Fang Huai pondered for a mont, then continued, "There is a dangerous task now. Soone needs to go down to a passage about 7 ters deep and manually dig down another four or five ters to enter the drainage adit. However, the passage could collapse at any place at any ti, and whether you can make it back or not is a matter of luck. Who is willing to go with ?"
At that mont, the two-way radio exploded.
"What? Found it??"
"I’ll go!"
"...also going!"
"Captain Fang, I’m Wang Peng! I just woke up and have the energy, let go with you!"
"...who’s holding the radio down? Fang Huai, I’m Hao Chengbin! I’ll go, I’ll go!"
Voice after voice fought over the airwaves, all vying to volunteer. So of them refused to let others speak, holding down the talk button on the radio, rattling off a long string of words.
Fang Huai waited for a lull in the chatter and imdiately pressed the talk button.
"Those who want to go, gather at the top of the slope and wait."
This prompted a flurry of panic among the surrounding Hydropower Troops soldiers and officers.
"Captain Fang, Professor Liu said we can’t let the rescuers from the outside co in to dig; they don’t know the dangers inside!"
"That’s right! You are the deputy front-line commander, how can you go down? We didn’t say we wouldn’t go! Look, you stay here and oversee. We’ll send two n down!"
But Fang Huai just waved his hand and began walking up the winding foot stairway beside him, speaking as he moved:
"It’s okay, I’m aware of the dangers. If you guys go and don’t co back, I can’t explain it to your leadership."
...
After about ten minutes, the Second Squadron’s soldiers had all assembled at the top of the slope, shouting boisterously.
"No way! Captain Fang, Assistant He has been working all day without rest, I’ve been watching! It’s too dangerous for you to take him! I’ll go!"
Jiang Yonghui, usually aloof, also spoke up: "Right, if you die, what would happen to our squadron? In terms of strength, I’m no worse off than He Zhijun! I’ll go down with him, and you command from up here!"
Fang Huai, however, shook his head: "You don’t even know the structure inside, nor do you understand the dangers. I must go."
Without further ado, he looked toward He Zhijun.
"We’ve been partners for a long ti, are you willing to go? Can your strength still keep up?"
He Zhijun curled up the corner of his mouth in a smile, a smile that was unusually mischievous.
"You want to co along, huh? Who the fuck wouldn’t want to co?"
He actually started singing.
The surrounding people laughed: "Which son of a bitch wouldn’t want to co?!"
Jiang Yonghui’s eyes popped: "Isn’t that our Northeastern duet? I can do that! You guys sang the wrong lyrics! If I sing a few lines, will you let go?"
"Cut it out!"
The whole Second Squadron disdainfully flipped the bird in unison.
Fang Huai also laughed: "He Zhijun, go borrow two shields from the People’s Ard Police! And send soone to bring up that broken-down ’Buddha’ from our squadron!"
"Yes, sir!"
...
The n ready to risk their lives arrived.
The two descended into the shaft, with Fang Huai digging and He Zhijun unable to utilize his full abilities, constantly switching tools for him while gripping a shield, ready to protect him from falling rocks in case of a collapse.
"Rock drilling machine!"
"Move aside!"
"Tat tat tat tat...."
The shouts of Fang Huai below, wearing goggles, mingled with the intermittent sounds of the rock drilling machine cracking stones, making a great deal of noise.
The imported rock drilling machine that had captivated Fang Huai during the earthquake exercise, with its steep price tag, which he had moved heaven and earth to acquire, was now proving its worth.
Because of its cost, Fang Huai jokingly called the rock drilling machine "the ’Buddha’ of demolition." Usually, it was not allowed to be used.
Fang Huai acted swiftly, and the rock drilling machine lived up to its price tag. It broke through the rock at a pace that left onlookers amazed, and within only twenty minutes, three baskets of soil and rocks were hauled up.
The comrades from the Hydropower Troops, while astonished, grew anxious.
For heaven’s sake, this Commander Fang, with his clean, fair complexion, doesn’t look like he’s from the countryside, does he? How can he work so fast?
Could it be so village girl tricked him into laboring in the fields?
Damn it, I had just reported the dangerous situation here to Commander Chang over the two-way radio 20 minutes ago. Why haven’t the people co up yet?
What they didn’t know was that before going down, Fang Huai had arranged for people from the Second Squadron to "change the batteries" in Command’s radios, secretly switching all the channels to an empty frequency.
According to Fang Huai’s orders, there was just one word: delay.
The longer they could delay, the better.
The Hydropower Troops leadership waited left and right. When they tried calling the front-line command post again, there was no response, and they began to speak with urgency.
"Sothing’s not right, not right! Commander Chang hasn’t received the ssage! Zhao Qiang, go down the hill and find Commander Chang!"
"Got it!"
After a while.
"Why have you co back?"
"Captain! I t so people going up! They asked why I was going out! They also said they were from Command, that Commander Chang was out on an errand but already knew about the situation and would be coming soon!"
"You idiot... don’t you have a brain?!" The Hydropower Troops captain was utterly flustered, clutching his head and then lowering his voice as he looked down at Fang Huai, busy working below:
"Go yourself! Straight to Command! Don’t trust outsiders! Do you hear ?!"
"Uh..."
"Run there, move it!"
Another long wait, with no response.
"Why hasn’t he co back yet? Wu Huadong, go and check!"
"Yes, sir!"
So ti later.
Watching as more than an hour had passed since the n went down.
The Hydropower cadres cursed under their breath.
"Damn it, did they die on the way? Zhu Tao! Watch the situation inside for Commander Fang and give him warnings at any ti! I’m going up to look!"
Fang Huai below finally straightened up and looked above.
"Leader Huang, it’s no use. The entrance is guarded; your people have been detained by . They can’t get out, and neither can you. Just stay here and help keep an eye on things. If you leave, there’ll be no one left to catch the rocks."
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