Claude's luck was terrible. He was injured once more.
Nothing was perfect in the world, and this time was no different.
The soldiers behind him charged up the enemy's defensive line and engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the remnants of the enemy.
Claude became the commander-in-chief of the frontline, constantly directing the charging soldiers and ordering them to kill the stubborn ones. Even the lieutenants who caught up obeyed his orders.
Because of that, Claude was targeted. An enemy first lieutenant came out of nowhere and charged at him with a sharp sword.
Claude was caught off guard. He didn't expect there to be an enemy hiding so close to him. In his panic, all he could do was block the sword with his musket.
He managed to block it, but he wasn't able to dodge it. His thigh was pierced through by the sword.
The officer wanted to draw his sword for another stab, but a few soldiers beside Claude reacted and stabbed him full of holes with their bayonets.
Claude could only fall to the ground, hugging his thigh and sighing at his bad luck.
He no longer had any perfect-quality potions with him. The last one he had was used on Moriad.
He brought four bottles from home, but he didn't use any of them on himself.
Only when he was injured did he realize that he had run out of potions. Claude had no choice but to bandage his wound for the time being.
The defensive line was retaken, but bad news came one after another.
Aboyev was dead. He had died in the first volley of fire from the enemy's formation. A bullet had pierced through his left eye and through the back of his head. He had probably died without any pain, almost on the spot.
Berklin hugged his corpse and cried so hard that he couldn't even catch his breath. Dyavid sat beside him, feeling sad.
The four nobles joined the army together and lost a comrade in less than a year.
Soon, the carriages carrying the injured soldiers arrived. Claude and Dyavid boarded the carriage and were disinfected and bandaged up before being sent to the infirmary in Amis. They would have to recuperate there before reporting back to the army.
The infirmary was huge and had many wounded soldiers. Moriad was there as well. He would need more than a month to recover from his gunshot wound.
A week later, Captain Ledefonk of the Ranger Battalion came. Claude noticed that his insignia had been replaced by a silver crescent moon instead of three green stars. That meant he had been promoted to major.
"You're really unlucky.
The first prince came to Wilf Hill excitedly to have a chat with you, the hero who helped us retake the defensive line. He was quite disappointed when he found out that you were sent away.
You could've been injured any other time, but you had to be injured at such a crucial moment.
Many people want to show off their talents in front of the First Prince in order to gain his favor and appreciation. You, on the other hand, displayed your talents and gained the First Prince's attention, but you were ambushed and injured, losing the chance to meet the First Prince … "
Seeing Claude staring at his insignia, Ledefonk shrugged. "Come to think of it, it's all thanks to you that I was promoted. The first prince believes that our tribe played a crucial role in taking Wilf Hill, so he gave the order for all of us to be promoted.
You're now an official second lieutenant of the kingdom.
What a shame. If you hadn't been injured and met the first prince, you might've been promoted to first lieutenant. "
As Ledefonk felt sorry for Claude, he took out a cardboard box from his black pouch. Inside was a green star second lieutenant insignia. He placed it in Claude's hand. "I've done all the paperwork for you. Now, all you have to do is rest well and report back to the camp."
Claude played with the insignia in his hand. He could tell what Ledefonk was getting at. "You're in charge of Ranger Camp now?"
"That's right. I was forced to do more than I could, so I'm temporarily acting as the battalion commander.
Major Ledefonk heaved a sigh. "Lieutenant Colonel Rossler died on the battlefield, which caused a great disturbance."
"Stir?
What do you mean? "Claude pretended not to understand and wanted to probe his superiors' thoughts on Rosler's strange death." By the way, what's with the strange bubble covering Rosler's body before he died? I was a little taken aback at the time. "
He looked around and leaned his head closer to Claude's ear and whispered, "I'll tell you this. Don't tell anyone else.
It was magic. The first prince had people from the special department guarding him. They believed that bubble covering Rosler's body was some kind of long-range arrow protection spell.
They scouted the battlefield, but due to the gunfire and the smoke, they couldn't find any traces of magic being used on the battlefield.
Later, they all agreed that Lieutenant Colonel Rossler must have bought a rune magic scroll to inscribe this long-range arrow protection spell.
He thought that the spell could protect him from enemy bullets and used it on the battlefield.
This kind of single-use rune magic scroll would turn into ashes after use, so those people from the special department couldn't detect the magic imprint on the battlefield.
It's said that the first prince cursed Rosler in his tent for being an idiot and an idiot who thinks he's so smart.
If magic was useful, the magi wouldn't have been chased out of Freia centuries ago.
The first prince said that it was fortunate that the idiot used magic to attract the enemy's attention and suffered a volley of attacks. If he didn't die, all the soldiers in Ranger Camp might've died on the battlefield. We still haven't retaken Wilfgang. "
Claude breathed a sigh of relief. It was only when he was lying in the infirmary that he remembered the inappropriateness of using magic to kill Rosler on the battlefield.
Because the use of magic spells would leave a magic mark on the spot, there must be guards from the special department around the eldest prince. If they found the magic mark on the battlefield after the war, then they would be able to remember who was standing in that position at that time.
Claude had been on tenterhooks for quite some time now.
He didn't think that Ledefonk, who came to visit him today, would bring him good news. They didn't find any magic imprints on the battlefield.
However, he soon realized that the mana imprint was basically an aura-like existence.
When he used the Appraisal Eye in the past, he noticed that the mana photons in the air would be attracted and condensed together to form irregular traces that dissipated slowly. That was a magic imprint.
However, on the battlefield, the airflow from the flintlock and the rising smoke would carry away the solidified magical element photons instead of slowly dissipating the solidified magical imprints like the wind and rain.
"How many of us do we have left?" Claude started to worry about something else after he was no longer worried about it.
Major Ledefonk smiled wryly. "I may have accepted the position of battalion commander of the Ranger Battalion, but I'm just an empty battalion commander. I don't even have thirty men under me, and most of them are from the logistics department …"
Claude was shocked. "What's going on?
Didn't we have close to a hundred soldiers when we took Wilfgang? "
"It's like this. We're not the only Ranger Camp now. The first prince ordered for three more Ranger Camps to be formed.
"We're now called 1st Ranger Tribe. The remaining soldiers in the tribe were sent to the other tribes after they were promoted. They'll be used as seeds for the other three tribes to quickly develop their fighting capabilities.
As for our camp, we'll have to wait for the new recruits to come. The new recruits are still undergoing pre-war training in the rear. It'll take half a month before they can be replenished. "
Ledefonk said, a little embarrassed, "I came to visit you today to give you the second lieutenant's epaulette. I also have something I need your help with."
Claude smiled and said seriously, "Major, you're my superior and my friend. If there's anything I can do, I'll do my best."
"It's like this."
Liedefonk didn't hold back and told Claude what he needed help with. He was worried that the new recruits wouldn't be able to adapt to Claude's tactics after they entered the camp. He hoped that Claude would give him a training outline so that he could train the new recruits according to the outline to adapt to the tactics of Ranger Camp.
That was simple. Claude agreed to write a training outline for Ledefonk to hand to him three days later. It was nothing more than training the new recruits to shoot while lying down and reload while lying down.
However, he had Ledefonk transfer Berklin back to 1st Camp. After all, Berklin had been with Claude for the longest and knew all sorts of ambushes and concealment tactics. He had to teach the new recruits hands-on during actual training. Just following a training outline alone might lead to the opposite.
Ledefonk agreed to the request.
"By the way, you're now an official second lieutenant of the kingdom. According to regulations, you'll need a guard and an orderly by your side. I've brought them over. They can take care of you in the hospital."
Before leaving, Major Ledefonk remembered something. He went to the door of the ward, waved his hand, and two soldiers came in.
Standing in front of Claude were the young Myjack and the big Gemi.
Claude wasn't surprised to see Myjack. He left Myjack at logistics to hand over the captives with Ledefonk and didn't bring him to the frontlines.
Claude didn't expect Gemi to still be alive. He was there when they were marching and seemed to be near Aboyev. But he didn't see him when they took over the enemy's position and thought he was dead.
The thought of Aboyev made Claude feel a little dejected. He was the first comrade to leave and he would never see his bright smile again.
Myjack and Gemi both had an extra vertical line on their epaulets. They were promoted from privates to corporals.
Gemi recounted his experiences on the battlefield. That day, he tripped due to his numb body and managed to avoid the first volley of enemy fire.
Just as he was about to climb back up, his comrades on both sides were shot at the same time and fell on top of him.
Unfortunately, the first soldier who fell on top of him hit the back of Gemi's head with the butt of his musket and he fainted on the spot.
Later, when the corpse collection team thought he was dead, they grabbed his leg and wanted to throw him onto the corpse cart. Only then did he wake up. At that time, the soldiers who were collecting the corpse were shocked …
"I really fainted and wasn't faking it. If you don't believe me, look at the bump on the back of my head. It's only half gone. There's still more than half of it left," Gemi said pitifully.
"Alright, we believe you.
Claude asked curiously, "But why didn't you stay in camp? Why did you insist on being my guard?"
Actually, official second lieutenants of the kingdom were only given bodyguards when they held actual positions. A platoon had a total of 53 men. Apart from the four squads that had 48 men, the platoon jarls were also given orderlies, signalmen, medics, and bodyguards.
Among them, the pay for the orderlies and guardsmen were collected and signed by the platoon leader. Basically, only the platoon leader's trusted aides could take on these two positions.
Most second lieutenants didn't have bodyguards assigned to them during peacetime. They only had an orderlie to take care of their chores. That way, they could have an extra portion of their pay at their disposal.
Only during times of war would they choose their trusted aides to be bodyguards. Signalmen and medics were more specialized and were usually assigned by the battalion.
Gemi scratched the back of his head and said shyly, "I don't have enough to eat in camp. Only by following you can I fill my stomach."
Alright, he's a big eater.
He could eat as much as four men and had all his strength.
In ancient times, he would've been a fierce warrior. But now that it was the age of guns, he was useless. No matter how strong he was, he wouldn't be able to withstand a shot from a gun. He really wouldn't be able to eat his fill as a foot soldier. Forget it, I'll just let him stay by my side.
Claude's thigh had been pierced by a sword, so he had to stay in the infirmary for quite some time to recover. It wasn't convenient for him to walk either. Fortunately, Myjack and Gum were there to take care of him. It was a gesture of goodwill from Major Ledefonk and he was deeply grateful for it.