With the help of the officers and soldiers of the military sub-district stationed in Licheng, it was not until two o'clock in the afternoon that the police moved most of the affected villagers to the main urban area. After the village cadres counted the number of people, it was found that a total of 23 people in the five villages were missing. Du Deyong was tired and hungry, but after hearing the news, he casually stuffed a handful of broken biscuits into his mouth, grabbed a bottle of mineral water and went out with a few policemen.

In the midst of lightning and thunder, the rain poured down again. Du Deyong looked up at the gray sky and couldn't help but curse in a low voice. A police officer wearing rainproof glasses patiently searched around, and when he rounded the corner of a house, the officer pointed to the water and shouted, "Brigade Du." ”

Du Deyong followed his fingers and looked at it, only to see a figure leaning against the crack in the corner of the wall, but the posture was head and foot, and it was clearly dead. Up close, this person was about 50 years old, an ordinary rural woman. Du Deyong and another police officer dragged the body onto the assault boat, and looked at the ocean-like water, and their hearts became colder and colder. More than 10 hours have passed since the levee burst last night, and there is no high ground to hide in the plains.

After another two hours of searching, a total of four bodies were found. The remaining 19 are still alive and dead. Du Deyong ordered the corpses of the villagers to be brought back, and then sailed the assault boat to the place where the embankment had burst, only to see that the mouth of the embankment there had been completely cracked, and the boiling water was pouring down like a Hukou waterfall. After going around to the side and taking a closer look, Du Deyong realized that these embankments were only painted with a layer of cement on the perimeter, and the inside was not a solid wall of reinforced concrete at all, but a light building material such as hollow bricks.

Back in the bureau, Tan Jialin, Zhu Jiaying and other leaders were all standing at the door of the conference room, and everyone's faces were full of solemnity. Directly opposite them, on the assault boat, the bodies of two police officers were tightly wrapped around a little boy of four or five years old. The child's limbs were stiff, his belly bulging high, and he stared blankly at the thunder and lightning sky.

Du Deyong's heart was sour, and he sat on the ground weakly. Du Dezhong sighed, pulled him up closely, and asked in a low voice, "How is the situation over there?" ”

Du Deyong couldn't help but burst into foul language: "Fuck the Yijian Group, it's all a tofu scum project." ”

None of the officials present were stupid. Although this heavy rain was caught off guard, such a serious flood was formed in such a short period of time, which is naturally inseparable from the construction of the Yijian Group that undertook the construction of the Riyue Lake embankment project in the east of the city. But it's strange to think about it, why didn't the ring levee of the lake burst when it flooded, but the outer part of the village, near the edge of the village, collapsed first.

Du Dezhong's heart was shocked, and he glanced sideways at Bao Huiyan. Bao Huiyan also thought of this, and shook her head with a pale face, as if she was responding to Du Dezhong's speculation that it was too terrifying, and it was not very likely to be established.

The main urban area is slightly higher, and the water in various places is only up to the feet and necks. Secretary Chen had already called the person in charge of Yijian Group, and the rescue team sent by Su Xu was also racing against time on the road. But after waiting for an hour, Ke Zhengliang, Shi Huabiao and others were late. Secretary Chen glanced around, but Xu Junlin did not come with him.

Seeing the pale faces of the leaders of Licheng, Ke Zhengliang rubbed his hands apologetically and said, "I'm sorry, there are traffic jams everywhere." ”

Tan Jialin rebuked with a fierce voice: "Ke Zhengliang, you are responsible for the flood in the east of the city and the dead people!" ”

No one expected that Tan Jialin didn't even say a word of greeting, and opened his mouth to be such a stern opening sentence. Ke Zhengliang was stunned, Shi Huabiao was also stunned, and the middle-level leaders who followed behind Ke Zhengliang changed their faces even more, and they looked at each other one by one. Tan Jialin didn't say another word, turned around and entered the conference room, Ke Zhengliang stood in the rain for a few seconds, and then followed in with a strange expression.

Du Deyong walked into the conference room in front of Du Dezhong and projected the photos he had taken on the big screen. Tan Jialin glanced at Ke Zhengliang and said, "What else do you have to say?" ”

Ke Zhengliang pursed his lips tightly and said tepidly: "Secretary Tan, at this juncture, I don't want to say anything to shirk responsibility. However, most of the construction of similar projects adopt such building standards. We can only blame our bad luck for catching up with this once-in-a-century bad weather. ”

Tan Jialin, who is usually gentle and elegant, became like an angry lion today, glaring at Ke Zhengliang angrily and saying, "Once in a century? When nothing happened, he made a big announcement, saying that he could resist all natural disasters, and when something happened, he said that this rain was a once-in-a-century event, Ke Zhengliang, how do you let me explain to the villagers in Licheng? ”

Ke Zhengliang was speechless, and could only look at Zhu Jiaying and Sun Xingye for help. But at this juncture, no one wants to say a word for Yijian Group. Outside the conference room, thick lightning flashed, followed by a series of rapid and violent explosions. Du Dezhong sighed and said, "Now is not the time to hold accountable. Secretary Tan, District Mayor Zhu, let's focus on how to rescue and disaster relief. ”

Tan Jialin barely controlled his anger and sat down with a straight face. The rest of the people also sat down one after another, first contacting the Meteorological Bureau to ask about the weather conditions in the next few days. Tan Jialin couldn't trust the local meteorological department in Licheng, so he directly contacted the Suxu Meteorological Bureau. The office director over there shared the cloud map information with Li Cheng's side, and explained with a solemn expression: "Secretary Tan, comrades, judging from the satellite cloud map, I am afraid that the bad weather will last for three to five days. The clouds are too thick, hot and cold air currents converge overhead, and the rain is only expected to get heavier. ”

After listening to the weather briefing from the Meteorological Bureau, Zhu Jiaying dialed the person in charge of the Water Conservancy Bureau again. The phone was played, and the sound of crackling rain and whistling wind came over. The voice of the person in charge of the Water Conservancy Bureau was intermittent: "Secretary Tan...... We are now ...... Check the situation of the embankments along the Tuo River one by one...... There was no problem with the embankment around the main town, but the section of the river near the town of Houling appeared...... Small notch...... Yes, yes, it's already considered a small burst...... Secretary Feng and Mayor Lu are organizing cadres at the village and town levels to close the gap......"

Officers and men of the troops involved in the emergency rescue and disaster relief also called, saying that the Taohuaxian Mountain had become a hidden danger again, and that the water was rushing to the urban area with a large amount of sediment and tree branches, and that the original aqueduct had lost its guiding role. Tan Jialin Huo Ran got up, glanced at Du Dezhong and Bao Huiyan, and said, "Inform the police officers in the main city and rush to the west of the city." There's going to be a big problem over there, and the whole city is finished. ”

Du Dezhong nodded and stood up with Bao Huiyan. As soon as Xie Heping wanted to get up, Tan Jialin turned around and said, "Old Xie, you are old, don't go over." Organize the comrades of the Letters and Visits Bureau of the Bureau of Justice, and I will leave the work of order and guidance in the main urban area to you. ”

Xie Heping saluted and said solemnly, "Yes." ”

Walking out of the door of the conference room, Tan Jialin looked at Ke Zhengliang meaningfully and said, "Mr. Ke, Yijian Group also has hundreds of workers in Licheng, organize it and atone for your sins." ”

After Tan Jialin left, Zhu Jiaying began to distribute the work of the rest of the officials. All other work has been suspended, and all manpower and material resources have been devoted to emergency rescue and disaster relief. The personnel of Yijian Group are coordinated by Li Yongzhong, deputy director of the district government office. Li Yongzhong was the mayor of Houxia Town, and he already had the ability to take charge of himself, and although the leadership of Yijian Group was not easy to call, ordinary workers were still willing to listen to the command.

Li Yongzhong's words are also very realistic: "Now the situation is critical, all the people present are gentlemen, I don't want to talk nonsense, and you don't want to hear it." If we can't control the water, we can't keep Licheng, and we can't survive. It's the man's guy who picked up and followed me, from Chengguan Town to the east of the city, all of them were handed over to us. ”

Some workers are still complaining in private, saying that disaster relief is your government's business, so what are we going to do with the people? Li Yongzhong was not angry, glanced at him calmly, and asked, "Who else thinks like this?" ”

No one spoke, but the expressions of a small group of workers already expressed their meaning. It is no wonder that most of the workers are from the vicinity of Tuobin Provincial City, and they do not have much affection for the local people of Licheng. Li Yongzhong said expressionlessly: "Of course there is nothing wrong with you thinking like this. But I'll just tell you one thing, the big water doesn't have long eyes, and it stares at the government's people drowning. ”

When the workers with petty emotions think that this is indeed true, and if they continue to talk crookedly, I am afraid that their old fellows will also look down on themselves. Li Yongzhong saw that everyone's thoughts were unified, and immediately briefly described the current situation, and assigned these hundreds of people into different teams, each responsible for the entrance and exit at both ends of a street.

There is only one moat in the city, and it is still a small tributary left over from the construction of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal during the Sui Dynasty. Expecting this small river to dredge the water flow of Peach Blossom Fairy Mountain is a whimsical and foolish dream. But in addition, the city is full of buildings and construction sites, which can no longer effectively prevent the flash floods from the west from continuing to approach the subsidence area in the east of the city. Once the Riyue Lake in the subsidence area of the east of the city bursts, it means that the Tuohe dam will have to withstand more than three times the impact of the water flow, and it is only a matter of time before the dam bursts completely.

Li Yongzhong led more than 100 people to the vicinity of Wantong Market in Chengguan Town, which is only three kilometers away from Chengjia New Village and only takes 15 minutes to walk. Cheng Liping's parents stood on the balcony, and on the TV in the house, the Licheng News Station was constantly broadcasting the latest information on the flood and the emergency notice from the district government. Dad looked melancholy, sighed and said, "What's going on in the past two years, our Licheng has never been peaceful." ”

My mother also sighed helplessly: "I can't even live an old age, this life is really difficult." ”

Dad looked sideways downstairs, at the door of the hardware store, where two men in blue overalls were still sitting, glancing at his house from time to time. It was someone arranged by the government to monitor whether his son had returned, and the father knew it a few months ago. However, Dad's eyes did not stay on them, because his wife was timid, and he was afraid that he would frighten her if he said it.