After Being Reborn, I became a firefighter again?

Chapter 388: Chapter 316 This is the Slope!

Surrounded by leaders, Fang Huai listened intently for half a day, and with some military merit value spent on obtaining information about water use, he finally discerned something.

This small county town, unlike places he had been before, had only two reservoirs in the entire county, and this was the larger one, shared by two counties.

Beyond that, he heard another term.

Accompanied by Flood and Drought.

It was a very strange phenomenon, yet it made sense.

As with last night, when the rainfall was too concentrated, it was bound to lead to insufficient subsequent rain, and the crops in the fields would not get enough water for irrigation in the right season, which was undoubtedly an additional burden for this impoverished region.

Once the weather turned dry, the water here became a vital source for irrigation and domestic water use for nearby farmland.

Therefore, the significance of this reservoir was immense, not just for flood control but also for people’s livelihood, and everyone was making relentless efforts to protect it.

In his previous life, he only coasted through his thirties. When in firefighting, he gained a lot of professional knowledge, but he was blind to these aspects of people’s livelihood, just as he previously couldn’t even recognize tree seedlings.

He knew the disaster a large reservoir could cause, but he didn’t realize the significance of a reservoir.

On his way here, he was somewhat puzzled why the firefighters were not rescuing people on main streets, but all rushed to the reservoir.

A reservoir with several million cubic meters, even if half of it collapsed, wouldn’t have too dramatic an effect on the town due to the distance, perhaps just raising water levels by a few centimeters for a few hours before subsiding.

He had seen the Tangjia Mountain’s release of 30-plus million cubic meters of water, which at its peak rose more than twenty meters high, so this really wasn’t much in comparison.

Moreover, when it came to reservoirs, there were plenty in Chongqing where he used to secretly swim—seven or eight at least, many of which were larger than this one.

Much larger.

But in this small county town, a reservoir of several million cubic meters, which supplies an average of forty to fifty thousand cubic meters a day, was tied to the livelihood of hundreds of thousands of residents.

Water use, drinking water, Irrigation.

The average water use was just a little more than one cubic meter per person per day.

Here, it accounted for a significant part, with some coming from another reservoir, rivers, groundwater.

Furthermore, if the reservoir collapsed, the irrigation channels dug over many years that spanned more than a dozen kilometers, as well as the water supply networks and water purification systems, would be out of commission for a long time.

The county had suffered disasters for years, struggling against nature to restore agricultural production. If the dam broke, losing one of the existing stable water sources would be another severe blow outside of the land’s desertification.

Listening to the serious words of the leaders around him, he realized that he had really underestimated the importance of this place.

Fang Huai couldn’t help but feel guilty.

Cao Yi clearly had a much deeper understanding of this issue than he did, which is why, despite being alone and helpless, he decided to give it a try.

After his rebirth, his memory had improved significantly, and he could remember most of his past life’s experiences, priding himself on his broad knowledge. But he suddenly found that in his past thirty-some years, there was still too much he had not seen.

He still needed to stay humble and learn.

Fang Huai recognized the severity of the issue and his thoughts were rapidly turning.

What could he do?

Pile up the dam, there were enough people doing that.

Drain water, there were machines for that.

Drainage...

Right, they had said the drainage mouth was always blocked.

"Instructor Cao, I’ll go check out the drainage channel."

After speaking, Fang Huai headed directly towards where most people were gathered.

Cao Yi saw his eagerness and knew he was going to try to find a solution, so he did not stop him.

...

After asking around, he finally found the flood discharge mouth.

The small Old Reservoir had an unimpressive slope covered in weeds, and the flood discharge mouth was not much to look at, either—over twenty meters in length with a flow that didn’t seem very rapid. The discharge outlet was clogged with sand and trash. Perhaps the water level wasn’t high when it was built; the outlet was low and narrow, almost at a right angle, making it impossible for an excavator to operate and widen the discharge area under the current draining conditions.

Manual dredging...

That was simply not realistic. No matter how small the water flow was at that spot, it was still a flood discharge outlet; even with the protection of ropes, anyone approaching the outlet would be thrust into the air, so were they supposed to work suspended in mid-air?

A few people with hoes and shovels would not be able to clear much. Were they supposed to hang dozens of people down there?

With that many people, accidents were bound to happen, and once dredging was complete, a surge in water flow could wash people away, risking lives for little gain.

Fang Huai frowned, staring at the slope nearly at an 80-degree angle, constantly thinking of all possible plans.

It was difficult, or else the multitude of People’s Liberation Army soldiers willing to put their bodies on the dam line would have already gone into action.

If mechanical dredging didn’t work, if manual dredging didn’t work...

Suddenly, Fang Huai’s eyes lit up and he grabbed the two-way radio and shouted:

"Instructor Cao, Instructor Cao! Bring the 13 tons closer to the flood discharge mouth!" fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com

"What are you going to do?"

"Water gun dredging!"

...

Fifteen minutes later.

On the road beside the discharge outlet, a group of soldiers from the Second Squadron were gathered.

"Damn, bro, you’re a genius," Cao Yi took a gulp of water.

Fang Huai smiled and pointed to the rapid but not overwhelming water flow below, "How about that? My method is a lot better than your silly water pumping over there, right?"

Cao Yi nodded, "Yeah, it’s just a bit dangerous."

Fang Huai laughed, "Just secure me with two safety ropes."

Zhang Yang immediately raised his hand, "Instructor Cao, I’ll go down and be his secondary crew member!"

But Fang Huai waved him off, "What do we need a secondary crew member for? Just lay the hoses along the slope and you guys pull the hoses up there! My secondary crew member should be above! Watch my signals and coordinate with the two-way radio!"

At that moment, Hao Chengbin, with his hands behind his back and tilting his head, looked down once and clicked his tongue, saying:

"Old Cao, you have no conscience speaking like that. A bit dangerous? It’s extremely dangerous!

Lay hoses along the slope? Is that what you’re calling it? This damn thing is clearly a wall! You mean vertical hose deployment! Nobody plays like that!"

Fang Huai chuckled at this moment:

"Squad leader, remember, only at 90 degrees is it a wall, at 89.9 degrees, it’s a slope."

...

Above the wall, many leaders quickly arrived, not just from the government but also the Firefighting Detachment Captain Li Zhi, who was somewhat dumbfounded.

Dredging is considered a municipal and civil engineering project. Among the leaders present, some understood firefighting but had no experience in civil engineering, while others knew a bit about civil engineering, but not about firefighting.

Moreover, high-pressure water gun dredging is not common, and it comes with many conditions; after the washout, you need a very long hose to pump it away, which is very troublesome. A big gang of people, their thoughts all revolving around mechanical excavation, discussed a bunch of possibilities for excavators going down to the discharge mouth. Firefighter Li Zhi’s input was mainly cooperative, and surprisingly, not a single person thought of this method.

Fang Huai had worked on documentation at a construction company, or he wouldn’t be able to use CAD.

About engineering, although not very knowledgeable, he had still heard a bit.

So, as soon as he thought of firefighting equipment, inspiration struck him.

When everyone heard the plan from Special Service Squadron 2, they all felt as if a light had gone on.

Damn it, they even thought of blasting, but nobody thought of water pressure!

To counter water with water, why make direct contact?

Old Cao felt reassured once again in his heart.

When in doubt, ask Fang Huai! Damn genius!

"Phew..."

Carrying a water gun, Fang Huai rushed down the "slope," with nothing but the wind in his ears.

I’m flying.

But the rope at his back immediately restricted his flight.

"Slow down, slow down!" Hao Chengbin shouted from above, pulling on the rope: "You’ve torn my gloves! Why are you rushing down so fast?!"

As he said this, he twisted his body and wrapped the rope around his waist another time, fearful of losing grip.

Those in front who were protecting Fang Huai and the hose also tightened their grip a bit.

Fang Huai yelled, "Damn it, I can’t brake, squad leader!"

This shout made everyone above stifle their laughter.

Military merit value -1.

"You damn..." Hao Chengbin saw a circle of leaders around and lowered his voice a bit: "Weren’t you so cocky just now, saying this was a slope?"

There was no response from below.

Fang Huai could no longer hear the shouting from above, only the gurgling sound of water in his ears.

From a distance, the water appeared small, but close up, it was really immense.

This opening, several tens of centimeters high, was fully opened, and from a close view, it was large but indeed not commensurate with the weight of the reservoir.

Yet, some stubborn mud, in clumps, kept surging forward, and some large debris stuck at the opening, trapped by tree branches and sticks, was diverted and obstructed the path of the water.

It was truly impossible for anyone to go down.

Just standing above the opening, he already felt like he could fall at any moment; his feet could hardly provide any support, and if he was hit by the stream of water carrying sand and mud every now and then, he probably wouldn’t be able to do anything.

If this decrepit dam wasn’t thoroughly repaired and remodeled this time, it would inevitably run into such issues again.

Thinking that this place relied on such a dam for water security, his heart couldn’t help but ache.

That old grandpa, grandma, those common folks, suffered very specifically.

In the current state of the nation, with over seven hundred million rural population, the poor were still in the majority.

Once Fang Huai had steadied himself, he took out the two-way radio and shouted loudly, "Water on! Increase the flow rate gradually, tighten the protective rope for the hose a bit more!"

"Water is coming! Starting with 0.6 pressure! Be safe!"

One pressure wasn’t just standard atmospheric pressure but megapascals, approximately nine standard atmospheres.

The pressure at the water outlet being 1.6 megapascals was already considered medium pressure; by the standard, it required at least two people holding the gun.

For high pressure of 3 to 4 megapascals, even more people were needed.

With the water flowing downward, gravity added acceleration; 0.6 pressure at the outlet meant at least one full pressure worth of water flow by the time it reached his hands.

Fang Huai pressed the water gun and hose against the wall, trying to get as much friction from the wall as possible.

The hose above was actually quite stable, everyone being very careful.

Soon, the sound of "ku ku ku" releasing air reached his ears.

The water was coming.

Fang Huai tested the hose, ensuring the pressure above was shared enough and firmly grasped the gun.

"Swoosh!..."

A powerful stream of water hit the slightly inclined wall below, and the gun tried to shoot upward but was forcefully pressed down by Fang Huai, aiming at the cross-section of the water outlet where the water was rushing out.

"My protective rope! Release two centimeters!"

Fang Huai yelled over the fabric covering the two-way radio’s talk button.

The people above relaxed slightly, and Fang Huai immediately crouched down for a full view of the hole.

The water in his hands was more intense than the water coming out of the flood discharge mouth.

Raising his arm, the flow of water first fiercely poured onto a pile of mud, scattering it before the water washed it away, clearing the hole a bit, making the stones look new.

But there was still mud inside.

Fang Huai continued blasting for a while, but the stubborn silt wouldn’t fully disperse, just peeling off layer by layer.

"Damn it all to hell."

Fang Huai grew irritated and pressed the two-way radio again:

"Increase the pressure! Increase the pressure!"