The companion coughed awkwardly, agreeing repeatedly, and took the lead to move forward.

At midnight, personnel from both sides completed temporary reinforcement and inspection tasks, returning to the tents for a short rest, drinking water and eating to replenish their strength.

The lively atmosphere from the past few days disappeared completely on this rain-soaked night.

People didn’t talk or joke, not just because of extreme exhaustion, but also because the bad weather weighed on their spirits.

On the south bank of this river lies a city with hundreds of thousands of residents. Moreover, the south bank is shielded by a series of winding hills, not high but forming a natural barrier.

If they can’t hold this river embankment, once the river breaches, it will be the people on the north bank who suffer the disaster.

Estimating from the current excessively high water level, if a breach occurs, it will be a devastating disaster, transforming not just dozens or hundreds of villages into a flooded area, but also submerging the county town.

Among those guarding the embankment, more than half have their homes in the county town. There, their parents, wives, children, relatives, and friends live...

Fan Gong, already a slender man in his fifties, had been guarding the embankment for over half a month, nearly depleting his energy and resources, making him even more gaunt, with a thin face somewhat out of shape, sunken eyes, and hollow cheeks.

At the moment, he was holding a bowl of instant noodles, eating absent-mindedly; clearly with no appetite, yet forcing himself to swallow.

The atmosphere was stifling and oppressive. Two leaders on the embankment tried to speak to ease the mood but had no effect, so they simply gave up and quietly ate.

After half an hour of rest, the sound of truck engines came; the supply trucks had returned.

Everyone moved at once, unloading the supplies brought back, transporting them onto the embankment.

Accompanying the supplies, there were also embankment guards urgently mobilized from the county town.

Temporary groups were formed, with veterans leading newcomers, jointly struggling in this torrential rainy night.

As long as there is a shred of hope, they would continue to hold out.

Fan Gong led a group of hydraulic technicians to inspect various sections of the embankment, focusing on relatively weaker parts, making use of the ample manpower to quickly drive stakes, stack stones, and pile sandbags to reinforce and elevate.

Everyone concentrated on their allocated tasks, ignoring the pitch-black night sky, the torrential downpour, and the gradually rising water level... as if these things did not exist.

They held onto the sliver of hope in their hearts, continuously encouraging themselves to persist a little longer.

By stacking a stone, a wave could be blocked;

By piling a layer of sandbags, the rising floodwaters could be held back;

By driving a stake, the embankment could be made stronger...

Ling Chengyan, with great strength, did not shy away because she was a woman. Instead, she was among the first batch to lift a heavy sledgehammer weighing dozens of pounds, swinging it high and pounding it heavily onto the stakes, thud! thud! thud!

She, a slender woman, wielding a large iron hammer, was captured by the accompanying newspaper reporter in that moment.

The reporter, a young man who had just started working after graduation, was moved to tears as he took the photo.

There was so much worth reporting about here. After taking a few shots, he stuffed the camera into his raincoat and stepped forward to take the sledgehammer from Ling Chengyan.

"Let me do it!" the young man shouted loudly.

Ling Chengyan turned around in surprise to see him, noticing it was a scholarly-looking young man with square glasses, she said, "This hammer is quite heavy..."

"I’m not afraid," the young man insisted, gripping the hammer handle without letting go.

Ling Chengyan said no more, released her hand, and the sledgehammer naturally fell into the young journalist’s hands.

Then, the full-of-enthusiasm young journalist suddenly felt the weight in his hand; the large hammer thudding to the ground, causing him to stagger and nearly fall into the river.

Ling Chengyan grabbed him by the collar, pulling him back: "You should just take photos and do your job."

The young reporter felt quite embarrassed, warmth rushing to his face, but relieved that the darkness hid his blush.

He grunted, lifting the hammer with effort again, and insisted, "I didn’t expect it to be this heavy... I can do it."

After saying this, he took a breath, gripped the hammer handle tightly, and, gritting his teeth, swung the hammer up.

Two brawny men nearby smiled at Ling Chengyan, suggesting she take a rest; if the young reporter couldn’t handle it, they were there too.

Ling Chengyan didn’t argue, turning away from the pile-driving area and walked towards the group lifting stones along the embankment.

The rain kept falling; the people kept holding out fiercely.

Time ticked on, and Ling Chengyan occasionally heard the hydraulic personnel reporting water levels—

It’s 1.77 meters above the warning line;

It’s 1.81 meters above the warning line;

It’s 1.95 meters above the warning line...

In the previous days, when the weather cleared up, the hydrological personnel reported water levels with the desire for everyone on the embankment to hear, maintaining, maintaining, down half a centimeter, down one centimeter...

Now, in just a few short hours, the water level has risen nearly 20 centimeters!

The water surface previously more than twenty centimeters below the sandbags had suddenly risen to almost meet the sandbags.

People were giving their all, racing against the heavy rain, the rising floodwaters, striving to make the embankment higher, more stable, and trap the flood each beast within the river channel.

People were busy, yet remained orderly; everyone held their positions firmly.

Suddenly, a small commotion erupted from the command tent. Ling Chengyan put down the stone in hand and walked briskly over. Before reaching the command post, she heard someone inside saying, "The Xujia Gate has breached, this water..."

He didn’t finish the sentence, but everyone who heard knew the unspoken half.

Belonging to the same river, the breach upstream would lessen their pressure downstream.

However, the embankment section at Xujia Gate was built with stones, renowned for its sturdiness, yet unexpectedly did not hold, breached.

Nobody anticipated the danger of a breach, so had the locals living outside the embankment not been evacuated in advance?

The two telephones rang incessantly.

Ling Chengyan stood at the entrance of the command post for a moment, then stepped in.

Everyone was busy, no one noticed her coming in.

Fan Gong, body exhausted, was still holding on.

He supported himself with a table as if using it for support, spoke in a hoarse voice, "Shall I take people over?"

A leader on duty waved his hand to dismiss Fan Gong’s request, decisively said, "I’ll go; Fan Gong, you stay here and hold the line. Anyone can be missing here, but not you, Fan Gong."

After making the decision swiftly, he immediately conveyed the order to dispatch twenty good swimmers from the embankment to Xujia Gate for rescue efforts.