Chapter 1183: Winning Over

Xuanyuan and his group were already prepared to return home; there were no longer any targets here worth their continued stay or further attack.

Following the traditions of Huaxia, Xiong erected a large piece of wood on the land they had conquered, carving the words "Territory of Huaxia and the Xuanyuan Tribe" onto it to demonstrate ownership.

Of course, aside from Huaxia, no one could understand it, but on such a plain, and in a location where there were not many trees left, erecting such an abrupt piece of wood was clearly man-made, at least serving as a slight warning.

The Xuanyuan Tribe also wanted to write, but there was no one here who could write their own script, so Xuanyuan had people draw their totem—a bear.

Because they were the Youxiong Clan, and the time had not yet come to defeat all the local tribes and create the dragon totem, of course, this totem had already been used by Huaxia, and in the future, Xuanyuan would not go on to create it again.

It is possible that he might create some new species based on the bear, a new mythical creature; that is also possible.

Upon seeing this, Xiong realized that using a totem was indeed more recognizable than writing; after all, others might not recognize the characters, but they would recognize the totem. So, Xiong also carved a simple dragon totem on the wood and scorched it black with fire; the two black totems on the yellowish-white wood were very conspicuous.

With this, the occupation and marking of this territory were completely finished. Xiong and Xuanyuan pointed at the wood and laughed loudly; they had succeeded!

Xuanyuan felt the harvest was immense and was very happy. He had lost some Soldiers, but he had captured many Slaves and occupied such a large territory; naturally, he was happy. Now, he was also gradually encroaching upon the territory of the Shennong Clan.

Xiong did not have as much happiness, because the casualties of the Soldiers this time were somewhat hard for him to accept. He had brought out only that many Soldiers, and as a result, several hundred were dead or wounded; those killed in action alone numbered over a hundred.

There were several hundred wounded, both severely and lightly. Even Shaoyin had not been spared; there was a very obvious wound on his lower leg because there was no protection on his lower leg.

The Military Doctor, in order to treat these wounded Soldiers, had already become like someone possessed, not daring to close his eyes for two consecutive days; he was either suturing or on his way to suture.

After the final battle last time, Soldiers were dying every day because they had not survived that final hurdle. The Military Doctor himself knew that his own ability was insufficient and that he was completely unable to keep up.

Many situations required very precise and meticulous surgery, where blood vessels had to be aligned and sutured, but he could not do it; he did not have the time. Plus, by the end, the Sheep Gut Thread was about to run out, so he simply gave up on some of the most severely wounded Soldiers and had other Soldiers use hemp thread to suture them instead.

As long as they were sutured, it didn't matter if they could survive or not; at least the final appearance of the corpse would be slightly better, and they wouldn't be left with their entrails spilled out.

Because the Soldiers of the Xuanyuan Tribe did not have such good Armor, they naturally suffered the most deaths. Only those with light wounds could be saved; for those with wounds that were too severe in the limbs, they would simply chop them off with an axe and then use a Torch to stop the bleeding.

At least they would have a chance to survive, right? As for whether the Xuanyuan Tribe would go on to support these disabled people or whether they could give them a chance to live, that was not something they could worry about.

In any case, Huaxia would. Even if you lost a leg, Huaxia could still find you a job, let you live, and then give you subsidies so you wouldn't starve to death, and would even give you rewards and commendations.

Only in this way could they stimulate the Soldiers' bellicose and courageous hearts to the greatest extent, not letting them be hesitant, and making them willing to take a gamble.

Why was Great Qin able to unify the six states back then? The Military Merit system was an important reason. Qin soldiers were brave, and there was something to look forward to in life.

Unlike the troops of some other times, where military pay was embezzled and there were no benefits for the family if one died, and they were completely press-ganged—such troops would certainly not have much combat effectiveness.

They charged forward because they were forced to, not voluntarily. If they had a chance to escape, they would definitely run; it was impossible for them to stay, as staying had no meaning at all.

Huaxia would not do that. There were rewards for dying, and rewards for living. If you were disabled, you could go pull an ox cart, or even raise chickens or pigs; in any case, they could always find you a suitable, leisurely job.

If a leg was gone, they could make you a crutch so you could barely move. Of course, if it was one leg, you might be able to live, but with two legs, given the current situation, the probability of you surviving was almost zero; there was no such good technology, and it all depended on your own hardiness.

The battle was over, and the territory had been occupied, but they could not return yet because they still had to let the wounded rest a bit more. If they set off now, those Soldiers who might have been able to survive would die right then because their wounds would burst open.

The Military Doctor also cried and said to Xiong: "Marshal! There is no more thread! The needles are all broken! There is no way to save them!"

Because of Huaxia's behavior in saving his own Soldiers, Xuanyuan was still very grateful. In front of Xiong, he promised the Military Doctor ten bags of grain, ten pieces of various animal hides, and one roll of Silk.

Of course, this was about right, because saving so many Soldiers of his Xuanyuan Tribe was a small price to pay for their lives. The Military Doctor also accepted it under Xiong's signal.

But Xuanyuan then said he wanted to give the Military Doctor a piece of farmland from the Xuanyuan Tribe as a gift. This terrified the Military Doctor, because this was no different from trying to win the Military Doctor over to the Xuanyuan Tribe.

Xiong also helped the Military Doctor decline: "Tribal Chief Xuanyuan, this is unnecessary. After all, he is a person of our Huaxia. It is useless for him to have farmland from your Xuanyuan Tribe, and he has no way to farm it, right? You should keep it for yourselves to plant. If you feel the previous rewards were not enough, you can send him some more grain."

Xuanyuan looked at the Military Doctor again, and the Military Doctor shook his head repeatedly to refuse; he didn't want it either, as it was a trouble.

Xuanyuan had no choice but to give up. He did indeed have the idea of wanting to win over this Military Doctor. If he could make him decide on his own to come to the Xuanyuan Tribe, then Baifeng would certainly have nothing to say.

However, since he didn't want the farmland, other compensation still had to be given, so Xuanyuan said: "Then since you don't want our farmland, I will give you a few beauties from our Xuanyuan Tribe!

When you arrive at the Xuanyuan Tribe, you can go take a look; whichever one you take a fancy to, you can take away. Don't worry about it. I think I'll give you four; you wouldn't be able to support any more than that anyway. How is this reward? Do you want it?"