Binjiang Police Affairs-Chapter 912 - 612: Professional Rescue Operations!

At 11:46, five luxury buses for transferring troops arrived.

Vice Minister Li of the Linghai Armed Forces Department and Instructor Yang Jianbo of the Reserve Camp had been waiting patiently, signaling to guide the convoy into a cotton field that local cadres had organized to clear the previous night.

Planting cotton is different from planting rice—it doesn't require as much water.

Although it had been raining frequently lately, there were several shallow drainage ditches in the field, and the drainage measures were fairly good, making the ground relatively dry, if somewhat soft, and barely suitable for use as a parking lot.

Han Yu jumped off the vehicle and immediately gathered the squad leaders and above. Under the guidance of Yang Jianbo, they headed up the embankment to join Hao Qiusheng, Master Xu, Master Yao, and others. They seized the time to understand the situation, familiarize themselves with the terrain, brainstorm, research the final rescue construction plan, and assign tasks.

Deputy Mayor Shen, accompanied by Vice Minister Li, went to the Command Center on top of the embankment to meet local leaders.

The 600-plus soldiers and civilians who had been fighting for over five hours cheered when reinforcements arrived, but quickly realized that only around 200 people had come, without any of the promised large-scale machinery. Their spirits plummeted as if on a roller coaster.

"Secretary Han, Secretary Han, this is 001, please respond."

"Received, received, please speak, Uncle Fan."

"Director Yang from the Changhang Bureau just said on the high frequency that the ferry and tugs are coming soon. Two 200-horsepower tugs are towing six barges over."

Han Yu turned to look at 001 anchored below the embankment and asked into the intercom, "What's being transported on the barges?"

The main force was finally arriving, and Captain Fan was overjoyed, eagerly saying, "There are two barges of pile wood dispatched by the Jingzhou Flood Control Command, and four barges of stones procured by Director Huang from upstream, coordinated by the Jingzhou Port Supervision Bureau yesterday."

"How many tons of stones are there?"

"The barges here aren't large, only 500 tons each. Even if overloaded, all four barges together won't exceed 3,000 tons."

"Understood, call me when the fleet is closer."

"Okay."

Two or three thousand tons of stone may not be much, but having some is better than none.

Han Yu put down the intercom and took another look at the access roads to the gates built by the over 600 soldiers and civilians in six hours. Gravely, he said, "Master Xu, go communicate with Secretary Zheng quickly. Let the PLA soldiers, armed police, and reserve civilian soldiers below the embankment rest as much as they can. In thirteen hours, the flood peak will arrive; they have a lot of work to do and can't afford to waste their strength here."

For the fully mechanized Linghai Reserve Camp, those access roads were barely considered a foundation. The loaders couldn't make it up the embankment, let alone the large dump trucks that would weigh nearly fifty tons when loaded with soil.

But building these access roads was no easy task—it was entirely done by over 600 officers and soldiers digging with shovels, carrying loads, or using wheelbarrows to transport soil.

The local County Armed Forces Minister led the action!

The field officers from the stationed military and armed police took the lead!

After working continuously for six hours, the physical toll was immense. Every single person was soaked through, with blisters on their hands and swollen shoulders from carrying loads.

By the light, you could see clearly that they were persisting purely on willpower; their movements in work were somewhat numbed and stiff.

Master Xu had long wanted to let the officers below the embankment rest, but didn't dare to speak up. Hearing Han Yu say this, he immediately replied, "Okay, I'll go find Secretary Zheng now."

"Wait." Hao Qiusheng grabbed Master Xu and asked, "Secretary Han, are you saying clear the site?"

"Now that we're here, we don't need them."

"Keep 200 people at least."

"Keeping them for what?"

"To act as assistants or support hands."

Having served in the army for many years, Hao Qiusheng felt it was unfair to let people leave at this time. He wanted them to stay and assist in the rescue so they could share in the joy of victory once successful.

Afraid that Han Yu might disagree, he emphasized, "We have few auxiliary construction workers. Our people can't handle such laborious work. It's better to draw elite forces from several units to form assault teams and help us fill sandbags."

"Filling sandbags doesn't require 200 people."

"It could, they've been working for six consecutive hours and are very tired. Let them form two teams like us and take turns working."

"Alright, Master Xu, tell Secretary Zheng just that."

In terms of organizing construction, "Brother Hao" was the professional.

Han Yu smoothly agreed, watching Master Xu leave, and continued, "Comrades, go make preparations separately; start work as soon as the equipment arrives."

"Yes!"

Everyone answered in unison and quickly returned to the "parking lot."

Several squad leaders immediately began assigning tasks or ran to the roadside to wait for the arrival of the transport convoy.

The tractor drivers of the earth transport squad in the first company and all officers and men of the Third Company had no gate rescue construction tasks. According to the previous plan, they were organized into four teams to patrol the embankment and inspect for dangers.

Using the gate as the center and a radius of 500 meters, they investigated with strong flashlights the Yangtze River embankment and 500 meters in both directions on the inland river banks for any signs of leakage or piping hidden dangers.

Deputy Mayor Xu noticed the movement of the Jiangnan Relief Army and, unable to exchange greetings with Deputy Mayor Shen, puzzledly asked, "Mayor Shen, what are your colleagues doing?"

Secretary Zheng also noticed the Jiangnan Relief Army seemingly not doing the right thing, thinking they were here to help with the emergency at the gates. Why are they not urgently trying to resolve the imminent danger and organizing so many people to patrol the embankment?