Chapter 346 The life of a soldier is the most precious
“For His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!”
A first-term trainee of the Paris Police Academy wearing a sergeant's collar looked at Joseph, stroking his chest and responded loudly, as if the crown prince was conducting a routine review at the police academy.
"For His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!"
"For His Majesty the King!"
"For glory and France!"
The other wounded immediately ignored their pain and started shouting, and their voices echoed throughout the field hospital.
According to their inertial thinking and the medical conditions of this era, injury is basically equal to death.
What awaits them is a wound infection, and one to two weeks later, they die from a fever-induced coma.
Although Dr. Perna repeatedly assured them that at most two out of ten people would die from the infection, the soldiers only thought she was comforting themselves. Therefore, at this time, I treated His Highness the Crown Prince as if I were meeting him for the last time before my death, and bravely said goodbye to him.
Of course, there were also some young people who huddled in their hospital beds depressed, but they gritted their teeth and did not complain.
Today's Guards Corps' pursuit of honor has become a consensus and habit, making them unwilling to show any cowardice.
The staff officer following Joseph immediately read out the list of meritorious service recipients in public, which immediately attracted bursts of cheers. It seemed that death was not a big deal in the eyes of these young men.
The Luxembourgers who were helping around them couldn't help but look askance, wondering why these dying soldiers were "crazy"
This scene happened every time Joseph passed a tent or a farmhouse.
More than half of these wounded were cadets at the Paris Police Academy. He often saw them at the police academy, and some of them could even be called by their names.
But when he saw the blood-soaked bandages on their missing hands and feet, he couldn't help but feel sad.
In fact, these wounded have already undergone initial treatment. Yesterday, many soldiers were still wailing in the pain of amputation. Blood-stained military uniforms were scattered everywhere. It was far more tragic than now.
These unknown young people used their blood and youth to support the prosperity and stability of France. But they can only live with disability for the rest of their lives.
After leaving the last tent, Joseph turned to look at Berthier, the chief of general staff who was following behind him, and whispered: "Increase the casualty pension by 20%. The injured soldiers should try their best to arrange to work in government departments. The families of the injured soldiers The living security of the people should also be improved along with it.
"Let everyone know that making sacrifices for France is worth it, and France will not forget them!"
"Yes, Your Highness!" Berthier nodded and took note, not mentioning the tense military expenses.
When Joseph left the field hospital, he lowered his head and thought that if future generations of body armor could be produced, the casualties of soldiers could be greatly reduced.
In fact, this era also had the original body armor-the breastplate.
However, this thing is made of pure iron. In the face of increasingly sophisticated flintlock guns, the thickness must be more than 2 mm to play a life-saving role.
The problem is that the weight cannot be controlled at all.
A qualified breastplate weighs between 20 and 25 pounds. This weight may not seem exaggerated, but you must know that this is additional weight, added on top of carrying firearms and personal luggage. Moreover, they had to be dressed all the time during a battle, so even the most physically fit soldiers would find it difficult to last for half a day.
Also, there's the price. The price of an ordinary breastplate exceeds 120 livres, and there is no upper limit for high-quality ones. This led to the fact that only some cavalry engaged in frontal assaults were willing to equip this thing - anyway, the weight was borne by the horses, and the equipment of the cavalry was very expensive, and it was not less than the cost of this breastplate - this is very famous. of cuirassiers.
As for the infantry, only a few "supermen" will be equipped with some breastplates, mainly to deter the opposing infantry.
So, could the breastplate be improved using some later technology?
Joseph quickly shook his head slightly.
Whether it is alloy smelting or Kevlar fiber, they are far from being a technology that can be used in this era.
And just using steel forging cannot significantly reduce the weight...
After returning to his temporary office, Joseph was still at a loss. Perhaps it would be more practical to improve the level of medical care.
At this moment, he inadvertently caught a glimpse of the Luxembourg soldiers standing at the entrance of the street - actually the policemen who maintained order - wearing gray square military uniforms. His eyes immediately lit up: "Yes, why have you fallen into a misunderstanding!"
Who says you need armor to withstand bullets?
Joseph remembered that someone in later generations had counted that casualties caused by bullets in the torso accounted for 70% of the total casualties of soldiers. In other words, as long as the torso is protected, most casualties can be avoided.
This is also an important reason why breastplates are so popular.
And Joseph also knew a more convenient and simple equipment to protect the torso - bulletproof inserts.
Later, a certain treasure sold hundreds of millions of these life-saving gadgets to soldiers all over the world, and it also proved to be very effective on many battlefields from Africa to Eastern Europe.
The so-called bulletproof insert is generally a thin plate the size of a tablet computer, which is inserted into the "pocket" on the chest or abdomen of military uniforms when in use. It is light in weight and has good bulletproof effect, and according to the battlefield situation, you can choose to insert it only in front of the body, regardless of the back.
In this way, the overall weight can basically be controlled within 10 pounds.
Joseph recalled the structure of the bulletproof insert - a layer of metal sheet, a layer of Kevlar, a layer of ceramic sheet, and then a layer of Kevlar, which are all attached together. The production process is very simple.
Of course, there is definitely no Kevlar in this era, but silk can be used instead. In ancient times, officers used multiple layers of silk clothing to protect themselves from bows and arrows. Because silk has excellent toughness, the effect was pretty good.
Although silk is not as strong as Kevlar, it only needs to face lead bullets fired from black powder, so the strength should be enough.
The special ceramic process is definitely not possible, so ordinary hard ceramics can only be used.
The same reason is that the power of enemy weapons is limited, and this can also be replaced.
As for the adhesive, Joseph was a little unsure, so he could only ask Lavoisier to help find a way.
If it can be produced, the unit price of such a "youth version" of bulletproof inserts will not exceed 5 livres at most. A soldier is issued 5 pieces, which is 25 livres, which is completely affordable.
He hurriedly returned to the office, wrote down his ideas for the new equipment, and was about to write a letter to Lavoisier when he saw Eman knocking on the door and coming in. He leaned over and said, "Your Highness, General Leo wants to see you."
Leo? Joseph smiled. Mr. Commander was here, so he nodded and said, "Invite him in."
(End of chapter)