The border between Nitsa and the land controlled by Xu Xiaomeng is defined by the actions of the late Sui Emperor, who had to spend ten years campaigning away from the capital of the Sui Dynasty, Longjing, in an extensive intrusion into the territories of Nitsa, until he had reached Chuhe, a massive inland lake, with it’s water sourced directly from the Tianshan mountains, while itself surrounded completely by mountains.

There, he had defeated an army of four hundred thousand and formally established terms of peace, properly defining the borders between the two nations.

Naturally, the peace was ended abruptly when the Sui Dynasty was replaced by the Yao, and the North was occupied by Xu Xiaomeng.

Within a rather crowded field hospital, a rather young looking man, appearing slightly smaller, laid on a makeshift bed. Though his face appeared rather tired, his eyes seemed incredibly resolute, indicating that he did not wish to remain idle.

Surrounding him were two nurses, dressed in grey, except for their green bag, which contained much of their medical equipment, though it was empty at the current moment.

He appeared to be rather terrible conditions, his body appeared red and shivering, though the man was unconscious to it. One of the nurses in grey then began to tend to his condition, while the other began to light a modest fire in the centre of the rather crowded cave to maintain both his and the other soldier’s temperature.

Fortunately, it appeared to be rather successful, and the man stopped shivering after some time.

A female medic took off his boots and socks, revealing a perfectly fine foot, to the nurse’s surprise. After a period of observation, the nurse gave off a sigh and motioned the other nurse to place down her knife.

The knife itself is incredibly simple and appeared little different from a kitchen knife that one would use to chop pork, though some features had been changed to ensure it would be less painful.

The nurse, after placing her knife into the bag, then took off the red-brown uniform of the young man, revealing a wound.

The nurse took the wine and herbs, mixing the two together, before instructing the man to drink the concoction.

The soldier obeyed and soon become unconscious, his determined eyes becoming obscured by his eyelids.

After checking a few times, the other nurse took out a much smaller knife and handed it to the woman doing the operation.

With incredibly steady hands, the nurse used the knife to retrieve the shrapnel before pouring it with alcohol. She then covered him in a thick blanket, leaving the person to heal, although it also caused the soldier to seem rather warm.

The nurses then picked up their equipment and carried it to the next makeshift bed.

As the two nurses arrived at the next patient, they similarly removed the soldier’s boots. Though the condition of the foot was much poorer than the previous, it was still not necessary for amputation.

Thus, the nurse once more signalled her partners to place down the knife, and simply rubbed a mixture of the alcohol on the soldier’s foot.

Though the foot looked rather hideous, the nurse showed no hesitation as her rough hands touched the wrinkled foot. Once more, the clothes were removed and the man covered in a thick blanket. Afterwards, they continued onto the next soldier, once more repeating the process.

After some time passed, the nurse used her grey sleeves to wipe the sweat on her brow, before placing her equipment onto a large basin.

“It appears that there was little fighting recently, considering that the majority of the patients in the past few weeks were primarily due to disease,” the younger of the two nurses said.

The older nurse remained silent and began to clean the equipment they were using.

The younger nurse, feeling slightly offended, gave off a sound of dissatisfaction, before beginning to clean her own equipment.

“From what the soldiers have said, the Northerners are increasing the number of troops crossing the frozen waters of Chuhe, though fortunately, they have been recently repelled,” the younger nurse once again spoke.

The older nurse remained silent.

“Chuhe is frozen for five months of the year and is completely surrounded by mountains, while our garrison South of the lake numbers more than one hundred thousand, do they truly think that with their meagre fifty thousand, they will be able to invade our homeland,” the younger nursed continued, yet the older nurse remained silent.

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“If they continue crossing Chuhe, who knows when the ice will shatter and their whole army drowns,” the younger nurse jokes.

“Artillery batters the lake constantly, yet the river remains stable, do you truly think that the lake will ever collapse,” the older nurse finally spoke, but it was in a rather soft manner.

“It’s a joke,” the younger nurse replied, realising that the patients were asleep, her voice too turned soft.

The older nurse returned to silence.

After some time, she placed her equipment back into the green bag, yet a frown appeared as she noticed the younger nurse had yet to finish cleaning.

“There have been rumours that the Northerners are planning to increase the number of soldiers,” the younger nurse said, increase the speed in which she was cleaning the equipment.

“Though even then, they will not be able to defeat our soldiers, have you where the soldiers are hiding,” the younger nurse asked.

The older nurse opened her mouth to answer, but the younger nurse did not stop.

“The soldiers are living in interconnected trenches or along with caves dug within the mountains, the Northerners will never see them, furthermore, our tunnels are so small, the Northerners with their massive bodies will never be able to enter them,” the younger nurse said.

“It’s just slightly annoying that the soldiers keep getting sick, causing us to be always busy,” the younger nurse said.

“However, I, Hu Bingqing will not send away any patients,” Hu Bingqing said, her face appearing determined, despite her youthful features.

The older nurse could not help but give off a slight chuckle, before saying in a rather cool, yet soft tone.

“Then I, Hu Qingyuan, too will never send away any patients,” Hu Qingyuan said, before continuing to help her younger sister clean up the medical equipment.

Within a tunnel, a group of people could be seen staring at one of their comrades with rather nervous glaze.

“General Hu Caochang, what did the scout’s report say?” one of the soldiers asked.

Hu Chaochang held within his hands a rather thick stack of paper, detailing the numerous sightings of enemy soldiers made by their scouts.

“There seem to be more people arriving,” Hu Chaochang said, his hands slightly shivering, perhaps from the cold, or perhaps due to fear.

“How much do you see?” another soldier asked.

“There were too many, so the scouts can only guess,” Hui Chaochang said, pausing a moment before continuing,” From their estimates added up, it could be assumed that a total of around one hundred and fifty thousand has arrived, adding to their already large number of fifty thousand, twice our current numbers.”

Hu Chaochang did not speak any further and began to write a report on a piece of paper, before handing it to a rather small looking soldier.

“Hand this to defence minister Liu One, take the fastest horse so that you will arrive in five days,” Hu Chaochang instructed, his hands once more steady.

The small looking soldier appeared to be rather experienced with this sort of task, and swiftly left the trench, and soon climbed upon a horse.

Hu Chaochang remained still for some time afterwards, before leaving this section of the trench network, heading inward away from the frontline.

The trench networks run across the entirety of Chuhe Lake. Built several years ago on the orders of Li Ming when she had first consolidated the Northern Regions, even before she had occupied Huxi, it demonstrated her rather excellent foresight.

The trench system was well fortified, wooden beams supported the structure when there was dirt, though most of the trench was dug within the stone foundations of the mountains, while sandbags protected the soldiers. Occasionally, concrete fortifications could be seen, used to protect the soldiers during a possible artillery bombardment.

The trench itself was built on high ground, causing the enemy troops to not only expose themselves but also allow for minimal flooding.

Occasionally, kitchens and toilets could be seen and were incredibly well maintained, as a result of the extensive planning detailed by Li Ming.

All trenches were built in a zigzag manner, while support trenches were connected to the main firing trench through communication trenches, which was responsible for all logistical matters.

Li Ming, when constructing this, had clearly used foresight from her previous world’s conflicts, leaving the enemy incredibly disadvantaged. However, the conditions were still extremely hostile, considering the extremely cold weather of the Northern Regions, particularly in winter, causing frostbite to be rampant, though the sanitary conditions has caused disease and lice to be non-existent.

Due to the massive system of fortification Li Ming ordered to be constructed, little fighting has taken place, primarily in minor skirmishes and artillery bombardment launched by the Nitsa forces, though they had been met largely with failure.

Regardless, Hu Caochang eventually reached the field hospital portions of the system of trenches.

Upon entering, he noticed Hu Bingqing and Hu Qingyuan and quickly walked toward the two, carrying a rather warm expression, he rolled up his sleeves, before helping the two clean their medical equipment.

Hu Qingyuan gave him a quick glance, though a hint of a smile could still be seen, while Hu Bingqing appeared rather excited, carrying a mischievous smile.

“Brother is the rumour true that Nitsa will reinforce their soldiers?” Hu Bingqing asked while placing the knife within her hands into Hu Caochang, indicating for him to completely take over her duties.

“Indeed, from the report, I had just received, the enemy will have a grand force of two hundred thousand afterwards, so you should be much more serious when treating the wounded,” Hu Caochang said as he placed the knife within the basin.

His actions appeared incredibly proficient, and soon, the knife was sterilised. After some time, he suddenly recalled a matter.

“Where are all the captured prisoners, when I visited two days ago, the room was filled with female soldiers,” he questioned.

“They have recovered from their wounds and have been sent to Bingjiang to be educated,” Hu Qingyuan replied.

“The conditions were far worse than those of our soldiers, many of them had to have their fingers and feet amputated,” Hu Bingqing narrated.

“Though there were only girls, they were really fearless, one of them even rejected anesthetics when she was being treated,” Hu Bingqing said.

“It’s likely that they have never seen anesthetics in their life, resulting in their distrust,” Hu Caochang said, placing another knife within the basin.

“Why is that so? From what you have told me, anesthetics have been invented in the Far East, and have spread to Nitsa,” Hu Bingqing said.

Hu Caochang shook his head, indicating his lack of knowledge, before continuing to help his two sisters.

“Brother, do you not have any affairs at the current moment?” Hu Qingyuan asked, her voice containing a hint of suspicion.

“At the current moment, the enemy is still gathering their forces, so I can still take some time with the two of you,” Hu Caochang said.

“When the battle starts, I will seldom get any time away from the frontline, so I will likely not see the two of you for many weeks, or perhaps even months,” Hu Caochang reminisced, before sterilising the modified kitchen knife, before placing it within the green bag, which appeared incredibly full.

Giving off a soft smile, he bade farewell to his two sisters, before once more navigating through the complicated system of trenches.