With the help of the villagers, the turbulent current could no longer overturn them. The shouts of the villagers, like the boatmen's chants, spurred them to work together and move towards the breach.
Moreover, new villagers continued to join from afar, and the human wall grew ever larger.
At this moment, Lu Tu felt his body become much lighter, and he didn't even need to exert any effort as the entire human wall surged forward with unstoppable momentum.
They soon reached the most turbulent breach, and Lü Tu shouted to the villagers carrying sandbags on both sides, "Throw them quickly!"
The villagers, who had been prepared long ago, went berserk the moment Lü Tu and the others took their positions, throwing heavy sandbags into the breach.
Lu Tu felt a sharp pain under his foot. He knew the sandbag had hit his foot, but he dared not move it. He was afraid that even a little kinetic energy would cause a large area of sandbags to collapse.
The people on both sides were also yelling wildly, seemingly unable to hold on any longer, as the sandbags were clearly hitting their feet.
After 15 minutes of filling, the gap was finally mostly plugged, with only a small area of water seepage remaining.
At this point, not only the villagers, but even Lü Tu was finding it difficult to withstand.
The power of nature is awe-inspiring. When his arms were loosened, Lü Tu slowly pulled his feet out of the sandbag, feeling utterly exhausted.
But he knew it was not the time to let his guard down. He shouted to Liu Hong and Zhao You beside him, "Quickly, have someone bring mud mixed with sand washed up from the lake bottom and completely block the dike!"
Everyone immediately understood his meaning. With the previous teamwork, they put aside their differences and quickly brought buckets of mud to the table.
Lü Tu directed the experienced villagers to begin sealing the breach in the dike with smears. Even after the breach was completely dry, Lü Tu was still not satisfied and had several more layers of reinforcement added.
After doing all this, Lü Tu collapsed to the ground, his limbs weak. Looking back, he saw that all the villagers were covered in mud and sand, and not a single one of them was clean.
Moreover, many people have wounds on their exposed skin, and the stinging pain causes their muscles to twitch uncontrollably.
Lu Tu knew that he had to get them to warm themselves by the fire as soon as possible, otherwise they would easily suffer from hypothermia. Even if they didn't suffer from hypothermia, it would be troublesome if they caught a cold.
"Everyone go over there to warm up by the fire, men and women separately, and take off your clothes, shoes and socks to dry!"
"Yes, sir!"
Lu Tu himself was freezing cold, so he sat down by a newly lit fire. Just then, he heard the sound of several people crying behind him.
Looking back, he saw Zhao Youzheng and his two sons hugging each other and crying: "Big brother, second brother, your father is useless and almost caused a disaster."
"father!"
Looking at Zhao You's body covered in wounds and seeing the determination he had just displayed, Lü Tu said to Liu Hong beside him, "Assign Zhao You a job and have him lead a group of people to do the work."
Liu Hong nodded: "Okay, sir, I have a question for you."
"explain."
"Why do you always rush to the front in every dangerous situation? I know that leading from the front can be very effective, but this is just a small matter of a breach in the dike. If you are in danger, all of us will fall apart instantly. Have you not thought about the princess?"
Lu Tu fell silent. Liu Hong's words had hit his weak spot. In truth, he couldn't explain why; perhaps it was just his nature.
“Sometimes I don’t think about all that. What you see as a trivial matter may seem insignificant to me, but it concerns the future livelihoods of thousands of people and cannot be taken lightly. However, I will take your advice into consideration, and I will let you go next time there is danger.”
Lu Tu patted Liu Hong on the shoulder with a smile, and the two smiled at each other. Sometimes, men don't need to say so much.
He saw that everyone was taking off their shoes and socks and holding them over the fire to dry, and some people even burned their socks. He thought to himself that these guys were really clumsy.
Lu Tu ordered someone to bring a large pot, filled it halfway with water from a nearby puddle, and then threw many pebbles into the water to boil.
Seeing this, the crowd couldn't help but ask curiously, "Sir, why are you boiling stones?"
Lu Tu was too tired to explain: "You'll find out soon enough. Just have them all do as I say."
Soon, large pots were set up at other fire sites to boil stones. As the fires grew hotter, everyone felt the chill being forced out of their bodies and finally stopped shivering.
At this point, Lü Tu saw that the stone was ready, so he took it out with a stick. The moment it was out of the water, the surface of the stone evaporated. He then put the stone into his shoes and socks, and the others did the same.
Soon someone exclaimed in surprise, "Wow, they dried so fast! My shoes and socks are dry in no time!"
Upon hearing this, the others quickly reached out to touch the shoes and socks, only to find that the previously wet socks and shoes were now dry and warm to the touch.
"Sir, you're amazing! You even know such methods!"
"As expected of the Captain, you are not only skilled in military affairs, but also know the secrets of life."
Even with his thick skin, Lü Tu was a little embarrassed by their praise. For Lü Tu, a special forces king, this was just simple wilderness survival common sense.
Moreover, he didn't believe that no one in the vast land of China had ever done this before. Perhaps the news was too isolated and hadn't reached Wuchuan. After all, the water resources here weren't very abundant, and people didn't need them on a daily basis.
After the clothes, shoes, and socks were dried, Lü Tu called Zhao You and the other two over and said, "Starting today, you will stand guard here at night. If there is any sign of a leak in the dike, immediately notify the whole village!"
Upon hearing this, Zhao You and the others were overjoyed and quickly knelt down, saying, "Thank you for your leniency, Lord. We will definitely keep our eyes open and keep a close watch on this place!"
Lu Tu got up and was about to walk back when Xiao Zhong grabbed him. He pointed mysteriously at the place and said, "My lord, wait a moment. Look at this piece of land that has been flooded by the lake."
After his reminder, Lü Tu also noticed the anomaly. This area of land near Xisha Lake did not absorb the water quickly like other places, but instead accumulated into small puddles that did not soak for a long time.
"Sir, I just dug a few feet myself and found that this area is not sandy; it's all sticky mud underneath!"
Lu Tu's pupils contracted slightly. Didn't this mean that this piece of land could be used to grow rice?
"Take me to see the place you dug."
Following Xiao Zhong's guidance, Lü Tu squatted down and dug out a handful of mud from the pit. Sure enough, it was very sticky and contained only a very small layer of sand. Wasn't this the perfect place to grow rice?
Lu Tu stood up with delight and instructed Xiao Zhong, "Immediately send people to dig around here. I want to see just how much of this clayey soil there is!"
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