In the name of supernatural powers

Chapter 40 Extraordinary Democracy
Yesterday, before Brother Lu left, didn't he hand over all the documents to you, including the entire flood prevention plan, personnel roster, and material list?

Liu Qiang almost rolled his eyes. He suppressed the urge to complain and replied:
"Reporting to Platoon Leader Liang, preparations are underway. Three shifts of sentries will be on duty 24 hours a day at the main waterways and key underground river confluences, and it is expected to be completed by the 15th."

"The emergency communication lines with the local police station, water resources bureau, and three downstream townships will be tested for the first time this afternoon. The emergency evacuation routes and temporary resettlement site signs were all updated last year."

His answers were clear and complete, giving Liang Fei no chance to find fault.

Just as Lü Jinshan had predicted, it was unlikely that there would be any major problems with the flood control work under Lu Zhao's arrangement.

The timeline has been finalized. As long as we follow the plan, even if we put a dog up there, there won't be any problems.

After listening, Liang Fei frowned slightly, seemingly dissatisfied with Lu Zhao's work.

"Hmm...it sounds like everything has been arranged, but there are some things that should be added."

He drew out his words, slightly raising his chin, and said, "When we do work, we can't just follow the established procedures; we also need to adapt to local conditions and know how to be flexible. Look, the rain has started to fall, hasn't it?"

"Shouldn't we... um... add a few more temporary observation points? Or increase the frequency of patrols? Let's show the higher-ups how motivated our reinforced platoon is!"

Liu Qiang couldn't help but give him a look of disbelief, as if he were an idiot.

All the pre-set sentry posts are now determined based on past experience, and the workload is already very heavy, so the patrol frequency has to be increased temporarily.

Liu Qiang took a deep breath, trying to make his voice sound less sarcastic:
"Platoon Leader Liang, the current plan was set by Commander Lu, and we don't have the spare manpower to add more people."

Liang Fei felt somewhat embarrassed, as if his authority had been questioned, and his tone became increasingly firm:

"If you don't have enough manpower, why don't you ask other companies for help? I think you're just conservative and lack ambition!"

Liu Qiang, being young, began to speak more forcefully: "We have a thousand men on our roster, managing such a large area. The mobile company and the support company are also preparing for flood control work, and they need to cooperate with us for rotation."

Seeing that the conflict was about to escalate, Liang Fei knew that arguing with Liu Qiang would not do any good. Even if he wanted to make an example of someone, he couldn't very well target Zhang Like's nephew.

He said, "Get me a detailed schedule."

Liu Qiang was ultimately just a soldier, and could only respond by burying his head in his work.

Afterwards, Liang Fei went to inspect the reinforced platoon's offices again and visited each of the platoon's squad leaders. These people weren't as headstrong as Liu Qiang; at least they maintained a facade of harmony.

At noon, Liang Fei proposed to take the initiative to go deep into the grassroots to inspect the flood prevention work, and provided work guidance, and changed several observation posts.

For example, a certain observation post is moved fifty meters to the right.

Even when someone warned him that he was too close to the river and would be submerged when the water rose, Liang Fei ignored them.

Instead, he scolded them, "Why didn't you run away when you were submerged? You have no initiative at all."

After all that fuss, Liang Fei had practically ruined the entire flood control effort. But once he left, the soldiers at the grassroots level resumed their work as planned.

This situation applies not only to the reinforced platoon, but also to the mobile and support companies.
-
On June 7th, flood prevention work was being arranged in full swing.

At the same time, all junior officers were summoned to participate in the annual performance evaluation vote.

Because the border station is relatively small and does not have a large auditorium, these group activities are all conducted in the largest canteen.

Everyone lined up in a long queue and handed their heads to Lü Jinshan.

Lu Jinshan, on the other hand, was required to read the results aloud in person.

Personnel decisions are entirely made by higher-level departments, while the vast majority of other matters rely on self-governance. This is a result of the reforms implemented ten years ago, designed to ensure that grassroots units can operate autonomously in the event of another major catastrophe.

There is also an element of supernatural power involved, which must be considered.
"Liang Fei gets one vote."

"Mo Kun, three votes." Lu Jinshan took Zhang Like's vote and frowned slightly when he saw the name [Lu Zhao] written on it, already sensing that something was wrong.

He said, "Lu Zhao gets three votes."

A colonel is worth three votes, and the station chief is worth five votes. There are only thirty people who can vote in the entire border station. Theoretically, he only needs to win over ten people and gain the support of two colonels to gain an absolute advantage.

Previously, Zhang Like would not openly confront Lü Jinshan because, apart from performance evaluations, there were other matters that were entirely under Lü Jinshan's control.

The second officer stepped forward and handed in his vote.

"Lu Zhao received four votes."

The next few votes were all for Lu Zhao, and by the time all the company officers had cast their votes, Lu Zhao had received twenty-three votes.

There are twenty junior officers at the border station who are platoon leaders and company commanders, but not many are in charge of logistics and clerical work.

In the end, only Lü Jinshan remained. He looked at Liang Fei's fourteen votes and then at Mo Kun's six votes.

The atmosphere became somewhat eerie, and everyone was watching him.

The fear in their eyes was gone, replaced by a look of prying and probing.

Lu Jinshan cast his vote for Lu Zhao and announced, "Lu Zhao has 28 votes and is selected as this year's outstanding officer."

Everyone was taken aback, including Lu Zhao, who was also surprised.

He quickly realized that Lü Jinshan was using a strategic retreat to advance. Voting to anyone else would have resulted in a loss, but voting for himself at least preserved his authority as a leader.

At 10:00 AM, voting ended, and everyone returned to their respective posts.

The door to Lü Jinshan's office was tightly closed, and the faint sound of things being smashed could be heard coming from inside.
-
On June 8th, Platoon Leader Liang did not come to work.

It wasn't until the 9th of the following week that Liang Fei, in order to show the leadership's attention, once again went deep into the grassroots for inspection.

He arrived with great interest at several outposts that he had personally "adjusted and optimized" a few days earlier, wanting to see how his orders were being implemented.

Upon arriving at the scene, Liang Fei's expression gradually turned grim.

When the reinforced platoon saw their superior arrive, the soldiers stood at attention and saluted in a scattered manner.

"Liu Qiang!"

Liang Fei's eyes immediately locked onto Liu Qiang in the crowd.

"Tell me! What happened?"

Liu Qiang replied, "Sir, we don't have enough time to set up new outposts, and the location you chose might be flooded when the water rises."

Liang Fei's face turned ashen with anger. He roared, "The outposts were set up three days ago, how could they not be enough!"

Liu Qiang and the five soldiers present kept their heads down, as if they hadn't heard anything.

No matter how much Liang Fei shouted, they ignored him. The reinforced platoon had simply misinterpreted Platoon Leader Liang's orders, resulting in a deviation in the execution of the mission, but it did not stray from the scope of flood prevention work.

Liang Fei cursed for a long time, but no one paid any attention to him.

"This is disobeying orders! I'm going to report you! Replace you all!"

(End of this chapter)