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墨書 Inktalez
I followed the direction of Xuanhua's finger and, to my surprise, noticed several rooftops nearby where people were standing. I couldn't make out their faces, but they were all shouting. In the distance, I could see a two-story building, its lower half completely submerged, with several people on the second floor jumping and waving their arms.
I couldn't see any further; the water around the speedboat was rushing violently. Nearby, several houses had lost all trace of their rooftops, and all I could see were people standing in the water, surrounded by debris like branches and planks swept away by the swift current.
This was bad! Although the rain had stopped, the floodwaters were still rising rapidly. I suddenly realized that if we didn't act quickly to rescue those trapped, there was a high risk of them being swept away by the flood.
We had to start the rescue immediately and transfer people onto the boats. I felt a surge of urgency.
At that moment, my radio crackled to life. "Company Commander! Report your situation!" It was the voice of the Deputy Chief of Staff.
I didn't have time to report slowly; the situation was critical. I tossed the radio to Sheng Xiong. "You take over!"
I turned and shouted to one of the Assault Boats behind me, "Follow me! Spread out and get people onto the boats! The ones in front keep moving forward to rescue those ahead—don't stop or block the way! Leave the nearby ones for the boats coming from behind! Pass it down!"
I patted Fatty on the back, pointed at the distant building, and headed over. The boats behind me followed closely, and it seemed my orders had been relayed. I turned to see more boats arriving behind us splitting off to begin rescuing those stranded on rooftops.
The swift floodwaters made rescue operations extremely difficult. The surface was littered with branches and debris from houses swept away by the flood. Speedboats were easier to control than Assault Boats; while Speedboats were larger and more manageable, Assault Boats had more power but were harder to steer. The soldiers on board could only approach each "island" cautiously using paddles and bamboo poles before jumping onto rooftops to transfer people onto their boats. This process was slow and cumbersome. My Speedboat served as a scout and pathfinder, moving ahead through what remained of the village until I could no longer see any "islands."
As I moved forward, I glanced around. Several rooftops had already been submerged; people's feet were no longer visible. At first, many rats had been hiding on the roofs—dark clusters that were quite disgusting. Once the water rose, a wave or two swept most of them away, but some even crawled onto people's legs, causing panic among those trapped as they stomped their feet in fear. Those that fell into the water rolled around before disappearing completely; it seemed that all life in this flood was so fragile!
I directed two Speedboats and one Assault Boat to stop beneath that building, urging them to speed up in transferring people. The building likely housed many seeking refuge—mostly women and children—while a few soldiers below hesitated to jump onto the boats, slowing down our efforts.
My anxiety grew because I knew that rural buildings often had shallow foundations made from bricks rather than reinforced concrete; if they soaked for too long, they could easily collapse—especially with so many people still inside.
I instructed Xuanhua and Sheng Xiong to prepare ropes for rescuing anyone who fell into the water while telling Fatty to reduce our speed as we drifted back about ten meters downstream from the building. This way, if it collapsed suddenly, I'd have some space and time to rescue anyone who fell.
Better safe than sorry! Once everything was ready, I looked up at the building where three or four people were still waiting to get onto our boat. Suddenly, I noticed it sway slightly—it seemed to tilt.
"Ah!" came a scream from above. "Don't panic! Hurry up!" I shouted.
I watched them nervously; each second felt like an eternity as my heart raced in my throat. Please don't collapse now—I silently prayed.
Fortunately, just as everyone was transferred onto our boat, the building held firm.
Those few minutes felt unbearable; it was as if a heavy weight had been lifted from my chest. I ordered Jinghe to continue moving forward; fearing we might miss someone, I urged Fatty to push our boat ahead for another five hundred meters or so until we saw nothing but floodwaters with no signs of any buildings left before finally instructing Fatty to change direction for another round of searching.
" Sheng Xiong " was still broadcasting over the intercom, "It seems we've already crossed the village boundary and have continued forward for quite a distance. There are no signs of affected residents nearby, so we should be in the clear..."
I impatiently snatched the intercom. "Calling, calling, this is One Continuous Long. What’s our next step? Please advise, please advise."
"Company Commander, Company Commander, please continue your patrol. Once we connect with the village leaders and confirm the situation regarding personnel relocation, we will withdraw! Please ensure that the boats carrying the villagers quickly retreat to the launch area; a Relocation Point has already been set up in City!" After repeating this twice, I saw that the boats filled with villagers were already retreating. Many soldiers were actively taking off their life jackets to give to the villagers.
Following closely behind me was an Assault Boat operated by Wu Chao. Not far behind them were only Wu Chao, a soldier, and a villager. I shouted, "Wu Chao, you keep that boat there! Check if there are any oversights; ahead is a no-man's land. You go left while I go right to take another look!"
Wu Chao responded loudly, "Understood!" The Assault Boat swiftly turned left. I instructed my partner to continue right as I prepared to make a wide circle and wait for further instructions.
Little did I know that just under 100 meters into the rightward turn, I stumbled upon a comical sight: a large tree whose base was submerged in floodwaters, leaving only its umbrella-like branches above water. Perched on one of the branches was a pig, and even more amusingly, standing on the pig's back was a local dog. The strangest part was that there was also a cat lying on top of the dog! The animals trembled in fear; upon seeing us, perhaps driven by survival instinct, they transitioned from grunting to wailing—a heart-wrenching sound that made me uncomfortable.
"I’ve never seen pigs and dogs in trees before, let alone a cat riding on a dog’s back. This is truly miraculous!" Xuanhua exclaimed beside me.
Jinghe then asked me, "Company Commander, should we rescue them?" I knew he was an animal rights advocate; he had nearly fought with Xuanhua over whether to euthanize a stray dog that had wandered into Camp. In the end, they had let the dog go free.
I felt conflicted; our orders were to evacuate the civilians, but we hadn’t evacuated their property. If we brought these animals back and people saw them, wouldn’t it seem like we were losing sight of our priorities?
After much hesitation and looking at the three-layered stack of animals in distress, I finally ordered the boat closer. After all, they were lives too; I couldn’t just watch them drown or starve without intervening.
The boat soon approached, and Xuanhua and Sheng Xiong helped drag the animals aboard. The creatures huddled together in a corner, trembling. However, Douzi seemed particularly curious about and fond of the dog; he released Pudding and embraced Yellow Dog to pet it. Pudding finally gained its freedom and squawked twice before flapping its wings and soaring above the boat, refusing to come down.
After circling around extensively, I noticed that Wu Chao and his team were waiting for us behind. As we drew closer together, I called out, "How’s it looking over there?!"
"Company Commander, nothing found!"
"Good! Stay close to my boat!" I opened the intercom again. "Calling, calling, this is Company Commander. No additional villagers have been found within the village area; please advise."
"Company Commander, proceed further toward where Mountain Flood erupted to ascertain the situation before returning."
"Understood!" I patted my partner on the back and pointed ahead as our Speedboat accelerated upstream once more.
Here we are, surrounded by mountains. Beyond the innermost mountain lies a reservoir; it must have been breached somewhere along the mountain, leading to the outbreak of a mountain flood that submerged this village.
The boat glided across the water surface of the reservoir, where the usual uneven slopes and depressions were now completely hidden beneath a flat expanse of water. I reminded Xuanhua and Sheng Xiong to keep an eye out on either side while Farmer stood behind us. I positioned myself next to Jinghe, observing the situation ahead.
After less than ten minutes of travel, the speedboat finally reached the base of the innermost mountain, where indeed there was a large breach! In a concave area of the mountain, torrents of water cascaded down like a waterfall. Perhaps heavy rain had caused the reservoir's water level to rise dramatically, resulting in this overflow!
After reporting the situation above, I instructed Fatty to turn the speedboat around. I feared someone might be swept against the nearby mountainside waiting for rescue, and I wanted to ensure nothing was overlooked. I ordered Fatty to steer the speedboat close to the mountainside as he adjusted the power to its lowest setting, allowing us to drift downstream along the mountain. Wu Chao mirrored our actions on the opposite side, searching along his own stretch.
With our hearts set on returning, we made our way back to where we had entered the water. By now it was morning, and our departure point had become unusually bustling. Military vehicles, tents, relocated villagers, and even some local vehicles crowded together at the launch site, creating quite a commotion.
Once we secured our boat, the Second Company Commander sitting high on the shore suddenly exclaimed with a grin, "Oh, look at you all! A Company Commander in particular! Out here rescuing people's property? And alive too!"
I remained silent as I let everyone disembark. It seemed we were just unlucky; as we stepped off the boat, we happened to run into the Deputy Chief of Staff inspecting each vessel for damage. He paused when he saw Sheng Xiong dragging a pig off the boat and then his expression soured when he noticed Xuanhua carrying a dog in one hand and a cat in the other.
"What the hell are you doing?! I told you to rescue people! What is this?! A joke?! Do you believe I'll deal with you right now?!"
(To be continued; more exciting developments tomorrow!)
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