The Fourth Disaster Begins at the Dawn of the Millennium

At both ends of the breach, the soldiers worked hard in the rain, everyone was soaked, mud and water mixed on their uniforms, looking heavy and muddy. The soldiers held the sandbags tightly with both hands, some of their fingers were worn out, and the sandbags were stained with blood, but they didn't care about these, just tried their best to throw them into the breach, but the flood was too turbulent, and often the sandbags were swept away in an instant as soon as they fell into the water, as if they had no power in the huge waves.

A company commander stood on the embankment. He saw sandbags being washed away one after another. The breach in the embankment not only did not shrink, but was expanding. He became more and more anxious. He cursed at the sky: "Fuck it!" Then he turned around and shouted to the soldiers around him: "Company one, company one, assemble, line up, and jump into the water with me!"

Chapter 117: Cutting off the Flood (Part 1)

The water was turbulent, and a single person standing in the water would be washed away in a short while. However, all the officers and soldiers of the company held hands and formed a human wall in the water. The soldiers' bodies trembled violently in the water, but they gritted their teeth, shoulder to shoulder, foot to foot, passed sandbags to the bottom of the levee, and stepped on them one by one. The water was turbulent, and the soldiers' faces were covered with sweat and rain mixed with mud and sand, which made them look particularly embarrassed. Some soldiers were pale due to exhaustion, and their legs kept shaking in the water, but they gritted their teeth and continued to persevere.

Suddenly, a fierce wave hit, and a soldier was caught off guard. He suddenly lost his balance and was thrown into the water. He choked several times and was about to be washed away. The soldier next to him was quick to grab his arm and pull him back to the team. The rescued soldier gasped, thanked him, and then buried his head in his work.

"Fuck it..." The company commander breathed a sigh of relief as he watched the breach being slowly sealed by the soldiers. He cursed at the surging river, then shouted to his comrades around him: "Everyone, work hard. Before the flood peak arrives, we will seal the breach! With us here, the flood will not be able to show its might!"

However, the turbulent flood was not just a stream of water, but a chaotic torrent. The grass and trees on the shore were uprooted and swept into the rolling torrent, disappearing without a trace. Huge rocks rolled in the water, making a dull roar. As soon as the company commander finished speaking, several strange noises suddenly came from the upstream direction, deafening, as if the earth was shaking. The searchlight on the dam quickly shone over, and saw that the flood was carrying many large rocks and trees, surging like a violent beast, rushing over with the power to destroy everything.

"Come back quickly!" The regiment commander, who had just finished reporting his work to his superiors and returned to the levee, shouted loudly to the soldiers in the water. Other soldiers on the dam also shouted and stretched out their hands to pull the soldiers in the water back.

However, it was extremely difficult for the soldiers who had already jumped into the river to get back. The force of the flood was too strong, and their bodies were swaying in the water. The only rope they could use to support themselves was shaking constantly, and the mud and sand under their feet kept sliding, making it difficult for them to stand firmly.

The huge rocks and trees rolled in the water, creating huge splashes of water, hitting the soldiers who had no time to evacuate. The soldiers who were hit by the rocks and trees lost their balance in an instant and were swept into the flood. The comrades shouted the names of the soldiers who were swept into the flood, but their voices seemed so powerless in the storm, and they could only feel their hearts aching.

"Director, why don't you just go ashore and rest? Our factory still has so many people and materials to mobilize, and they all need you. Why do you like to be the leader of the assault team at the front line?"

Chen Gong always turned a deaf ear to such persuasion. Of course, I have to go to the front line to experience this special plot. What's the point of hiding behind and clicking the mouse to trigger the conversation? Chen Gong only regarded the employees' advice as white noise. Of course, if there are too many people persuading him, Chen Gong will also give a high-sounding answer: "Do you know what it means to lead by example? I ask you to take risks to save people, so of course I have to take this risk myself!"

Chen Gong looked at his watch, then at the map, and muttered, "Where is our speedboat?" Suddenly, he said to the person holding the emergency light next to him, "Shine the light at ten o'clock. There seems to be someone over there."

The searchlight beam shone in the direction Chen Gong pointed, and the beam penetrated the rain curtain, and a person in camouflage uniform was seen floating on the river, drifting with the current. "Come over!" Before Chen Gong finished speaking, the speedboat adjusted its direction and quickly approached the body. The people on the boat looked at the water nervously, with an ominous premonition in their hearts.

When the speedboat approached the body, Chen Gong found that the man was still tied with a thick rope, one end of which was tied around the waist of the body. He decisively reached out his hand, grabbed the rope in the water, and pulled it hard towards the boat, hoping to pull the man up.

"What the hell? It's so heavy?"

Using force on a speedboat is a technical job. You have to take the center of gravity of the boat into consideration. It is not like on land where you can use force to create miracles. Chen Gong and another worker on the boat could only pull the rope carefully little by little. As the rope was pulled onto the boat little by little, the people on the boat could feel that the end of the rope that sank into the water was still quite heavy.

"It's several PLA soldiers..."

Every time a body was pulled onto the boat, the air around them seemed to be filled with more depression and grief. Chen Gong and another master's hands were already rubbed raw from pulling the ropes, and blood mixed with rain water dripped down his fingers onto the boat planks. "Take them back..."

"This...what happened upstream? Did it collapse?"

"Who knows? I only know that the people from the tractor factory have already rushed over there. I hope the situation is not the worst."

A whistle suddenly sounded in the silent water, and the people on the speedboat shouted to each other: "Who blew the whistle? Who blew the whistle?"

"We didn't blow the whistle! There were people in the flood, and someone was blowing the whistle!" "Go save them!"

The soldier, whose will was already somewhat dazed and whose strength was almost exhausted, still clung to the big tree tightly. He knew that he had to hold on and could not let go of this only support. The little soldier's body rose and fell with the flood, like a lone boat drifting in a storm. The flood carried all kinds of broken wood and debris and kept hitting the big tree where he was, making a dull sound. With each collision, Bruce Lee's body would shake violently with the tree trunk, and his heart would tighten. The instinct for survival made him grit his teeth and dare not relax at all. The exposed skin was covered with wounds, and his fingers looked pale and stiff due to tension and force, and his nails almost pinched into the bark.

Suddenly, a faint but familiar sound came from afar - it was the sound of the assault boat's motor! The soldier's heart skipped a beat, and a glimmer of hope flashed in his eyes. He raised his head and saw a faint light swaying in the distance through the rain. It was the assault boat's searchlight!

"Help! Help!" He shouted as loudly as he could, but the noise of wind and rain drowned out his voice and the other party could not hear him at all. At this moment, the young soldier suddenly remembered the whistle hanging around his neck. He reached out to grab the whistle and almost fell off the tree because of his haste. He took a deep breath, put the whistle to his lips, and blew it hard.

The sharp whistle cut a clear note in the wind and rain, piercing through the roar of the flood and spreading far away. The young soldier saw the searchlight beam quickly sweeping across the water towards him, and finally stopped on the big tree where he was, with the light shining on his face.

Chapter 118: Cutting off the Flood (Part 2)

"I...I remember you."

"I remember you too, my friend. Do you remember my pager number?" The young soldier recognized the man who pulled him out of the water with his hands. A long time ago, when he was taking a train back to Northeast China, it was this man's companion who defeated a group of robbers with an umbrella and some random props. After arriving at the station, although the other party left his pager number, the young soldier was always in the army. When he had time occasionally, he would call his family and would not be idle to call Chen Gong and Liang Ruikun suddenly.

But fate is so wonderful that the two sides meet again.

The young soldier said that he was supposed to be discharged from the army this year. Originally, he should have considered whether to go home to farm, find a job in the city, or set up a stall after discharge. But when the flood came, he had no time to think about these things. When he was swept away by the flood, he was still thinking that he would never be able to go home to see his parents again in this life. Fortunately, he was able to hold on to a big tree and survive until now. But his comrades in the same company who were caught in the flood were not so lucky. He recognized every body on the boat, saying that this one was his squad leader and that one was his fellow villager. Now they don't even have the opportunity to think about what to do after they are discharged from the army.

The young soldier also said that the breach upstream was very serious. His comrades jumped into the water and formed a human wall but could not block it. The only tools they had were shovels and iron shovels to fill the sandbags. If other troops came to support, it would probably be useless. They had to ask professional engineering troops to support them. But when would the professional team come? Before that, it was hard to say whether the upstream dam would collapse directly.

"It's not a big problem. The dam hasn't collapsed yet, and a professional team has already gone up there!" Chen Gong said casually.

The regiment commander stood by the dam, staring ahead with a sharp gaze. Just now, he witnessed many soldiers being swept away by the flood. At that moment, his heart was broken. But he had no time to mourn. As a commander, he

We must remain calm and rational. He took a deep breath and shouted to the north, "Comrades, we can't stop yet! The breach is still expanding.

We must reinforce the embankments at both ends and prevent the width of the breach from increasing!"

Upon hearing this, the soldiers immediately took action, letting tears, sweat and rain fall down their faces. They were divided into several groups, some used sandbags and stones to reinforce the embankment, and some used shovels and spades to dig the soil. But the soldiers' morale was still very low. They sweated and bled, watching their comrades lose their lives, but the surging flood was still unstoppable. This feeling of powerlessness was more uncomfortable than blood and tears.

At this moment, the sound of engines roaring came from afar, mixed with the roar of wind and rain. First, a few people looked up in twos and threes, and saw

In the rain, I saw more than a dozen trucks lined up in a convoy, moving along the winding road.

The road led to the dam. Then more people saw the approaching convoy. They kept working and talking, full of hope.

Hopefully, they asked each other:

"Are the reinforcements coming?" "Are they new troops from the military district?"

The soldiers all thought the regiment commander knew the answer, but he was unsure at this moment. He had already asked his superiors for support, but now people, equipment and materials were needed everywhere, and his superiors had not given him a clear answer as to what kind of support he could provide and when the support would arrive. He stared at the convoy until it got closer, and then he looked at the

This is not a military vehicle, and the people on the vehicle are not PLA. They are wearing the same blue worker uniforms. The regiment commander immediately thought of

It was the militia of the state-owned factory.

After the convoy stopped, a middle-aged man in a raincoat jumped out of the car and shouted: "I am the leader of the volunteer team of workers from the xxx factory, a Communist Party member! May I ask where the leaders of the PLA comrades are? Our boss arranged for us to go to the dam for support, and we are also here to participate in the rescue!"

Generally speaking, if you say "boss" instead of "factory director" or "secretary", it is most likely a private enterprise. However, the team leader did not care whether it was a public or private enterprise. He quickly stepped forward and responded: "Hello, hello, I am the team leader here! Welcome!"

The two walked towards each other quickly, holding hands tightly, and then without any extra greetings, they got straight to the point. The head of the regiment explained the current situation to the volunteer team. The flood was raging and the peak was about to come. Even a human wall could not stop the fierce flood. The soldiers could only reinforce the embankment first to reduce the damage of the upcoming peak to the downstream.

The leader of the volunteer team made a suggestion to the regiment commander: "Comrade commander, we can ask the soldiers to stuff the excavated rocks and sand into sandbags, put the sandbags on trucks, and then let the trucks rush into the water to plug the gap. This may have a chance to plug the breach."

After hearing this, the team leader frowned slightly, and the first thing he blurted out was: "Your boss agreed..." After all, this is a private enterprise. If you want to drive someone else's boss's truck into the water, you can't do it without his consent. The team leader was afraid that this worker comrade was anxious and "selflessly" spent other people's private wealth, just like when he worked in a state-owned enterprise. But the leader of the volunteer team didn't care. He said: "Hey, a big truck is nothing. The boss has personally led the team to other places to fight floods. He said that everyone should remember to save their lives, and don't save other cars and materials. Just use them if you can!"

"Okay, your boss is righteous. I have to report this to my superiors and ask our chief to communicate with the local government leaders to reward your company. Without further ado, let's act quickly!"

Soldiers and volunteer workers immediately took action, loading bags of sand and stones onto trucks. Everyone was busy in the wind and rain, sweat mixed with rain, and mud splashed all over their bodies. Time waits for no one, and every second counts. At this time, the morale of the soldiers was higher than before. They felt that this time they might have a chance to plug the gap. Looking at the tall truck, plus the tightly packed sandbags and stones, there would definitely be no problem.

The workers in the driving seat waited for the order, stepped on the accelerator and moved forward, then jumped out of the car when they were close to the breach. But just as they were ready, the workers were firmly asked to get off by the People's Liberation Army soldiers next to them.

"Our fellow workers have worked so hard, so we should be the ones risking our lives!" The regiment commander insisted on doing so. He told the driver: "When driving, keep the car door open, never close it, and remember to jump out of the car in time! It's better to jump out early than late! This is an order!"

The driver on the first truck took a deep breath, gripped the steering wheel, and stepped on the accelerator. The truck roared in the rain and slowly drove towards the breach. Just when the truck was a few meters away from falling into the water, the driver suddenly jumped off the truck. The fully loaded truck rushed into the surging flood with great force. The body of the truck shook violently, but the sandbags and stones were piled firmly at the breach. The flood was temporarily blocked and the flow rate slowed down a lot. The second and third trucks also followed the command and rushed into the flood one by one, gradually forming a solid barrier.

"Now we have a chance to stop the flood peak...

The construction team on the dam was replaced by another group of PLA soldiers, and the PLA soldiers originally on the dam took the time to come back to eat and rest. Until then, many soldiers realized that they could originally carry 100-pound sandbags back and forth on the dam, but now they didn't even have the strength to pick up a pair of chopsticks to eat. Many people were sleepy and hungry, and sleepiness was more torturous than hunger. They didn't even eat and fell asleep on the spot.

On the phone, the regiment leader reported to his superiors in a hoarse voice that with the help of the workers, our regiment has finally begun to close the breach and it is expected that the breach can be sealed before the peak of the flood, without bringing shame to our glorious traditional unit. On the other end of the phone, the leader asked the regiment leader: "Are those workers you mentioned from the team of the xx factory of the xx branch of the Universal Group?"

"Yes, that's right, Master, you know them..."

"Oh, an hour ago, the provincial government just held a meeting, and the technical manager of their branch introduced a very new method of blocking breaches to the provincial leaders. It's called 'steel-wood-earth-rock composite dam'. I think this method is very similar to the style of our army's engineers building cities and bridges..."

Chapter 119: Cutting off the Flood (Part 2)

At another breach site, the water rushed downstream with mud, sand and debris. On the embankment, PLA soldiers struggled to fight the flood, throwing sandbags and stones into the breach, but it was difficult to

The soldiers tried their best, but they were still unable to survive the fierce flood.

They seemed to have no solution. The breach under the cover of night was like a huge mouth that swallowed everything, which was daunting.

"Hurry, throw more rocks and sandbags!"

Bags of sand and stones were thrown into the river, but these materials were so small in the turbulent water that they were soon washed away without a trace. The soldiers threw large iron cages filled with stones into the water, but they were also washed away without a trace. Various traditional Chinese methods such as "flat blocking", "vertical blocking" and "flat and vertical mixed blocking" were used, but to no avail, and the breach continued to expand.

Just when thousands of PLA soldiers and peasant brothers were at a loss as to what to do about the growing breach, a strange convoy arrived. The car lights were like beams of hope in the rainy night, illuminating the anxious faces of the soldiers.

The door of the jeep leading the way was opened before it even stopped. The cadre in the car quickly handed a red-headed document with a seal to the general in charge of the scene. The general quickly scanned it and asked in disbelief: "Can they do this?"

"The provincial technical experts said there was no problem, and we also consulted the engineering corps in Beijing and got the reply that this was the most

In fact, their solution coincides with the suggestion given by the Beijing Military Region. It is really a case of heroes having different opinions.

same. "

"Okay, I will give the troops an order right now. All the troops must immediately cooperate with our worker brothers."

The workers adopted a method called "steel-wood-earth-rock composite dam protection method". The first step in construction was to protect the precarious dam head. Sandbags were piled around the dam head, and steel pipes and wooden piles were densely built along the water flow. The piles were firmly tied with wire to form a pile circle to protect the dam head, so that the dam heads at both ends of the breach formed a solid protective shell to prevent further expansion.

The second step is to build the frame. Use steel pipes with a diameter of about 5 cm to plant several rows of vertical piles along the axis of the dam, and then connect them vertically and horizontally in two layers at a certain interval to form a tic-tac-toe grid. After the steel frame is formed, wooden piles and planks are planted for reinforcement. At the same time, diagonal support piles are set up on the back of the water. The last step is to set up wooden boards on the top of the frame to form a working platform, and then throw bagged fillers into the frame to completely seal the breach.

—At first glance, this approach looks like scaffolding in a flood.

But setting up scaffolding in a flood is much more difficult than setting up scaffolding when building a house.

The burly workers had their muscles strengthened by the rain. They held heavy hammers, and the veins on their foreheads trembled slightly.

The steel pipes are clearly visible under the dim light, and the sound of them jingling echoes in the night sky.

Every node is afraid of missing anything.

There were not enough workers to support them, so the PLA soldiers treated them as their masters, asked them for advice on the spot, and then put their knowledge into practice. They worked in rows of three, groups of four, and groups of six, and together with the workers, they drove piles while screwing in the steel pipes and wooden piles into the water. When driving piles, they could not stand and exert force, so the soldiers built a human ladder, with two soldiers standing on the ladder below.

On the steel frame, a soldier stepped on his comrade's shoulder with a hammer in his hand and drove steel pipes and wooden stakes into the steel frame, making each steel pipe

The joints are linked together to form a steel-wood structure filled with stones.

Near the dam, there are many farmers with calloused hands who come to volunteer to help. Most of them are villagers nearby, and the floods have swallowed up their homes. Now, they are helping the PLA fill sandbags with soil. After filling a sandbag, the PLA soldiers carry a sandbag and run to the dam.

The villagers waved their shovels and shoveled the soil into the sandbags. The sweat on their foreheads mixed with the rain and slid down their cheeks. They gasped from time to time. They had not eaten a single grain of rice, but they did not stop working for a moment. Their arms were so tired that they were shaking, but compared to being tired, they were more afraid that their work was in vain. The villagers had heard the news before: "For every sandbag thrown, a sandbag was washed away."

Anyone who hears this will feel despair.

But just when the villagers were about to be crushed by this despair, the People's Liberation Army who came to pick up the sandbags told everyone a good news. There was a new method of support from the province. The sandbags were no longer thrown one by one and washed away, but could actually block the breach.

The villagers who were close to the dam looked up and saw a row of "scaffolding" at the breach. "Are they building a house there?" "It doesn't matter if it's a house or something else, as long as it's useful! Let's keep working! Block the breach and we can have a good rest."

Amid the wind and rain, the soldiers and workers cooperated more and more tacitly. The flood flowed faster and faster, but the breach became smaller and smaller. The "steel-wood-earth-rock composite dam" became stronger and stronger, and the sandbags were thrown faster and faster.

The river was surging, the flood peak was rolling in, and the surging flood was like an angry beast, roaring and rushing towards the dam, making a roaring sound. The combination dam, which has reached 100% completion, is like a Great Wall, blocking the fierce impact of the flood. The flood hit the solid dam body, stirring up huge water splashes and splashing countless fine water droplets.

Near the dam, the originally urgent and busy scene became a little quieter.

After continuous efforts, everyone finally stabilized the situation when the flood peak arrived. Thousands of workers, PLA soldiers and farmers, who were "stinking" with sweat and mud, can finally take a break. They were arranged to rest first and replenish their energy, and then another group of people went to the embankment. Now, it is as important to rush to eat and sleep as to rush to save people. Some of them leaned on the earth slope of the embankment, some lay in the shade of trees, and some fell directly to the ground, and they didn't even have time to take off their wet clothes. They just closed their eyes and began to enjoy "baby-like sleep" as soon as they closed their eyes.

In the rear, besides those who were resting, there were also those who continued to work. In the places where the victims were resettled, the logistics personnel from the People's Liberation Army and the Workers' Volunteer Team were preparing meals, medical treatment, etc. The victims basically fled to the levee empty-handed. Those who could carry a bag of food were considered to have surplus. The government urgently allocated food for disaster relief, and each person could get one kilogram of rice per day. There were no vegetables, so they could only eat pickled vegetables with their meals.

The sanitation in the resettlement area is also very worrying, with sewage flowing everywhere, mosquitoes and insects everywhere, and the living environment is extremely bad. Many people have ulcerated nails and skin diseases. But even living in such a harsh living environment, the victims have hope for the future. They are already talking about rebuilding the houses destroyed by the flood after the water recedes.

The PLA and volunteer rescue teams sprayed disinfectant, repaired makeshift toilets, used limited medicine to help with medical treatment, and warned the victims not to drink raw water, but to go to temporary water stations to get water, where water was disinfected with water purification tablets. Some elderly people watched these white-coated doctors making rounds and checking for epidemics, and left medicine behind, which inevitably brought back memories, and they couldn't help asking:

"Young comrades, were you sent by Chairman Mao?"

Chapter 120: Cutting off the clouds and rain at Wushan, a peaceful lake emerges from a high gorge

The "steel-wood-earth-rock composite dam" technology has been successfully used to seal the breach.

The province immediately recommended it to the National Flood Control Headquarters, suggesting that it be promoted throughout the country. This "steel-wood-earth-rock composite dam" technology was not actually created by a player.

It was discovered by a certain army engineering unit in Beijing in 1996.

It turns out that what players have come up with is actually a slight improvement on the previous technology. But this technology has not been widely promoted before.

Until the flood came, the name of the Universal Group also became famous because of this technology.

The technique appeared on a red-headed document that was shown to the then commander-in-chief of the State Flood Control Headquarters.

In areas where player-led companies fail to cover, there are still some scattered players who have invested in flood control. For these scattered players, ordinary efforts cannot reflect the value of the players, and they tend to prefer some special tasks.

For example, becoming a "frogman".

A player was patrolling the levee when he suddenly discovered

There were bubbles coming out of the water below his feet. The bubbles were increasing, and the situation was critical. He took off his clothes and jumped into the water, sinking to the bottom. The water was too deep.

The player could not see anything. He carefully controlled the character to feel around and found the location of the pipe burst. The player quickly surfaced and reported to the people on the shore. The local flood control headquarters immediately took measures to block the pipe burst, and the danger was eliminated.

The leader of the flood control headquarters, who learned about this, immediately invited this capable person to come to the headquarters for a talk. During the conversation, he learned that this capable person had been engaged in diving and seabed operations for many years (all made up), and had rich diving experience. The leader of the headquarters immediately arranged a position for this capable person as a diving captain. As for the team members you mentioned, ah, there are none for the time being, and you are alone. The leader only said that I will immediately recruit volunteers from the provincial and municipal swimming teams to join your team. Before that, I asked this capable person to take on the heavy responsibility alone.

The leaders' actions seem to be like "whipping up the workhorses" and using whoever is useful to the utmost. However, in the face of the flood, it is difficult for ordinary people to refuse. Players do not care about those things just for the experience of the plot.

Since such a capable person came to the dam, the control of dangerous situations is much better than before. In the past, flood control personnel could only observe bubbles on the shore to detect deep-water dangerous situations, which was difficult to judge accurately. Now the situation is different. Wherever there are signs of danger, the player will dive into the water to explore. On the first day, the player found three large pipe bursts at a depth of 4 meters. Due to timely discovery, this major dangerous situation was properly handled. On the third day, the player was seconded to another place and found a large pipe burst with a diameter of 6 meters and an aperture of 0.6 meters, and the danger was eliminated again.

A few days later, the situation of the player being "alone" finally ended. Swimming team members who volunteered from the province and the city had rushed to the front line, and the player finally had some members. The diving team found dozens of dangerous situations and avoided the occurrence of serious pipe bursts. At the same time, they also found many "false dangerous situations" that were not dangerous, avoiding the waste of precious flood control manpower and material resources.

For players, diving only requires operating the mouse and keyboard, but for these volunteer swimmers, it is really risking their lives. Many of them used to practice speed diving, competing in speed in the swimming pool, but now they have to slowly feel their way in the dangerous water, the water pressure is much higher, and they have no experience, so they do it completely by feeling. The equipment is also incomplete. This diving team cannot be equipped with the diving equipment of the Marine Corps' frogman unit. They rely entirely on their own swimming skills and some very simple safety measures.

But since they were volunteers at the frontline, the team members did not choose their missions in a picky manner. When something happened, they took a deep breath and jumped in. It took them a long time to float to the surface with red faces and thick necks, take a deep breath, and then jump in again.

Dive in. The temperature on the surface of the water is close to 40℃, while the temperature underwater is only about 10℃, with sudden changes in temperature, sometimes making people shiver all over.

It was pitch black 5 meters below the water surface, and nothing could be seen. Branches and weeds were crisscrossed. To check for pipe bursts, one had to feel around underwater, and one's hands were cut by broken glass and branches. These difficulties manifested themselves as various debuffs for the players, but for these volunteers, they were real physical harm.