Binjiang Police Affairs-Chapter 1029 - 674: Just You Wait!

5:30 PM, Anzao Dam.

The once lush farmland and villages with smoke rising from kitchens have now become a vast expanse of water.

There was too much debris on the water's surface, and a pile of grass as big as a small hill floated by. Xiao Yu didn't dare to go too fast, so he steered the motorboat towing the fiberglass boat around the grass pile, not rushing to the village that needed rescuing.

"Xiao Gu, call out a few times."

"Captain Yu, what should I shout?"

"See if there's anyone on the grass pile."

"Oh."

Yesterday at noon, Xiao Gu, a soldier from the 127th Regiment, who was assigned to Xiao Yu's group, quickly turned around and shouted, "Is there anyone on the grass pile? We are the liberation army, we are here to rescue everyone!"

"Is anybody there? Please respond!"

...

After shouting several times, there was no response from the grass pile.

In the past ten hours, Xiao Yu not only rescued more than twenty people from the safe building, safe platform, and already flooded safe zone in the "flooded area," but also saved several civilians from treetops not yet submerged and floating barrels in the water.

The afflicted civilians were so pitiful.

He didn't want to miss even the slightest thing floating on the water, so he steered the motorboat to the side of the grass pile, bent down to grab a special hook made by the Third Company, and plunged it into the grass pile to stabilize the motorboat.

"Xiao Gu, climb up and take a look, hold on tight, watch out for your safety."

"Yes!"

Although they had only been partners for ten hours, Xiao Gu genuinely admired the "commander" of the "Hong Kong Garrison," Xiao Yu.

He wasn't just good at steering a boat, he could speed with it!

Whenever they set out again after delivering the rescued civilians to shore, he would speed like in the movies to save time, yet ensured the fiberglass boat being towed wouldn't capsize.

He wasn't just good at steering; he could also fix machines.

The motorboat from Group 3 suddenly cut out while moving, and the engine wouldn't start, leaving them floating on the water unable to return. He immediately responded to Group 3's distress call, rushed over, opened the engine cover for a quick inspection, and soon got it started again.

Xiao Gu felt that as long as it was on water, there was nothing Captain Yu couldn't handle, so he immediately grabbed the straw to climb up.

But any exertion pulled the straw out, and there was no footing, so no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get up.

Just as Xiao Gu was getting anxious, Xiao Yu raised the walkie-talkie tied to his chest and called out in Linghai's dialect, "Chief Guo, Chief Guo, this is Xiao Yu, can you hear me?"

"Loud and clear, Captain Yu, go ahead."

"I am at your four o'clock direction with a large grass pile here. We can't climb up to check if anyone is on it. Can you come over and have a look?"

"Alright, be there immediately."

In every direction, all that could be seen was water; there weren't any landmarks.

Not sure if Guo Weitao's group could find this place, Xiao Yu refrained from leaving just like that. He simply turned off the engine and drifted with the large grass pile for about twenty minutes, when the distant sound of another motorboat engine could be heard.

Only the sound could be heard, but no people could be seen.

Immediately, Xiao Yu pulled out a flare gun, and with a loud pop, he fired a flare into the sky.

After waiting for about five more minutes, the fifth rescue group's motorboat came into view.

Xiao Yu sat down heavily, looked at Guo Weitao approaching head-on, and smiled, saying, "Xiao Gu, watch and learn."

"Captain Yu, learn what?"

"See how Chief Guo gets on the grass pile."

"How is Chief Guo going to get up there?"

"He really knows qinggong, you'll see for yourself soon."

As they were talking, Guo Weitao had already handed over the engine control to Xiao Gu's comrade.

Xiao Gu saw Guo Weitao clearly pick up a bamboo pole, poke it into the water to test the depth, then stand up and push the pole sharply into the water. He leaped from the motorboat onto the top of the grass pile, much like the pole vault.

Strictly speaking, it wasn't pole vaulting; it was qinggong!

Because pole vaulting requires a run-up, and he had no run-up. There was simply no condition to run up on water, yet he flew up there using the pole.

Xiao Gu couldn't believe his eyes, mumbling, "Chief Guo really knows qinggong!"

"That's nothing; he can even do dragonfly water touching." Xiao Yu laughed and asked, "Chief Guo, is there anyone on the grass pile?"

"There is."

"Ah!"

"Really someone, burning hot forehead, having a high fever, hurry and throw a rope up here."

Xiao Yu stopped smiling, buried any thoughts of showing off, urgently grabbed a rope at his feet, quickly untangled it, and threw it up forcefully.

"Hey elder, wake up, we are the liberation army, here to rescue you!" Guo Weitao nudged, but the old man lying on top of the grass pile didn't respond, and his forehead was burning hot.

Guo Weitao dared not delay any longer; he used the rope Xiao Yu had tossed up to bind the old man securely, then carefully moved him to the edge of the grass pile, sat down first, and then lowered the old man.

Xiao Gu quickly went over to help catch him, and it was only after they had safely placed the old man on the motorboat that everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Wait, there's more stuff."

"Oh."

"There's a lot of stuff, really can't imagine how she climbed up at her age, let alone carried all these things up."

"Brother Guo, she's really got a fever, seems unconscious, hurry up."

"I know."

Guo Weitao hurriedly tossed the old lady's belongings onto the motorboat: blankets, change of clothes, half a sack of rice, a pile of medicine bottles, a small iron pot, cutlery for meals, and a flowery, worn-out bag… Piece by piece, they piled up to fill half the motorboat.

Although the rescue had not been going on for long, Xiao Yu was no longer surprised by these occurrences.

The locals inside the dam, upon discovering the incoming flood, had moved everything they could carry to higher ground.

The family of three rescued from the treetop in the morning had moved so many items in their attempt to evade the flood that not only was the motorboat fully loaded, but even the fiberglass boat was nearly full.

Televisions, tape players, rice, clothes, you name it.

These were their most valuable possessions, and if they could take them, they surely would.

Xiao Yu remained silent for a moment, then looked at Guo Weitao who had just slid down, and asked: "Are you taking Grandma back, or am I?"

"I'll send you off; it's getting dark, and I'm afraid it'll be hard to find the way back once it's completely dark."

"Okay, Xiao Gu and I will board your assault boat."

...

When we rescued the first person, it was exhilarating, a sense of achievement.

But as the number of those rescued increased, the excitement faded away, and the sense of achievement felt diminished, replaced by a heavy burden in our hearts.

Xiao Yu and Xiao Gu climbed onto Guo Weitao's group's assault boat, checked the small oil canister placed beside their feet, estimated how long they could sail, and then started the engine to continue the rescue mission at the submerged village ahead, as planned.

Was this luck good or bad? Hard to tell.

We circled above the village, where only a few treetops and some rooftops of safe buildings were above water, for nearly half an hour but found no civilians trapped.

Safe buildings are unique to this area.

The first floor has a frame structure, making it quite sturdy, while the second floor is made of bricks and tiles.

Normally, people also live on the first floor, but during floods, all doors and windows on the first floor are opened to allow the floodwater to pass through, preventing the building from being washed away, and everyone moves to the second floor.

If the flood submerges the second floor, then they climb to the rooftop.

If the water reaches the rooftop, then they have to resign themselves to fate.

There are several safety platforms here, some made of poured concrete, some of piled earth, and they are large and tall. However, due to years of neglect, some safety platforms have collapsed.

The safe area is protected by a large dyke.

Because such large floods have not occurred here for many years and the dyke hasn't breached in a long time, the safe area's dyke struggles to withstand the floodwater breaking into it. Initially, people moved to the safe area have to drag their families and climb the main dyke that protects the safe area.

The sky was darkening, with heavy clouds, and the weather forecast said it would rain again tonight.

No stars could be seen, and even Xiao Yu, who was born and raised on a boat, could lose his way and drift away.

He dared not continue searching, maneuvered around a floating dead pig, identified the camp's direction, increased the boat's power, and headed back.

First, he aimed for the nearest shoreline, then intended to follow the shore back precisely. To be more accurate, he aimed for the nearest large dyke, as the so-called shore was underwater.

"Captain Yu, there's a light ahead, people on the dyke!"

"Isn't it normal to see people? It'd be abnormal if there were none."

"I mean, it's a military unit; they look like the military."

"Really? Let me take a look."

Since Hanwu suffered heavy rains, more and more troops came to aid in flood relief.

Initially, it was mainly the armed police and local garrison, but later, troops from afar came, all still part of the Guangzhou Military Region.

Since Hanwu experienced heavy rainfall, naval marines not seen outside of TV came, and they heard that troops from Jinan and BJ Military Regions also arrived.

Brother Haoran's troop is part of the BJ Military Region; I'm not sure if Brother Haoran came.

Xiao Yu has been watching closely these days; whenever he sees troops, he asks where they are from.

Approaching the dyke, they were amazed at first sight.

The dyke was filled with tents, lined up neatly in rows, clearly indicative of a well-equipped force!

Not like the so-called powerful yet actually impoverished 132nd Regiment, which not only has few tents but even fewer life jackets.

Just as Xiao Yu was about to ask where they were from, he suddenly spotted a familiar red flag.

Seeing him freeze, Xiao Gu instinctively asked, "Captain Yu, what are you looking at?"

"Who is so careless that they only remembered to bring the flag out but forgot to take it back?"

"What flag?"

"Our Red Saber Battalion's banner, quickly, let's go get the flag back."

"On it!"

Xiao Gu suddenly recalled that the "Hong Kong Garrison" held two honorary titles and knew well the seriousness of losing a banner with honor titles, quickly climbed the dyke and rushed to retrieve the flag.

As Xiao Yu was thinking of checking who was responsible after returning, sudden commotion arose on the dyke.

"Company Commander, someone is stealing our banner!"

"Which unit are you from, and why are you taking our banner?"

"Hey, you! Didn't you hear me? Bring back our banner immediately!"

Xiao Gu was bewildered, facing a group of army soldiers rushing over; holding the banner, he momentarily didn't know how to respond.

Xiao Yu realized the situation, pointed at the people onshore and shouted, "Which unit are you guys from? Who's stealing your flag? This is our banner!"

"Yours? Are you really from the Red Saber Battalion?"

"Yes, we're exactly the Red Saber Battalion! If you don't have an honorary title, just work hard in flood relief; perform well, and the superior might grant you one—stealing our banner is wrong!"

Xiao Yu's words were firm and resonant.

Xiao Gu immediately gained confidence, cautiously rolled up the banner, and shouted at the people onshore, "Let's see who's the hero, who's the strongman. Compete against the flood! No guts to handle the flood but stealing someone's banner?! What's that!"

"Shameless! Stealing our banner and then accusing us? Clearly, you're the thieves here!"

"Aren't you unreasonable? This is our banner!"

"Enough chatter, you, come over here!"

"Why should I come if you tell me to?"

"I'm the Deputy Company Commander, I order you to come here immediately!"

"So what if you're a Deputy Company Commander? I'm one too!"

"What's your surname, which unit are you from, and why are you acting like this?"

"What's the big deal about retrieving our forgotten banner? Don't scare me; I wasn't raised to be frightened!"

"Stealing our banner and justifying it? I'll count to three; if you don't come up, don't blame us for being rude!"

More and more people gathered on the dyke.

The unreasonable ones increased too, all eager to fight, some even went searching for stones and bricks, ready for a brawl.

What kind of army is this? They're clearly a bunch of ruffians!

Xiao Yu was furious, gritted his teeth but knew they were outnumbered, so to avoid immediate trouble, he quickly adjusted the course, fleeing while shouting, "I'm not going up, you just wait. Proud of having many people, huh? We have people too!"