Translator: Cinder Translations
...
On the morning of the 4th, Malon Ganard woke from a restless sleep, his demeanor subdued as he completed his morning ablutions and went to the castle's dining hall for breakfast.
He had dreamt again of the scene where he overheard the conspiracy, which had deeply shaken his soul.
Yesterday, his brother Paul Grayman had already led the troops to Byerldine to suppress the rebels such as Ankiro and Ebbert. Malon wondered about the current situation of the battle.
He trusted Paul greatly; seeing Paul so confident, the conflict should soon be resolved.
After breakfast, Philip, the steward of the Grayman household, approached him and informed him that Steward Ford and Baron Abbott were seeking an audience with him. Malon then proceeded to the hall to meet them.
"Congratulations, my lord Earl!" Steward Ford and Baron Abbott stood up to congratulate him as soon as they saw him.
Malon looked puzzled, "What happened?"
Old Ford explained, "Yesterday afternoon, Lord Grayman defeated the rebels Ankiro and others. Buteya City is now under our control."
Malon's jaw dropped in astonishment, "So soon? Didn't he just set out yesterday?"
He had thought that even if Ankiro and the others were defeated in open battle, with Buteya's walls and provisions, it would take at least a week to besiege the city. He had stayed up half the night worrying about the safety of the city's residents.
"Ankiro's forces were nothing more than a bunch of farmers freshly conscripted. Even though they kept some private soldiers, it didn't change the overall situation." Hansel had seen the soldiers patrolling the streets of Buteya—a ragtag bunch compared to the elite soldiers in Alden Town.
Malon clasped his hands together in a prayer-like gesture, "Thank the Lord of Light for his blessing!"
Steward Ford smiled and said to Malon, "Lord Grayman requests your return to Buteya today to stabilize the hearts of the people in Byerldine as soon as possible."
Malon nodded, "Very well, I'll depart immediately."
...
Meanwhile, Paul was in the Lord's mansion in Buteya, listening to reports on the outcome of yesterday's battle.
Based on interrogations of several knights and minor leaders, the rebel force numbered over 2,000, with nearly 400 of them previously serving as private soldiers for Ankiro and about 300 mercenaries. The remainder were farmers or serfs conscripted from various parts of Byerldine.
After the battle, the Alden army captured a total of 823 prisoners of various types. Others who survived scattered during the battle, including 98 enemy combatants killed, not counting the many wounded.
He instructed the officers in charge of managing the prisoners, "Carefully differentiate them. If they are recently conscripted farmers, feed them a good meal and send them home to save our provisions. If they are former private soldiers of the rebels, detain them temporarily and release them once the situation stabilizes. If they are knights, do not release them without my order."
An officer asked, "What about those born as serfs? Should we not keep them ourselves? Theoretically, they are not prisoners but spoils of war."
Paul was taken aback and said, "Let them choose for themselves. If they wish to stay in Alden, I will let them become freemen. If they want to return to their original place, do not hinder them."
Although Paul's decision was strange, the officer noted it down.
Paul continued, "For those who have died but can be identified, spread the news of our victory and allow their families to come forward for recognition. If no one claims them or if it's urgent, bury them."
As for the Alden army itself, there were only 16 lightly wounded and 3 seriously wounded, but none in critical condition.
This was largely thanks to the extensive deployment of firearms; when the enemy approached, a volley of bullets or a few grenades could disperse a large group of people.
A soldier in charge of management hesitated slightly before asking, "There are some prisoners who are severely wounded but still alive. What should we do with them?"
"How severe are their injuries?"
"Some have lost mobility, some are still unconscious."
Paul hesitated for a moment, then said, "Save them if possible. I don't want the Alden army to bear the reputation of being indifferent and cruel. First, take me to see where these prisoners are being housed."
Arriving at the camp where severely injured prisoners were being housed, the smell here was very unpleasant, mixed with the odors of rotting flesh, strong alcohol, herbs, olive oil (used to stop bleeding), and various indistinguishable scents.
Moans of pain echoed continuously through the camp, continually jolting Paul's nerves.
The Alden army did not yet have dedicated military doctors, so they could only have those with experience in treating wounds fill in temporarily, and their methods were rather crude.
Those hit directly by solid cannonballs almost all did not survive, and here were adults who were injured by spears, bullets, and shotgun pellets.
It was easier to deal with people who were injured by spears, but for those who were injured by firearms or shotgun pellets, they could only use the experience of treating arrow injuries to bandage their bodies tightly and plug them with sticks, then use a knife to pick out the lead pellets from the wounds, and then use herbal paste and bandage it.
For those who were obviously incapable of being rescued from their limbs, there was only one method -- to cut them off with a saw.
Paul happened to see such an unfortunate operation, and the horrifying scene made him quickly leave the tent after only a glance.
Bryce whispered to him, "For those who obviously cannot be saved, should we...?" He made a gesture of cutting his throat.
After struggling for a while, Paul said helplessly, "Give them a quick death."
Even for rescued prisoner patients, they could only do their best and listen to the destiny. In this world where medical technology is backward and there are hardly any hygiene concepts, even if their lives were temporarily saved, many patients would die from wound infections like tetanus, and the death rate was extremely high.
This inspection did wake Paul up -- it was time to establish a more formal medical system, especially within the military.
In previous battles, the Alden army relied on equipment and institutional advantages to crush the opponents, resulting in very few casualties, but what about the future?
If they encounter evenly matched or stronger opponents in the future, there will inevitably be a large number of severely injured, making field medical care crucial. Should they rely on primitive medical techniques like the present or the holy water of charlatans to save their valuable soldiers?
Absolutely not! Every soldier is precious, and they have invested so much effort. In the current small-scale military situation, the death of each soldier is a significant loss, especially those experienced veterans who are the seeds for future expansion.
Moreover, the civilian population also needs advanced medical systems. Not to mention other things, just the matter of women giving birth, from the mother to the baby, the mortality rate is extremely high.
Paul remembered some data he had seen in his previous life, showing that the maternal mortality rate in ancient China was as high as thirty percent, and before the establishment of New China, the infant mortality rate was about twenty percent. Presumably, in a society with a development level similar to the medieval world, these data would not look good either.
"Even if we can't immediately improve the level of medical science, at least we should raise the level of nursing care, which should be relatively easy to achieve."
Paul thought as he looked at the dirty and messy patient camp.
He remembered that during the Crimean War, despite the presence of military doctors in the British army, the mortality rate of patients was still high until Florence Nightingale, the founder of nursing, arrived.
Although Florence Nightingale did not have advanced medical skills, she reduced the death rate of British soldiers from 42% to 2.2% by cleaning hospital wards, washing soldiers' clothes, improving ventilation, and drainage environment, and also because of her meticulous care for soldiers, she was given the title of "Lady with the Lamp."
Based on her investigation and military data, Florence Nightingale used her knowledge of statistics to make a report on soldier health analysis, confirming that the number of people who died from disease infections during the war far exceeded the casualties directly caused by war.
Let's start by improving the sanitation of the prisoner camp. Since the day of military reform, Paul has always emphasized the sanitary conditions in the barracks where soldiers lived, but the place where prisoners were housed was not so particular. It's not like they're housing a bunch of grandpas, so why bother?
He called the officer in charge of the prisoner camp and severely criticized him.
"It's so dirty and messy in the prisoner camp. What if a disease breaks out and we get infected ourselves?"
The Earl was very furious and the officer could only listen without saying a word.
A lot of nursing measures for patients with injuries have been proposed, such as: timely cleaning of garbage and dirty water; keeping ventilation in the camp; patients' clothing should be sterilized by boiling in hot water.
"What is sterilization? Just do as I told you."
After giving some instructions, Paul returned to the lord's mansion, and the soldier on duty told him that Earl Malon Ganard was already waiting for him inside.
So fast? He was a bit surprised.
Well, it's time to have a good talk with this blood-sworn brother.
(End of the Chapter)