Chapter 352: A Good Start for a New Undertaking

The injured horses' emotions gradually stabilized, but the struggle and pain had already consumed much of their stamina; their usual sleeping posture was standing, but now they could only lie flat on the Grass.

The doctor also kept checking to see if there was continued bleeding; fortunately, the Hemp Cloth only had slight seepage, and no large amount of blood was seen flowing out, which showed that his surgery was quite successful, and this was also his experience; having had a successful case of treating a horse, he could also say he was no longer a novice when he started suturing people in the future.

The doctor went to take a look almost every ten minutes or so; as long as there were no problems, he would rub his hands together in joy, while the others naturally did not know his inner thoughts, only feeling that this doctor, ah, was truly responsible and reliable, and his ability was also quite good.

The leader of the Scientific Expedition Team convened an emergency meeting; they wanted, firstly, to summarize this sudden situation, and secondly, to decide how to handle these two injured horses.

Regarding this sudden situation, they believed it was still due to inadequate monitoring, and raised criticisms toward the military personnel; as for how to change, they certainly could not take the initiative to attack, because everywhere was now covered in thick Snow, and it would be fine if the beasts' fur colors were brighter, but if they were like this white tiger, they might not even see them if they reached their feet.

In the end, it was decided to modify the environment; first was to clear the surrounding Snow, as the entire Wasteland area was too large, and they couldn't finish sweeping it even in a year, but they could plan out a circle, clear the boundary of the entire circle, and roughly clear the snow inside, so that at least when beasts came, they could discover them at the first opportunity.

Another thing was the duty and guard system; they could not stand guard at night, as their lives were important, and it was better for the herd to have losses than for them to have losses, but more people still had to be left to keep watch at night, staying in the room, adding firewood to the stove, and listening carefully for movement outside.

They did not have heated brick beds here because it was a purely wooden house, and it would be too dangerous to build one; installing a Brick-mixed stove inside was already very good, and it still had to be watched constantly.

During the day they could use coal because everyone was awake, and even if coal smoke leaked, it could be detected in time; at night they only dared to burn firewood, and because the burning time of firewood was short, the fire would go out completely one or two hours after falling asleep, so if someone woke up cold in the middle of the night, they could take the initiative to add some firewood, and with night shifts arranged, they wouldn't have to worry about the cold.

As for Baifeng, they planned to set up a small Tent, equipped with a fire basin, and take turns on duty to ensure they could discover beasts at the first opportunity.

As for the spoils of war harvested this time, after the white tiger had been processed, they had peeled off the tiger skin, which absolutely had to be turned in, and they could not keep it; as for the meat, there were no regulations, so they planned to turn in half and keep half for themselves; before they came out, the document they received was that food was provided by the unit, they could hunt on their own to improve their meals, and there were no requirements to turn in animal skins or meat.

But this was tiger meat after all; even half felt like they had kept too much, but everyone still decided to do so, and the rest would be taken back by the convoy that came to deliver grain and forage next time.

They thought about taking the injured horses back together, after all, the medical level in the city was better than here; they were also afraid that if the two horses were cured, and they had just been driven out, they would have an opportunity, and if they were eventually readmitted, wouldn't the work have been done in vain?

However, the doctor rejected this proposal with a very absolute attitude; his opinion was that because the two horses' wounds had just been sutured and had not yet healed, if they struggled or were jolted, they would definitely tear again, which might cost the two horses their lives; the wounds needed another half a month to basically heal, and that was assuming they did not deteriorate; even if they healed, the horses would not be able to move and run normally as before, and the herd would be impossible to accept them, so just let them rest and recover for now.

The several leaders looked at each other, and finally nodded in agreement; the doctor's inner joy was even greater, so he got up again to check on the horses' condition and loosened the rope binding the horses' legs slightly to avoid chafing.

Two days later, another convoy arrived, still carrying the same amount of forage, but the amount of feed was reduced by half, because the upper levels felt that the investment in the wild horse herd was too high; feed was grain after all, and even if taken to other tribes, it could be traded as food at a high price, but throwing it away on a group of wild horses that might not be successfully tamed carried too high a risk.

The people of the Scientific Expedition Team also felt this was the right reasoning; they had indeed treated the herd too favorably, and feeding so much feed had not actually led to a breakthrough in their relationship, but the convoy people said that grass and salt could be supplied infinitely, and this was nothing to worry about.

The Scientific Expedition Team was also a rest station for the convoy, but they would not return immediately; instead, the people from the previous convoy would take over the return trip, and the people who came this time would stay at the station to rest, and they would rotate when the next convoy came.

After the convoy people entered the room, they saw the two horses lying on the ground, and they were adult horses; their shocked expressions were written on their faces—how was this done? We didn't have such a good relationship last time!

The team members explained in detail what had happened two days ago; hearing that there had actually been a white tiger attack, the convoy people also felt a chill down their backs and involuntarily turned their heads to look behind them, but in the house, they could only see wood, and they felt much more at ease.

They visited and touched the peeled white tiger skin, feeling it was a fusion of beauty and cruelty; the entire tiger head had been cut off with the fur, and displayed separately, even if it had died miserably in the end, the corners of its mouth were mostly its own blood, but those dull, lifeless eyeballs were also very creepy.

However, they were also lucky to have eaten a meal of white tiger meat; although there wasn't much, they tasted some meat bits; originally they all disliked going on missions in the middle of Winter, especially to such a far place, as it was tiring and dangerous, and although the gains were considerable, they were not lacking, but this meal of tiger meat made them feel it was too worth it; even if all the tiger meat were taken back, they wouldn't be able to eat it, and they were now benefiting from the situation.

After eating the tiger meat, their whole bodies were warm, and the convoy people had a good sleep, but they still had to stay here for another six or seven days.

The frequency with which the doctor looked at the horses did not decrease; both horses' wounds were developing in a good direction, which made him very gratified; although the two horses still could not stand up, they were no longer struggling, because they did not feel any malice.

The ropes on the horses' legs had been untied; they ate feed every day, without a bit of grass, and it was all brought to their mouths by the doctor in a basin, and the water was the same; now these two horses seemed to have become the doctor's exclusive property, and no one else was qualified to touch them, and the two horses were also increasingly relying on the doctor.

The leader of the Scientific Expedition Team also discovered this, and he also hoped that the doctor would be the first person in the entire Huaxia to tame a horse, at least to make a good start for this cause.