I was a tycoon in World War I: Starting to save France

Chapter 29 The Power of Money

Fortunately, France won and Charles's battle plan was successful. The Fifth Army penetrated the weak flank of the German army through the Marne Bridge, causing the German First Army to collapse completely before reinforcements arrived.

Unfortunately, Matthew was injured, which Major Browne told Charles.

"Matthew was very brave!" said Major Browne. "He drove the tank along the small road to bypass the enemy's defense line and rushed into the German headquarters. This was the first domino that caused the Germans to retreat, and the victory was expanded from then on!"

"Is he seriously injured?" Charles asked anxiously.

Ciel cared more about this than winning.

"I'm not sure!" Major Browne replied, "I only heard that his right leg was injured. The bullet penetrated the steel plate from the side and hit his right leg that was stepping on the accelerator. Before I knew the details, he had been sent to the field hospital!"

"Where is the field hospital?" Charles asked again, feeling a chill on his face.

"Two kilometers in the direction of Thierry!" Major Browne replied, "All the wounded of the 5th Army are being sent there!"

Djoka was already walking towards his Ford, and he turned back slightly and waved to Charles: "Come on, let's go over there!"

……

A field hospital is actually a tent set up on the grass that can shield the wounded from wind and rain.

But the tents were far from enough to accommodate the wounded. They were randomly placed on the ground waiting for doctors' treatment. Some were shot in the abdomen, some had their limbs blown off, and some were unconscious with bandages on their heads.

They were divided into several areas: the lightly injured area, the seriously injured area, and the area where they could not be treated.

There was no one to look after the incurable area, and they were a group of abandoned wounded soldiers who could only wait to die there. The seriously injured area was right next to it, so that some of them could be transferred to the incurable area more easily.

Screams and wails were heard one after another. The air was filled with the smell of carbolic acid, pus and blood. Flies were buzzing everywhere. Occasionally, a few nurses would come out of the tent carrying wooden buckets filled with broken limbs. The nurses would skillfully pour them into a pit not far away.

Charles' stomach churned and he almost vomited, but the nurse had a calm expression and numb eyes, as if she had already gotten used to it.

Deyoka asked several people before he found Matthew's location. It was a single tent with a simple wooden bed inside. Matthew was lying on it, covered with a bloodstained quilt. Joseph was sitting at the head of the bed with his head hung down, wanting to cry but without tears.

Matthew's face was pale, with a few traces of blood on it. His originally flowing hair was tangled with blood clots.

As soon as Matthew saw Charles, he forced a smile and pretended nothing had happened, saying, "Hey, Charles, great plan, it helped us...win this...war!"

His voice was a little weak, and he was even shaking uncontrollably at the end. Charles knew that he was enduring the pain.

Charles ignored him and walked towards Joseph: "What's the situation?"

Joseph looked a little panicked: "It's nothing serious, the doctor said I need to rest for a while!"

However, both Djokovic and Charr could see that this was not the case.

Joseph took Charles and Deyoka outside the tent and told them the truth: "They amputated him. His right leg is gone!"

"What?" Charles looked at Joseph in surprise: "He was just delivered not long ago..."

"They have to make a judgment and complete the operation as quickly as possible!" Joseph replied.

Charles understood that this was because there were too many wounded to handle, and the doctors had to race against time to treat the injuries, even if some of them did not require amputation.

It is not difficult to imagine that if a doctor spends too much time on a major operation for a wounded person, it may lead to more wounded people dying due to lack of treatment. In order to avoid this situation, doctors will choose amputation for any serious injuries.

(Note: During World War I, 50 out of every 2 wounded soldiers underwent amputation, and many of these amputations were unnecessary)
Ciel couldn't blame the field doctors; they had their reasons, and they were legitimate.

But he also felt like there was a pressure in his heart that he couldn't get out.

Charles returned to the tent, lifted a corner of the quilt, and was surprised to find that Matthew's broken leg was tied with an old bandage that was still stained with blood.

Charles could no longer hold back. He stumbled out of the tent and shouted in a questioning tone: "Doctor, where is the doctor?"

A doctor in a white coat and a mask hurried out of a tent more than ten feet away. He half-raised his bloody hands and asked in a tired but calm voice: "What happened? Does anyone need emergency treatment?"

Charles ran to him angrily, pointed in the direction of Matthew's tent and said, "The patient lying there is a combat hero. He drove a tank into the enemy's headquarters and won the victory for France. But you used an old bandage on him. Do you want to kill him? Is this how you treat a hero?"

The man in the white coat glanced at Charles calmly and replied, "Everyone here is a hero, including us! If you have any dissatisfaction, go and yell at those capitalists. They don't give us enough medicine and equipment, and they don't have enough manpower. There is a lack of everything here. What can we do?"

Charles was stunned.

The people in white coats are right, this is none of their business, it is the capitalists who commit these crimes in order to save money.

Field hospitals are an unprofitable or, more precisely, money-losing industry.

It is almost useless when there is no war, but when a war breaks out, its demand instantly increases thousands or tens of thousands of times.

It is impossible for capitalists to spend huge amounts of money to maintain the scale of field hospitals in normal times. Their existence is only to give French soldiers a little psychological comfort so as to push them onto the battlefield!

However, these are human beings, living beings, warriors who sacrifice themselves to defend France!
Charles was so angry that his face turned pale. He said, "It's all my fault. Tell me what you need and I will provide you with funds!"

The man in the white coat chuckled and turned away, complaining to the nurse beside him as he walked: "Who is this kid? He actually thought he could afford the expenses of a field hospital. He doesn't know that there are at least tens of thousands of wounded here..."

The nurse slowed down her pace. "Doctor Hebrew, I know him. He is Master Charles. He is the one who invented the tank and saved France. I think he can afford the expenses here!"

The man in the white coat suddenly stopped walking, was stunned for a moment, turned around and ran back to Charles who looked puzzled, and said with a trembling tone: "You... are you telling the truth? Charles... Master, will you provide us with funds?"

"Of course!" Charles nodded.

"Great!" The man in the white coat wanted to step forward and shake hands with Charles, but suddenly found his hands were covered in blood and quickly pulled back.

"I thank you on behalf of the wounded, Master Charles!" The man in the white coat said incoherently, "You saved their lives. You are a good man, Master Charles!"

"Including Matthew!" Charles emphasized: "I hope Matthew is well taken care of!"

"Of course!" the white coat replied, "I'll go check on him right away!"

After that, he led the nurse to Matthew's tent...

This is the power of money.

Although doing so would be unfair to other wounded soldiers, Charles no longer cared about that at this moment!

(End of this chapter)