What is undercurrent?

First of all, flood control dams are made of earth and rocks and are not as strong as people think.

Not to mention the solidity of earth and stone buildings in this era, even the solidity of Ouyang Rong's concrete dams in his previous life could not be completely sealed.

Once the water level rises or the flood peak approaches, the huge water pressure will seep into the dam through some tiny cracks that cannot be found on ordinary days.

This then forms an undercurrent everywhere, which is called "pipe surge".

Once the undercurrent surge continues and gathers, the dam may collapse.

Therefore, there is an idiom: a thousand-mile embankment collapses in an ant nest.

This is something Ouyang Rong must be on guard against.

When Ouyang Rong led his men to rush down Longbei Mountain, they rushed to Di Gong Gate.

The left-behind officials and craftsmen on the embankment near the sluice are already in a hurry.

"How's it going!"

Ouyang Rong quickly crossed the road where the crowd spontaneously separated and rushed to the front road.

"Mingfu!" A long-term official said anxiously:

"There must have been a mudslide in the nearby mountains, and villages may have been washed away. Just when the wind blew, a big wave rolled up a large number of trees and bricks, and they all hit the dam!

"The most terrible thing is that some of them still managed to survive and hit the sluice gate."

Another official with a calmer face answered and said to Ouyang Rong, who had a frown on his face:

"An old craftsman surnamed Chen said that he found two places on the entire gate and dam where pipe surges seemed to be occurring. There were undercurrents and vortices in the water, and there must be cracks.

"One is near the main gate of the sluice, and the other is on the left half, near Longbei Mountain..."

Ouyang Rong murmured: "Guan Yong...two places..." He raised his head suddenly and said, "Chief Chen, go and call the craftsmen."

Soon, several experienced craftsmen were brought over.

"Take me to see the location of Guanyong."

Ouyang Rong's expression remained unchanged and he ordered without any hesitation.

Under the leadership of the craftsman surnamed Chen and others, Ouyang Rong quickly located two locations where undercurrents may be occurring.

Ouyang Rong made a quick decision and said to everyone:

"First block the pipe surge at the main gate of the sluice! Concentrate all your efforts to protect the sluice!"

"Mingfu, look at the flowers appearing on the water surface, the gap in the other place seems to be more serious..."

"The sluice is the core of the Dickong sluice. It is located in the middle section and has mostly wooden structures. It is the most vulnerable part of the entire sluice. Once the gate collapses, it can cause the entire dam to breach, with disastrous consequences."

Ouyang Rong analyzed calmly, then turned around and ordered:

"But there are many of us. Let's go and gather people. Let's do a two-pronged approach first. Drop sandbags in both places at the same time, fill them with gravel, and disinfect the water! Stop the pipe surge!"

Ouyang Rong turned his head, wiped a handful of rain off his face, and said decisively:

"Ah Shan, bring the main force of the Minyong Team with me. Let's go to the main gate to block the entrance first!

"He Changli, Craftsman Chen... you stay here and throw sand and rocks into the water to stop the pipe surge!

"Women and children, villagers delivering food and clothing, and other unrelated people should evacuate the dam first and are not allowed to surround the gate, causing congestion and hindering the transportation of sandbags..."

The current situation is extremely urgent.

Under the continuous rising and turbulent water in Yunmengze, the piping surge may expand at any time, causing a larger-scale breach with disastrous consequences.

However, a certain young county magistrate issued precise orders one after another, and everyone seemed to have found a backbone, their spirits were shaken, and they all took orders.

Act separately and race against time.

Ouyang Rong and his party first rushed to the main gate of the central sluice of the dam to assess the situation and locate the location of the piping surge.

"Look, it's right here!" Some people shouted.

I saw below the dike, strong winds and high waves, beating against the dike wall.

Somewhere on the water surface, only flowers and sand were gushing out, all indicating that the cracks in the dam below were being penetrated and washed by the rapid water flow.

Ouyang Rong and other people who stayed on the gate picked up bamboo poles and worked together to wave away debris and debris on the water for the heroes who were about to enter the water.

After a while, Liu Ashan and other ten young and strong men who were the best at water skills among the people's brave team took off their shirts one after another. Regardless of the rapid waves below, they each carried bamboos and wood, carrying fishing nets, and jumped into the water one after another.

The water was turbulent, and Liu Ashan and other water-loving men barely managed to keep their bodies steady and swam one after another to the position designated by Ouyang Rong on the shore.

Someone dived down to insert the pole.

Someone spread out and laid nets.

On the sluice, some people began to drop sandbags and gravel that had been prepared one after another to disinfect the water.

Fortunately, Ouyang Rong made preparations in the past few days and made corresponding arrangements with the People's Volunteer Team.

Now that the crisis was looming, I took action immediately, managed to proceed in an orderly manner, and did not panic...

Through the efforts of Liu Ashan and other ten men who jumped into the water, and the cooperation of everyone on the shore.

About half an hour later.

Bamboo and wooden poles are inserted in an orderly manner and at short intervals on the underwater river bed.

Large fishing nets were spread out among the wooden poles,

Together, the two temporarily formed a semicircular underwater space.

This "semicircle" covers the sluice embankment and surrounds the main gate where the undercurrent occurs.

If you just insert the pole fence, it will not be stable.

But on the dam, Ouyang Rong led the young men who stayed behind, and they were constantly throwing the sandbags and gravel they had stored into the semicircular space below.

As the saying goes, everything is difficult at the beginning,

However, due to the existence of the "semi-circular" cover surrounded by wooden piles and fishing nets, the turbulent undercurrent of water waves did not wash away the sandbags and gravel that initially sank to the bottom of the water.

One after another, they were blocked in this designated underwater space, gradually filling it up.

Soon, the water potential, which was originally very rough, slowly diminished as the sinking sandbags and other heavy objects were filled in.

After the arrangement was completed, Liu Ashan and ten other brave men came ashore with the support of bamboo poles stretched out from the embankment, like loaches.

They didn't rest for a moment, turned around and cooperated with Ouyang Rong and others, continuing to throw sandbags and gravel toward the semicircular water surface below.

After half a stick of incense, finally, the turning of flowers and sand on the water surface quietly disappeared, and the original calmness returned.

On the dam, Ouyang Rong and others temporarily put down the sandbags they held in their hands, wiping sweat on the backs of their hands and looking at each other.

Without saying a word, Liu Ashan dropped his mantle, jumped into the water like a flying fish, and dived to the bottom of the river. After a while, he emerged from the water with a "plop" and waved one hand to everyone on the gate with a look of joy.

Most of the sandbags were filled with earth and rocks under the water, which steadily suppressed the piping caused by the gaps.

The danger of piping at the main gate of this sluice has been contained!

Ouyang Rong and the people's brave team relaxed their shoulders and exhaled with joy.

However, when Liu Ashan was brought to the sluice, Ouyang Rong looked serious and turned around and said:

"There is one more place, let's go and work together!"

Ouyang Rong led Liu Ashan and the people's brave team, immediately packed up their things, rushed to the crowd gathered on the other side of the gate dam, and rushed to support.

"How are you doing here?"

The person in charge here is a senior official named He. Because he has always been relatively calm among his colleagues, Ouyang Rong asked him and the old craftsman Chen to be responsible for disinfecting the water here and temporarily curbing the flow of pipes.

After they have dealt with the main gate of the sluice, which has a higher priority, they can allocate main support.

"Mingfu, something is wrong."

He Changli turned his head, and his first words made the hearts of everyone who came there sink.

"What's wrong?"

Together with his colleagues, He Changli threw a bag of sand and gravel into the water. He pointed at the rapid waves hitting the dam wall below and said:

"Mingfu, we have thrown hundreds of sandbags, and the water below is invisible to the naked eye."

Ouyang Rong frowned and turned to look at Liu Ashan.

The latter stepped forward with a tacit understanding, jumped into the water with two brave men, and braved the wind and waves to dive to the bottom.

But soon, three people came ashore one after another, bringing bad news to everyone who was already worried.

"Sir, it's not good. There is a deep ditch right below this pipe. All the sandbags, earth and rocks that were thrown down have filled the ditch."

Everyone's heart sank.

Ouyang Rong frowned and asked about the depth of the ditch. Liu Ashan looked thoughtful. After a while, he said a few words in a voice that only Ouyang Rong could hear, which seemed to be a rough analogy.

Everyone saw that the young county magistrate frowned even more.

Doesn't seem to be good news.
To be continued...