连续数天的阴雨天后，郑州终于迎来了近期少见的晴天。7月23日凌晨4时，陈博就起床了，他接到上级命令，要和战友们一起对郑州市区内的5个交通要点进行道路清淤作业。
Zhengzhou City, the provincial seat of Henan in central China, has finally embraced a sunny day after several consecutive days of rain. On July 23, Chen Bo, the director of the political work department of an air force station assigned to the PLA Air Force stationed in Henan, got up early at 4 a.m. He received an order to carry out road dredging operations on five main roads in the urban area of Zhengzhou City with his 148 comrades.
陈博是驻豫空军航空兵某旅所属场站的政治工作处主任。8时，他和148名战友到达郑州市未来路地下隧道，展开集中清淤。
“受这次强降雨影响，郑州市城区道路全部中断。”郑州市城市管理局数字化城市管理应急服务处处长沈红亚说，道路交通直接关系着这座城市恢复生产生活秩序的进度。
"Affected by this torrential rain, all the roads in Zhengzhou were cut off," said Shen Hongya, a director of Zhengzhou’s city administration bureau. Road traffic is directly related to the city's progress in restoring the order of production and life, Shen Hongya stated.
家住未来路的李奶奶看到解放军来了，提着两大兜子热气腾腾的包子和鸡蛋，硬往战士们手里塞。
At the scene of the operation, an old lady surnamed Li who lives on Weilai Road brought two big pockets of steamed buns and eggs, and thrusted the foods into soldiers’ hands.
“俺孙子也在部队当兵，昨晚终于打通了他的电话，他说在新乡固堤嘞，让我别担心，照顾好自己。”李奶奶抬手为身旁的年轻战士抹掉脸上的泥点子，还没说几句话，眼泪就扑簌簌往下掉。
"My grandson is also a soldier in the military. I talked to him on the phone last night. He said he was strengthening dams in Xinxiang City of Henan Province, and told me not to worry and take care of myself," Li raised her hand and wiped the dirt on the face of the young soldier beside her. Before she said a few words, her tears fell.
分批轮流休整的时候，战士秦永爱总是换别人多休息一会儿。他说：“我心里热乎乎的，总觉得为老乡们干得太少了，太少了！”
Soldier Qin Yongai, a member in the dredging team, always let someone else take more rest when taking breaks in batches. He said, "Every one is trying his best. I always feel that I should do more!”
工作量进行到三分之一时，方顺等十几名战士坐不住了，他们主动要求加派任务：“等待轮换的时间，我们还可以去搬东西、运物资、清垃圾！”
When they completed one-third of the workload, Fang Shun and a dozen soldiers voluntarily asked for additional tasks. "We can still move things, transport supplies, and clear garbage during the rotation intervals," they said.
附近的医院、酒店、超市的工作人员看到解放军，都纷纷过来问候。尽管部队携带了充足的保障物资，他们还是争相送水、送纸，表示敞开大门欢迎解放军同志来休息。
Anybody from nearby hospitals, hotels and supermarkets would greet the PLA soldiers as long as he or she saw them. Although the troops had sufficient supplies, people still rushed to give them water or anti-heat articles, and offered room for the soldiers to take a break.
奋战了一个上午的秦永爱，准备去上洗手间，刚走到酒店门口又停下了脚步，他在玻璃中看到自己鞋子上、裤腿上全都沾满了泥，有点不好意思，担心把酒店里弄脏了。
Soldier Qin Yongai, who had been working for the whole morning, was about to go to the bathroom, but he stopped at the door of the hotel as he saw in the glass that his shoes and trousers were all covered with mud. He was a little embarrassed and afraid of getting the hotel dirty.
酒店的接待人员看到解放军战士，赶忙跑过来邀请他进来休息。“你们满身泥全都是为了我们，感谢还来不及嘞！”接待人员说。
The reception staff at the hotel saw the soldier and immediately got out to invite him in. "You are covered in mud for our sake, and we cannot thank you more," they said.
下午，淤泥清理工作持续进行，前来问候和感谢的市民越来越多，有的为官兵打气加油，有的喊战士们坐下来歇一歇，有的想和官兵们一起干。
The silt cleaning work went on in the afternoon with more and more citizens coming to express their gratitude. Some cheered for the troops, some asked them to take a rest, and some wanted to join hands with them.
“妈妈，他们是谁？”路过的一个小男孩指着穿迷彩衣服的人问。
"Mom, who are they?" a little boy passing by asked.
“他们是解放军叔叔，是保护我们的人。”母亲告诉孩子。
"They are the PLA soldiers who protect us," the mother answered.
腼腆的小男孩在妈妈身后看了良久，鼓起勇气举起自己叠的纸飞机，冲着战士们跑过来，把纸飞机放在了吉普车的前车盖上。
The shy little boy standing behind his mother looked at the PLA soldiers and officers for a long time. He plucked up the courage and lifted his folded paper airplane, ran towards the soldiers, and put the paper airplane on the front hood of the jeep.
奋战到晚上10时左右，这个旅的预定任务全部完成。官兵们乘车通过刚刚清理打通的未来路地下隧道——这是郑州市遭遇连续强降雨以来，第一批车辆通过此隧道。
Until the 10 p.m., all the scheduled tasks of this brigade had been completed. The soldiers rode through the underground tunnel of Weilai Road that was just cleared and opened. They had been the first batch of vehicles to pass through this tunnel since Zhengzhou City suffered continuous heavy rainfall.
“战士们约定，乘车通过的时候，要一起合唱《团结就是力量》，这是他们心目中的通车仪式。”旅机务大队教导员樊建琼说，一想到明天这里就又是车水马龙了，心里就特别激动。
"The soldiers decided to sing the military song when they passed by, taking it as their special opening ceremony of the tunnel," said Fan Jianqiong, instructor of the brigade’s maintenance contingent. Fan got very excited thinking that there would be a lot of traffic again tomorrow.
中部战区抗洪抢险前进指挥所空军中校黎璇介绍，截至24日6时，中部战区已出动8000余人，投入到郑州市的积水排除、道路清淤和抢修、防疫消杀和医疗救护工作中。
Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Li Xuan of the PLA Central Theater Command introduced that the Central Theater Command has dispatched more than 8,000 people to the water removal, road dredging, emergency repairs, pandemic prevention and sanitizing, and medical rescue work in Zhengzhou City as of 6 a.m. of July 24.
