This mixed Prussian infantry and artillery team acted very boldly and inserted directly into the position 20 kilometers in front of the Olmitz Fortress. This is a highland next to the road, covered with some sparse forest vegetation, which can be regarded as a good commanding point.
In comparison, the Austrian Third Army, which was not far from the fortress, seemed very passive.
The road heading north from Olmitz is wide enough to support four carriages running in parallel, and is surrounded by flat sandy land. This terrain facilitates the rapid passage of infantry, but it also leaves those soldiers without a hiding place.
The location of the Klavow Infantry Battalion happened to be in the area where the fire was the most intense.
In order to find a hiding place, the soldiers had to hide and crawl around. Many people died under artillery fire and became cannon fodder before even seeing the enemy.
But for the entire Third Army, these losses were insignificant, and the firepower of the artillery positions was not strong at all. The commander quickly determined the location of the position, the height of the position and the surrounding terrain, as well as the number of artillery held by the opponent.
Infantrymen are attacked by artillery, and death is inevitable. What really worries the commander is the range of the opponent's artillery.
The range of the 6-pound (about 84mm) artillery in the army is generally about 1-1.5 kilometers. Even at the front of the team, it cannot reach the opponent's position. It is definitely not feasible to bring in artillery from the rear now, and rather than letting the opponent retreat safely by firing at the artillery, it would be better to spend the lives of some soldiers to wipe out the opponent.
The order was sent to Major Klavov via the second messenger: "Order the Klavov Battalion to advance forward, cross the woods and directly attack the enemy's artillery positions to help the main force in the front complete the encirclement of the enemy."
Klavov drew his saber again, but changed the lines: "The enemy is right in front of you, avenge your dead comrades!"
In fact, the enemy was not in sight. According to the judgment of the experienced major, the position was on the high ground 3km away. With the capabilities of the existing soldiers, let alone rushing into the enemy's position to kill them, whether they can even reach the last hundred meters is a question.
He had no time to think about the range of the Prussian artillery. All he could do now was obey orders to the sound of the military band's trumpets.
Even Dr. Litokva could see that charging at the opponent's position while braving artillery was a very foolish decision, but no one dared to disobey military orders. There was no other way but to charge with Klavov. Fortunately, his infantry battalion was not the only team responsible for the charge.
The Prussian artillery units quickly caught the opponent's charge.
They adjusted the elevation angle of some of the artillery. Although the number of the next wave of artillery was smaller, it could still explode around the Austrian soldiers.
As the only doctor in the battalion, Litokwa could only drag a few stretcher bearers at the back of the entire team in order to bandage the soldiers injured in the artillery fire. Members of the military band of the unit will also come to help, but for an infantry battalion, a band of only twelve people can only help carry the stretcher.
Not long after the bombardment began, the four first-aid carriages in the infantry battalion were already filled with wounded soldiers.
Some of those with severed limbs were temporarily saved by bandaging to stop the bleeding. They could still maintain a sitting position, but those with injured torsos could only lie down. The spacious carriage that usually can seat about 10 people is now only large enough for three or four people to lie flat on their backs, so the transfer efficiency is not high.
"Send back to the fortress first!"
The carriage driver leaned close to Litokwa and heard his words clearly: "Okay, I understand! Do you have any other instructions?"
"No. Wait!" Litokwa glanced at the adrenaline extract in his box that was about to be used up, and asked, "I remember there is this kind of medicine in the medicine box of the carriage."
"Yes." Next to the coachman's seat is a medicine box. The medicine and equipment inside are exactly the same as those of ordinary army doctors. "How much do you want?"
The young Litokva was originally skeptical about the effectiveness of this bottle of medicine because he had never seen any medicine that could quickly stop bleeding. He even felt that turpentine bandages were more reliable in stopping bleeding.
But just half an hour of actual combat was more reliable than a week of classes at the military doctor's office, and the bleeding from the injured soldier's amputated limb was much better than he had imagined.
If I have to say a shortcoming, it would be that the quantity is too small and not enough.
"Give me what you have here. If you encounter someone with severe bleeding on the way, we will share it equally." Litokwa looked at the two soldiers who were blown away by the shells in the distance and swallowed, "After delivering it, return immediately! "
"good!"
After the young military doctor said a simple farewell to the emergency convoy, he returned to the battlefield again.
There will be shells pouring down in front of him, and there will be more corpses and wounded soldiers. As the smallest individual on the battlefield, all he can do is save the lives of those soldiers who may survive.
As for the wounded soldiers sent to the rear fortress, there may be many who cannot survive the bumps on the road, but this is beyond his control.
Everything can only be pinned on the surgeons at the Army General Hospital.
The emergency carriage carries the lives of wounded soldiers, and the return journey must be much faster than the normal traveling speed. Compared to a skilled groom, Litokwa's experience as a military surgeon was still too limited. The sudden battle made him forget the most basic operations of a military surgeon at that time, including water, cigarettes and the necessary alcohol.
"Careless" and "hurried" were Hills's evaluation of the young military doctor after seeing these wounded soldiers.
Apart from a shot of adrenal extract as ordered, he was simply bandaged with linens and bandages from the medical kit. Some obviously fractured parts were not fixed with plasters. They just said it was okay and sent people over.
Although this kind of panic approach can save people, it can also bring many side effects.
Three carriages and 19 wounded soldiers returned to the fortress after more than an hour's journey, and 4 of them had already died on the road. The rest of the wounded soldiers showed symptoms of irritability, profuse sweating, nausea and vomiting to varying degrees.
"Look at what they've become!" Hills said to the assistant next to him while looking at the poor bandages, "Go get water, wine and cigars!"
Like Ignatz, he also participated in the Franco-Austrian War. Although he was a reserve medical soldier who joined at the end of the war, he also took care of wounded soldiers with severe trauma. He knew what a wounded soldier needed most. The first is calmness, the calmness that can stabilize panic.
Ya tablet tincture is a good sedative, but not everyone can use it in a military camp that lacks resources.
All these seriously injured soldiers could use were its substitutes, two or three puffs of cigars that others had smoked, and a small glass of wine.
For those recruits who like to liven up the atmosphere by chatting, seeing their hands and feet blown to pieces, or a certain part suddenly disappearing permanently is a very "exciting" thing, so exciting that it is difficult to use it. Words to express. Instead there was only animal instinct, trembling, trembling.
The initial trembling comes from the contraction after the muscles suddenly break, and then the psychological fear of the possible future consequences begins to take over. Finally, the shock caused by massive blood loss will make them pass away in shivering, cold sweat and vomiting.
The entire process may take less than half an hour or may last most of a day.
"So it's important to ease fears and stay hydrated."
Hills asked his assistants to feed the wounded soldiers wine and plenty of water, and then an expensive cigar began to be passed back and forth between their fingers. Some people who have lost their hands will also rely on the help of others: "I don't know how that guy passed the exam, how come he doesn't even know the grading system."
"This is just a cut wound on the leg. Once the splinter is removed, the muscle and skin can be sutured immediately. There is no need to occupy the ambulance."
"This man had a broken bone. He was bandaged and sent over without even resetting it. It's a miracle that he's alive."
"Here, the wound on the stomach is not big. Even if you don't know how to sew the abdominal muscles and peritoneum, there is no need to wrap it so tightly. Isn't the bandage free?"
"this."
Next to Hills is Sarson, who was brought here from the Municipal General Hospital. The medical student who was initially disliked by Ignatz has now grown into a right-hand assistant on the operating table. Among them are his own efforts, Ignatz's education, and Kavi's guidance on surgical clinical operations.
Every time Hills said a word, he could immediately find a way to deal with it: "Remove the fragments, rinse them with saline, and if there is no bleeding, sew the muscles and skin directly; reduce the fractures first, and check whether there are any major blood vessel ruptures. If so, it is necessary." Suture the blood vessels. If the blood vessels cannot be sutured, amputation will be the only option; abdominal wounds only need to be flushed and then sutured."
Hills was preparing surgical instruments with the nurse when he heard an error at the end: "No, according to the "Military Medical Trauma Manual" temporarily formulated by Carvey, the abdominal cavity needs to be explored for bleeding."
"Yes, yes, I forgot about this." Sarson quickly wrote this down and immediately recalled some subsequent details, "Abdominal injuries require judging whether there is bleeding in the liver and spleen, and also need to check whether there is bleeding in the digestive tract. damage."
"Cheer up, everyone, the war has begun!" Hills had no time to praise Sarson's growth. The backbone of the hospital in front of him was still on the way, and he had more important things to do. "Everyone who enters the general hospital All wounded soldiers in the hospital need to measure their vital signs, including blood pressure, heart rate, and respiration! Don’t miss any of them. In case of critical situations, the second shift set up by Kawei will come to help first.”
"Yes, got it!"
The second class was an emergency team composed of foreign doctors from the College of Surgery and St. Mary's Hospital. The chief surgeon was Bill Rotter, the vice president of the college, and the first assistant was Bottini, who had marveled at Carvey's skills in the square stands.
Yes, it was the young doctor who valued disinfection above all else, a true Italian.
At this moment, his great motherland had sent a powerful army to confront the southern front troops led by Franz's imperial brother Maximilian in the Lombardy region.
Originally, it was impossible for the military medical office to accept him. In fact, when Prussia and Austria were engaged in mutually beneficial diplomatic activities in July and August, Vienna intentionally or unintentionally began to expel the Prussians and Italians, as well as those from the North German Confederation. No exception.
Fortunately, Kavi's medical team was not restricted by the Military Medical Department. After fully explaining Bottini's situation to Franz, the young Italian surgeon was able to stay with Kavi. 【1】
There are two French and one British doctors in the same situation, who are on standby in the remaining two emergency response teams.
The next second assistant is a doctoral student at the Medical School of the University of Vienna, one year younger than Sarson Mellen and the others. The third assistant is a 31-year-old surgeon from St. Mary's Hospital. They were all Massimov's students. They accepted Kawei's assessment on his recommendation, and finally became members of the first class based on their scores.
The second shift quickly got into position to deal with the open fracture of the man just now. His left leg was broken into an L shape. After finding that there was no possibility of recovery, he was transferred to Sarson for amputation. But they had no time to stop at all, because the second batch of wounded soldiers had already been sent in by the nurses in the hospital.
This group of soldiers was more seriously injured than before. Their whole bodies were covered with wounds, and traces of shotgun and rifle bullets could be clearly seen.
"These are soldiers who are on the front line. They are all warriors in the imperial army. Just lie down and have a good rest. The surgical team will cure you!" Hills looked at the wounded soldiers and couldn't help but sigh and asked. Turning to the clerk beside him, "How long will it take for Mr. Kavi and Mr. Ignatz to get here?"
"Those who set off this morning should be able to reach Malacki in the afternoon." The secretary said. "If there are no accidents in the journey, they will be able to reach the fortress tomorrow evening or the morning of the day after tomorrow."
"It's really slow."
"There is no way, the Countess's reconstruction of your house is too important." The secretary advised, "And who could have known that the war would come so quickly."
At this time, the train that Kawei was riding was lying quietly on the tracks. The clerk's words of "no accidents" came true.
Austria's proud Empire Train encountered a full slope. Perhaps there was a problem with the load, and coupled with the autumn rain that continued from the night before, the wheels were spinning crazily on the slippery rails, but they would not move forward.
In the end, we had no choice but to unload part of the baggage, and then let the soldiers push the cart together.
Kawei sat with Herman and Ignatz, discussing complex military medical issues. These problems have long gone beyond the boundaries of surgery and have begun to involve some novel knowledge points that are difficult for ordinary doctors to understand.
"When dealing with rats, you must comply with the regulations and prepare a special rodent control team." Kawei looked at the rules he had written, and kept looking at the table with his quill, "I don't know if Hills is ready."
"It's just a mouse, does it need to be like this?"
Kawei looked at Ignatz who was disapproving and replied seriously: "If I told you that they were the ones spreading the Black Death, I'm afraid you wouldn't think so."
