Chapter 3342 Decisive battle as soon as possible
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 down 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, silent.
After a long time, he slowly said: "A lot of injuries?"
All the soldiers dared not answer.
When the army doctor in the camp heard that His Majesty was personally inspecting, he quickly put aside his 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 the medicinal materials still enough?"
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 Liaodong It’s too cold... The navy collected all the medicinal materials from Shandong, Hebei and other places, and worked hard to transport them here every day, even cutting ice ashore, but there was still not enough for use. "
Again, Liaodong is too cold.
Except for the elite troops in each army that were responsible for the main attack, the rest of the troops did not even have a few cotton-padded clothes. In this bitter cold weather, even if you are hiding in a tent, you are still unable to withstand the severe cold. If you go out for a walk outside the camp, your hands and feet will be frostbitten immediately. If not treated in time, the frostbite will quickly worsen.
When the frostbite suppurates, either the limb is amputated directly, or the wound becomes inflamed and the body has a fever and waits for death...
Countless soldiers died of frostbite every day. They had to use gunpowder to blast away 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 ground 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, with firewood placed underneath. Bandages, cloth strips, sheets and other items are placed on the large floor. The pot was boiling, the water was boiling, and white mist filled the air.
Seeing that His Majesty Li Er kept looking towards the cauldron, the doctor explained: "Pourling 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 washing hands 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 and felt that the medical treatment conditions in the army were poor. Therefore, 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 the army of the Tang Dynasty. ”
His Majesty Li Er had really forgotten about this. After Li Ji mentioned it, some impression 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, every aspect of the Eastern Expedition army has Fang Jun's shadow, including the indestructible gunpowder and sky-shattering thunder, the navy responsible for transporting heavy supplies across the sea, and the completely crippled Goguryeo and Baekje navy, and even the 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 the 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 the courage to shoulder the important task of the Navy regardless of the opposition of all parties in the military, those people would definitely feel conflicted. If there is no work to be done, how can 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 expression. From time to time he would walk up to a certain injured person, bend over to greet him, inquire about the injury carefully, and express his concern and condolences.
The soldier who was receiving condolences was still writhing and crying in pain a moment ago, but at this moment he was so excited that he shed tears. He 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 and wounded camp, which touched the tenderness of 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 almost couldn't help it. 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 baggage, priority must be given to supplying the sick and wounded soldiers to the sick and wounded soldiers, and the wounded soldiers could not 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 army's food supplies 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 children 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. How about launching a general attack in advance and conquering Pingrang City in one fell swoop?
After thinking for a while, he said to his chamberlain: "Go and tell Zhu Suiliang, let him go to each camp to inform the generals, and quickly come to the central military tent to discuss the matter."
"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 table 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 moment will mean the loss of baggage and casualties of soldiers." It will be very huge, please think twice.”
Cheng Mingzhen also said: "The weather is very cold at the moment and the army is struggling. If we attack forcefully at this moment, 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 not be reduced at all 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 army 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?" (End of Chapter)