The two-day rest period revealed cracks that constant movement had hidden.
Soldiers who'd maintained discipline during march collapsed into exhausted sleep the moment they were allowed. Equipment that had seemed functional revealed stress fractures and wear that required immediate repair. Supply wagons that had kept pace through sheer determination needed maintenance that couldn't be delayed further.
And the wounded—those who'd been traveling with medical support, pushing through pain because stopping meant being left behind—finally admitted the extent of their injuries.
"Medical teams are overwhelmed," reported Surgeon-Commander Vex'rail, a demon whose centuries of battlefield medicine showed in every precise movement. "We've been treating acute injuries during march. Now we're discovering chronic damage that soldiers hid to avoid being left behind. Infections that developed untreated. Wounds that never properly healed."
"How many are unfit for continued combat?" Liam asked.
