Wind Rises in North America 1625

Chapter 42 A Miraculous Operation
"Oh, God, help me! ... I can't lose my legs!"

José Andrés Guardado lay in agony on a makeshift stretcher made of branches and wooden strips, wailing all the way as he was carried from outside to the infirmary in the camp.

On the afternoon of May 5, he and several companions were cutting trees in the forest when he was distracted for a moment. He failed to dodge and was hit on the calf by the end of a tall and sturdy fir tree that fell.

When his companions moved the fir tree with great effort, they saw that his left calf had been smashed into a bloody mess.

After nervously cleaning the wound, they discovered that his calf was fractured and severely deformed. They immediately carried him back to the camp in a panic.

There was a Chinese doctor in Shixing Fort who was highly skilled in medicine and could cure almost any disease.

He can quickly treat daily illnesses such as headaches, fever, colds, diarrhea, vomiting, etc.

He was also able to magically make the various herbs he brought back from Mexico work as they should.

What is even more amazing is that he can easily correct a dislocated joint with his bare hands without using any tools.

He also formulated the hygiene and epidemic prevention regulations for the entire camp. Under his strict requirements, everyone had to abandon all unhealthy and unhygienic habits.

Do not urinate or defecate anywhere, do not spit anywhere, do not consume raw food or raw water at will, do not touch wild animals at will, pay attention to personal hygiene, and wash your hands before and after meals...

The Spaniards never imagined that a person would have to accept so many taboos and restrictions in his daily life.

Even the nobles in Europe are not as particular as we are!

At first, all Spaniards were not used to this.

How could a lifestyle that has been followed for hundreds and thousands of years be changed immediately at the request of the Chinese people?
But when they were captured last year, everyone was in a panic, worried that they would kill innocent people, and naturally did not dare to disobey the various orders and requests given.

Later, they gradually discovered that the Chinese were not barbaric and brutal primitive tribal natives, but were very civilized. They did not make things too difficult for them, but simply drove them to work.

The sailors' casual nature also became apparent, and they pretended to obey some of the Chinese people's "ridiculous" requests and tried to avoid them whenever possible.

For example, if you want to pee or poop, can't you just find a secluded corner?

Why do you have to walk such a distance and squat in that smelly dry toilet for a while?

For example, when you wake up in the morning, is it really necessary to wash your face, brush your teeth, and take care of your personal hygiene?

All you have to do is rub your eyes, grab whatever you can eat and stuff it into your mouth to fill your stomach quickly so you can get back to work.

Oh, by the way, the Chinese require everyone to wash their hands before eating, and only after cleaning can they sit at the table to eat.

As for taking frequent baths, getting frequent haircuts, shaving, and changing clothes, it is simply too "perverted"!

You know, during this period, even those dignified and beautiful European royal aristocratic ladies were not so extremely "clean-loving".

Perhaps knowing that these sailors, who were used to being free and undisciplined, did not comply with various hygiene requirements, the Chinese adopted a simple and rough approach to force them to correct their behavior.

Whenever they find anyone violating the rules, they would yell at them or beat them with sticks to force everyone to comply with hygiene requirements.

It's true, after a few months of getting along, although some individuals will still subconsciously bring out their old bad habits, the vast majority of Spaniards have been able to adapt to the Chinese people's strict cleaning regulations.

After all, the "21-day rule" still has the desired effect. By repeating a behavior over a long period of time, a good habit will naturally be formed slowly.

However, this good habit seems to have brought them good results, that is, the common vomiting, diarrhea, gastrointestinal discomfort, and common oral and skin diseases rarely occur again.

Even the thing down there rarely feels itchy anymore.

The Chinese people seem to be really amazing.

Of course, the skilled doctor was not respected by everyone because he formulated health and epidemic prevention regulations and brought everyone a clean and healthy living environment.

He can really cure diseases.

Unlike those mediocre doctors in Europe who can only do enemas, draw blood, or simply amputate the damaged parts.

He can always use the most appropriate method to relieve your symptoms until you are finally cured.

Now, poor Jose's leg was broken by the tree, and he was wailing in pain, which made people feel sympathy. This made everyone pin their hopes on this skilled Chinese doctor, hoping that he could save him.

"It seems to be... a traumatic fracture!" After carefully examining Jose's injured leg, military doctor Dong Xinping's expression became solemn.

"Then...does it need to have its legs amputated?" Harvey could already understand some simple Chinese, but he still didn't quite understand what terms like "traumatic fracture" meant. However, when he saw Dong Xinping's serious expression, he knew that the situation didn't seem good, and he couldn't help but look at Jose with sympathy.

"Saw off the leg?" Dong Xinping was stunned. "There's no need for amputation in this situation! We can just reconnect the bones. It's just a minor operation."

"Connect the bones?" Everyone looked at the doctor in surprise when they heard this.

If a bone in the body is broken, can it be reattached? Shouldn't the leg be amputated?

In Europe, having a broken hand or leg, or being injured and bleeding is a terrible thing.

If it's just a minor wound, it's no big deal. Just stuff it with some cotton gauze or silk cloth.

But if the injury is serious and there is a lot of bleeding, then it will definitely be a big problem.

Because, at that time, there was no effective means to stop bleeding. If the injured were allowed to bleed, it would result in death. Therefore, European doctors invented a cruel method, which was amputation.

Generally speaking, the injured part is directly sawed off, and then a red-hot iron is used to burn the cut part to stop the bleeding.

Bleeding does not necessarily mean death, but few strong men can withstand this operation.

Even if they can get through it, how many people can survive with such wounds?

What's outrageous is that this technology became popular in Europe, initially only in France, but later amputation surgery was carried out on a large scale throughout Europe.

When doctors perform amputation surgery, they must be ruthless, accurate, and quick, and the speed must be swift to avoid causing prolonged pain to the patient.

According to records, the fastest amputation record is 28 seconds!
It’s amazing. 28 seconds is not enough to saw wood. How can we ensure that every doctor can saw accurately?
At that time, soldiers on the battlefield were not afraid of dying at the hands of the enemy, but were afraid of dying at the hands of a doctor instead of on the battlefield.

Oh, by the way, at this time, European doctors also had a horrific method of treating broken hands, which was to pierce the head.

That is, when a patient has a splitting headache, the doctor thinks that opening a hole in the headache will relieve the pain.

In fact, this type of headache is classified as high intracranial pressure in modern medicine. Opening a hole can indeed change the pressure difference between the inside and outside and solve the problem of headache.

What if the headache is not caused by excessive intracranial pressure?
That doesn't matter. The pain from the hole in the head will definitely outweigh the original headache.

In addition, in the Western belief system, babies are closest to God, so they yearn to be like babies.

By making a hole in the head, a person can be rejuvenated, receive enlightenment, and achieve the ability to communicate with God, and then knowledge will be injected into the head.

From today's perspective, it was simply an outrageous mother opening the door to something outrageous, which was extremely outrageous. However, in Europe at this time, people were still keen on things that allowed their imaginations to run wild.

Later, this surgery expanded into many new businesses, not only treating headaches, but also treating brain diseases such as schizophrenia. As long as it was a head-related disease, they would make a hole without hesitation, truly achieving the goal of treating the symptoms rather than the cause.

Now, poor Jose's left calf was broken by a big tree, and the situation looked quite serious, so everyone thought that the doctor would definitely have to saw off the calf.

They just hope that the doctor can use his superb skills to minimize Jose's pain when sawing off his leg.

But what no one expected was that this Chinese doctor actually said that he could reconnect the broken bones and save Jose's leg.

This is so surprising!

The reason why Dong Xinping looked solemn after examining Jose's injured calf was not because he was worried that he would not be able to perform the operation.

He was just hesitating whether to inject him with precious anesthetic so that the operation could be completed smoothly.

With the current level of development in Shixing Fort, it is unlikely that modern anesthetics will be synthesized and manufactured for at least ten years.

Therefore, the dozen or so existing anesthetics are naturally extremely precious, and are prepared for performing surgery on a time traveler who has suffered a serious injury in the future.

That's right, in his opinion, ordinary injuries do not require the use of anesthetics at all, and only severe injuries can be used.

So, should anesthetics be used to treat this Spaniard who suffered a traumatic fracture of his lower leg?

"First, tie him to the bed and stuff a piece of cork in his mouth. Then, you guys help me hold him down!" After thinking it over again and again, Dong Xinping gritted his teeth and decided not to inject him with anesthetic.

After all, he is not one of us.

During this period, since European doctors could perform amputation surgery without any anesthesia, we could also complete bone setting surgery without anesthesia.

Besides, I have all kinds of modern surgical instruments and several hemostatic forceps, so I can definitely cure the patient.

The world's first pioneering bone-setting surgery without anesthesia was performed in the simple clinic in Shixing Fort.

Although the patient's leg fracture was successfully reconnected after two hours of surgery, his miserable and intermittent screams resounded throughout the camp, shocking everyone who heard them.

In the following days, with Dong Xinping's careful care, the patient miraculously survived the dangerous postoperative infection period, the wound began to heal gradually, and he was able to eat some liquid food in small sips.

He then announced that Jose would be able to walk again after two or three months of recuperation.

The Chinese once again created a miracle in front of the Spaniards and Indians.

(End of this chapter)