Did the battalion commander really decide to leave like this?
The signalman looked at Lu Zhan in surprise, and opened his mouth subconsciously, but did not dare to ask the doubts in his heart.
In fact, Lu Zhan was also troubled.
According to the instructions from the superiors, after the first battalion completes the transfer of all trapped people in Anfeng Town, it will immediately rush to the next disaster-stricken site to provide support.
Obeying orders is a soldier's duty. Even if he still has many concerns in his mind at this moment, he must act according to orders.
The news that the first battalion was leaving Anfeng Town soon reached the ears of the rescued disaster victims.
People spontaneously came in the heavy rain to see them off. Everyone thanked the soldiers who saved their lives from the bottom of their hearts, and stuffed the few things they had into the soldiers' hands.
Pens, handkerchiefs, wild flowers, and even candies for children...the soldiers were also moved to tears.
Although they had only known each other for a day, they had become lifelong friends.
Before leaving, many people cried and the soldiers also had red eyes.
The preparations before departure are basically ready, except for the radio transmitter in the temporary communication room that has not been put away.
Lu Zhan looked solemn as he asked the signalman the same question for the tenth time in the past hour:
"Did you receive a reply from the other party?"
The signalman shook his head:
"Reporting to the battalion commander, no response was received from the other party."
Lu Zhan's heart sank. After thinking for a while, he spoke:
"Pack up your equipment and get ready to go."
"Yes, Captain!"
Watching the signalman begin to organize various equipment, Lu Zhan turned and walked out of the office area. In the yard of the town office, there were still many people who had come to see him off in the rain and had not dispersed. When they saw him come out, they waved to him enthusiastically and shouted words of thanks to him.
A wave of warmth flowed through Lu Zhan's heart, and he waved in response:
"Fellow villagers, please go back to the Great Hall to avoid the rain. We have received your kindness, so there is no need to send it off—"
But no matter how he persuaded them, the people who came to see them off refused to leave and stayed where they were waiting to see them off.
The heavy rain was still pouring down, the sky had already turned completely dark, and the temperature had dropped by more than ten degrees compared to the daytime. However, the sincere faces under the dim lights in the yard of the town hall brought warmth to people's hearts.
Suddenly, a middle-aged woman ran in from outside the courtyard, crying loudly as she ran:
"Chief, help! Help!"
Lu Zhan's expression froze, and he hurried over in three or two steps:
"What happened?"
Others also gathered around. Someone recognized the middle-aged woman and supported her as she was about to fall, saying in surprise:
"Sister Cuiyun, what's wrong with you?"
The middle-aged woman was out of breath and was beating her chest anxiously. She stumbled all the way over and her face turned red from not being able to catch her breath. It took several pats from others to help her catch her breath.
As soon as she opened her mouth, she burst into tears:
"Wow - Chief, please save my Lao Zheng, he's gone crazy and insists on going back to save the pigs in the factory. I can't stop him -"
Everyone was shocked when they heard her say this.
Lao Zheng is the director of the Anfeng Town Slaughterhouse. He is usually serious and responsible in his work. Under his management, the efficiency of the slaughterhouse is the best among all the units in Anfeng Town. In addition, Lao Zheng is generous and kind, and he has a good reputation and word of mouth among the employees.
Now that they heard that Lao Zheng had run back to the flooded area regardless of the danger, many people became anxious, and several male employees of the slaughterhouse had already run out in a hurry.
Seeing the chaos at the scene, Lu Zhan was worried that someone would run back to the flooded area and risk their lives, so he immediately shouted:
"Bi Guoan, stop him!"
"Listen to me, fellow villagers! Stay where you are and don't move around! It's raining so hard now, and running out could be dangerous at any time. We'll go get you back!"
At this time, the staff of the town office also stood up and shouted to the crowd:
"Everyone, listen to Commander Lu! Don't run around and don't cause any more trouble for our soldiers! I believe they will be able to bring the people back!"
It was dark, the water was rushing, and it was raining heavily. The situation was urgent and we had to find the person as soon as possible.
Lu Zhan immediately called two soldiers, brought flashlights, and went with him to the flooded area to look for people.
Second Company Commander Bi Guoan stepped forward and volunteered:
"Captain! Let me go! I'm familiar with the route to the slaughterhouse, and I've met Director Zheng before. I promise to bring the people back safely!"
The reason why the slaughterhouse was ranked last in the rescue operation was because its location was difficult to find. It was located in the deepest part of the flooded area, and the water surface was blocked by a lot of debris washed in by the flood. In the afternoon, Bi Guoan and his soldiers spent a lot of effort to find a waterway and finally successfully approached the roof of the slaughterhouse.
It's getting late now. If Lu Zhan takes two soldiers to the slaughterhouse, it may take more time just to find the way, which will not be conducive to finding people in the first place.
Lu Zhan thought what he said made sense and was about to nod when the signalman ran out and shouted:
"Battalion Commander! The other party has replied to the telegram!"
Lu Zhan was shocked and without further delay, he turned around and walked back, not forgetting to instruct Bi Guoan:
“Be sure to stay safe!”
The troops split into two groups. Lu Zhan hurried back to the communications room. The communications soldier excitedly pointed at the telegraph machine that was sending out paper bit by bit and said:
"Report to the battalion commander, we were almost there, so we put the telegraph away. Fortunately, we waited until then!"
All the other equipment in the communications room had been packed up, leaving only this telegraph machine outside. It was obvious that the communications soldier intended to leave it until the end to be packed.
Lu Zhan nodded with satisfaction, and as he watched more and more papers appear, his eyes became brighter and brighter.
“Beep—”
After a prompt tone, the signalman quickly stepped forward and intercepted the telegram. As soon as he got it in his hand, he exclaimed "Huh" and the smile on his face froze.
Lu Zhan frowned and quickly took the telegram from the signalman. His face suddenly darkened.
The telegram was full of intermittent black dots, and it was impossible to tell what the other party had sent.
"What's going on?"
The signalman also found it strange. These dots did not look like Morse code, but more like a bunch of messy inkjet prints.
"Reporting to the battalion commander, it looks like the enemy's transmitter has malfunctioned, causing the transmitted information to display errors."
Lu Zhan's heart sank to the bottom at this moment. He couldn't help but think of a detail mentioned by Shao Jingque. In the dream, the local garrison had sent telegrams twice, but the higher authorities did not receive them. Could this be the case now?
The other party had no idea who sent the telegram and couldn't see the content of the telegram, so they would just think that the transmitter was malfunctioning.
I originally thought that after receiving the telegram from the local garrison, I would be able to clearly understand the current situation in the Banqiao Reservoir area, but I didn't expect to get a result that was even more difficult to judge.
Looking at the lights on in the auditorium outside the window, Lu Zhan felt uneasy.
Are you really going to just leave like this?
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