The nurse was startled by the sudden shout and quickly stood up, turning to see who it was. "Lieutenant Angers, what are you doing...?"

The French lieutenant pointed angrily at the Austrian officer behind her and gritted his teeth, saying, "Annaï belongs to me, and you dared to seduce her!"

Annaï hurriedly stepped between them, anxiously saying, "Lieutenant Angers, don't be like this! I've always considered you my best friend."

She glanced back at the Austrian officer and said, "And Ferrinac, I... I truly like him..."

"No!" Angers immediately shouted in fury. "You must have been tricked by this scoundrel!"

Angers had been pursuing Annaï for some time, but she had always kept him at arm's length. Seeing his beloved with an Austrian today, his emotions spiraled out of control.

Ferrinac, who had been insulted several times and accused of being a liar, also stood up angrily and said coldly, "Rude fellow, Annaï made the right choice by not picking you."

The Frenchman, who had always been proud and looked down on the Austrians as "hillbilly farmers," could no longer contain himself. He pushed the nurse aside and threw a punch at Ferrinac.

The Austrian major raised one hand to block and unhesitatingly punched Angers in the face with the other.

After taking the punch, Angers' eyes reddened, and he roared like a beast as he lunged at Ferrinac.

Annaï was horrified, wanting to intervene, but she was no match for the two burly men. She could only turn and run toward the center of the field hospital, shouting, "Somebody, please help! Stop them!"

Perna, who had been checking the disinfection of the blankets in the drying area after a long day, heard the cries from ahead. Quickly gathering up her white coat, she ran over.

"Dr. Perna?" Annaï saw her and immediately felt a sense of relief, pointing behind her and stammering, "They're fighting..."

Perna quickly followed Annaï and soon saw the two injured men engaged in a heated fight.

She hurried forward to stop them, "Gentlemen, please stop fighting!"

However, the two rivals, now bloodied, were too enraged to notice her voice.

Seeing that she couldn't stop them with words, Perna mustered her courage and tried to pull them apart. "You're both injured! How can you..."

Before she could finish her sentence, Ferrinac swung a punch at Angers, who ducked, causing the punch to land squarely on Perna's face.

"Ugh..."

The Austrian major felt something soft under his fist and instinctively turned to see what it was. But Angers seized the momentary distraction and kicked towards his opponent's waist.

Sensing danger, Ferrinac quickly stepped back, and Angers' boot grazed his clothes but landed on Perna's back instead.

Perna was thrown sideways, landing in a patch of weeds.

In the fading light of the sunset, Annaï saw Dr. Perna lying motionless on the ground, her eyes widening in horror as she let out a piercing scream, "Ah! Dr. Perna is dead!"

Hearing the scream, the two brawling men immediately stopped and rushed to Perna's side. It was only after hearing her painful groans that they both sighed in relief.

Suddenly, they pointed at each other and shouted simultaneously, "You scoundrel, you hurt Dr. Perna!"

"You dared to hit Dr. Perna! I'll kill you!"

The field hospital, being located far from the front lines, had only a few patrols. By the time a squad of soldiers heard the scream and ran over, it was almost too late. "What's going on here?"

"Who's there?!"

Seeing that reinforcements had arrived, Angers immediately grabbed his rival and shouted, "It's this Austrian scoundrel! He hurt Dr. Perna!"

Ferrinac, seeing the white uniforms of the French soldiers in the distance, knew he wouldn't be able to explain himself. Following the principle that discretion is the better part of valor, he shoved Angers away and hobbled towards the edge of the field hospital.

Angers was about to give chase when Annaï stepped in front of him, spreading her arms to block his path. She turned and called out to the retreating Austrian, "Go! I'll hold them back!"

Over half an hour later...

Inside the largest tent of the field hospital, Dr. Adam finished examining Perna's injuries and turned to the gathered officers, saying, "Don't worry, Dr. Perna's bones are intact, and there's no serious danger."

Hearing this, the hundreds of injured soldiers gathered around the tent all breathed a sigh of relief. Many of them had been treated by Perna, with their lives saved by her, so when they heard she had been injured, they were all anxious to see how she was.

A security officer in charge of the camp looked sternly at Annaï and Angers, asking, "What exactly happened?"

Annaï, who hadn't seen everything clearly, hesitated and couldn't provide a coherent explanation.

Angers, however, spoke with anger, "It was that damned Austrian! He attacked Dr. Perna!"

"Austrian?" The officer frowned. "What's his name?"

Angers turned to Annaï, who meekly whispered, "Ferrinac..."

The wounded soldiers surrounding the tent, seeing the bruise on Perna's face, were instantly incensed.

That gentle, kind, and beautiful Dr. Perna! She had fans all over the French army, and in the field hospital, almost everyone adored her.

And now, someone had dared to hurt her?!

One man roared, "I'm going to kill that guy!"

"Ferrinac, I know him. He's from the Austrian 7th Dragoon Regiment."

"Who's with me to teach that scoundrel a lesson?"

"Count me in!"

"Me too!"

"I'll go as well..."

Perna, lying on her bed, heard the commotion outside and wanted to stop it, but her weak voice couldn't reach them.

That night, risking punishment, many wounded soldiers returned to their units, furiously telling their comrades about Dr. Perna's assault.

Proud French soldiers couldn't stand the thought of an Austrian bullying one of their own, so by early the next morning, over a thousand French soldiers had marched to the Austrian 7th Dragoon Regiment's camp. Their officers only made a token effort to stop them, with some even joining in, eager to avenge Dr. Perna—who had saved their lives.

In the Austrian camp, Ferrinac anxiously explained to the dragoon regiment's commander, "It was that French lieutenant! He hurt Dr. Perna! He's lying about me!"

"Do you swear it?"

"I swear to God, it was the Frenchman who knocked down Dr. Perna!"

The commander, who had also been treated by Perna, immediately darkened his expression. "Shameless Frenchmen, and now they dare cause trouble!"

He turned to the messenger and ordered, "Assemble the regiment."

Minutes later, the French and Austrian soldiers, hurling insults at each other, began to lose their temper. Someone charged at the other side, and soon, a massive brawl erupted outside the Austrian dragoon camp.

(End of Chapter)

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