Chapter 255 251. Red Cross

From the moment the Prussian cavalry company pursued them, it was destined that the subsequent evacuation operation would not be safe.

The speed of the carriage cannot be compared with these cavalry, and the only way to go is through the woods to the north. As for the Prussian army, as long as the Sixth Army is surrounded, the surrounding woods will become the target of raids sooner or later, so the escape route of the Kaimai Guards has already been

He entered the opponent's territory and was locked up.

On the battlefield, you need to face dilemmas anytime and anywhere. Aleister's decision is destined to make sacrifices, and the unarmed Kavi can only obey orders.

It's impossible to fight with the escort.

The team already lacks weapons, and Kawei has never even touched a gun, so keeping it is a burden. Besides, the duty of the escort is to protect his safety. Only when Kawei is alive can the entire team be rewarded. If something happens to Kawei, the entire team will be affected.

Everyone will be punished, no one is immune.

At this time, Kawei chose to be obedient and evacuate, not only to save his own life, but also for the sake of the soldiers in the escort team.

Of course, Aleister's decision was not rational, and who left and who stayed was not randomly assigned.

From the perspective of ability alone, it is the best choice to keep the captain with good command and judgment skills by Kawei's side. However, in order to make the remaining people give up completely, and to increase the intensity of the resistance, Kawei can escape.

The time he needed to stay.

Even Kawei could see what he was thinking, and naturally the soldiers with him could also see it.

In the two minutes after Aleister made his decision, the team members did a lot of ideological work for him. At the same time, they forcibly took off his military uniform and exchanged it with a soldier. Finally, in order to reassure him,

They also swore by their respective unit numbers:

"I am from the 5th Dragoon Regiment, and I will never take a step back until I die!"

"I come from the 16th Rifle Infantry Regiment of the Second Army, and I will never take a step back until I die!"

"I come from the 22nd Chasseur Regiment of the Seventh Army, and I will never do it until I die."

The woods are covered with grass and soft soil, so many people walking quickly will inevitably leave footprints.

Time counts against the clock, and the team is moving so fast that there is no time to deal with these traces. They can only hope that the soldiers left behind can block it for a while, and the pursuit of the Prussian soldiers can end here.

Kawei didn't know what the final outcome of this temporary position would be. He only knew that gunshots rang out not long after he left. The deeper into the woods, the lighter the gunshots became. Those soldiers were indeed abiding by their oaths. Take good care of yourself.

Block the enemy's attack.

Until they heard the sound of artillery shells exploding.

"This small company is actually equipped with cavalry artillery?" Aleister glanced behind him in disbelief, and then continued to lead the team forward, "Our cavalry team is only equipped with 2 cavalry per regiment.

-3 mounted cannons, the Prussian equipment is too luxurious."

"With artillery, the position just now won't last long." The soldier beside him muttered.

"Give me the map!"

Last night, Aleister took a few team members for a walk around the area, and also went to a distant place to conduct reconnaissance with the sentries of the Sixth Army. The map in his hand was drawn by the team members at that time, although the icons and lines were all different.

Very simple, but at least some important landmarks were recorded.

"You can see a small village if you walk a little further in this direction." Aleister pointed ahead and said, "If nothing else happens, at least we can keep up with the supplies for the next few days."

"There should be a path going out further north of the village."

"There are always roads, but not every road can be taken." Aleister considered many situations. The number of escort soldiers was suddenly reduced by half. He also had to be more cautious. "Wait until we reach the village before considering the next step."

It’s about that.”

"Is there anyone else in the village?"

"I don't know. There wasn't even a light when we came here at night. The time was limited, so we only took a look around the outside and didn't go in."

"The war has been going on for so many days, maybe we should have escaped long ago."

"It's hard to say, there are still people from Gablenz who were there before."

"I remember that there is a large field of wheat between the woods and the village, without any cover, and the straight-line distance is estimated to be more than 300 meters." Aleister said to the surrounding soldiers and doctors, "I guess I will have to stop when we get there.

, let’s do a good job of investigating the surrounding area before moving forward.”

In addition to preventing other Prussian chasseurs in the woods, the reconnaissance also gave the doctors and nurses a chance to rest.

The wheat field has an open terrain with woods on three sides. If there are enemies, they can easily find them, so this area needs to be passed at full speed.

However, it takes more than an hour to drive at full speed northwest from the high ground before you can see the wheat field. The rugged muddy ground full of small rocks can easily drain the physical strength of an ordinary person. People like Kawi and Ignatz

It is impossible for ordinary medical staff who lack training to get through there as quickly as the convoy.

In fact, Aleister still overestimated these doctors, and it soon became apparent that his physical fitness was unsustainable.

The sprint quickly turned into a jog, and gradually turned into a walk in less than half an hour. The planned hour and a half through the woods stretched to two and a half hours, including Kavi's

All the doctors inside are exhausted.

But the escort is not without good news. At least there are no traces of enemies in the rear or surrounding areas.

When the sun gradually rose and the time approached noon, Aleister asked everyone to take off their military uniforms, and then led a group of more than 30 people through the wheat fields quickly under the gentle autumn wind.

After entering the village, they discovered that this place was more like a small town than a village. The architecture was in a typical Central European style, and houses built of a mixture of bricks and wood could be seen on both sides of the street.

The town occupies a small area but has all the necessary facilities. It not only has churches, factories and workshops, but also schools, hospitals and libraries. It is surrounded by farmland, pastures and orchards like just now. The only drawback is that the people in the town are all

Ran out.

Aleister divided the remaining escort soldiers into three groups.

He took the lead in one group to protect the safety of the Kawei medical team. One group was guarding the intersection where they had just entered the town, and the other group was at the forefront to explore the road. Their main purpose was to collect food and water for the team.

, the second is for transportation.

After passing the town, there is an open area, and the view barrier of the woods is lost.

Without the barrier, the opportunity to walk slowly is lost. If they want to completely avoid the battle, the escort must rely on carriages to speed themselves up.

"Nate, take a group to the pasture to see if there are any horses."

"good."

"Let's go to the church first, and then split up to look for food and water wells." Aleister raised his head and glanced at the sun, "The speed must be fast. I hope to leave this place in half an hour."

"knew!"

The medical team was placed in the only church in the town. They were moved and evacuated all morning. Their legs were so sore that they were finally able to rest here for a while. Aleister still seemed uneasy and stayed behind

himself and a soldier to keep them safe.

"Captain, we've all arrived in town. There's really no need to stay here." Kawei said while lying on the bench, "I'm not a prisoner."

"Your safety comes first."

"Are there still Prussians here?"

Kavi's voice echoed in the church, and there seemed to be some dissatisfaction in his tone. Aleister understood what he meant, and said with a smile: "It is my duty to protect your safety, and it is also the order I received. From Vienna, I

I will follow you all the way and nothing will change until I return to Vienna."

"Are you afraid that I will run away alone?"

".That's not the case."

Kavi sighed: "If it was just to ensure my safety, there would be no need to run like this when Gablenz was attacked. The Geneva Conference had just ended three years ago, and the Prussians would not have blatantly violated the convention by killing and seriously wounding soldiers.

and surgeon.”

"Dr. Kawei is still too naive, and guns are ruthless."

"The guns are indeed ruthless, but I remember that there was an eye-catching red cross sign above the Gablenz operating room." Kawei argued, "As long as the building has a red cross sign, it will not be attacked by the Prussians. That hospital

The operating room remained intact until it left my sight."

"That's just good luck. I can't risk your life."

There is only a window paper left in the relationship between Kawei and the Guards. Anyone with a discerning eye can see something fishy, ​​but Aleister is still unwilling to expose it: "And even if you dodge the shells, no one can guarantee it."

The safety of prisoners. Once you become a prisoner of the enemy, we all may have to go to court-martial after returning to Vienna."

At this time, Ignatz, who was sitting next to Kavi, stood up and tried to smooth things over: "It's better to save some energy and have a good rest. We have to run a long way back to Olmitz."

In fact, Kawei had discussed this matter with Aleister before, and both of them were tacitly understanding it.

If it hadn't been for the scene on the high ground just now, he might not have mentioned it again until the end of the war. But now that it was at this point, both publicly and privately, Kavi felt that the entire evacuation plan was for the sake of the escort.

Task service does no good to oneself.

The escort had already lost half its soldiers, and in the end it only gained a moment of peace.

The Geneva Convention is not universal, and Austria is even more conservative, so it does not provide medical staff with military uniforms with the Red Cross mark. For a long time, Kawei lost the protection of the "Red Cross" and was likely to die.

Under the enemy's gun.

"In fact, even if there was no Red Cross, the other side would not do anything to the doctors and wounded soldiers." Ignatz had experienced war and knew very well the position of hospitals in the minds of both warring parties. "There was no Red Cross symbol in the Franco-Austrian War.

When both sides captured the other side's temporary aid center, they did not harm the doctors or wounded soldiers."

"There are still many accidental injuries."

"It was because of accidental injuries that the red cross emblem was created."
To be continued...