This time, Huang Hanrui fulfilled his promise.

He was not late.

In less than thirty minutes, the assault boat has returned.

After picking up Zhuang Yan and others, the boat circled around the village and found a few drowning people holding poplar trees.

At dawn, more and more rescue troops rushed to Paizhou. In addition, the barges mobilized by the local government entered the flooded area from the breach of the river, which greatly improved the speed of rescue.

After sending the rescued people to the shore, Zhuang Yan, Wang Datong and others were stopped by the boat bridge.

"You soldiers, come and get some water and bread, eat them and continue searching!"

"Yes!"

After being reminded by the captain of the boat bridge company, Zhuang Yan felt hungry.

Because of the tension, I didn't feel hungry or thirsty at all.

After receiving a bottle of mineral water and two loose breads, Zhuang Yan and Wang Datong walked to the side and sat on the side of the road, wanting to eat something, when they suddenly heard someone crying.

"Huh? Isn't that the second uncle of Sister Jiang?" Wang Datong stood up and looked in the direction of the crying, then squatted down and whispered to Zhuang Yan and Huang Hanrui, "Why are these second uncles crying? The family members. Gone?"

Zhuang Yan glanced over there, and sure enough, it was the second uncle Jiang Jucai. His two brothers and two nephews were persuading him. Jiang Jucai squatted on the ground by himself, tears and snot, crying more sadly than anyone else.

However, at this time, Zhuang Yan had long lost the mind to gossip and said, "When the water is flooded, let alone the crops and the family's belongings, I'm afraid it's people..."

Having said that, I don't want to talk anymore, just bow my head and eat in silence.

Wang Datong stood up again, hesitated for a while, and finally walked over to the second uncle Jiang Jucai.

"Big mouth..." Zhuang Yan didn't dare to call out Wang Datong loudly. This guy likes to join in the fun the most, and he likes to inquire about other people's affairs, so he is not ashamed.

Not long after, Wang Datong came back.

"Hey, no big deal!" Wang Datong's big mouth immediately began to gossip, "their family members are all right, the young ones just went out, and the remaining old people are all in the same room, hiding in the upstairs."

"Then why is he crying?" Zhuang Yan thought to himself, it was probably a financial loss, but the presence of people is better than anything else, "Do you feel sorry for the crops?"

Wang Dazui shook his head: "That's not true, his big fat pig is gone."

"Ah?" Zhuang Yan raised his head to look at Wang Dazui and asked, "Didn't we rescue the pig?"

Wang Dazui said, "No, when they sailed back, they met a mother and son who were hiding in the water on a tree. As a result, the second uncle pushed the pig into the water and let people get on the boat."

"Ah?" Zhuang Yan was stunned for a moment. Before, he felt unreasonable because the second uncle Jiang Jucai wanted to let the pig go on board, but now he admires this old man a little bit.

"But before he..."

"Before?" Wang Dazui was stunned for a moment, then he understood the meaning of Zhuang Yan's words and said, "Hey, you don't understand. The people here are all afraid of being flooded. This area has been a flooded area for many years. It is flooded every few years, and every time it is flooded, it has suffered heavy losses. If you look at the age of the second uncle, I am afraid that I have experienced many floods. That pig is probably the only thing left in the family this time. It is worth a little money. something."

Zhuang Yan thought about it for a while, and felt that what Wang Dazui said made sense.

After the two of them ate bread and drank some water, they returned to the starting point on the shore, ready to save people.

Suddenly, seeing a few assault boats approaching from a distance, the other boat and bridge troops on the shore seemed to suddenly riot.

"came back!"

"It's the company commander!"

"Come on, let's go and see!"

A large group of soldiers in camouflage uniforms rushed to the water's edge, and some even jumped into the water and stood in the water, looking very anxious.

"What happened?" Zhuang Yan couldn't understand all this.

The people who ran to the water's edge were officers and soldiers of the Anti-aircraft Artillery Regiment and the Boat Bridge Brigade, that is, the two troops that had the accident last night.

Last night, the fifth battalion of the Zhouqiao Brigade sent 199 officers and soldiers, while 176 people from the Air Force Anti-aircraft Artillery Regiment went to the Paizhou Embankment.

Together with the convoy of General Dai of the Hubei Military Region, a total of nearly 400 soldiers were swept away by the flood in the flooded area.

An ominous premonition enveloped the solemn head, and he suddenly wanted to leave quickly, feeling that something bad would happen if he stayed here.

On several assault boats, a few soldiers carefully got off the ship with a body in camouflage uniform, and carefully placed it on the embankment.

The corpse has been stiff, maintaining the posture of raising the left hand and bending the right foot, as if holding something.

Majestic saw the rank of captain hanging on the shoulder of the body.

It's an officer!

His heart froze instantly.

Even the officers died, soldiers...

On the embankment, there was a sadness in the air, extremely heavy.

A private soldier with a slightly childish appearance suddenly rushed out from the crowd, knelt beside the body at once, grabbed the captain's left hand that had never been put down with both hands, and immediately burst into tears.

"Instructor, instructor! Wake up! Ah—"

The cry of the privates was heart-wrenching, even standing on the periphery of the crowd, Zhuang Yan could still feel the heart-wrenching grief.

Among the originally silent soldiers around, someone suddenly covered his face and squatted on the ground crying bitterly.

Then, the situation became unstoppable.

One……

two……

three...

group……

The cry, like a flu, quickly spread among the soldiers.

"Instructor, you are here to save me...how can you make me feel at ease in this life..."

The private was still crying.

The other soldiers next to him were crying.

Another officer wearing the rank of captain raised his face and stared blankly at the gloomy sky, as if he was afraid that if he bowed his head, the tears that had already filled his eyes could not help falling.

Deputy Brigade Commander Ma, who was in charge of commanding the rescue, walked to his side, reached out and patted the captain heavily on the shoulder.

"Huanglian..."

He wanted to comfort the company commander, but suddenly found that even he didn't know how to speak.

This shot made the captain, who was already enduring his grief, completely collapse.

He took off his hat, and a dignified captain and officer sat down on the ground like a child and burst into tears.

"I brought a soldier of a company... a brother of a company! Now there are 10 who can't come back, Deputy Brigade Commander Ma, if their families find me and ask why their son has not come back, but I myself Come back alive, you said—Deputy Brigade Commander Ma, you said, how do you want me to answer them? I can’t answer them—wuwuwu-”

Deputy Brigade Commander Ma's eyes also turned red, he took a deep breath several times, his chest heaved like waves several times before he could suppress the turbulent emotions.

He crouched down and didn't speak.

Anything is superfluous.

He patted the back of the company commander, who was howling like a child, and every wrinkle on his face was filled with grief.

Company Commander Huang was still howling loudly, as if he wanted to cry out all the blood to make himself feel better.

"Deputy Brigade Commander Ma, I'm in pain here... I'm in pain here... My ten brothers..."

As he spoke, he thumped his chest, as if he wanted to hit the most painful place with all his strength, and wanted to use physical pain to suppress the pain in his heart.

Yes!

The company that went to the embankment last night for rescue, more than 100 people went, but there were no ten...

Those were young soldiers who were alive and kicking.

Behind every soldier is a family...

No one can imagine how these families will face the sacrifice of their sons...

Say some rhetoric, such as what dead glorious words?

Will this heal their trauma of losing a loved one?

No!

Will not work!

Zhuang Yan suddenly felt dark in front of his eyes, and it became difficult for him to breathe.

A huge wound hit him unexpectedly.

He stumbled and turned away, walked to a quiet place, sat beside the haystack, took off his hat, covered his mouth...

Silent tears flowed.

He was unspeakably sad.

He didn't know any of the fallen soldiers and officers.

But they are the same kind of people as themselves - soldiers.

The older ones seem to be in their thirties, the younger ones...

Maybe younger than myself...

But now they are gone.

Yes, their lives are lost in this world.

never come back.

Exhaustion, sadness, pain, everything accumulated last night is now swept in like a bursting flood, submerging the solemnity.

Zhuang Yan suddenly became extremely angry.

He wants to curse.

Curse the sky, curse the earth.

Doesn't it mean that God has eyes?

If God has eyes, why are these young soldiers dying?

Why! ?

"solemn!"

A familiar hand clapped firmly on the solemn shoulder.

"Why are you crying here?"

Old Seven's voice.

Luo Xiaoming sat down beside Zhuang Yan.

Zhuang Yan quickly wiped away his tears, he didn't want others to see him cry.

I am a man, a soldier.

Soldier, didn't you say you don't believe in tears?

However, just wiped away the tears, and new ones flowed out of the eyes again.

"Squad leader..."

Don't look away solemnly.

Luo Xiaoming was silent for a moment, then sighed and said, "Are you almost crying? You're almost back, and there are still many people to save."

He pointed to the flood area in front of him.

"It is estimated that half of the tens of thousands of people are still inside... We have no time to cry now..."

Zhuang Yan finally couldn't bear it anymore, took off his hat, and started to cry.

"Squad leader, I feel uncomfortable..."

"Well, I know, I know..." Luo Xiaoming snorted and took a long breath, "The squad leader knows that you're uncomfortable, but you can't save anyone, what do you say? Turn grief and anger into strength, more Save some common people, soldiers will not sacrifice in vain."

Zhuang Yan used all his strength to hold back his crying, but he kept sobbing.

"Monitor~lightnovelpub.net~ Is it worth it?"

"It's worth it." Luo Xiaoming didn't even think about it, and said, "You've been in the army for a short time, so you're still wondering, this soldier has been in for a long time... You're a little 'stupid', do you think it's worth it? You If you ask the veteran, the veteran will tell you, it's worth it."

He pointed to the back of the two people in front and continued: "Just this time, how many troops were dispatched across the country? Why were they dispatched? Because behind the Yangtze River Embankment, millions or even tens of millions of ordinary people lived, and there was a flood. , Someone has to come to rescue and fight the flood. If we don't come as soldiers, who will? What do we soldiers do? To protect the family and the country. Anyway, dangerous things have to be done by someone, and since someone has to do it, let's do it well as soldiers."

Zhuang Yan turned his head to the side and looked at Luo Xiaoming.

Luo Xiaoming glanced at Majestic, then looked at the flood in front of him, and stood up like he was nothing.

"Okay, soldier, you're going to cry, I've made you cry enough, now, let's do what we have to do! I order you, get up at once, return to your post, and do your duty— Save people!"