Chapter 1405 Controlling the Epidemic
Haihan's measures to recruit immigrants from the north have actually been going on for several years. During this period, a large number of northerners were recruited into the army or entered various government departments and became Haihan's loyal supporters. Many of them were reassigned. Return to the north to carry out the mission. However, in order to form a force mainly composed of northern soldiers, the army currently does not have such objective conditions, so Morgan's idea can only remain in words for the time being, and it will be difficult to realize it in the near future.
But even with Haihan's national strength, it is still a very difficult task to provide adequate and effective logistical support for its own army in a cold area thousands of miles away from the mainland, especially those personnel stationed in Liaodong. The majority of people are from the south, which greatly increases the difficulty of adapting to the local environment.
Takahashi Nan was wrapped in thick clothes, only his two eyes were exposed, staring at the snow-covered road under his feet, and he was walking cautiously in the snow. Although the snow on the ground is only ankle-deep, there is actually a thin layer of ice underneath the snow. If you are not careful on a slope, you will slip. Although the officer's leather boots on Takahashi Minami's feet are well made and have good warmth retention properties, they are still a bit unslip-resistant. Fortunately, he is short and has a low center of gravity. In addition, with his martial arts skills, his lower body is more stable than ordinary people, so walking in the snow is quite stable.
Takahashi Minami has participated in countless combat operations since he joined the army in Haihan, and has been in various environments, but the troops he leads have rarely been as passive as they are now. Although everyone is trying hard to persevere, the non-combat attrition of the army has reached as high as one-tenth. This ratio is really frighteningly high for a force in a truce period. Military doctors were obviously not prepared for such a sudden large-scale epidemic, and neither medicinal materials nor treatment measures were able to effectively suppress the spread of the epidemic. But in the face of Takahashi Minami's anger, the military doctors were helpless. Who would have thought that such a situation that goes against common sense would lead to a large-scale infectious disease outbreak in such a cold season?
Fortunately, the special operations battalion usually manages the army very strictly. Even if it encounters such an adverse situation, the morale of the army has not been greatly affected and it still maintains normal operations. However, after receiving advice from Shandong, Gao Qiaonan still ordered the suspension of collective outdoor drills once every three days, and minimized large-scale gatherings of people, in the hope of limiting the continued spread of the epidemic through infection channels. At the same time, some people whose conditions have worsened will be transported back to Shandong by ship. After all, the medical conditions on Zhifu Island are slightly better than those in Lushun. Only by sending them back can there be hope of cure.
Of course, these measures alone are not enough. Gao Qiaonan is also waiting for Zhifu Island to send some medical personnel to assist Lushun. According to the telegrams received two days ago, the headquarters has organized manpower and medicine in Shandong, and they will arrive in Lushun in the near future. This made Takahashi Minami feel slightly better, at least he has seen the possibility of improving the current situation.
He went out in the heavy snow because he wanted to check on the conditions in the isolation ward. This was one of his daily routines. The confirmed patients were gathered in a barracks in the northeast corner of Lushun Fort and temporarily isolated from the outside world to avoid infecting more people.
At the door of the isolation area, Takahashi Minami took off the scarf from his face, took the cotton mask handed over by the medical soldier and put it on, dusted off the snowflakes on his hat and shoulders, stamped his feet again, and then opened the door curtain and entered. In a barracks.
There is a stove in the room, which is much warmer than outside. There are ten patients in this room. Their symptoms are basically the same, including fever, fatigue, severe cough, difficulty breathing, body pain, etc. caused by influenza. However, because there are too few medical soldiers and military doctors in Port Arthur, one person needs to take care of about twenty patients, and there are currently no specific drugs available to these patients, so this is not so much treating diseases, but just treating them. They are artificially isolated and wait for their condition to improve automatically.
In such an environment, it is obviously a very small probability for a patient to recover through the body's self-healing ability. Therefore, even if some seriously ill patients have been sent back to Shandong, the number of patients here is still increasing. However, Takahashi Minami was good at leading troops to fight, but it could not play a practical role in treating diseases and saving lives.
He comes to the ward every day to make rounds, mainly to calm people's hearts, but it is difficult to hear any good news from here. There are very few people who have recovered. Almost every time he comes here, he only receives bad news about the number of new cases today. information. Today is no exception. According to reports from medical soldiers, five more people have been diagnosed today and need to enter the isolation camp. Another two people have worsened and need to be sent back to Shandong for treatment as soon as possible.
After listening to the report, Takahashi Nan just frowned subconsciously, but did not give any further instructions to the medical soldiers, because he knew that with the current conditions of Fort Lushun, it was difficult to have any real treatment methods that could be used on patients. The roads are blocked by heavy snow outside, making it very difficult to dig herbs in the wild. Now we can only hope that assistance from Shandong will arrive quickly.
He did not deliver any morale-boosting speech to the patients, but silently helped the medical soldiers deliver a bowl of steaming potion to each patient. Guizhi decoction is the most effective medicine available locally at the moment, and it only requires five herbs: cassia twig, peony, licorice, ginger, and jujube. It can still suppress the condition of some patients with mild conditions. However, there were not many medicinal materials left, so the military doctors had to reduce the concentration of the medicine when decoction, so that the same amount of medicinal materials could be used to cook more medicine and provide it to more patients.
The battalion commander personally distributed medicines to the patients in the ward. In fact, there was no need to say anything more to express his attitude. The soldiers could naturally feel the attention from their superiors.
After Gao Qiaonan distributed medicine in several wards, news came from his subordinates that a Haihan fleet had entered Port Arthur. Gao Qiaonan knew that the fleet from Shandong should have arrived, so he immediately had people prepare their carriages and horses and rush to the port to greet them. The telegram he received said that the chief would come personally to take command. This was definitely not a sign of neglect. He had to go and pick it up in person.
Half an hour later, Gao Qiaonan arrived at the port of Lushun Bay and saw four sailboats slowly docking. He breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly and slowly finally caught up. When Takahashi Nan saw Morgan's appearance, he immediately became energetic. He knew that this leader was not only a sniper instructor, but also a medical expert. With him in Lushun in person, things would be much easier to handle.
"The short, stocky one is Battalion Commander Gaoqiao." Qin Wei stood on the side of the ship and introduced to Liu Shang: "I guess you should have heard this name when you were in Sanya. Did you say that? ”
Liu Shang looked at the officer who was saluting Morgan, nodded and said: "Of course, his military exploits are rare among the military. Even his battle deeds have been incorporated into study materials and publicized among the garrisons everywhere. But listen It seems that this battalion commander Takahashi is of Japanese origin?”
Qin Wei glanced at Liu Shang and said calmly: "As long as you are loyal to the country and the executive committee, Haihan people, it doesn't matter which country you are from?"
Liu Shang felt the displeasure in Qin Wei's tone and knew that he had made a mistake. Since Gao Qiaonan was a hero in the army, Qin Wei naturally wanted to protect his honor in front of outsiders. He smiled and said, "I made a mistake." , Brother Tan, no wonder. I admire the deeds of Battalion Commander Takahashi very much! From Fuguang to here, I heard that many of the controlled areas and colonies along the way were fought by special operations battalions. Beaten down.”
Qin Wei's face softened slightly and he said: "Yes, Battalion Commander Gaoqiao is brave and loyal. Both the Executive Committee and the Ministry of National Defense have great trust in him, so they have always entrusted him with the task of pioneering the path. Director Liu If you are interested, you can also find an opportunity to chat with Battalion Commander Takahashi. You may be able to compile a story about him and tell it to the public in the future.”
Liu Shang agreed with a smile, but he thought that this place was in the midst of an epidemic, and a new military operation would be launched against Houjin after the spring. As the commander of the main battle force, Gao Qiaonan was so busy that he would not have time to chat with him. . However, there were many officers from the Ming Dynasty and Annan in the Haihan Army, but Japanese Japanese were extremely rare. Takahashi Minami was an outlier. But being able to lead the troops from the South China Sea to Liaodong and open up territory for Haihan is a real military achievement and cannot be faked at all. It is no wonder that he has won the trust of the Executive Committee and the Ministry of National Defense. The special operations battalion commanded by Takahashi Minami is known as the ace unit in Haihan. No matter which country it faces, it is invincible. It even defeated the queen on foot and cavalry two months ago. The Golden Cavalry has a miraculous record. Liu Shang had also heard of his name for a long time. After coming to Liaodong this time, he finally had the opportunity to see this famous army up close. However, he then thought about it. At this time, the special operations camp was stationed at the place where the epidemic originated, and it was also in a war zone. I was afraid that martial law had already been enforced, and he might not be able to wander around at will.
Although there is only a Bohai Strait between this place and Zhifu Island, and the straight-line distance is only more than two hundred miles, Liu Shang still feels that the temperature here does seem to be colder than that in Shandong. An epidemic could break out in such a cold place. It’s no wonder the military was ill-prepared for this.
After everyone disembarked, there were carriages and horses arranged by the local garrison to pick them up. However, due to limited conditions, there was only a large flatbed truck temporarily added with a hood to carry passengers. Fortunately, the road was not far, and it was not too bumpy. Cause discomfort. As for the army troops who came to change defense and garrison, due to the large number of people, they naturally had to walk to Lushun Fort after gathering.
Liu Shang didn't feel any discomfort while sitting in the caravan. The car was covered with thick fur, and he couldn't tell what kind of animal it was, but it was indeed soft and warm when he sat on it. However, it was only the buttocks and legs that were warmed. The cold wind blowing in from the gaps in the canopy still felt like a knife on the exposed skin.
Liu Shang shuddered, subconsciously took out the small wine bottle from his arms, opened it and took a sip. A warm current flowed down his throat and into his belly, and then he felt warm all over his body.
"Give me a sip." A hand stretched out from the side and motioned for Liu Shang to pass the wine bottle.
Liu Shang turned his head and saw that he was a local officer who was accompanying them. Sitting in the carriage, he was half a head taller than himself and as strong as a bear. The pot was handed into his hand. The officer took the hand, raised his head unceremoniously, and poured the wine into his mouth.
Liu Shang swallowed a sip of saliva and thought to himself that this man was drinking boldly, as if he was drinking water. However, there was only a small amount of wine in the small jug. The man shook the jug twice and then it was gone. He licked his lips with unfinished content and handed the jug back to Liu Shang: "Thank you! I'm the second lieutenant of the Special Operations Battalion. Platoon leader Sun Zhen.”
"I'm Liu Shang, the youth league officer." Seeing that the other party reported his job title, Liu Shang responded in the same way: "Platoon Leader Sun is very polite."
Sun Zhen grinned, showing two rows of big white teeth and said: "Director Liu is from the south, right? It's really hard to come to this bitter cold place. I'll make up for your wine when we get to Port Arthur."
Liu Shang was polite and asked curiously: "From the accent of Platoon Leader Sun, it seems that he is from Shandong?"
Sun Zhen nodded and said: "During the Denglai Rebellion, I fled from the countryside to escape the military disaster. Later I defected to Haihan and joined the army in Penghu."
Liu Shangxin said that this was a common thing during the Denglai Rebellion. He had read relevant information. During the two years of the Denglai Rebellion, Haihan introduced more than 10,000 refugees from Shandong. Most of them were like Sun Zhen, who wanted to escape Refugees who have been displaced by the war. At that time, in order to obtain Haihan nationality as soon as possible, many of these refugees chose to join the army, and Sun Zhen was obviously one of them.
The carriage soon drove into Fort Victory, and everyone in the carriage was led by Sun Zhen to the vacated barracks. At this time, Takahashi Minami was seeking Morgan's opinion on whether it was necessary to gather the entire battalion for review.
Morgan shook his head and said: "As much as possible, try to reduce the concentration of people. Didn't I tell you this? There is no need to review. Please take me to see the situation in the quarantine area first."
Takahashi Nan was originally worried about this matter, but when he saw Morgan's request, he quickly took him to the isolation area in the northeast corner of the fort. After Morgan spent an incense stick looking at it inside and out, he already had a rough idea in his mind, and asked Takahashi Minami to convene a meeting of military doctors and medical soldiers to assign tasks.
Morgan's measures are mainly divided into three aspects: disinfection, isolation and treatment. This time he brought a group of medical staff and a large amount of medicines, and prepared a more professional isolation and disinfection plan for the ward to correct the previous inadequate isolation measures. With Morgan, a senior military doctor, in charge, all aspects of epidemic prevention work were quickly implemented, and the originally chaotic ward finally settled down. Of course, this is just the beginning. Morgan himself is not 100% sure whether the epidemic can be controlled. He can only follow the established measures.
(End of chapter)