"Read it. I won't read it," said the prince.
"Yes, Your Highness." Skri brought the notebook to him.
"Claude Ferd, born on the 18th of the 3rd Month, Year 558 of the Sacred Light Era, from Whitestag, 21 years of age.
He graduated from the state high school with first place in his physical studies at the age of 18. He was recommended by the city's first majordomo, Viscount Felidos, to participate in Bluefeather's officer training and joined the army.
During his training, Claude had two clashes with veterans, heavily injuring six of them on one occasion and crippling a sergeant major on the other. He was also sent to the infirmary with heavy injuries on both occasions.
According to investigations, Claude acted in self-defense on both occasions. He was only fighting back against the veterans' bullying and revenge.
"Also, during the new recruit training, he was ranked first with excellent results. Second Lieutenant Most, who was in charge of new recruit training in Bluefeather's 11th Field Battalion, gave Claude a very high evaluation in his file, saying that he was born to be a soldier.
What's worth noting is that Claude is Baroness Maria's herbalism student. "
"Wait a minute," Prince Hansbach interrupted. "Baroness Maria?
My aunt in name? "
"Yes, Your Highness," Skri replied.
Hansbach furrowed his brow and thought for a moment. "I remember now. My aunt is from Whitestag in the southwest. She goes there every September for her summer vacation.
But I'm curious. Why would she take a physical student as her herbalism student? "
"Your Highness, it's recorded in Claude's family records that his father was the chief administrator of Whitestag. Perhaps that's how he managed to get in touch with Baroness Maria.
"Later on, his father was removed from office due to his involvement in the opening of a new trade route to Nubissia. It's said that Baroness Maria interceded on his father's behalf and they were spared from prison.
"But his father still ended up owing a huge debt due to his smuggling ship being hijacked by pirates. In the end, he had no choice but to commit suicide by jumping off a building."
Skri's inquiries were very detailed and he even found out about Claude's father's suicide.
This was mainly because he was in charge of the First Prince's notebook. Whenever the First Prince was interested in an officer and thought that he had a good future and was worth training, Captain Skri needed to record the names of these officers and investigate their origins and details to determine if they were worth the First Prince's time.
The notebook contained the names of hundreds of junior officers, and Captain Screed had spent a lot of time and effort on it.
After all, the prince had hundreds of thousands of soldiers under his command. Just the high-ranking officers alone were countless. Prince Hansbach was so busy dealing with them that he didn't have the time to pay attention to the lower-ranking officers.
However, Prince Hansbach had always liked to personally go down to the troops to check on the real situation. This was to prevent the senior officers from reporting only the good news and not the bad news. One could say that he was a military expert who knew his soldiers very well.
Every time he went down, he preferred to talk to the lower-ranking officers. When he met an officer that caught his interest, he would ask Captain Screed to record their name and secretly observe them to see if they were worth training and promoting.
From this point, it could be seen that Hansbach was a superior who knew how to find and use talents. He had a reputation in the royal army as a person who knew how to recognize talents.
But no one knew that the First Prince had a habit of forgetting other people's names. If not for Captain Skri secretly registering and understanding the situation of the lower level officers and giving advice and advice to the First Prince, the First Prince would have completely forgotten about the lower level officers that he had thought had a bright future a few days ago.
"Ptooey!"
Prince Hansbach spat on the precious carpet on the floor. "Those useless navy waste so much money and resources every year, and all they know how to do is build ships, which are then sent to the bottom of the sea by the anti-Austrian Alliance Fleet.
They don't even know how to open up new routes during peacetime. They're not even as adventurous as a few local officials and merchants.
When others open up new routes and blame them for attracting pirates, I really don't know how they can still call themselves Fearless Fleet. They're all a bunch of idiots and good-for-nothings.
Even now, they're still avoiding war and don't dare attack the three ports of Rimodra. Just thinking about it makes me angry! "
Screed smiled wryly. He knew that the first prince would get angry at the mention of the royal navy.
Unlike Stellin X who had obtained the support of the royal navy to ascend to the throne, Hansbach had the support of almost all the soldiers in the kingdom's army.
As for the royal navy, they were as incompatible as fire and water with the first prince. The First Prince had mocked the royal navy more than once, saying that they had forcefully turned the kingdom's naval forces into a giant turtle and that it would be best if they changed their name to maritime transport.
After the war broke out, the First Prince had suggested attacking both on land and at sea. He wanted to deal the same blow to the anti-Austrian Alliance countries so that their economic and military might wouldn't be able to compete with the kingdom.
However, the Minister of the Navy, Admiral Andrek Von Carlos, had ordered the royal navy to avoid war so that the resources the royal navy had painstakingly accumulated over the past few decades would be turned to trash.
Everyone knew that the royal navy wasn't as strong as the anti-Austrian Alliance's fleet, but it was still too much for the navy to sit back and watch the five anti-Austrian nations fight.
Because of the navy's avoidance of war, the eastern seas of the continent became the domain of the anti-Austrian Alliance's fleet.
Even though Bluefeather and the other two corps had attacked the three southern prefectures and blocked the path of retreat of the anti-Auerian alliance, the sea routes were still unimpeded. Food and military supplies from Nasri, cavalry from Canas, and ammunition from eastern Askilin could still be transported to Rimodra through the sea routes.
Hansbach had sworn more than once that as long as he ascended to the throne, he would change the royal navy completely and settle all the crimes of corruption and inaction during the war.
Because they were in charge of the trade with the seven colonies on Nubissia, the admiralty smuggled their own goods into the lucrative trade and made a fortune out of it.
That was no secret in the royal capital. Even though the navy denied it, the first prince had noticed it. He just hadn't found any evidence yet.
Cryus's suggestion to build a new fleet, upgrade Whitestag, and open up new trade routes was to give Fearless a competitor so that it could maintain some fighting power and prevent it from rotting away into an armed merchant fleet.
The knowledgeable people of the kingdom knew that a fleet that only knew how to get rich didn't have any fighting power.
However, the Admiralty had controlled Fearless for far too long, and the Admiralty Minister Andrek von Carlos relied on Stellin X's trust in him to prevent others from interfering with Fearless's reform.
"Continue reading …" After venting for a while, the first prince remembered that he couldn't do anything to the navy minister and the royal navy, so he could only give up.
"Yes, Your Highness."
Skri continued reading from the notebook in his hand. "Because of Baroness Maria's letter, Bluefeather realized that Claude had such a powerful backer.
In no time at all, he became a hot potato in the eyes of the high-ranking officers. Back then, he was heavily injured by the veterans and was being treated. As compensation, the corps promoted him to sergeant major and ordered him to set up a squad of guards and stretcher bearers for the infirmary. "
"Wait a minute. Did Claude use my aunt's name to get something out of the army?" Hansbach asked.
"No." Skri shook his head.
Skri shook his head. "Actually, if it wasn't for Baroness Maria's reply, nobody would have known that Claude was her disciple. He didn't mention it to anyone. Even in his reply to Baroness Maria, it was just a polite greeting. He didn't mention anything about his injuries in the camp, just like any other friend or relative.
"I heard that when His Highness went to Bluefeather to oversee the war, he offered to take care of Claude because of Baroness Maria's letter, but he refused.
I heard that His Highness was furious and scolded him for not knowing how to appreciate favors. However, he still kept Claude's 11th battalion by his side as his guard battalion. "
The first prince nodded. "My brother grew up by my aunt's side. Unlike me, who only knows how to fool around outside, he'll always carry out my aunt's orders properly.
Continue reading Claude's information. "
"Because the infirmary guards and stretcher-bearers are temporary units, the recruits assigned to Claude are the ones who were eliminated from Bluefeather's training camp and aren't suited to be soldiers. Quite a few of them are idiots.
"But Claude only took two months to train them into passable soldiers, earning him the title of 'Skilled at Training'.
During that time, Claude's squad even had a field battle with a veteran combat company from the 11th Field Battalion. Claude was the main attacker and won. "
"Huh?
How did he win? "The first prince found it odd.
Skri smiled. "Your Highness, it's simple. It's just like the battle where they took Wilf Ridge."
"You mean to say …"
"Claude's squad was equipped with aubass mark 3 firearms. They crawled on the ground to get close to the defensive formation. The veteran platoon formed a line but ended up becoming their target. Their two cannons were completely useless and they were wiped out in the end.
It's said that the result shocked all the onlookers. The leader of the platoon reprimanded Claude for being too wretched and not having the courage to face cannon fire head-on. So, only Bluefeather's inner circle knew about it. "
"I remember now. Claude was the platoon jarl guarding the entrance to Odin Mountain Range, wasn't he? I remember that he made the soldiers lie on the ground to reload their muskets and dirty their uniforms.
So, I transferred him to the ranger battalion. In the end, he led the soldiers to take Wilf Ridge. He also fired while lying prone and attacked. Soon, they reached the enemy's defensive line.
Wasn't he injured and sent to the infirmary? "
"Yes, Your Highness. You finally remember." Skri breathed a sigh of relief.
But there was nothing he could do about it. The first prince was busy and forgetful. It was only natural that he couldn't remember a second lieutenant.
"How did he get to the three southern prefectures?" the first prince asked.
Skri smiled bitterly. "Your Highness, you've forgotten that you expanded your battalion into the 4th Ranger Battalion. Claude returned to 1st Ranger Battalion after he recovered and became a subordinate of Major Ledefonk. It's said that Major Ledefonk relies heavily on Claude.
I wonder if you still remember that 1st Ranger Battalion spent 54 days to take Blackmaple Castle, which was easy to defend but hard to attack, and only suffered 27 casualties. According to my investigations, the strategy to take Blackmaple Castle was planned by Claude. It's surprising that they suffered so few casualties.
Because of this, His Highness deliberately delayed their rewards by 54 days, to punish them for spending so much time to capture Black Maple Castle … "
"Is that so?
There's such a thing? "The first prince rubbed his nose, feeling rather embarrassed.
He didn't think he would get into a fight with his subordinates over such a small matter. It sounded rather childish.
Skri ignored the prince's embarrassment and continued reading from the notebook. "After taking Blackmaple Castle, 1st Ranger Battalion was ordered to search for a smuggling route to the three southern prefectures of Askilin. They completed their mission and remained in the three southern prefectures.
"After Bluefeather took the three southern prefectures, as the garrison battalion wasn't deployed, 1st Ranger Battalion had to be split up to defend the various strategic points and communications in the three southern prefectures.
"Claude was ordered to lead a band to guard Squirrel Village in case the armies of the two duchies try to ambush the three southern prefectures."
Skri looked at the first prince and said, "Your Highness, your evaluation of Claude is still there. You believe that he's a brat who has the courage to put his ideas into action. His unexpected actions often bring about unexpected results."
The eldest prince understood the meaning behind Captain Skri's words and pointed to the report on the table: "Then do you think this report is credible?
It's not a false report? "
"I believe Your Highness understands Major Liedefonk's personality. He's been by your side for many years and is an honest man who won't lie. That's why you appointed him to be in charge of the logistics department of the new battalion.
"Later on, he was promoted to the position of the battalion commander.
"I believe that without concrete proof, Major Liedefonk wouldn't have sent out such a seemingly fake report.
Claude was one of the main parties involved. I've seen the report. The last part of the report simply states that he used fire to wipe out most of the enemies. That's how he won the battle.
"Based on the information in this notebook, I believe it's a real victory and not a false report."
The first prince rubbed his chin and thought for a moment before making a decision. "Let's put this report aside for now. When the temporary passage to Piklet Mountain is restored, we'll check its authenticity.
If it's true, I'll personally summon this Claude and award him with a medal. "