Free Web NovelChapter 485: Chapter 389 Jinhai Lake Assessment
Fang Huai shamelessly squeezed into the co-driver’s seat of the military truck, pushing Hu Peizhou towards the inside.
It wasn’t until the truck had driven some distance that he chuckled and said,
"Captain Hu, what did you talk about with my uncle?"
Hu Peizhou seemed to be focused on the road ahead, smiled, but didn’t speak.
Fang Huai couldn’t ignore the presence of the driver, so he lowered his voice and said,
"Is he... planning to make a trip to BJ or not?"
That’s when Hu Peizhou seemed a bit interested and turned his head with a smile, "Why are you so insistent on him coming? As long as the policy conditions are met, isn’t that good enough?"
Upon hearing this, Fang Huai immediately began to lay it on thick,
"It’s all thanks to the leadership’s support! He is the actual person in charge of the plan. Shouldn’t he come over to express thanks to the commander? Coming to listen to the commander’s teachings and absorbing a bit of the courage to carry out sweeping reforms can be an opportunity to elevate his thinking!"
His tone made it sound as if he were the uncle himself.
Hu Peizhou whispered, "You don’t understand. Certain matters represent a signal. Leadership isn’t about visiting one person today and another tomorrow. In the future, don’t talk nonsense."
But Fang Huai just shook his head with a slight smile, "How do you know I don’t understand? How can you accomplish great things without understanding signals? Your signal light is pretty bright; can you also guide us?"
Hu Peizhou cleared his throat, remembering the favor Fang Huai had arranged for his father that day, and suddenly felt that he might have underestimated Fang Huai’s vision.
Still, he couldn’t help but smile and say,
"Don’t just talk big game whether you have the means or not. Your uncle is much more cautious than you are. You can’t speak for him."
Yet Fang Huai had an earnest expression, and said seriously, "As long as you are willing to lead the way, I am determined to have him come. My uncle... he’s a hardworking man from the countryside. He knows how to scheme, but his foundation is too shallow. What he lacks is the chance to follow a good leader closely."
Hu Peizhou, after all, was a man in his thirties and, upon hearing Fang Huai’s words, exclaimed disdainfully,
"A wheeler-dealer."
"Just an ordinary person. Who can avoid being a wheeler-dealer?"
"Do you have that much confidence?"
"My uncle? He hasn’t seen the big picture yet, but when I get back, I’ll talk to him properly. Please help with this matter."
"I’m not talking about your uncle."
Hu Peizhou’s eyes were filled with curiosity at that moment.
After all, the commander had just been assigned to the bureau; his appointment hadn’t even come through yet. He was currently a brigade commander acting as the deputy director. Moreover, there were four deputy directors in the bureau, including a deputy political commissar. Whether the leader would have real power in the future was uncertain, and his uncle had already been confirmed as the deputy commander. At this stage, the support of a typical deputy leader in the bureau didn’t mean much. If they wanted to pay homage, why the rush?
Fang Huai was taken aback for a second, then exchanged glances with Hu Peizhou,
"You mean Yu..."
Then he laughed, "Of course, I have confidence! Confidence, huge confidence!"
Upon hearing this, Hu Peizhou felt a sense of clarity in his heart.
It was already August. Perhaps after a while, he should visit Uncle Yu’s house and pay early respects for the New Year?
...
Everyone had traveled from the wide-open skies of Shunyi to Jinhai Lake in Pinggu, and the sky was beginning to darken.
Fang Huai, who was eager not to lag behind Vice Bureau Chief Yu, was now accompanying a white-shirted leader with a slightly elongated face. ƒreewebηoveℓ.com
The white-shirted leader’s face was filled with concern as he pointed up at the sky and said,
"Little Yu, look at this weather lately, alternating between cloudy and sunny. I also heard from Director Liu at the Meteorological Department that this year’s weather is odd. Facing the sudden onset of severe convective weather, hail, or short-term heavy rainfall in certain places, you firefighting forces must pay close attention to the rain conditions everywhere and meet the readiness requirements. We can’t let some of the common people be displaced while the country is in a celebratory mood."
Vice Bureau Chief Yu nodded solemnly, "Now, the areas surrounding BJ, including Tianjin, Hebei, Shandong, and Shanxi, are all in training and standby mode. If unexpected heavy rain occurs during the Olympics, reinforcement forces from the provinces will arrive in BJ within 3 to 8 hours. They will use water pumps, fire trucks, and other equipment for draining water to ensure smooth operations at the venues and not affect the BJ Team’s original security plans."
"Yes, local areas must also ensure proper support."
Vice Bureau Chief Yu smiled, "Leader, for the local support, we need to improve the firefighting forces’ overall capability to respond to disasters. Today’s examination at the training class is one way we are contemplating and probing our response to complex disaster situations. Next, we plan to start pilot programs and take on tough battles. The overall strength of the firefighting forces must be doubled."
"Fighting tough battles... requires tough measures, alright."
Vice Bureau Chief Yu smiled, "Today we have mountains and water, and there might even be rain, which is perfect since you, leader, are in Pinggu for a meeting. We specifically asked you to come and inspect."
As he spoke, he pointed at the troop carrier slowly approaching, "Here come the troops."
"Quick, quick, quick, get off, stand at attention!"
Hu Peizhou shooed Fang Huai off the truck and quickly dismounted, bellowing.
"All troops disembark and assemble in three columns!"
The soldiers stepping off the troop carrier were stunned by the scene before them.
Quite a big setup.
In a clearing with an unobstructed view, two helicopters were stationed on the grassy bank.
However, these seemed smaller than the ones seen before and didn’t look as imposing as the Straight 8.
But Fang Huai’s eyes lit up.
Mi-8MT!
This machine is more stable than the Straight 8!
It had been tested in countless battles and could be considered the Type 81 of the helicopter world!
If he had to choose between the Straight 8 and the Mi-8, he would definitely go for the Soviet Mi-8.
Not far from the lakeside, there was a small boat several meters long. The boat looked rather old; it was a wooden rowboat with two oars, about five or six meters long, loaded with several dummies.
"Hey, hey, big shot."
The soldiers began to chatter quietly.
"A colonel... Didn’t they say a deputy director was coming today?"
"Vice Bureau Chief? Did you get a good look at the leader in the white shirt? All zeros in front of his badge number!"
"Oh... quite a high-ranking leader! He looked familiar to me! I seem to have seen him during a video meeting! When we got back from Sichuan!"
At that moment, Hu Peizhou turned his head, glancing over at everyone.
Silence fell instantly.
"Align at the front! Run, march!"
"One-two-one!"
As they neared the leadership, Hu Peizhou slowed down, allowing the whole team to precisely halt five meters from the leaders.
"Halt!"
"Snap!"
The neat sound of boots aligning.
Hu Peizhou ran three meters forward, stood at attention, and saluted.
"Comrade Bureau Chief! Southwest Comprehensive Rescue Training Class is brought to the assessment location! Awaiting your orders!"
Vice Bureau Chief Yu returned the salute, "Begin the assessment."
"Yes, sir!"
Hu Peizhou turned around, returned to the front of the lineup, and announced loudly,
"Today’s assessment involves integrated air-ground, water rescue!
The task is to utilize the T-type rescue method, ground coordination method, diving rescue method, and all other learned subjects to complete the search and rescue of a sunken ship and all trapped personnel! Is that understood!"
"Understood!"
Hu Peizhou turned around again, walked to the shore, and began to coordinate with the staff.
Soon, the moored boat moved out under everyone’s watchful eyes and began to drop dummies about seven to eight meters from the shore.
After about a dozen were thrown, it seemed as if some switch was turned on, and the boat started sinking, taking two to three dummies down with it.
Seeing all this, the leader in the white shirt chuckled,
"An assessment that gives away the questions? Everyone saw where they fell into the water, right? The submergence should have been done in advance."
Vice Bureau Chief Yu also laughed and said,
"We were worried about wasting time. The search area is about 800 square meters, with a depth ranging from 9 meters in the deeper parts to 7 meters in the shallower ones. With such a vast space and varying depth, actual operations require a lot of time.
Retrieving bodies from a man-made lake, sometimes a whole squadron needs two to three days of search and rescue to find a person.
With so many dummies, meeting the time constraints to locate all of them is not as simple as it appears.
Moreover, today we’re mainly looking at techniques.
These soldiers, until twenty days ago, practically none had experienced diving and professional water rescue training. They are all drawn from various corps across the Southwest for this training.
The subjects also cannot be announced in advance, ensuring that they are only issued upon arrival.
Today, we are not assessing their expertise, but whether these novices can act professionally."
"Oh..." The leader nodded in understanding upon this explanation.
"Mm, that indeed has more practical significance, equipping these bewildered firefighters with professional skills. Good thinking."
Vice Bureau Chief Yu breathed a sigh of relief and emphasized again, "These soldiers have never been to Jinhai Lake before. They just marched from Chongqing to BJ for nearly a month and are about to join the Olympics security cooperation.
This training class... it’s the third iteration for these students. In fact, this is my first meeting with them too. If there are any slips later on, I hope the leadership will not take it as a joke."
The mention of this seemed to pique the leader’s interest even more.
"Oh? A month-long march? Has the firefighting corps also started learning the spirit of the Long March?
That’s impressive!
An inspection is not a parade review; during a review, failure is not allowed, but inspection is all about testing. In theory, multiple inspections are needed for one success."
Vice Bureau Chief Yu nodded his head.
"Thank you for the leader’s understanding."
To raise praise, one must first suppress. Though suppression is underway, it remains to be seen if success can be lifted from it.
By the shore, soldiers had already dispersed.
"Captain Hu, are we organizing this on our own, or will you be issuing the subjects?"
Hu Peizhou pointed to the vehicles and said,
"Today, there are no specific subjects!
As per the original division into five groups, there are 30 sets of diving gear, six per group!
Each group leader is responsible for the safety of all personnel in their group!
You have already seen the area of submersion. It is up to the leaders of the five groups to organize the divers and coordinate with the ground crews. The helicopter can assist you with low-altitude hook lifting! There is extra-long specialty rope prepared for you in the vehicles!
The rest is up to your own abilities!"
Hu Peizhou spoke loudly.
He wanted the leader to hear that everything today was arranged on the spot.
He indeed handled the situation rigidly, not revealing any details besides informing everyone of the assessment.
Given today’s circumstances, revealing information would have been useless anyway. With 800 square meters and an average water depth of 8 meters, there’s a working space of around 6400 cubic meters. If the training wasn’t up to par, he might as well ask Jinhai Lake for a favor.
Indeed, the leader included, everyone believed that with such a large space and dumping dummies at random, it was impossible for anyone to remember the exact spots of submersion—after all, there were no reference points on the water surface, at most a rough search direction.
But what no one knew was that, at that moment, there was an anomaly within the ranks, whose heart was already laughing wildly.
You wouldn’t open the exam paper, would you!
