A Backup Plan (I)

The more than two thousand fallen soldiers could only be buried hastily, while the greater number of wounded became Jackson's most pressing problem.

Jackson's view of this was simple.

"How can I bear to just leave them there?"

Though the Nightblade leader did not agree with this course of action deep down, he still nodded.

To keep the conversation from descending into empty platitudes, Nightblade pointed at the wounded soldiers.

"How long before we can set off?"

"About an hour."

Medical Officer Connie, who oversaw the field hospital, pointed at the lightly wounded waiting in line outside. Triage was still being carried out at the end of the queue. He shrugged wearily.

"We are treating those with less serious external injuries. Most of them will be able to return to battle after a good meal and some rest."

Then he nodded toward a stretcher, seeming to indicate that he would head over there at once.

"We currently have more than two hundred severely wounded, eighty of whom are still in mortal danger. I'll speak with Jennifer and transfer those in the most stable condition to another vehicle before departure. That will let us treat the most seriously injured patients more effectively."

"Good work."

Jackson rapidly ran the numbers through his mind.

Including the two thousand already dead, that meant they had lost nearly one-sixth of their fighting strength.

Compared to an entire Ork force, those casualties were already considered good. Even so, they had clearly weakened the unit, while the Orks' losses might have been negligible.

Deep down, he even suspected they would lose every last soldier before reaching their destination.

Of course, if they ran out of ammunition, no one would be able to help them.

After offering the medical staff some encouragement, Jackson decided that as soon as