Chapter 38 Each Sets Off
The departure dates for the two teams from both squads naturally had to be the same, both on the morning of June 21st.
The busy activity along the riverbank continued unabated for a day and a half.
No one had any experience, and the work on and under the water was fraught with difficulties. However, with a state-of-the-art waterproof reconnaissance drone, they were able to thoroughly investigate the land conditions of a 20-kilometer stretch of river and the underwater conditions of 40 bridge piers.
"The bridge piers are still very stable overall, and there is probably no need to drive new piles, which will save a lot of work."
Zhao Bohan's fingers flew across the keyboard, and the detection report on the tablet was already five pages long.
Liu Mingzhe glanced at it and found the title clear and the combination of text and images to be quite professional.
But that's just what it looks like; they're not actually engineering soldiers!
“The bridge piers are still okay, but so many sections of the bridge deck have collapsed…” he said in a low voice.
The Lianshi Fenghe Bridge is 1 kilometer long and is a type of concrete box girder bridge that was very common before the apocalypse. It has 34 spans, with each span spaced about 30 meters apart.
Over the years, wind and rain have eroded the bridge, causing it to break and collapse in many places. This place was also a battlefield at the beginning of the apocalypse and just a month ago.
They even blew up this bridge once during the war!
Nine spans of the bridge collapsed completely in the middle section.
The bridge abutments on both sides, which connect to the riverbank, have been submerged because the water level of the Feng River has risen too much compared to before the apocalypse.
The difficulty of building this bridge made Liu Mingzhe very apprehensive.
"If we really want to build a bridge, the main force will definitely be the engineering team."
Has our plan been submitted to headquarters? Did the Commander-in-Chief approve it? What about the architectural planning department?
Although Liu Mingzhe was determined to do whatever his superiors said, he didn't ask any questions or think about anything else.
But perhaps it was too hot and people were too irritable, or perhaps the new leader was genuinely calm and gave people the courage to speak the truth, so he asked the question that had been bothering him.
Do they have support?
Chen Yuezhou did not answer immediately.
The commander-in-chief's attitude toward the matter was ambiguous. He said, "The idea is good. If we have enough manpower and resources, we can do it." And that was the last thing he said.
Chen Yuezhou personally approached the headquarters of the Architectural Planning Department and explained the plan. They treated a group leader with utmost respect, but only replied:
"We really don't have enough manpower or heavy equipment, so let's talk about it later."
Chen Yuezhou answered Liu Mingzhe after 10 seconds: "The plan has been submitted, and we have the support."
However, Liu Mingzhe had spent half his life practicing the art of "reading between the lines," so how could he not see the intricacies and difficulties of this matter?
He couldn't help but wipe away the sweat under the scorching sun.
The new regimental commander's first three initiatives were somewhat misguided and rushed.
......
When Yang Suning heard about what Chen Yuezhou was going to do, he was stunned for a long time.
He truly hadn't intended to forge a new path, but...
"Finding the strongholds of the Fallen Insects is within our scope of responsibility, but is building bridges and roads something he should be concerned with?"
Can he fix it?
"You're stretching your arm that far out, be careful it breaks!" a teammate scoffed.
It was the same squad leader who had been smirking during his team meeting yesterday, named Xu Feng.
"He probably knew that he was a defector from the new base, had no connections, and was not well received, so he was eager to do something to make a name for himself."
"With so many ideas and such a knack for experimenting, Grandpa would probably have loved her if she were still alive."
Although Yang Ying did not attend the group meeting, she caught a glimpse of Chen Yuezhou from afar yesterday.
She suddenly lost all malice towards him! Instead, she felt a little sorry for the man.
At this moment, she could still vaguely see those tall figures on the riverbank, and couldn't help but lean against the passenger window and watch with a smile for a while.
However, feeling a gust of wind carrying sand on her face, she immediately became alert and shouted to the car in front:
"It's getting windy, are we going or not? We don't want to run into another sandstorm!"
This desolate, run-down place, this terrible climate! How many kilograms of sand has she ingested in just one month?
Indeed, it was time to set off. Yang Suning snapped out of his reverie and ordered, "Let's go."
Two off-road vehicles, which are considered very new and sturdy among the existing vehicles at the base, were driven onto the main road.
Yang Ying glanced westward again and rolled up the car window.
"The Stars team actually headed west. The west is even more desolate. Are there any Fallen Insects there?" she asked the team member in the driver's seat.
"During the major offensives in May, there was indeed a group of insects coming from the west, but their numbers were not large."
"Maybe it's just a matter of luck, who knows?" the team member replied.
The two cars drove at a leisurely pace for a while. Xu Feng, while driving, idly chewed on the name "All-Star Team" twice and chuckled.
"That name sounds so feminine! It actually suits them quite well."
The Chilong team found traces of the Fallen Insects the very next day.
"Deploy the drone and search that county ahead." Yang Suning put his noise-canceling headphones back on.
"Alright!" Xu Feng crossed his legs and replied with a relaxed smile.
The All Stars team, whose names were mocked for being too feminine, didn't have it as easy as they did.
The team traveled west for two days, then left their vehicle in the poplar forest and crossed the river with only their equipment.
This is further upstream, where the river is nearly 300 meters wide and the current is extremely rapid!
Chen Chuan and his deputy swam across first, pulled the rope, and the rest of the people climbed the rope and moved across in the water.
After crossing the river, the team hiked south for two days, entering the deep mountains.
"Why did we end up in this godforsaken place? Even the Fallen Insects couldn't stand this suffering!" The machine gunner in Gao Chenglin's team, covered in blood blisters from the bites, muttered with blank eyes.
"Lie down properly!" Yu Shuang pressed his head back into the bushes.
Several tentacles were faintly visible through the gaps in the dense pine forest ahead, one of which was white!
The machine gunner's eyes widened!
There really are fallen insects!
And there are also wisdom insects!
The pale tentacles shot like lightning into the branches of the tall pine tree, snatching down a plump gray bird.
Two worker insects were dragging a rough net bag, which was already filled with many dead birds, dead squirrels, and a fawn.
They are hunting.
The pine forest floor is covered with dead branches accumulated over the years. When people walk on it, it feels like walking on clouds. When the tentacles of insects sweep across, they stir up pieces of dead branches and rotten leaves, making a loud noise.
Amidst the sound, Qi An's smallest spy drone, painted yellow-green, quietly flew onto the net.
The drone took a little effort to pry open the fawn's mouth.
Suddenly, one of the long-eyed tentacles of the apprentice priest ahead moved!
The drone immediately rolled into that sticky mouth!
The tentacle reached into the net, and the eye darted around, scanning the prey thoroughly.
The tentacles used by the worker insects for probing were also spread out, looking in all directions.
The group of three insects paused for a moment.
The people lying in the bushes didn't dare to move and held their breath.
But the procession moved forward again a moment later, the nets still dragging on the ground, making a dull "whoosh, whoosh" sound.
Ten minutes later, machine gunner Kobayashi finally dared to let out a long breath.
"How did you know there were Fallen Insects here, Captain?" Xiao Lin asked Yu Shuang, his voice still low but filled with excitement.
Chen Chuan and his vice-captain also opened their eyes wide with curiosity.
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