Chapter 708 - 484: The Night’s Watch

The night in the provincial city was bustling like a song.

Ten kilometers away, however, there was a tragic scene waiting for them to rescue.

"Beep! Beep beep!"

"Damn, this pickup truck doesn’t even come with an alarm bell!"

Hao Chengbin had heard there was a fire, and quite a large one at that. Looking at the somewhat slow flow of traffic ahead and the traffic light that was sure to turn red before they could pass, he felt increasingly irritable.

Finally, when there were still three cars ahead, the green light turned red, 99 seconds. Hao Chengbin pressed hard on the brake pedal, shifted into neutral, and looked ahead.

"Did they bring my combat uniform?"

Fang Huai touched his head and said with a smile, "I don’t know, they would’ve handled it on the scene. Squad leader, in the future, you’ll be a platoon leader in charge of dozens of people; you should lean more toward command positions. Plus, your wife is pregnant now, so better not take risks."

"Bullshit, I’m just a soldier." Hao Chengbin waved and turned his head to look at Yu Ming behind him, saying:

"Why did you bring a kid with you?"

Yu Ming opened his mouth, wanting to argue about being called a "kid," but seeing the two different-sized crutches on Hao Chengbin’s shoulder, he knew he was an old soldier and didn’t dare to speak up.

Xu Sanduo’s grand finale didn’t land him those two crutches; only the old squad leader Shi Jin had them.

Fang Huai smiled and asked, "So, are you still going to lead soldiers this year?"

"The squadron is busy, forget it."

But Fang Huai said, "You should go. Work as a clerk at the Regiment Department, infiltrate the new recruit group, and recruit some good seedlings to bring back."

Hao Chengbin shook his head: "A Regiment Department Clerk is not an insider; you end up following around checking sanitation, it’s impossible to make out anything. To select soldiers, you have to lead a squad. If you want to select soldiers, Old Huang should go, he could be an instructor."

Fang Huai let out a chuckle.

"Old Huang is about to be promoted, he’s becoming a deputy battalion commander. If he goes, he’ll be working as a Chief of Staff. You remember the Staff Officer from last year who was skulking around making phone calls, right? With Old Huang’s temperament, working with those damn Staff Officers, either everyone else will be miserable, or Old Huang will be miserable. You leading soldiers... let’s forget it, I’ll arrange for two others to go. I was thinking you could work at the Regiment Department, so you could have regular vacations, take your wife for prenatal checkups and stuff. Old Black knows about your situation; he’d definitely take care of you."

"Forget about it." Hao Chengbin shifted into gear again, saying: "I’ve spent so many New Year’s with the new recruit group, but this year I still want to have a proper New Year’s Eve dinner with your sister-in-law at the squadron."

Fang Huai burst out laughing: "You wish."

Hao Chengbin glared, about to curse, but then he thought of something, laughed a bit, shook his head, and released the brake pedal.

Indeed, thinking of having a proper New Year’s Eve dinner in the squadron? What was he thinking?

Given the Second Squadron’s nature as a reinforcement unit and the good equipment they’ve been given, wouldn’t the Command Center go crazy dispatching calls over New Year’s?

The vehicle moved forward, the two of them chatting intermittently.

Yu Ming, sitting quietly in the back, listened to their conversation, little knowing that the mentioned "Old Black" and "damn Staff Officers" would be the big shots he would come to worship in the next three months.

...

"Old three! Bring your barrel over here!"

"Here it comes, here it comes."

"Add two reels to the main hose! Advance the water divider, quick!"

This was a big fire.

By the time Hao and Fang arrived, a row of connected tile-roofed houses on high ground had already been ablaze, with four houses consumed by the wind-driven fire.

Moreover, the road in front of the houses was narrow and positioned higher than the main road. In Guizhou, this kind of place is called "field ridge."

The fire trucks must have arrived not long ago and couldn’t enter the area; they were laying out a main hose of over two hundred meters from the main road’s entrance.

The good news was that the Second Squadron was strong and robust. Only three trucks had arrived, but there were nearly thirty people on the scene, so laying out a two hundred-meter main hose and handling two water guns were quite manageable tasks. It was the equipment that seemed insufficient.

It seemed like too many had come; the Second Squadron’s vehicle sequence needed adjustment.

For such a fire, the current Second Squadron could be on rotational rest, or even handle two incidents at once. There was no need to respond to an alarm like this. He knew that Cao Yi wanted the newcomers to get familiar with the vehicle equipment quickly, but with over ten people crammed onto one truck, it was easy to imagine how congested the ride over had been. If someone took a photo, people might think they were trying to mimic San Er’s approach.

After getting out of the vehicle, Fang Huai headed to the fire truck to have a look at the terrain, noting that sparks were clearly scattered.

In the rural areas of Guizhou, it’s impossible to separate from the word "mountain." Outside of a city, you can’t see plains; the farmers cultivate terraced fields, and houses on these field ridges are a feature of Guizhou.

There are many mountains, and consequently, many trees.

Now in December, the season of dryness had come, and with it the frequent occurrence of wildfires.

With this in mind, Fang Huai loudly gave orders to several soldiers in front of the trucks:

"Don’t just stand there! Song Lin! Bring the wildfire water storage bag system to the side of the position and set it up! Let those above fill the bag with water when they can. Xiao Haishan, take a pump; Han Yong, grab two reels of 40mm hoses and a water gun; get a small gun out, move around on the ridge above the houses, and keep the flames in check, don’t let the sparks fly everywhere!"

"Got it!"

The soldiers, brimming with smiles, began to take action.

This month, there were more and more people in the squadron, but they were still a long way from being fully staffed, so the joint police dispatch policy wasn’t issued yet. Therefore, the newly enlisted soldiers, who had just started as guards, had now become combatants, and it seemed they were back to square one.

Wang Peng, seeing everyone around him dispersing, felt a bit puzzled:

"Captain Fang! What about me?"

Fang Huai turned around and pointed toward Yu Ming next to the pickup truck, saying:

"I have a task for you! Later, you take him around the fire scene, help move things, show him around, and ensure his safety!"

Wang Peng glanced over at Yu Ming in the distance, somewhat confused:

"He is..."

"This year’s new firefighting recruit! He hasn’t enlisted yet! You want to be a squad leader, right? I’m letting you get a feel for what it’s like to lead new recruits! Take good care of him. Once the fire is out, I’m going to ask him what he learned!"