Chapter 2698: The Great Battle

Bai Erlang, feeling refreshed, walked away with her. To facilitate management, he went to his room to pack his bundle, taking along his two guards.

Oh, they were given to him by Mingda, specifically to ensure Bai Erlang’s safety.

He was going to live in the medical tent.

He handed the bundle to the guards and almost shed tears as he walked out of the city with Manbao, “You have no idea how difficult it is to manage the armory. I really don’t want to manage it at all, but Bai Shan said it’s the easiest. If even this can’t be managed, His Majesty will definitely be displeased.”

Even though he was here to earn merits, he couldn’t just do nothing at all, could he?

Manbao also vented her grievances, “The medical tent isn’t easy to manage either. This Eastern expedition is different from the previous Western expedition.”

She said, “During the Western expedition, General Ashina’s people were in charge of logistics and supplies. We only had to focus on treating and saving people, using whatever medicine was available. But here, we have to manage everything ourselves. The good thing is we now have many more medicines, so we won’t run out; the bad sides, though, are too many to count. You’ll know once you join. Sigh, it’s exhausting~”

Manbao said, “Once you get to the medical tent, you have to help me.”

Bai Erlang wasn’t unfamiliar with this, as he had helped Bai Shanyin and Liu Huan manage it during the Western expedition, familiar with creating records and organizing medical supplies.

He could even administer medicine, bandage wounds, and hand over tools, handling minor injuries wasn’t difficult for him.

Bai Erlang’s eyes twinkled as he asked, “How about calling Liu Huan over too?”

Manbao shook her head and refused, “He’s with the Ministry of Public Works, here on official duty. My place isn’t that big, and we don’t need so many talents.”

Liu Huan had a superior to answer to and followed orders, unlike Bai Erlang, who was unofficial and brought out of the Hanlin Academy because the emperor wanted him to earn merits.

He was moved wherever needed, so Manbao didn’t feel any pressure using him.

The two of them rode back to the medical tent, and Manbao directly took him to the pharmacy, calling Wen Tiandong along, “Even though you know each other, let me introduce again, this is Editor Bai, from now on, he’ll be in charge of logistics for our Imperial Medical Office, Wen Tiandong, you’ll assist him.”

Wen Tiandong agreed respectfully, secretly relieved, their teacher really was impressive. Their teacher immediately got the Emperor’s son-in-law to guard the place, preventing any further meddling.

Bai Erlang toured the pharmacy and the storeroom behind, thoroughly surprised, “So many medicinal supplies? And this is just the first batch?”

Manbao nodded.

Bai Erlang clicked his tongue, “I remember during the Western expedition, the overall medical supplies weren’t much more than this, were they?”

Manbao replied, “This time we, the Imperial Medical Office, prepared in advance. Not only did the Ministry of Revenue allocate five million coins separately, but more than ten million coins were also raised by the Empress and others, amounting to much more than what was available during the Western expedition.”

In the past, when the army mobilized, the medical expenses were saved from the grain provided by the Ministry of Revenue to the army, mostly consisting of hemostatic and blood-replenishing remedies, and little else.

It’s also because of this comprehensive preparation of supplies that the soldier survival rate has been so high.

Bai Erlang held up a list for comparison and asked, “When will the next batch of supplies arrive?”

Manbao shook her head, “It’s on the road, no news for now.”

“The next battle isn’t far off, will these be enough?”

“Depends on the casualties, let’s hope His Majesty and the others value their lives.”

The emperor was currently conducting an on-site terrain evaluation with the generals, trying to capture Liaodong City at minimal cost.

Standing on elevated ground looking towards Liaodong City, he said to State Duke Zhao, “Tomorrow we will deploy troops to encircle Liaodong City, draw out the garrison from Gaimu City for reinforcements, we can set an ambush here…”

State Duke Zhao also thought this place was suitable for an ambush and said, “We could also entice the troops from Liaodong City to engage.”

“We’ve captured Xuantu and Hengshan quickly, they’ll definitely want to reclaim them, if we were to feign defeat once…”

Ashina immediately said, “I am willing to be the bait.”

The emperor nodded appreciatively, smiling, “Good, you go then.”

Since they were going to feign defeat, the military medics couldn’t advance too far, at least not in large numbers, so Zhou Man only selected eight students with decent riding skills, four male and four female, to follow the army with medicine boxes along with the old military medics.

The army camped forty miles away from Liaodong City, and when General Ashina went to besiege the city, they remained in the rear with the remaining troops. Manbao rode to high ground with Xi Bing and a small squad, standing on tiptoe to peer towards Liaodong City.

General Ashina led men to hurl insults at the city gate, which the people of Liaodong City couldn’t bear, they opened the gate, and a commanding officer led troops out to engage General Ashina in battle. They fought for an hour, charged and countercharged twice, until realizing they couldn’t win, and since General Ashina couldn’t completely annihilate them or breach the city, he signaled the bugle to end the battle.

The garrison of Liaodong City retreated into the city, and General Ashina had his men chase and skirmish briefly. When arrows were shot down from the city gate, they immediately withdrew as well.

Of course, when retreating, they dragged back whatever corpses and wounded they could.

Hearing the signal, Manbao turned and mounted her horse, “Let’s go, head back.”

They galloped back, soldiers having already run ahead to notify, shouting, “The general has withdrawn——”

Thus, the medical tent and kitchen became busy simultaneously. Manbao dismounted and instructed, “Prepare two more pots, start heating water and begin decocting medicine. Are the medicine packets ready?”

Zhou Liru followed behind and confirmed, “All prepared.”

Manbao nodded, “Let Wen Tiandong handle the triage.”

Soldiers carried back both corpses and wounded indiscriminately, placing the deceased aside, while the injured who still had breath were taken into the medical tent.

General Ashina wiped his face, started counting heads, and meanwhile had personnel monitor Liaodong City in case they sent people out to clean the battlefield.

Once again, knife and arrow wounds were prevalent, though this time, the proportion of arrow wounds was considerable.

Fortunately, not all arrows had barbed heads.

Manbao breathed a sigh of relief, prepared everyone for surgery.

Having gone through it once, this time the students were methodical and at least didn’t turn pale white anymore.

Manbao extracted an arrowhead, immediately applying a medicinal packet to the wound, holding it with one hand while using the other to apply sutures for hemostasis, and after a while, removed the packet to start stitching the wound.

Xi Bing went off to tend to the slightly injured, leaving Manbao to her own devices once more.

Wen Tiandong, having finished sorting patients, also came to help, making the medical tent the busiest area.

Only by afternoon were all the wounded treated. Everyone washed their hands and squatted in the camp with steamed buns, watching them handle the corpses.

The fallen, their wooden plaques need to be collected and later sent back to their families along with the condolences payment.

The corpses were cremated, most turning to ash and nourishing the soil, though some with compatriots had a handful taken back for their families, serving as a memento of sorts.