Rebirth of the Rising Sun

Taohua Town is the largest town under Wanxian County, and is also a transportation hub connecting Wanxian County and Xichuan County. The economy there has always been prosperous because of its convenient transportation. The town has a permanent population of more than 100,000 people. This time, the earthquake occurred, and the epicenter was located between Xichuan and Wanxian County. Needless to say, as it is located in the middle of the two places, Taohua Town must have suffered a lot of losses.

"Let's go to Taohua Town." Feng Sizhe only thought about it for a moment before making a decision. Then, a team of several hundred people set off on foot towards Taohua Town.

Peach Blossom Town!

This town, which was famous for the peach blossoms that bloomed along the roadsides in summer, no longer has its beautiful scenery. All that remains are fallen tiles and a scene of desolation.

The roars of adults, the cries of children, and the wails of the elderly, this is the current situation of Taohua Town.

Taohua Town Mayor Yin Jiang watched everything with red eyes. He hated that his power was too small, that his influence was too small, and that he had not done the job he should have done before the earthquake.

Yin Jiang was only a town mayor and had not worked in Taohua Town for very long. So even though he returned to Taohua Town with a regiment of soldiers under Feng Sizhe's order, some people, led by the town party committee secretary, did not take him seriously at all.

When Yin Jiang said that this was the intention of Governor Feng Sizhe, the town party secretary said even more arrogantly that there was no Governor Feng in Ducheng Province anymore, that was all in the past, and who would listen to his orders?

All these made Yin Jiang feel unspeakable pain. Seeing that all his colleagues seemed to not believe in him, all he could do was to ask the soldiers of that regiment to bring as many civilians as possible out of their homes and take them to a square outside the town.

But even though Yin Jiang had already backed down, the other town committee leaders did not buy his account at all, and even had the local town police station arrest him on the charge of disturbing social stability.

The soldiers could only watch all this happen. Without clear instructions from their superiors, they were not allowed to interfere in local affairs. So when the earthquake occurred, Yin Jiang was on his way to the small dark room where he was to be detained.

It was precisely because Yin Jiang had not yet entered the room where he was detained and was still in the open space that he had time to react when the earthquake struck, which saved his life. Relatively speaking, the other town leaders were much more miserable. At that time, these people were still happy about the arrest of Yin Jiang, and were still chatting and laughing happily in the town committee building, but the sudden earthquake came and did not give them much time to react. Dozens of cadres were directly killed by the collapsed building on the spot, and the remaining survivors with personality became disabled. It can be said that a town government was instantly disintegrated.

The former town party secretary also died in the office. In this way, Yin Jiang became the actual person in power. However, this identity was indeed uncomfortable because Taohua Town suffered heavy losses due to failure to follow Feng Sizhe's orders. This made Yin Jiang, who took over all the work, feel a little at a loss as to where to start.

The PLA regiment commander also came to Yin Jiang at a loss, "Mayor Yin, the situation in Taohua Town is not optimistic now. There are already countless casualties. Although we have sent a regiment of troops, it is still a drop in the bucket compared to the current disaster."

"Captain Li, what do you think we should do?" Yin Jiang had lost his backbone at this time. After all, he was only in his thirties and had never experienced anything like this. Now looking at the tragic scenes in front of him, he was so shocked that he didn't know what to do.

"If you need help, we can only ask our superiors." Captain Li answered loudly.

"Yes, for help." Yin Jiang was reminded, "So, Captain Li, immediately order your most capable soldiers to send ten people, five to Wanxian and five to Xichuan. We want reinforcements, food, water, medical supplies, everything."

"Okay." Captain Li nodded. This was the most tragic scene he had experienced since he joined the army. He had participated in the flood control in 1998, but compared to that flood, the destructive power of the earthquake in front of him was obviously much greater and more powerful, so much that he didn't know what to do.

Captain Li was a soldier indeed. He quickly arranged the ten best long-distance runners in the regiment and gave them a death order, which was to notify Xichuan and Wanxian as quickly as possible. Even if they ran themselves to death, they must report the situation in Taohua Town.

The ten soldiers quickly left after giving a standard military salute. What they were facing was not a flat road like the one they usually took during training, but a difficult road full of dangers and obstacles. Even now, aftershocks would still occur from time to time. You never know when a stone as tall as a person might suddenly move and hit you.

At this time, the dedication of the people's soldiers was fully demonstrated. For these compatriots, for these civilians, for these people who had no blood relationship with them, all the soldiers dedicated everything they had, including their strength, their faith, and even their lives.

An hour passed and Mayor Yin Jiang and Captain Li, who were studying how to better rescue Taohua Town in a temporary command post in the square outside the town, suddenly received a report that one of the ten rescue soldiers sent out had returned.

When Captain Li heard that he had returned so soon, he was immediately furious. His first instinct was to think that he was a deserter. Faced with this dangerous mission, he was scared and ran back.

But just as Captain Li was about to give the order to arrest the soldier and sentence him by military law, the door curtain of the temporary command center was lifted, and Feng Sizhe, covered in dust and even with some blood on his body, walked in with a group of people.

"Governor Feng!" Yin Jiang was shocked to see Feng Sizhe suddenly appear. He really didn't expect Feng Sizhe to appear here at this time. Shouldn't he be in the Xichuan Disaster Relief Exercise Headquarters? Why did he come here?

"Comrade Yin Jiang, Captain Li, what is the situation in Taohua Town now?" Feng Sizhe didn't say any extra polite words. He met the 10-man squad on the way. After a brief understanding of the situation in Taohua Town, he felt that the situation here was not good, so he asked the other nine soldiers to continue to complete the mission. The situation in Taohua Town was not good, and Xichuan and Wanxian really needed to know. It would be best if they could send some forces. He and another soldier quickly returned to Taohua Town.

After listening to Feng Sizhe's words, Yin Jiang finally came to his senses and immediately introduced the current situation in the town.

"Governor Feng, I am useless. I am responsible. I have not completed the task you assigned to me..." Yin Jiang started by doing self-examination.

"Okay, Comrade Yin Jiang, now is not the time to pursue responsibility. Tell me the current situation in the town as soon as possible." Feng Sizhe waved his hand. It was already this late, and he was still thinking about reviewing. Human life was as important as heaven. He didn't know if he could save a few lives at this time.

After being scolded by Feng Sizhe, Yin Jiang didn't dare to talk about the issue of responsibility anymore, but instead introduced the situation in Taohua Town.

After Yin Jiang's introduction, Feng Sizhe learned the first-hand situation, which is that the current situation in Taohua Town is indeed not optimistic.

First, because Yin Jiang had limited power, the instructions he brought back from Feng Sizhe were not fully implemented, and he himself was almost arrested and detained. This directly led to insufficient pre-disaster preparations in Taohua Town before the earthquake.

Second, Captain Li and others did not receive effective support from local authorities. The direct cause was that some items needed for disaster relief were not placed in the best safe areas. After the earthquake, many vehicles carrying items were also severely damaged, resulting in the direct loss of a large number of disaster relief items.

Third, when the earthquake occurred, except for some people who were forcibly taken away from their homes by the PLA soldiers, most people in Taohua Town were not prepared. Even the primary and middle schools in the town were still in class, with thousands of children. But the only thing to be thankful for was that when the earthquake occurred, it was during the break, and some children were playing in the playground, so the loss was not that great, which was a blessing in disguise.

Fourth, all external traffic in the town has been cut off. Taohua Town is now like an isolated city and cannot get rescue, which makes the situation here even more complicated and dangerous.

Fifth, aftershocks are still occurring, with one occurring every few minutes, which greatly slows down the rescue efforts of the PLA soldiers.

six,......

seven,......

After a while, all the pros and cons of Taohua Town were fully revealed. After learning about these situations, Feng Sizhe frowned even more tightly. At this moment, he also knew that the situation here was indeed very serious. Even if he came in person, there would be no better way at this moment. After all, the roads were blocked and there was no communication. He was just one person and could not change anything.

"Fenglei, did you write down everything that Mayor Yin Jiang and Captain Li said just now?" Feng Sizhe turned around and asked his secretary Yin Fenglei.

"Boss, I've written it all down." Yin Fenglei replied quickly.

"Okay, organize it into a file immediately, and then send someone to Wanxian and Xichuan. Remember to be quick and let more people know about the situation in Taohua Town." Feng Sizhe said sternly, and after saying this, he said to the other cadres who followed him, "Comrades, it's time for us to show our strength. As members of the Communist Party, we must set an example at this time. Now I declare that all active comrades will rush to the front line of disaster relief. Everyone will form a group of five and cooperate with the PLA soldiers to save more people. Remember, maybe if we work harder, a life will have a chance to be reborn because of our efforts. Now I ask everyone to act."