On the 8th of February, the Caleben Royal Military Academy's advanced seminar began.
Claude had always been curious about the purpose of the wooden hut built at the side of the field. Only now did he realize that it was the combat training room for the students of the seminar. The moment he entered, he saw a large sand table that took up a third of the room.
There were a total of 26 officers in the seminar. Apart from Claude, who was a captain, the rest were all colonel-ranked officers.
General Michelic walked up to the podium and explained the purpose of the seminar in a straightforward manner. It was to use the recently concluded war between the anti-Austrian Alliance countries and the kingdom in the eastern part of the continent as an example to discuss the shortcomings of the kingdom's army in the war and to learn from them.
"At the same time, the excellent and successful examples of the war will be gathered so that the kingdom's army can learn from them in future wars.
"The general said that in the war against the anti-Aueran Alliance, the enemy relied on fortified defensive positions to defend against the kingdom's army. They didn't gather their forces and fight the kingdom's army in the field.
"Apart from a few limited counterattacks, such as Bluefeather's ambush on Amelia Plains or the Great Plains of Canas, the enemy basically gave up on fighting in the field.
"In fact, after the war broke out, we realized that the enemy's strategy of pulling back their forces and setting up defensive positions was to use time and space to wear us down and stop the war.
"Based on the results of the war, we and the enemy weren't the true victors. The enemy achieved their goal and forced the kingdom to sign a peace treaty with them.
"But our kingdom didn't lose either. We destroyed three of the enemy's allied nations and seized their territory.
The students in the seminar were a little restless. Michelc was being a little too direct with his words. All the officers in the seminar had a certain level of strategic foresight and professionalism.
Even though Michelc's words made sense and weren't wrong, they still didn't feel comfortable hearing them.
But the general continued to report a series of post-war statistics that weren't much of a secret to most of the colonel-ranked officers present.
But after listening to the data, everyone knew that General Michelc was right. This war was a loss for the Kingdom.
The most important strategic goal had not been achieved. The eastern part of the continent had not been unified. The kingdom's mortal enemy, the leader of the anti-Aueran alliance, Nasri, was still there. It had only lost one prefecture in the war, as well as three to four hundred thousand soldiers. It could be said that it had suffered a heavy blow, but it had not been completely defeated.
Additionally, Bluefeather and two second-rate corps were ambushed and defeated on the Great Plains of Canas. That was the greatest humiliation the kingdom suffered in the war, but it ended without any retaliation.
The light cavalry of Canas made a name for themselves with that battle. Even though they agreed to provide 80,000 warhorses as compensation for the kingdom in the next few years, the humiliation they left behind was still etched into the annals of military history. It was the biggest scar in the hearts of the kingdom's soldiers.
That was why Michelc mentioned in his speech that the purpose of the seminar was to prepare for the next war in the east. They wanted to learn from the lessons of this war and reform the traditional and outdated tactics. At the same time, they would use Ranger as a model and equip it with accurate shooting muskets and warhorses. They would use their mobility, agility and accuracy to research and practice suitable tactics and tactics before spreading them to the rest of the kingdom's army.
The entire morning was spent listening to Michelc's speech. He clarified the purpose of the seminar.
All the students participating in this high-level seminar were required to sort out the examples of battles that had taken place in this war, be it a failure or a success, in the 20 days before the arrival of the rainy season.
Then, they would write a summary report during the rainy season in March. They would use the battle they saw as examples to summarize the successes and failures of the battle as well as the improvements they could make.
After lunch, they rested for two hours and continued with their lessons in the afternoon.
What Claude didn't expect was that he would be called to the podium by Michelc right after the class started. He was asked to tell the students about the battle that took Wilfgang and how he led the victory at Squirrel Village.
Poor Claude had just told the story to Viscount Cuteff a few days ago in Normanley's manor. He didn't think he would have to do it again on the first day of the seminar.
However, he understood that the reason Michelc asked him to talk about the two battles was to make sure the other officers in the seminar wouldn't look down on him just because he was a captain.
Moreover, the preparations here were very well-made. The maps of Wilf Hill and Squirrel Village were hung on the wall, and a few adjutants had moved a new sand table. This sand table was the simulated geographical layout of the entire mountain pass.
Claude pointed at the map and sand table and left after he finished talking about the two battles he participated in.
General Michelic then went up to give a speech summarizing the two battles. He believed that the victory at Squirrel Village was actually a miracle. After reviewing the entire battle process, it could be concluded that the battle deployment and command methods adopted by the allied forces of the nobles, which consisted of more than five thousand soldiers, were on point and did not make any low-level mistakes.
It was just that the mountain path at Squirrel Village was unique and suitable for defense.
While Claude's men were few in number, they were able to predict the enemy's every move. Given that the enemy's equipment was lacking, they could only rely on their numbers and luck. The enemy jumped into the trap that Claude had dug for them and used the fire to wipe out most of them, resulting in an unexpected and miraculous victory.
The reason why Michelc called the victory at Squirrel Village a miracle was because it was a victory that couldn't be replicated.
He admitted that he had reviewed the battle at Squirrel Village more than ten times and found that if he hadn't used Claude's fire tactic, he wouldn't have been able to avoid defeat. At most, he would've been able to drag things out for half a month, but he would've still been completely wiped out.
Claude's fire trap in Squirrel Village was also a result of luck. If it had been raining that night or if there wasn't a strong gale after the fire started, the outcome wouldn't have been as good. The enemy would've been able to make a comeback very quickly and the burnt village would've become the starting point for the enemy to launch wave after wave of attacks on the encampment.
It could only be said that Claude was extremely lucky. That was also why Michelc believed that the victory at Squirrel Village was a miraculous victory that couldn't be replicated. He suggested that the students in the seminar could use that battle as a reference, but there was no need to study it too deeply.
Compared to the victory at Squirrel Village, Michelc believed that the capture of Wilfgang was more important.
It was because of this battle that the kingdom's army changed their traditional formation and marching tactics. The Aubass mark 3 matchlock that had been ignored before the battle, which was called a crooked neck musket by the soldiers, and the unwelcomed accurate shooting musket that was highly valued by the kingdom's army and became a hot commodity. It shone brilliantly when attacking the enemy's defensive positions, greatly reducing the kingdom's casualties.
Michelc said that the enemy's light cavalry division, numbering less than three thousand men, took Wilfgang by surprise and used the equipment there to defend against Prince Hansbach's troops.
Before Claude and the others entered the fray, the royal army launched seven attacks on Wilfgang. They used the traditional tactic of marching in formation and opening fire when they were a few dozen meters away from the enemy's encampment before charging.
However, due to the restrictions of the terrain, the enemies in the defensive positions also lined up and fired at the attacking troops. They had the advantage of high ground, and the four light infantry field cannons that they had captured covered the area of a hundred meters in front of the defensive positions. The Kingdom's army had no way of closing the distance and charging into the defensive positions. The seven attacks had resulted in more than five thousand casualties. It seemed that the only way to achieve victory was to continue and continuously launch attacks, using the lives of the soldiers to deplete the enemy's artillery and ammunition reserves. Only then would it be possible to capture the enemy's defensive positions.
"If we were to attack according to the traditional strategy, the staff officers would probably have to sacrifice another five to six thousand soldiers' lives to capture Wilf Hill.
But by then, it won't be a matter of victory anymore. Our soldiers will collapse first.
"Back then, the first prince commanded the local garrison and not the second line corps. Their will to fight and sacrifice aren't as brave and tenacious as we thought.
"But at that moment, the Ranger Battalion led by the then sergeant major Claude gave us an unexpected surprise.
"Everyone knows that the first prince set up the Ranger Battalion as an experimental unit to deal with the enemy scouts on the battlefield. They used the precision of the aubass mark IIIs to ambush the enemy scouts and achieved great results.
"What we didn't expect was that the Ranger Battalion was actually able to use the aubass mark IIIs to suppress the enemy's defensive firepower and cover for the rest of the troops to charge into the enemy's encampment and take over the enemy's encampment.
This tactic quickly broke the stalemate situation in which the frontline could not break through the enemy's solid and perfect defensive position, and greatly reduced the casualties of the kingdom's army … "
"If it wasn't for the inspiration we gained from the battle at Wilfgang, the first prince ordered the frontline corps to stop using traditional tactics to attack the enemy's encampment and started promoting the aubass mark IIIs, perhaps we would still be at the borders of Rimodra when the peace treaty was signed.
"At that time, the royal guard that led the four second line corps to attack the enemy's encampment had suffered heavy casualties and lost nearly half of their forces.
The funny thing is that the enemy is better at summarizing lessons than we are. They are better at learning from the changes in our army and correcting their shortcomings.
When we utilized the precision shooting capabilities of the aubass mark 3 matchlock to suppress the enemy's defensive firepower, we succeeded in capturing the enemy's defensive position with minimal casualties. After breaking through the defensive line, the enemy only took three months to introduce their precision shooting firearms. Even though it's performance couldn't compare to our aubass mark 3 matchlock, it still inflicted heavy casualties on us during the defensive battle.
"At that time, the royal army and many of the officers were still trying to stop the use of the aubass mark IIIs and insisted on using traditional tactics to attack the enemy's encampment, resulting in the loss of many soldiers' lives. That's the biggest crime against the royal army!
"Even though they were punished after the war, the damage they caused to the royal army is permanent."
Looking around at the 26 officers standing solemnly, General Michelic nodded slightly. "The reason why I invited all of you to come to the military academy to conduct this advanced seminar is mainly because all of you have different opinions and perspectives on the use of firearms with accurate aiming and firing performance. You all have your own unique strategic vision in both offensive and defensive battles.
"Ranger, which is about to be built, will be the target for you to practice your various tactics.
"The kingdom needs all of you to bring your talents to bear and learn from the lessons of this war. We need you to come up with more suitable tactics and tactics to avoid another tragedy like this one. This is our duty and mission as soldiers of the kingdom.
"In the next year or so, you will have enough time to study and practice all sorts of tactics. I believe you won't let the kingdom down."
Almost all the officers raised their hands in salute. "We are willing to serve the kingdom and fulfill our duty!"
Alright, even though the slogan sounded a little childish, it was the standard oath of the officers in the kingdom's army.
Claude raised his hands in salute as well. He thought to himself, 'It's finally over. It's getting dark. I can go eat now.'
It was the first day of the advanced seminar. General Michaelic said that the archives would move all the battle reports, files, and records of the past five years of war and place them in the confidential archives. All the students in the advanced seminar had the right to read and copy them, but these files were not allowed to be leaked to the outside world.
Every student was allowed to choose any file they were interested in to study and write down the relevant data and battle summaries.
When the rainy season arrived in March, they would no longer need to come to the military academy's seminar room. They could return to their respective residences in the villa district to write up battle summaries and improvement plans. On the first of April, they would return to hand in their written reports. General Michelci would then comment on the reports and organize everyone to discuss and comment on the written reports.
In the following days, they would conduct sand table drills and combat drills based on the written reports.