Chapter 799 - 514 Heard, You’re Going to Change the Law?_4

Fang Huai, facing the high-spray position eagerly waiting for water, was also in a fluster, "First use a rope, and pull it up by manpower!"

"But it’s impossible to move! A 400-pound barrel!"

"...I’ll arrange a few who can pull it over for you! He Zhijun! Shen Danian! Huang Yong! Go help them!"

Fang Huai pressed the two-way radio without letting go, directly pointing out a few names at the Second Squadron’s position.

But those soldiers were all stationed at the front of the water output, completely immovable, looking back at Fang Huai with difficulty.

Fang Huai silently waved his hand at them.

Sure enough, a tactic of reverse psychology worked, as Chief Cong’s scolding rang out.

"What are you eating for?! What can’t you lift when it’s just a few hundred pounds? Aren’t you all tough during normal training? At the crucial moment, you give up?!"

"We need to add ten more barrels... Regimental commander! No need for reinforcements! We can do it!"

Fang Huai then slightly smiled and put down the two-way radio.

Cao Yi stood by his side, his face full of anxiety, "A 400-pound barrel, how many people can stand on top of the truck? It’s very hard to pull by hand... Maybe we should still..."

But Fang Huai shook his head, interrupting him.

"Tonight, there are many things more difficult than this."

When he came, he only knew the outcome of this event, but being here, he realized how much sacrifice was paid for this result.

It was 10:30 PM, the first reinforcement brigade was still 100 kilometers away. If not for a completely mad Dalian Brigade, the scales of the final outcome of this battle might not have tipped towards victory at all.

After the explosion, the engineers ran, the oil depot’s organized workers ran, even the company’s fire brigade abandoned two trucks...

Only the soldiers stood their ground.

If this fire occurred in the United States, the UK, or the Middle East, everyone would have evacuated a hundred kilometers away two hours ago—it would have been a major evacuation.

He was sure of it.

From the perspective of sports physiology, humans can endure high-intensity, high-fear physical exertion for a maximum of forty minutes.

But they had already lost track of time.

This crazy night was a testament to the firefighters’ passion.

The cadres and soldiers from the Fire Brigade’s government agency probably haven’t fought this hard in years. The supply water group from the Brigade, non-commissioned officers so hot they half-stripped their combat uniforms. The red shoulder straps of their camouflage uniforms signifying four periods of old soldiers were sprayed with oil, losing their color.

Two new recruits, like snails, pushed a 400-pound foam barrel forward, but it was too slow. The barrel, burned by crude oil on the asphalt, was firmly stuck to the ground—full of urgency and helplessness. However, a squad leader running past with a bunch of heavy equipment saw this and, without sparing a moment for comfort, cursed harshly:

"Move it faster for me! They’re waiting for rescue over there!"

The two new recruits, tears streaming down, let out a loud shout and pushed the barrel even harder.

Nobody cared about their fragility.

Tonight, Dalian New Port did not believe in tears.

Let alone tears, it didn’t even believe in blood.

Dump trucks came for fire extinguishing, but the fire was too frightening, the drivers were afraid to drive forward.

Could the trucks with fuel tanks withstand such heat?

A big man simply charged up, jumped on the pedal of the leading truck, and roared, "Listen up, I’m The King Kong, deputy chief of the Dalian Fire Brigade! As long as I’m alive, you’ll be too! Follow my command! Turn around, back up, stop when I tell you, and reverse when I say!"

The deputy chief took the lead, and the cadres began to follow suit. Whenever a convoy arrived, someone would climb on the truck and direct it.

Barricades of dirt were built up, one after another.

...

"Drip."

"Drop."

In the midst of the fire, the passage of time was as slow as two drops of water trailing from the back of a fire truck.

But, eventually, it did land.

Who knows how many people gradually arrived at the scene.

"Commander Fang, the Shenyang Detachment is also here!"

"Leadership calls for you and Paotai Mountain to retreat and regroup in the back for a while!"

Fang Huai removed his air mask without a hose, the heat surged from the front line towards him.

He tilted his head and glanced at the time—it was already three o’clock in the morning.

He picked up the two-way radio and took a deep breath.

"Understood."

After saying that, he reached out, patted Zhao Jinchen who was lying on the ground, clutching the water gun without moving. He scanned the surrounding and yelled in a hoarse voice:

"Let’s go! Shenyang is here to take over! Withdraw!"

The entirety of Second Squadron was in a lying position, the Changsha Special Division 1 nearby was the same. Not that they couldn’t stand up, but in the places where they could, there was no breathable air left.

The air above one and a half meters was completely consumed by the fire, and it wasn’t until nearly half an hour later, when the fire had died down a little, that there was some space to breathe.

Everyone had been lying there for hours; not to mention their bodies, even their brains were numb. When Fang Huai gave the order, no one moved.

"Let’s go! Shift change!!"

After Fang Huai shouted several times, everyone finally came to their senses and then it was a collective turnover, accompanied by moaning.

"Damn... it’s broken, my back is broken!"

"Wait, stand up slowly!"

Everyone turned over in various ways before they finally managed to get up slowly.

"Leave the water gun position to them! Start moving the vehicles!"

After Fang Huai spoke, he too moved his body a couple of times before slowly jogging in the direction of the command post.

Along the way, some positions had already changed guard.

Many fire trucks were already emitting blue smoke and were still spraying water. This time, it seemed that many trucks would need to be repaired or replaced.

Passing by the position of the Paotai Mountain Squadron, the nearby streetlamp poles had been bent by the fire and were drooping weakly. Ahead, there was still fire flowing, but it wasn’t roaring anymore.

Two soldiers walking towards the command post for a rest saw the bent lamp post, and one couldn’t help but proudly laugh:

"Squad leader, we’re too awesome. The streetlamp pole has collapsed, and we haven’t."

Fang Huai smiled as well and patted the soldier on the shoulder as he passed by: "Impressive!"

The soldier jumped in surprise but, seeing Fang Huai’s retreating figure, he wasn’t entirely appreciative of the praise.

"Damn, squad leader, he’s that... freak, right?"

"Damn right, it’s him! The Commander Fang who ran around different positions on the fire scene for five hours! Without them tonight, we’d definitely be done for! Definitely!"

Fang Huai heard them ahead.

He really wanted to say: even without me, you wouldn’t have been finished.

But perhaps no one would believe it.

With that thought, the command was just ahead.

It was noisy with people’s voices.

"Sir, we now have several large tanks under control! We must clean up the sea surface! The polluted area has already reached 50 square kilometers; we need to allocate some manpower to control the pollution!"

In the crowd, a figure with hands behind his back was encircled by people, listening to the report and slowly nodding:

"Hmm, we firmly must not allow the oil pollution to reach the open sea or the Bohai Sea! The ocean is a shared resource of the world, and we in China are a great nation with duty and responsibility. The municipal government must prioritize the ecological governance of the sea in the near future!"

Speaking, that figure saw Fang Huai, smiled at him, and motioned him over.

"Little Fang is back? Come over."

Fang Huai approached, stood straight, raised his hand, and saluted.

"Sir! Mission accomplished without disgrace!"

The senior leader who had assigned him the task had actually arrived; this was unexpected for him.

People around him, seeing the smile that the leader displayed towards this young Deputy Commander Fang, felt a surge of envy in their hearts.

But, the leader knew how to recognize talent.

Commander Little Fang tonight was like an iron man, rushing back and forth through the raging fire, tightening each line of defense, and every crisis caused by the continuous explosions was solved one by one by him, truly a firefighting hero.

The leader expressed his satisfaction: "Good, performing better each time!"

Leader Liu, standing beside, also smiled.

"Little Fang, I think my prediction last year was correct. This year, I’m afraid you might have to be commended by the ministry again!"

Fang Huai pursed his lips.

The tension of the inferno had not yet subsided.

"Sir! Let us take on the task in Qinghai! Just got warmed up on the front line, might as well soak in the sea to cool down!"

This fire could be called a miracle, but he had heard in his previous life that it still resulted in the loss of a soldier, Zhang Liang, from the battle duty support team, who was swept into the oil spill area by the waves at dawn.

He had to get people pulled out.

But, Leader Liu laughed again.

"Look at him, leader, this kid can’t sit still! Just came out from the fire scene, and now he wants to rush into the sea! You were concerned about him, now you see, right? He’s in high spirits! Afraid that he hasn’t earned enough merits yet!"

The senior leader seemed to recall something and said:

"Little Fang."

Fang Huai immediately stood at attention again: "Present!"

The senior leader turned with hands behind his back, smiling faintly.

"I’ve heard, your unit is about to make changes?"