Dramatic changes in the movies and TV shows

Chapter 1320 Backup Plan
"Tai Sui Mountain is a colluvial deposit formed by the continuous accumulation of rocks over thousands of years, therefore this section of the road has two fatal characteristics."

"First, the structure is loose and extremely permeable; second, the stability is extremely poor, and it could trigger a large-scale landslide at any time!"

"Consultant Lu mentioned this before. The solution is not difficult. We just need to increase the thickness and strength of the cement lining to ensure that the channel will not leak."

"At the same time, we will adopt a straightening approach, selecting the most stable bedrock layer to pass through this dangerous area in the shortest distance and at the fastest speed, reducing the time exposed to risks."

"But the problem is that there is a section of cap-shaped mountain wall here, with the top extending out like an eave, and the soil here is loose."

“Once explosives are used, there will be a major safety hazard, with the possibility of falling rocks that could damage or block the canal at any time.”

“Then we really have to blow up this mountainside!” Lin Jie decided immediately upon hearing this.

"That's what I thought too!" Remembering that in the original drama, Gu Dahai and Pan Shui were killed by falling rocks, Lin Hao immediately added:

"The rock wall here is fifteen meters thick, so don't assume that a single blast will be enough to succeed!"

"Even if the blasting is successful with increased explosives, we must be careful about the risk of collapse. Otherwise, if a collapse occurs after the construction team enters the site, who knows how many lives will be lost!"

"So after the mountain stabilizes, it's best to find an artillery shell to fire at it, or after confirming it's safe, to carry out another blast and blow off its cap!"

"Oh, right, we also need to clear away any rocks that have been loosened by the explosion or geological issues. We can only start building the canal after we've confirmed that it's safe!"

"Ah~!" Everyone was extremely surprised, not expecting that this place was so dangerous, and that the operation and construction were even more complicated.

"This is too much trouble!" Old Sun said impatiently upon hearing this.
"If you ask me, we don't need to go through all that trouble. We should just blow it up and start construction, and hurry up and finish the second phase of the project!"

However, before anyone else could speak, Lin Hao immediately retorted:

Deputy County Head Sun, please take these issues seriously and don't be careless. If a landslide occurs during construction and someone is killed, who will be responsible? If a safety accident occurs in the project, causing the construction of the Hongqi Canal to be suspended or interrupted, who will be responsible then?

"Don't forget how much the higher-ups disapproved of our construction of the Red Flag Canal. They've long wanted to interfere and try to stop us from working on it!"

“If people don’t take this issue seriously, I suggest we don’t build the canal. If someone dies, who will compensate the people of Linxian?”

Perhaps because the construction of the irrigation canal had gone too smoothly, many people present were getting restless, and Old Sun, on the other hand, had a fiery temper and a stubborn personality.

But as Lin Hao recounted the story, Old Sun lowered his head in embarrassment, and Lin Jie, seeing this, immediately said:
"Xiao Lin is right. It's already incredibly difficult for us to build this lifeline canal, so we have to be extra careful in everything we do!"

"We cannot take any problem that may affect the project lightly, otherwise the consequences would be unimaginable."

After Lin Hao poured buckets of cold water on everyone, the restless emotions of the crowd were calmed down, and then the discussion on the engineering plan began.

Shui Sheng then said, "I know this place; the rocks here are very hard!"

"Based on my past experience breaking rocks, to solve this problem in one go, we need to drill at least ten blast holes, and each blast hole requires a ton of explosives!"

Li Mingyang exclaimed in surprise, "Wouldn't that require ten tons of explosives?"

Lin Jie said with surprise and doubt, "Shuisheng, your experience seems off. How can you have so many?"

Shui Sheng said confidently, "Secretary Lin, I'm afraid I've underestimated it!"

At this moment, the water resources bureau's calculator put down his pen and said:
"Secretary Lin, the calculations are in. To blow away a 15-meter-thick brim in one go, plus creating a 20-meter working face, the amount of explosives needed is 12,000 kilograms!"

Li Mingyang couldn't help but exclaim, "One and a half tons of explosives! That's at least twenty thousand yuan!"

Because Li Mingyang was in charge of the accounts, he didn't have much money to begin with. When he heard that twelve tons of explosives were to be used all at once, he was somewhat alarmed.

Upon hearing the accountant's demerit, Shui Sheng immediately said, "See? I underestimated it!"

The calculator laughed and said, "Shuisheng, you're amazing! I think you're almost an expert!"

"However, we calculated this, while you estimated it by sight. You're lucky if your estimate is roughly accurate!"

Lin Hao was speechless upon hearing this. He glanced at the calculator with annoyance and said, "Shui Sheng is indeed talented, but do you really think two tons of explosives is 'just about right'?"

"Hehe~!" The group chuckled, finding it all quite outrageous—a full two tons of explosives.

At this moment, Lin Hao continued, "The altitude of Tai Sui Mountain is over 1,200 meters, while our irrigation canal is at 460 meters, hanging right halfway up the mountain, and it just so happens to be Maoyan Mountain!"

"The terrain here is steep, and just climbing up is already very dangerous. We still have to carry out construction work up there!"

"Therefore, the team going to drill the blasting holes this time must be even more qualified than before!"

Upon hearing this, Lin Jie immediately said, "Then we'll have to send Shui Sheng's youth commando team. Da Hai, you all need to be careful!"

Shui Sheng immediately assured him, "Don't worry, Secretary Lin, leave it to us!"

Under Lin Hao's repeated instructions, the project progressed very smoothly. After three days of construction, all twelve blast holes were dug and explosives were being installed.

Lin Jie also borrowed a 76mm cannon from the army under the pretext of a live-fire exercise, and conducted artillery training on the mountain.

"Shhh~~~~!" After whistling, Lin Hao shouted loudly:

"Except for the person who started the fire, all unrelated personnel must retreat and find a safe place to take cover!"

Soon after, all personnel were evacuated to a safe place. The patrol team also conducted a final check and, after confirming that it was safe, waved a flag to Lin Hao.

Upon seeing the flag signal from the opposite side, Lin Hao waved his own flag and whistled. After whistling, he shouted, "Light the fire!"

"Sizzle sizzle sizzle~~~~!"

"Boom...!" The impact of twelve consecutive explosions instantly shattered the mountainside above the cap.
"Crash! Boom!" A violent roar echoed from the mountain, and then the mountain began to collapse visibly.

Before long, the protruding rock face at the top was blasted into a gentle slope. Just in case, Lin Jie immediately ordered the artillery to bombard the unstable parts of the mountain.

"Loading complete, requesting permission to fire!" the artilleryman shouted immediately.

"Release!" At this moment, Lin Jie felt as if he had returned to the era of the War of Resistance against Japan, and he had a feeling that everyone was killing Japanese devils together.

"Boom!" A grenade struck the structurally fragile mountainside, causing a secondary, large-scale collapse. If anyone happened to be below...

"Gulp~!" Old Sun swallowed hard, feeling incredibly fortunate. Luckily, he had listened to Lin Hao and made several preparations; otherwise, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

Lin Jie, who was issuing orders from the side, trusted Lin Hao even more. He was glad he had listened to him earlier; otherwise, the consequences would have been unimaginable. Lin Jie said worriedly, "Engineer Lin, should we fire a couple more shots? What if there are still unstable sections of the mountain?"

However, Lin Hao shook his head, then said seriously:
"This section of the mountain is very solid. If we bomb it again, it will only damage the mountain's structure. At most, some loose rocks will fall!"

“We’ll find a skilled team to be hoisted down the mountain and clear the loose rocks and unstable stones from the hillside!”

Lin Jie nodded upon hearing this. He was increasingly trusting Lin Hao because, so far, Lin Hao had not made a single mistake.

The next task was simple, although blasting down the mountain's ridgeline left behind a lot of rocks and rubble.

But there are more people here, so as long as there is no danger or sudden rockfalls that interfere with the construction team's work, the progress is actually very fast.

······
A month later, during his conquest of Tai Sui Mountain, Lin Hao also visited the Youth Cave.

There's not much to say about this place; it all depends on manpower. Fortunately, Lin Hao provided them with over a thousand manpower.

Armed with the best steel chisels and tools, they adopted the "segmented excavation, multi-point excavation" construction plan devised by Lin Hao.

Three months ago, Lin Hao used his precise surveying skills to mark the locations of several construction side tunnels on the mountainside.

The construction team excavated from several side tunnels simultaneously to both sides, and with three shifts working every day, the project was able to advance simultaneously on multiple work fronts.

Relying on this extremely advanced and efficient construction method, the construction time was shortened to four months.

However, Lin Hao still felt it was too slow, so after things stabilized at Tai Sui Mountain, he simply went to the front line himself.

Then, during the construction period, they secretly used their skills to help them reduce the difficulty of construction, thus shortening the project progress by a month.

After the project was completed at Taisui Mountain, Lin Hao followed the command center to the Wangjiazhuang Tunnel.

This place is different from the Youth Cave area, where the mountain foundation is solid, making construction much more difficult.

The Wangjiazhuang Tunnel is different. The problem here is that the mountain is not very solid, making tunnel construction dangerous.

Narrowing the tunnel would result in insufficient water flow, but building it according to the design would be extremely dangerous.

Lin Hao already knew the standard answer, so he directly proposed the double-hole method, which is to build the tunnel in the shape of a nostril.

This provides a support in the middle of the tunnel, ensuring its safety. However, extreme caution is still required when using explosives during construction.

While supervising the project, Lin Hao was also calculating the time. It was now March 1960, and this year would be the year with the most severe disaster.

At that time, things might turn out the same as in history, and the construction of the Red Flag Canal would be halted. Just then, Lin Jie suddenly found Lin Hao.

"Xiao Lin!" Lin Jie asked, his voice weary.

"The first phase of water supply has stabilized people's morale, but the construction of the canal is still a long way off. We are afraid that our funds and materials cannot withstand the depletion."

"You mentioned before that there was a way to reduce the amount of work, but the current situation is not optimistic. Could you tell me what that method is?"

Lin Hao remained silent for a moment, then turned his gaze to the distant mountains in the twilight.

In fact, he had already calculated it, but both methods were difficult to implement.

After thinking about it, Lin Hao decided to talk to Lin Jie about it and let him make the final decision. So Lin Hao slowly presented two options.

"Secretary Lin, there are solutions, more than one, but each has its advantages and disadvantages, and all are risky moves."

Lin Hao turned to look at Lin Jie, took out a drawing and began to analyze it:

"The first one is an ingenious plan. After my calculations, we will carry out a major operation above Yangerzhuang Village. Instead of going around the mountain, we will build an aqueduct across the valley to bring the water over from mid-air."

He gestured on the map with his hand, then pointed along the winding course of the Red Flag Canal and said:
"Doing this will shorten the main canal by nearly one-third, and it is expected to advance the time for the main canal to be fully operational by two to three months."

Lin Jie's eyes lit up instantly, and then he asked excitedly, "A few months ahead? Reduce the project by one-third!"

"But the cost is huge!" Lin Hao immediately poured cold water on the idea, then continued to explain:
"Because that aqueduct, the river section needs to be fifty or sixty meters high, and it's straight up and down, which is equivalent to building a sixty-meter-high bridge to send the water to the other side."

"It has extremely high requirements for cement and steel, the construction is high-risk and dangerous, and the cost is astronomical."

"Moreover, the main canal section that was saved will have to be repaired as a branch canal in the future. The total amount of work has not been reduced, and a huge amount of money will be spent to build a separate aqueduct!"

"Of course, the advantage is that it brings forward the water supply time, and we can also take advantage of the more than three-meter drop to build a small hydropower station with a capacity of 500 kilowatts, which can solve the electricity problem for 20,000 to 30,000 people."

Previously, the expert from Lu questioned us, saying that we were stuck at the theoretically allowed upper limit, with no room for maneuver.

Actually, this is my backup plan. If the gap between expectations and reality isn't large enough, or if unforeseen circumstances arise that we can't control, this is my contingency plan!

"But after calculation, although it was very feasible, it would inevitably require a huge investment, so I didn't mention it much!"

Lin Jie was thrilled to hear this, never expecting that Lin Hao had already prepared a backup plan.

Lin Hao didn't give Lin Jie much time to process the information, and immediately presented his second plan:

"The second one, although it's a legitimate move, will cause a bigger stir!"

"We have adopted a full-line construction mode, launching the second, third, and fourth phases of the project simultaneously."

"Will this work?" Lin Jie's breath hitched.

"It's technically feasible," Lin Hao nodded confidently.

"The construction technicians we trained passed the test in the first phase of the project and we now have a large number of qualified technicians and construction backbones."

“They already have the ability to supervise construction independently, and now they are the best seeds to be sown immediately in the new construction section.”

"Moreover, most of the subsequent projects are located in gentle slopes and hilly areas, which are much easier to construct than the tough challenges we have just overcome. If we can roll out the entire project, the progress will definitely be a leap forward."

"To put it bluntly, getting water running by May Day won't be a problem!" Lin Hao said confidently.

In the original drama, they started work in February, thinking that each person would dig one meter a day, and with 70,000 people working together, they could finish the project in three months at most, by May Day.