Binjiang Police Affairs-Chapter 921 - 618: A Triumphant First Battle!

The rain stopped, and the flood peak roared in.

Here, one can't see any noticeable "peak," only the rapid flow of water, with the water level continuously rising, and waves constantly striking the newly built sub-dams by thousands of soldiers and civilians.

Once the flood spills over, it will not only threaten the lives and property of hundreds of thousands of people below the embankment but also endanger the entire Jianghan Plain.

That's why the Jingjiang Embankment is called the life dam!

Facing the roaring, turbid river water, no one is afraid, and they can't afford to be afraid. Everyone's current thought is to defend the dike at all costs.

The safety of the life dam within Lingjiang has been "divided up" to towns along the line. Since most of the flood prevention emergency materials are self-raised by various towns, some dike sections' sub-dams are built high, while others are lower due to the inability to find enough sandbags.

Now, the only option is to dismantle one wall and mend another by urgently transporting sandbags from higher parts to lower sections.

The embankment is not wide enough and can't bear too much pressure, hence two large dump trucks can't help.

All three loaders have been sent to the dike to assist in transporting sandbags, but how much can three loaders carry, mainly relying on manpower.

Everyone is covered in mud, soaked inside and out, in the process of transporting sandbags.

The Armed Police Company and the soldiers of the company where "Binjiang" villagers are completely invested, dividing themselves along the long dike, transporting sandbags like running in a relay race.

The sandbags weighing sixty to seventy pounds, they carry them and just run.

From half past eleven in the morning to more than four in the afternoon, some soldiers ran back and forth over six hundred times!

Around five o'clock, the water level gradually fell.

The second flood peak was resisted through the concerted effort of thousands of soldiers and civilians, yet no one cheered or celebrated. Everyone was so exhausted, they collapsed sitting on the muddy dyke, lacking the strength to speak.

Several nearby villages were responsible for the logistics of the county's Civilian Militia Reserve Force, and meals were delivered.

The meals were simple, unlimited rice, with only two dishes – stir-fried shredded meat and pickled long chili. There was no soup; when thirsty, they drank plain water, which was brought by the locals with their own water bottles.

The Armed Police Company's dinner was boxed meals, said to be two meat and two vegetables, but scarcely any meat was visible, and by the time it reached the dike, it was already cold.

They came hastily yesterday, without life jackets, not to mention labor protection gear.

From the squad leader, instructor to junior soldiers, each had blisters on both hands, which could easily get infected if not treated promptly.

Liang Xiaojun and Han Xiangmeng were surprised to see one Armed Police Soldier eat six boxed meals while helping them treat their wounds.

The meals of Xu Xiaoming's company of "Binjiang locals" were the simplest; each person only had one bottle of mineral water, one bag of pickled vegetables, and a few steamed buns!

Dongdong couldn't believe his eyes, returned to the camp tent and looked at the abundant meals in the stainless-steel lunch box, couldn't help asking: "Uncle Xiao Yu, Brother Xiaoming is a true liberation army member, why do they eat worse than the Armed Police?"

"That soldier from Chonggang District?"

"Yes, they only have steamed buns and pickled vegetables at night."

Right now Xiao Yu was thinking about how to get his mobile phone back; having just repelled a flood peak, not making a few calls felt incomplete, he perfunctorily replied: "I've never been a soldier, how would I know."

Dong Maosheng, the military transfer official from Customs, hesitated a bit, then smiled wryly: "Army is basic, Navy is better, Air Force is quite a rogue, this saying holds some truth."

"Uncle Dong, the Air Force acts rogue?"

"Not really rogue; I mean in terms of their treatments and conditions."

"Air Force has the best treatment, and Army has the worst conditions?"

"That's the point, and this treatment condition manifests in various aspects, directly relating to the basic warrior's food standard. The Army's food standard is the lowest, not as good as the Navy or Air Force. Plus, with that little food budget, there would be... would be..."

"Uncle Dong, there would be what?"

This kid has grown up, some things can be told to him.

Dong Maosheng considered a bit, reluctantly explaining: "Basic companies don't have office funds, nor any income. Therefore, when superiors come to inspect, the company needs to buy something, or do something else; the needed funds mostly come from the warriors' food budget."

"Ah! Isn't this drinking soldiers' blood?" Dongdong asked in shock.

Dong Maosheng neither agreed nor disagreed, ate a bite of veggies and continued: "Many units have military service clubs, which are equivalent to department stores and grain oil shops within the unit. Military service clubs are mainly set up to support accompanying family members, meaning military service clubs need to make money, selling rice and vegetables at higher prices than outside.

Besides, some company commanders lack discipline, along with some unconscious quartermasters, some units even have class leaders and cooks of the cooking class targeting the food budget, all wanting to advantage warriors. Think about it, with such little food budget, how much eventually ends up in the warriors' mouths?"

Dongdong couldn't believe his ears, murmuring: "Too corrupt!"

Chen Youren, the Changhang Bureau's military transfer official, was long accustomed to it, suddenly said: "Even so, some units still advocate surplus, even using how much food budget surplus as a criterion for evaluating company construction. You say, everything can be surplus, can food budget be surplus?"

Brother Haoran also served as Company Commander for several years.

Has Brother Haoran ever done anything damaging to warrior interests?

The more Xiao Yu thought about it, the more it worried him, so he straightforwardly changed the subject: "Director Dong, Old Chen, what do you think Master Dai meant, does he have the authority to confiscate our mobile phones and pagers?"