It was a sunny day, a rare sight for the people of Freia. Winter had just passed and the arrival of spring filled the land with life.
The following April was the so-called rainy season. Taking advantage of the good weather, they could take out their bedding and other things to dry. That way, they could feel warm instead of cold and damp in the rainy April.
As Claude had taken the courtyard behind the infirmary as his training ground, Perunt had no choice but to let the medics dry the mattresses in the field after his protests were futile.
The field was now filled with the clothes the soldiers had taken out to dry. It took the medics quite some effort to find an empty spot in the corner of the field to dry their things.
Claude could now move about freely outside. He was currently watching Berklin train the recruits he had assigned to him. Aboyev, Moriad and Dyavid, the three nobles, had just recovered from their injuries and were sunbathing in the courtyard as they mercilessly mocked Berklin, who was infuriated that the recruits weren't up to standard.
In Claude's eyes, only nine of the 27 met the requirements of a soldier. The other 18 had all sorts of problems.
Among them, there were seven whose reactions were slower than the average person's by a beat. The "slow" in the personal evaluation on the file was not an exaggeration.
When Berklin gave the order to stand at attention, they reacted much slower than the other soldiers. They only understood what they were doing after the others had completed their actions. No matter how hard they tried, they couldn't change that fact.
There was nothing strange about this. In the transmigrator's previous life, he had a classmate in elementary school who was also like this. The other students understood what the teacher was teaching, but he just couldn't understand it. When he went home to do his homework, the others only needed an hour, but he had to do it for three to four hours.
He could keep up with his language, but he was the last in math because he couldn't understand it. No matter how hard he tried, it was useless.
His family brought him to see a doctor. The doctor said that his brain development was slower than others and that the best solution was for him to delay his studies for two years, but he refused.
He barely managed to graduate from elementary school, but he couldn't keep up with middle school and had no choice but to drop out.
There was no news of him after that.
After more than 20 years, the transmigrator returned to his hometown and unexpectedly saw him on TV.
It turned out that this student had dropped out of school to learn carving. Because of his dedication and hard work, he had now become a master of carving.
The other eleven recruits were completely unqualified. Two of them were idiots, and the rest were mentally ill. For example, one of them trembled when he stood up, and another one was afraid of sound. Whenever he heard Berklin shout a command, he would squat down and refuse to get up …
It was obvious that the conscripted regions were trying to make up the numbers. Anyway, as long as the soldiers were healthy and had their limbs intact, they would send them to the army regardless of the consequences. Firstly, it would save them the trouble of taking care of them. Secondly, they could use these people to replace the conscription quota as a favor.
For some rich and powerful people, the later their children joined the army, the safer they would be.
After stopping the training, Claude had Berklin come over. He took the notebook he had been observing the recruits for the past few days and said, "Train these nine normally. You'll be in charge of them.
Moriad will be in charge of the eight with slow reactions. As for the other eleven, Myjack is still young, so he'll run errands with me for now. The other ten will form another group. There's no need to train them since they won't be able to stand up. Let them learn how to line up and let them carry stretchers in the future. "
Moriad was a little dissatisfied. "Boss, these eight are so slow. I don't have the confidence to train them well."
"You've mostly recovered, so there's no need for you to watch from the side. I need you to help me.
It's true that the eight of them are slow, but that's only because they're slow to respond to orders.
That's because they need to figure out what the order is for them to do and only react after they understand it. That's why they're a beat slower than normal people.
Actually, their reactions to external stimuli are the same as normal people. I once threw a can next to them and they reacted the same way as all the other soldiers. They turned around almost at the same time. "Claude didn't want to displease Moriad, so he explained in more detail.
"But what does that mean?
They still can't be qualified soldiers. "Moriad still couldn't understand.
Claude patted him on the shoulder with a smile. "What I mean is that their training is different from others. They don't need to line up and fire in unison.
Given their reaction speed, when they move with other soldiers and hear the order to fire in unison, their reactions will indeed be slow and they won't be able to coordinate their firing.
However, we're going to form a garrison squad that'll be in charge of patrolling the infirmary. Their daily duties are nothing more than sentry and sentry, so they're more than capable of doing that.
Even though they're slow and they know that, they work harder than the others. I can see that they're working hard during their training, so I'm giving them this chance. "
"Alright, I'll try to guide them," Moriad agreed.
"Okay. I'll give you a copy of their training method. It's simple. Just follow it."
Claude nodded. The two basic squads were mostly formed. All he had to do next was tinker with them. However, he still needed some training tools and weapons.
Be it a nine-man party or a slow-moving party, their muskets didn't have the same firepower as a normal combat party. Claude was wondering if he could install a sighting device on their muskets to increase the accuracy of their shots in order to increase their combat prowess.
Claude could get someone to make a custom gunsight from the smithy in Gourneygada. He didn't lack that bit of money anyway. The problem was that he had to go to battalion headquarters and ask if he would be charged with the crime of modifying a gun without permission. This was the army and he had to be careful with his words and actions. It wasn't like when he was in Whitestag, where he could do whatever he wanted.
When he entered the training office, Claude's attention was immediately drawn to the gun on Most's desk.
The gun looked extremely familiar. Claude had modified it before and it looked exactly the same as the one on the desk.
Claude recalled the letter he received from Welikro more than a month ago. In the letter, he asked for Claude's forgiveness as his modified gun had been requisitioned by the royal capital's firearms research institute.
It was all his father's fault. Kubrik showed off the modified gun in front of his old comrades and wanted to compete with them in shooting accuracy. Naturally, he won, but it also piqued the interest of his comrades.
As soon as the news spread, the Firearms Research Institute sent people to requisition the modified gun the next day.
Welikro only found out that his gun was gone when he returned home after the new recruit training. He had no choice but to write a letter to Claude to tell him about it.
No matter what, the modified gun was Claude's blood, sweat, and tears. Even though he provided quite a bit of advice, the modification was done by Claude alone.
That was why he wrote to Claude right away when he learned of Claude's address in Bluefeather from Borkal.
When Claude read Welikro's letter, he wasn't too concerned about his modified gun being requisitioned. What made him happy was that he received news about Welikro.
So, when he wrote the letter, he said that it was fine and that it was just a modified gun. It wasn't a big deal.
He didn't think that a gun that looked exactly the same as the one he had modified would appear in front of him. What did Most mean by that?
"This is …" Claude picked up the gun on the table. Indeed, it was exactly the same as the one he had modified. The cartridge box, lid, and clamp handle were all moved to the right side of the gun. The barrel was in a straight line with the front and back of the gun.
"This is the newest model of aubass mark 3. Our corps commander fought hard to get us 500 of them. Our 11th Tribe is one of the strongest in the corps, so we were given 100 of them," Most explained.
"Then why are you looking so gloomy? Why aren't you handing them out?" Claude found it odd. It was a good gun.
Although the Royal Capital's Firearms Research Institute had stolen his modified results and changed the name to the Aubass Mark 3 standard matchlock, it was undeniable that this matchlock was of great help to the recruits in grasping the aim and accuracy of their shots.
"I did, but the soldiers weren't willing to use it and handed it back," Most said with a bitter smile, "I asked around and it was the same for the other four battalions. None of them were willing to use it."
Claude asked curiously, "Why?
Is there something wrong with it? "
In his memory, he had no problem using the modified gun in the forest. Even his sister Angelina had quickly grasped the key elements of aiming and shooting, and her shooting accuracy had improved rapidly.
"There's nothing wrong with it.
The main reason the soldiers aren't willing to use it is because it doesn't look good. They gave it a nickname, the crooked neck gun.
What the sergeant-major and the others thought was that it wasn't easy to fire in unison because the cartridges and the other parts were moved to the right side. That made it easy for the soldiers to use the cartridges and other protruding parts as a basis for shooting. Who knows how far off the mark they got.
That's why they handed it back. They'd rather have the aubass mark 2 than the aubass mark 3. "
Claude really wanted to curse and laugh at the same time.
Even though the institute discovered that the musket they modified for Welikro could greatly improve the aim and accuracy of the soldiers, they didn't understand how to use the modified musket. They still treated it as an old-fashioned musket and relied on a volley of shots to increase their firepower. That was the complete opposite of what they were supposed to do.
There was only one way to fight with the gun, and that was to use aim and accuracy to eliminate the enemy. There was no need to line up and fire while advancing.
Although it was troublesome and inconvenient to reload and reload, the soldiers could still use the bunker to protect themselves and eliminate the enemy. They didn't have to walk towards the enemy's bullets with their muskets and display their fearless courage.
However, the current situation gave Claude an opportunity. He tossed the idea of making his own sighting device to the back of his mind. There was a ready-made one right in front of him. Why would he have to fork out the money and effort?
"They don't want it, but I want it," said Claude.
"You want it? What are you going to do with it?" Most looked at Claude suspiciously.
"Hey, didn't you give me so many new soldiers?
Don't they need weapons too? "Claude said anxiously.
"That's not what I meant."
Most blushed. He had indeed forgotten about the rubbish his superiors had given Claude.
However, he still had some doubts. "Claude, are you sure your new soldiers need weapons?
I think it's safer to give each of them a wooden stick. If you let them have guns, they might get into trouble, and you will be implicated … "
"It's fine. Safety won't be an issue."
Claude understood Most's good intentions and immediately assured him, "I've already selected some of them. I'm sure they'll become qualified soldiers after going through strict training.
As for the rest, I'm going to let them carry stretchers. There's no need to equip them with weapons in case they hurt themselves or others. "
Most rubbed his chin and pondered for a long time. In the end, he nodded. "Alright. Give me a list of those who need weapons. I'll see how many guns I need."