Riverside police

At dawn, the river near the breach was full of boats!

There were more than 20 propeller ships, small tugs and small passenger ships urgently summoned by the Hanwu City Navigation Office, and five large tugs and ten 1,500-ton flat barges arrived overnight from the Yangtze River Steamship Company.

There are eight passenger ferries with a capacity of 1,000 to 1,500 passengers led by leaders of the Hanwu Ferry Company, the Etuo 307 fleet of the Beihu Jiangxia Ferry Company, the fleet of the Changhang Shipping Group, and small hook-up ships urgently summoned by the county. Even nearby fishermen came in small fishing boats.

Looking around, there were more boats than there were in the riverside waters during the "eel fishing war". Xu Mingyuan felt that more than half of the boats in Hanwu were probably here.

However, the water flow at the breach was turbulent, and a sill formed between the breach and the embankment, making it impossible for ships to enter or exit.

There was a vast ocean inside the village, and at least thirty villages were flooded!

The river embankment was filled with darkness, and thousands of people who had fled to the embankment were eager to be evacuated.

More than two dozen motor barges from Hanwu took advantage of their good stability, shallow draft, and flexible operation to quickly dock on the river embankment. One boat after another, they transferred the shocked victims on the embankment to the river anchored three kilometers upstream of the breach. On six deck barges and ferries, the victims were transferred to Panjiawan Town, which is more than 20 kilometers upstream of the breach, by the fleet and ferries of Changhang Shipping Group.

The fleets involved in relocating the victims did everything possible to free up spaces, cabins, and any place where people could stand to transport the victims.

Compared with the victims on the levee, there are more victims trapped in the vast ocean inside the embankment!

Other ships cannot enter, but the assault boats, power boats and rescue boats of the Linghai Reserve Battalion and several other PLA pontoon units that came to the rescue can enter.

Small boats and small boats became the main force of rescue.

Xu Mingyuan used the newly vacated section of the embankment as a "transfer point" and organized various search and rescue teams to transport assault boats and fiberglass boats to the embankment, put them on the water in the embankment, and went straight to the nearby rooftops at full speed. , tree crown, searching and rescuing people who had not had time to move to the embankment.

In fact, there is no need to search, only to save.

There were so many people trapped that each group drove less than a kilometer out of the embankment. Every visible roof, tree canopy, and higher ground was occupied by people.

"Comrades, don't be anxious, don't be crowded, our assault boats and fiberglass boats can't carry too many people, the elderly and children come up first!"

"We will send the elderly and children to the embankment and come back to pick you up. Please don't be afraid or worry. We will definitely come back. Our superiors have mobilized all the forces they can to save everyone!"

"Comrade of the People's Liberation Army, I'm sorry to trouble you."

"No trouble, slow down."

"Kid, sit down and hold on to the rope."

Xu Mingyuan's group had so many people to save that they were overwhelmed.

Xiaoyu and Xiaogu did the same thing here. They picked up a few people on the fiberglass boat and said eagerly: "Comrade, there are more people ahead of us waiting for us to rescue. You guys come up first, and the things will be transported later."

"Comrade of the People's Liberation Army, can I just bring a TV? I'll hold it!"

"No, there are too many people, and we are a small boat. It is not safe to carry too many things, and it can easily capsize."

"Comrade PLA, please."

"Put it on the roof first. The water won't rise that fast, so it won't be submerged. I'll help you carry it back later."

…

The house was flooded, and valuable things could no longer be flooded. Everyone wanted to take more with them, but the assault boats and fiberglass boats were too small to carry so many things. Moreover, saving people was more important now, and we could only worry about the things outside us.

One rescue after another, in less than an hour, the water search and rescue company rescued more than 500 people from the "ocean".

The commander-in-chief responsible for rescue and the two deputy commanders-in-chief divided the work.

The commander-in-chief is the secretary of Yujia County, who is responsible for directing the personnel and ships organized by the county to carry out rescue operations.

The leader of the Beihu Provincial Navigation Bureau is responsible for organizing and commanding the personnel and fleets convened by the province and Hanwu City. Deputy Director Yuan of the Hanwu Port Supervision Bureau is responsible for commanding the fleet of the long-distance navigation system.

The Linghai reserve battalion not only owns half of the long-distance navigation system, but is also the reserve battalion of the transportation system, so it naturally has to accept the command of Bureau Yuan.

Director Yuan did not stay on the supervision boat. Instead, he stood on the embankment and raised his intercom to direct the Changhang Shipping Group's fleet to transport away the victims rescued by the Linghai Reserve Battalion from the compound.

Political Commissar Yang stood beside Director Yuan and asked anxiously: "Comrade Mingyuan, have you seen any air force officers and soldiers who are supporting the rescue?"

"No, our search and rescue range is less than two kilometers!"

"Okay, let's go search and rescue quickly."

Xu Mingyuan and the other last victims were pulled onto the embankment by the staff of the long-distance navigation system. He immediately adjusted the course with the joystick and continued to "pick up" people in the vast ocean.

The small fish group is also very efficient, filling up the tank and setting off quickly.

He and Xiao Gu had just driven less than 800 meters when a sudden roar came from the sky.

I looked up and saw a dozen helicopters flying overhead.

Immediately afterwards, three more transport planes flew towards the compound.

Flying very low, you can clearly see the red August 1st military emblem!

"Fish Team, look, the Air Force is coming, the Air Force is coming..." Xiao Gu's eyes filled with excitement.

Xiaoyu was also shocked, but now he didn't care about watching the excitement. He gripped the joystick tightly and said, "The Air Force is coming. Aren't you the Air Force?"

"I mean the plane is coming!"

"What's the use of a plane? It can't land on the water to save people."

"Fish team, the plane is airdropping!"

Xiaoyu looked in the direction of Xiao Gu's finger, and was surprised to find that the three transport planes were actually airdropping emergency and disaster relief supplies. However, they were far away from their current search and rescue range, so it was impossible to go over to see what they were airdropping.

In a blink of an eye, we were above the village we had visited before.

Hundreds of people were waiting to be rescued. Xiaoyu ignored the strangeness and hurriedly "picked up" the people.

Inflatable boats are easy to capsize, and fiberglass boats are not very stable.

Xiao Gu carefully picked up a few people on the boat and asked eagerly: "Comrade, we have a team here to rescue you. Have you seen them?"

"I've seen it before. Their epaulettes are blue like yours. Are you in the Air Force?"

"Yes, we are all airmen. Comrade, do you know where they have gone?"

A member of the public subconsciously touched the life jacket on his body and said with tears: "I only know that they went to rescue people. The last time I saw them was when they collapsed last night. They took off this life jacket and gave it to me."

"Do you know which direction they went?"

"It seems that I went to the Middle Fort."

The breach was at the embankment section of Zhongbao Village!

Xiao Gu burst into tears when he thought that the officers and soldiers of the anti-aircraft artillery regiment went to the most dangerous place at the most dangerous time and gave up their life jackets to the masses.

The superior wanted to know the news about the Air Force Anti-aircraft Artillery Regiment, and Political Commissar Yang also told Xiaoyu.

Xiaoyu was just as worried, but he really couldn't care about that much now. The only thing he could do was to save people one after another.

At 10:45, after the twelve people who had just been rescued from the flood were sent to the embankment, Xiaoyu and Xiaogu finally received some somewhat relieving news.

Five minutes ago, several leaders responsible for organizing and directing the rescue took a ferry to check the water conditions at the breach. Seeing that the water level was getting smaller and the flow rate was slowing down, they decided to organize a machine barge of less than 100 tons to rush into the breach to rescue people!

As the "Hannan No. 1" and other eight mobile barges rushed into the breached village, the search and rescue efficiency increased rapidly. After all, one large ship can carry dozens of assault boats and glass boats.

As of 11 a.m., more than 30 mechanical barges of 80 to 100 tons, including the first batch of 21 mechanical barges from the Hanwu Municipal Transportation Commission and the subsequent 9 mechanical barges coming from Hanwu for reinforcements, had entered the civil compound. Go to various villages and conduct individual combat.

Due to the water depth, there are still many places where barges cannot pass.

The water search and rescue company was divided into parts according to the requirements of superiors, and separately cooperated with aircraft and barge operations to search with nets on roofs, platforms, and tree branches in Hezhen Town, Paizhou Town, Zhongbao Village and other places.

These more than 30 barges are the well-deserved main force of search and rescue. While searching and rescuing victims one after another, they also pick up victims one by one from all directions rescued by officers and soldiers from several pontoon troops in assault boats and local fishermen in fishing boats. Get on the boat, and then one boat after another rush out of the breach, and transfer to the ferry and deck barge anchored on the river.

The mouth collapsed around eight o'clock last night, and the people in the camp had no time to escape. They couldn't even afford to eat. They were very hungry after boarding the boat.

The crew gave all dry food and water to the victims.

The "Supervision 47" boat where the commander-in-chief was located gave the only three boxes of instant noodles to the hungry elderly and children, and the crew of "Yangtze 2516" kept cooking porridge to supply them.

The fleet led by Liu Wei arrived at noon. Like Chen Zikun, Xiao Gong and others who arrived before, they were under the command of the leaders of the Hanwu Port Supervision Bureau. Together with more than 300 crew members and port supervision staff from the long-range voyage system, Assist in evacuating victims and distributing supplies brought by Han Yurang.

…

Just when Xu Mingyuan, Ma Jintao, Liu Wei and others were extremely busy, the emergency protection project for the dangerous section of the Jingjiang Embankment was coming to an end.

Han Yu drove the excavator all morning, and as soon as he returned to the command and control room on the second floor of the barge, Deputy Director Yu held the phone record and solemnly said: "Secretary Han, the Yangtze River Defense Director called The breach was caused by piping."

Before Han Yu could speak, the chief walked in and said, "The breach at Anzao Embankment was caused by piping, and so was the breach at Paizhou Bay. It was all caused by piping!"

"The notice stated that it was discovered on the morning of July 31st. The water outlet was about 40 meters away from the foot of the embankment. After the discovery, the town organized rescue forces and the rescue operation continued until 3 a.m. on August 1st. The danger was basically under control. , but there is still a small amount of sand produced.”

"Then what?" Han Yu asked in a low voice.

Deputy Director Yu took a deep breath, looked at the phone record and said: "Then he continued to rush for protection, and continued to rush for protection for more than ten hours. He continued to fight for protection until around 8:30 last night. A gap of more than one meter appeared in the embankment body. Before it could be blocked, it quickly collapsed on both sides and expanded to more than 100 meters in the blink of an eye."

There is a certain truth in the saying that a dike of a thousand miles breaks in an ant nest.

Who would have thought that a piping surge could cause the embankment to burst.

The commander couldn't help but think of Du Yuan, a soldier of the 404th Division of the 105th Army, and secretly thought that if Du Yuan had been there at the time, he might have been able to protect him.

Han Yu didn't know what the chief was thinking, so he asked: "Besides the flood situation report, is there any other news?"

"have."

Deputy Director Yu looked at the phone record and said quickly: "The Yangtze River Defense Headquarters and Jingzhou Defense Directorate forwarded an "Emergency Notice on Timely Transfer of Personnel in Danger Zones to Strengthen Embankment Defense" from the National Defense Headquarters, requiring us to ensure the safety of people's lives. Put it first, evacuate people in dangerous areas in a timely manner, and at the same time, focus on key points and effectively strengthen the defense of the Yangtze River embankments, key polder embankments and important urban embankments."

"It's not up to us to decide whether to transfer or not."

"But it has something to do with us."

"what relationship?"

"It's still raining in Xichuan and Shancheng. The fourth flood peak will soon form in the upper reaches. Due to the downstream floods, the water level of the Jingjiang River cannot be lowered. The fourth flood peak that is about to form will be more difficult to deal with than the previous three." Xi Gong He said that the superiors had decided after research to let Shishou City relocate the people from Hekou Town to store the floodwaters."

"So the 127th Regiment is going to withdraw."

"Not only the 127th Regiment, but also the Jingzhou First and Second Armed Police Detachments and a regiment that just arrived the day before yesterday."

"Another group went to the river mouth?"

"Jiao Yang called me this morning and asked. It's a regiment of the Army. The situation of that regiment is quite special."

"Special Forces?"

"Just special, not special forces."

"Why is it special?" Han Yu asked puzzledly.

"Jiao Yang said that the regiment was going to be disbanded. The farewell ceremony with the military flag had just been held. Most of the cadres were going to change jobs and the soldiers were going to be discharged soon. They were busy packing their luggage and packing backpacks to go home. Suddenly, they received an order to rush over to fight the flood. Emergency."

Deputy Director Yu paused, then continued: "That group is quite famous, and their origins have something to do with your hometown."

Han Yu subconsciously asked: "What does it have to do with our hometown?"

"They are the 'Shajiabang Regiment'. Their predecessors were the New Fourth Army that fought guerrillas in your hometown. Didn't Aqing's wife in Shajiabang, the Peking Opera, cover more than thirty wounded people? Several of the wounded were from their regiment. warrior."

"I know about Shajiabang, but I didn't expect that there is a Shajiabang group. Is the Shajiabang group an honorary title?"

"I don't know about that."

"It's nothing, even the Shajiabang group has nothing to do with us. Shajiabang belongs to Shuzhou, and we are Linghai, separated by a river from us."

"Aren't you fellow villagers?"

"So, but not."

The fellow villagers of Linghai people can only be Linghai and Donghai people. How could Shuzhou be fellow townsmen? Considering that it is difficult for Beihu people to understand this common sense, Han Yu simply changed the topic: "How is it over there at Paizhou Bay, Yang Have the political commissar and Xu Mingyuan called?"

Deputy Director Yu was really confused. He couldn't understand why Shuzhou, which was across the river from Linghai. He even came to Shuzhou with Secretary Wang to deliver emergency supplies last time. Why was he not a fellow villager of Linghai? He simply didn't think about it. , said hurriedly: "Political Commissar Yang called, but Teacher Xu was busy rescuing and didn't call."

"What did Political Commissar Yang say?"

"One piece of good news, one piece of bad news."

"Bad news!"

"An Air Force anti-aircraft artillery unit that was rescued in Paizhou Bay was also flooded. As of an hour ago, the bodies of six officers and soldiers had been found, and more officers and soldiers were missing. Superiors are organizing search and rescue efforts."

As many as six officers and soldiers have been confirmed to have died!

Han Yu was stunned. The leader took off his hat, tears welling up in his eyes.

Deputy Director Yu was silent for a moment, then continued: "The good news is that the water flow from the breach is gradually slowing down, and the water level difference between the river and the fort is not as big as before. Machinery barges under 100 tons can rush into the fort for search and rescue."

"That's not good news."

Han Yu took a few deep breaths and raised the walkie-talkie strapped to his chest: "Battle Commander Li, Camp Commander Li, I, Han Yu, please answer when you receive it!"

"Copy that, Secretary Han, please speak."

"From now on, the emergency protection of piping surges must be the first priority. Let Du Yuan go to each team to select people. We need to expand the grouting emergency protection team and have the ability to protect three to four piping surges at the same time!"

…

PS: Although many social activities have been postponed, there are some activities that cannot be avoided and must be attended.

I have to go to the capital for a meeting tomorrow. I have to leave today and go home the day after tomorrow. There are only two chapters today. I don’t know if I can keep updating tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. I hereby take a leave of absence and ask all book friends for your forgiveness.