At 11:46, five luxury buses for transferring troops arrived.
Vice Minister Li of the Linghai Armed Forces Department and Instructor Yang Jianbo of the Reserve Camp had been waiting patiently, signaling to guide the convoy into a cotton field that local cadres had organized to clear the previous night.
Planting cotton is different from planting rice—it doesn't require as much water.
Although it had been raining frequently lately, there were several shallow drainage ditches in the field, and the drainage measures were fairly good, making the ground relatively dry, if somewhat soft, and barely suitable for use as a parking lot.
