Free Web NovelChapter 385: Chapter 313 Inconvenient to Reveal?
It wasn’t 20 seconds before Fang Huai deftly landed on the other side.
"You all... are from the Firefighting Detachment, Guiyang Regiment?" freewёbnoνel.com
The reporter once again confirmed with the surrounding soldiers, doubt mingled with awe.
Cao Yi glanced at the reporter and, adhering to Fang Huai’s principle of "Don’t chat until the training footage is completed," he nodded his head, his expression remarkably bland.
"Hmm... Special Duty Squad."
Enlightenment flashed across the reporter’s face.
Just as she thought, this was definitely not something a layman could achieve!
"Second Squadron."
Somewhat inexplicably, Cao Yi added.
The reporter was quick-witted, nodding and smiling, "Ah... okay, we’ll include your Detachment... and Squadron in our program."
Old Cao’s aged face turned a shade redder.
When smart people talk, they know exactly how to scratch your itch.
Just then, their side was momentarily dazzled by a flash of light.
There, Fang Huai had already re-secured the rope, moving swiftly as if not allowing them any chance to interrupt with chatter – one blink and they might have missed out on a fortune.
Both the reporter and Cao Yi instinctively made way, afraid of obstructing the camera.
On this side, He Zhijun leaped into action, carrying a rope fixed on this end, and flew out with a speed not inferior to Fang Huai’s!
He truly flew.
That speed made climbing an unsuitable description.
The reporter didn’t feel the need to ask how awesome that was; the footage spoke for itself.
Once reaching the other side, the two coordinated their movements, quickly setting up a fairly large tent, arranging for everyone to enter, and distributing food and water to them.
The second rope that had been brought over was also quickly secured inside the building.
Fang Huai then took out a long rope, picked up a large rock on the sandbank, and began tying the rope around it.
In a few seconds, Fang Huai pulled out his two-way radio: "People by the tree, move away, move away!"
He was about to throw the rock again.
This time, he was throwing it from the lower ground upwards.
Fang Huai sprinted a few steps to the edge and whoosh.
Thud!
A pretty loud dull sound.
Only upon hearing the noise did everyone truly appreciate the strength of that throw.
The reporter swallowed hard, her mind drifting back to her childhood.
Near her home was an abandoned factory inhabited by a martial madman. Whenever someone approached his "territory," he would hurl bricks. Many people started to tease him by staying just outside the range he couldn’t reach with his throws.
If that martial madman were replaced by this firefighter, wouldn’t the boundary of his "territory" have to be doubled?
As she was lost in thoughts, the two-way radio on this side crackled to life.
"Instructor Cao, when it’s time for people to use the rope bridge, arrange for someone to pull on it."
"Received."
With the two-way radio, communication was much easier.
Cao Yi finally understood what he meant by "Three-rope rescue."
Fang Huai on the other side had two rope bridges ready, fastened waist belts around the stranded people, lifted them up, and hooked the safety buckles on the belts to one of the ropes using a D-type hook. The last rope he had thrown was tied to the front end of the waist belt.
He dressed the trapped person in a life jacket and quickly put on a helmet.
"Pull!"
Fang Huai’s voice rang out.
The two D-type hooks secured the shape of the trapped person, hanging them on the rope bridge. As everyone tugged on the rope in their hands, the person was gradually hoisted up the bridge.
Even though it was slower, it took less than five minutes to get the first person out.
And despite the rain, those who were trapped now had a place of refuge.
Once the person was up, Fang Huai clicked on his safety hook and followed the rope back over, coordinating with He Zhijun. Whatever was needed, they tossed back and forth – the ten-meter distance between them negligible for the pair.
Old Cao’s mouth twitched at the sight.
In the future, if the Squadron’s thrower ever broke, maybe they shouldn’t bother fixing it; it wouldn’t be as useful as these two!
In the meantime, lightning struck and thunder rumbled again, and the rain intensified for a moment, adding a layer of tension to the scene.
But the entire rescue operation had commenced, unfolding rapidly and systematically.
By the time of the fifth person’s turn, Fang Huai finally approached the reporter who had been left in the lurch for a while, completely soaked, and flashed her a brilliant smile.
"Hello."
The reporter smiled back, extending her hand with a bright laugh, "Hello, Comrade Fang! I’m Ren Wei, a reporter from ’Morning News World’."
"Oh, you’re a reporter from CCTV! Hello, Reporter Ren!"
Fang pretended to be oblivious with finesse, immediately stretching out his hand, lightly grasping the front end of the reporter’s hand, and letting go after a moment, his expression warm and welcoming.
The reporter was bewildered for a moment.
What, you really don’t know, or are you pretending not to know?
We’ve already introduced ourselves!
"I was busy with the rescue earlier. Captain Hao said a reporter had come, and I told him to have you rest in your car first! Oh my, I’m sorry for keeping you waiting this long! My apologies!" Fang Huai spun his smooth talk with an innocently cheerful demeanor.
"No problem!" Reporter Ren laughed, "Your rescue just now was splendid! We recorded some of it, and I’d like to conduct an interview with you for our program, is that okay?"
"Sure!" Fang Huai readily agreed, a stark change from his earlier unapproachable attitude.
"Let’s move over here a bit, it’s brighter," the reporter suggested, finding a spot with better lighting.
Fang Huai approached, the cameraman got into position, and the reporter began with a leading question,
"I heard that when you arrived last night, you rescued two elderly people and a child in Bianwang Village. Could you describe what happened?" freeωebnovēl.c૦m
Fang Huai nodded and pointed behind him, where Meng Qiang was also filming.
"Our Squadron’s Communication Officer has video footage of the rescue!"
"Oh?" The reporter was delighted.
Having additional video clips would make this "Firefighting Hero" interview more three-dimensional and vivid.
"That’s great! Could you please copy the memory card for me later? We have a laptop in our car!"
Fang Huai nodded again, "No problem!"
He then looked at the reporter, "May I start telling the story?"
"You may, please begin."
"Um... We received the order last night, departed from our Squadron, and were en route when we got a transfer alert from the Southwest Guizhou Detachment that Bianwang Village..."
Fang Huai kept it brief, focusing mainly on how pitiable the villagers of Bianwang were due to the disaster.
"So, on your way back, you gave your money to the old man, is that right?"
Fang Huai nodded, "The old man was very simple and pure-hearted. Trapped upstairs, he insisted on making me a cup of hot tea as hospitality before I left. I was moved and wanted to help out in a small way, as much as I could."
The reporter was very pleased inside.
The military-civilian camaraderie was vividly shown.
"From what I saw of your rescue operations just now, they were very swift and professional. Is this part of your regular training?"
Upon hearing this, Fang Huai’s expression turned solemn,
"Yes! Our Squadron is currently applying to our superiors to form several professional rescue teams.
These will include earthquake, mountain, chemical, water, and search and rescue dogs.
Even further, we’re planning to explore aerial rescue in the future!
The Water Rescue Sub-team is one of these groups. With the disaster today, we want to bring what we practice to a real combat situation; actual combat is training, and training is actual combat!"
The reporter hesitated a moment, not sure whether to delve deeper into this topic.
In fact, she was very interested and thought they looked very professional after seeing the team’s performance.
"Um... Earthquake? Did you participate in the WC Earthquake?"
Fang Huai nodded, "We did. We were the first firefighting team from outside the Sichuan Province to be deployed to the disaster area. We left in the early morning of May 13, and after a 13-day mission, we returned to the team on May 26. On the 27th, last night, we received our orders and rushed here."
Ren Wei, the reporter, was astonished and decided to pursue the topic.
She hadn’t expected an interview about a local disaster to encounter such a team!
This earthquake was the most heart-wrenching event for all her countrymen this year, and possibly for many years to come, with discussions and reports on this topic being a recent focal point.
"You just mentioned a professional earthquake rescue team? Could you tell me more about it?"
Fang (nodding), "The Earthquake Rescue Sub-team focuses on rescue capabilities. Our drills exclude evacuation procedures and emphasize rapid intervention and rescue capacity over long distances.
The key points are how to efficiently pack and protect our rescue equipment into various modular categories without full dependence on transportation, overcome geographical barriers, rapidly enter the disaster site with the personnel, and make rational use of the tools. We also provide guidance to other rescue teams on how to use their tools more effectively for rescue operations.
This earthquake has been a severe warning for us. As part of the new era of firefighting forces that are fully integrated with national and international standards, we should always be improving our capabilities to respond to increasingly complex rescue situations."
Ren Wei, the reporter, was speechless. This young man spoke very thoroughly and with a calmness that suggested leadership, not at all like someone hastily interviewed on the spot!
The production team listened more intently, drawing the camera closer and adjusting the light to make Fang Huai shine on screen.
The reporter paused for several seconds.
Since the interview would be edited before being broadcast, a few moments of silence were not an issue.
After some thought, she asked, "The earthquake... Which areas did you assist with the rescue?"
Fang Huai hesitated.
After a long pause, he said, "Tangjia Mountain. I haven’t received permission to disclose specifics for interview purposes."
Ren Wei was surprised, "Were you part of those... 800?"
Even the cameraman unconsciously moved the lens slightly away.
Fang Huai nodded, "832, yes. I am the deputy leader of the assault team, Fang Huai. Our Squadron is part of that."
As he spoke, he gestured toward the team members behind him.
There was a long moment of amazement.
The expressions of the people standing behind Fang Huai also held a touch of pride.
That race against death was their common glory, and there was no other time in their military service where facing death had been more meaningful.
It may look like no one died during the process, but without an unwavering belief in their mission, who would dare carry explosives through forests on the verge of collapse or jump over cliffs?
In reality, the situation was very dangerous—really very dangerous.
If any of the hundreds of explosive packs had accidentally detonated, under those conditions, many lives would have been lost, or worse, it could have triggered a chain of explosions, shattering the mountain with no chance of escape—and the outcome would have been total annihilation, forever entombed in the mountain range.
But during those days, they were all immersed in a strangely heightened state of mind that made them forget the dangers.
No one felt they couldn’t die.
They had every right to be proud.
As a CCTV reporter with many colleagues spread out across the earthquake zone, she was very well-informed, hence her deep sense of shock.
Looking at these people again, even their faces seemed more profound.
It was truly unexpected that these heroes, who risked their lives without a second thought, would so quickly disappear from the places they had fought so hard for and return to the embrace of their motherland, ready to protect its lands once again.
Ren Wei pondered repeatedly in her mind and finally said earnestly, "I would like to interview your teammates too, to understand the life of firefighting comrades."
Fang Huai smiled, "Of course, you can talk to our Instructor to choose who to interview."
(The third Chapter will be posted once it’s ready; the timing is not certain.)
