"We feel relieved to know that we have veterans working with us," said Wu Niansheng, a villager in Anhui province. The veterans in question are members of a team specializing in flood control, composed entirely of retired soldiers. The team is operating in Anhui province's Langxi County.

The water levels of Langchuan River, a tributary of Nanyi Lake, remain high in recent days. During a recent patrol on July 6, the veteran team discovered water seeping through the dyke. However, it was difficult to pinpoint the exact location of the breach. 

Confronted with loosening soil, Xu Fei, one of the retired soldiers, gave an order to dig 15 ditches near the dyke. After more than three hours of hard work, the team managed to find and prevent five sections of the dike from piping.  

Xu served in the Chinese armed forces for eight years before he became a militia battalion commander in 2009. He has been working at the dyke for more than 20 days now. He began assisting with flood control on June 20. 

As the flooding became more serious, Xu thought about how to mobilize more retired yet still capable veterans to help with relief work. 

"As a member of the Chinese Communist Party, I call on youths to build a team for flood control," Li posted to his WeChat moments on July 2. He almost instantly received responses from several of his old comrades-in-arms. 

In total, 151 retired veterans said they would join the rescue efforts. They coordinated everything through a WeChat group chat titled "Retired Veterans Join the Efforts to Fight the Flood." At 7 a.m. on July 6, when several landslides occurred near a dyke in a small Langxi County village, 58 veterans were there to lend a hand. 

Xu Fei was one of those 58. Many hours later, around 10 p.m., Xu checked his phone and saw a message from his wife: "Today is your birthday. Happy Birthday!" Caught up in his work controlling the flood, Xu Fei had forgotten his own birthday.