btmnovel Chapter 3332 Light Piercing the Night
Chapter 3332 Light Piercing the Night
Chapter 3332 Light Piercing the Night
In the West Garden, Tong Xiaolong, wearing a black raincoat, walked out from the rain with a solemn expression.
At the entrance, the older sister led Xingxing to stand under the corridor, her brows furrowed as she watched the torrential rain pouring down.
Nearby, Tang Mingyue was making phone calls inside the house, contacting various places to find out the situation.
Seeing Tong Xiaolong hurrying over, the older sister couldn't help but ask, "Xiaolong, how is it?"
Tong Xiaolong stopped and shook his head slightly. "Big sister, the situation might be worse. We still can't get in touch with them!"
Upon hearing this, the older sister, holding Xingxing's hand, turned pale and her expression became grave.
"Go ahead!"
Tong Xiaolong waved his hand, nodded hurriedly, then took off his raincoat and placed it on the railing before heading to the study.
At this moment, in the study, Elder Qing and a group of leaders were gathered in front of a map, which was a topographical map of Runan.
Everyone frowned, each with something on their mind.
At this moment, Tong Xiaolong walked in from outside, and everyone's eyes immediately turned to him.
"Commander!"
Tong Xiaolong stood aside and said, "The meteorological bureau just reported that this cold air mass moving south will last for three to four days, and this rain won't stop anytime soon!"
Upon hearing this, everyone's hearts sank once again.
At this moment, Tang Mingyue walked in quickly. "Chief, I just contacted the area south of Runan, and the local departments all said that the rivers are rising."
They couldn't get in touch with anyone in Runan either, but they've already sent people there to gather information!
Tang Mingyue quickly flipped through the report in her hand, and then said, "Just now, the Ninth Department sent word that Comrade Yang Xiaotao has led the rapid reaction squadron to set off."
"At the same time, the factory's security department also began mobilization and prepared various supplies."
"The hospital has also received orders to begin mobilization!"
Old Qing's gaze fell on the map, which not only showed rivers, but also county towns, villages, and vibrant lives!
Turning to Old Chen, he said, "Take immediate and comprehensive action to ensure the safety of the people!"
"I'll personally go to the front lines to oversee the situation!"
After saying that, Old Chen left quickly, but Old Qing's heart clenched.
This is a natural disaster!
Every natural disaster brings unspeakable grief!
Especially now that the republic has just embarked on its own path, it is even more vulnerable to the ravages of natural disasters!
Hopefully, it's not too late!
Qing Lao thought to himself silently!
……
Banqiao Dam!
"Quick, quick, sacks, sacks!"
On the Banqiao Dam, a group of people were carrying sacks filled with sand and quickly ran to the dam to hold back the rising water level.
"Captain Liu, it's no good, it's no good! The water's too fast, we can't stop it!"
A man came running up, panting, and shouted to the anxious captain beside him with a mournful face.
"Shut up!"
"I'm telling you, you have to hold on even if you can't take it!"
Do you know what's down there?
"Those are people, our people!"
"If we can't hold out here, you and I will both be sinners, sinners who will have no face to meet our ancestors after we die!!"
Upon hearing this, the person looked at the dam that was about to be submerged, gritted his teeth, and turned to run away.
"Hurry up, hurry up!"
Amidst the shouts, the panicked people quickened their pace once more.
"Correspondent! Correspondent!"
Captain Liu shouted loudly, and soon someone came running over, "Captain Liu!"
"Xiao Li, is the phone working yet?"
"No, I haven't been able to get in touch with them!"
"What?"
"Captain, the utility pole is broken, and we can't get through in many places. We simply can't fix it..."
The communications officer said helplessly, and Captain Liu, feeling overwhelmed, said, "I don't care what method you use, you must get in touch with the rear!"
"Go!"
"Yes!"
The messenger ran off with a somewhat tragic air, and Captain Liu once again turned his gaze to the embankment.
At this moment, the water level in the reservoir is rising at a visible speed, and the sacks that have just been piled up are about to be submerged again, so I can't relax.
"Quickly, block it here, block it up here!"
Team Leader Liu shouted loudly as he joined the flood relief efforts.
"Captain Liu, Captain Liu!"
Suddenly, a middle-aged man wearing a straw hat came running over quickly.
Captain Liu's face turned cold when he saw the newcomer, and he shouted, "Engineer Wang, what are you doing here?"
"Your post is down below. You need to get the water released through the sluice gate as quickly as possible. You don't need to carry sandbags here!"
But after hearing Captain Liu's reprimand, Engineer Wang shook his head, his face pale, "It's no use, it's no use!"
"It's no use me going down there; the sluice gates are already open to the maximum, and the flood discharge capacity is already at its maximum!"
"What do you mean?"
Captain Liu stared wide-eyed, his eyes filled with disbelief.
bang
Lightning flashed across the sky, illuminating the other person's pale and powerless face!
Engineer Wang's face was grim. "It means that everything is now open!"
Upon hearing this, Captain Liu quickly crouched down on the edge of the dam, looking down at the rushing waterway below. "You, you tell me, is this the method you were talking about?"
"Look for yourself! Look for yourself!"
Captain Liu roared, lightning flashed incessantly in the sky, and Engineer Wang, upon hearing this, plopped down in the muddy water, then cried out, "It's useless, it's useless!"
"I never imagined this would happen when we were designing it."
"When the dam was designed, we thought five gates would be enough!"
"But who would have thought that we would encounter such a once-in-a-century weather event this time?"
"Furthermore, this dam has been in disrepair for many years, and a large amount of silt has accumulated under the gates. Even if all five gates are opened, the flow rate will only be half of the design flow rate!"
As Wang spoke, he pounded the ground in regret, feeling utterly miserable.
In the past, dam maintenance was often just a formality, or problems were discovered but not given enough attention.
In fact, it cannot be maintained due to a lack of funding!
Now, the money and effort that were originally saved have become the last straw that broke the camel's back.
"What the hell are you crying for? What's the use of crying? Hurry up and think of a solution, what do we do now?"
In his haste, Captain Liu lost his composure, and even though those around him noticed, he still couldn't control his anger.
"How to do?"
"Haha, what do we do!"
Wang Gong looked up, letting the rain lash his face, tears streaming down his cheeks. Finally, he cried out weakly, "There's only one way now!"
"what?"
"Immediately notify the villages and towns downstream and tell them to run to higher ground!"
"If we don't run now, we're doomed!"
Team Leader Liu was taken aback for a moment, then quickly called out, "Communications officer, communications..."
After calling for a while, he remembered that the communications officer had been sent out and he couldn't contact the rear yet.
"It's over, it's over!"
"If we can't get in touch with the rear, we're all sinners..."
"They are all sinners!"
puff
Captain Liu plopped down in the water, his face deathly pale!
But the next moment, Captain Liu seemed to remember something and jumped up from the ground, then took out a signal gun from his body.
"Now, I just hope the people below can see the traffic lights!"
He picked up the signal gun and shoved it at Wang, who was lying on the ground. "Fire! Fire nonstop! Make sure people see it!"
He then went to carry sandbags.
Now, all he can do is carry one more sandbag and try to gain as much as possible, even if it's just for a second!
Wang Gong gripped the signal gun in his hand, looking at Captain Liu, who seemed to have gone mad, and the dam guards who, despite knowing they couldn't hold the line, were still gritting their teeth and persevering...
At that moment, Engineer Wang wiped the rain off the signal gun and then aimed it at the sky.
Bang
A dull thud came from the gun barrel, followed by a red flash that pierced the night and soared into the air. ...
Buzz
Onboard the Chinook helicopter, the pilot gripped the control stick tightly, struggling to keep the aircraft running.
The rain was pouring down like water from a basin, constantly pounding against the plane, and even with the rotor blades churning it, it couldn't escape.
Inside the cabin, Yang Xiaotao put on a life jacket, held a megaphone in his hand, and stood behind more than ten people, all with solemn expressions.
Where are we?
Yang Xiaotao shouted loudly, and a voice came from the passenger seat, "Mr. Yang, it's too dark to tell, we should be almost at Huangzhuang."
Upon hearing this, Yang Xiaotao took out a flashlight from the side and began searching for the location of Huangzhuang.
"No, it's too slow. Speed it up, go faster!"
The drivers looked at each other, both of them appearing somewhat embarrassed.
"Mr. Yang, going any faster could be dangerous."
"We can't worry about that now, let's speed things up."
Yang Xiaotao interrupted him, then looked up at the sky, praying that the plane wouldn't be struck by lightning.
"Tell the plane behind us to speed up."
The co-pilot nodded immediately and then contacted the rear via telegram.
The driver had no choice but to speed up, and the Chinook moved swiftly forward through the wind and rain.
After receiving the information, Liang Zuoxin and the others behind him also began to speed up.
At this point, the ground was so dark that you couldn't see anything at all, so you could only run after the plane in front of you.
"Mr. Yang, look there!"
Suddenly, Wang Hao pointed to a faint red light in the distance and shouted. Yang Xiaotao quickly looked over and saw a red light appear in the night and rain.
"Go there, hurry up and go there!"
As they spoke, the driver began to adjust the direction.
After the plane flew for a while longer, the red light finally became clear.
"Someone is firing a signal flare again, hurry, get over there!"
Yang Xiaotao shouted urgently, but at that moment, the driver shouted loudly, "Water! There's water all below us!"
Only then did everyone look down.
Upon closer inspection, one could see that ripples were appearing below due to the propeller's movement.
In the distance, a dam can be vaguely seen.
Banqiao Dam.
“There are people, people are reinforcing the dike, and people are firing signal flares.”
As people in the cabin shouted, Yang Xiaotao immediately yelled, "The direction is right, tell the people behind to follow."
"Send men down to help them guard the dike."
As soon as he finished speaking, the plane approached the dam.
At this moment, Engineer Wang, who was launching a signal flare, suddenly froze, because a bright light appeared in the sky, followed by a buzzing sound in the wind and rain.
"Light, there is light! Look, there is light!"
Wang Gong jumped around and shouted, quickly attracting everyone's attention.
At that moment, the security personnel who were reinforcing the dike all looked up and saw a white light overhead, followed by a helicopter rapidly approaching.
The plane gradually approached the dam and then hovered over it.
Its enormous body and spinning propellers seemed to slice through the entire rain curtain.
In an instant, tears welled up in everyone's eyes again.
Finally, someone came; finally, they remembered them. They were no longer fighting alone.
"Comrades, hold on!"
"We need to go downstream to evacuate the people. You must hold on until the very end."
At that moment, a loudspeaker blared from the plane, but it was difficult to hear clearly in the wind and rain.
Captain Liu quickly waved, and the lights from the plane illuminated the dam. Then the rope was lowered, and one person slid down the rope, followed by another.
After seeing that everyone had disembarked, Yang Xiaotao glanced at the dam again before letting the plane continue south.
Now that the dam has been found, the villages behind it will be much easier to navigate.
On the dam, the captain immediately stepped forward when he saw about ten people getting off the plane.
Wang Hao stepped forward, saluted, and explained his purpose directly: to reinforce the dam and buy time for people downstream to evacuate.
When Captain Liu asked where the other party came from, Wang Hao directly revealed his identity.
They also informed them that Yang Xiaotao had come over in person from the plane.
Upon learning that the person who had just spoken was Yang Xiaotao, everyone on the dam became incredibly energetic, working with extra fervor.
With reinforcements and renewed hope, Captain Liu, Engineer Wang, and others were filled with even greater enthusiasm.
Meanwhile, Yang Xiaotao sat in the cabin as the pilot maneuvered the plane rapidly through the rain, and traces of human activity gradually appeared on the ground.
Farmland, roads, and buildings.
"Mr. Yang, we've arrived at Huangzhuang Town. This is just below."
Following the pilot's reminder, Yang Xiaotao quickly picked up a megaphone to shout.
It was a little past nine o'clock at night.
In this era of limited entertainment, people basically go to sleep at night if there's nothing else to do.
Moreover, it's been raining heavily outside these past two days, making it the perfect time to sleep and rest.
On the outskirts of the village, helicopters began to descend.
A heavy sound made a couple who were exercising in the house stop what they were doing, and then they quietly got up and looked out the window.
The next moment, a beam of light shone in from mid-air, illuminating the entire courtyard.
"Comrades below, get up, get up quickly."
"Flooding is coming, evacuate immediately."
"Get up and evacuate immediately."
Yang Xiaotao shouted loudly through a megaphone, but it had little effect.
Either the villagers couldn't hear clearly, or they heard it but didn't realize how serious it was.
The helicopter flew over the village once, but the people below just came out to look, and some didn't even look. The kerosene lamps that had just been lit were immediately extinguished.
This made Yang Xiaotao very anxious.
Even the two drivers were at a loss after seeing all this.
They risked their lives to come and warn the people to evacuate, but the people below simply didn't listen.
Both of them were somewhat annoyed, but they had no choice but to continue.
After calling out to everyone without success, Yang Xiaotao thought for a moment and then shouted, "Fellow villagers, comrades!"
"I am Yang Xiaotao from the Ninth Ministry of Machine Building."
"I am Yang Xiaotao."
"I now order all village officials to immediately gather their forces."
"The flood is coming, organize an evacuation."
“I am Yang Xiaotao. All village cadres in Yang Village, upon hearing this, shall immediately carry out this order, or you will be punished for disobeying orders.”
"I am Yang Xiaotao from the Ninth Department"
The sound echoed repeatedly above the village, and this time the villagers finally took action.
The village officials, in particular, were intimidated by Yang Xiaotao's identity.
"I am Yang Xiaotao. Evacuate immediately and head up the mountain."
"Village officials, organize the evacuation immediately!"
Seeing that people had already come out of the village, Yang Xiaotao stopped shouting and headed to the next village.
Below, the villagers gathered together. The village cadres, all wearing straw raincoats, met and finally decided to believe what 'Yang Xiaotao' had said on the plane.
After all, it's better to believe something is true than not to believe it is not.
Soon, the villagers began to evacuate from house to house.
Yang Xiaotao followed the same method, quickly arriving at another village, identifying himself again, and directly approaching township officials. It was much more effective for these people to intervene than for him to shout himself hoarse.
Gradually, led by Yang Xiaotao, Liang Zuoxin and other pilots, more and more villages and towns received the news and began to evacuate.
Even in places where no planes could reach, the information was obtained through arrangements made by local leaders.
Upon seeing this, Yang Xiaotao on the plane finally breathed a sigh of relief.