Jiang Yuqing's arrival was welcomed by all the soldiers at the Yumen Pass garrison. Qin Yijian even specially prepared a small tent for her, and arranged a barracks for the few nurses who came with her.
Considering her own special status, Jiang Yuqing readily accepted such an arrangement.
In the cold and bleak garrison, their arrival also added a touch of liveliness. The upcoming battle did not seem so terrifying anymore.
After settling down, Jiang Yuqing took all the doctors, military doctors and medical apprentices to conduct one last medical relief drill before the battle started.
After correcting some deficiencies, they got down to preparations before the battle in an urgent manner. For example, in the field hospital, they built as many tents as possible and put up all the simple mobile beds they brought, to ensure the wounded would not lie on the cold ground.
It's better to be prepared to not use them than to not have enough when they are needed.
After setting up enough tents, they also coded the tents and the beds inside to facilitate management.
They also set up a separate dispensary and a separate women's latrine.
Just as they finished preparing, beacon fires lit up on the Great Wall, one section after another, from afar to near.
The 140,000 Xiongnu cavalry also charged imposingly to the outside of Yumen Pass.
At the same time, when Da Xia’s soldiers saw the beacon fires, they also took their positions outside the city and waited in battle formation.
The sky was gloomy. Howling cold winds mixed with snowflakes lashed people’s faces like knives. Looking down from the city wall, there were seas of black heads.
Accompanied by the neighing of warhorses, the air was tense as if gunpowder, ready to explode at any moment.
The battle could break out at any time!
In an instant, the heavy beats of war drums “dong, dong, dong” rang out, one after another, pounding directly on people’s hearts.
After a round of arrow rain glinting with cold light was shot out, with another command, the shouting and killing shook the heavens instantly.
The battle had begun!
Jiang Yuqing looked at the high city wall with a grave expression. Outside was the cruel battlefield. Here, her battlefield was also about to arrive.
The first battle lasted two whole shichens. The Xiongnu did not gain any advantage at all, only leaving behind a ground full of corpses, and had to temporarily retreat and regroup.
Da Xia achieved a small victory!
The Da Xia medical teams who were waiting inside the city wall rushed out at the first possible moment when the city gates opened widely.
They swiftly applied simple hemostasis bandaging for the wounded, then tied strips of various colors around their wrists and swiftly carried them into the city gate on stretchers. Even soldiers who sacrificed themselves were all taken back without exception!
Everything was so well-trained and proceeded in an orderly manner.
In contrast, when the Xiongnu retreated in defeat, only those who could still move could crawl onto horses by themselves. Those who really could not crawl could only await death.
The Xiongnu tribes lived nomadic lives following water and grass. Apart from the nobility, most of them did not even have a stable dwelling, let alone doctors.
At best, some large tribes might have a witch doctor. When they fell ill on ordinary days, they could only rely on enduring. If they could not endure, they could only wait for death. During battles, although some witch doctors also followed them, they only treated the nobility or chiefs of each tribe.
Therefore, those soldiers who barely escaped back could at best bandage themselves or ask their comrades to apply some medicine. Whether they survived depended on fortune. If they could not survive, it was fate.
Moreover, they valued the strong by nature. Falling sick represented weakness, and the weak did not deserve to live in this world.
On the Da Xia side, as soon as the wounded left the battlefield, the doctors who were waiting in the garrison could immediately tell from the bands tied on their wrists. The red meant critical and treated first, yellow next, and green was least urgent.
With one military doctor or doctor taking three assistants as a group, surgeries proceeded simultaneously in dozens of operating tents. After a patient was bandaged and taken out, the next would be brought in without stopping. Despite being extremely busy without even lifting their heads, the doctors remained composed amidst chaos.
From the beginning until late night, they finally treated the last patient and sent him to the ward. Only then did everyone plop down onto the ground, unable to climb up.
For seven whole shichens, the medical teams had been standing and bending their waists to operate. No one drank a sip of water or ate a bite of food. All they could do was to run to relieve themselves during the brief crossovers between two surgeries, if they really could not hold it anymore.
Even Jiang Yuqing the cultivator felt somewhat overwhelmed. While operating, she also transferred vitality to patients with critical injuries. Hence, her current condition was no better than the other doctors.
After sitting still for some time, she secretly stimulated her dwindling spiritual power to move her numb legs, before pushing herself up with the tent pole.
Outside, an apprentice found an opportunity to bring meals and hot water. The doctors hastily gobbled down two steamed buns with hot water during the break before getting up to do their rounds again.
They still had an arduous battle to fight from tonight to tomorrow, and there was no time to sleep. Having just completed surgeries, many patients had fevers that required timely treatment, whether with medicine or physical cooling. Those with worsening conditions still needed to be rushed back into the operating theater for rescue. It was only at daybreak that the dead beat doctors staggered to nap in their own tents for two shichens.
Then a new round of battle continued for successive days.
The longest record of the doctors was three days without sleep. Some doctors even collapsed head first onto the ground while operating, never to wake again.
Biting back tears, their assistants could only carry them away to continue the surgery where it was left off.
As the number of surgeries accumulated, everyone practiced their skills. Many previous assistants could now take the lead as primary surgeon, and bring apprentices on their own.
This battle had already lasted many days. Thanks to the concerted efforts of all Da Xia soldiers who fought desperately, the Xiongnu were barely blocked outside Yumen Pass without gaining an inch of advance.
Unable to capture the pass despite repeated attacks and having suffered tragic casualties, the Xiongnu still could not bear to retreat readily.
Likewise, Da Xia troops also suffered considerable casualties.
Jiang Yuqing had not slept for two days and nights. She felt exhausted too. However, whenever she saw those heavily mutilated patients carried in, she could only grit her teeth to press on. The longer she endured, the more lives she could save.
There were also some who suffered such serious injuries that they passed away before even reaching the operating table. Facing them, Jiang Yuqing was also helpless, only able to cover them with a white sheet while choking back tears.
Most of them were very young, just like the young soldier who was carried in earlier.
His body had a total of four stab wounds and one arrow wound, barely clinging to one breath. The most fatal was the arrow wound in his chest. The Xiongnu arrows were extremely vicious, with barbed arrowheads, sometimes even coated with bio toxins or feces.
Without antibiotics like penicillin, Da Xia would have suffered so many more casualties.
By now, the arrow shaft in this soldier’s chest had already been cut, leaving only an inch outside. Fearing that he might collapse, Jiang Yuqing immediately transferred a wisp of vitality to him.
As soon as she cut open the tattered armor on his chest, a piece of white cloth drenched red with blood dropped out.
When Jiang Yuqing spread it open, she saw the word “DEATH” embroidered largely in the center, with a line of smaller words on the side: “Gifting my son a death banner, to wipe blood when injured, and wrap body when dead. Charge bravely forward, no thoughts of self.”
Tears streamed immediately down Jiang Yuqing’s face. What great mother would gift her son such a banner.
Her assistants also saw the words on the banner and one girl broke down sobbing, cursing: “Damn Xiongnu barbarians...”
Jiang Yuqing rolled up the bloodstained “death” banner neatly with a clean gauze and placed it gently at his side...
Another day and night passed. Jiang Yuqing finally dragged her numb legs down from the special stool for her.
With battle temporarily suspended, the medical teams could finally catch their breaths too.
As she walked out of the operating room door, Jiang Yuqing removed her face mask and took a deep breath of the fresh, cold air outside. After smelling disinfectant and the bloody stench for three days and three nights, the scent of fresh air was just too good. She could even taste a hint of sweetness.
It was just that the sun had fallen too quickly. It was still overhead just a blink of an eye ago, and in that brief moment the sky had already gone dark - damn!
Seeing her petite body silently collapse to the ground, the surrounding crowd was instantly thrown into panic.
"County mistress!" "Little divine doctor!" "Someone come quick, the little divine doctor has fainted!" After a moment of chaos, Jiang Yuqing was carried to her tent.
Other doctors examined her and determined it was nothing serious, she had merely fainted from exhaustion. Upon hearing that Jiang Yuqing had fainted, the injured soldiers instantly erupted.
Many wanted to go see her, but were held back by the other medical staff, "There's no need to go see her. If you all swarm over at once, you'll disrupt her rest. Focus on recovering from your own injuries - that's the best way you can repay her!"
Hearing this, the injured soldiers reluctantly held themselves back, eyes red.
News that Jiang Yuqing had fainted quickly reached Qin Yijian. Qin Yijian was discussing military affairs with a few vice generals.
Hearing his subordinate's report, his expression was rather complicated, "We owe this child far too much. After this battle ends, I will personally petition His Majesty to reward her for her contributions!"
The other generals also felt uneasy, "We must do so! If not for her, who knows how many more lives would have been lost.
The lightly injured soldiers she treated first have now fully recovered and can return to the battlefield. The severely injured are also recovering remarkably well.
It can be said that aside from those killed directly in battle, less than 20 percent of those carried off the battlefield have died. This figure is one we never dared dream of before!"
"Yes, she really is Da Xia's lucky star," Qin Yijian heaved a long sigh, set down the sand table he was using to simulate troop movements, and said "Come, let us go see our young hero!"
