Chapter 18: Survival
It rained in the morning and the road was a bit muddy, so the speed of travel slowed down significantly in the afternoon.
Zhao Xiao rode his horse, stopping from time to time, and when he had time, he would stroll to Song Yuzhu's carriage.
Song Yuzhu has been in low spirits because of the soldiers' rape of women, and Zhao Xiao thought his illness has worsened.
"Are you okay? We should be able to set up camp and rest before dark. Just hold on a little longer."
Song Yuzhu: "I'm fine, you go and do your work." I wanted to mention this matter to Zhao Xiao just now, but after thinking about it, I realized that Zhao Xiao is just a captain. Not only will it not solve the problem if I tell him about it, it might even get him into trouble, so I had to let it go.
It was almost the afternoon when the sky darkened again. The cold wind was howling and dark clouds were rolling in the not-so-distant sky, as if a heavy rain was about to come.
The old soldier took out a hat from the box beside the carriage and handed it to him: "Put this on so you don't get wet when it rains later."
"Oh, thank you!" Song Yuzhu was not polite. This was not the time to be polite. If the condition worsened, there would be no hospital to save his life.
Zhao Xiao, who was riding on his horse in front, kept looking back, feeling a little worried. He didn't know how the young doctor was doing. What would he do if it rained heavily?
"Captain Zhao, stop looking. Your neck will be broken if you keep looking." Another captain named Fang joked.
It was not uncommon for men in the barracks to be homosexual. The old soldiers made faces and joined in the laughter.
Zhao Xiao frowned and said, "Don't talk nonsense, the prince asked me to take good care of him. If anything happens to him, I won't be able to report to him."
"Come on, if the prince really values this young doctor, why doesn't he prepare a separate carriage like Lord Xu? In my opinion, you should just deal with him. That kid doesn't look like he will live a long life. Don't bother yourself with the trouble. It's not worth it."
"Fang Lao Er, just take care of yourself!"
"Hey, I'm doing this for your own good. How can you be so ungrateful?" Although they were both captains, the others had climbed up step by step, but Zhao Xiao was the only one who was suddenly parachuted in. Naturally, everyone was not convinced of him.
Zhao Xiao raised his leg and kicked the man's horse on the butt. The horse jumped in pain and almost threw him off.
"You!" Just as he was about to get angry, a shout suddenly came from the front.
"There's an ambush! Be alert! There's an ambush!"
"Herodiot~~" Everyone pulled the reins and stopped. On the valley not far away, there were many people standing densely, holding bows and arrows and ready to shoot at them!
"Boom!!!" A dull thunder came from the sky, followed by raindrops as big as beans falling from the sky, hitting the saddle and making a clattering sound.
"Shoot!" With the order, a sky full of arrows mixed with rain flew towards them!
"Line up, shields raised!" The cavalrymen raised their shields in an orderly manner. After the first wave of arrows, the left general Wei Huai, who was in charge of leading the troops in front, shouted: "Generals and soldiers, listen to my order! Follow me to attack the mountain and kill them!"
"Kill!!!" Nearly one-third of the people rode their horses and followed him up the mountain.
Zhao Xiao was among them. He lowered his body and almost lay on the horse's back. The sound of arrows raining down from his ears was heard. The cold rain flowed down the armor on his head, onto his face, and into his mouth, bringing with it a taste of rust.
The closer we get to the mountain, the less effective bows and arrows become, and what follows is the bloodiest hand-to-hand combat.
"Zhao Xiao!" Wei Huai's voice suddenly came from the front.
"I'm here!" Zhao Xiao got off his horse and ran forward.
"You lead your subordinates as the vanguard and attack the top of the mountain!"
Zhao Xiao's eyes darkened and he said, "I obey your command." He turned around and led more than a hundred of his soldiers to rush up the mountain first.
To put it bluntly, the vanguard army was there to die. Wei Huai had disliked him for a long time and wanted to take this opportunity to kill him. Zhao Xiao had no way of disobeying military orders and could only bite the bullet and charge with his sword.
Scarlet blood bloomed on the blade, and there was a noisy sound of fighting in his ears! Zhao Xiao couldn't count how many people he had killed, and how many more were ahead. There was only one thought in his mind: he had to live, he had to live, this life was not something that anyone could take away if they wanted to!
*
The fighting was in full swing in the front, and Song Yuzhu, who was sitting on the grain cart in the back, was squatting behind a pile of rice bags and looking around. Because the grain cart was at the back, arrows could not reach it, so they were still relatively safe.
Although he was safe, Song Yuzhu did not let his guard down, fearing that an enemy would launch a surprise attack and cause him to lose his life.
The driver, Lao Gao, didn't really care. He sucked on his pipe and said, "The other side can't beat us."
"Uncle Gao, how did you know?"
"Hey, young man, you are an amateur when it comes to fighting! Let me tell you, soldiers are like swords, they have to be sharpened before they can kill the enemy. The Fourth Prince has lived in the Central Plains for a long time and has no chance to train soldiers. Our prince is different. Xizhou is adjacent to the Huihe, and the people over there are wild. In the past few years, they often came here to kill people and rob goods." Yang Yuanqing used the Huihe people to train these 20,000 cavalry.
"Wait, it will be almost done in half an hour."
Sure enough, not long after, the ambush troops on the mountain were almost all killed, and the heavy smell of blood could be smelled from a mile away.
The rain stopped, and the scarlet sunset illuminated the top of the mountain. Song Yuzhu stood up carefully and looked into the distance. He could vaguely see many corpses hanging in the mountains. He only took a glance and turned his head away, his stomach churning and nausea.
In my previous life, I lived in a peaceful and stable era and had never seen such a scene. Now that I have traveled to this dynasty where human life is worthless, I was lucky to have grown up peacefully for the first fifteen years. Now that I can no longer rely on my parents, I must work harder to adapt.
The morale of the soldiers was high after the victory. While cleaning the battlefield, they sang incomprehensible songs that were both tragic and passionate.
Song Yuzhu waited until dark before finally seeing Zhao Xiao riding towards her on horseback.
He quickly ran up to ask, "Are you not hurt?"
Zhao Xiao looked like he had been soaked in blood, with his hair stained with blood. He slid down from his horse with a tired look on his face, and stood up with the help of Song Yuzhu's shoulder, saying, "No, I'm just so tired..."
"That's good!" Song Yuzhu's heart finally settled down. He tried his best to support the man who was half a head taller than him and walked to the side to sit down. He took out the water bag and handed it to Zhao Xiao.
"Drink some water?"
Zhao Xiao pursed his lips and spat out blood. He was so exhausted from the battle that he couldn't even lift his hands.
After winning the battle, Yang Yuanqing naturally wanted to celebrate, so he ordered his army to set up camp on the spot, drink wine and eat meat!
Xu Bing patiently advised: "Your Majesty, now is not the time to celebrate. Many of the enemy soldiers have escaped. If the Fourth Prince sends troops to attack us again, we will not have enough time to resist!"
Yang Yuanqing frowned and said, "It's a bummer. Let's set up camp here and rest. We will attack Xuzhou City tomorrow!"
After setting up the barracks, they began to count the casualties.
Zhao Xiao originally had 112 men under his command, but after this battle, only less than 30 were killed or wounded.
"Didn't we win the battle? Why did so many people die?" Song Yuzhu said in disbelief.
"Our battalion served as the vanguard..."
Song Yuzhu understood what was happening and quickly took out the medicine box to treat the injured soldiers.
"Hiss, young doctor, are you able to do it?" The speaker was a short man with dark skin. He was stabbed on the shoulder by the enemy while charging. The wound was so deep that the bone was visible. He fainted several times from the pain along the way and was carried back by his brothers in the same camp.
Song Yuzhu checked his wound, picked out the broken bones, then took out the needle and thread and helped him sew up the wound bit by bit.
"It's... quite impressive, more reliable than those old doctors!"
After bandaging it, Song Yuzhu whispered hoarsely, "Next!"
Another soldier who had been stabbed in the back came over and said, "Young doctor, let me take a look."
Song Yuzhu took a look at the wound with the help of an oil lamp and found that it was not too deep, so she just sprinkled some medicine on it and let him go.
When the treatment was almost complete, a soldier asked in a low voice: "Doctor Song, the intestines are coming out. Can they still be saved?"
"Where are the people?"
Everyone pointed at the burly man lying on the wooden board in the corner. They saw a long cut on his stomach and he was breathing more in than out.
Lin Dayong was lying on the wooden bed with a deathly pale face. He was accidentally slashed by the enemy when attacking the mountain. He did not take it seriously at the time. Only when he returned to the camp did he realize something was wrong. There was a cut more than three inches long on his stomach and his intestines were flowing out.
The brothers quickly carried him into the barracks and called a military doctor to treat him. The old doctor came in and left without even checking his pulse. Lin Dayong knew that he was doomed. He would not survive...
Thinking of his old mother at home, he couldn't help but cry and trembled all over. He was not afraid of death, but he was afraid that no one would take care of his elderly mother after his death.
Just as my body was getting colder and colder, I suddenly heard someone walk in.
The warm fingers touched his pulse, and Lin Dayong yelled in fear and quickly dodged: "Don't kill me, I don't want to die!"
There is an unwritten rule in the military camp that if there are soldiers who cannot be saved, just kill them with a knife to save them from suffering while they are alive.
Song Yuzhu held his arm and said, "Calm down, no one wants to kill you!"
Lin Dayong couldn't listen, tears streaming down his eyes: "Please, I still have a mother to support... Don't kill me..."
Song Yuzhu walked forward, lifted his clothes, and without changing his expression, he opened the wound on his abdomen and looked at his intestines and organs.
The soldiers nearby covered their eyes in fear, and sighed in their hearts, "This young doctor is really brave! Although they dared to fight in battle, but no one dared to touch the internal organs of a living person!"
Zhao Xiao took a break and came over to ask, "Is there still hope?"
"Some people can be saved." Fortunately, his internal organs were not injured, and he should not die after being sutured. However, I am worried about post-operative infection. You know, even if someone had an open surgery in the previous life, some people would inevitably get wound infection, not to mention in ancient times when there was no disinfection or antibiotics.
Song Yuzhu couldn't bear to watch him die, so she quickly ordered people to boil hot water and make some Sanhuang Decoction for simple disinfection. She then gathered his intestines and stuffed them into his stomach and sewed up the wound, trying every possible means to save him.
To prevent the wound from opening due to the bumps on the road, Song Yuzhu sewed four or five layers of stitches inside and outside.
After his stomach was stitched up, Lin Dayong finally realized that this man was trying to save him...
Tears streamed down her cheeks, and she cried weakly, "If I can survive, I will work like a slave for you!"
Song Yuzhu said, "Don't be so quick to thank me. It's still uncertain whether you can survive. Don't eat or drink for the next two days. Your abdomen is injured. Wait until you can expel the gas before eating."
"Hey!" Lin Dayong responded.
Zhao Xiao laughed: "With so much energy, he shouldn't die."
Everyone burst into laughter, and then started to cry. The barracks that was bustling yesterday now had less than half of the people left. All those brothers died in this war.
"Ding!" A sound suddenly rang in Song Yuzhu's head, and he remembered the book. He quickly opened it and took a look.
Mission 1 (100/100) has been completed. The mission reward is a box of antibiotics.
Song Yuzhu widened his eyes and reached into his sleeve, where unexpectedly appeared a box of medicine that he was very familiar with - penicillin!
how so?
Where did this thing come from?
What the hell is going on with this book?!
Song Yuzhu quickly flipped through the book in his mind, but there were no other words on it except for the tasks that had been completed.
He quietly took out a small bottle of penicillin and placed it in his palm. The touch of the glass made him shiver all over. To make sure he was not hallucinating, he broke open a bottle and secretly poured it into Lin Dayong's mouth. If this was true... then he should not die.
After leaving the tent, Song Yuzhu was exhausted and sweating. He had a fever and was weak yesterday. In addition, his leg injury had not healed yet. He had also treated so many people and was now exhausted.
Zhao Xiao supported him and said, "You must be tired. Go back and rest."
"Not bad." Rather than being tired, he wanted to figure out what was going on with the book in his head?
When the two were halfway there, two soldiers suddenly came over and said, "Doctor Song, General Wei wants you to go and treat the soldiers in other camps."
Zhao Xiao blocked Song Yuzhu behind him and said sternly, "Aren't there military doctors in other camps?!"
The two were unmoved: "The other doctors are too busy, please ask Doctor Song to come over and help!"
"Don't go too far!"
(End of this chapter)
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