Chapter 129: Soldiers Carry Heavy Responsibilities on Their Shoulders

"Save people, quick, save them!"

Someone grabbed a fire extinguisher and rushed forward immediately.

Lu Yang and Zhou Kaidong also hurried, clutching bottles of mineral water, and ran up to help.

After the flames were extinguished, dousing the fire suit with water can quickly lower its surface temperature.

Sss....

The carbon fire extinguisher quickly put out the flames on the firefighter.

But the protective suit was still hot, and Lu Yang and the other person, after getting permission, immediately unscrewed the bottle caps.

Several bottles of mineral water were poured onto the firefighter at once, and white, sizzling smoke billowed out instantly.

The others who arrived in a hurry also followed suit, using mineral water to cool the firefighter's protective suit.

It took about twenty to thirty bottles of mineral water before the temperature dropped enough to pull the firefighter back from the brink of danger.

"Comrade, how are you, all right?"

"No, nothing."

The firefighter who had been on fire earlier took off his protective helmet, panting heavily and shaking his head.

But Lu Yang noticed that his protective suit had several tears, unsure whether they were burned through by the flames or torn when he fell earlier.

This also caused the exposed skin on his body to be severely burned, even a bit charred...

Suddenly, the firefighter snapped to attention and shouted anxiously.

"Squad Leader, they're trapped in the fire!"

Lu Yang and the others looked up at the raging flames on the mountain, their hearts pounding with fear.

The gust of wind came so suddenly that it ignited a whole pine forest at once.

It gave the few firefighters above no chance to react or retreat.

The only one who broke out of the firefield did so because he was exhausted and was about to descend for a shift change, thus narrowly escaping disaster.

Fortunately, at that moment the city's firefighting detachment arrived with a lot of equipment and immediately drafted a plan based on the fire situation.

"Firefighters split into two groups, carrying fire‑extinguishing gear, and will attempt rescue by climbing the mountain from the south and north sides!"

"Your soldier comrades' immediate task is to go south and use earth to fight the fire, digging a firebreak!"

"The south consists of vast farmlands; the locals' winter wheat is at its peak, and May–June is harvest time. We absolutely cannot let the mountain fire spread there!"

The detachment commander quickly assigned tasks, and the firefighters first shouldered heavy extinguishers and climbed the mountain from both sides.

The mountain paths were steep and impassable for fire trucks and hoses; aside from carrying extinguishers by hand, there was no better way.

The Regiment's Second Battalion Commander had already arrived, dispatching officers and soldiers from each company, militia, and privates like Lu Yang to coordinate.

At this point, logistics distinctions vanished; all soldiers grabbed iron shovels, pick heads, saws and other tools, and rushed to the southern slope to dig a firebreak.

The temperature on the south side was much lower than the north, because the area where Lu Yang and his group had been was just burned, the ground scorching hot.

And since the fire hadn't reached the south yet, Lu Yang's team needed to dig the firebreak in advance.

Removing all combustible material in this zone ensures the fire cannot spread with the wind and burn the vast southern wheat fields.

Gao Feng rolled up his sleeves, led the New Recruit Company, and kept digging soil in the left‑hand area.

Shovels and pickaxes were nearly smoking, some hands blistered with blood, yet no one dared pause.

"Everyone, give it your all!"

"A fire scene is a battlefield; right now we're not digging a firebreak, we're digging a trench!"

"Behind us lie not just endless wheat fields, but the lives and property of the people!"

Gao Feng kept cheering the soldiers on, and everyone worked as if injected with adrenaline, fighting with their lives.

Lu Yang, Kong Long, Ding Tengfei and everyone in Third Squad acted like an assault team, cooperating with each other.

When encountering complex terrain or dense vegetation, Ding Tengfei first swung his sickle swiftly, cutting through tangled underbrush.

Then Kong Long drove a pick into the soil, loosening it and creating a few pits.

Finally, Lu Yang could smoothly insert the iron shovel, scooping out a small pit with stone and soil.

Although the process was extremely exhausting, after a short while they felt drained, as if they could no longer bear it.

Yet compared with firefighters confronting the blaze atop the mountain, their work was far safer.

By now, many locals had gathered on the ridges at the foot of the mountain to watch.

Several elderly men and women, carrying basins and buckets, came to offer help.

But the detachment commander in charge ordered the militia to turn them away.

Although the locals meant well, their assistance was negligible.

With too many people, chaos ensued, actually adding burden to the firefighting effort.

"They're rescued, they're rescued, the people are rescued!"

At that moment, Ding Tengfei pointed upward and shouted excitedly.

Lu Yang and the others looked up and indeed saw several soot‑covered firefighters being helped down the mountain.

It seemed that when the fire flared suddenly earlier, they had rushed to a safe zone, avoiding the ignited pine forest, and thus escaped disaster.

The smooth progress of the rescue work also inspired everyone on site, giving them resolve to win this battle and extinguish the mountain fire.

However, the firebreak digging was not proceeding smoothly; progress was rather slow.

Because the southern slope was heavily vegetated, it posed considerable resistance to the work.

Moreover, the fire was indeed, as the detachment commander predicted, already spreading from the northern summit toward the south.

Originally only the north and summit had ignited, but now the fire seemed poised to consume the entire mountain.

The dry weather makes fire easy to start, and the mountain's dry brush and trees naturally become prime tinder.

As the fire spreads southward, the air temperature keeps rising.

Lu Yang only felt his whole body scorching hot and unbearable, his face rolling hot, and the wooden handle of his entrenching tool in his hand became scalding hot.

Lack of stamina, poor condition—go rest immediately!

Never try to show off—this is a protracted battle, we need to conserve stamina!

Gao Feng saw that many new recruits were showing signs of exhaustion and dehydration, so he issued a temporary retreat order.

But the New Recruit Company stubbornly had not a single recruit leave; everyone remained steadfast at their posts.

It was only because behind them lay the farmers' fields, and they bore the responsibility on their shoulders.

After a few more minutes, the recruit named Zhu Yangyang from the Fourth Class finally couldn't hold on.

His consciousness blurred from the heat wave and high temperature, his body swaying as he toppled to one side.

Fourth Class Squad Leader Li Jiang immediately noticed something was wrong, quickly dropped his tool, went up and caught the person.

He immediately carried him down the mountain, upon reaching a safe spot he promptly lifted his clothes and used mineral water to cool him down.

He Zhen Tao saw that continuing like this wouldn't work, and forcibly ordered the squad leaders to send the unwell soldiers down the mountain to rest.

Now is not the time to show off; if body temperature gets too high, it could damage nervous organs, with unimaginable consequences.

Recruits kept collapsing, being helped down the mountain by the veteran squad leaders, and the Third Squad was no exception.

In the end, aside from the veteran squad leaders, the New Recruit Company had only Lu Yang, Kong Long, and Ding Tengfei still stubbornly holding out...