Binjiang Police Affairs-Chapter 1083 - 706: Racing Against Time!

In order to speed up the construction of the "landing site" and to rapidly transport the necessary materials to the leak point at the ferry, Wu Hai Li ordered the floating crane to continuously throw the stones and sandbags transported by the fleet into the water outside the embankment at the "landing point," and after that, lift them to the inner side of the main embankment.

Stones are not worth much, but for Jingzhou, they are very precious; they are usually reluctant to use them for general emergencies.

Now there was no time to worry about that. When only one-third of the stones remained on several transport ships, the captain was instructed to move the ship forward to assist the liberation army soldiers and civilian soldiers in blocking the leaks at the boiling point.

The crew's blankets were all requisitioned, as wrapping the blankets around the leaks proved more effective. As for what to cover themselves with during the cool nights in the following days, we will discuss it later.

Meanwhile, Vice Mayor Zhong also transferred three ships of stones and six ships of rice from the opposite shore!

Each grain in the dish comes from hard work.

Grain is very valuable, but right now, we cannot worry about that; in order to protect the Yangtze River embankment, we must utilize all available resources.

At this moment, Han Yu entered the command center in the shack with Leader Qian.

Vice Mayor Zhong saw Han Yu arrive and finally breathed a slight sigh of relief, eagerly saying, "Captain Han, you came just in time..."

Han Yu didn't have time to listen to him. He picked up a pen and paper from the broken square table, bent over, and said while sketching, "Mayor Zhong, I just inspected the site. I believe the only way to ensure absolute safety is to urgently construct a cofferdam."

"Alright, you're the expert. How should we build it?"

"From here to here, enclosing the boiling point. Our engineering technicians are placing lines. Our earthwork construction team and transportation team should be ready to go into action within fifteen minutes at most."

Han Yu continued as he marked on the hand-drawn map: "So we need to split into four groups now. The leak on the waterside of the main embankment should continue to be blocked. The overflow and breach sub-dams should be raised and blocked as quickly as possible. Due to excessive water inside the embankment hindering earthwork operations, it is crucial to organize people to dig drainage ditches, and at the same time carry out earthwork construction."

Vice Mayor Zhong asked, "Roughly how long will it take to build the cofferdam?"

"The immediate priority is to block the water; the engineering quality is important, but we don't have time to consider that now. We need to organize forces to quickly build and enclose it! The First Team has arrived, the Second Team is on the way, and in about two hours, they should be ready to engage. We estimate it will take about five and a half hours to build a 600-meter-long cofferdam."

"Alright, let's proceed as discussed, Leader Qian, how about we divide the tasks..."

With a relatively reliable emergency protection plan, we know how to proceed.

The temporarily established joint military-civilian emergency command center took action within five minutes, dividing into four groups for leak blocking, sealing and raising the sub-dam breach, drainage, and emergency repair of the cofferdam.

Shishou City's Armed Forces Minister was responsible for organizing and commanding the civilian soldiers and some officers from the 60th Division to block the leaks, while Leader Qian organized and commanded his subordinates to guard the embankment. Shishou City's Deputy Director of the Water Resources Bureau and several township officials organized civilian soldiers and local residents to dig drainage ditches urgently.

Han Yu was in charge of the emergency repair of the cofferdam.

Vice Mayor Zhong oversaw the overall situation.

The 175th Regiment of the 60th Division split into two groups, one supporting the ditch digging and the other assisting the "Hong Kong Garrison" in construction work.

Yao Lirong, with a Deputy Commander, trudged through knee-deep water, saying anxiously, "Deputy Commander Huang, it's getting dark, and we don't have time to solve the lighting problem. We can only ask you to assign soldiers to act as road markers for our earthwork transportation team!"

"Act as road markers?"

"It's all water here, and you can't see the path. The drivers don't know where to drive. From here to the earth extraction point, place a person every seven or eight meters to guide our earthwork transportation vehicles through."

"Got it."

"I'll find a hundred flashlights for you later. Please have your people ensure road conditions while guiding the earthwork transportation vehicles. This means regularly checking for pits under the water. Especially the section ahead, on the left is a fish pond, be vigilant about any road collapse into the pond."

"Understood, we'll complete the task!"

As arrangements were just made, the 127th Regiment of the 402nd Division soldiers came running through the murky floodwaters waving a red flag.

Captain Zheng was about to inquire where the command center was when Political Commissar Yang greeted him.

"Old Zheng, you're just in time, the command center orders you to assist our assault team in repairing the cofferdam!"

"How do we assist?"

"Li Shousong!"

"Here!"

"Lead Captain Zheng over, the 127th Regiment is under your command from now."

"Yes!"

Having a captain obeyed by a camp commander, and a newly trained camp commander at that.

Captain Zheng hesitated for a moment but still said, "Alright, we'll follow your lead."

...

At 4:24 pm, the No. 1 earthwork construction team and the No. 1 earthwork transport team's engineering machinery and transport vehicles all disembarked, with guidance from Zou Xiangyu and a dozen officers from the 2nd Battalion of the 132nd Regiment, slowly making their way to the earth extraction point through the floodwaters breached into the embankment.

Nearly a thousand liberation army officers and civilian soldiers responsible for "drainage" are digging drainage ditches. However, it takes time to dig such ditches. Even if the ditch can be dug in a short time, it also takes time to drain the floodwater that has overflowed into the embankment into the inland river about 1.3 kilometers away.

The excavators of the Linghai Road and Bridge Company can only dig soil in the water, just like the large dump trucks and eight tractors can only transport soil in the water.

A scoop of soil dug out and loaded into the truck bed, with muddy water flowing everywhere.

The large dump trucks are slightly better since the driver's cab is high enough.

The tractors are different. Old Cao got soaked before starting work, like taking a mud bath.

Han Yu felt uneasy watching this and asked through a portable loudspeaker, "Captain Cao, are you all right?"

"I'm fine, as long as the engine doesn't stall, we can keep going!"

"Good, then start, and be careful."

"Understood."

Old Cao tightly gripped the steering wheel, taking the lead, driving the tractor into the place where the cofferdam was being built, with a clattering noise.

The 60th Division of the 200th Army in the Jinan Military Region, acting as signposts for the "Hong Kong Garrison," faced bitter hardships. As transport vehicles drove past them, the muddy water dripping from the truck beds and splashed up by the tires didn't just sprinkle all over them but even splashed in their faces and mouths.

But since the safe passage of the soil transportation convoy depended on them, they could not step aside; they had to stay put and direct the vehicles.

The "safety officers" from the 2nd Battalion of the 132nd Regiment were in the same situation. Especially when directing the soil transport vehicles to turn and unload soil, they had to take yet another mud bath.

This way, it's easy to catch schistosomiasis, but now who has the time to care about schistosomiasis!

"Master Yang, Master Yang, sandbags are needed for the sub-dam, without soil we can't fill them, take this truckload of soil over there!"

"Li Shousong, besides building a sandbag wall, you also need to cover it with geotextile. Using sandbags filled on site won't work; you must use the sandbags we've filled. Organize a team to go to the landing site and carry them, be quick!"

...

Han Yu was running back and forth in the murky floodwaters, frequently giving orders, becoming a mud-covered man himself.

At 5:17, 001 used a modified firefighting system to assist with "drainage" inside the embankment, using a temporarily installed drainage pipe by the machine repair team to pump water from a pond dug by the officers and soldiers inside the embankment to the outside.

At 5:26, the electricians from the power support team connected the "ship's electricity" to the shore.

Due to cables not being long enough, it couldn't solve the lighting issue at the soil gathering point, but at least it could address the lighting for the sub-dam and the area under emergency repair.

At 6:48, the engineering fleet of the Second Team arrived 15 minutes earlier than expected.

The situation and rescue plan on this side had been communicated via high-frequency radio, so as soon as Hao Qiusheng landed, he ordered the No. 3 excavator and the guiding officers to assist the "drainage team" in digging drainage ditches.

The No. 2 earthwork construction team and the No. 2 soil transport team went to the soil collection site Han Yu had previously selected. They worked with the earthwork team from the First Team in a similar fashion to safeguarding the Yang Liu Village embankment section, starting work simultaneously from both ends.

At 7:15, good news came from the front: although the leak was not completely sealed, the speed of water and sand surging into the embankment was controlled. The large "Bottling Spring" had turned into a small one; you could hardly notice water was still seeping into the embankment without looking carefully.

At 7:38, the second good news arrived from the front: with the efforts of more than 3,000 military and civilian personnel, several breaches on the sub-dam were sealed, and the overflowing parts of the sub-dam were heightened.

The disappearance of the previous waterfalls did not mean complete safety.

The water level outside the dam was still rising. The "white Great Wall" still had numerous leaks. The over 3,000 military and civilian personnel on and off the dam had to continue fighting, ensuring that as the water rose, the dam was heightened as well!

They had to be like the paratroopers repairing the cofferdam, laying tarpaulin first, tightly binding two sandbags together like laying bricks, stacking five to six layers of sandbags, then rolling up the tarpaulin and pressing the last layer of sandbags on top, so the tarpaulin tightly wrapped the sub-dam, forming a flood defense capability.

This meant continuing to work in the floodwaters, with all the needed sandbags filled by themselves and carried up the embankment by them. They jogged with the sandbags, their clothes soaked with muddy water and sweat, skin rubbed raw, yet they didn't stop.

"Secretary Han, Secretary Han, we have a soldier who has fainted here!"

"Quickly contact the medical team and transport to the boat!"

As Han Yu put down the walkie-talkie, Leader Qian approached and asked, "Salted Fish, how many injured personnel does our division have?"

Now nearly ten thousand military and civilian personnel were on and off the embankment. Leader Qian's troops were the most numerous, fighting in four places at once, so it was understandable that he didn't know how many injured personnel he had.

Han Yu also didn't know; he just knew Liang Xiaojun and Dongdong had been busy all the time, so he immediately picked up the walkie-talkie and switched to the logistics support frequency, asking, "Xiao Jun, Xiao Jun, can you receive, it's Han Yu."

"Received, what's up."

"How many people are injured?"

"Over forty, some soldiers, some civilian soldiers, with the 60th Division having the most injuries, including several soldiers with high fevers. I can't handle it alone here, so I just had the Yangtze Police 110 transport them to the opposite shore."

"Is there someone to receive them on the opposite shore?"

"Yes, Secretary Wang and Master Dai are over there, and Shishou City People's Hospital is ready, so the injured personnel are transferred to the hospital as soon as they land."