Chapter 2708: Major Offensive I

Everyone hurriedly lifted Heli and carried him to the medical tent. Manbao followed, rubbing her arms, and instructed them to remove his armor and cut open his clothes, only then revealing the wounds on his body.

Li Si followed behind, clutching his chest, and Manbao scolded him, “Why are you here? Go rest. If your wound doesn’t heal, I don’t have much medicine left.”

Su Mu swiftly cut open Heli’s clothes, and Manbao examined him, finding a hole on his left waist. The situation with this hole wasn’t good; it was bleeding profusely.

Just this one wound…

Manbao grabbed his hand to check his pulse, her expression changing slightly, “He’s exhausted and losing too much blood. Someone, bring the No. 2 medicine and a bowl of salt water.”

She opened her needle bag, pinched a needle, and gave him acupuncture. In cases of excessive blood loss and exhaustion like this, sudden death comes easily.

Manbao inserted the needle, first protecting his heart meridian, then took the salt water. She took a sip and spat it out, “Bring another bowl. I asked for salt water, not to salt him to death.”

Manbao mixed a bowl of light salt water and let his personal soldiers feed it to him. Then she and Su Mu treated the wound on Heli’s waist together.

Fortunately, he had done some preliminary bandaging and applied medicinal powder, which was valuable, well-mixed with Chinese ginseng powder. Otherwise, having not returned for so long and charging back and forth in battle, he would have certainly died.

Manbao cleaned the wound thoroughly. Upon confirming no problems, she stitched it up, applied medicine, and bandaged it.

The bleeding stopped, but the priority now was addressing exhaustion and severe blood loss.

Manbao instructed them to slowly feed him salt water, and when the medicine arrived, they poured a bowl of medicine into him, while she used acupuncture to enhance its effects, also protecting his heart meridian.

Once the needle was set, Zhou Man checked the time, noted it down, and turned to treat other wounded soldiers.

Many soldiers returned injured like Heli; most soldiers bore wounds, differing only in severity.

The medical tent became busy.

Their injuries mostly consisted of spear and knife wounds, likely from being jabbed.

Spear wounds have pros and cons. Pros: they cover small areas with few remnants left behind. Cons: the holes can be quite large. If they hit a critical spot, excessive blood loss makes survival difficult.

Xue Bei and Li Si stood on either side of Heli, watching Zhou Man select two severely injured patients to treat. She began cutting their clothes and applying acupuncture. Some wounds had dirt inside, which she cleaned with a knife and tweezers, applying medicine inside. Even for these two, who were well-accustomed to death and dismemberment, it was nerve-racking.

Yet Zhou Man’s expression didn’t waver. After carefully handling the wounds, she stitched them, intentionally leaving an opening to observe. If the internal injuries didn’t heal well, medicine would be needed inside.

Xue Bei swallowed and involuntarily touched his own body.

Li Si turned to him and asked, “Are you injured too?”

Xue Bei quickly shook his head, “No, I don’t feel any pain.”

He was just scared, hence the probing.

Heli didn’t wake up until noon the next day. Opening his eyes, he immediately saw Zhou Man.

Manbao was administering acupuncture and smiled when she saw him awake, “General, you’ve awakened?”

Heli instinctively reached for his waist, but Zhou Man slapped his hand away, “General, better not touch it; your hands aren’t clean.”

Heli withdrew his hand and looked around before asking, “Are enemy troops besieging the city?”

“No.”

Heli breathed a sigh of relief, “Summon Xue Bei.”

Manbao called outside, “The general has awakened, fetch General Xue!”

Manbao continued acupuncture, and Heli, feeling some pain, asked, “Why are you doing acupuncture?”

“Due to your exhaustion, you nearly died,” she explained, “Excessive blood loss greatly impacts the organs. Acupuncture is to ensure your qi circulates to nourish your organs. Now that you’re awake, it’s a choice between longevity and a shorter life. Will you choose acupuncture?”

Of course, choosing longevity over a shorter life is common sense.

Heli replied, “Do it.”

Manbao continued administering acupuncture.

Xue Bei soon arrived, and Heli, lying down, conversed with him, “Where is Goguryeo’s reinforcement now?”

“They retreated eighty miles out, staying on alert without advancing but also not withdrawing.”

Heli sneered, “Cowards. They won’t dare return within three days. Have men keep a close watch and harass them occasionally. Kill as many as possible, and make sure they don’t find out I’m injured.”

“Understood.”

“How goes the situation with His Majesty?”

Xue Bei replied, “Goguryeo persuaded Mohe to mobilize, deploying a total of 150,000 reinforcements. We don’t know the outcome yet.”

This means they won’t be able to assist on this front.

Heli contemplated. They need to deal with one side first or merge forces, as dividing forces hurts them, especially since he’s injured and Li Si is too.

Heli evaluated his waist injury and asked Zhou Man, “Can I fight in three days?”

Manbao replied, “… Absolutely not.”

Heli inquired, “If I insist on fighting, will I die?”

Manbao hesitated, “If there are no new injuries, it’ll depend on your wound reopening and healing. Fighting in three days will definitely reopen the wound, making healing challenging, and if the wound worsens…”

“Then it’s possible to fight.” He interrupted Zhou Man, instructing Xue Bei, “Harass the enemy for three days. Then we’ll crush them in one blow.”

Manbao remained silent.

After silently finishing the acupuncture, she withdrew.

Seeing the worry on her face, Suye remarked, “Teacher, don’t worry. The general knows his own body and likely won’t have issues.”

Manbao shook her head, “I’m not worried about him; I’m worried about Bai Shan and the others. If they can’t spare a hand to support us here, it means their situation is more intense than ours. I have no idea how they’re faring.”

Suye:…

Bai Shanzheng followed the Emperor onto the battlefield. Yes, he set foot on the battlefield, but more importantly, the Emperor had too.

The Emperor personally reached the northern gorge, looking down from the heights.

Bai Shan, sword at his side, accompanied the Emperor, who stood atop and surveyed below, turning to Bai Shan to ask, “First time on the battlefield, scared?”

Bai Shan pondered and shook his head, “Your Majesty, this isn’t the first time for your servant.”

The Emperor chuckled, “Confrontation differs from tempting open the city gates.”

Inspecting him, the Emperor gestured to Yin Li, “You’ll join Lord Yin in battle shortly; my trusted ministers should be skilled in both literature and martial arts.”

Bai Shan:… He believed proficiency in literature sufficed but didn’t refuse, instead bowing in compliance.