Nominal: Intercepting Zhong Xiaoai, Dominating Handong

The transportation department is ensuring that the roads for the relocation are clear!

All public security and armed police personnel are on standby!

When Gu Mingyuan received the notification on the embankment, the village in the distance was already lit up with scattered lights, as cadres were organizing the evacuation.

Reports from various segments came through the walkie-talkie:

"The relocation of residents has begun!"

"All disaster relief supplies have arrived!"

"The patrol team discovered three areas of seepage and is currently addressing them!"

No one slept that night.

At 4 a.m. on June 20, the rain finally subsided, but the water level of the Qingjiang River continued to rise.

Gu Mingyuan had been guarding the embankment for more than ten hours. His eyes were bloodshot, and his clothes under his raincoat were wet and then dried repeatedly.

"Director Gu, why don't you go and rest for a while?" Old Zhang handed him a loaf of bread.

"We're here."

"The flood peak hasn't arrived yet, I can't sleep." Gu Mingyuan took a bite of bread, his eyes fixed on the river.

What's the water level now?

"The water level has exceeded the warning level by 1.2 meters and is still rising at a rate of 3 centimeters per hour," Old Zhang said worriedly.

"The most troublesome thing is that the sandy dike section has been soaked for more than 20 hours, and the soil saturation is too high, so a landslide may occur at any time."

Just then, an urgent call came through the walkie-talkie: "A landslide has occurred in section seven! It's about twenty meters long, and the situation is critical!"

"Let's go!" Gu Mingyuan grabbed the walkie-talkie and rushed outside.

Section 7 is three kilometers away from the management office. A group of people ran along the muddy embankment, their feet sinking deep into the mud.

When they arrived at the scene, they saw that a section of the embankment had collapsed and river water was gushing out from the cracks. Several rescue team members were desperately filling the collapsed area with sandbags.

"You can't fill it in like that!" Old Zhang shouted.

"Drive piles first! Use wooden piles to stabilize the landslide!"

However, there was simply no suitable timber available on site.

Gu Mingyuan looked around and saw a protective forest not far away. "Cut down trees! Use tree stumps!"

"Director Gu, that's a protective forest. Cutting it down will result in punishment..." the county water resources bureau chief hesitated.

"I can't worry about that now! I'll take responsibility if anything goes wrong!" Gu Mingyuan said firmly.

"Go quickly!"

More than a dozen poplar trees were felled, sharpened, and driven into the edge of the collapse, temporarily stabilizing the landslide.

The rescue team members frantically filled sandbags and passed them one by one to the landslide site.

Gu Mingyuan also joined the relay team, getting covered in mud.

As dawn broke, the rain finally stopped.

At 6:00 a.m., the hydrological station reported that the flood peak had passed the upstream monitoring point and was moving downstream, expected to reach the Pingzhou section in two hours.

The final test has arrived.

Gu Mingyuan stood on the top of the embankment, observing the river surface with binoculars.

The turbid river water, carrying branches and weeds, rushed down the river, and the water level was still rising.

The village at the foot of the dike was deserted; all the residents had been evacuated to safety.

"Director Gu, all dangerous sections of the river have been reinforced with enhanced guards, and all rescue teams are in place," the county flood control headquarters reported.

"Okay. Tell everyone, hang in there, we'll win once the flood peak passes!"

At 7 o'clock, the flood peak arrived.

The river water rose at a visible speed, and the force of the waves crashing against the embankment increased significantly.

Gu Mingyuan's heart was in his throat. He knew this was the moment when the dike was under the greatest pressure.

Reports kept coming through the walkie-talkie:

"Number segment 1 is normal!"

"There was a minor leak in section three, which has been dealt with!"

"Section 5..."

Suddenly, a strange roaring sound came from behind.

Gu Mingyuan looked in the direction of the sound and saw an unusual whirlpool on the river surface about one kilometer downstream.

"Oh no! It's piping!" Old Zhang's face changed drastically.

"The foundation of the levee may have been hollowed out!"

Piping is one of the most dangerous hazards to dikes. River water gushes out from the sand layer under the dike foundation, carrying away silt and creating cavities, which eventually lead to the collapse of the dike.

"Quick! Go downstream!" Gu Mingyuan led the way and ran in that direction.

When they arrived at the scene, muddy water was already flowing out from the foot of the embankment, and the surface of the water was covered with mud and sand.

Old Zhang lay prone at the foot of the embankment, examining it closely. His face was grave. "It's a cluster of piping failures, and not just one. We must immediately implement anti-piping well measures, otherwise the embankment foundation will be eroded away very quickly."

"What do you need?"

"Ground stones, sand, woven bags, and skilled workers. The key is time; the cavity must be plugged before it expands."

Gu Mingyuan immediately ordered: "Mobilize all nearby rescue teams! Notify command to send stones over! Be quick!"

The rescue team quickly assembled, but transporting the stones would take time.

Seeing the gushing muddy water, Gu Mingyuan was extremely anxious.

He suddenly remembered that there was an abandoned quarry not far away.

"Old Zhang, can we use the waste rock from the quarry?"

"As long as the proportions can be graded, it can be used!"

"Let's go! Take the men to the quarry!"

Dozens of rescue team members followed Gu Mingyuan and rushed to the quarry.

There were large piles of discarded stones of various sizes there.

Gu Mingyuan directed everyone to sift the stones on the spot, separating large stones, medium stones, small stones, and coarse sand and piling them up separately, then bagging them and transporting them to the piping point.

At 9:00 a.m., construction began on the first reverse filter well.

The rescue team piled up woven bags around the piping point, filling them with layers of coarse sand, small stones, and medium stones, acting like a filter to allow water to flow out while leaving behind the silt. This was a technical task; the filling sequence had to be correct, otherwise the effect would be greatly reduced.

Gu Mingyuan personally directed the operation, while Lao Zhang provided guidance from the sidelines.

Sweat mixed with mud streamed down his forehead, but he didn't bother to wipe it away. When Zhong Xiaoai called, he only said "rescue work" before hanging up.

At 10:00 AM, the main body of the flood peak passed.

The water level has begun to drop slowly, but the risk of piping has not yet been eliminated.

After the first reverse filter well was completed, the gushing water became clear—a good sign that sediment was no longer being carried out.

"It's working! Keep going!" Gu Mingyuan's spirits lifted.

By noon, all three piping points were under control.

The rescue team members were so exhausted that they collapsed on the ground, many with blisters on their hands. Gu Mingyuan had the logistics team bring them food, and they ate sitting in the mud.

At 2 p.m., the hydrological station confirmed that the flood peak had passed and the water level had begun to recede.

Pei Yihong called personally: "Mingyuan, thank you for your hard work! The municipal party committee and government thank you! The dike has been defended, and the homes of more than 200,000 people have been saved!"

After hanging up the phone, Gu Mingyuan looked at the gradually calming river surface and let out a long sigh of relief.

Only then did he realize that his whole body ached, the blisters on his feet had burst, and every step he took was excruciatingly painful.

"Director Gu, your leg..." Secretary Xiao Liu exclaimed.

Gu Mingyuan looked down and realized that his trouser leg had been torn at some point, and a wound on his calf was still bleeding.

"It's nothing, just a minor injury," he waved his hand.

"Let's go, let's continue our investigation downstream."

After the floodwaters receded, Gu Mingyuan spent two days in the hospital—his wound infection caused a low-grade fever, and the doctor forced him to rest.

Zhong Xiaoai brought Pengpeng to keep him company. The little guy could already stand up while holding onto the edge of the bed, and he looked at the various instruments in the ward with wide eyes.

The unclear pronunciation of "Dad..." warmed Gu Mingyuan's heart.

"Pengpeng called me Dad!" Zhong Xiaoai said with surprise.

Gu Mingyuan held his son in his arms, his movements somewhat clumsy despite the IV needle still in his arm.

"Say it again?"

"dad……"

"Good son!" Gu Mingyuan kissed his son's face, and the fatigue of the past few days seemed to disappear.

Looking at the bandage wrapped around his leg, Zhong Xiaoai said with heartache, "Don't push yourself so hard in the future. What will Pengpeng and I do if something happens to you?"

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing." Gu Mingyuan held his wife's hand.

"This time we held the dike and saved so many families; it was worth it."

Just then, the ward door was pushed open, and Pei Yihong walked in carrying a fruit basket.

"Secretary Pei!" Gu Mingyuan was about to get up.

"Don't move, don't move, lie down." Pei Yihong pressed him down.

"On behalf of the municipal Party committee and government, I have come to visit our flood-fighting heroes."

"Secretary Pei, you flatter me. I was just doing what I was supposed to do."