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Volume 5 Spanish Quagmire Chapter 70 Two Battlefields (4)

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    On the evening of June 5, General Desai's mixed brigade arrived at the French base camp 3 kilometers outside the southeastern suburbs of Geruna three days in advance.  When Desai hurriedly visited General Saint-Cyr and General Verdiere, the two generals looked at each other in silence. General Verdiere handed Desai a copy of the latest battle report from the Austrian battlefield that he had received the day before yesterday.  This battle report was drafted on May 25. During the Battle of Aspern-Essling, Napoleon himself suffered his first military defeat. The remaining troops retreated to a small island in the middle of the Danube River. Marshal Lannes was seriously injured.  Like the original historical process, when Napoleon's army was crossing the Danube one after another, it was suddenly attacked by Archduke Charles' army halfway across the river.  The Austrian Archduke ordered the commanders of the upstream troops, Kolovrat and Nordmann, to prepare the ships, load them with heavy objects and arson, and at an appropriate time destroy the only bridge connecting Napoleon's army on both sides of the Danube.  Because the pontoon bridge on the river was accidentally blown up, tens of thousands of reinforcements and a large amount of supplies and ammunition could not be transported to the other side of the Danube in time. More than 30,000 French troops, including Napoleon himself, faced a dangerous situation of imminent destruction. Three times the Austrian army was approaching,  Later, the retreat was blocked by a fast-flowing river.  At the time of crisis, it was Marshal Lannes who led the Second Army and resolutely resisted repeated strong attacks by a large number of enemies until the pontoon bridge was rebuilt and the emperor successfully retreated to Lobau Island in the middle of the Danube River.  When the remnants of the Second Army received the order to retreat, Marshal Rana was sitting cross-legged on the ground, mourning the death of an old friend, when he was hit by an artillery shell, with shrapnel scattered in his legs.  Despite Dr. Kawa's best efforts to save him, the marshal's legs were quickly amputated (20 hours earlier than originally planned).  According to the clinical research of germs by an Irish doctor, he repeatedly washed the surface of the marshal's stump with a large amount of physiological saline, tied various large and small blood vessels in his leg, and did not suture the incision. Instead, he opened the wound and used a certain concentration of acetic acid solution.  Wet compresses soaked in gauze, and change the dressing every day, try to prevent the invasion of bacteria (anaerobic bacteria, gas gangrene) and sepsis.  After the amputation, Marshal Rana became weak and unconscious, and his low-grade fever persisted. His life and death are still unknown.  Under the city of Geruna, the French offensive still made little progress. Various fortresses continued to resist the French, and the guerrillas in the nearby mountains were also extremely active.  But at this time, Desai was no longer in the mood to care about this.  At the joint meeting of generals the next day, Desai excused his physical discomfort and asked Chief of Staff Lieutenant Colonel Rusty to attend in his place.  For five consecutive days, Desai stayed in a small church in a nearby mountain village. He prayed devoutly to God for the recovery of Marshal Rana.  It was not until two more telegrams came from the Danube front that General Desai's leisurely life was interrupted.  The former telegram brought good news, concerning Marshal Rana's health; the latter telegram was also good news, as General Desai was about to be promoted again.   The war with the Austrians reached a stalemate. Emperor Napoleon, who lost the battle, refused to return to Vienna. Together with his soldiers, he stubbornly stood on Lobau Island in the middle of the Danube River and transformed the island into a French army base camp.  Military fortress.  In order to boost the morale of the soldiers, Napoleon also named the island "Emperor's Island".  After the battle of Aspern-Essling, both the enemy and ourselves mobilized their troops and generals along the Danube River to prepare for the next round of competition.  Next, was the good news that Desai and others had been waiting for for a long time. On the fifth day after the amputation surgery, Marshal Rana's low-grade fever miraculously subsided, and all his body functions were recovering slowly and steadily. It was terrifying.  sepsis did not appear.  The same gospel was also conveyed to more than 20,000 wounded French soldiers in field hospitals.  Due to the joint collaboration between Army Medical Officer Larrey and Dr. Cava before the war, sepsis did not appear on a large scale in the rear hospitals of the French army.  After the battle of Aspern-Essling, in the Vienna church (where the field hospital is located), there were as many as 8,000 French amputees and wounded soldiers. A few days later, 5,000 people still survived (only less than 1,500 people in history); and  Among all 23,000 wounded officers and soldiers, the five-day survival rate was as high as 70% (only 30% in history could survive).  Emperor Napoleon was very happy after hearing that Marshal Lannes had turned the corner. He left the Emperor's Island and went to the rear hospital in Vienna in person to visit his bravest marshal. However, he was isolated outside the ward by the patrolling Dr. Kava and was not allowed to enter.  "I am the emperor, and inside is my marshal!" "Your Majesty, the doctor only has patients in his eyes." "Doctor, I will reward you." "Then please come back in 10 days!" "Stubborn Irish!" "With  The same goes for you, Your Majesty!" In desperation, the emperor could only wave his greetings to Marshal Rana on the bed from a distance through the glass window, and then turned and left.  The emperor called for the military medical officer Larei and told the latter, "I like that loveIrish doctor.  The military medical officer shook his head apologetically, "Dr. Kawa is little Desai's personal doctor. They have a five-year contract."  "When it was Larrey's turn to report to the emperor on the amazing achievements of the field hospital, Napoleon became increasingly grateful to Dr. Cava for everything he had done. However, other than a reward of francs, the emperor could not give the doctor any position because he was restricted by that contract.  . Unless Little Desaix voluntarily gives up his contract with Dr. Cava, but the emperor cannot do this. For a long time, Napoleon has regarded himself as the most loyal believer and best practitioner of Rousseau (the French revolutionary thinker and author of the Social Contract).  Or, he must not violate his creed, at least not openly. Therefore, Army Medical Officer Larrey suggested to Emperor Napoleon, "Your Majesty may consider promoting Little Desai to the rank of military officer."  In fact, Dr. Cava's achievements came from the help of little Desai. From Zaragoza to Vienna, the set of surgical disinfection and hospital care regulations they advocated have saved the lives of thousands of French soldiers.  Life, and even more to come!  " Soon, Dr. Cava received a reward of 50,000 francs from the emperor, and little Desai, more than two months later, was promoted to another rank, from brigade-level brigadier general to division major general. But the emperor seemed to have forgotten it intentionally or unintentionally.  To be clear, he did not ask the Ministry of War in Paris or the French Chief of Staff in Madrid to equip the future Desai division with soldiers The small church in the mountain village where Desai "communicated" with God was also known as.  Called Santa Maria Church, it is as famous as the Santa Maria Church in the city of Giruna a few kilometers away. The former was built 50 years ago by the villagers spontaneously, while the latter dates back to the ancient Roman era. As for the scale of the building, the interior and exterior decoration.  , cultural collections, are not the same. A few days ago, when Desai came to this small church, he could not find a priest or priest. Even most of the young people in the village ran to the city of Geruna or nearby.  In the Santa Barbara Mountains, they joined the resistance against the French, leaving only a group of orphans and children guarding the village. The French troops who arrived here before failed to find young women, food and alcohol in the mountain village, so they voluntarily gave up the occupation.  , under the control of a military police company of Desai's brigade. But when Lieutenant Colonel Rusty, who looked tired, found General Desai, there was a normal show in the church. Since there were no priests or priests, Desai let his troops go.  The adjutant took on this role, because among the attendants around him, only Captain Charles knew the bitter and difficult Latin. The young pseudo-priest, wearing a black robe and military boots, stood in front of the cross with a bitter face and muttered.  Reading the words of God, General Desai lay on the bench in front of the shrine, closing his eyes and meditating. Since receiving the news that Marshal Rana was finally rescued, Desai has completely abandoned his humility towards God.  The adjutant acted as a priest and recited scriptures. Desai personally felt that this would make it easier for him to fall asleep without having to think about the reality that the French and Spanish were still fighting brutally a few kilometers away. The arrival of the chief of staff saved him.  Captain Charles was in distress. As soon as the latter saw General Desai and Lieutenant Colonel Rusty starting to talk, he quickly took off his priest's black robe and crept out of the church door. The military police on duty outside the door couldn't stop laughing. Haha.  Laugh. ¡°So, except for the fact that the four gold lines on my shoulder straps have become five gold lines, and my monthly military pay and allowance have increased, I am still a brigade commander with the title of division commander?  "Major General Desai asked his chief of staff, very puzzled. He felt that the emperor was definitely not well-intentioned. The cost of establishing the Desai brigade has already cost almost half of the army's funds (not counting war horses). In addition,  In terms of other expenditures, the Desai Brigade can only sustain various expenses such as soldiers' salaries, wartime allowances, and logistics supplies for four months. If the Desai Division is established, the Desai area will be ready to go bankrupt.  The scenery is really good, surrounded by soft, green hills, covered with olive branches and vineyards, dotted with various stone buildings, rustic farmhouses, and fortresses with square towers.  But in other words, it is a sparsely populated place with little oil and water. This is not Zaragoza, where the handicraft workshops are developed, nor is it Madrid, the center of wealth, or Barcelona, ??the shipping center.  The commander of the theater, General Saint-Cyr, was definitely not a good bird. His grudge with old Desai seemed to have extended to himself, and he rushed Desai's brigade from Zaragoza.  After recruiting them, they were reluctant to pay even one rial. In addition to the promised military losses, the Desai Brigade had to handle the logistics and soldier rewards by itself. General St. Cyr suggested that General Desai send a team to the nearby area.  They went to rob small towns and mountain villages, or actively participated in the siege of Geruna, because all the loot belonged to the plunderers themselves. General Desai's brigade complained about this and refused to go to war.  Good excuse to runThey went to the chapel to recuperate, and the soldiers also learned and applied it. With the connivance of the officers, they had a three-nation "rugby battle" between France, Ireland, and Poland.  Of course, this is another boring work for time travellers.  In the latter's view, "English rugby", which emphasizes teamwork and has a fierce confrontational atmosphere, is more suitable for the military.
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