Fortunately, the four scattered forces successfully rendezvoused at the designated time and place.
Only Long Wenzhang's unit had encountered combat, but it had merely been a small-scale clash with a single company of fewer than two hundred men.
Because they needed to keep moving, Long Wenzhang had not lingered to fight that company. After breaking them, he led his men away.
They suffered seven dead and four seriously wounded. There were rather more lightly wounded, naturally because many new recruits had been added to the ranks. A considerable number of the recruits had been injured through recklessness and rash advances.
Some froze the moment shooting started, standing there dumbly until veterans kicked them flying—and that injured them. Others got hot-blooded at the first shot and charged without a word, only to be dragged back and slapped around by veterans—and that injured them too.
Others thought themselves clever and ignored orders once the fighting began. They got grazed by bullets, then beaten by their officers—and that injured them as well.
The common losses among all four groups came from the mountain roads: twisted ankles, falls from missed footing, bruises, sprains, and the like. That was unavoidable. Even horses stumbled, and people made mistakes.
Once the troops regrouped and the figures were tallied, this march alone had resulted in more than thirty non-combat casualties.
Amused, Wang Yan beckoned over the still-healthy Veterinarian. "Come on, old man. The sick bay is open for business. Have these men help look after the wounded and follow headquarters."
"Why not wait a few days before fighting? Give 'em two or three days, and they'll recover."
"No need. It'll be hard to get a fight going within the next two or three days anyway." Wang Yan said, "We need to find out how the Japanese are deployed