Struggle in Russia

The most terrifying thing after the war had actually just begun. Because the British and French coalition forces were completely unprepared to receive the wounded, the treatment and reception of the wounded turned into an out-and-out nightmare!

Because the British army could not transport the wounded from the battlefield, those who could still walk had to retreat north on foot. The British army set up a temporary dressing station on the banks of the Burganac River, ten kilometers north of the Alma River, and a large number of wounded soldiers were transported there. Crowded inside, waiting for a handful of doctors and nurses to dress their wounds.

It's just that these are the lucky ones, because they can move quickly and can at least walk to the bandaging station. More wounded soldiers were scattered on the road between the Alma and Burganak rivers, some staggering forward, and some simply lying on the roadside waiting to die.

Hundreds of wounded soldiers were left behind by the British army. They cried, groaned, and made various movements for help, begging the passing grain transport team to take them away. But the caravan of the grain transport team was already overcrowded, and all the vehicles were overloaded.

The convoy could only tell the injured that they would return as soon as possible, but everyone knew that even if the food convoy could return, many wounded soldiers would not be able to make it by that time.

Because many people are either missing arms or legs, or have their stomachs shot through, and some even have their chins cut off and half of their tongues exposed.

Seeing that it was impossible to ask for a ride, the wounded soldiers tried their best to beg for water, but where could they get water at this time?

In the end, these poor people could only try to quench their thirst by getting some water from roadside ditches and gutters. As we all know, that water is full of bacteria. The only result is that their wounds will worsen and die more quickly!

According to the final statistics of the British army, there were about 700 or 800 wounded soldiers who could not be transported away at all. They were abandoned directly on the battlefield. They wailed miserably on the battlefield all night until the Russian army finished dealing with their wounded soldiers the next day. They were sent to the hospital in Sevastopol for treatment.

And this is not the worst part. According to the observations of reporters accompanying the British army, it was found that three days after the battle ended, there were still a large number of British soldiers who had not received effective treatment:

Many people were piled together for easy transportation; some people covered their wounds and stared at you from behind the trees, as viciously as beasts; others wailed at us, most of them begging for a drink of water or asking for food. Doctors, they held out their severed or beaten limbs to us, or pointed out gunshot wounds. Their faces were gloomy and filled with anger, and they spewed out endless fanaticism and hatred.

Compared with the British army, the performance of the Russian army is not particularly good, but it is at least passing. Under Li Xiao's suggestion, as well as Kornilov and Nakhimov's observations in the previous Battle of Ineada, timely and rapid medical treatment played a huge role in maintaining morale.

So they set up stretcher teams, casualty transport teams and field hospitals before the war. The vast majority of Russian wounded soldiers were evacuated immediately, although the level of Russian military doctors and medicine were not enough to ensure that everyone could survive.

But for soldiers who are still fighting on the battlefield, seeing their comrades lying bloody and wailing in pain and watching them being taken to the hospital for treatment are two completely different emotions.

The morale of the Russian army has been maintained quite well, and the soldiers are very satisfied with it. Many of them are not afraid of fighting or getting injured because they believe that even if they are really injured, they will be well taken care of.

Not only was the Russian army's official medical treatment better than that of the Allied forces, but Russian civilians also did an impressive job in rescuing the wounded. The most famous one is known as the Russian version of Nightingale's story.

The protagonist of the story is Darya Mikhailova. She comes from a humble background and is the daughter of a sailor of the Black Sea Fleet. She had just turned eighteen a few months ago when she received a piece of bad news - her father was killed in the Battle of Sinop. Having lost the support of her family, she could only live as a laundry worker in the Black Sea Fleet.

When the Battle of the Alma broke out, Daria sold the meager property her father left her to a Jewish merchant, then bought an old horse and a carriage, and then Daria cut her hair Chang put on his father's sailor uniform and went to the front line with the Russian army's wounded transport team.

In the Alma River, Daria helped transport the wounded, distributed water, food and wine to the wounded, disinfected the wounds with vinegar, and even tore off her own clothes to bandage them.

Although the Russian soldiers saw that she was disguised as a man, they were all moved by her noble and selfless character.

Daria first served wounded soldiers at a medical station on the banks of the Alma River, and later worked as a nurse in a hospital when the coalition forces besieged and attacked Sevastopol.

Later, the story of the "Heroine of Sevastopol" spread. She not only became a symbol of the patriotism of ordinary Russians, but also represented the "sacrificial spirit" of Russian women that was repeatedly romanticized by poets such as Pushkin.

Because they didn't know Darya's surname, the wounded soldiers in Sevastopol affectionately called her Dasha Sevastopolskaya, and this name became Darya's famous name in history.

In December 1854, Darya was awarded the "Golden Medal of Zeal" by Nicholas I, becoming the only Russian woman in Russian history who was not of noble origin to receive this honor. The Queen gave her a silver cross with the word "Sevastopol" engraved on it.

In 1855, Daria married a wounded soldier and opened a local tavern in Sevastopol until her death in 1892.

When it comes to wounded soldiers, we cannot stop mentioning that in addition to the medical rescue work, both sides of the war also committed mistreatment of prisoners of war and shot wounded and captives.

For example, the Russian soldiers were indoctrinated by the priests who accompanied them with various magical stories that "the British and French troops are all monsters and devils, and they like to do all kinds of barbaric and cruel things, and even cannibalize people."

So that the serf soldiers, who were illiterate but simple and pious, regarded the coalition soldiers as savage beasts. If no officers were present, they would secretly shoot prisoners.

Of course, the coalition forces were not much better. Although they were a little more educated than the Russian army, the tragic battles and the pain of losing their comrades also prompted them to commit heinous acts.

Moreover, due to the shortage of supplies, there were even extreme cases in the British army where the superiors and subordinates tacitly agreed to shoot "troublesome" Russian prisoners and wounded soldiers.

Many British troops even abused wounded Russian soldiers and stole their belongings under the guise of caring for and rescuing wounded Russian soldiers.

Of course, the Russians' hands and feet were not very clean when cleaning the battlefield. Pulling "souvenirs" from corpses was considered a traditional art.

However, the coalition forces have no time to pay attention to these things for the time being. For Raglan and Saint-Arnaud, this tragic defeat is a blow. How to reverse the situation of the war as soon as possible is their first concern...