Reborn Cat Sheriff

Chapter 669 The Great Wall of Steel
When Lin Ge and Liu Shuangquan arrived at the scene, Zheng Mingxing and Zhu Jun were already there, while Jiang Yiyi and the others stayed at the police station to handle the emergency call.

The entire Zhanghe Police Station is now operating on a 24-hour, two-shift work system, with extremely high working hours and intensity, leaving everyone exhausted.

After several days of hard work, Zheng Mingxing looked more than ten years older, and Zhu Jun had dark circles under his eyes. But no one cared about that at the moment; everyone nearby was focused on the situation on the river.

The river management department quickly brought two large cranes. One of them, with a person attached by a safety rope, was hoisted to the middle of the river, while the other crane's cable was lowered and tied to the car, which was submerged in the surging river with only one side of its window visible.

The brave man stood on top of the vehicle, tethered by a safety rope, yet he was still swaying from side to side from the force of the waves. Even so, he used a safety hammer to smash the front and rear side doors of the vehicle and securely fastened the cable to the B-pillar.

After this step was completed, the person was lifted back to shore by a crane. Then, at the command of the supervisor, another crane began to exert force, the steel cable quickly tightened, and the car was slowly pulled out of the water.

When it was halfway pulled, the river water that had been blocking it suddenly became fierce, hitting the vehicle and causing it to sway from side to side and even crash into the steel plate above the gate of the Fourth Main Canal.

The ferocity of the impact even caused the crane's boom to sway, startling those around it.

Fortunately, everything turned out alright in the end, and the car, which was spraying water all the way downhill, was lifted to the shore by a crane.

Although the steel cable had deformed the car's B-pillar, the river's current increased significantly after the car was lifted out of the river, and the pressure on the Third Main Canal suddenly decreased.

Unfortunately... it's still not enough!
The current situation presents a mathematical problem: the outflow from the fourth main canal is low, while the outflow from the third main canal is high. The canals have a limited capacity, and simply removing one vehicle is not enough to restore the third main canal to a safe level that prevents it from overflowing.

The next two cars were completely submerged in the water, and retrieving them was much more difficult than retrieving the first car.

Several professionals anxiously discussed solutions, but there was one problem that had to be solved: sending someone to personally dive into the raging water to secure the cable to the vehicle in a stable location where no accidents could be prevented.

This sounds simple, but it's incredibly difficult to do.

You have to understand that the speed and force of this flood are enough to lift a car weighing one or two tons into the river and push it all the way to the sluice gate. If a person weighing a hundred pounds were to go in, wouldn't they be swept away instantly?

Moreover, even if one could hold onto a car or chain like Superman to maintain their balance, securing a steel cable to a suitable position inside the car in such a strong current would be an extremely difficult and dangerous task.

"How about we just try to push both cars aside and let them keep going forward?"

A municipal official proposed a solution.

"What if we get stuck somewhere down there again? Will we have to come all the way back?"

The other person disagreed.

"How about we just find a way to blow up the car!"

"If I had the guts to stuff the explosives under the car, I would have already tied the cables down!"

"Then what do you suggest we do?"

Each of the responsible persons had their own reasons, and they argued anxiously and endlessly.

However, the flood situation wouldn't stop for them to have a meeting and discuss it before starting again. Seeing that the message from the Third Main Canal said that although the water situation had eased, the trend was still rising, everyone knew that they had to come up with a solution immediately.

But this plan... is extremely difficult to implement in a short period of time.

Suddenly, just as everyone was feeling bewildered and anxious, three assault boats with their headlights on sped towards them from upstream. Lin Ge looked up, enduring the bright light, and saw that there were more than a dozen special police officers in black combat uniforms sitting on the assault boats.

At the same time, two armed jeeps quickly drove up from the riverside road, and special police officers filed out one after another.

After listening to the concerns and anxieties of several leaders, Zhang Hao, the captain of the leading detachment, took on this dangerous and very difficult mission without hesitation.

What to do if the water flow is too strong?
simple!
Stop it!
If one person can't handle it, then a team will!
At Zhang Hao's command, more than 30 special police officers who had arrived by car and boat quickly sprang into action.

First, they used two thick hemp ropes to pass through the riverbanks and hang them on the sluice gate. Then, all the soldiers grabbed the ropes and went into the water together, quickly rushing into the surging river. They waded into the sluice gate side by side, forming a human embankment.

They used their bodies as a barrier, forming a dam with their own strength, to desperately block the terrible impact of the raging river.

You must know that these four main canals are several meters deep, and the soldiers' feet cannot touch the ground at all; they can only use the strength of their hands to hold onto the ropes, and use their backs to withstand the impact of the river water and debris, branches and garbage on the water.

This situation, coupled with the surging water, the elasticity of the rope, and the impact of the waves, caused everyone to sink into the water for a while before struggling to get back up, making the situation look extremely dangerous!
But on the scene, not a single soldier backed down! They held onto the rope tightly with both hands without saying a word, providing a relatively stable space and environment for the brothers in front who were responsible for tying the cables in the water.

"Roar!"

The soldiers located at the branching points of the canal were hit the hardest and faced the greatest danger. Their bodies were tossed up and down by the river, making it extremely difficult for them, but they could only manage a roar when their heads were out of the water, gritting their teeth and continuing to persevere.

At this moment, time is everything!
The other two soldiers, who were climbing on the gate, pursed their lips and remained silent. They worked together to quickly tie the safety rope that had been lowered from the crane, then connected it to another sling with a cloth rope. After putting on their diving gear, they took a deep breath and plunged into the water.

"Oops!"

The next second, visible to the naked eye, the steel cable connecting the safety rope to the crane was instantly pulled behind the sluice gate, and the soldier was swept away as soon as he entered the water.

Fortunately, he was wearing a safety rope, and the crane operator on the shore quickly reeled in the line and pulled him back in time.

"Again!~"

The soldier took a breather in mid-air, removing his diving mask and wiping the water droplets from his face. Once the crane brought him back to his designated position, he made the decision to dive again without hesitation.

This time, the remaining soldier climbed onto the gate railing and held tightly to the crane rope, trying his best to make it more stable and prevent it from swaying.

The rain poured down, the night was deep, but the site was illuminated by various lights, making it seem like daytime. Construction at night is always a dangerous and difficult task, and everyone on the shore watched this scene with tension, their fists clenched.

"Grass!"

The soldier atop the sluice gate roared angrily, but the safety rope he had been gripping slipped from his grasp. The slippery vehicle left the soldier underwater with nowhere to hold on, and his hand, which was tightly gripping the sluice gate's iron chain, finally gave out, and he was swept away once more.

Despite the presence of a line of soldiers forming a human dike, the force of the river water during the torrential rain was still too great.

"I'll make a call and get another team over!"

Zhang Hao gritted his teeth.

Since we don't have enough manpower, let's build a Great Wall of Steel!
"Let's go!"

Zheng Mingxing suddenly spoke, turning to look at the police officers from his own police station, Zhanghe Police Station, and the Municipal Public Security Bureau who had gathered around. Waiting for the SWAT team to send people now would be too time-consuming; they should send as many as they could on the scene. How could they let the SWAT team have all the credit?

"I'll go get the rope!"

Zhu Jun turned and ran without looking back. The ropes on site had all been used up, but the gate management office not far away must have more!

A policeman from Zhanghe Police Station followed Zhu Jun, while the other policemen silently began to warm up and line up in order, so that they could go into the water one by one once the rope was in place.

"Too dangerous! Too dangerous!"

A city leader stomped his feet repeatedly, both nervous and excited, but what better solution could there be at that moment?
It wasn't that the two cars submerged in the river rendered the entire city helpless; the main problem was the time crunch—there simply wasn't enough time to mobilize more specialized equipment. Add to that darkness, torrential rain, rising floodwaters, and a host of other issues, and everyone had to make do with what they had, risking their lives. If they waited several more hours for the equipment to arrive and proceed slowly, the Third Main Canal might have already overflowed, causing widespread damage to countless factories, villages, and residents downstream.

Lin Ge gritted his teeth anxiously and nervously.

Zhang Yong quickly dragged the rope over. This time, without the help of the assault boat, everyone handed the rope to the soldiers in the river, who then passed it around to help deliver it to the other side.

The soldiers were already struggling to form a human dike by holding onto the rope with both hands, and this time they also had to use one hand to pass tools. But even so, not one of them complained, and no one questioned the danger of doing so.

Even though no one could guarantee that the safety rope around their waist was 100% secure, and even though being swept away and pulled down would certainly mean certain death, no one chose to back down.

Finally, the rope was tied at both ends and securely fastened to the steel frame.

Zheng Mingxing was the first to go into the water, but as soon as he entered, his glasses were swept away by the current. Still, he squinted and swam forward, holding onto the rope and the embankment workers in front of him. With the help of the police pushing him from behind, he finally reached the other side of the river.

He hugged the rope tightly with both hands, closed his eyes, gritted his teeth, and simply stopped moving, letting the river sway him back and forth.

Soon, the second, third, and fourth police officers arrived at their posts.

In front of the human wall formed by the special police officers, the police officers of Zhangzhou City quickly formed a second human wall. Although they faced the surging river upstream, their bodies were supported by the bodies of the special police officers in front of them. The two groups of people combined, and the human wall became much more stable. The flow of the river in front of the human wall was visibly calmed down considerably.

The two SWAT officers, who were resting on the top of the sluice gate, gritted their teeth and discussed their decision while the human dike was being built. This time, instead of leaving someone up there to hold the rope, both of them tied their safety ropes to hooks and went into the water together.

"faster!"

Seeing his brothers in front of him, pale-faced and exhausted, still gritting their teeth and persevering with their eyes closed, the two roared at the crane operator.

‘Poof! ’

The crane suddenly accelerated its cable lowering, and the two men quickly sank into the water.

"This time... we absolutely have to succeed!"

Lin Ge nervously arrived at the riverbank. The surging river water splashed high from both sides, bypassing the wall of people, drenching Lin Ge completely and almost sweeping him into the water.

But at this moment, no one cared about a cat. Everyone was anxiously watching the only two steel cables visible in the river, praying that they wouldn't be swept away again.

One minute... three minutes... five minutes...

Perhaps because of the weight of two adults below the steel cable, it surprisingly held for a considerable time this time. Also, because the current in front was no longer as rapid as before, the work of the two divers was finally uninterrupted this time.

The people on the shore looked relieved.

"Hmm~"

Lin Ge, with his sharp eyes, suddenly heard a familiar muffled groan amidst the torrential rain.

He quickly turned his head and saw Zhu Jun, who was holding onto the rope and floating at the river's branch point, being hit hard on the back by a floating object that was being pushed down from above.

The damned floating object swirled with the current, slamming into Zhu Jun's back and arms several times before being swept away by the current to a gap in the embankment, where it plunged into the water and flowed downstream.

"Serves you right for showing off! You had to go to the most conspicuous spot, huh? Just to make yourself look like a good swimmer, okay?"

Lin Ge complained inwardly with heartache, wondering how serious Zhu Jun's condition was.

Unlike the SWAT officers in the first row, the police officers in the second row did not have safety ropes around their waists. Their uniforms did not have this feature, and there was no additional equipment or sufficient ropes available on site.

Despite the human wall of special police officers protecting them, who can guarantee that the human dike will hold them back once they lose their grip? If they are swept away by the underwater current from below the dike, even God might not leave them a way out.

"Is everything okay?"

The special police officer in front of Zhu Jun heard Zhu Jun's voice, turned around and asked with concern.

"It's nothing, just a mosquito bite. Haha... It's so disgusting that there are still mosquitoes in this torrential rain!"

Zhu Jun grinned.

Even though his back was burning and his arms were chafed raw from the rope, Zhu Jun still tried his best to put on a nonchalant smile.

"Hold on a little longer!"

The SWAT officer couldn't say much either; he was already exhausted and it was too difficult for him to take care of others.

Suddenly, one of the underwater special police officers climbed out of the water along the steel cable.

He flashed an excited smile at his brothers who were right in front of him, grabbed the steel cable and shouted to the crane operator, "All tied up! All tied up! Pull it up! Don't untie the human wall yet, pull it up a bit and see if there are any problems!"

The crowd on the bank cheered, and the soldiers forming a human dike in the river breathed a sigh of relief. Although they still had to persevere, everyone felt a renewed surge of strength within them.

Soon, with the tearing of the crane cables and the hum of the motor, whirlpools began to appear underwater, and a large black shadow gradually emerged from the water.

Lin Ge looked closely and saw another, lighter shadow beneath the at least Class B SUV. It seemed the two soldiers had successfully tied both vehicles together and were now hoisting them up in one go.

"Great!"

He couldn't help but let out an excited smile.

"Hold on tight to the rope!"

Suddenly, a special police officer in the river let out a terrified roar, and the two human-made embankments began to shake violently in front of the naked eye.

However, after the two vehicles blocking the embankment were lifted, a passage for water flow was revealed beneath the riverbed. The water that had been flowing away from both sides of the embankment now surged downwards, creating numerous undercurrents and whirlpools.

Even the two large machines suspended in the middle of the river began to shake violently, causing the steel cables and components on the crane boom to emit terrifying crashing sounds.

"Steady! Steady!"

Zhang Hao roared nervously on the riverbank, "Don't panic at this moment! Once the river flows smoothly out of its path and stabilizes, the undercurrent will naturally disappear. Only then can we disband the embankment and lift the two cars ashore."

"what!"

"Hmm~"

"Hold on!"

Special police officers and regular police officers gritted their teeth and clung tightly to the ropes in the water, even hooking their feet together to help their comrades withstand the surging current and the rushing water.

The crane operator, covered in sweat and pale-faced, had never seen anything like it in his life. He gripped the control lever tightly and dared not move.

One minute... five minutes... ten minutes...

Amidst countless prayers, the river finally visibly calmed down. Although it was still surging and flowing extremely fast, the warriors were less affected by the absence of undercurrents and downward force.

Two SWAT officers, wearing diving gear, dived back into the water to carefully inspect the securing of the two vehicles. Once they were certain the human chain could hold until they were hoisted ashore without issue, they climbed out of the water, stood on the roofs of the vehicles, and announced that the human chain could be slowly dismantled.

City leaders quickly issued an order.

"Police officers in the second row, you go up first! As for the SWAT officers, hold on a little longer! Once both vehicles are completely out of the water and no longer affected, you can come ashore!"

Zhang Hao offered a different opinion, remaining cautious and trusting his men, and urged them to hold on a little longer.

Without hesitation, the special police officers gripped the rope firmly once more.

The police officers, their bodies aching and disheveled from being submerged in the water, climbed ashore and immediately lay down on the ground, eyes closed, gasping for breath, too exhausted to move.

Zhu Jun was in a bad situation. After being pulled ashore by his companions, he sat down on the ground with his head down, eyes closed, and breathing heavily.

When Lin Ge walked over, he saw that Zhu Jun's back was covered in bloodstains, and his arms were also covered in scratches and bloodstains, with the wounds swollen from being soaked in water.

He wasn't the only one; the other police officers were also covered in wounds. The torrential rain and floodwaters brought countless things with them, making it virtually impossible to avoid injury in such conditions.

But in the end... everyone made it ashore safely, and no despairing tragedy occurred.

After resting for a while, everyone looked up at the sluice gate, their eyes fixed on the two large vehicles being hoisted from the river. One was an SUV, the other a Jeep—no wonder they could block the sluice gate so completely.

As the two vehicles were lifted together, water dripped down, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Under Zhang Hao's command, the special police officers in the water began to retreat slowly and methodically to both sides. Seeing how slowly they moved, with some needing assistance from their comrades, it was clear they were completely exhausted.

But eventually, the river returned to normal.

The near-flood crisis in Zhangzhou City has finally been successfully averted.

(End of this chapter)