Nineteenth Century Medical Guide

Chapter 269. 265. Sunk Costs
The escape from the small town of Otaka, which took place on October 10, was interrupted by the sudden appearance of gunfire when it was approaching the final stage.

There were five Prussian soldiers left in the south. Now that something went wrong, any fool could guess that they must have been attacked by the Austrian army.

And this is not an ordinary artillery attack, the sound of the artillery keeps dancing on their eardrums.In the first half minute, there was almost no intermission, and the frequency of shelling was comparable to the previous gun battle in front of the church, and it was a little less than when the forward troops of the First Army attacked Gablenz.

It feels like a crazy berserker, wantonly venting his anger after encountering an enemy.

The "results" that were about to be obtained were right in front of our eyes, but they were submerged in the sound of bursts of shells popping out of the chamber.Mendelstein's heart fell to the bottom, and failure seemed inevitable, but it was too early to give up: "So this kid is so important."

He kept wondering why the guards had to protect Kavi to death.

Military doctors and soldiers are consumables of war, far from requiring a life-saving escort to ensure safety.What's more, the Sixth Army is still fighting to the death on the front line, so it is strange that such an excellent medical team has somehow left the team.

Therefore, in his logical thinking, Carvey cannot be just a doctor, and should have a second identity.For example, an extremely noble nobleman, or the heir of an important member of the royal family.

Before, this might have been just a hypothesis, because only in this way could explain why the opponent refused to surrender.

But now, Mendelstein firmly believes in this, because only in this way can he explain why the other party sent such troops to attack the town.

"Company commander, is it the enemy?" Before Duke could react, he squatted in a corner in disbelief, "It shouldn't be, our troops should come first if they want to come, how could it be the Austrians?"

Mendelstein bayoneted his rifle: "Don't worry about it."

Duke really couldn't think of the possibility of the failure of the First Army: "Could it be that they made a mistake when they met?"

"Do you think it's possible?"

Duke's face turned cold, and he had already realized: "What should we do next?"

"We may still have a chance to escape now." Mendelstein said, looking back at the path to the east, "but escaping means the destruction of the entire company, which is meaningless."

"I understand." Duke also saw that the situation was not good. "With such a scale of artillery fire, there may be more than one regiment coming. The opponent will definitely conduct a carpet search. It is meaningless to resist or hide."

"So if you want to live, let those brothers die worthwhile."

Mendelstein looked at the dark alley not far ahead and said, "We have to get that 'doctor' as soon as possible."

Duke nodded, and put on the bayonet like him.

"Duke, rush in with me!"

"Yes!"

Mendelstein's idea was simple.

Kawei's status is special, and there is only one person beside him. As long as he gets rid of this commander and captures Kawei, he will have an extra bargaining chip in his hand.At that time, you can choose the way to deal with it according to the attack speed of the Austrian army at any time. It is best if you can escape. If you can't escape, you can also take Kawei as a hostage. It is really impossible.
If it doesn't work, just get rid of this guy, it will definitely be beneficial for Prussia to win the war.

Changing the established battle target, the two quickly flashed out of the corner and rushed towards the dark alley.

Mendelstein is indeed a very good commander. It is not easy to immediately think of dealing with the opponent when the situation is reversed and he is extremely passive.

At this time, Aleister in the dark alley had just analyzed the situation in the town, and just realized that he should run away to prolong the time instead of dying, the other party spread his legs and rushed over at full speed.

He raised his gun and fired, but the unaimed bullet missed slightly.

Aleister dropped the rifle in his hand, immediately picked up the gun of the dead soldier beside him, and fired again.This time the bullet seemed to hit the soldier next to Mendelstein, but it only hit his shoulder. After staggering two steps, he took another step and continued to rush towards him.

By the time he was about to pick up the third gun, Mendelstein had already come within ten steps, and there was no time to make a shooting action.

Although the other party was also holding a gun, the bayonet had already been loaded, and there was no extra movement in his hands. He clenched the gun barrel and aimed at his stomach.

The three guns in Aleister's hand were bare poles, so he had no way to fight back, so he could only dodge with a gun.Unexpectedly, the soldier who was shot just now had guessed his movement long ago, flashed out from behind Mendelstein, and stabbed him in the stomach with the same assassination movement.

Aleister snorted, and took a few steps back against the huge impact force. After the force was relieved, he swung his hand and smashed the opponent's head with the butt of the gun.

However, the other party reacted very quickly, raised his foot and kicked him in the lower abdomen, and avoided the blow by relying on the rebound force.

At this time, the three of them had already entered the dark alley, and the narrow street made it impossible for Mendelstein to fight with Duke, so he could only stand behind him.And Aleister was kicked to the ground, but just opened the distance from the opponent.

The opportunity was fleeting, he endured the wound on his stomach, raised his gun and shot.

The bullet shot directly through Duke's left chest, and blood gushed out quickly.But before Aleister was thankful that he had hit the vital point, the bloody bayonet that had just been pulled out passed through the smoke raised by the gunpowder and stabbed down again.

"what!!!"

This time behind him was the ground, and there was no way to reduce the damage by unloading force.The severe pain forced him to scream, and at the same time, he threw the butt of his gun and smashed Duke's head.

"Duke, get out of the way, let me come!"

It may be that the shot just now did too much damage, Duke didn't dodge or give in, but lay on Aresta's body, holding his last breath and continuing to do the plugging and pulling movements.In just ten seconds, one skull burst, and the other was tied into a sieve, and fell into a pool of blood.

Mendelstein glanced at his subordinates, pointed his gun at Carvey not far away: "Follow me, I won't make things difficult for you."

Kawei had no choice, his physical strength was exhausted, and he didn't have their fighting qualities, so he had no choice but to admit defeat.

"The gunfire has stopped." Mendelstein frowned, stepped forward and grabbed Carvey, and ran out of the alley, "Don't resist, and don't have the thought of running away, otherwise I'm not sure what I will do Come."

"I understand." Carvey followed behind him, stepping over Aleister's body, "Where are you taking me?"

"Go back to the First Army Headquarters." Mendelstein did not hide his destination, "Don't worry, your surgical skills are so good, no one will make things difficult for you. Of course, the premise is that you have to guarantee it."

As soon as he stepped out of the alley, before he finished speaking, he heard the sound of horseshoes coming from the entrance of the town to the east.As the captain of the cavalry, Mendelstein roughly guessed the opponent's number quickly, and his head buzzed.

This came too fast.

But in fact, this kind of speed is what the small town of Otaka should look like.

It took less than 10 minutes to run for 5 minutes in front of the horseshoes of the army horses. A division-level force with a large number of cavalry can surround Otaka in the blink of an eye.

"Prussian soldiers found ahead!!!"

With one sentence and a few gunshots, the soldier guarding the east was easily dealt with.

Mendelstein realized that he would definitely not be able to run away, so he removed the bayonet, pulled Kavell in front of him, and walked slowly towards the opposing cavalry team: "It's up to you whether I can survive, if you dare to move , I'll cut your throat!"

Twenty minutes later, the commander of the force that surrounded the town received a battle report.

"40 Prussian soldiers were found in the town, of which 5 surrendered, 8 were injured, and the rest died. 13 soldiers from our army were all killed. In addition, Dr. Kavey's medical team was found, 8 of whom were injured, 2 die."

"Are they really here?" The commander was very excited. "Where's Kavi? Where's Kavi?"

"He" the cavalry captain sighed, "he is still alive, but he was taken hostage by a Prussian officer."

"What about people?"

The captain beckoned behind him, and Mendelstein and Karvey in front of him came in front of him surrounded by the crowd: "Can't you stand back a little? I'm almost head-to-head with the pipe!"

As he spoke, he exerted a little force on his hand, and the blade of the bayonet slowly embedded itself into the skin on Kavey's neck.

"Stand back."

The commander glanced at Kavi, and then asked, "What's your name?"

"Mendelstein, commander of the cavalry reconnaissance company of the First Prussian Army, with the rank of captain."

"First Army. Prince Karl's team?"

".right."

"Do you know where your First Army is?" the commander pointed to the woods to the west, "I retreated to Gablenz the day before yesterday."

"what?"

Mendelstein couldn't accept this fact, and felt that the other party was deceiving himself: "How could we withdraw our troops? It's impossible, absolutely impossible!"

"If they don't withdraw their troops, how can I be here?" The commander smiled and asked again, "Don't go around and tell your request. I will meet your request and release me immediately !"

Mendelstein took two deep breaths, calmed himself down, and said, "I'm going to take him out of here, and I'll let him back when I get a certain distance from you."

"It's impossible." The commander shook his head, "He must stay here, alive."

"That's not negotiable."

Mendelstein was ready, but the opponent didn't follow the routine: "I didn't say I wouldn't let you go."

".What did you say?"

"I will let you go, including those Prussian soldiers who surrendered and were injured." The commander said, "Of course the weapons must be kept, and it is impossible to give you horses. At most, I will send you some dry food and water for your journey."

This is indeed the best solution at the moment, but it's a pity that Mendelstein didn't believe it: "I can't believe you."

The commander smiled, took out his pistol from his pocket, and put it on his forehead: "I am not negotiating terms with you, you have no choice at all. I pity you now and want to let you and your The dog has a way out. Of course you have the right to give up, and I will smash your head as soon as possible."

Mendelstein still wanted to use Kawei to fight for the right to speak, but the other party didn't give him a chance to speak at all: "As for him, your knife is not enough to kill him, do you know why?"

"why?"

"Because the best surgeon in Austria is in the medical team, he can sew up this wound immediately." The commander said with a smile, "Of course, in the end it depends on whether your knife is faster or my bullet." quick."

It seems that my guess is not wrong. The reason why Kavi is so important is entirely because of his second identity.It may be because of personal interest, or it may be for experience, he and his teacher came to Pu'ao battlefield.

As for whether this wound can be treated, he doesn't need to think too much about it. The tracheotomy Carvey performed on Opal and the operation on Craig's thigh have already proved this point.

"Are you really willing to let us go?"

"My patience is very limited, I can only count to three." The commander stared at his right hand holding the bayonet, "3"

"Okay, I accept your terms!" Mendelstein slowly removed the bayonet in his hand and took two steps back slowly, "Your Excellency, please keep your promise just now and let me and my soldiers leave here. "

The commander gave way to Carvey, took away his bayonet, and put down his gun: "Prepare dry food and water for them."

Surrounding the town of Otaka was the reinforcement army returning from Italy, commanded by Count Morasso who followed Maximilian.After hearing the news of Kawei's loss, he sent a large number of scouts to look for him around.

Fortunately, the town is not too remote, and it is not far from the Sixth Army's garrison, but its location is very ambiguous.

In order to achieve his goal, Moraso sent half a cavalry regiment, two infantry regiments, and dozens of artillery pieces.

"It's a big deal, Mr. Earl." Carvey also got on a horse, looked at the mighty troops around him, and said with emotion, "It's because of me that there is such a big commotion."

"For a mere small town, only one cavalry company is enough, and the rest are prepared to prevent sneak attacks from the opposite side. You don't understand these things." The count looked at him, and the stone in his heart finally fell to the ground. , "Didn't you stay in the north all the time? Why did you come here?"

Carvey recounted the letter from Archduke Brecht, but Moraso couldn't help it: "Oh, what a hassle!"

"When I get back to the station, I have to go back to Olmitz as soon as possible. It's too messy here." Carvey still has lingering fears about what happened before, and doesn't know what to say to the guards who have all died, " If it weren't for their protection, I might have become a prisoner."

"If you think too much, the northern front will not be peaceful." Morazo said, "The western front is blocked, and they will definitely change the main attack direction. The distance between Olmitz and Vienna is much closer than the western front." .”

(End of this chapter)