The black sun hangs high

Chapter 158 "How Strange"

The field hospital in Brownhill finally welcomed its "guest".

They were all wounded soldiers evacuated from the "Silver Corridor," and their numbers were so large that they almost immediately reached the limit of the Brownhill Field Hospital's capacity.

Despite having undergone intensive training beforehand, the young doctors still couldn't help but feel intense fear when they actually faced the wounded.

It takes time to adapt.

When the soldiers, whose appearances were gruesome and terrifying due to various injuries, were brought to their hospital beds, very few could remain absolutely calm and composed.

The number of wounded was so great that even a mage like Hugh, who was accompanying the army, had to go to the field hospital to help after completing his daily maintenance of protective rituals. And once this work started, it seemed to have no end.

Throughout Vaan’s long history and development, magic has been thoroughly integrated into all human activities. Therefore, even though Hugh’s understanding of medicine is very limited, he is still able to complete many auxiliary tasks according to the requirements and guidance of doctors.

Stop the bleeding, immobilize, relieve pain, and induce unconsciousness or keep the injured person conscious...

When necessary, he even needs to summon several mage hands to help deliver various tools or supplies.

Meanwhile, the field hospital began to expand. A large number of temporary tents and houses were set up near the original hospital to house soldiers with relatively minor injuries. In this process, Hugh had to work with the other mages to "expand" the original protective shrine to accommodate all the newly added medical tents.

Over the course of more than ten days, Hugh had witnessed numerous tragedies.

Before magic was used for healing and rescue, it was first used to cause injury and death.

From a certain perspective, magic and spells are similar to weapons such as firearms. They are all tools that humans can use to slaughter their own kind or other intelligent beings. Moreover, the history of magic is so long that people know exactly how to use it.

Therefore, even though the Fifth Regiment's accompanying mages included many skilled in healing magic, and the field hospital had experienced doctors like Professor Meyer, the survival rate for the soldiers sent here remained a very, very big problem.

The wounds soldiers suffer on the battlefield are often not limited to physical injuries.

Magical explosions, crystalline shrapnel, and other magic-based injuries often cause a lot of trouble. For example, Hughes witnessed a case where a young soldier was injured by shrapnel from a crystal cannonball. The shrapnel, containing chaotic magic, remained inside his body. When Professor Mayer tried to remove the shrapnel, he discovered that the soldier's flesh and internal organs were already showing signs of necrosis due to the chaotic magic.

In this situation, no amount of potions or healing magic could prolong his life...

As for the countless others who lost limbs in the battle due to the firing of crystal guns, or whose brains and minds were damaged by the explosion of shells, they were even more numerous.

Among such a group of soldiers, those with broken bones could only be regarded as cowards, those missing two fingers could be considered qualified soldiers, but if someone with missing arms or legs stood there, everyone would admit defeat.

Even though they were wounded and had to leave the front lines, these young men remained full of confidence in the war. The victory of the outnumbered forces in the "Silver Corridor" greatly inspired them and filled them with enthusiasm for the future of the war.

But in fact, a wave of "defense" has already surged forth.

Under the current circumstances, the benefits of a proactive offensive are far too limited. The offensive of the northern Saint-St. has begun to slow down, and once reinforcements from other duchies arrive at the Isa River, the Saint-St.'s advance will become even more difficult.

From Alfred, Hugh learned that the northern soldiers had indeed suffered extremely high casualties, but the royal family and government of the Kingdom of St. Steel had such high expectations for this war that they were not allowing any valid and accurate figures and information to be released to the outside world.

With the old tactics completely shattered, everyone has become conservative.

The Delan army was undoubtedly the most conservative side.

The loss of tens of thousands of people in a single day of offensive was an unprecedented number of casualties. Not only the Delan people, but even the citizens of Walter were filled with fear upon hearing the news.

This means that the speed at which people kill each other on the battlefield will be increased to an unprecedented level, and for ordinary people, this means that their relatives, or even themselves, will have a greater chance of survival after arriving on the battlefield.

No one wants to die as a cold, hard number, not even the brave, warlike Waterlings.

The order from Borden gave the various units a breakthrough, and a term that Hugh was extremely familiar with, yet vehemently opposed to, appeared on the lips of the officers of the Fifth Juggernaut Regiment.

That was the "trench".

"And it's a damn magic-reinforced trench?"

When Hugh received the brand-new manual distributed by the council, he couldn't help but curse inwardly, because the cover of the manual clearly stated: "How to construct and protect a trench."

This manual, jointly compiled by the Votel military and the Mage Council, describes how accompanying mages should help the army build sturdy and secure trenches and bunkers, and how to maintain them over the long term.

The manual was obviously compiled in a very rushed manner, but the contents it contained were already very comprehensive. Hugh even saw content on "how to properly build a toilet" in it. Clearly, in the eyes of the commanders, these trenches were not only shelters for soldiers to fight against artillery fire, bullets and magic, but also very likely to become the soldiers' living quarters.

Even long-term residence.

Along with this manual came two things.

The first order was a mobilization order for the Fifth Hunter Regiment. According to the order, the entire Fifth Hunter Regiment was required to complete the assembly and preparation of personnel and supplies within two days and be ready to receive the next order at any time.

Secondly, there was a batch of brand-new military equipment supplies.

However, Hugh was far from relaxed after seeing the contents of the supply shipment.

Because this was no ordinary supply, Hughes saw that this batch of supplies not only included the "Kalvan Heavy Machine Gun" that had shone brightly in the "Silver Corridor," but also a sufficient amount of alchemical bombs, spellbooks, various types of ammunition, and dozens of sets of spellcaster equipment comparable to the Sword-wielding Hermits of the Law Council, including specially made armor that could protect against ordinary crystal ammunition and portable arcane instruments that could counter conventional magic.

This was clearly a move to send the Fifth Jaeger Regiment to tackle the toughest challenge. And Hugh's premonition was perfectly confirmed two days later.

……

Apart from a few alchemists who needed to maintain the field hospital and care for the wounded, all members of the Fifth Jaeger Regiment boarded steam transport vehicles and headed toward their designated location at dawn two days later.

Sally's name appeared without a doubt on the list of the alchemists who were left behind.

This is the result of the suggestion made by Shug.

Similarly, Professor Meyer did not want his favorite student to go on an adventure to the front lines with the Fifth Regiment.

As the Fifth Regiment departed, the girl, who had experienced many hardships, finally couldn't hold back her tears. But she could only watch the vehicles carrying her friends and teachers drive away into the distance, along with the others who stayed behind and the residents of Brownhill.

After the last vehicle disappeared from sight, Sally wiped away her tears and silently prayed several times for Hugh, Mayer, Verin, and the other members of the Fifth Juggernaut Regiment. Then she silently returned to the field hospital. She still had a lot to do, and today was just the beginning.

Meyer and Hugh were in the same car, chatting as they felt the cold wind blowing against their faces.

"I've left her with a lot of topics and tasks, so you don't need to worry too much."

Hearing Meyer's words, Hugh asked in surprise, "Professor, is there any direct connection between these two things?"

"Ha, not only are there medical topics, but also some articles that I have written and collected before... This girl is really smart. My intuition tells me that her achievements should not be limited to the medical field. She should be able to make progress in other areas as well."

Hearing this, Hugh was slightly taken aback: "That's very high praise. So you mean that Sally might become a scholar like you?"

As if he had read Hugh's mind, Meyer smiled and said, "Her background is not important, nor is her past education. She is young and intelligent. With proper guidance, she will naturally begin to grow... just like a sapling that has been parched for a long time finally receiving rain."

"I can't argue with you."

Hugh laughed as well. He looked at the soldiers riding in the same vehicle as him, then at the road ahead, and said, "Professor, I remember you said before that you wanted to see how this war was changing and developing?"

"Yes."

"Do you still think that way? You've seen it all, those refugees, and those wounded soldiers..."

Hugh stared at the man beside him and asked, "Haven't you changed your mind? Once we reach the front lines, we will be the enemy of the Delan army and the other Plains Duchy armies. I am a mage accompanying the army, so I will definitely become a murderer and butcher in their eyes. And although you are a doctor, all the soldiers who are treated and healed will be thrown back into the battlefield and create new killings and deaths... What do you think about this?"

Mayer looked around and winked at Hugh, who immediately raised his hand and quickly formed several magic runes, instantly enveloping the two of them in a sound-blocking ritual.

The soldiers were not surprised by Hugh's sudden spellcasting; such actions by a mage were perfectly normal.

Moreover, Hugh's relationship with the other accompanying mages was actually closer than theirs—after all, most of the young people here had heard of Hugh's name and were even proud of it.

"Now you can speak."

Meyer nodded, glanced at the young faces in the vehicle, and then sighed, “I am not against war, or rather, I am not against… a war that can bring ‘justice’ and ‘progress’.”

"Oh?"

Meyer's words surprised Hugh; his views were completely different from those of other doctors who took saving lives and patients as their mission.

"The forms and causes of war are diverse: territory, resources, ethnicity, hatred... Countless bloody conflicts have occurred in Vaan in the past, but how many of them have brought benefits to Vaan, or rather to the vast majority of intelligent races living in Vaan?"

He shook his head: "Very few."

“This war is special; it is unlike any war in the past… After interviewing those refugees, I thought a lot, and I suddenly realized that even if the influence of the Black Sun Society were removed, this war would still have happened.”

Meyer looked at Hugh: "I think this is an inevitable contradiction that will arise when Vaan develops to a new stage, and the Black Sun Society, whatever their purpose, has only accelerated this process."

"But clearly, this war is not 'just' in nature. Everyone has become an accomplice to this war: you, me, and these young people... I do not doubt their love for Water and the plateau, nor do I deny their faith in the giant eagle, but that has nothing to do with the essence of this war."

"This is a war between bandits. Everything they fight for and strive for revolves around their own interests. They hope to redistribute everything from the past and use this to push their rule to a new peak. For all this, they will even ignore the crises that are close at hand and may threaten the entire Vaan. Naturally, they will also ignore the suffering of the 'majority' in this war and turmoil."

Meyer's words silenced Hugh.

Setting up soundproofing magic was the right thing to do. If these soldiers knew that Professor Mayer, whom they respected, had this assessment of the war, they would likely express some strong emotions.

However, immediately afterward, Hugh heard Meyer's question: "Mr. Hugh, you don't seem to disagree with my point of view?"

"Ok?"

Hugh turned his head and saw Meyer staring intently at him. The professor said, "You know what? Even my friends who co-founded the newspaper with me in St. Steel can't fully agree with my views, but you... seem to be able to accept them? That's strange."

Hughes shrugged. "Yeah, that's weird."

(End of this chapter)