Soon, a rope made of vines and a dead tree trunk as thick as a thigh were brought over.
"Tie one end of the rope under Xiao Zhang's armpit, and loop the other end around that dead tree," Su Tang pointed to a solid patch of ground not far from the quicksand. "Use the dead tree as the fulcrum of the lever!"
lever?
The team members were stunned.
Su Tang didn't have time to explain; she stepped forward herself and placed the ropes and tree trunks in the correct positions.
"On my command, everyone, together, slowly pull the other end of the tree trunk backward! Remember, slowly! At a steady pace! Use leverage to smoothly 'pry' it out!"
"One, two, three, pull!"
More than twenty soldiers gritted their teeth and put all their strength into the dead tree trunk.
A miracle has happened!
The mud that had been clinging tightly to Xiao Zhang was now being slowly pried open by an invisible hand, thanks to the immense and steady pull of leverage. Xiao Zhang's body began to move upwards inch by inch!
Everyone stared wide-eyed at this incredible scene.
With a "plop," Xiao Zhang, half-covered in mud, was finally pulled out of the quicksand and collapsed on the solid ground, panting heavily like a fish out of water.
We're saved!
He was really saved!
Overwhelmed with joy at surviving the ordeal and a profound sense of exhaustion, he was speechless.
With the crisis over, everyone breathed a sigh of relief and plopped down on the ground, feeling even more exhausted than after running a 10-kilometer armed cross-country run.
The way they looked at Su Tang had completely changed.
If my previous trust stemmed from her superb marksmanship and strategic brilliance...
At this moment, this conviction has transformed into the belief that as long as you follow Teacher Su, there is no obstacle you cannot overcome, no predicament you cannot escape!
...
Meanwhile, the area around the headquarters of Battalion No. 3 suddenly became unusually "lively".
Jiang Yan was directing Xu Gaogui's third squad and the soldiers who stayed behind, using entrenching tools and pickaxes to hammer stones and iron tools, making clanging sounds. Several huge bonfires were lit, flames soaring into the sky, shadowy figures moving about, shouts and commands rising and falling. From a distance, it looked like they were building a solid defensive fortification, preparing for a desperate battle.
This scene was quickly spotted by the scouts of the Second Battalion.
...
Command Post of Battalion No. 2
Yuan Bao sat with his legs crossed, a blade of grass dangling from his mouth, listening to the scout's report over the walkie-talkie, a look of utter contempt on his face.
"Reporting, Brother Leopard! Those useless bastards in Battalion Three seem to have been scared out of their wits and are too scared to come out!! They're digging trenches in the camp! Judging from their posture, they're preparing to be cowards and hold out to the death!"
"Hahahaha! I knew it!" Yuan Bao slapped his thigh and laughed at the squad leaders around him. "A bunch of useless trash. One volley of grenades from us and they're all dead. Now, what can they do but cower in their doghouse and wait to die?"
The squad leaders around Yuan Bao burst into laughter.
"These cowards, do they really think digging a few rubble will stop our grenades?"
"Brother Leopard, I think we shouldn't wait any longer. Let's sneak over now, give them a volley of fire, and send them straight back to their hometown!"
"No rush." Yuan Bao spat out the grass root in his mouth, stood up, walked to the map, and his eyes gleamed with a playful, cat-and-mouse-like glint.
"Let them dig! Dig as deep as they can! When it gets dark, we'll catch them off guard and deliver the shells precisely into the graves they've dug! I want them to experience despair in the pits they dug themselves!"
With a wave of his hand, he declared with boundless confidence, "Pass on my orders! The entire battalion shall rest! Recharge and conserve our energy! The general offensive will begin as soon as it gets dark! I want to have a midnight snack at the Third Battalion's camp within an hour!"
"yes!"
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