Free Web NovelChapter 386: Chapter 314: Can Do Without, But Cannot Be Without
"How does life in the Firefighting Life feel, is it hard?"
"Not hard, we are used to it."
"Every time a disaster strikes, you have to dispatch. Are you afraid?"
"Afraid, yeah. Whenever there’s heavy rain or the sky is exceptionally dry, around Qingming or Spring Festival, we’re afraid. Afraid of floods, afraid of fires. But once it really happens and we need to go rescue, the fear is gone."
"As a member of the Special Duty Team, do you often go out to support disaster relief efforts?"
"It’s inevitable. Some squadrons don’t have special service vehicles and equipment. In some special cases, only we can go. But this is our glory; I’m proud to serve in special duty."
"I heard this time during the earthquake, you went to Hanwang and also to Beichuan,"
"During the rescue, there is a lot of danger. Did you leave wills for your families?"
"A will has always been part of the tradition in firefighting."
"Do you have one?"
"Didn’t before. But then a comrade of us sacrificed himself recently, so now I do."
"Sacrificed? A comrade from your squadron?"
"Yes, from a fire in April... We miss him a lot."
This question reached the deeply emotional Ye Jiahong. His somber tone made reporter Ren take a few deep breaths.
So, the interviewee was switched.
"...Do you think, in the earthquake rescues in Hanwang and Beichuan, you utilized the skills you usually learn?"
"..."
Reporter Ren mainly interviewed old soldiers and cadres because they spoke more steadily. Even when he mentioned Beichuan, as a mature reporter, he avoided the situation at Tangjia Mountain, but if in the future, his report on the Firefighting Forces involved with Tangjia Mountain was ever published, this very report would also detail everyone’s psychological state at that time.
But when it came to this critical question for the squadron, it coincidentally fell to Zhao Jinchen, who wasn’t great at public speaking.
He felt he couldn’t say yes, but also couldn’t say no, so he simply stayed silent.
Luckily, this was for gathering material, not a live broadcast.
Cao Yi then readdressed the question.
"It’s definite, but it’s still far from enough. Due to road conditions and the urgency of time, initially, a lot of our equipment didn’t make it, which is very regrettable.
But our next training plan is to strive to better overcome these issues and fully utilize our troops’ combat strength to prevent these regrets from happening again."
Reporter Ren was satisfied and continued with the interview, which mostly consisted of questions related to their daily lives. freeweɓnøvel.com
The rescue ended, and so did the interviews.
After giving a backup of the squadron’s footage to Reporter Ren, she said she wanted to report back to her station and apply to do a feature on firefighting.
This year in earthquake resistance, a total of 140,000 soldiers of the People’s Liberation Army and People’s Armed Police forces entered the disaster area, with more than 13,000 firefighters making up just one-tenth but playing an even more professional and vital role in the relief efforts.
The firefighting forces don’t hold a high rank, being only a Positive Army Unit. In this era, they don’t get much screen time on top-tier media, mostly appearing in provincial media or lower, covering some disaster events.
They, should be remembered by more people.
But such a group, deserving of remembrance, at this moment, only thought of hurrying over to check on Lewang town.
At an order, the soldiers quickly set up the displaced people in vehicles and set off.
Reporter Ren, with her camera crew, captured the final hurried shot of a fire truck disappearing in the distance from the roadside.
"This is a force that is closest to the common people, most tightly connected with them. They are outstanding soldiers," she said into the microphone.
...
On the way back, the rain had gradually stopped.
"Thank you, guys!"
"Thank you, thank you!"
A few brief words of thanks as the people got off the vehicles.
There were some complaints from the people in the vehicle, as they had been trapped for a long time, but they had been waiting outside in the cold wind for seven to eight hours before the rescuers arrived.
Everyone asked if they called for help; they said they didn’t have cell phones, and there weren’t many in the village who had them, most of whom had already left. But they mentioned that they had sent someone to the town to call for help.
This left everyone speechless.
In this day and age, there were still villages relying on such rudimentary means of communication to call for rescue.
The rescuers weren’t gods, after all; they didn’t have omniscience.
The soldiers could only patiently explain to them that next time something like this happened, instead of going to seek help in the towns, they should have someone with a cell phone call 119.
Going to town to seek help would only result in the townspeople also calling 119, and without knowing the situation, it would be even harder to report accurately.
Along the way, everyone tried to teach them knowledge about self-rescue.
Fang Huai rarely interjected.
The entire rescue, from observation to preparation, and then to the actual rescue, took two hours to extract all 13 trapped individuals.
If it wasn’t for the reporter’s interview, it might have been even quicker.
Yet he wasn’t quite satisfied, sitting in the vehicle, contemplating how to further shorten the time to create a "Special Duty Speed."
Could conditions be created for two groups to rescue simultaneously?
What about three groups?
But alas, this elite unit hadn’t undergone much professional training for transverse rescues. The only person he trusted today, who could show speed in front of the reporter, was He Zhijun.
While the advantages of physical ability and skills were there, it wouldn’t be too difficult to begin training some subjects.
What he needed to do now was to advance this matter. Old Teacher He was going to meet with Boss Wu on May 30th, and today was already May 28th.
When they arrived at the school set up for the people, Fang Huai checked the time.
They set off just past one o’clock, and with the slow to-and-fro, it was already past five.
Dawn was finally arriving.
"Instructor, where are we going for breakfast?" General Han looked at the sky that was now tinged with blue and raised a question regarding livelihood.
But they were not ordinary citizens; they were military.
Cao Yi tersely replied, "What do you want to eat? Should I ask Chang Ming to prepare something at the squadron and deliver it here?"
General Han felt deflated and shut his mouth in embarrassment.
It was only then that Fang Huai patted Han Yong on the shoulder with a chuckle and said to Cao Yi, "We didn’t get a chance to eat a good meal yesterday before heading out, and we even ran five kilometers in the rain last night. It’s normal to be hungry. Let’s head towards the dam; if there are many people there, there should be breakfast available. If not, we’ll see if we can buy some buns or steamed bread along the way. I’ll treat."
He was increasingly adopting the mindset of a cadres, and he was reminded of a past life when, every time there was a police dispatch, he thought about taking his team out for a good meal.
The words he had told himself were still vividly clear in his mind.
Leading his brothers out on police dispatches, food and drinks should be ensured whenever possible.
Setting high standards and strict demands for his comrades every day, he couldn’t forget to care about their wellbeing too.
However, Cao Yi snapped back at him tersely:
"With all your money given to those old men and women, treat my ass."
Fang Huai was momentarily taken aback, then, seeing the back of Squad Leader Hao’s head, he regained his composure.
"Heh, Squad Leader Hao, lend me five hundred!"
To his surprise, Hao Chengbin gazed off into the distance and let out a long sigh:
"My wife and I are busy with renovations; I’ve turned over my salary card, I really don’t have a penny to my name."
Shit.
His last measure of confidence, his walking ATM, was gone.
What exactly does marriage bring to a man?
This man who used to carry a thousand or two with him everywhere was no longer so carefree.
Fang Huai sighed in the same vein.
"...Squad Leader, if you want to smoke a cigarette or something and you’re out of money, find me."
At that moment, Cao Yi suddenly said:
"Fang Huai, answer me a question. Answer correctly, and I’ll treat you all to breakfast."
Fang Huai leaned back as if balancing tactically: "Oh? Instructor Cao, you’re even willing to pay for knowledge now? Let’s hear it!"
"You say..." Cao Yi stroked his chin and said:
"This plan, with the expansion and equipment investment, will require several million at the very least, right? What if it doesn’t produce the expected results? Wouldn’t that be a waste of funds?"
Fang Huai’s smile faded: "What are you worried about?"
"I just feel like we might have been too brash in front of the reporters, maybe overplayed our hand."
Cao Yi turned his head, his expression tense:
"Do you really think that what we’ve trained for will be useful in a situation like this recent earthquake? Can it truly achieve the desired effects?"
Fang Huai exhaled deeply and leaned back in his seat.
Old Cao was just overthinking things.
"Instructor Cao, do you know what Mr. Qian said when he was combining the nuclear and missile programs and Guo Yonghuai advised against focusing on missiles?"
Cao Yi was silent.
The others might not even know who "Mr. Qian" was.
"He said," Fang Huai continued slowly, "’Having no sword to wield is different from choosing not to use one. Some things you can do without, but you shouldn’t be without them.’
Perhaps this analogy isn’t quite appropriate, but I want to tell you that having something is better than having nothing. I don’t believe what we have can overcome every difficulty, but when disaster strikes, having such a force may provide another option.
I know you are worried about the money being spent, about making a lot of noise during the development, and then achieving no results, which would reflect poorly on you. But the direction is undoubtedly correct; if there are no immediate results, we must still keep going.
Expertise definitely cannot be achieved overnight.
Don’t worry about all that stuff. Just focus on the work. No matter what difficulties we face along the way, once it’s accomplished, great scholars will defend your work.’
After Fang Huai finished speaking, they all saw Old Cao staring fixedly ahead, while Hao Chengbin occasionally looked back at him, his eyes filled with incomprehension.
He couldn’t understand why Cao Yi would doubt such a good thing.
With such a promising plan and the excellent conditions to support it, all they needed to do was work hard. Why worry about whether it would be useful?
A professional rescue team would definitely be useful!
Fang Huai had some understanding though.
Old Cao had reached the level of deputy battalion commander; he naturally thought more deeply about things.
Many things don’t just require a good start to yield a good result. There have been plenty of failed examples on the path of firefighting reform.
He feared the burden of carrying such a big banner; if the elements of the plan didn’t come to fruition, the money would be spent, and only a facade of action would be seen, making everything seem slack.
Fang Huai’s approach was a combination of both perspectives.
You must foresee the possible challenges but also hold confidence.
Mr. Qian Xuesen was someone he had idolized all his life.
No amount of difficulties could outweigh the resolve to make the country stronger.
After a while, it seemed that Cao Yi had also had a moment of realization:
"Old Fang, let’s see if we can find an open bun shop and stop for a bit. I’ll treat you all to buns."
