Outside the sick and wounded camp, the soldiers transporting corpses spotted His Majesty Li Er and his entourage. They parked their carts aside and knelt on one knee to perform military salutes.
His Majesty Li Er jumped off his horse and strode forward.
The wind is howling and snowflakes are falling.
Every soldier maintained respect in front of him, but the faces covered with frostbite were more numb and decadent. It was not an open-mindedness that looked down on life and death, but a hopeless and overwhelmed indifference...
His Majesty Li Er stood on the spot and remained silent.
After a long time, he slowly said: "A lot of injuries?"
All the soldiers did not dare to answer.
When the army doctors in the camp heard that His Majesty was personally inspecting, they quickly put down their work and ran out to see him. It was only after His Majesty Li Er asked again that someone replied: "Your Majesty, there are many."
His Majesty Li Er looked around, walked towards the barracks, and asked: "Are there enough medicinal materials?"
An old man with gray hair bowed and followed behind. Hearing this, he shook his head and said with a heavy expression: "It's not enough. When we set out for the expedition, we had already anticipated that the war might not go well until winter, so we prepared frostbite medicine, but in Liaodong
It's too cold... The Navy has collected all the medicinal materials from Shandong, Hebei and other places, and is working hard to transport them here every day, even cutting ice to get ashore, but there is still not enough for use."
Again, Liaodong is too cold.
Except for the elite troops who are the main attackers in each army, the rest of the troops do not even have a few cotton-padded clothes per team. Under such bitter cold weather, even if you hide in the camp, you are still unable to withstand the severe cold. If you go out of the camp for a walk, you will immediately
Frostbite on hands and feet will worsen quickly if not treated in time.
When the chilblains suppurate, the limbs will either be amputated directly, or the wounds will become inflamed and the body will have a fever and wait for death...
Countless soldiers died every day due to frostbite, and they had to use gunpowder to break open the soil and dig a large pit at the foot of the hillside not far from the sick camp to bury the bodies.
His Majesty Li Er looked gloomy and walked ahead with his hands behind his back, entering the injury camp.
What you can see is simple tents set up in rows. Many of the tents were haphazardly put up with numbness and other materials in front of them to protect them from the wind and snow. Many soldiers with minor injuries nested there casually.
My ears were filled with the bitter cold or screams of the wounded soldiers, and it felt like stepping into hell...
The environment is quite clean, the floor is clean and tidy, and white quicklime has been sprinkled in many places. There are more than a dozen large iron pots lined up in one corner of the wall, and firewood, bandages, cloth strips, sheets and other items are placed underneath.
Boil in the pot, the water boils, and white mist fills the air.
Seeing His Majesty Li Er constantly looking towards the cauldron, the doctor explained: "Pourting quicklime on the ground, boiling water and boiling bandages and sheets are all methods of disinfection. Every time before treating the wounded, our husbands must
The same is true for hand cleansing with strong alcohol. These are the requirements of military medical hygiene regulations. We adhere to them and the results are indeed very good."
His Majesty Li Er nodded slightly.
Li Ji on the side said: "This military medical and health regulations came about when the Duke of Yue conquered the Western Regions. He felt that the medical treatment conditions in the army were poor, so after returning to Chang'an, he organized many doctors and doctors from the Imperial Hospital to jointly study and issue this regulation.
, it has been implemented in the army since then, and the effect is very good. Now it has been implemented in all armies of the Tang Dynasty."
His Majesty Li Er had really forgotten about this. After Li Ji mentioned it, some impressions came to his mind, and he couldn't help but sigh.
It’s Fang Jun again…
Although Fang Jun is now in the Western Regions, Fang Jun's shadow can be seen in every aspect of the Eastern Expedition army, including the indestructible gunpowder and sky-shattering thunder, the general responsible for transporting supplies across the sea to Goguryeo, the Baekje Navy that completely crippled it, and even the navy that completely crippled it.
This injury camp in front of me...
There are countless capable ministers and strangers in ancient times, but those like Fang Jun who have made achievements in various fields are rare and can be said to be amazingly talented.
I couldn't help but feel a trace of regret in my heart. If I had been able to stand firm, fight against all opinions, and include the Navy in the Eastern Expedition, perhaps Goguryeo would have been destroyed by now, and hundreds of thousands of troops would have returned to Guanzhong...
Of course, this idea can only be thought about.
Even if he had that kind of courage and ignored the opposition of all parties in the military to shoulder the important task of the Navy, those people would definitely feel conflicted. If there was no work to be done, how could the Navy alone achieve the strategic goal?
Moreover, not only the river is frozen, but also the seashore is frozen for more than ten miles. Navy ships cannot reach Pingrang City directly. Naturally, it is impossible to bombard the city with ship-borne artillery and help the army break the city...
In the sick and wounded camp, when they learned that His Majesty and a group of generals were coming to inspect, the groans and screams of pain suddenly weakened until they disappeared.
His Majesty Li Er had a solemn look on his face. From time to time he would walk up to a certain injured person, bend down to greet him, inquire about the injury carefully, and express his concern and condolences.
The soldier who was being condoled was still writhing and crying in pain a moment ago, but at this moment he was so excited that he shed tears, and kept saying that he was not seriously injured, and he could still go into battle to kill the enemy with his sword, and established a great cause for His Majesty that will last forever.
His Majesty Li Er also had red eyes, and his heart was agitated...
I originally planned to inspect a few more military camps, but I took over this sick camp, which touched the tenderness in His Majesty Li Er's heart. Seeing these originally vigorous soldiers suffering from wounds and sores while fighting against the severe cold and powerful enemies, I could hardly
Own.
Therefore, for most of the day, His Majesty Li Er visited the wounded soldiers in the sick and wounded camp, and gathered together the generals and doctors to discuss how to improve the efficiency of treatment. Although there was a shortage of supplies, priority must be given to supplying the sick and wounded soldiers to the sick and wounded soldiers, so as not to let the wounded soldiers bleed.
Tears again.
Until he returned to the central military tent in the evening, took off his armor and cotton clothes, washed himself with warm water, and took a pill to regain his strength. His Majesty Li Er was still in a state of excitement.
He knew that the Eastern Expedition would be difficult, but he really didn't expect it to be so difficult.
It can be said that if the navy had not been working hard to transport baggage and maintain the food and supplies of the army in the severe cold, the order to withdraw would have been issued by now. Hundreds of thousands of troops came in force, but returned dejected.
In the history of history, the reputation of His Majesty Li Er has been completely lost. If Goguryeo still cannot be overthrown in the future, it will become a stain that can never be erased.
A feeling of heat rose from the bottom of my heart.
On one side, the miserable soldiers in the sick camp were shouting and shouting, and on the other side, there were great achievements that will last forever. This made His Majesty Li Er feel sorry for the Han people who followed him and fought thousands of miles, but also felt that since the war had reached this stage, why not A short-term pain is worse than a long-term solution. Why not launch a general attack in advance and conquer Pingrang City in one fell swoop?
After thinking for a while, he said to his chamberlain: "Go and tell Zhu Suiliang, and ask him to go to each camp to inform the generals, and to come to the central military tent to discuss the matter as soon as possible."
"Here!"
The chamberlain took the order and left.
Less than half an hour later, all the generals arrived and entered the tent wrapped in the cold air.
The chamberlain stood at the door and put away the cloaks that everyone had taken off. Everyone came forward to greet them, and then sat down separately.
Zhu Suiliang led his chamberlain to serve hot tea to everyone, then returned to the desk behind His Majesty Li Er and sat down, writing and waiting to record.
When Li Ji saw His Majesty Li Er being silent, he couldn't help but ask: "Your Majesty, the generals and ministers have been summoned, but what is the important matter?"
His Majesty Li Er pondered for a long time, then looked around at everyone and said slowly: "I want to launch a general offensive in advance and end the Eastern Expedition as soon as possible. What do you think?"
As soon as this statement came out, everyone was shocked.
Cheng Yaojin frowned and said: "Right now, the defenses outside Pingrang City have not been completely conquered. The army cannot besiege Pingrang City, leaving too much room for the Goguryeo people to move. Launching a general attack at this time will mean a loss of baggage and casualties.
It will be very huge, so please think twice, Your Majesty."
Cheng Mingzhen also said: "The weather is very cold at the moment and the army is struggling. If we attack forcefully at this time, the casualties will be greatly increased. If we are more prudent and attack steadily, after the outer defenses of Pingrang City are completely cleared, Pingrang City will be like a stuffy jar. Let's catch the turtle in the jar."
,Victory is just around the corner.”
No one understood why His Majesty Li Er suddenly came up with such an idea, but they still tried their best to dissuade him.
At this point in the battle, Goguryeo would have no chance to recover, and the city would only be broken sooner or later, so why take the huge risk?
Your Majesty Li Er is a man who knows how to fight. How could he not know that everyone's advice is a sound policy?
He sighed and said: "But have you ever thought that in such extremely bad weather, the casualties of soldiers would be reduced without charging into battle? Moreover, the weather is too cold, the road is difficult to travel, and the transportation of baggage is also under great pressure.
Failure to transport them in time will cause the morale of the military to be shaken and morale to collapse. Since casualties are inevitable, why not simply launch a general offensive and end this war as soon as possible?"