Chapter 761 - 503 Leadership Everywhere!_2

Under these circumstances, constructing a temporary road for access would take at least several days, completely delaying the critical period for rescue.

The most feasible way would be to airlift with an aircraft.

A regular medium-sized excavator weighing tens of tons couldn’t be lifted by their Straight 8, let alone this aircraft.

The answer was clear and only one: Mi-26.

Fang Huai thought and had no choice but to pin his hopes on the helicopter that had arrived.

"Mayor Ma, quickly have someone signal with flags and get them over here!"

...

A big shot had arrived.

The police aircraft lowered its stairs, and a middle-aged man in a white police uniform, flanked by guards, slowly descended.

Fang Huai couldn’t help but stand up straight.

For he saw the insignia—a Wheat ear three.

Although the olive branch on the police epaulet was not the highest rank and didn’t equate to the military Wheat ear, a third-grade police supervisor was already a bureau-level cadre.

It must be the city bureau chief.

The leader looked around upon landing.

His perspective differed from that of Fang Huai.

At his first glance, he saw a few farmhouses not far away still with cooking smoke and said,

"This place is very dangerous, why hasn’t it been evacuated yet, are they cooking?"

No one answered immediately, and everyone looked toward the local commander, Fang Huai.

Fang Huai then stood at attention and reported,

"Reporting, sir! Those aren’t the villagers cooking! It’s our people! The villagers have already been evacuated by us, and our cook is using their stove to make meals for the rescue workers!"

The leader exclaimed surprisingly, "Oh? Logistics are already arranged?"

"Yes, sir! However, the evacuated villagers are all outside at the road junction, with no place to stay tonight! We estimate that they will need some tents, blankets, easy-to-prepare food for the night! According to the weather forecast we received, it might rain tonight, it would be best if the city could arrange a temporary shelter for them!"

"Oh! Well done! We need to close off that road later!"

"The junction has already been stationed with guards! But there are still cars coming this way unaware of the situation, I suggest setting up a checkpoint 15 kilometers further out with traffic police!"

"Hmm..." The leader nodded. He had heard that the local leadership was still not on site, and road traffic had completely failed, so he had hurriedly ordered a helicopter from the city bureau over 150 kilometers away, but upon arrival, everything was orderly. Satisfied, he said:

"Who is in command here now?"

"Reporting, me!" Fang Huai said.

The leader glanced at Fang Huai’s Emergency Rescue Suit and said, "Oh, how’s the search and rescue?"

"Reporting! There is a risk of a secondary collapse down the mountain, making it impossible to conduct search and rescue there. We are currently searching the peripheral shallow areas according to the rescue priority, focusing on those most likely to still be alive! However, we have only found two victims who have lost vital signs so far!"

Fang Huai responded promptly.

The leader was also somewhat surprised, noting the youthful face yetseeing the scene well managed, he appreciated it!

"Young comrade, are you from the local firefighting department?"

Captain Liu finally spoke up, "Reporting, Director! I am the captain of the county Fire Brigade, Liu Qilong! They are comrades from the Guizhou Fire Brigade here to reinforce us! Comrade Fang Huai is one of our nationally recognized outstanding cadres, so he is in command here!"

"Oh! Comrades from Guizhou! You got here fast?"

"Reporting! We are the nation’s first fire brigade equipped with helicopters, our main task is disaster reinforcement, and mobility is our top priority!"

Upon hearing this, the leader’s expression softened, and he saluted Fang Huai extending his hand and said,

"Well done, Comrade Fang Huai, thank you!"

In Chongqing, the situation was complex, but Fang Huai had no intention of ingratiating himself with the leader. He saluted, shook hands with the leader, and immediately got to the point:

"Leader, it’s difficult for excavators to access this area as time goes on. The surrounding ravines might form lakes, making transport even more difficult. We need to urgently request Mi-26 reinforcement from the state, to quickly transfer excavators here, first to conduct search and rescue, and second, to deal with the barrier lakes forming nearby. Otherwise, once the water level rises, we’ll run out of ground to stand on, making search and rescue even more challenging!"

"Oh..." The leader listened, looking around at the water accumulating several meters deep in a hundred-meter-deep sinkhole, and nodded, saying,

"That is indeed a problem! But what is this Mi-26 you mentioned?"

Fang Huai observed the leader’s natural expression and frowned slightly.

This is a barrier lake! How could it be dismissed so lightly?

"Leader, you don’t know about the Mi-26? It’s like the Tangjia Mountain..."

Fang Huai spoke but suddenly stopped.

Of course! The Mi-26 transporter that had shown remarkable ability at Tangjia Mountain in the past life, because the problem was solved by itself, had not been employed.

And now the barrier lake, which should have been notorious because of the massive earthquake, also lacked the fearsome reputation of the past life.

Tsk.

The butterfly effect was finally catching up to him.

Thinking this, Fang Huai became somewhat calmer and explained:

"Mi-26 is a heavy-lift helicopter developed by Russia, with a cargo capacity of 20 to 36 tons! It’s currently the only helicopter capable of transporting excavators! Our country has three of them! One is on long-term lease with Feilong Professional Aviation Company, and two were reinforced to China by Russia during the earthquake last year, now with China Aviation Industry Group!

Also, leader, because barrier lakes are often located beneath mountain areas, once it rains, water from the surrounding mountains flows into them, forming a large catchment area with no conduits or valve control, allowing water to accumulate at an astonishing rate. The water level you see now at four or five meters might rise by ten meters or more after a heavy rain!"