Today, their group had stopped to rest twice. In the afternoon, they reached an area where the river was barely flowing and Hans finally gave the order for them to start their engines, using the propellers to move their boats forward.
Sighs of relief accompanied this order, as everyone had long since been exhausted. They had barely any more strength left in them and the speed at which they were going had fallen to the lowest possible.
After starting up the engines to propel their boats, the speed at which their fleet was moving improved.
When night fell, their fleet stopped to rest once again.
To everyone’s relief, no rebel soldiers appeared to be pursuing them. Relieved looks were etched on everyone’s face; it was as though they had just made it out of a calamity. Even those whose faces were originally slack now had a more livelier look in their faces. This was what people call hope.
