TO THE RESCUE: Soldiers from the Chengdu Military Area Command repair roads leading to the hardest-hit areas, and evacuate survivors to safer area

The People's Liberation Army (PLA) and armed police forces reacted quickly in the hours after the worst earthquake to hit China in three decades.

On the morning of May 13, less than 24 hours after the earthquake, a lead team headed by Chen Bingde, Chief of General Staff of the PLA, was formed to lead the recovery and relief efforts.

By early morning on May 15, the PLA and armed police forces had dispatched a total of over 130,000 personnel to Sichuan. Helicopters and military cargo-transport planes flew more than 300 sorties to transport food and rescue troops to areas in need.

On the day the 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck Sichuan, troops quartered around the county immediately dispersed over 13,600 soldiers into the surrounding areas to start the rescue effort.

However, because many roads leading to Wenchuan County were made impassable by the quake, troops were hindered from reaching the epicenter as quickly as possible. Premier Wen Jiabao, rescuer-in-chief, ordered the troops to "strive to get into the epicenter by whatever means, land, air or sea!"

At the service of the people

At 11:15 p.m. on May 13, after a 90-km, 21-hour forced march, Wang Yi, Commander-in-Chief of a unit of armed police forces stationed in Sichuan, together with 600 of his men, became the first to arrive at the epicenter of the disaster. In an interview with Sichuan Online, Wang praised his men for overcoming dangers such as large aftershocks, debris and landslides to arrive at the epicenter on time.

Wang said that the local government had functioned well after the disaster struck and that residents had remained calm. But many became emotional when they saw the soldiers arrive in town, shedding tears and saying they were more confident now that the government had broke their ring of isolation.

PLA Daily reporters on the scene said that when they were hiking with soldiers through the remote mountainous areas affected by the quake, survivors retreating from the epicenter applauded or bowed upon seeing the soldiers. Some even tried giving their food to the soldiers, telling them they could save more lives if they kept their strength.

Among the collapsed buildings, soldiers used their hands to dig out anyone with the slightest chance of being alive. Due to the high pressure involved in the rescue work, many soldiers had not eaten a meal through the entire day, Sichuan TV reported.

Because many of the most damaged areas were inaccessible, the relief effort has been enormous-including the largest airlift, Xinhua News Agency said, in the history of the 2.3-million-member PLA. Beset by heavy rains and a series of aftershocks that have complicated relief efforts, soldiers have in some cases parachuted into areas too isolated to be reached in other ways.