[Today is late. When I have enough leave requests at the beginning of every month, I always slack off for two days]
Half an hour had passed since the old housekeeper was sent out of the bedroom by Kawei. The maids waiting at the door were anxiously waiting for the result.
They have no medical knowledge and have no feelings about the episode in the bedroom just now. The only thing they are worried about now is the danger of surgery. The old marshal was the pillar that supported the family. Albert had just died. If he had another misfortune, the family would probably fall.
The main reason is that the other sons' positions in the military and political circles are very embarrassing, and the old marshal needs to continue to shine and pave the way for them. Servants are very realistic. Apart from some sense of belonging brought by their work, the rest are considerations of both prosperity and loss.
Even if the nobles decline, the remaining wealth will be enough to maintain their livelihood for a long time. But the maids will immediately lose their jobs that provide food and accommodation. It is not so easy to find a stable job in Vienna these days.
In this case, Ludwig's health is very important, and it will naturally become their only topic now.
"Master, can't you do that?"
"Stop talking nonsense!"
"Surgery is very scary. A neighbor of mine underwent amputation surgery and died within two days."
"The doctor who performed the surgery must be different. I heard that the doctor today was very powerful."
"Is it great?"
"I'm too young, and I was told to prepare salt and sugar before. It's like a kitchen, so I always feel a little uneasy."
"But there are many chief doctors around him, and His Majesty the King is present, so there should be no problem."
The quiet chat continued for a while, and suddenly there was a knock on the door in the bedroom. This strange situation made the housekeeper startled. He quickly took two steps forward and opened the door, and Hills' head popped out of the door.
I saw him standing by the door, with his hands raised in front of him, looking like a modern surgeon: "We've run out of water."
The housekeeper glanced in through the crack in the door and asked, "Would you like hot or cold?"
"It's the same as before, just warm." Hills hesitated for a moment and said, "We also need some clean gauze and towels, because we need to wash the wound, and it will be bad if it stains the carpet. Oh, by the way, if If possible, could you please speak softer? The sound insulation effect of the door is not very good."
The housekeeper was a little embarrassed and could only nod.
"As soon as possible, we can't do anything without water." Hills turned back and walked towards the operating table. "I can't touch things with my hands. You can close the door."
"knew."
The housekeeper helped close the door, looked back at the maids who were communicating in low voices, and suddenly became angry: "Didn't you hear what Dr. Hills said? Do you want me to repeat it again?"
"Dr. Hills said not to be too loud."
".Ahem." The housekeeper lowered his voice, "You don't have the energy to gossip about the master's surgery, so you might as well spend more time thinking about what the master will need after the operation, and prepare things first, so as not to make a mess when the time comes."
The maids were silent and scattered in twos and threes.
Some people go to the kitchen to get hot water and prepare food, while others go to the laundry room to get gauze and some bedding. Others were asked by the housekeeper to go to the living room: "You can't just look after the master. The living room is also very short of manpower. You guys go there to help. I can just keep an eye on this place."
"good."
"Remember, don't talk nonsense, especially during the master's surgery."
"kindness"
At this time, the atmosphere in the living room gradually became tense as the operation progressed. The topic of the candidate for the new commander-in-chief was still being discussed just now, and gradually it became more and more focused on the time of Ludwig's surgery and his possible physical condition.
"It's almost an hour since the operation started."
"Um."
"Why hasn't any news been spread?"
"Dr. Kawei's operation is like this. He can't come out within two hours. And this is not a surgical theater. How can there be any news before the operation is over?"
"You said that if something went wrong with the old marshal's surgery, wouldn't it?"
"Bah! What nonsense are you talking about? How could the old marshal, a man who came from various battlefields, fall on the operating table!"
"It's just a casual chat. What does it matter? It's a private discussion."
"Whether the operation failed or not, he has rejected His Majesty the King's invitation and cannot become our commander-in-chief. To be honest, what is the meaning of the operation results? The reason why we are chatting here is just to wait for the new arrival. It’s just the selection of the commander-in-chief.”
This sentence can be regarded as setting the tone for Ludwig's old life. Missing the position of commander is basically equivalent to being far away from the center of power. But this kind of concluding statement will definitely attract criticism, and soon someone will come forward to explain the importance of Ludwig.
"You look down on the old marshal too much."
Jedion was most disgusted with this kind of self-proclaimed rational speech: "Why do you think His Majesty the King wants this old man to sit in the commander's seat? Is it just because he has been on the battlefield for a long time? Isn't it because he can stabilize the morale of the army and enable him to serve at critical moments? The soldiers fought bravely regardless of life and death. Guess what impact it will have on the army if it is reported that the old marshal's operation failed?"
Ludwig became the commander-in-chief as a result of compromise, which shows Franz's absolute trust in him.
Now that news has spread that the commander-in-chief has not yet been decided, "requiring absolute rest after surgery" and "passing away due to failed surgery" are completely different concepts, and the impact on the imperial army is also completely different.
"The old marshal has a calm tactical style and will not let soldiers make unnecessary sacrifices. He is indeed the spiritual pillar of the army." [1]
"So," Jedion looked back at Brecht, who was beside Franz, and said, "Grand Duke Brecht was too fierce in fighting, and even dared to rush into the enemy's formation and join the fight. In fact, to put it bluntly, , his ability is more suitable for being a frontline commander, rather than the commander-in-chief of the entire army."
"But he is very much appreciated by His Majesty the King."
"Because I have won several great battles." Jedion was a little jealous and felt that it was unfair to him in this regard. "I am only the chief of staff. Sometimes I can only give opinions. The real command power is not in my hands." superior."
"really."
The seemingly reasonable discussion and his current position made people around him agree, but the final result of their discussion did not help in determining the candidate for the commander-in-chief. After all, the Austrian Empire was still in the hands of that man. The power to command the army did not belong to the army, but had always been in his hands.
"Viscount Jedion." Franz and Brecht made room for each other on the sofa, "Come, come and sit."
"His Majesty the King." Jedion stepped forward, gave a military salute, and carefully sat in the empty seat between the two of them.
Franz got straight to the point: "If you now become the commander-in-chief of the entire army and command an army of half a million people. Faced with the same number of Prussian troops from the north and three hundred thousand Italians from the south, how will you respond?"
"Defend in the north and attack in the south." Jedion did not hesitate to give the basic strategy he had discussed with the old marshal before. "The Prussian army is coming fiercely, but the strategy is insufficiently prepared. If it is dragged into a protracted war, it will lose. And the Italians It’s never been used very well, and to us it’s like pizza in our mouths.”
"Can we really win against Italy?"
"I have discussed with the old marshal, and if nothing goes wrong, we have a 90% chance of winning." Jedion said, "As long as they are eaten, the Prussians will definitely choose to retreat if their morale is unstable, and then the initiative will be in our hands. .”
"Why not go both ways?"
"It is risky to march on the northern front, and it would be safer to stick to Bohemia." Jedion's level is indeed not bad, and he also included the French. "If we can't get rid of all the Prussian troops at once, and in the middle of the Berlin will be taken within a month and we will be held back by the French with some small victories."
Franz nodded and suddenly asked: "What if there is no French restraint? At least the French will not intervene before Berlin is invaded."
Jedion frowned slightly, not understanding what he meant: "The French will never let us win easily, they will definitely"
"They will remain neutral." Franz said, "There is an agreement between Nathan and the Prussian emperor, and there is an agreement between Nathan and I. France is just a bystander, and at most it can mediate."
"If that's the case, and with the support of the South Prussian Federation, we can give it a try." Jedion thought that Franz wanted to give himself a chance by asking this question, and quickly expressed his position, "I am willing to replace the old marshal in commanding the Northern Front. Combat troops, defeat Prussia.”
Franz did not respond, but continued to ask: "What if there is no support from South Prussia?"
"They have always wanted to get rid of Prussia, and we should be able to get their help once the war begins."
"I mean, without their help, would we have been able to defeat Prussia with our forces split in two?"
"This" Jedion, like Marshal Ludwig, fought very conservatively. After thinking for a moment, he shook his head slightly, "Without the help of friendly forces, entering the hinterland of Prussia will become very dangerous, and the winning rate is less than 50%."
Franz smiled, stood up and patted him on the shoulder, saying: "Our goals are the same, but the leadership position should be given to Brecht."
This was something Jedion had expected before. Whether it was military merit or title, he had no chance of winning. Jedion felt unhappy, but he quickly changed the direction: "In this case, please transfer me to the southern front. Even if you only give me 100,000 soldiers, I am sure to defeat Italy."
"Southern Front?" Franz shook his head. "You are not familiar with Italy, so it would be better to stay on the Northern Front."
These words gave Jedion a bad premonition.
Franz smiled and said, "The Northern Front troops directly face the Prussian attack and need Brecht's command. And Archduke Brecht needs a chief of staff who can give detailed analysis at any time. You are the best Candidate." [2]
The words reached this point, which fully demonstrated the king's determination, and Jedion completely lost the opportunity.
But what puzzled him was that there were only a few candidates who could compete for the leadership, and those present now were him and Brecht. Even if he can't get the commander-in-chief, he can at least be the deputy commander-in-chief of the Southern Front. As long as he wins the battle on the Southern Front, he will have enough promotion opportunities in the future.
But what does it mean to put him and Brecht together now?
"Are you asking about the southern route?" Franz gave up, "I have my own arrangements for the southern route."
The candidate for the commander-in-chief of the entire army has basically been decided in the living room. If no one stands up to oppose it, Brecht will replace Ludwig as commander-in-chief. But to the five doctors in the bedroom upstairs, it had nothing to do with who was in charge. What really mattered was the little square on the spine.
After removing the paravertebral muscles, only the ligamentum flavum and nerve roots remain between them and the ruptured intervertebral disc.
The ligamentum flavum is a very important anatomical structure in the spine and is also the focus of this surgery [3]. It participates in forming the posterior wall of the entire spinal canal and is also responsible for connecting the adjacent upper and lower vertebral laminae.
If you want to find the herniated disc all the way inward, you must do a good job of stripping and dissecting the ligamentum flavum. If you want to properly dissect and dissect the ligamentum flavum, you must first cut the lamina.
Carvey used an osteotome and an impact rongeur.
The former is a traditional orthopedic instrument that Waterman used when he originally treated the maxilla. The latter was newly made by the Kawirang Foundry: "This is a new thing that I spent a lot of money to get. It uses a very elastic steel piece, which is much more convenient and safer than an osteotome during removal. "[4]
Compared with other surgical instruments invented by Kawei, this rongeur is more suitable for modern surgery, and the whole body exudes the charm of modern surgery.
He first used rongeurs to remove the surrounding lamina. During the removal, he needed to pay attention to the collapsed bone fragments and the scope of the removal.
"Actually, we have come to the conclusion on the scope of the cadaver before, which is to plan according to the attachment point of the internal ligamentum flavum." Kawei explained while cutting off the lamina, "The removal of the lamina is also to prepare for the next treatment. Use the ligamentum flavum technique as a base to get physiological saline, I want to rinse it." [5]
Hills hadn't been a handyman assistant for a long time, so he didn't notice the bottomed basin: "I'll go find someone to get some water."
The interruption in the continuity of the operation made Kavey very uncomfortable, which is also an inconvenience of home surgery.
Kawei took a spatula from the side: "Then let's deal with the superficial ligamentum flavum first, and separate the attachment points inside the caudal lamina. The attachment points here are very thick. Be patient during the operation and try not to damage the joints. Bag."【6】
The ligamentum flavum is divided into superficial and deep layers. Removing the superficial layer is equivalent to thinning the ligament and preparing for complete ligament stripping. 【7】As long as the ligamentum flavum is peeled off and the nerve roots are pulled apart, the intervertebral disc can be seen. The treatment of the intervertebral disc must be completed by Kawei, so now is the last chance.
Among the four, Waterman was the first to lose his temper. As the dean of the School of Surgery, it was normal for him to be first on the list: "Let me try."
Kawei handed over the spatula: "This is more troublesome than dealing with facial muscles."
"Um"
Waterman has solid basic skills and mastered the basic techniques of peeling off ligaments after a few attempts: "It's quite strenuous, but it's very refreshing when peeling off."
Looking at the spatula in his hand, Orgi and Maximov couldn't help it. After all, they are here to learn skills. If a surgeon wants to learn skills, he must get started, so it is very important to win the opportunity to operate from Kawei.
"Didn't you practice on corpses?"
"Can this be the same?" Orji was a little depressed.
"What's the difference? The marshal is also a human being."
"Are you comparing the dead to the living?" Massimov had a bad temper. He had already pinched another spatula in his hand and cursed, "Old man, you know how to take advantage of both of us. Why do you need to have plastic surgery every day? Compete with us for the chance of surgery!"
"It never hurts to learn more techniques." Suddenly Waterman loosened his grip, gently lifted up the superficial ligamentum flavum, and quickly picked up the scissors, "Don't rush, don't rush, I'll leave the next deep ligamentum flavum to your head office. Bar."
Orgi and Massimov were instantly discouraged.
The ligament has been thinned, and underneath this thinned ligamentum flavum is the nerve root, which is not easy to deal with. Even if Kawei really handed over the operation to them, they would not dare to directly operate it. 【8】
As Massimov himself said just now, using a knife on a dead person is completely different from that on a living person, not to mention that this living person is still an imperial marshal.
[Set a flag and I will try to complete the additions and updates of several alliance leaders before the end of the year. I hope it can be completed]
(End of chapter)
