"Huh?
Why are you coming down today? Didn't Velekoni go home for vacation? "
Claude watched curiously as Doris slid down the hanging bedsheets with practiced ease. Aren't you afraid of your husband finding out?
Doris burrowed into the blanket. "I wrote him a letter to ask him to come home."
"Huh?
What do you mean? Why did you ask him to come home? Did you catch us at the scene? "Claude was shocked.
Didn't Doris hate Velekoni for being gay? In the past, she didn't want him to come home even when he was on vacation. She didn't want him to come home so that she wouldn't get angry. Why did she ask him to come home now? She'd seen him come home three times in the first month of the new year alone.
"Catch my ass. I asked him to come home and be a shield for us."
Doris sat on top of him. "I want a child. I can't get pregnant just because he doesn't come home, can I?"
Alright, Claude had nothing to say. He could only try his best to satisfy Doris's needs.
Ever since Doris found out that Claude had become a father, she started a new round of pressure on him. She wanted to become a mother herself and ask Claude to give her a child.
For that, she even wrote a letter to Velekoni, her husband in name, to come home so that no one would suspect her pregnancy.
Time passed by slowly and quickly. At the beginning of April after the rainy season in March, Doris finally got pregnant as she wished.
Claude had just returned from the military academy when he heard the news. The moment he got off his horse and entered the courtyard, he saw Natalie greet him happily. She brought him a plate of white rice cake with black sesame seeds scattered all over it.
It was a custom in the royal capital. It meant that the daughter of the family was pregnant and the family would flourish and prosper.
"This is …" Claude wasn't too familiar with the custom and didn't know what the black sesame white rice cake was. He was only curious as to why the frugal and stingy Natalie would be willing to make such a dessert and give it away for free.
"Take it," Natalie said generously.
"We have a joyous occasion today. I steamed a lot and gave it to every family in the village. Tomorrow, I'm going to send a basket to the Silvermoon Shrine in Mordo."
"What is it?" Claude asked curiously.
"It's Doris. She's finally pregnant."
Auntie Natalie grinned, her heart brimming with joy. "I told you long ago to get Welakoni to come home more often, so that the two of them can work harder.
As a matter of fact, Willecone has been coming back often these few months, and Doris is about to … "
Ugh … Claude could only accept the rice cake. I'm the one who's been working so hard. My back is about to collapse from exhaustion.
Your precious son looks good, but he's useless. You and your old man are so old that you can't see that your precious son doesn't act like a man at all. Even when he's wearing a military uniform, the way he walks and talks is a bit charming?
"Congratulations … Have you confirmed it? How many months has it been?" Claude asked.
"It's confirmed. I specially went to the military academy to invite a pharmacist over today. He did a checkup on Doris and said that she's about two months pregnant," Aunt Natalie answered with a smile.
"That's really good news!"
Claude took out a thale from his pocket and handed it to her. "Here, Auntie Natalie, I've lived in your house for more than a year now. According to the customs of my place, you should send someone a gift for a happy occasion like this.
Take this thale as my gift. Go buy some good food for Doris. "
"How can I do that? I've made you spend so much money …" Auntie Natalie politely declined, but her hand was tightly gripping the silver coin.
"It's fine. Just take it. Speaking of which, we're the reason why we're staying at your place. You don't have to be so polite.
Alright, I'll be going back to my room. "Claude returned to his room with the rice cake.
He sat on the chair and listened to the sounds coming from upstairs.
Now that Doris was pregnant, she became the family's animal of protection. Harbena was almost her full-time maid, serving food and water nonstop.
Claude sighed deeply. Doris's wish was granted, but he didn't know what to do about it. The child was his, but he couldn't bring himself to say it.
Natalie's family treated the child in Doris's womb as their own grandchild. But if the truth were to be exposed, Claude's family would immediately see him as their enemy.
In the dead of the night, Claude made his way upstairs. Doris was still awake and had been waiting for him the whole time.
She told Claude not to think too much about it. In fact, Velakoni promised that he would treat her and Claude's child as his own. That way, Nathalie and Zahirak wouldn't be heartbroken.
Doris said that Vellecony was grateful to Claude from the bottom of his heart for having done him a great service in getting her pregnant.
It sounded ridiculous and funny, but to Velaikoni, it was sincere gratitude.
That way, it would be easier for him to hide the fact that he was gay. Nobody would suspect that a husband with a pregnant wife was gay. That would make him feel more at ease both at home and outside.
Then, what happens when the child grows up?
Claude asked.
We'll see. Doris didn't want to think that far ahead. She only wanted to enjoy the happiness of being a mother.
However, she promised Claude that if the child grew up and something big happened in the family, she would tell the child who his father was and let him look for Claude.
Claude quietly crawled back to his room.
At the end of the fourth month, Claude was summoned to the military academy by General Micheli. He followed the adjutant to the academic affairs office and waited for half an hour before he was informed that he could go in to see the general.
The general wore a pair of crystal spectacles and was reading a document.
Claude came before his desk and saluted with his hands raised.
"At ease." The general returned the salute and pointed at a chair beside Claude. "Sit down, Claude. I called you here to discuss your assignment."
Claude sat upright. "I'll obey the assignment. I'll go anywhere."
General Michelic laughed, "No matter where we go?
No, no, no. I hope you can go to a position that suits your talents. Otherwise, it'll just be a waste of talent. "
"Let's put it this way, Claude. The military academy training will end at the end of the fifth month, which is a month's time.
Your training performance and assessment results are excellent, and you're one of the top students in the advanced seminar. Of course, your strengths and weaknesses are also very obvious, and I believe you're well aware of them. "General Michelic stood up and slowly walked around his desk.
"After the training ends, you'll be promoted to lieutenant-colonel of the kingdom. This is a reward for your outstanding performance," Michelic said with a piece of good news.
Claude stood up immediately and clenched his fist. "I'm willing to serve the kingdom!
I swear my loyalty to His Majesty!
Thank you, General! "
"Alright, there's no need to say such things in front of me. This is an honor you earned through your hard work and talent," the general said with a wave of his hand. "Sit down. Don't be so tense.
The reason I called you here is to discuss your position in Ranger. You have two choices now. "
The general quickly explained everything to Claude. Ranger consisted of four regular mobile field regiments, a light cavalry regiment, a reinforced combat battalion and a reinforced artillery battalion, totaling about 32,000 men.
After Claude was promoted to lieutenant-colonel, he was supposed to take up a position at regimental headquarters.
In Aueran's regular corps, the commanding officer of a battalion was a major, while the commanding officer of a regiment was a colonel.
The rank of lieutenant colonel was basically a deputy in the regiment headquarters or a chief of staff in charge of a certain department. They were more inclined towards civilian officers, such as the head of the military law department or the head of the logistics department.
During times of peace, being a deputy or chief of staff of a regiment was a leisurely and carefree job. The regiment commander would make the decisions while the other officers would take care of the trivial matters.
If anything were to happen, the deputy commander and the chief of staff would not be implicated. Instead, the regiment commander and those department heads would take the blame. To put it bluntly, they were people who could not manage anything. They had no power and no one cared about them.
That was why the nobles who entered the army with connections and ability would seek to be a deputy or chief of staff, or even a regimental staff officer.
Serving in the army during times of peace was considered a golden experience. During times of peace, they were free and unfettered. It was a position made especially for the nobles who used their connections to get into the army.
Even though Ranger wouldn't allow the children of nobles and influential families to serve in the division, there wasn't much to do as a deputy or chief of staff during peacetime. Other than having to draw up plans for field drills, there wasn't much to do.
Michelic didn't want Claude to live an easy life as a salary thief in the corps.
The way he saw it, it would be a huge waste of talent for Claude to take up a post at regimental headquarters. So, he decided to give Claude some responsibility and let him take charge of Ranger's reinforced battalion on his own.
Given Claude's promotion to lieutenant-colonel after his training, taking on the role of the battalion commander might seem like a low rank, but the battalion's structure was vastly different from that of other mobile battalions.
Ranger's mobile battalions consisted of four companies of 920 men, a garrison company, a cannon company, a military police company, a logistics company, a light cavalry company, and a recon company. There were also personnel directly under the battalion commander, which added up to a total of 1,360 men. It was almost a full company more than the other battalions in the kingdom.
As for this independent reinforced combat battalion, it was even more overstaffed. There were four combat battalions directly under it, a full one thousand people, and an additional two hundred and eighty light cavalry battalions and two hundred and forty artillery battalions. The garrison platoon and military police platoon were the same, but the logistics platoon had become a large platoon. Adding on the personnel directly under the battalion headquarters, a guard platoon, and a support platoon, the total strength of the battalion was more than one thousand and eight hundred people, equivalent to the total strength of two combat battalions of a second-tier corps.
Claude was rather curious as to what was going on with the support squadron.
General Michaelch explained that the battalion would have two thousand war-horses, six hundred healthy horses, and a hundred and twenty four-wheeled carts.
The company and the light cavalry company would have their own grooms and the remaining warhorses would be managed by the battalion commander. It could be said that everyone had a horse.
The support company wasn't made up of soldiers, but craftsmen, veterinarians, carpenters, blacksmiths, leathersmiths, and tailors.
Generally speaking, only divisions would have such logistical support companies. Most of them would be the size of a company and they would become free labor for the officers of the division, providing them with all sorts of conveniences.
Some high-ranking officers would even hire high-class chefs to work in such support companies to make it convenient for them to enjoy their meals.
The reason the battalion had a support company was because it was responsible for independent combat. It could be said to be the spearhead of Ranger.
Not only did it have to be good at offense, it had to be good at defense as well.
For example, when an insurrection broke out and Ranger received the order to quell it, the reinforced battalion would be the first to set off. He would have to rush to the location of the insurrection as soon as possible, occupy a vital area and wait for the main force to arrive.
Claude understood now. The reason the battalion was equipped with so many warhorses and four-wheeled carriages was to increase their mobility and reaction speed.
As for this support squadron, its purpose was to replenish the equipment and materials lost in battle, so as to achieve the goal of maintaining combat effectiveness.
General Michelic hoped that Claude would be the commanding officer of the battalion. He told him that the post was already decided to be taken up by a lieutenant-colonel.
There was no lack of intelligent and well-informed people in Ranger who had their eyes on the post. Many lieutenant-colonels expressed their willingness to take up the post. They believed that the post would be the best stepping stone for them to climb higher in their military careers.
However, Michelic rejected the pleas of the lieutenant-colonels who volunteered. The way he saw it, the only one suitable for the role was Claude.
The reason for that was simple. During his year-long training in the military academy, Claude was practically invincible among the troops under his command. Nobody was a match for him.
The evaluation he received for his tactics was that he was unpredictable and nimble. He often won unexpected victories in field drills and suffered minimal losses. He was also adept at ambushes and ambushes.
"The eight hundred or so basic officers in the academy are about to finish their training," Michelic said.
General Michelic said, "If you are willing to take on the position of battalion commander of this independent reinforced combat battalion, you can have priority in selecting twenty cadets from these eight hundred or so basic officers who have performed well and performed well during their training to form the basic officer framework of this combat battalion. The academy will assign you any officers who are lacking in positions.
Head to Chateau Christophe at the beginning of June and pick out the best soldiers there to form the battalion. "
Claude stood up and saluted. "Yes, General. I am willing to take up a post in the battalion."