Binjiang Police Affairs-Chapter 910 - 610: "Not Too Serious"_2

"How can I accept this?"

"It's nothing, we are here to serve you. If you are not satisfied, our superiors will criticize us."

The Major laughed heartily and, looking at the walkie-talkie and mobile phone strapped to Hao Qiusheng's chest, curiously asked, "Old platoon leader, what's the meaning of this elaborate binding?"

"It's convenient this way, and also waterproof."

Hao Qiusheng opened the car door to invite the Major in, then smiled and explained, "Our camp has many sailors, and our Camp Commander used to work on ocean-going freighters, traveling to many countries. This is how they equip themselves on the ship. Looks don't matter, convenience is key."

"It frees up your hands and doesn't uncomfortably hang on the waist. We are in construction too, and we should learn from your advanced experience."

"What advanced experience? Let's go."

Along the way, there were indeed many soldiers of the liberation army building bridges.

They faced the same transportation issues with the bridge building, and many materials could only be delivered once the bridges behind were set up. The convoy had to stop as there was no road and resorted to crossing the river using the Boat Bridge troops' small power boats.

By the time they walked to the sluice gate where the emergency occurred, it was already dark, but the area around the gate was brightly lit, with people densely packed on and below the dikes on both sides of the gate.

"Where is the Command Center?"

"The Command Center is up ahead, it's the shed on the west side of the big lights."

"Thank you."

A deputy director from the Changhang Jingzhou Public Security Bureau led them to find the emergency command leader, who was anxiously making calls for aid.

Hao Qiusheng and others couldn't understand the local dialect and were about to go out to see how serious the situation was when Master Xu hurriedly approached.

"Master Xu, when did you arrive?"

"I came on 001, traveling by water is faster than you, and I arrived two and a half hours ago."

"What's the situation?"

"It's hard to explain here, I'll take you to see."

"Okay."

Following Master Xu to the northwestern riverbank inside the sluice gate, Hao Qiusheng's heart skipped a beat, and goosebumps rose on his skin.

The gate was small, but the river was wide, nearly fifty meters wide.

Although the gates were blocked long ago, and the sluice plates couldn't be seen, under the illumination of lights, the seams of the sandbags blocking the gate could be clearly seen spurting water. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

The water level difference between the river and the sluice was nearly ten meters, indicating the immense water pressure. Jets of water sprayed everywhere, some five or six meters high, others seven or eight meters.

If it weren't for the row of wooden stakes driven in earlier, the sandbags stuffed between them and the sluice plates would have been washed away long ago.

In fact, the sand in those bags was gradually decreasing, as the woven bags were not very strong and had been eroded by the water flow into tatters, with contents constantly being lost.

"Earlier, comrades from the Water Resources Bureau said that two daredevil team members inspected the water in the afternoon, and several reinforced concrete sluice plates were found cracked. Without timely emergency measures, if the plates break, relying just on this row of stakes won't be enough."

Master Xu stomped on the riverbank underfoot, raised his arm to point at the riverbank on the opposite side, and solemnly said, "If the sluice gate collapses and the floodwater rushes into the river channel, these two paper-thin riverbanks can't hold either. I estimated earlier, at the current water level difference and river flow speed, it would take just 12 hours for a West Lake to rush in!"

Master Dai listened, terrified, instinctively glancing at the riverbank below and saw a pointillized light in the distance, indicating many people lived far away.

While calculating rescue methods, with a furrowed brow, Hao Qiusheng asked, "What's the county's plan?"

"They were busy calling for aid in the afternoon and are now studying whether to organize an evacuation for residents."

"What does the superior say?"

"City leaders are on their way here, and the bridge being set up by the Boat Bridge troops isn't just for you to cross but also to facilitate transporting flood prevention materials."

"Half the day passed, and they haven't thought of a solution?"

"The current issue isn't about thinking but about executing!"

Master Xu turned around to look at the precarious sluice gate and said helplessly, "Everywhere is in crisis now, and with the second flood peak expected around 3 PM tomorrow, the Jingzhou Flood Control Command's resources are limited. There's basically nothing to spare.

The county plans to sink a large ship to block it outside the sluice gate, relying on the ship to stop the water, but it's unrealistic! It's not like your Linghai Development Zone's dock, and a sunken ship isn't a floating dock gate, so a perfect seal isn't possible."

Hao Qiusheng observed, nodding, "A sunken ship won't work, the water pressure is too high, and the current is too fast, an ordinary barge may well be broken apart. Moreover, the sluice gate is too small, if sunk, the ends would rest on the dry dikes on both sides. The dikes themselves don't seem solid, and might not withstand such force, potentially causing the entire dike to collapse."

This kind of emergency isn't one that can be handled by casually tossing sandbags around.

After a moment of silence, in a low voice, Master Xu said, "President Hao, the next step is up to you."

"Can we make the decision?"

"Yes!"

"Prepare timber stakes, if there aren't enough, use utility poles, find steel pipes, transport as many as possible."

"Wait." Master Xu pulled out a pen from his shirt pocket, took out a notebook, and looked up, "Go on."

Hao Qiusheng surveyed the surroundings once more, gritting his teeth, "The inland river should be navigable, if materials can't be brought overland, they can be waterborne. It's best to find a few larger iron ships. Inside must be blocked, outside must be sealed, find a ferry too, only then can we work on both sides simultaneously."

Master Xu instinctively asked, "President Hao, do you plan to drive stakes inside and outside the sluice simultaneously?"

"Driving stakes is essential."

Taking a deep breath, Hao Qiusheng continued, "Let the local government quickly arrange places on both sides for us to take soil, not too far from here, and ensure soil extraction doesn't endanger either the dry dikes or riverbanks on both sides."

"That's simple."

"So many people just standing here idly is useless, the sluice gate can break any moment, it's too dangerous. The elderly, women, and children must evacuate promptly, and the populace below the dike should too."

Fixing his gaze on the "fountain" inside the gate, Hao Qiusheng added, "Healthy young men should stay, they have tools and can be organized to hasten soil extraction for constructing work roads on both sides of the gate, otherwise, our dump trucks filled with soil couldn't reach here."

"Anything else?"

"In addition to materials, bring over as many cubic stones and sliced stones as possible, to secure this crisis requires at least 20,000 cubic stones!"

"Think it over, so I can report to the superior."

"To ensure foolproof measures, we not only need to block the sluice gate but also reinforce the dry dikes at both ends. If it were up to us, we'd seal off the sluice entirely."

"No problem, let's first get through this, whatever happens to the sluice later is a problem for the future!"

"That's it, Master Xu, quickly report to the superior, a few of us are going to check the other side."

"Alright, if there's anything else, call me on the walkie-talkie."

...

Master Dai roughly understood.

This old platoon leader from Linghai wasn't planning to reinforce the sluice, but like the Three Gorges Project diversion, directly dam this Tong River channel, making the precarious sluice part of the dry dike.

This isn't a bad approach, indeed perhaps the only way to ensure nothing goes wrong.

As Master Dai pondered whether the sluice could hold until reinforcements arrived, the old platoon leader was already on the phone while walking.

"Secretary Han, we have arrived at the sluice, and the situation isn't as severe as anticipated, but it's also not optimistic. Can you speed up? If the main force can arrive before midnight, I believe we are confident of resolving the issue before the flood peak hits."

"I'll ask."

"You can't just ask, time is of the essence here!"

"President Hao, didn't you say it wasn't severe?"

"When I said 'not severe', I was referring to our previously drafted Plan 1 and Plan 2, not that it's truly not severe!"

Plan 1 and Plan 2 were devised for breach blockage and dam collapse situations.

The sluice only showed symptoms of danger, not a collapse, and judging from the Linghai Reserve Camp's potential emergency response tasks, it wasn't exactly severe.

"Understood, we'll be as fast as possible."

Realizing the urgency, Han Yu wasted no more time, put down the phone, raised the walkie-talkie, and quickly called the local public security police clearing the path for the convoy.