Chapter 69 Treating the Wounded Seeing Zhang Liang so rampant, Huangfu Song was not surprised but happy. His talent of "observing the situation" can help him to understand the changes in the situation to a certain extent and discover the enemy's weaknesses. At the moment when Zhang Liang led his troops to set up camp, Huangfu Song keenly realized that the opportunity for victory had emerged. "Night attack!" Inside the military tent, all the generals looked at each other in bewilderment when they heard Huangfu Song's order. They were all deeply aware of how ferocious the Yellow Turban bandits were today. In the early stages of the battle, the situation was relatively optimistic. Although the Yellow Turban bandits were fearless and brave, their combat effectiveness was still very poor. Relying on advantages such as sophisticated weapons and equipment and tacit military coordination, on average one officer and soldier could fight against five or six Yellow Turban bandits, and could even firmly gain a significant advantage in some local areas. However, in the second half of the battle, the situation changed drastically when Zhang Liang and the Yellow Turban warriors appeared. These Yellow Turban bandits seemed to be on drugs. They were stronger, their reactions were quicker, and they could even withstand more attacks.
Just two or three Yellow Turban soldiers were able to suppress the officers and soldiers and attack them fiercely, making it difficult for them to resist at all. If the retreat had not been timely, and the cavalry had not quickly entered the battlefield to effectively divide and block the enemy, I am afraid that the government troops would have suffered an extremely devastating defeat in this battle. The Yellow Turban bandits had displayed such powerful strength and high morale that everyone thought they should avoid their attack for the time being. They really couldn't understand why they would take the risk of choosing a night attack at this time. Only Tian Ze remained expressionless, though he seemed to be thinking about something. At that time, he witnessed with his own eyes the change in the state of the Yellow Turban bandits. It was not as if their combat power had been increased, but more like their potential had been forcibly stimulated in some special way, resulting in a doubling of their combat power. But he also knew that the more powerful the effect of stimulating this potential was, the more serious the side effects would be, and they would most likely fall into a state of extreme weakness for a period of time afterwards. At this time, the Yellow Turbans were mostly strong on the outside but weak on the inside, and setting up camp under the city was probably just a bluff, an attempt to scare the government troops. Thinking in this way, the night attack strategy proposed by Huangfu Song was indeed an unexpected and extremely wise choice. Although the generals were discussing a lot in the tent, facing the famous Huangfu Song who had always won many battles, after they put forward their own ideas and concerns, they saw that Huangfu Song still firmly insisted on his own opinion, so they stopped arguing and persuading him too much. Instead, they took quick action, began to reorganize their troops in an orderly manner, and made intensive preparations for the upcoming night attack. As the government troops had just suffered a defeat and their morale was low, the troops needed time to readjust and recover. Huangfu Song had to decide to rest for a day and postpone the night attack to the next day. In the government army camp, Tian Ze looked at the more than 6,000 wounded soldiers in the wounded camp, especially the more than 200 wounded soldiers from the five schools of the Northern Army and the Sanhe Cavalry. Suddenly, a gleam of light flashed in his eyes, and he ran towards the central army camp without hesitation. "Chengshou, do you want to be in charge of the wounded camp?" When Lu Zhi saw Tian Ze rushing over and heard his purpose, he couldn't help but ask in confusion. Tian Ze nodded solemnly. "Master Lu, our army has a lot of carefully stored healing ointments, and my personal guards have all undergone professional training and know some basic medical techniques." After hearing his words, Lu Zhi was still a little hesitant. "As long as you agree, Master Lu, I can control the death rate of wounded soldiers in the army to below 40%." Tian Ze promised with a firm look. Upon hearing this, Lu Zhi and Huangfu Song's faces changed and they looked at each other.
"Chengshou, you know that there is no joking in the army!" Lu Zhi said with a serious expression. Although there were military doctors in the army, they were not adequately equipped and the medical means of that era were relatively limited. In previous battles, it was considered a good situation if half of the wounded soldiers could survive. This was an extremely brutal battle with so many wounded soldiers that Lu Zhi estimated that only about 40% of the soldiers survived. Tian Ze increased the price by 20% as soon as he opened his mouth, which made him worried that Tian Ze was just making such a boast on impulse. "Teacher, don't worry. Ze won't do anything without confidence." Tian Ze said confidently. Tian Ze knew the importance of veterans and medical soldiers better than anyone else. Therefore, he spared no effort and invested a lot of energy and resources in the research and development of medical technology. In addition to alcohol, although Tian Ze did not develop a method to produce penicillin in large quantities, he accidentally discovered that allicin could be extracted in large quantities from garlic. After testing, it was found that its effect is similar to that of antibiotics, but with a wider range of effects. Very few raw materials are needed, just some garlic and high-concentration alcohol. It is also simple to make, but the shelf life is too short, so it can only be made urgently before a war. But Tian Ze's army had long developed the habit of preparing some before every battle, but the quantity was relatively limited. After a long period of development and improvement, the medical level in Tianze’s army has now reached a fairly high level. If we make every effort to rescue, it will not be an impossible task to increase the survival rate of the wounded to 80% or even more than 90%. But Tian Ze was well aware of the interests involved and could not easily reveal this secret method. It is safest to keep this method in one's own hands. Using it now would be tantamount to aiding the enemy. Seeing Tian Ze so confident, Huangfu Song and Lu Zhi agreed after a brief discussion to hand over the wounded soldiers to Tian Ze for full management. After Tian Ze took over, he did not carry out drastic reforms and improvements to the original military medical methods, but only slightly increased the staff and standardized the procedures. The most important thing is to take out the special "Liaodong Brand Golden Wound Ointment" mixed with fresh allicin and some precious Chinese medicine. After the wounded soldiers used it, their wounds immediately showed obvious signs of improvement, and the effect was excellent. After personally checking the recovery of the wounded soldiers, Huangfu Song and Lu Zhi were overjoyed and immediately couldn't wait to ask Tian Ze for the recipe of the magical golden ointment. Tian Ze generously listed all the Chinese herbs used in the recipe, but cleverly concealed the presence of the crucial allicin, replacing it with ordinary garlic. He also introduced to them in detail the cost and approximate price required for production. There were also experienced doctors in the army. After carefully listening to and identifying the medicinal herbs reported by Tian Ze, they thought that there should be nothing wrong with what he said. When Huangfu Song and Lu Zhi learned that it took thousands of coins to treat one soldier, they stopped talking about it. Seeing this, Tian Ze asked the two generals for help regarding the price of the ointment. Huangfu Song and Lu Zhi naturally spread their hands. No money! As a general of the Han Dynasty, it is vulgar to talk about money. The soldiers remembered this friendship in their hearts and would definitely ask the court for credit for Tian Ze in the future. Tian Ze heard this and immediately became more aware of his achievements. He patted his chest and said, "What credit do you want to talk about? I did this out of my deep friendship with my comrades, and I have no intention of making any profit. There is no need to ask for credit." Among these wounded soldiers, some with minor injuries will have no problem returning to the battlefield and continuing to fight after treatment and recuperation. However, although a small number of them were successfully rescued, their injuries were too severe and had seriously affected their combat effectiveness, so they had to retire early.
As a general of the border troops, Tian Ze couldn't bear to see these comrades who had fought alongside him had to retire from the army because of injuries, leaving them helpless in the future. Therefore, Tian Ze made an unreasonable request, asking if he could take care of these wounded soldiers who had to retire early. Since the Yellow Turban Rebellion, although Tian Ze has made many military achievements, the troops under his command have also suffered "heavy losses" in a series of fierce battles. In order to ensure the safety of Liaodong, Tian Ze ordered the generals staying in Liaodong to recruit some new soldiers. However, these recruits have relatively limited combat effectiveness due to their lack of combat experience. Therefore, he hoped to recruit some experienced veterans to go to Liaodong to guide and train the new recruits. Of course, it is made clear that there will be no coercion and everything will be based on personal willingness. If these veterans have families, he also promised to properly resettle them, give them some resettlement money, and talk about their future treatment. Huangfu Song and Lu Zhi were both smart men. How could they not see that Tian Ze had been targeting this group of wounded soldiers from the very beginning? But they did not object. After all, these people's lives were saved by Tian Ze, and Tian Ze also promised not to force them. He was just doing them a favor. They were well aware of the hardships and difficulties faced by border army generals, especially in remote and difficult places like Liaodong where Tian Ze was located. With the agreement of the two, Tian Ze quickly recruited more than 800 soldiers who were willing to go to Liaodong from the wounded, including more than 50 from the Northern Army. These are all treasures! Especially the veterans in the Northern Army, who have extremely rich combat experience, and perhaps we can know some secrets of the Legion's talents from them. (End of this chapter)