I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 346 Soldiers’ lives are most precious
"For His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!"

A first-term student of the Paris Police Academy, wearing the insignia of a sergeant, looked at Joseph, touched his chest and responded loudly, as if the crown prince was conducting a routine inspection of the police academy.

"For His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!"

"For His Majesty the King!"

"For glory and France!"

The other wounded soldiers immediately ignored their injuries and started shouting, their voices echoing throughout the field hospital.

According to their habitual thinking, with the medical conditions of this era, being injured is basically equivalent to death.

What awaits them will be wound infection, and after one to two weeks, they will die in a coma caused by fever.

Although Dr. Perna repeatedly assured them that only two out of ten people would die from the infection, the soldiers only thought she was comforting themselves. Therefore, they all treated His Royal Highness the Crown Prince as if they were meeting him for the last time before his death and bravely said goodbye to him.

Of course, there were also some young people who curled up in their hospital beds dejectedly, but they gritted their teeth and did not make any complaints.

Today, the Guards' pursuit of honor has become a consensus and habit, making them unwilling to show any cowardice.

The staff officer following behind Joseph then read out the names of those who had made meritorious contributions and received medals in public, which immediately aroused cheers, as if death was not a big deal in the eyes of these young men.

The Luxembourgers who were helping around couldn't help but look at them, wondering why these dying soldiers were "crazy"

This scene happened every time Joseph passed a tent or a farmhouse.

More than half of the wounded were cadets from the Paris Police Academy. He often saw them at the academy and could even call out some of them by name.

But when he saw the blood-soaked bandages on their missing limbs, he couldn't help but feel sad.

In fact, these wounded had already undergone initial treatment. Yesterday, many soldiers were wailing in pain from amputation, with blood-stained uniforms scattered everywhere. It was far more tragic than it is now.

These unknown young people supported the prosperity and stability of France with their blood and youth, but they had to live with disability for the rest of their lives.

After leaving the last tent, Joseph turned to look at the Chief of Staff Berthier who was following behind him, and whispered: "Increase the casualty pension by 20%. Try to arrange for the injured soldiers to work in government departments. The living security of the families of the injured soldiers should also be improved.

"Let everyone know that it is worth sacrificing for France, and France will not forget them!"

"Yes, Your Highness!" Berthier nodded and took note, without mentioning a word about the tight military budget.

When Joseph left the field hospital, he was thinking with his head down that if bulletproof vests could be developed in the future, the casualties among soldiers could be greatly reduced.

In fact, this era also had primitive bulletproof vests - breastplates.

However, this thing is made of pure iron. In the face of increasingly sophisticated flintlock rifles, the thickness must be more than 2 mm to be life-saving.

The problem is that the weight is simply uncontrollable.

A qualified breastplate weighs between 20 and 25 pounds, which may not seem exaggerated, but it is an additional weight, added on top of the guns and luggage. Moreover, it has to be worn all the time during a battle, so even the most physically fit soldiers would find it difficult to last for half a day.

In addition, there is the price. An ordinary breastplate costs more than 120 livres, and there is no upper limit for high-quality ones. As a result, only some cavalrymen who conduct frontal assaults are willing to equip this thing - the weight is borne by the horses anyway, and the cavalry's equipment is very expensive, so they don't need the money for a breastplate - these are the very famous cuirassier cavalry.

As for the infantry, only a very small number of "supermen" will be equipped with some breastplates, which mainly serve to intimidate the opposing infantry.

So, is it possible to improve the breastplate using some later technology?

Joseph quickly shook his head slightly.

Whether it is alloy smelting or Kevlar fiber, they are far from the technology that can be played with in this era.

And just using steel forging cannot significantly reduce the weight...

Joseph returned to his temporary office, still at a loss. Perhaps it would be more practical to improve the level of medical and health care.

At this moment, he inadvertently caught a glimpse of Luxembourg soldiers standing at the street entrance - in fact, they were police officers who were maintaining order - wearing gray square uniforms. His eyes immediately lit up: "Yes, how could I fall into this misconception!"

Who says you need armor to protect against bullets?
Joseph remembered that someone in later generations had calculated that casualties caused by bullets in the torso accounted for 70% of the total casualties of soldiers. In other words, most casualties could be avoided by protecting the torso.

This is also an important reason why breastplates became popular.

Joseph also knew a more convenient and simple equipment to protect the torso - bulletproof inserts.

Later, Taobao sold hundreds of millions of these life-saving gadgets to soldiers all over the world, and they have proven to be very effective on many battlefields from Africa to Eastern Europe.

The so-called bulletproof insert is basically a thin plate the size of a tablet computer, which is inserted into the "pocket" on the chest and abdomen of the military uniform when in use. It is light in weight, has good bulletproof effect, and can be inserted only in front of the body, regardless of the back, depending on the battlefield situation.

In this way, the overall weight can be basically controlled within 10 pounds.

Joseph recalled the structure of the bulletproof insert - a layer of metal, a layer of Kevlar, a layer of ceramic, and another layer of Kevlar, all glued together. The manufacturing process was very simple.

Of course, there is no Kevlar in this era, but silk can be used instead. In ancient times, military officers used multiple layers of silk clothing to protect against bows and arrows. Because silk has excellent toughness, the effect is still good.

Although silk is not as strong as Kevlar, it only needs to deal with lead bullets fired by black powder, so its strength should be sufficient.

And special ceramic technology certainly cannot be used, so we can only use ordinary hard ceramics.

For the same reason that the enemy's weapons have limited power, this one can also be replaced.

As for the adhesive, Joseph was a little unsure, so he could only ask Lavoisier for help.

If it can be produced, the unit price of such a "youth version" bulletproof insert will not exceed 5 livres at most. A soldier will be equipped with 5 pieces, which is only 25 livres, which is completely affordable.

He hurried back to his office, wrote down the idea of ​​the new equipment, and was about to write a letter to Lavoisier when he saw Emand knock on the door and say, "Your Highness, General Leo wants to see you."

Leo? Joseph smiled. The commander had finally arrived, so he nodded and said, "Please let him in."

(End of this chapter)