From a certain point of view, women were indeed the best way for men to vent their desires and relax.
That was especially true for soldiers in this era where they had to line up to be shot. Without a woman to vent their emotions on, it would be easy for them to suffer mental problems.
Claude finally understood why Berklin and the other nobles would go to the bar in Amis every time they returned from a mission with him.
Facing the enemy's threat and witnessing the deaths of their comrades, every soldier who returned from the battlefield would be on tenterhooks. Only fine wine and women could help them relax and experience the beauty of surviving on the battlefield.
Claude had great self-control. He had been in the army for more than two years and fighting on the battlefield was nothing out of the ordinary for him.
But the war was still going on and he didn't know if he would be able to survive to see his family.
The mental pressure was accumulating bit by bit. Even though he appeared to be very confident and trustworthy in front of others, he was feeling rather gloomy inside. He would often dream about the adventures he had with Borkal and Welikro back when he was still in middle school.
That night, he finally understood the beauty of women. Despite being tired the previous night, he slept soundly and didn't have any dreams.
When he woke up in the morning, he went through three more morning exercises with the beautiful lady and only woke up in the afternoon.
Even though he was fatigued, he felt relaxed.
His mind felt refreshed, as if a heavy burden had been lifted off his shoulders. His thoughts were clear as well.
The depression he had been suppressing in his heart was swept away. He no longer felt the same dispirited and dispirited feelings he had in the past.
"Sir, this is the reply from the battalion's carrier pigeon." Myjack had been waiting outside the door and handed Claude a piece of paper the moment he came out.
Claude took a look at it. It stated that they were aware of the situation and were sending people to Pacathia to investigate the relationship between Baroness Vakusili and Grandmaster Liboyd. It would take around three days. Please take good care of the baroness and don't offend her before the situation is clear.
It was signed by the battalion commander, Major Liedefonk.
En, I will entertain her well. I have already entertained her to bed. There is no subordinate who is more dutiful and hardworking than me.
"Myjack, take Big Gum to the villages along the way and buy some decent ingredients for me. If there's good wine, buy some as well. Be back before five in the afternoon. I need to prepare a delicious dinner for the baroness." Claude tossed a bag of coins to Myjack. There were seven crowns inside.
"Yes, sir." Myjack turned to find Big Gum.
Claude only had a casual lunch with the beautiful madam. His appetite was great and he ate seven fried eggs in one go. After all, he had used up quite a bit of energy last night and needed some nourishment.
In the afternoon, she returned to her room to take a nap. Naturally, it was Claude's bedroom. The small suite given to her became the living quarters of her two maids.
Claude, on the other hand, had to patrol the sentry posts on the mountain path and deal with any unexpected matters.
As the highest-ranking officer here, he could not continue to accompany his beautiful wife to bed and sleep …
Mazik, the wily old soldier, saw Claude's inspection and raised his thumb in admiration with a look of envy and jealousy.
After dinner, a few bottles of good wine, and chatting for the whole night, Baroness Vakusili was tricked into his bed.
Only a pretty officer like Claude would be able to do that. Mazik, who lived downstairs, heard the commotion clearly. He was wondering if he should make a move on the two maidservants of the baroness. He had to find an opportunity to test it out. Perhaps they were bored and lonely as well.
Claude pretended not to see Mazik's thumbs up and asked about the number of people who passed the checkpoint that day. Then, he asked about the situation of the cavalry that returned the night before.
The cavalry was split into four groups of three and headed towards the Great Plains of Canas and the eastern part of Askilin to scout. They left early and returned late. As Claude was chatting with the beautiful madam when they returned, it was Mazik who received the report.
"Nothing out of the ordinary."
Seeing that Claude wasn't interested in his thumbs up, Mazik reluctantly retracted it. "The last group from yesterday reported that they entered the Great Plains of Canas in the afternoon. They ran around ten kilometers and didn't find any signs of gathering, so they came back late."
"That's normal."
Claude nodded. "Canas and Askilin are different from us. They have a feudal system.
For example, these two paths lead to the private territories of the two duchies. Even if the armies of the two duchies want to send troops, they would have to obtain the consent of the lords and give them compensation. Only then would they be able to attack us through these territories.
If the compensation isn't agreed upon, the lords won't allow troops to pass through their private lands. "
"How is that possible?"
Mazik's jaw dropped. "This is a war we're talking about. How can the lords do that?"
Claude chuckled. "There's nothing strange about that. They're at war with our kingdom and the nobles of their territories have already done their duty by sending troops and money.
Their territories are passed down through their families, so they take the sovereignty of their territories very seriously. When their kingdom sends troops, they travel along the national highway and won't easily enter private lands.
Only when their territories are invaded will they invite their own troops in. Otherwise, they'll refuse to allow troops to enter their territories and might even use force to resist. "
In the next few days, other than the frequent bedtime romance scenes with the beautiful madam, the two of them spent most of their time eating, drinking, and chatting. Soon, they found a common interest between the two of them, which was the study of firearms.
First, the beautiful madam drew a sketch, showing her idea of a compact formation of guns. The drawing had 12 guns in a row, and there were a total of 4 rows. 48 guns were welded to a rotating iron frame, which could also be mounted on top of the carriage and moved.
What the beautiful madam meant was that when facing a large group of light cavalry, this dense formation of muskets could be set up in front of the formation and fired at the same time, using concentrated firepower to deal damage to the incoming cavalry.
Claude looked at the sketch and shook his head. He pointed out that the gun formation was a one-time use firepower. It would take too much time and trouble to reload after firing, so it wasn't practical on the battlefield.
In fact, it wouldn't even be as destructive as the cannoneers fired from light infantry cannons. The only advantage it had was that it could reach farther than cannons.
She had to admit that Claude's words made sense. In fact, she couldn't turn her idea into a real gun formation because of the difficulty of reloading it.
Her father, Liboyd, was of the same opinion as Claude. He believed that the only way to stop light cavalry from ambushing was with concentrated firepower. It was a pity that she only managed to achieve concentrated firepower, not continuous firepower.
The problem was that Freia had hundreds of years of musket making, and they had almost perfected the art of muzzle-loading muskets.
Even Aueras, a nation that looked down on all the other countries in the eastern part of the continent, had to spend close to two decades to increase the maximum range of their muskets to 350 meters.
The aubass mark 2 rifles used by Aueras' army were renowned throughout the continent. Be it in terms of weight, range, durability, quality, or reliability, they were the best of the best.
That was also the reason why the aubass mark 3 rifles, which focused on accurate shooting, were quickly copied after they were seized by the anti-Aueras.
The reason was simple. Aueras's musketry had the advantage of accurate shooting while maintaining those advantages.
Even though the various countries of the Anti-Austrian Alliance were unable to test out the effectiveness of these precisely aimed muskets in battle like the Austrian army, and the performance of the imitation muskets was a far cry from the real thing, the Anti-Austrian Alliance's soldiers were still able to use these precisely aimed muskets to inflict heavy casualties on the attacking Austrian army.
Madam bought two of the aubass mark 3 rifles from the black market at a high price to see if she could get any inspiration from them.
The way she saw it, accurate shooting was indeed very effective against small numbers of nomadic cavalry. However, she was disappointed that the muzzle-loading method was the same.
No matter how skilled a soldier was at reloading, he could only fire three times in a minute, and that was assuming he didn't make any mistakes.
So, when Madam jokingly asked Claude if there was a better and faster way to reload, he stared at her for a long while and shook his head. "I really don't understand why firearms designers like you have to go against guns. All you know is to lengthen the barrel and change the appearance of the parts to reduce the weight. Why don't you consider changing the ignition method and the gun?
If you want to increase the firing speed of a gun to the point of being able to fire continuously, you can consider changing the gun and gunpowder from a muzzle-loading to a muzzle-loading one. "
Madam didn't seem to notice Claude's last sentence at first. She retorted, "Many designers have considered changing the ignition method and the gun, but the guns they came up with are far inferior to the standard firearms of the various armies in terms of firepower and range. They can't even compare to hunting rifles. Those guns have no future at all."
Claude sighed. "That's exactly what you gun designers think. That's why we've reached a dead end in terms of gun design. There's no turning back now.
Think about it. The first guns from a few hundred years ago definitely weren't as powerful as the ones we have now. But it's only through gradual improvements that we've come up with the standard firearms we have today.
The ones we've produced might not be reliable, have a short range, and have low firepower, but we still need time to figure out how to improve them and slowly bring them up to a level comparable to current firearms.
Perhaps when that happens, it'll be a page worth remembering in the history of firearms. You'll be walking a completely different path from muskets. "
Madam was stunned. She felt that Claude's words had struck a chord in her heart. Then, she recalled what he said. "You mentioned changing the muzzle-loading to a muzzle-loading one. Is that possible?"
"Why is it impossible?" Claude asked. "I've often thought that if a hole was made in the barrel of a gun, it would be impossible.
How convenient would it be to open the hole every time, put the gun and gunpowder in, and then close the hole to shoot?
Besides, don't we have those paper cartridges now? It'd be even more convenient if we could put them at the back of the gun barrel. "
"Go out first. Let me think about it." It was as if Claude had opened a new door for her. Beyond it was a whole new world. All of a sudden, she had a myriad of thoughts and inspiration.
Afraid that Claude's touching of her body would affect her train of thought, she chased him out of the room.
Good times always passed quickly. Four days later, Claude received another messenger pigeon from camp headquarters. Madam's identity had been confirmed. She was indeed Boyd's beloved daughter, Baroness Vakusili.
Ledefonk ordered Claude to apologize to Madam and let her go. He also sent an invitation to her and her father on behalf of the ministry of the army, hoping that they could visit the royal capital when they had time. The higher-ups would arrange for them to visit the firearms research institute.
The night before they parted, Madam and Claude made love to each other. She told Claude that she would go to Aueras with her father. All she needed was for her father to get better.
She also gained some inspiration from Claude and planned to study it properly when she went to her father's place.
On the third day after Madam was sent off, Ledefonk came for an inspection.