Soldiers Assault: Starting from the 7th Steel Company

Chapter 262 Makes me choose? I won't!
The huge parachute descended slowly with a whooshing sound. Chen Jiang tensed up, struggling to control the parachute lines, trying to find a relatively flat landing spot in the complex terrain.

He passed through the low-hanging clouds, and the view below gradually became clearer, a truly breathtaking sight.

The once lush and verdant mountains now look as if they have been brutally kneaded by the hand of a giant, covered with huge ravines and landslides. The exposed rocks and loess are like hideous wounds, turning the once green and pristine ecological environment into a scene of devastation.

The once meandering river was blocked by a landslide, forming a dangerous barrier lake. The murky water was filled with broken logs, debris, and some unfortunate animal carcasses.

The villages scattered in the distant mountain valleys have been almost completely razed to the ground, leaving only broken walls and ruins, devoid of any sign of life.

The air was thick with dust and an indescribable, deathly stillness, like that that follows a disaster.

Chen Jiang's heart sank immediately.

The severity of the disaster far exceeds the limits that satellite images and reconnaissance reports can convey.

He struggled to adjust his direction and eventually landed on a relatively gentle ridge.

Upon landing, he rolled over to dissipate the impact, quickly adjusted his landing posture, and simultaneously detached his parachute, as he needed to regroup with his team as soon as possible.

He and Yuan Lang agreed that whichever officer landed first would use a whistle to signal the surrounding soldiers to quickly assemble.

Almost at the same time he took out his whistle, he heard short, urgent whistles from other officers nearby.

Chen Jiang looked around and, finding no one else, packed up his parachute and quickly moved toward the source of the sound. At the same time, he pressed the button on his personal communicator, but all he heard in his earpiece was harsh static.

As expected, the earthquake triggered strong electromagnetic interference that nearly paralyzed electronic communications.

As for cell phone signal, it's impossible to find it in a place like this.

Since there was no communication, they had to rely on simple whistles.
A few minutes later, a reinforced company of soldiers had assembled around Chen Jiang and Yuan Lang.

The team members moved swiftly. Although they had just experienced a high-risk parachute drop, each of them had sharp eyes and remained highly vigilant.

Wu Liuyi counted the number of people and reported: "Report! The total number of paratroopers should be 135, and 127 are present! Eight are missing!"

Yuan Lang's face darkened. He knew that in such a remote mountain area, losing contact would be extremely dangerous: "Leave a few soldiers here to organize the search and recovery efforts. The rest of you, in small teams, will conduct a search of the designated assembly point. Pay close attention to ground guidance signals and the landing points of airdropped supplies! Be quick!"

"Yes!"

The team sprang into action.

Chen Jiang and Yuan Lang, along with the command team and several medics, quickly headed towards the nearest village address marked with numerous house symbols.

Along the way, the landscape was devastated.

Huge boulders blocked the way, requiring climbing to cross; the cracks were bottomless, demanding careful detours. Besides dust, the air began to faintly carry the stench of blood and decay.

"Is anyone there? We are from the Chinese Army!" the team members shouted as they advanced.

The only response they received was the echo in the valley and the occasional sound of rocks rolling down the mountain.

As they approached the edge of the village, the lead scout suddenly raised his hand to signal a halt. He pointed to a cluster of collapsed houses ahead and whispered, "There's a sound!"

Everyone held their breath. Sure enough, from beneath a pile of broken beams and bricks, came faint, intermittent knocking sounds, like someone striking wooden planks with stones.

"Quick! Save them!" Chen Jiang and Yuan Lang gave the order almost simultaneously.

The team members immediately rushed forward and began clearing the rubble by hand.

Without large machinery, they could only rely on manpower, entrenching tools, and limited hydraulic jacking tools.

Chen Jiang and Yuan Lang also joined the ranks of those moving bricks and stones.

"Is anyone down there? Hold on! We are the People's Liberation Army soldiers who have come to rescue you!" Wu Liuyi shouted.

The knocking became more rapid, seemingly in response to the shouts.

After nearly half an hour of intense digging, the team finally cleared an opening and saw the trapped person—an elderly man huddled in a narrow space formed by a collapsed wardrobe and a roof beam, his face covered in dust, his breath weak, but his eyes filled with a strong desire to survive.

The medic quickly crawled inside to examine and provide initial treatment. "Weak vital signs, dehydration, possible fractures, needs immediate transfer!"

Just as the team members were carefully carrying the old man out of the rubble, the ground suddenly shook violently!

"Aftershocks! Watch out!" someone shouted.

The ruins, which had just stabilized, slipped again, and several stones rolled down from above.

A soldier who was waiting at the cave entrance instinctively threw himself onto the stretcher, shielding the old man with his body. A stone struck his back with a dull thud.

"Xiao Liu!" someone nearby exclaimed and rushed over.

The soldier known as Xiao Liu swayed, gritted his teeth to steady himself, a trickle of blood seeping from the corner of his mouth, but asked urgently, "Fellow villager, are you alright?"

The medic checked the old man over and said, "Fellow villager, you're alright! How are you?"

"I'm fine, just a superficial injury!" Xiao Liu wiped his mouth and tried to straighten his back, but the cold sweat that instantly appeared on his forehead betrayed his pain.

Yuan Lang strode forward, checked on Xiao Liu's condition, and said in a deep voice, "Don't push yourself! Medic, treat him!" He looked around and realized that a more effective command and rescue system had to be established as soon as possible.

"Chen Jiang, we can't stay here any longer. We must move the villagers and the wounded to a safe area as soon as possible. We need to find a relatively open and safe area to set up a forward command post and a temporary medical point. At the same time, we need to send people to continue searching towards the epicenter and try to make contact with the outside world!"

Chen Jiang nodded, his gaze fixed on the epicenter, deeper in the disaster zone where the damage was bound to be more severe. "That's right. Wu Liuyi, send a few men to escort the villagers and the wounded to safety, and try every means to contact headquarters. Captain Yuan, we'll continue forward, using the machinery we've found. We must quickly ascertain the situation in the core area to pave the way for subsequent rescue forces!"

"Alright!" Yuan Lang patted Chen Jiang on the shoulder heavily, then turned and roared at the assembled team members, "Comrades! The time to test us has come! Remember our mission! Let's go!"

The closer you get to the epicenter, the more difficult the roads become, and the more tragic the scenes become.

Some sections of the road had completely deteriorated, becoming small cliffs tens of meters high, making it impossible for their equipment to cross. They had to use ropes to climb over. Chen Jiang and Yuan Lang agreed to lead the troops across first, along with some food and medicine, and then figure out the rest once reinforcements arrived. After overcoming numerous hardships, Chen Jiang and his team finally reached their destination.

Because this area is the epicenter, it suffered extremely severe damage, and aftershocks have been continuous.

The situation at the scene was terrible; there was a lot of dust and visibility was very low.
The ruins were piled up like mountains, and almost all the buildings had collapsed, making it impossible to see the original outline of this small town.

Cries and calls for help drifted faintly through the ruins, mingling with the occasional sound of rocks tumbling down the mountain, creating a symphony of despair.

People are spontaneously organizing rescue efforts, but they have all been injured to varying degrees, and the rescue efforts have yielded very little result.

"It's the People's Liberation Army! The People's Liberation Army is here!"

Someone with sharp eyes suddenly spotted Chen Jiang and his group emerging from the smoke and dust.

Although Chen Jiang and his men were also in a sorry state, their military uniforms and cap badges still clearly revealed their identities.

"Fellow villagers, we are the Chinese People's Liberation Army, ordered to come to the rescue!" Chen Jiang shouted loudly.

This scene moved all the people to tears. In the face of danger, the most reliable and timely help is always the People's Liberation Army.

"Disperse the search! In squads, prioritize rescuing survivors who show signs of life! Watch out for aftershocks and secondary collapses!" Yuan Lang ordered in a hoarse voice, his words muffled by the swirling dust.

The team members quickly shoveled into the rubble and began rescue operations, following sounds and possible signs of life.

"Here! Commander! There's a situation here!" Not long after, a soldier shouted loudly at the ruins of a collapsed building, his voice urgent and trembling slightly.

Chen Jiang and Yuan Lang immediately led their men and rushed over.

The sight before them made everyone's heart clench.

Several huge precast concrete slabs were stacked and interlocked at an extremely complex and dangerous angle, forming a narrow triangular space.

Through the gap, you could see two children trapped below, a boy and a girl, who looked like siblings, no more than ten years old, especially the younger brother who still looked very young.

The older sister, pale-faced, leaned weakly against her younger brother, who stared outside with wide, terrified eyes.

A middle-aged woman, dressed in rags, her face streaked with tears and covered in dust, knelt beside the ruins, her hands bleeding from digging, her voice hoarse from crying out, "Save my children. Please, save them!"

"Sister, don't worry! We are the People's Liberation Army, we will definitely find a way to save them!" Chen Jiang comforted the woman while quickly squatting down to examine the structure.

The situation is more complicated than expected.

Supporting this cramped living space are two intersecting precast slabs, but they are extremely unstable.

The most crucial and cruel point is that the two boards were pressing down on the sister's legs and the brother's waist and abdomen, respectively.

Based on the on-site assessment, if an attempt is made to pry up one board to rescue a child, the other board is very likely to lose its balance and collapse instantly, completely burying the other child.

A lieutenant who had served in the engineering corps crawled over and carefully inspected the site. His face grave, he shook his head at Chen Jiang and Yuan Lang, and whispered, "No, the structure is too dangerous. We can only reinforce one side first to ensure one child's safety, then move the weight on the other side to rescue the other. Since the two boards are pressing on the sister's legs and the brother's waist and abdomen respectively, rescuing the sister first will likely kill the brother, and rescuing the brother first will mean losing the sister's legs. Moreover, aftershocks could come at any time."

"Save them both! Please, they are both my lives!" Upon hearing the lieutenant's words, the mother broke down in tears, almost fainting, before being supported by the soldiers beside her.

Yuan Lang's face was ashen, and Chen Jiang's fists clenched so tightly they cracked.

This choice is far too cruel for both the rescuers and the mother.

Time ticked by, and the threat of aftershocks hung like the Sword of Damocles overhead.

Just then, the older sister, who was trapped underneath, seemed to hear the conversation outside. She weakly raised her head and, through the crack, saw her mother's pained face and the solemn expressions of the People's Liberation Army soldiers.

She seemed to understand something.

She moved slightly and said in an extremely weak but exceptionally clear voice, "Save my brother first. I'm fine even without legs."

The younger brother seemed not to have heard clearly and was still sobbing softly.

The older sister turned her head towards her younger brother and repeated, her voice slightly louder, "Little brother, don't be afraid. Let the uncles save you first."

"No!" the mother cried out desperately from outside, "She's not even seven years old yet, she hasn't started elementary school, she can't be without legs! Please, save them both, save them both!"

Just then, firefighters from the county fire brigade who were on the scene of the disaster relief arrived. The leader of the firefighters was a second lieutenant who immediately stepped forward and saluted Chen Jiang and his men.

Chen Jiang didn't have time for pleasantries. "Second Lieutenant, you're experts in disaster relief. Do you have any solutions for this situation?"

After he finished speaking, another lieutenant stepped forward and explained the situation to him.
The lieutenant remained silent for a moment after hearing this. "Sir," he said, "in the current situation, saving even one child is extremely difficult, let alone two. The building could collapse at any moment, and the child rescued later will most likely not survive. I suggest we save one first, at least ensuring one person survives!"

"Where's your equipment? Having equipment would make things much better!" Yuan Lang looked anxiously behind them.

“Gone,” a firefighter nearby said sadly, turning his face away. “The earthquake came too suddenly. Only a few of us who were on duty outside survived. The company commander and the others all died.”

Yuan Lang remained stunned for a long time after hearing this.

Yes, in an earthquake of this intensity, it's a miracle if people survive. What kind of equipment would they have left?
But without equipment, relying solely on primitive tools is truly...
Hearing these gruesome words, the older sister looked at her mother through the crack in the window, forcing a heartbreaking smile, and weakly said, "Mom, I'm... okay, my little brother is still young."

At that moment, the air seemed to freeze.

The mother's crying stopped abruptly, turning into suppressed, heartbroken sobs.

The soldiers around him, these tough and resolute men, instantly had tears in their eyes.

Chen Jiang took a deep breath, suppressing the stinging sensation in his nose. He knew that there was no room for hesitation or sadness at this moment.

His eyes sharpened and hardened: "Lieutenant, you're in command. Everyone on site must listen to you. devise the most suitable and reasonable plan. I want both children to survive! Understand? Begin the rescue immediately!"

(End of this chapter)