Life of Being a Crown Prince in France-Chapter 556 - 467: The Strongest Battlefield Hospital in the European Continent (Seeking Monthly Pass at Month-End)

Seeing that the other party, having arrived a few minutes early, was completely unwilling to give ground, Felinc said helplessly:

"Major, if you are willing to give up your chance of hospital admission to me, I can pay you 500 florins."

"No, I don’t want your money."

"800 florins."

"No good..."

Felinc gritted his teeth, limping along with Heidewig, they moved a few steps to the side and lowered his voice:

"I can give you three pieces of ’square armor’ in exchange for a chance of hospital admission."

"Square armor?!" The latter’s eyes suddenly lit up. He knew that was the French Army’s latest mystery "armor," capable of blocking bullets and saving lives at critical moments!

Felinc nodded, "Brand new."

Heidewig was somewhat tempted. The French Army kept the "square armor" under strict secrecy; even with money, it couldn’t be bought. The small number that appeared in the Austrian army were mostly stolen by soldiers from the bodies of fallen French people.

Seeing him hesitate, Felinc had no choice but to continue raising the bid with a pained expression:

"Four pieces, that’s all I have left."

"Deal." Heidewig finally couldn’t hold back.

He had seen "square armor," and four pieces could almost protect the entire chest area. His own injury should be able to hold on for a few more days, and if he kept waiting here at the French Army battlefield hospital for an available bed, he would probably make it in time. Having those pieces of "square armor" was like having an extra life; the trade was worth it.

Felinc then gestured for him to get on the vehicle, and took out a thick cloth package from the box, whispering:

"You’ll have to be careful, don’t let the French Army see it." Explore stories on novelbuddy

According to the French Army’s requirements, anyone who got these had to return them, or the French would not hesitate to get rough to take them back.

Heidewig opened the cloth package and indeed saw the square-shaped, metallic gleam of the items inside, which were bulletproof inserts equipped by the infantry of the Guard Corps.

He carefully inspected each piece, confirmed all four were intact, joyfully repacked them, and for a moment even forgot the pain of his injury:

"You can be admitted now, I wish you a speedy recovery."

Felinc nodded with a pained expression and turned to get off the vehicle.

You should know, these "square armors" could be sold for 500 florins each within the Austrian army, yet there was no market for them. Reportedly, Marshal Lacy had personally gone to General Kellermann of France to request one but had not been able to obtain even a single piece.

He cleared Perna out of the way and said to the disinfection officer behind her: "We have agreed, let me be admitted, Doctor."

However, the latter stepped back with a peculiar expression, then bowed to Perna and said: "What do you think about this..."

Perna sighed softly. Women’s status was low in this era, and she was long accustomed to such treatment. She turned to Felinc and said: "Please lie down over there, I need to check your wounds and then disinfect them."

Because of the scarcity of beds in the battlefield hospital, injured foreigners had to be confirmed as needing treatment before being admitted.

Felinc looked at her in surprise and said to the disinfection officer, "Your washerwomen can tend to wounds too?"

"Cough—" The latter could no longer keep his composure, said with an unpleasant tone, "Mind your words, this is our head, Doctor Perna!"

"Ah? She’s a military doctor?" Felinc’s eyes widened in disbelief, "And she’s in charge?!"

The disinfectant operator gestured behind him, "This war hospital was established by Doctor Perna. She also serves as His Royal Highness the Crown Prince’s Imperial Physician."

Perna’s cheeks turned slightly red— the truth was that the Crown Prince had another Imperial Physician, and she was merely sticking close to him under the excuse of routine examinations.

"This, this is..." Felinc quickly took off his hat and bowed in respect, "Please forgive my rudeness, esteemed doctor."

All the way into the field hospital, he was still anxious. What if they took his injury lightly as revenge for offending the person in charge?

He hurriedly whispered to his attendant, "Go prepare a generous gift of 500 florins. I hope this will appease the lady doctor’s anger."

Foll𝑜w current novℯls on ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm.

Soon after, he discovered that the hospital was full of female medical staff wearing white uniforms and swallowtail-shaped hats.

Before long, a girl of about eighteen or nineteen, with a pair of beautiful large eyes, came to his bedside and smiled, "You’re not French, are you? Do you understand French?"

"Yes, I do speak French."

"Oh, that’s wonderful," the girl said. "My name is Anais, and I will be in charge of your nursing care. Now, I need to take your temperature."

"Nurse?" Felinc repeated the word in surprise.

"You can think of me as the person who helps take care of you on behalf of the doctor," Anais said with a sweet smile, "Now, please open your mouth and be sure not to bite the thermometer."

Felinc watched her walk away, his mind filled with the lively brightness of her eyes and the grace of her waist.

Ten days later.

After careful treatment at the French Army’s field hospital, Felinc’s wound had not become infected and had begun to scab over.

In fact, the treatment wasn’t much—just regularly disinfecting the wound and taking something called "the Crown Prince’s Blessing." But for the soldiers of this era, such care was extremely rare.

Doctors from other nations often wrapped wounds with unsterilized bandages—possibly just removed from someone who had died of infection—leading to further wound infections.

Infections from clothing, bedding, and even water were equally common. Essentially, aside from the incredibly hardy soldiers, even a minor wound could lead to death from infection.

However, in Perna’s field hospital, they strictly adhered to all the procedures His Royal Highness the Crown Prince had emphasized—bedding, clothing, and bandages were regularly boiled and sterilized, medical instruments were soaked in 75% alcohol, environment disinfection with alcohol occurred daily, and they washed wounds and drank only cooled boiled water...

As long as no vital organs were injured, more than 70% of the soldiers could recover their health, while in other nations, the recovery rate was less than 20%.

With the introduction of the Crown Prince’s improved haemostatic clamps and fishhook-shaped suturing needles into surgeries by Perna, the recovery rate was climbing towards 80%.

The high recovery rate led the soldiers to be bolder and more intrepid—everyone believed that a minor wound meant just a few days in the field hospital before being all right. This directly enhanced the combat power of the Guard Corps.

Additionally, every so often, the field hospital featured singing and dancing performances by the nursemaids.

More than half of these nurses had worked in "service industry" jobs before joining the Guard Corps; after all, most women of this era were reluctant to enter the medical profession, so Perna had to select candidates from among the "fallen" women.

Consequently, many of these girls possessed some talents—skills trained in their previous workplaces.

For the soldiers, being wounded and entering the war hospital was almost a reward.

In a secluded corner of the hospital grounds, Anais sat on Felinc’s lap with her arms around his neck, whispering softly and occasionally letting out a delicate laugh.

Suddenly, a French Lieutenant with his left arm in a sling, burst out from behind a nearby tent, pointing at the Austrian and shouting angrily with his right hand, "You bastard, let go of Anais!"