But Li Xiu soon realized that riding in a carriage in his condition was no easy matter. The jolting dirt road nearly finished him off, but he endured the entire journey without crying out in pain. For one thing, he had already held out this long and refused to break now. For another, he knew this was simply what the road from the camp to the city was like. Nothing could improve conditions inside the carriage, so crying out would do no good.
Li Xiu kept talking to the warrant officer, both to distract himself from the pain and to learn as much as possible about the charges. Throughout their conversation, he remained remarkably calm and serious.
The nurse and doctor accompanied him, carefully monitoring the second lieutenant's condition. They did not join the conversation inside the carriage, but hearsay was no proof. At the very least, they naturally leaned toward their own patient.
Not just the doctor and nurse-even the military policemen and warrant officer had long since changed their attitude toward Second Lieutenant Mulan Jonester. They answered his questions without reservation, while inevitably growing more and more suspicious of the charges being brought that day.
Second Lieutenant Jonester was undoubtedly a true man of steel. Though he lacked bulging muscles, he possessed an unyielding will. Even when the carriage jolted violently, he did no more than knit his brows, never making a sound. It was hard to imagine that he had only just clawed his way back from the brink of death.
Even if an officer like this bore some responsibility, it could never be for such disgraceful offenses. Nor could all his wounds possibly have come from his own soldiers shooting him in the back. The warrant officer, however, had no power to intervene. All he could do was answer Mulan Jonester's questions as best he could and make the journey a little more comfortable.
This was exactly what Li Xiu wanted, and it was already beginning to work. With neither power nor influence, he and the Third Battalion could only rely on their battlefield courage and indomitable resolve to move those who would determine the trial's outcome!
Besides, although a sound defense was essential, it might not prove as effective as the former approach.
Half an hour later, the carriage entered the roads of the Dia Urban District and finally stopped jolting so badly. Li Xiu felt noticeably better. Another seven or eight minutes passed before the carriage slowly came to a halt.
Only when Li Xiu was carefully lifted out of the carriage did his physical suffering finally ease. His clothes were already soaked with sweat.
The news that Mulan Jonester had actually arrived in Dia also startled many who had believed his grave injuries had left him barely conscious.
At noon, several officers were dining in a restaurant in the city. Inevitably, their conversation turned to that afternoon's trial. One of them chewed and swallowed a mouthful of steak, then steered their earlier idle conversation toward the central issue.
"Mulan Jonester has arrived in the city. But didn't someone say he wouldn't even last three days?"
"Indeed. A dying man certainly wouldn't argue back. But what about now? Colonel Bill, what do you think?"
A full-bearded man had been eating his steak in silence. Only now did he lift his head to look at the others.
"The most I'll do is keep silent!"
He forced the words through clenched teeth, veins rising slightly on the hands gripping his knife and fork.
"Good. He is an officer of your Second Corps, after all. As long as you keep silent, that will suffice. Even with him here, the outcome of this afternoon's trial won't change much."
A man wearing glasses wiped his mouth with his napkin and smiled.
"Second Lieutenant Jonester is old-fashioned and dull-witted, hardly skilled at arguing his case. But he is still a noble, after all. Things were different before, but now we should avoid taking this too far."
The man glanced at Colonel Bill and added,
"At least do your best to spare his life."
Bill continued eating without speaking, but his furrowed brow eased a little. Someone on the other side, however, could not help laughing.
"Ha! An impoverished baronet's family counts as nobility?"
"A hundred years ago, it certainly did."
More people in the restaurant began to chuckle quietly.
That afternoon, inside the temporary military tribunal established in the requisitioned Dia Courthouse, the judge had just concluded another trial. He struck his gavel to bring the courtroom to order, then unfolded a document.
"We will now hear the case concerning dereliction of duty during the Battle of Moxia Ridge. First, I would like to confirm whether Second Lieutenant Mulan Jonester is present."
A military policeman beside him immediately turned to inform the judge.
"Second Lieutenant Jonester has arrived and is currently waiting to be called."
The elderly judge nodded and looked to either side. Besides representatives from several corps, the tribunal panel seated on both sides included local court officials and two members of the earlier armistice delegation.
Most of those seated below were military personnel as well.
"Bring Second Lieutenant Mulan Jonester into court."
Shortly after the judge gave the order, two military policemen carried a stretcher to the courtroom doorway. A doctor and nurse accompanied them, and Mulan lay on the stretcher.
Although the stretcher was at varying distances from those inside the courtroom, most could clearly see the severity of the second lieutenant's injuries from his bloodstained bandages.
Just as the military policemen were about to carry the stretcher inside, the man lying on it spoke.
"Stop."
The two military policemen paused in surprise, stopping instinctively.
Li Xiu took several deep breaths, then braced himself against the stretcher and slowly sat up.
"Hiss... phew..."
The next moment, Li Xiu rose from the stretcher. He shook his head at the nurse, doctor, and military police warrant officer, who instinctively moved to support him, then spoke in a hoarse yet exceptionally loud voice.
"This is my battlefield!"
Standing in the doorway, Li Xiu surveyed the courtroom. The elderly judge on the raised bench wore a military uniform. All but a handful of the tribunal members on either side were also in uniform, as were most of those seated below.
At that moment, Li Xiu knew he had to immerse himself completely in Mulan's perspective. Otherwise, he would never be able to summon that kind of commanding presence.
A faint anger rose from the depths of his heart as well...
This is an unjust trial. I, Mulan Jonester, am about to be sacrificed to protect others, and the honor of both me and my soldiers will be dragged through the mud!
For my life, for my honor, to keep my family from disgrace and my soldiers' character from being sullied, I, Mulan Jonester, will fight back!
Thump, thump, thump...
His heartbeat seemed to grow more distinct. A powerful sense of resonance continued to swell, as though he could still hear gunfire and cannon blasts, still sense the battlefield's smoke and rust.
This is the final battle of the Battle of Moxia Ridge!
"Thank you. I would like to walk in myself."
Mulan gently pushed away the nurse supporting him, raised his head, and walked toward the defendant's stand with slow, resolute steps. The jolting journey and his insistence on walking caused more red to seep through the bandages on his shoulder, chest, and thigh.
At that moment, as though everyone could sense the officer's resolve, all those who had been whispering about Mulan fell silent. The entire courtroom grew still.
One step, then two...
Behind the officer, the nurse and doctor repeatedly started forward to support him...
Everyone watched the young officer advance slowly but firmly until he stood straight at the defendant's stand. Many could see the fine beads of sweat on his face, yet he buried his pain within, his eyes utterly fearless.
In the gallery, a tall man watched Mulan with his eyes slightly widened. He wore a top hat, an immaculate formal suit and trousers, a white shirt with a black bow tie, and white gloves. His gentlemanly attire stood out starkly from everyone around him.
He had expected an ordinary trial, but instead he had witnessed something unusual.
The doors at the rear of the courtroom slowly closed. Looking at Mulan, who had taken his place, the judge broke the silence.
"Second Lieutenant Mulan Jonester, you stand accused of severe war-weariness, ineffective command, and abandoning your position prematurely, exposing the flank of our lines... thereby becoming the chief catalyst for our defeat in this battle. What do you have to say?"
Mulan looked at the judge and the few men not wearing uniforms. He knew his hopes rested largely on them, and that someone among them must represent the Crown. He also turned to look behind him to the left, where a full-bearded colonel slightly averted his eyes.
"I reject these charges!"
Mulan turned back to the judge. Though his voice remained somewhat hoarse, it rang with force.
"I reject the charges against myself and the soldiers under my command. Under our corps commander's overall leadership, our Third Battalion and the entire Second Corps fought valiantly in this battle. We achieved the results expected of us!"
One of the two officers presenting the charges immediately rose.
"Second lieutenant, we have numerous eyewitnesses who can attest that your unit fought ineffectively and fled in the face of the enemy, causing a breach in our lines! Your Honor, I request that the witnesses be called."
"Granted."
One "witness" after another entered. They included ordinary soldiers and officers, and even two prisoners from the Bach Army. Each gave an account supporting the successive charges.
Throughout the proceedings, Mulan merely watched in cold silence. Not one of those witnesses, nor even the officers bringing the charges, dared meet his gaze for long.
In a corner on the right side of the gallery, a man had been watching Mulan ever since he entered.
Anger, composure, pride!
This young officer, who held only the rank of second lieutenant, regarded every accuser and so-called witness as though they were clowns, his head held high throughout.
"Second lieutenant, do you have anything else to say?"
The judge addressed the defendant again. The second lieutenant had not spoken a single word from beginning to end, nor had he disputed any of the witnesses' testimony. He seemed to have abandoned his defense, yet his eyes and expression suggested otherwise.
In fact, simply seeing Second Lieutenant Jonester standing there had already stirred faint doubts about the trial in many of those present.
"Your Honor, may I ask that the soldiers under my command be brought here?"
One of the prosecuting officers immediately spoke.
"Second Lieutenant Jonester, I must remind you that the Third Battalion's soldiers cannot serve as witnesses. They themselves are among the accused."
Mulan glanced at the man, then surveyed the courtroom before finally resting his gaze on the nurse standing nearby.
"Miss, please come and help me remove my bandages!"
"Second Lieutenant Jonester, please refrain from wasting the court's time with meaningless actions!"
The officer was about to continue, but a single look from Mulan immediately silenced him. That gaze held the resolve to fight to the death. It held blood and fire, and the chill of merciless ice. Confronted by that gaze alone, the pampered officer, who had never personally experienced battle, felt as though he faced the muzzle of a gun whose trigger was about to be pulled. Even his body stiffened slightly.
"Your Honor, what I am doing is not meaningless."
The judge frowned, then finally nodded to the nurse. She hurried over to help, and the doctor joined her. Both worked with extreme care.
As the bandages were unwound layer by layer, the bloodstains grew heavier, accompanied by a foul smell of decay.
When the blood-soaked dressings were removed, hideous wounds were exposed on Mulan's shoulder and chest, and on his leg, drawing everyone's attention. Both wounds went all the way through, so the injuries were clearly visible from behind as well.
"Ah..." "They're so serious!"
"God... how can he still be standing?"
Mulan ignored the murmurs spreading through the courtroom. His face was pale and drenched in sweat. Even his half-cut-open shirt was soaked, yet no one thought he looked pathetic. He pointed at his right leg with his right hand.
"Your Honor, everyone, here-I was hit by a Bach rifle bullet. The bullet entered from the front and exited through the back. It left only a small hole in front, but tore a gaping wound behind!"
As he spoke, Mulan slowly raised his right hand and pointed again, this time to the wound in his shoulder and chest, not far from his heart. His hoarse voice grew louder.
"Here-I was stabbed by the foot-long bayonet on a standard-issue Bach rifle. The pointed blade entered my left chest and came out through my back, not far from my heart... And the cut on my left arm was sustained during close-quarters fighting at our position..."
Listening to the second lieutenant's account, everyone present felt that surviving injuries like these, and such savage fighting, was nothing short of a miracle!
Speaking so much in one breath while remaining on his feet left Mulan slightly breathless. Yet his gaze never changed as he stared at the judge and the tribunal members on either side. Then he clenched his fist and turned toward the two prosecuting officers.
"When I sustained these wounds, I, Mulan Jonester, and the soldiers of the Second Corps' Third Battalion under my command were all fighting the enemy head-on to the death!"
The two prosecuting officers could not speak. Not only could they find no words, but Mulan's wounds and the force of his presence had thoroughly shaken them.
"Your Honor, I request that my soldiers be brought here-not to offer any defense, but merely to show the wounds on each of their bodies! Even if we are ultimately found guilty, this is the dignity a valiant soldier deserves! I, Mulan Jonester, swear upon my dignity as a soldier and the honor of the Jonester Family that my soldiers' wounds are enough to prove they are all brave men who faced the enemy head-on!"