This chapter is scribbled, and there is no charge, so let's come back and read it later.

......

This is a story about my sand sculpture wife.

This story is purely fictional and any similarities are purely coincidental.

In order to prevent my wife from discovering the book, I will use a pseudonym for everyone in the text.

So everyone should look at it as a fake.

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"The only thing I knew at the time was that I didn't know how much risk it was"

Rewind to May 12, 10 years ago.

On that early summer afternoon, an 8.0 magnitude earthquake struck Wenchuan, Sichuan. This was the most destructive and widespread-affecting earthquake since the founding of the People's Republic of China.

In the early morning of 13 May, Li Zhenbo, then director of the Airborne Forces Research Institute, was ordered to command a commando team to parachute into the earthquake area and participate in the rescue. Li Zhenbo has served as an instructor for parachute training, the leader of the guidance team, and the director of the airborne and airdrop department, and is the best candidate for a front-line commander. At the same time, the elites from the entire Airborne Forces were assembled one after another.

This was the first non-war military operation carried out by airborne troops in the form of airborne troops since its establishment 58 years ago.

At this time, the roads in the earthquake-stricken area were seriously damaged, and it was difficult for ground rescue forces to reach, and Maoxian County, located in the epicenter, had become an "isolated island". Airborne troops have become the last hope to enter the disaster area to understand the situation.

On the morning of May 13, they flew to the earthquake zone. Previously, the air route was blocked by heavy rain and heavy clouds, and the helicopter made six unsuccessful attempts to land.

Rain below the parachute height is a taboo for airborne. After 10 years, Li Zhenbo still remembers the sky in the earthquake area. When the plane descended to 7,000 meters, the pilot found that "the wipers were frozen, they could not see anything, and they could only fly on instruments."

Due to the freezing of the fuselage, the hatch could not be opened, and the plane had to return to Chengdu Airport after a circle over the earthquake area. At this time, nearly 24 hours after the earthquake struck, the people in the affected areas were still unable to get in touch with the outside world. Li Zhenbo and others struggled to think about the next course of action. In the end, the command decided that a small detachment would use parafoils to land first to reconnoiter the disaster and the ground situation, and then guide a large-scale airdrop.

The parafoil is more agile and more resistant to wind than the round parachute commonly used by paratroopers, but it is more complex to maneuver. There are rules for the training of the Airborne Forces, and parachute training can only begin if you have parachuted a certain number of times with a round parachute.

In the early morning of the 14th, Li Zhenbo and 14 other carefully selected paratroopers prepared for battle overnight, and then anxiously waited for the weather to improve.

This is a "three-no" airborne landing with no meteorological data, no command and guidance, and no ground markings. The difficulty can be imagined. Maoxian is a mountain valley terrain, the area that can be airborne is very narrow, the mountain peaks in the territory are mostly about 4,000 meters above sea level, and they must parachute above 5,000 meters. For paratroopers who usually train in parachuting hundreds of meters in the air, this is tantamount to a life-and-death "blind jump". "The only thing I knew at the time was that I didn't know how much risk it would take. Li Yushan, who was a non-commissioned officer of the airborne guidance team at the time, recalled.

On the morning of the 14th, the weather improved, and a transport plane flew to the epicenter with paratroopers on board. At 11:47, flying over Maoxian, Li Zhenbo was the first to jump out of the cabin while a small gap was revealed in the clouds. Immediately afterwards, Yu Yabin, Ren Tao, Li Yushan, Xiang Haibo, Lei Zhisheng, Zhao Sifang, Liu Zhibao, Zhao Haidong, Guo Longshuai, Li Yajun, Liu Wenhui, Wang Lei, Wang Junwei, Yin Yuan...... 15. The warriors were divided into two groups and jumped into the vast sea of clouds.

Yin Yuan, who was the last to jump into the epicenter, will always remember that moment: the bitter cold penetrates the bone marrow, the lack of oxygen makes people dizzy, and the towering snow-capped mountains around you "make you feel like jumping into a well".

During the parachute of nearly a quarter of an hour, they gradually saw the steep cliffs, the rushing Minjiang River, the dense jungle, the vertical and horizontal high-voltage power lines, and the damaged houses......

They all know that "if you can't hide from any of them, you may lose your 'little life'".

They know better that only by overcoming these dangers can they bring hope to the people in desperate situations.

2. No regrets

"Soldiers do not fight for meritorious service, the motherland and the people must be defined when they need it"

In fact, among the 15 commandos, not everyone has to face the "blind jump" of life and death.

It was not until before his departure on May 14 that Li Zhenbo agreed to Xiang Haibo's request to participate in the operation. Why did he refuse to participate? The superficial reply was, "You have not jumped many times," but Li Zhenbo actually had another layer of consideration in his heart: He may face casualties if he goes down, and he is only 23 years old, and he is still too young to bear it.

"I didn't really think about what I was afraid of at the time. Xiang Haibo admitted frankly that over the years, he has landed with a backup umbrella when the main parachute cannot be opened four times, and sometimes he is worried that his good luck will run out. "If you don't have the courage to jump in the air, you can't be a paratrooper", 10 years later, his eyes under one eyelid are still shining.

In the original plan, Li Zhenbo did not have to parachute. Initially, he was given the task by his superiors to organize and direct the parachute of troops. But after flying over the earthquake area on the 13th and learning about the complicated situation, he decided to take the lead in "blind jumping". He made a phone call to the unit leader: "No matter what, we must jump!"

Yu Yabin, who has been to the western Sichuan region and seen the complex terrain there, knows the risks. "I thought I wouldn't be able to come back. Before leaving that day, he deliberately "told his family how much money was still in his passbook." The wife of the same airborne soldier immediately complained: "Bah, what are you talking about!"

To say it or not to say it, the real risks are there.

After the skydive, because the working environment of the parachute opener is below 3,500 meters above sea level, many people fell more than 1,000 meters in free fall in the air. Li Zhenbo and Wang Junwei also encountered the danger that the main parachute could not be opened, and the backup parachute was used to land.

When he landed, due to the complicated terrain, Yin Yuan fell into the cherry grove and hung his umbrella on the tree; Li Zhenbo hit the tree and his thigh was pierced by a branch; Lei Zhisheng's right leg hit the stone, swollen and high, and he limped when he walked......

In the end, 15 people still succeeded in parachuting. At 12:25 on the 14th, 46 hours after the earthquake, they jumped into the "isolated island" of Mao County as the first rescue force.

After landing, they immediately sent a piece of information to the command that was related to the life and death of their comrades-in-arms: because the ground situation was complicated, which was not conducive to large-scale airborne, and the umbrellas used by the remaining personnel were all round umbrellas and had poor wind resistance, it was recommended to cancel the follow-up airborne operations. This means that they will independently undertake tasks such as reconnoitring the earthquake damage and guiding air rescue.

The ground is more dangerous than the air. The road leading to Wenchuan along the Minjiang River has been buried by landslides in many places, and aftershocks continue. Under his feet was the surging river, and from time to time stones fell overhead, hitting the helmet with a thud. Once, as soon as they passed through a landslide, a boulder rumbled down, "the size of half a house." ”

What made them even more memorable was the scene when they saw the people in the disaster area-

No matter how remote the place they landed, as soon as they landed, there was always a crowd hula around. Li Yushan remembers that when a man in his 40s grabbed his hand and shouted, "The People's Liberation Army is coming," his hand was shaking.

On the way to Wenchuan, they encountered tourists from time to time walking out from the epicenter. Seeing the People's Liberation Army with communication equipment, people handed over notes with the phone numbers of their relatives one after another, hoping to report their safety on their behalf. Then there was no paper, so they wrote the phone number on the camouflage uniform. A camouflage uniform with a phone number written on it is still treasured in the Museum of the History of the Airborne Forces.

"The value of our team, in addition to reconnoitering the disaster situation and guiding air rescue, is also to bring hope for life to the people in the disaster area along the way, and bring the care of the party and the government. Looking back on the action 10 years ago, Yu Yabin sighed: "Soldiers do not fight for meritorious service, and the motherland and the people must define it when they need it." ”

In fact, their exploits have gone down in history. In the seven days and nights after landing at the epicenter, they climbed over four peaks with an altitude of more than 3,000 meters, hiked 220 kilometers, reconnoitred the disaster situation in seven townships and 55 villages, and reported more than 30 batches of important disasters, providing a valuable scientific basis for follow-up rescue.

They also opened six landing sites along the route in Maoxian and Wenchuan, and guided more than 20 aircraft landings and airdrops. Among them, the first landing site opened in Wenchuan delivered a large number of relief materials to the epicenter area, and the airdrop and landing point opened in Mutuo Village, Maoxian County, solved the plight of 100,000 people affected by the disaster and the wounded and sick in one fell swoop.

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Starting from the first place, asking for subscriptions, monthly passes, rewards, recommendation tickets, and role comparisons

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