Chapter 486 - 390: Should Be Promoted Exceptionally

Jinhai Lake is quite large.

It’s about the size of West Lake, covering an area of around 6.7 square kilometers.

However, the spot chosen for today is a relatively narrow area, but it’s still about one hundred and fifty meters from the opposite shore.

To tell the truth, everyone was a bit confused.

After the six divers of each group had donned their frogman gear, some were at a loss about what to do.

They formed a circle.

"Damn, where do we even start?"

"And after we find it, what then?"

Even a 100-pound mannequin isn’t easy to handle in the water; it’s a dense heavy object. Thinking of swimming back holding it is truly a pipe dream.

At that moment, Fang Huai stood inside the circle and held up two fingers.

"For searching, we can divide into sectors! For rescue, there are two methods! As I said before, T-type or helicopter sling!"

The Number 3 on the side said somewhat blankly, "The rope bridges we’ve built before were at most forty or fifty meters long, isn’t this one a bit too long? We’ve never done this before! If we really can’t build a rope bridge later, can we use the lifeline to tie it up and pull it back?"

Fang Huai’s mouth twitched.

"If our leadership wanted to see this sort of heroic rescue today, they’d be better off taking a stool to the edge of Tianjin Lion Forest Bridge! There are Tianjin Uncles diving there every day!

Today, you must show off all your professional abilities!

I’ll handle the main and auxiliary ropes of the rope bridge, the tow ropes; Group One, go get all the equipment from the car and bring it to the shore!"

Immediately, a few people left the group.

The squad leaders also quickly began to assign search and rescue areas to their groups.

"Our group will search within a three-meter radius near the rope bridge! The mannequins are almost distributed from ten meters beyond the shoreline up to fifty meters out! The anchor point for the rope bridge is that tree! This time, we need to use a tripod to fix the height! You four groups, search on both sides of the rope bridge!"

"This test is mainly to train you; in our group, Number 16 will command, I’ll serve as a team member."

Squad Leader Lin Chong was also a bit nervous, as he was somewhat lacking in confidence in his rescue command skills, and the man in the white shirt behind them was more than just a firefighting leader.

Nowadays, the top leader of public security has to double as the top political commissar of the People’s Armed Police and the primary secretary of the Party Committee.

It wasn’t until after the round of military reforms with the theme "the military is the military, the police are the police, civilians are civilians," that public security lost the command authority over the People’s Armed Police.

Number 16, being singled out by Lin Chong, was obviously capable of commanding, and an officer at that, quickly nodded and said:

"Good! Group Two will take care of the left side, this assessment is to exercise your abilities,

Li Kui showed no sign of cowardice.

"Group Three will also be on the left side; we’ll stay outside, I’ll command from the shore, I remember roughly where the boundary line is."

"Alright, our two groups will take care of the right side."

Fang Huai was about to unfurl the entire 200-meter special rope and tie it around himself, but there was simply too much rope, and it was not easy to secure.

Seeing this, Lin Chong immediately said, "You just carry the main and auxiliary ropes! Leave the rest to me!"

Fang Huai glanced at him.

It was that look, "what are you looking at", that once again established their understanding.

"Sure thing!"

Fang Huai laughed and the two frogmen hurried towards the shore, one after the other.

The two leaders standing a dozen meters behind, one with arms crossed, the other with hands in pockets, swayed slightly, one foot after the other.

Their casual stance reflected the leaders’ relaxed attitude and also indicated their tolerance for the outcome.

Watching the youngsters discuss on the spot with worried expressions, the leadership was sure that this was indeed an impromptu assessment without any rehearsal.

But soon, they began to move.

Each area began to split up, someone was negotiating with the helicopter holding a small flag, others were tying anchor points on the shore.

Vice Bureau Chief Yu gestured to Hu Peizhou, who was standing not far away.

"Xiao Hu, come give the leaders an introduction!"

Hu Peizhou immediately ran over.

"Leadership, we’re now setting up the T-type rescue system! This T-type system, which we compared internationally in Hong Kong DAS two years ago..."

A lofty description ensued.

And those below did not disappoint, quickly appearing organized as soon as they began.

The first two to dive into the water were racing against each other, darting towards the opposite shore like shooting stars.

You couldn’t see the frogmen enter the water, but the speed at which the excess rope on shore entered the water was evidence enough of their rapid progress.

The leaders were listening, but they couldn’t quite understand, their gaze captured by the two racing lengths of rope.

Hu Peizhou’s explanation changed along with the leaders’ gaze.

"Professional frogmen often adopt the butterfly stroke for long-distance underwater travel, using streamlined movements and hip oscillation to kick forward, reducing resistance, so they can shuttle through the water at the fastest speeds..."

"Oh, there they are," the leader exclaimed,

"Not bad, these two lads are no slower than that professional diving team I saw two years ago."

Hu Peizhou smiled, "One is a physical education instructor we requested from an anti-hijacking unit, and the other is one of our firefighting’s rising stars, whom you may have heard of."

"Oh?" The leader was genuinely surprised this time.

Vice Bureau Chief Yu was a bit embarrassed.

Heard of? Do you know how many outstanding soldiers from the various systems this leader sees in a month?

Wasn’t that a bit of an exaggeration?

But Hu Peizhou laughed and said, "Tangjia Mountain, the vice-captain of the assault team; the assault team plan was his idea. Major General Jin, who serves as the captain of the anti-aircraft artillery brigade, can’t stop praising him."

At this, Vice Bureau Chief Yu immediately came to his senses,

"Oh... It’s him."

This was a piece of public yet not completely declassified history.

Such matters were very clear in the mind of the leadership.

The leader in the white shirt also smiled, "I know him, he’s made great contributions! In a couple of months, I’m going to personally present an award to him! I heard he’s a geological expert, right? A firefighting geology expert, correct? And he’s this physically capable too?"

The leader had only heard one side of the story.

Hu Peizhou admired, "An all-around soldier, ranking first in every subject in this period."

The leader nodded his head involuntarily.

"What a talent... How many years has he served in the military?"

Hu Peizhou pondered his response for a moment.

"Conscript."

This time, both leaders were taken aback.

They knew there was such a person and story, but they didn’t know the details so clearly.

But today, the leaders secretly harbored the impression of an exceptional soldier capable of fighting major battles.

Truly outstanding.

Hu Peizhou actually wanted to mention the reform achievements of his squadron to leave an even deeper impression upon the leaders, to show that the firefighting forces were flourishing with capable individuals.

But this matter was something Vice Bureau Chief Yu was aware of, and as far as the higher-ups were concerned, reforms should be credited to the Firefighting Bureau, not to any single individual.

"Good, good, conscripts, that represents youth."

The leader nodded again, "Youth means they can contribute more to the firefighting forces. Such excellent soldiers should have their needs and desires for long-term service taken into consideration, to become the bedrock of the troops."

Vice Bureau Chief Yu was succinct, "Mmm, First-class soldier now, and in just a few more months... should be promoted exceptionally."

In their eyes, promoting a conscript was definitely an exception; although there were no explicit rules against it, the tenure requirements for squad leaders nudged the promotion conditions closer to those for non-commissioned officers.

When Wen Jingsong was so audacious, he could only think of being promoted in his third year.

However, these requirements meant nothing in the eyes of the leadership.

"Mmm..." the leader let out a breath of affirmation.

Hu Peizhou smiled without mentioning whether Fang Huai was a First-class soldier or not.

Vice Bureau Chief Yu would, sooner or later, understand more about him.

Onshore, the anchor points had been fixed, and the rescue tripod was used to raise the height, waving at the two people waiting across the way to signal.

The two across the river grabbed the ropes and gave a fierce tug.

The two ropes sprang up out of the water.

One hundred and fifty meters of rope soaked in water is quite heavy.

The force it carried was also very impressive.

The longer a ropeway needed to be secured, the more exaggerated the required strength.

On the other side, as the two pulled the ropes tight and began to wrap them around trees to secure them.

The leaders, observing the ropes growing increasingly taut and straight, couldn’t help asking, "How long is this rope? Is it secure?"

Hu Peizhou immediately responded:

"The total length of the rope is 200 meters! We’ve used about 160 meters or so!

This isn’t the limit yet; internationally, the longest rescue ropeways can stretch up to 270 meters, but they need eight to ten people anchoring both ends, with at least five people on the other side to ensure the ropes are fully taut.

In terms of safety, there is assurance. Abroad, this exercise is commonly used in mountain and canyon rescues. If conditions allow, we would also like to build a mountain valley rescue model over 250 meters long to test the stability over long distances."

Hu Peizhou’s speech strongly reflected a standard of international benchmarking and self-demand.

As he raised his self-demands and saw the leaders’ heads beginning to nod slightly, Hu Peizhou immediately let out a long sigh and continued:

"This exercise has great significance in spreading knowledge, including many of the subjects we teach, which are very practical. Today, we have demonstrated only a small part of them.

Unfortunately, these subjects have high equipment demands, which we cannot fulfill broadly in the short term—that’s not realistic.

So, we’ve come up with the method of using pilot programs to lead the entire bureau and rotational training teaching, gradually equipping tasks, allowing soldiers to first learn the techniques and applications in pilot squadrons. When the equipment arrives, its application can enter practical use more swiftly. We aim to exchange minimal investment for time under limited conditions."

Hu Peizhou continuously expressed how "we are capable of saving money."

During this narration, the rope bridges on both sides had also been completed.

"Enter the water! Begin the search and rescue!"

With a loud shout, frogmen began diving into the water, and the helicopter too started to ascend under the direction given from the shore.

The commands for hovering and advancing were conveyed by semaphore, orderly and without confusion.

The surroundings suddenly became lively.

The whole process took about 20 minutes.

Now, with the aid of the setup, the real work began.

When Fang Huai returned to this side, he immediately strapped on the ropeway protective gear and began to show off his skills.

The leaders had seen many frogmen.

A flying frogman, however, was something the leaders were seeing for the first time.

Fang Huai took to the rope bridge, carrying a rescue stretcher to a spot in the middle of the lake, raised his hand and hovered.

He gestured several times.

Immediately, someone onshore shouted, "Hold the traction rope! Lower the lifting rope!"

"One, two, one, two!"

When Fang Huai reached the water’s surface, he waved downward to the people onshore.

"Vertically, give him 10 meters!"

Once the rope was slackened, Fang Huai dove in with force.

Seeing this, Hu Peizhou turned to the leaders and said:

"The horizontal traction rope can deliver a person to a designated position above, while two vertical lifting ropes can lower individuals and stretchers down to perform rescues and lift them back up. The same method can be used for underwater rescues..."

In half a minute, before he could finish explaining,

A splash was seen on the water.

Fang Huai raised his hand, clearly signaling to ascend.

Hu Peizhou was shocked.

Was he coming up so quickly because of an issue with the oxygen?

With the leaders on the shore, couldn’t you hold your breath a little longer to search?

"He’s coming up?" The leader, recognizing the gesture, asked.

"Uh... perhaps it’s the oxygen..."

Hu Peizhou was about to explain.

As the ropes tightened again, a stretcher with a red dummy surfaced!

People on the shore cheered.

"Up, up! Pull!"

This left both of the leaders and Hu Peizhou a bit stunned.

What did this mean? Wasn’t it a search and rescue?

What had been searched? The person dived in and immediately surfaced?

The leader glanced over at Vice Bureau Chief Yu.

Were you cheating?

Vice Bureau Chief Yu glanced at Hu Peizhou.

Were you cheating?

Hu Peizhou’s mouth twitched slightly, eyeing the empty waters.

How could there be cheating?