule, time in the flood control area will forever stay at August 16, 1998. After tonight's midnight, half of Angong County will turn into an expanse of water.

Han Yu gazed at the opposite bank in silence for a long time before speaking softly, "If they divert the flood, not counting the over-a-month-long exertion in flood defense, just the post-flood rebuilding and restoration of production could lead to direct economic losses estimated to be over ten billion.

If they don't divert the flood, and the Jiangbei Dam breaches, flooding the Jianghan Plain and the Hanwu Three Towns, then the losses would be even greater and could influence the country's modernization process. Superficially, this calculation seems easy: sacrifice the few to save the many."

"Then why can't the superiors make a decision?"

"Because this involves the fate of hundreds of thousands of people. If only following protocol, from Vice President L to the leaders of Jingzhou City, there would be no responsibility to bear. But for the hundreds of thousands of common people in the flood control area, it's a disaster. They've lost their homes, lost everything. Imagine how many years they'd have to toil to recover."

"Didn't the government say they would help the victims rebuild their homes?"

"The government's power is limited; you've been busy delivering water these days and haven't watched much TV news. If you did, you'd know how many people are affected nationwide."

"How many?"

"The noon news said the affected population is two hundred and twenty million."

"That many!" Dongdong exclaimed, thinking his uncle must have remembered wrong. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

Han Yu didn't know how to explain it to his nephew, so he pointed to the opposite bank as an example, "Yesterday afternoon, our trucks were all allocated by the superiors to help relocate the people. But there are so many to relocate that over two hundred trucks are far from enough.

Master Dai and others, despite their efforts, didn't help much, only helping to relocate a dozen households. People need to move all their home appliances, clothes, luggage, and over a thousand pounds of grain to the safe zone, or how will they live in the future?"

Dongdong was stunned and couldn't help asking, "What about the people who don't have army trucks to help them move?"

"They hire vehicles, and if they can't find cars, they hire tractors at high prices."

Han Yu took a deep breath, saying heavily, "On the way back from their task, Master Dai encountered a couple from Yang Liu Village, the pair who brought us pears."

Dongdong exclaimed in surprise, "Are you talking about the big pig farmers who planted a lot of pear trees and raised many pigs?"

"Yes."

Han Yu touched his nose, speaking with mixed emotions, "They've relocated three times counting this one. When they saw Master Dai, they cried. They said last time they relocated, driving their over thirty pigs to 'escape.' It's less than five kilometers from home to the safe zone, but the road was jammed with people, making it take six hours to reach.

Of the over thirty pigs they drove, ten went astray, and two died from heat. When they got back, they found their leased pear orchard was cleaned out, the pears all picked. The relocation alone cost them over eighty thousand yuan. If their home gets flooded from the diversion and the pear trees die, how will they repay the money they borrowed to plant pears and raise pigs?"

Dongdong remained silent.

After enduring floods for so many days, Dongdong had grown up, embracing his knees without saying a word.

Han Yu looked at the turbid water rushing eastward and continued, "So, if they can avoid diverting the flood, they will. But there's been another round of rain upstream, and the water level here is about to exceed the 45-meter safety line. Do you know how fast the current is?"

"How fast?" Dongdong asked curiously.

"A flow rate of 63,000 cubic meters per second, equivalent to releasing a West Lake every 3 minutes and 42 seconds." Han Yu took several deep breaths and added, "Moreover, the tributaries are also flooding. You could say the Yangtze River, Han River, Qingjiang, and Lishui are all attacking us. Right now, it truly feels like we are besieged from all sides."