Chapter 200 Goodbye, General
"We have brought the stuff back. This guy is really capable. We can give it a try." The voice of the Han general was still as loud as ever.
"Have you tried everything? Is it feasible?" The old military doctor turned around to confirm.
"It should be feasible. Although salt was added, the salt content is not high. When cleaning the wounds of the wounded soldiers, I didn't hear them say that it hurt more." The pale-faced scholar described everything that happened in the wounded camp in detail.
"Oh, ventilation. I only thought about keeping warm and forgot that ventilation is also important." The old military doctor nodded as he listened.
There have been frequent battles recently, and the wounded camp is full of wounded soldiers. The military doctors and pharmacists are so busy that even rest is a luxury. They have no time to consider the feelings of the wounded.
"We have just started using it, and we don't know if there will be any problems later." Some of the other generals in the main account still expressed doubts.
Li Xiaoniu didn't know how to explain that his method must be effective.
After all, the time is too short, so short that the effect can't be seen at all.
"Since there is no problem, just use the things." The young general spoke.
"General."
"General, be careful!"
"It's okay, he is my soldier, and I trust my soldiers." The young general spoke again, this time with an unquestionable tone.
"Xiaoniu, come here." The old military doctor stood back, ready to give Li Xiaoniu the opportunity to show up in front of the general.
If a fireman does not go into battle to kill the enemy, he will always be a fireman of the lowest rank. But if he can win the favor of the general, even if he is transferred to guard the military camp, he will be able to rise to the sky.
Li Xiaoniu walked up with something in his hand, quietly begged the old military doctor for help, and then began to clean the general's wound.
"Uncle Bai, have the casualties this time been counted?" The young general looked up at the pale-faced scholar.
"The statistics have been completed. Two hundred people were injured and 80 died in this battle." The pale-faced scholar took out the data that had been prepared long ago.
"For the brothers who died, arrange their funerals and pensions. For the brothers who were injured, do your best to treat them." The young general made arrangements.
"General." The pale-faced scholar glanced at Li Xiaoniu and wanted to say something, but suppressed it.
The other generals who originally wanted to report the military situation gave up the idea now. For a moment, the entire military tent fell silent, with only the sound of running water as Li Xiaoniu rinsed the wound with warm salt water and wiped the skin with cotton cloth.
"Okay, we've finished cleaning. Now it's up to you. I'll go back first." Li Xiaoniu walked out of the military tent very obediently with his things.
As soon as he came out, he vaguely heard the sound of conversation coming from the military tent.
"The imperial court hasn't allocated the military pay yet... We don't have enough medicine... We don't have enough food..."
"No support... hold on... no way..."
The communication was intermittent and not very clear, but Li Xiaoniu still heard the key points. He walked towards the Fire Army in a daze. He remembered that they had been here for almost a year. In the first few months, there were troops transferred from other places to join them.
But in recent months, no other troops have come to support, and even the last batch of food and fodder seemed to have been delivered three months ago. The firemen started reducing the food supply a month ago.
Ten thousand soldiers and horses cannot hold out for long without food and fodder support from the rear.
They were fighting in this frontier area, risking their lives, while the imperial court in the rear could not even guarantee food and supplies.
Time seems to pass by so quickly...
The warm salt water disinfection method used by Li Xiaoniu has been well proven on wounded soldiers. The wounds after disinfection are easier to heal and the wounded soldiers are less likely to have fever.
So Li Xiaoniu was transferred from the fire corps to the military medical department. Here, Li Xiaoniu felt the anxiety of the war. One or two battles took place every few days. More and more wounded soldiers were sent in, and the wounded camp was almost full.
But this is not the most terrifying thing. The most terrifying thing is that there are very few herbs left and the food is almost exhausted. The entire army is in panic and some people have already started deserting.
"We will all die here." A young wounded soldier couldn't help crying pessimistically.
"No, the general is already asking for help." Li Xiaoniu tried his best to comfort him.
"The court will not send any support, we have been abandoned." What the wounded soldier said was exactly what the lower-level soldiers were thinking.
With less and less food, ordinary soldiers can no longer get enough to eat, but they have to face increasingly intensive attacks from the enemy. It is no wonder that pessimism is spreading among ordinary soldiers.
"We will win, we will definitely win." Li Xiaoniu said firmly. As long as the young general did not fall, they still had a chance to win.
But everything happened so fast
Li Xiaoniu stood in the ruined military camp, looking blankly at the corpses scattered all over the ground. There was his familiar uncle Zhuzi, the old military doctor who taught him knowledge, and the white-faced military advisor who touched his head and praised him for being a good person.
Dead
All dead
Why?
Why is this happening?
Li Xiaoniu didn't understand why it happened suddenly.
Overnight, a massive enemy army attacked and everyone was killed in their sleep.
The sound of horse hooves and the enemy's shouts did not alarm anyone in the military camp. What does this show?
There was a traitor in the army, and this traitor was from the imperial court.
Li Xiaoniu's whole body turned cold when he thought of this. Yesterday afternoon, the imperial grain that he had been looking forward to day and night finally arrived. It was said that the person who escorted the grain was a close attendant of the emperor, a very high-ranking official, someone that ordinary people like them would never see in their lifetime.
When the food and fodder arrived, the high officials slaughtered pigs and sheep to reward the three armies for their hard work in resisting the foreign enemies, and even the ordinary soldiers were given some wine.
Last night was a carnival for everyone. The ordinary soldiers had been hungry for five meals in three days, and finally they had a full meal with meat and wine. In the main military tent, the generals of the army accompanied the high-ranking official in drinking and having fun.
In the second half of the night, everyone except the guards fell asleep, and the enemy army rushed in.
"Why? Aren't we fighting for the imperial court?" Li Xiaoniu muttered to himself, his eyes bloodshot. "Why, why on earth?"
"Because we are blocking their way to peace talks." A clear but heavy voice sounded.
Li Xiaoniu turned his head suddenly and saw a half-skeletonized man wearing silver armor walking towards him.
His forehead, right cheek and mouth were all exposed with white bones, and a sharp dagger was stuck in the chest of his silver armor, which was obviously the cause of his eventual death.
"General." Li Xiaoniu's eyes widened. The half-skeletonized person in front of him was their general.
"We fought desperately to defend our country, but in the end we died at the hands of our own people." General Bai Gu grinned coldly, revealing his sharp white teeth, looking so terrifying and appalling.
But for some reason, Li Xiaoniu was not afraid of such a general, because he knew that the general was a good man. When food and grass were insufficient, it was he who sent people out to sell his own property to raise military rations. Otherwise, they would not have been able to hold on until now.
But what was the use of holding on? They were stabbed in the back by their own people and were slaughtered by the enemy.
"I regret it so much. They clearly advised me not to work for that corrupt court anymore, but I didn't listen. I didn't listen." The half-skeletonized general's eyes turned blood red, and a silver spear appeared in his hand.
"Why didn't I listen? Why didn't I listen? I was careless. I killed them. It's my fault. It's all my fault."
The half-skeletonized general wielded the silver spear. The ruined military camp and the corpses scattered all over the ground turned into dust as the spear swept across. The blood had long since disappeared and the bones had also vanished.
In this world, there is only this soul full of regret, alone, looking back on the past over and over again.
"General, it's not your fault." Li Xiaoniu raised his foot and walked towards the general. His figure slowly grew taller, and his childish face began to mature, just like the man whose life stopped at the age of fourteen and finally grew up.
"It was that corrupt dynasty, that cowardly ruler, and that attendant who drugged me. It was never your fault, never!"
"Isn't it me?" The spear stopped dancing.
He has blamed himself for so many years, and the obsession has long been deep in his soul.
"Of course not you." The handsome young man walked up to General Bai Gu and reached out to touch his hand that was holding the spear.
"It's that damn dynasty, it's that damn world."
"But it was me who killed you." General Bai Gu's blood-stained eyes trembled slightly.
"No, you never killed us." The young man looked into General Bai Gu's eyes and said firmly, "You were just the general who wanted to lead us to victory in the war and return in triumph. You just wanted us to live."
"It's my fault. I believed in the court. I believed..."
A finger pressed against the Bone General's lips, pressing against his self-doubt.
"General, stop blaming yourself. Uncle Zhuzi, the old military doctor, Lieutenant General Han, Military Advisor Bai...none of them have ever blamed you, ever."
"Li Xiaoniu has never blamed you. You are a good general. You were, are, and always will be..."
"General..."
"General..."
"General..."
…
One after another, blurry figures appeared behind the young man——
They were firemen in sackcloth;
They are wounded soldiers wrapped in bandages;
They were military medical boys in aprons;
They were ordinary soldiers with broken weapons;
There are also generals in armor and a white-faced military advisor waving a feather fan.
"General, we have never blamed you." The ordinary soldier grinned, revealing a row of big white teeth.
"General, without you, we would have died long ago." The wounded soldiers supported each other to stand.
"General, Old Han has never regretted following you." The Han general's voice was still as loud as a bell.
The white-faced military advisor stretched out his hand and punched the big Han general. Just like in his lifetime, he walked forward a few steps, walked to the side of the white-bone general, and stretched out his hand to gently push his back.
"General, you should move on. Follow the calf. This is not the place for you."
"General, take care..."
"Goodbye, General..."
Familiar figures, each trying their best to put on their brightest smiles, waved their hands, sent out their most sincere blessings, and slowly dissipated between heaven and earth...
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