Seeing Claude crawl to his side, he smiled bitterly. "Boss, am I going to die?"
"You won't die. The wound isn't vital."
Claude breathed a sigh of relief and took out a healing agent from his pouch. It was one of the four perfect-quality healing agents he brought from home. It was the best for treating external wounds.
He poured half a tube of healing potion on the wound to stop the bleeding before giving Moriad the other half. As for cleaning the wound and digging out the bullet, he would have to return to Amis and let the doctors in the treatment center take care of it.
"Lie down and don't move. I'll send you back in a bit," Claude said to Moriad.
Moriad was actually quite lucky. Apart from the wound on his left rib, he only suffered some pain from the fall.
Of the two soldiers standing next to him, one had been shot in the chest, and there was a big hole in it. He was already dead.
The other had his neck broken. Even though his eyes were still open, it was obvious that he couldn't be saved.
A small group of enemy infantrymen in white uniforms had appeared on a small hill in front of them. Strangely enough, they didn't line up and fire in unison. Instead, they spread out and fired at Claude's group from a kneeling position. A few soldiers who had finished firing stood up to reload their guns.
Claude laid prone on the ground and raised his gun to take aim. Apart from the one he had reloaded before coming out of the mud pit, the others were holding unloaded guns.
Bang!
One of the soldiers on the mound was shot down by Claude. However, the rising smoke also revealed Claude's position. The few soldiers on the mound who hadn't opened fire turned their guns towards Claude.
Gunshots rang out and a few bullets struck the ground on both sides of Claude.
"How many are still alive?
Why aren't you reloading and retaliating?!
Have you forgotten all your training? "he roared angrily as he rolled towards the mud puddle nearby.
There was only a small group of twelve enemies on the hill. Now that one of them had been taken down, there were only eleven left.
The only thing that surprised Claude was that their muskets could also be used to aim accurately. The few shots that hit Claude's body proved that.
Had it not been for the fact that he was a smaller target on the ground and that he could hide in the dense bushes, he might have really suffered.
Now that he had some space to move, he hurriedly reloaded his gun. A minute later, he pointed the muzzle at the mound again.
At this moment. "Bang!
Bang!
Bang! "Gunshots rang out, and three more soldiers fell on the mound.
At this time, Berklin and the others were lying on the ground, loading their ammunition and firing.
The white-uniformed soldiers on the mound panicked. They didn't expect the enemy to be so accurate. A few of them didn't even know where to aim their guns.
Even though Claude's bright red uniform was rather eye-catching, they were lying on the ground and covered by the bushes, making them a rather small target. Even if they fired, they didn't know if they would hit their target. That made the soldiers on the mound panic and fear.
"Bang!"
Claude opened fire. One of the kneeling enemies fell backwards and dropped his gun to the side.
"Bang!" Another gunshot rang out. This time, it was Myjack firing from not far away.
One of the enemies on the mound cried out in pain. That shot had hit him in the shoulder.
The remaining six enemies hesitated. Apart from one who went to take care of the wounded soldier on the ground, the other five couldn't help but retreat.
Claude had no choice but to reload his gun faster. The enemies on the mound were probably preparing to retreat. The few of them argued for a bit. One of them went to pull the mount left behind by the cavalryman while the other three ran up the mound. One of them ran to help his comrade carry the wounded soldier on the ground.
Claude had already reloaded his gun. This time, he aimed at the three retreating enemies. When one of them reached the top of the mound, he fired. The enemy jolted and fell off the mound.
"Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
Bang! "Four gunshots rang out. It was Berklin and the others firing.
However, only two of the enemies had fallen. The horse on the mound had also been hit. It neighed and stood up straight. Its two front legs kicked in the air a few times, and when it landed on the ground, it turned around and galloped to the other side of the mound, leaving a trail of dust behind it.
One of the two enemies who went to help the wounded soldier also fell down. The other was stunned. Looking at his two fallen comrades, he suddenly let out a strange cry. He even threw away the gun in his hand, turned around, and ran behind the mound.
"Bang!"
Myjack fired again, but this time he missed his target. He could only watch helplessly as the enemy scrambled and disappeared behind the mound.
Claude reloaded his gun and looked at the mound. "Beck, clean up this place. Myjack, Gemma, reload your guns and follow me to the top of the mound!"
He crawled out of the mud pit and crept towards the mound. It didn't take long for him to reach the top. When he reached the top, he saw that the three fleeing soldiers had already become three white dots in the distance. They were already five hundred meters away from him.
Looking around, there was no movement. It seemed that this small group of infantrymen was acting alone and not with the cooperation of a large group of people.
However, the battlefield between the two sides had always been the Canasian light cavalry's territory. Which country did the infantry unit in white belong to? What were they doing here?
But when he looked down at the gun used by the enemy soldier on the ground, his face darkened. Apart from the barrel being a few centimeters longer than his aubass mark 3, everything else was exactly the same.
It was the same as the one on the other hand. The lid of the cartridge box, the matchlock, the handle and other accessories were shifted to the right and the barrel was in a straight line.
This was a knockoff of the Aubass Mark III standard musket, also used for accurate shooting!
Needless to say, it was obvious that this small team of enemy infantrymen in white uniforms was here to carry out an ambush mission.
The Ranger Camp suffered around eight hundred casualties in April, but the Canasian scouts also lost around three hundred men.
At the beginning of the month, the casualty rate was 1: 1. In the middle of the month, it was 2: 3: 1. At the end of the month, it was 4: 5: 1. Now, at the beginning of May, it had risen to 7: 8: 1.
The enemy was learning from the lessons learned on the battlefield and constantly improving, while the Ranger Camp was still stuck in the same old rut.
Now, the enemy had used the captured Aubass mark III matchlock to make their own accurate shooting guns. They had even learned from the kingdom and specially formed infantry squads to use these accurate shooting guns to carry out ambushes.
It wasn't hard to imagine that the Ranger Camp would have to face even more enemies. Not only would they have to prevent the enemy scouts from scouting, they would also have to guard against enemy infantry ambushes.
"Sergeant Major, these are soldiers from Rimodra."
Myjack, who had followed them up the hill, plucked an iron identity plate from the neck of an enemy soldier in white uniform. It was marked with the Rimodra duchy's insignia and the soldier's military identification number.
"Why are they here?" Myjack muttered as he handed the identity plate to Claude.
"You'll understand when you see their muskets.
Claude sighed. "They're the same as us. They're here to ambush the enemy.
Fortunately, they've learned how to shoot accurately. They won't lie on the ground or hide to reload their muskets like us. Instead, they'll just stand and reload their muskets. That's why they're our targets.
Perhaps, they will soon learn from us and also lay on the ground or hide to secretly aim and shoot at us … "
"Gemi, go clean up the enemy corpses.
Myjack, that dead Canasian cavalryman should be an officer. I saw him holding a pair of binoculars.
Bring it to a higher spot and keep a lookout. If you spot any enemies in the distance, sound the alarm immediately, "Claude instructed.
Cleaning up the enemy corpses was to take their identity plates as a guarantee of mission completion.
Rosler had set up a rule in the camp that taking an enemy's plate would not only earn them a two-day holiday, but also a thale as a reward.
From Colonel Rossler's point of view, more soldiers would join the Ranger Battalion for the high reward, and he wouldn't have to worry about the high casualty rate.
Not to mention, there weren't many who would actually get the reward. Many soldiers wouldn't be able to take the enemy's plate even if they killed the enemy. Instead, they would be hunted down by the enemy's comrades and it would be a big problem for them to return to the camp.
Especially now that the enemies were becoming more and more astute. It was already very rare to see two or three riders on their own. The enemies who had suffered from ambushes were more used to scouting in small groups. This way, at least the few enemies who were ambushed would be worried and not dare to open fire …
The second reason for cleaning up the corpses was to seize the enemy's personal belongings. That was one of the ways the soldiers in the camp could earn some extra income. Additionally, the horses and weapons they seized could be sold to the logistics department. While the price was low, it was a huge sum of money for a soldier. It was enough for him to spend two days in the taverns of Amis.
That was also the reason why many greedy veterans and fugitives risked their lives to join the camp.
Unlike the others, Claude always brought a small group of men with him on ambush missions and the spoils were always distributed fairly. That was also the reason why quite a few soldiers trusted him and were willing to follow him on missions.
At the very least, they didn't have to worry about disputes over the loot. They wouldn't have to fight over the loot or fight over it.
Gemi went to collect the identity plates and personal belongings from the corpses. Myjack went to the top of the mound with his telescope. Claude reloaded the enemy's gun in order to test its accuracy.
He only stopped after firing ten shots in a row. It was no wonder the Rimodra soldiers only managed to hit the area around him when they fired at him. It was only around 70 metres away, and the shots were rather erratic. Accuracy within 50 metres was still acceptable, but beyond 50 metres, there would be an error. It was just like the Aubass mark 3 musket firing at targets over 100 metres away. Whether or not one could hit accurately depended on luck.
After firing ten times in a row, the barrel actually felt a little hot. It seemed that the manufacturing standards of the five anti-Aueran nations were much lower than those of Aueras. Even if they had the aubass mark 3 muskets, there was still a huge gap between their firing range and the way they were trained to use them.
However, war was the best teacher for a soldier. Claude was rather worried. After all, the anti-Aueras alliance was on the defensive side of things. Such accurate muskets were more suitable for them.
They could make use of all sorts of defensive facilities and equip themselves with such accurate muskets to defend against the kingdom's attacks and inflict heavy casualties on the attackers.
Gemi walked over and handed a bunch of identity plates to Claude. He also held a small bag containing the coins, rings, necklaces, and other valuables from the enemy corpses.
"Have Becker bring a few horses over. Tie up these muskets, scimitars, and other equipment and put them on the horses.
As for the valuables, hand them over to Becker. We'll split them after we get back to camp, "said Claude.
Berklin quickly led the other four horses to the bottom of the mound. "Boss, it's all done. Three of us died this time: Aliger, Link, and Cruna.
Modh is heavily injured, but the bleeding has stopped. He's still conscious. Bordet's thigh was grazed by a bullet and suffered a light wound. It's already bandaged. "
Claude's ten men had wiped out a squad of twelve Canasian scouts and nine Rimodran soldiers who came to ambush them. That was a total of 21 casualties. Even so, it was quite a feat.
Sighing, Claude ordered, "Let's return to camp. Bring them back."