Rebirth of Bayi Fishing and Hunting in the Northwest

Chapter 969: Using explosives to clear duds is quite creative.

When Li Long returned to the road construction site carrying the half-grown wild boar, the safety officer had already been replaced.

This time, Li Long didn't take action. He asked Meng Hai to find someone to cook and deal with the wild boar, while he carried his gun and headed back into the mountains.

This time, Ma Xiaoyan caught up. She ran up to Li Long, panting, and asked:

"Comrade Li Long, this wild boar should be enough for all of us, right? What else are you planning to do?"

“Less than a kilometer ahead, there is a huge rock blocking the way. I’ll go take a look and see how to get rid of it.”

“Then I’ll go with you to take a look,” Ma Xiaoyan asked. “Is the rock big?”

“It’s huge, the size of several houses. We can’t dig it up; we’ll probably have to blow it up,” Li Long said.

The last time Li Xiangqian and his team came to work, they brought a lot of explosives. Some were used at the time, and some were left as reserves.

Li Long thought about checking the condition of the stone and estimated that by the time they reached this point, they would have to use explosives.

Returning to the location of the boulder, Li Long pointed below and said, "This is where we found the wild boar."

"Found it?" Ma Xiaoyan was quite surprised. "You can find wild boars?"

"It fell from here when it was returning to the deep mountains after eating with the main herd of wild boars this morning. Its hind leg was injured and it couldn't walk away. I just happened to run into it," Li Long explained, and then went to examine the large rock more closely.

This large rock is all alone, covered with some shrubs and moss. However, due to its age and weathering, some cracks have appeared around it, and a lot of the stone skin has fallen off below.

After looking around, Li Long realized that blowing up the rock wouldn't be too difficult. There were enough gaps around it to install explosives—the explosives he was referring to were ammonium nitrate explosive rods the size of a relay baton.

Since the explosive power is small, just use more tubes. At this time, explosives are very easy to obtain, and there is plenty of them. Li Long does not believe that it cannot be blown up.

Of course, this was his own idea, and he should ask Meng Hai—Meng Hai was the militia company commander, and should have more experience in this area than him.

Li Long's idea was that since Meng Hai and his men were building the road behind them, and he had nothing else to do, he could go to the front and solve this problem. If his idea worked, he would just blow it up; if not, he would do it their way.

This way, I can do both jobs without any problems—after all, there are many people working on the road construction site, and it's not easy for me to get involved, so it's better to do this kind of more technically demanding work.

"How is it? Can you solve this problem?" Ma Xiaoyan asked after seeing Li Long walk around twice and touch each crevice in the stone.

"It's alright, we should be able to handle it," Li Long said. "I'll go get the explosives in a bit and come back to try it out."

When Li Long said he could do it, Ma Xiaoyan firmly believed he could do it well. At some point, in Ma Xiaoyan's eyes, Li Long seemed omnipotent.

Back at the road construction site, Meng Hai was directing tractors to haul back the felled trees. It turned out that the trees that had been moved to the side of the road had been washed downstream by the flood yesterday. Not many trees were being cut down today, and the number of trees blocking the road decreased further, making road construction much easier.

Some people were digging sand and gravel from the riverbank and transporting it to the roadbed. After it was transported here, it was leveled, and finally, small four-wheeled vehicles and 75-inch tractors came to roll it over, and the road was basically repaired.

Li Long arrived at the shore of Menghai and recounted the story of the large rock. After listening to Li Long's thoughts, Menghai said:

“Although I know about directional blasting technology, none of us understand it. It requires calculating the amount of explosives and considering the location and angle of the building to be blasted. For us roughnecks, blasting rocks is just about piling up explosives. You think the same way I do. How about this, I'll go with you to blast it…”

"No need, no need. Just send someone to help me make the explosive tube—I'm a bit slow at wrapping the fuse and pulling the detonator by myself."

For explosives to detonate, they need to be connected to a detonator, a fuse, and a trigger ring. Due to the general situation, the details will not be described.

Li Long estimated that it would take at least twenty or thirty explosive tubes to blow up that big rock, so he decided to prepare more.

Anyway, the supply and marketing cooperative brought a lot of these things, and they're just sitting there anyway. They'll expire and become invalid over time, so why not use them?

“Well, you have to be careful. This thing isn’t very likely to produce a dud, but it’s not impossible,” Meng Hai said. “If there is a dud, don’t go over there. Wait for us to go and clear it or think of another way.”

“Okay,” Li Long said. “I’ll definitely count them one by one to see if they’ve exploded. Don’t worry, I’m very careful with my life.”

Seeing that it was still early, Meng Hai asked a young man to help Li Long make explosives.

The explosives, detonators, fuses, and pull cords were all stored separately in the back of Li Long's jeep. He carried the box of explosives, led the young man to the boulder, and then began loading the explosives.

Ma Xiaoyan offered to help, but Li Long refused. This thing is no joke; if the detonator and fuse don't make a tight connection, it's easy to misfire. Once there's a misfire, it means man-made danger, so it's better not to do such a thing.

Ma Xiaoyan understood, so she took photos on the side. After seeing that there was nothing to do nearby and that she had collected a lot of material, she went into the ravine, seemingly to pick some mushrooms.

“We’re going to blast rocks later, so stay a little further away from here,” Li Long said to Ma Xiaoyan, who was about to enter the woods, “so you don’t get hit by flying rocks.”

"Okay, I understand." Ma Xiaoyan nodded to indicate that she understood, and then continued walking into the mountains.

Li Long and the young man loaded thirty fuse rings in a row, filling the entire box with explosives, before they stopped.

“Go back to your work, I’ll take care of this,” Li Long said. “Tell Company Commander Meng that no one is to come here without my permission.”

"Comrade Li Long, don't you need my help here?" The young man actually wanted to stay, but he had to listen to Meng Hai, and Meng Hai told him to listen to Li Long, so he had to listen.

"No need, you can go ahead." Li Long smiled. "I'll be fine here."

The young man left, and Li Long placed the explosives behind a tree more than 30 meters away from the rock. He then took two explosives and went over to test their power.

Li Long inserted two explosives into the crevice between the rocks near the riverbank, making sure they were secure. He then pulled the fuse with one hand and the other, igniting the fuse with a hissing sound. Not daring to wait any longer, Li Long immediately pulled the other fuse as well. After hearing the sound of the fuse burning, he quickly ran back the way he came.

The fuse he left was half a meter long, and it would take ten or twenty seconds to burn. When he cut the fuse and connected it to the detonator, he specially cut a slanted opening to make it easier for the flame to spray out and ignite the detonator.

It should be fine.

Li Long ran all the way to the tree where the explosives were placed. He stopped, panting, and turned around to look at the rocks.

With a loud "boom," a shower of stones erupted from the other side of the rock, flying twenty or thirty meters into the air before falling back down. Most of the stones that flew into the distance headed towards the riverbank, though some strayed off course, but very few, and almost none went more than ten meters away.

Li Long waited until the stone landed, but he didn't hear a second sound. He was stunned for a moment and realized that he had messed up the first time!
The two fuses connecting the explosives are of different lengths and ignite at different times, so it is absolutely impossible for them to detonate at the same time.

Hey, now that I think about it, I was so stupid to do two test shots. One would have been enough!
Li Long scolded himself for a moment, then tried to think of a solution.

At this moment, Ma Xiaoyan emerged from the woods on the slope behind her, calling out:

"Comrade Li Long, are you done bombing?"

"No, we were just testing the cannon. You go ahead with your work." Li Long waved his hand at her.

Ma Xiaoyan smiled and then went into the woods to continue searching for wild mushrooms.

Li Long carried his gun and walked a few steps toward the rock, changing his position to look at it. He wanted to see if the unexploded explosive had been detonated.

Not bad, Li Long saw half of the explosive tube sticking out—the two explosives were in different positions. The lower one exploded, blasting a crater the size of a washbasin into the rock, while the upper one didn't explode. He didn't know if the explosion of the lower one had loosened its fuse and detonator, or if the detonator itself was faulty.

Li Long picked up his gun, wondering if he should take a shot. After all, the ammonium nitrate explosive tubes couldn't be blown up by a gun, but if they were broken, even if they suddenly exploded, the power would be greatly reduced.

But after thinking about it, Li Long decided against it. He felt that the crevice in the rock was too conspicuous. He picked up a piece of explosive that had been tied to a tree, checked it, cut the fuse, lit it, and threw it towards the crevice.

With Li Long's current strength and accuracy, he is confident that he can throw it into the crevice of the rocks—he has also practiced throwing grenades accurately.

Sure enough, just as he expected, the explosive was thrown into the crevice and got stuck, about 20 centimeters away from the unexploded one—it should be able to affect it, right?
Li Long leaned back slightly, then stared intently at that spot. "Boom!"

"boom!"

First there was a loud bang, then another, and two plumes of black smoke rose up, accompanied by flying stones.

The pressure in Li Long's heart dissipated instantly. Good, good, good!

This is a new way to eliminate duds—although it can't be widely adopted, isn't it a good thing?

Actually, he was under pressure just now—he had seen countless videos and novels about accidents caused by duds, and now he had created a dud himself. If the villagers who were repairing the road found out, it would not only be embarrassing, but it might also cause safety problems.

I reiterated the importance of safety yesterday, and today I've created a problem that will make people laugh their heads off.

When the black smoke cleared, Li Long saw three large holes in the crack in the rock. Ammonium nitrate explosives are not as powerful as TNT, so the fact that they could create such large holes was most likely due to the rock weathering over time.

Of course, ammonium nitrate has many drawbacks, such as the huge plumes of black smoke that look quite frightening, but its power is just so-so.

Now that he had a better understanding of the situation, he stopped acting recklessly and went back behind the tree to take out electrical tape and start working on it again.

Ma Xiaoyan emerged from the woods again, holding a large bunch of enoki mushrooms. She had heard Li Long say that these mushrooms were edible. Although she didn't know what Li Long's "see you tomorrow" had to do with enoki mushrooms, she at least knew that enoki mushrooms were edible.

Seeing Li Long busy there, she didn't disturb him any further. She put the enoki mushrooms she had picked up into her bag and continued searching in the woods.

Hearing the booming sound, Meng Hai became worried. He called over the young man Li Long had just brought back and asked, "Are you sure Comrade Li Long said he didn't need you and asked you to come back? How was his technique when he was setting up the explosives?"

"Quite skilled," the young man said. "I guess Comrade Li Long meant that it wouldn't take two people to blast such a big rock. Besides, ammonium nitrate explosives aren't that powerful, so it shouldn't be a problem, right?"

Although Meng Hai was a little uneasy, since Li Long had already spoken, he couldn't send anyone else over, as that would affect Li Long's prestige.

We have no choice but to believe that Comrade Li Long is capable enough in this regard.

Li Long used electrical tape to tie ten explosives together to make an explosive tube. Then he removed the other detonators, leaving only one fuse which he secured tightly. He then carried it to the rock and found a deep crevice in the rock to insert it.

This should be enough to blast this rock in half, right? Even if it doesn't blast it in half, it should at least split it open, right?
Li Long made this guess, then pulled on the fire rings, turned around and ran—these were ten at once, their power was definitely immense!

This time, Li Long hid behind a tree, not even showing his head, for fear that a falling rock would hit him.

"boom--!"

A tremendous roar erupted, so loud it hurt your ears, followed by the sound of stones flying up and hitting trees, rocks, and bushes, making a continuous rustling sound. Li Long, leaning against a large tree, could still see stones flying past nearby. Although the force was obviously weaker, the fact that they could travel so far showed that the explosives were quite powerful!

Once everything quieted down, before Li Long could even peek out from behind the tree to see what was happening, Ma Xiaoyan emerged from the woods, shouting loudly:

"Comrade Li Long, are you alright? Why are you making such a loud noise?"

“I used ten explosives,” Li Long replied. “It’s alright, let’s test how many explosives work…”

Then he saw Meng Hai leading two people running towards them from the road construction site. Li Long quickly shouted louder to Meng Hai:

"Old Meng, it's alright. I used ten explosives, it's fine!"

Meng Hai had already seen Li Long by then, and was relieved to know that he was alright.

He looked towards the rock again, where a large plume of black smoke was rising into the air and beginning to dissipate, indicating that the explosive was indeed quite powerful.

Seeing Meng Hai and the others slow down their pace and walk towards them, Li Long waited until they were right in front of him before saying:
"Putting them in one by one is too troublesome, so I thought I'd put in ten at once to see if I could crack the rock..."

As he spoke, he turned to look at the rock—hey, a big chunk of it had actually been blasted open!

The huge rock was originally a single piece, but now you can see that about a quarter of it has been blasted off and fallen onto the mountain road. The rock is quite large, basically blocking the mountain road completely, but it can be pried down the mountain with just a few pryings with a stick.

Li Long was very happy, feeling that if he blasted it a few more times, the boulder would be almost destroyed.

Upon reaching the rock, I saw rubble scattered all over the ground. The large rock appeared enormous, but it had actually weathered considerably, with cracks all around it. The blast had not only knocked off a large corner of it, but it had also widened those cracks.

"Come on, let's all push this rock down together," Meng Hai said. "Let's give it a try, it should work."

Li Long looked at the rock and estimated it to be at least a ton, maybe even heavier. Fortunately, it was irregularly shaped and uneven on the bottom, but flat on top. Even a single person could sway it. The group of people tried to lift the rock together, but it wobbled and they couldn't lift it.

Actually, this rock doesn't need to be completely lifted; just lifting it up and flipping it over will allow it to roll down the mountain.

"Come on, let's all pull together!" Li Long said, seeing an opportunity. "Old Meng, you count to three and we all pull together!"

Meng Hai, without hesitation, shouted loudly, "Come on, shake it! One, two, three—!"

When they counted to three, the group pulled together, and the veins on Li Long's arms bulged. The stone was lifted up, and then the group pushed it over.

The overturned rock stretched across the edge of the mountainside before sliding down to the riverbank, splashing up a large cloud of mud and dust.

"Alright, alright, the rest is easy," Meng Hai said with a smile. "We can just shovel it off."

“You guys go ahead, I’ll use the remaining rock for explosives, then our road will be easier to repair.” Li Long’s confidence increased. “By the time we’re using the explosives, I think it’ll be time to eat.”

"Okay, take your time. Call us if anything comes up." Meng Hai also felt that Li Long had done a pretty good job. It was good that he could take down such a huge boulder all by himself.

After all, if we wait until the road construction reaches this point before starting, the project will have to stop, most people will have to evacuate, and then we'll slowly blast it up.

Now that neither side needs to stop, the road construction progress has been accelerated.

When Meng Hai and the others left, Li Long tied ten more explosives together. Originally, Li Long thought he would use more, but the remaining stones were still quite large. Li Long was afraid that if he didn't blast them properly the first time, he would not only waste the explosives but also risk causing other problems.

After all, he's not an expert, so it's better to play it safe.

Holding the bundle of explosives, Li Long walked to the rock. He looked at several cracks in the rock and then stuffed the explosives into one of the remaining thirds of the rock.

Actually, there was a crack in the middle of the rock, but Li Long felt that even if explosives were stuffed into the crack, it wouldn't be able to split the rock, so it was better to be safe.

He stuffed the bundle of explosives as far as possible inside, secured it, pulled the trigger ring, and after hearing the hissing sound of the fuse, Li Long hurriedly ran back.

"boom--!"

Once again, smoke and dust filled the sky, and stones flew everywhere, echoing through the valley for a long time.

"Comrade Li Long is making quite a fuss," someone from the road construction site said. "These few moves must have used up a lot of explosives, right?"

The man who had gone with Meng Hai earlier said, "What's a few explosives? There's a rock the size of several houses blocking the way. Comrade Li Long used a bundle of explosives to chop it up. A few blows and it'll clear the way, saving us a lot of trouble!"

“I see,” the others listened. “Good, good, they’re definitely doing big things, they’re different from us!”

Once Li Long and the others quieted down, they peeked out from behind the tree and looked towards the rock.

When he saw that although the boulder had been split open, a large piece of it—about the same size as the previous one—hadn't fallen down despite being separated. He felt a chill in his heart; had he been too overconfident?

(End of this chapter)