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墨書 Inktalez
Sheng Xiong was just a rookie, and even Xuanhua, as the squad leader, had hardly seen the Deputy Chief of Staff up close throughout the year. The two of them were momentarily stunned, frozen in place like cicadas in winter.
I held onto Douzi and followed at the back. Seeing this situation made me quite uncomfortable. I stepped forward, pushing between the two, "Leader, we indeed encountered these animals while carrying out our search mission. They look pitiful, and they are also part of our hometown's property. We can't just ignore them! If there's going to be any handling, let it be me. But first, we need to settle the child; we haven't found their parents!"
I wasn't sure if the five or six-year-old child understood my words, but at that moment, Douzi suddenly started crying, drawing the Deputy Chief of Staff's attention. He stared at the child for a while, and his tone softened considerably. "Company Commander Wang, you all have worked hard. Come here, give me the child. You can rest over there for a bit, have some water and food; we have another mission coming up."
He reached out to take the child from me. Without thinking much, I patted Douzi's head and said, "Douzi, be good. Go with Uncle; he will take you to get some candy!"
Douzi looked at the Deputy Chief of Staff with suspicion while tightly clinging to my neck and refusing to go over. I had no choice but to grab the local dog from Xuanhua and hand it to him to distract Douzi. Only then did Douzi reluctantly allow himself to be taken by the Deputy Chief of Staff.
Watching their retreating figures filled me with mixed emotions. I couldn't help but wonder what would happen to the child after the flood. What if they truly became an orphan? How would they survive?
At that moment, Xuanhua bent down to release the cat. The cat landed and spun around twice before darting off somewhere. I instructed Sheng Xiong to head to the Relocation Point to find the village leader and deliver the pigs. Then I asked for a message to gather my Squad Soldiers together.
Before long, my Unit had all gathered. Old Tang from logistics had already brought back bottled water; everyone received one bottle along with some compressed biscuits.
I hurriedly greeted him and asked, "I just saw the Deputy Chief of Staff; there’s another mission coming up. You've been here; do you have any news?!"
Old Tang frowned. "I heard from a few people from different places that there seems to be a situation in that city area we passed by—Embankment—and they might want us to guard it."
I turned my head to look at the soldiers sitting in rows; some were munching on their rations while others had already laid down and fallen asleep. I muttered to myself, "If only we could rest a bit longer; this night has been too tense."
Old Tang nodded in agreement. "Yeah, giving everyone more time would ease some pressure."
Just as he finished speaking, we saw Battalion Clerk running over, shouting, "First Battalion! First Battalion! All personnel board the vehicles! All personnel board! We are departing immediately; there’s an urgent mission!"
I was taken aback; although I was mentally prepared, I hadn’t expected the order to come so quickly. The seated soldiers sprang up in a flurry; some were still gulping down water while shoving biscuits into their mouths. Those lying down were quickly roused and groggily stood up to follow along.
"Squad leaders, keep track of your people! Board according to your numbers!" With assigned seating and personnel checks in place—this system had its advantages—First Battalion's officers and soldiers were busy yet orderly as they boarded the trucks that had brought us.
Sitting in the driver's cabin with a walkie-talkie in hand, I began checking off each squad one by one as they boarded. The Squad Leaders below counted their people before climbing aboard last. After confirming everything was in order, I patted the driver on the shoulder and said, "Let's go!" Since Vehicle One's Squad Leader had another task, I became the lead officer for this vehicle.
The Company Commander and Instructor were positioned in the middle and rear on the vehicle respectively as our convoy set off down the road with great momentum.
After a while, I felt like something was missing, but I had clearly checked everything. What could it be? I furrowed my brow and thought for a long time, yet I still couldn't remember. It wasn't until my gaze casually swept across the driver's seat that I realized: Where's Pudding?! What the hell! Pudding was gone!
This really got me anxious. What the hell! Just a moment ago, it was curled up on the Speedboat, how could it have vanished in the blink of an eye?!
I rolled down the window and looked around, but there wasn't a single bird in sight. Where on earth did that little guy run off to!?
Oh well, there's no point in worrying about it now; it should know its way back. What I needed to do was think about what to do next. If Old Tang was right and there was a Gap in the Embankment, what would happen if we got onto the Embankment, and how should we respond? I pondered for a moment, but my thoughts began to wander again. Since it was my first time on the Embankment, I started to worry about potential casualties. What if I didn't make it back? What would happen to my parents? Once my mind started to drift, it was hard to rein it back in, and soon enough, I was lost in a jumble of thoughts.
Time always flies when you're lost in thought. While I was still daydreaming, our convoy had already reached its destination. As soon as I jumped out of the car and called everyone to get out, I took a look around.
The convoy hadn't stopped on the Embankment but rather on an open space behind it. However, the situation at the Embankment was dire; a section of the dam about thirty meters long had begun to collapse. The stones along the River Surface had been washed away by floodwaters, leaving only a precarious stretch of Embankment that was being battered by the rushing water. The Gap in the dam faced a village just over a kilometer downstream! Water rushed violently against the dam, with large amounts of mud mixing with floodwaters pouring into the breach. Multiple points were leaking; it was only a matter of time before the remaining section of Embankment gave way.
I gasped in shock; no wonder this was an emergency mission. I could see people on the other side urgently trying to block the Gap, but here we were completely alone—no wonder they called us over.
While I was assessing the situation, the Company Commander and Instructor arrived. They were equally taken aback by what they saw. After a brief discussion, they turned to me and said, "While requesting support, we need to do our best to block the Gap. From your company, four Units will take turns working; one Unit will fill sandbags with soil while another Unit transports them for filling! Regardless of whether we can stop it or not, we must race against time with the flood until the Technical Company arrives!"
"Understood!" I shouted along with several other Company Commanders and Instructors who had just arrived.
"Save time! All four Units start digging and filling bags immediately! No one should be idle!" I yelled as I grabbed a shovel and set off.
The vast rice fields nearby were abundant with soil; many soldiers who had just jumped out of their vehicles didn’t even assess the situation before being ordered to dig and fill bags.
Each vehicle had brought along plenty of woven bags that were now put to good use. Each Unit was assigned a section while several squads remained behind to fill bags; everyone else began frantically digging up soil—including the Company Commander and Instructor. In fact, all drivers from our convoy joined in on the digging efforts. There was no chit-chat or even a word exchanged; everyone worked tirelessly with their shovels flying up and down.
In less than ten minutes' time, we had already piled up quite a few sandbags. The Company Commander shouted, "First Company, Second Company, start carrying sandbags up to the Embankment! Third Team and Fourth Company keep digging and filling bags!"
At the sound of the Company Commander's voice, we plunged our shovels into the ground and rushed toward the pile of sandbags. Each person hoisted one bag onto their shoulders and ran towards the Embankment. The sandbags were heavy and cumbersome; thankfully, we weren't far from the Embankment itself. However, getting up there proved challenging due to mud and water making it slippery. I saw several soldiers tumble heavily down the sloped Embankment but they silently picked themselves up and continued climbing with their bags.
The remaining muddy Embankment had already been washed away by rainwater; soil packed into sandbags quickly disappeared into the Gap as floodwaters surged over them. The murky water outside rose sharply as more floodwaters poured into the breach; several spots had already opened up gaps—it just hadn’t connected yet.
In no time at all, I had made multiple trips up to the Embankment—each trip carrying at least over a hundred sandbags—but dropping them yielded little effect. Gritting my teeth, I stopped Company Commander who was still running back for more bags. "Company Commander, this isn't working! The soil near the riverbank is still too soft; it's ineffective when we throw it down!"
"What are you going to do?!" The Company Commander's eyes seemed ready to burst into flames!
"Split the team into two groups. One group will take the vehicles to dig hard soil from a distance, load it onto the trucks, and bring it back. The other group will wait here at the Embankment; this way, we can save time!"
The Company Commander thought for a few seconds before nodding. "Alright, Instructor, take the Fourth Company to dig soil from a distance. We'll handle filling the Gap!"
The soldiers quickly mobilized according to the new assignments. In less than five minutes, the Fourth Company was already on their vehicles, roaring through the rice fields towards a more distant location. Soon, the trucks came to a stop, and I saw the soldiers jump out and start digging.
Before long, the trucks began returning, stopping at the base of the Embankment. I saw that the cargo area was filled with numerous bags of hard soil. The Company Commander called out, and we all rushed to the front of the truck to drag the bags. In the end, some soldiers stood on top and tossed down bags for those below, who caught them and immediately sprinted towards the nearest Gap.
Thus, all the soldiers of the First Battalion sprang into action, working together in tight coordination with intense focus as they battled against the flood in a tug-of-war.
Time passed second by second, and before we knew it, the nearest Gap had been tightly blocked with sandbags. We had closed in on our distance from across the way; there was still about zero meters of Embankment ahead. The Company Commander ordered us to reinforce and widen this side of the Embankment while continuing to lay down sandbags. At that moment, someone shouted, "It's raining!"
As if fate was playing tricks on us, it suddenly began to pour. Just moments ago it had been a light drizzle, but now it turned into a torrential Heavy Rain. The raindrops were as big as soybeans, pounding against my forehead painfully; visibility dropped to just five or six meters. I silently lamented that what I feared had indeed come true.
(To be continued; tomorrow will be even more exciting.)
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