"What, only three hundred?" Hearing the figures reported by the dean, Ponomarenko exclaimed in surprise: "There are enough people for such a battalion or something." ”

"Comrade Military Commissar, don't be impatient." When Rokossovsky saw Ponomarenko's words, the dean and the commissar were so frightened that their faces changed, and they hurriedly stopped him, and said to the two leaders of the hospital with a smile: "How can you be this person? ”

"Comrade commander," said the dean, "we are here in the General Hospital of the Front Army, and almost all of them are seriously wounded, not to mention the thousands of wounded, but the period of their discharge is far longer than that of those who live in field hospitals at the group army or division level. ”

"I see." After Terekin and the dean finished speaking, he nodded and said understandingly: "Since all the seriously injured people live here, then their hospitalization time is naturally much longer than that of those lightly injured. ”

Speaking of this, he turned his head to look at the political commissar on the side: "Comrade political commissar, I have an idea and want to discuss it with you." ”

The political commissar was flattered and said: "Comrade Military Commissar, if you have anything, just say it." I resolutely obey your orders. ”

"That's so," Terekin turned his head to look at Rokossovsky, who was sitting next to him, and continued: "When I was at the headquarters, I had an idea with Comrade Commander, and I was going to let the political department of the front army cooperate with the political work department of the hospital to mobilize those who were less seriously injured to be discharged from the hospital early and enrich them into various combat units. I don't know what you think about this? ”

The commissar did not answer, but turned his attention to the dean for help, hoping that he would reply to Terekin's suggestion. After the muscles on the dean's face twitched violently a few times, he finally spoke: "Comrade Military Commissar, we need to study this suggestion of yours before we can give you an answer. ”、

Ponomarenko interjected: "Since one of you is the dean and the other is the political commissar of the hospital, then conduct research here, and we will wait for you to make a final decision." ”

Seeing that Ponomarenko had cornered the director and political commissar of the hospital into a corner, Rokossovsky came out to play a round: "Comrade President and political commissar, I know that the decision we made was not right without consulting you in advance. But you should know that our commanders and fighters are fighting stubbornly with the enemy on the front line, and the number of troops is very large, and if we do not replenish them as soon as possible, the troops will lose their combat effectiveness. Their previous efforts will be in vain......"

After listening to Rokossovsky's heartfelt words, the dean fell silent and began to seriously think about Terekin's proposal. Seeing that the dean was in deep thought, Rokossovsky knew that he was engaged in a fierce ideological struggle, so he stood up and said while the iron was hot: "We finally came to the hospital, and we want to take a look everywhere, I wonder if the two hospital leaders are willing to be our guides?" ”

"Comrade Commander," Rokossovsky said, the dean breathed a sigh of relief, quickly stood up, and replied politely, "It is my honor to serve you. Please let me and the commissar show you around the hospital. ”

The first thing the director showed them was a simple ward set up in an open field. From a long distance, Rokossovsky saw a long wooden house with camouflage nets on top of it, and every forty or fifty meters below, there was an entrance and exit, and he could see a steady stream of people coming in and out.

As soon as the group reached the entrance, Rokossovsky was almost smoked by the smell coming from inside, and the air was mixed with the unpleasant smell of blood, disinfectant potion, feces and urine. Rokossovsky frowned and said to the dean: "Comrade dean, the smell here is not very good. It's still summer, and if the curtains are drawn everywhere in the winter, the air will be even less circulating, and it will not be good for us to recover from the wounded. ”

"Yes, yes, Comrade Commander, you are right." The director was busy and said: "Our hospital has not been built for a long time, and the grassroots facilities are not perfect enough, and we will continue to improve." ”

Rokossovsky frowned even more when he entered the simple ward, which was divided into several spaces, each of which contained at least a hundred wounded people. The beds on which the wounded lay were one after the other, with a distance of about a foot in between, were presumably used to change dressings, give injections, or move the wounded to nurses. As long as a few wounded people lie on a hospital bed, it is the kind of bed used in the hospital, and most of the wounded lie on a stretcher on two benches.

"Comrade Dean, the treatment conditions here are really bad." Seeing this, Terekin's heart also looked extremely depressed, and he said to the dean: "If you need anything, just ask me or the commander, and we will do our best to solve it for you." ”

"Great, that's great." When the dean heard Terekin say this, he couldn't help but weep with gratitude, and said again and again: "We need too many materials, and we have applied to the logistics department several times, but because the transportation force is used to transport military supplies, weapons and ammunition, the replenishment of medicines is very slow and rare. ”

"Nonsense, it's nonsense." After hearing the dean's complaints, Rokossovsky couldn't help but lower his voice and said: "Medicine is as important as weapons and ammunition, if there is not enough medicine, we will have a lot of wounded people who will die in pain because they cannot get timely treatment." Comrade Military Commissar, when I go back, remember to remind me that I will talk to the person in charge of the logistics department and ask them to ensure that the troops are supplied with ammunition and that they must also ensure that the hospital has enough medicines. ”

"Understood, Comrade Commander." In order not to wake up the sleeping wounded, Terekin replied in a low voice.

After taking them on a tour of the simple inpatient department, the director said to Rokossovsky: "Comrade commander, this is where the lightly wounded live, and I will take you to the ward where the seriously wounded live, the environment there is better than here." ”

When Rokossovsky visited this ward, his mood was particularly heavy, and he saw that many of the wounded who were less seriously injured were missing arms and legs, and even after recovery, they could not go to the battlefield at all. He walked side by side with the dean and asked in a low voice: "Comrade dean, how many wounded are there like this?" ”

After listening to Rokossovsky's words, the dean was stunned for a moment, then understood what he was asking, and hurriedly replied: "Comrade commander, according to our incomplete statistics, at least a thousand wounded have been left with lifelong disabilities, and even if they are discharged from the hospital, they will not be able to return to the front line, and can only stay in the rear to do some relatively light work. ”

Rokossovsky's heart could not help but chuckle a little, saying that thousands of people are disabled for life, accounting for almost a quarter of the wounded in this hospital. He finally understood why the dean had such an embarrassed expression on his face when he heard Terekin say that he was going to mobilize more wounded to be discharged from the hospital early.

In the second inpatient area, although it still smells of the same bad smell, the number of wounded seems to be much smaller, at least the wounded are sleeping in real hospital beds, and there is enough space between each bed.

Just when Rokossovsky was secretly sighing in his heart, he suddenly saw a group of stretchers wearing red cross armbands, carrying a pair of stretchers covered with white cloths and walking outside. After only a few glances, he understood in his heart that these were the wounded who had died because the rescue had failed, and the stretcher bearers were preparing to carry them outside for burial.

He took off his military hat and paid a silent tribute to these fallen commanders and fighters. Terekin, Ponomarenko, the dean, the political commissar and others who were standing on the side also took off their military hats one after another, followed his example, and bowed their heads in silence to the sacrificed commanders and fighters.

After Rokossovsky put on his hat again, he walked forward and asked the dean beside him: "Comrade dean, are there many wounded who die every day?" ”

The dean thought for a moment and replied, "Usually more than a dozen wounded people die every day because of postoperative infections and other reasons. Recently, the number of wounded who have come from the front line has increased, so the number of casualties has also increased. According to statistics, more than 50 wounded died today. ”

Rokossovsky did not say anything about the director's statement, he knew in his heart that the medical staff in the hospital had done their duty, not to mention the backward medical conditions here, even in the era of penicillin and various antibiotic drugs in later generations, in large-scale wars, the mortality rate of the wounded has been maintained at a high level.

"Comrade Dean," said a captain in a white coat and a white hat who suddenly came running from the side, and reported to the dean: "Janin Nataranova has fainted on the operating table!" ”

The captain's words startled everyone, and just as Rokossovsky was still guessing who this Kanina Talanova was, he heard the dean ask: "Hell, didn't I tell you to let Comrade Carina have a good rest?" She has been working on the operating table for thirty-six hours straight, even a male military doctor can't hold on, let alone a lesbian? ”

Seeing that the captain was so reprimanded by the dean that he couldn't raise his head, Rokossovsky couldn't help but ask curiously: "Comrade dean, who is this Jianina Talanova?" ”

"Report to Comrade Commander," the director hurriedly replied, "Janin Nataranova is a barracks of the 85th Field Hospital, and she brought the wounded to us two days ago, and when she saw that the number of doctors in charge of the operation was not enough, she offered to help. Before you came, I considered that she had been working thirty-six hours straight, so I ordered the captain to give Carinna a good rest. Who knows, she still secretly got on the operating table and fainted. ”

"Strange, since she is a military doctor at the 85th Field Hospital, why is she staying here?" When Ponomarenko heard this, he couldn't help but interject and ask: "Why don't you go back to her job immediately?" ”

"Comrade Military Commissar," the dean was a little frightened of Ponomarenko, and spoke with a hint of trilling in his voice: "Comrade Carina is not hanging around, but the leader of the 85th Field Hospital, giving her a three-day vacation and letting her have a good rest. As soon as she came to us, she took the initiative to give up her vacation and offered to help us operate on the wounded. ”

"Comrade Dean, don't say anything." Rokossovsky put his hand on the dean's shoulder and said kindly: "Take us to see this amazing female military doctor." ”

The dean agreed, and then glared at the captain: "What are you still doing here, why don't you hurry up and lead the way in front." ”

The captain led everyone to a two-story building, pointed with his hand, and said, "Comrade Carinna lives in the second room on the left. ”

"Alright, there's nothing for you here." The dean waved at the captain and said impatiently, "I'll take the commander and them in." ”

After the captain walked away, the dean turned to Rokossovsky and said: "Comrade commander, this is a place for the paramedics to rest, let's go in." ”

"Wait a minute," Terekin suddenly stopped everyone, and then said, "There are so many of us going in, we will make noise to the medical staff resting inside." I don't think it's better to let the commander and Comrade Dean go in and have a look, you don't have any opinions, right? ”

"I have no opinion." Ponomarenko hurriedly nodded in agreement with Terekin's proposal.

Seeing that the two front army leaders agreed, the political commissar of the hospital had no choice but to nod his head in agreement.

The dean led Rokossovsky into the small building and came to the door of the second room on the left. Seeing that the dean raised his hand and wanted to knock on the door, Rokossovsky hurriedly stopped him: "Comrade dean, be quiet, don't wake up other medical staff." ”

The dean nodded and gently pushed the door open with his hand. Rokossovsky saw that the room was not large, with two beds on the left and right, and a writing desk by the window. On the bed on the right lies a young woman in a white lab coat with her eyes closed, which should be the Canenna that the dean just mentioned, and a young female hygienist is sitting next to the bed, wiping the sweat from her forehead with a towel.

Hearing someone push the door in, the hygienist instinctively turned her head, and when she saw that it was the dean and a high-ranking officer walking in, she quickly got up from her seat and raised her hand in salute.

After returning the salute, the dean asked in a low voice, "How is the situation with Jianina Talanova?" ”

"Report to Comrade Dean," the female hygienist spoke, her eyes kept on Rokossovsky behind him, "Comrade Kanina Talanova is still in a coma, but I have taken her blood pressure, everything is normal, but she is too tired to pass out." As long as you get a good night's sleep, you can get back to normal. ”

"I see." After listening to this, the dean nodded to the female hygienist, and then said: "I just heard that Jianina Talanova fainted on the operating table, so I accompanied the commander to have a look." ”

"I see." After listening to this, the dean nodded to the female hygienist, and then said: "I just heard that Jianina Talanova fainted on the operating table, so I accompanied the commander to have a look." ”