129 – Battle of Waine Plains (2)

When I arrived at the barracks on the outskirts of Nantes Castle to show off the new weapons, numerous soldiers were standing in a tense line in front of the castle gate.

Soon there was not a single fallen leaf to be seen near the barracks, probably because he had brought nobles with him and said that he would personally see a demonstration of the newly made weapon at the parade ground.

In order to produce this result, the soldiers and lower-ranking officers must have used all sorts of cleaning tools to pick up, sweep, and wipe the trash…

Now I am their division commander, but the soldiers looked pitiful, probably because of the annoying and difficult cleaning.

If the weapon demonstration is properly completed, the soldiers should be given a small reward and a night out.

For no reason, I told the soldiers that I was tolerant and easy-going, so I ought not to eat with them and encourage them.

With that in mind, when I arrived next to the colonel standing at the outermost door of the barracks, he immediately saluted in a loud voice.

“Colonel Samuel von Dreil meets His Excellency Count Ciel von Kreuttel.”

“It’s a lot of trouble. Alright then, are you ready?”

“Major Frost’s battalion has already completed all equipment checks and preparations. You can see it as soon as you enter.”

“Then go right in.”

**

Entering the parade ground surrounded by a high brick wall, the battalion under Major Frost was lined up as the colonel said.

The rest of the troops were waiting in an orderly manner on the other side of the parade ground, awaiting my orders.

The other nobles were sitting there talking nonsense, probably because they had no experience rolling like those soldiers.

“Look, Your Excellency. Aren’t the soldiers delighted that His Excellency is coming? I think this is all because His Excellency paid them on time and treated them well.”

“Yes that’s right. So, today, to encourage them for their hard work, how about holding a martial arts match with a reward in the unit?”

“Ah, I think it would be good if you gathered them all together and congratulated them.”

Words of congratulations and martial arts matches may all seem like very good opinions from the point of view of the nobles of this era, but…

It’s already hard for the soldiers, but if I say congratulations again, they’ll get even more tired of listening to the speech.

Also, the martial arts match will definitely be a stage where only young officers from lower nobility can play, and the soldiers will have toil again preparing for it.

But that’s why ignoring their favor… You just have to make a good excuse and get out.

“When this demonstration is over, shouldn’t you go back to your soldiers and prepare them for war? I don’t have time, so I’ll do it next time. Instead, let’s give a small banquet to the soldiers who worked hard to prepare. And… Colonel Samuel.”

“Colonel Samuel!”

“Order the Frost Battalion to begin a weapon demonstration.”

When Samuel heard this, he shouted to the second lieutenant next to him.

“Ensign Milton! Send Major Frost a signal to prepare for the demonstration immediately!”

“I see, so-called Milton!”

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Moments later, as the flag rose, some of the Frost Battalion’s soldiers in the center of the parade ground moved and set up several armored scarecrows.

Then Major Frost stood up and pointed at the nobles with a gun I had made.

He was wearing only a breastplate and gauntlets, not the plate armor that had all of his bottoms and tops that he normally wears, and he was wearing a belt with small barrels hanging from his shoulders.

At the same time, two soldiers came out with a scarecrow clad in plate armor made of iron from our steelworks.

“This is Major Frost. By order of the Count, I have come to demonstrate the matchlock, a weapon that His Excellency has newly created.”

The rest of the nobles heard this and asked with questioning faces.

“I wonder if the combination of the iron rod and the wood is a matchlock gun… ?

“How do you write?”

Frost responded with a serious expression.

“That’s right. This is a matchlock, and with this weapon it blows this lead orb I’m holding. I think it’s faster to show you than to hear it in words… Your Excellency, can we begin?”

“Let me show you how to shoot first.”

At that, Frost took out his gun and started shooting.

First, put some gunpowder in the gunpowder dish attached to the side of the gun, close the lid, and insert the lit matchmaker next to it.

After that, I opened the lid of the barrel, put all the contents into the barrel, took out the loading rod from the bottom of the gun, and put the contents inside the gun.

“Isn’t it just a waste of time?”

“A skilled archer, no, even a poorly trained crossbowman would already be able to fire one or two shots by that time… ”

“But isn’t His Excellency making it?”

Frost said, ignoring the whispering and carefully reloading.

“Major Frost ready to fire!”

“Aim and shoot.”

At the same time, Frost aimed his gun at the scarecrow in front of him and pulled the trigger.

The nobles, who saw the loud, clear sound like thunder and the acrid gray smoke, looked surprised and began to speak.

“It sounds like thunder from an iron stick… ”

“That smoke… It smells a bit toxic.”

After a while, the smoke cleared and the soldiers naturally came out with scarecrows.

And the scarecrow they brought out had a hole the size of my little finger.

The nobles around me said, not hiding their astonishment.

“Nonsense! no way… no way! To think that armor made of steel could be pierced so easily… ”

“Even if I put a crossbow right in front of me and shoot it, it won’t break through… ”

“It’s amazing, to think that you can make a weapon that can pierce armor that seems impenetrable… ”

I knew that it was possible to pierce iron armor with a rifle that shoots lead bullets according to various studies, but…

I was even more impressed when I saw the actual piercing scene with my own eyes.

So I patted Frost on the shoulder to encourage him and then said:

“Good work, Major Frost. Quickly start the next demonstration.”

“Yes, Your Excellency. We will prepare for a volley by all members of the battalion.”

After a while, the battalion under Frost’s command camped in 6 lines of roughly 80 men, and in front of them were placed the same things as the scarecrows from earlier.

Then, as I signaled with a wink to Colonel Samuel next to me, the men of the battalion prepared to open fire.

The soldiers in the first row were kneeling on the ground, the soldiers in the second row were kneeling, and the soldiers in the third row were standing and aiming at the armored scarecrow.

When the preparations were finished, Major Frost’s voice was heard from afar.

“After firing a salvo, step back, and let the soldiers in the next three rows fire in the same posture!”

At those words, company commanders, platoon commanders, and noncommissioned officers in the middle of the ranks reacted as if screaming.

“In this shooting training, the idiot who puts the loading rod in the muzzle and shoots it is a cut! Don’t even dream of getting a promotion!!”

“If you can’t hit, don’t shoot your teammates! It’s a beheading that shoots an ally!!”

“You just have to do it according to the training! Only as per training!!!”

“If I finish this demonstration properly, I will be promoted to second lieutenant! See you from behind the barracks at night if you get in the way of my promotion!!”

After a while, Major Frost’s voice was heard.

“Shoot 3 rows at the same time!!”

After those words, red light emitted from the muzzles of the guns held by the soldiers, followed by a loud sound that made my ears hurt.

In addition, the smoke from the guns fired by hundreds of soldiers obscured them so that they could no longer be seen.

In that situation, all I and the nobles could hear was the shouts of Frost and the commanders.

“Those who opened fire immediately run back!!”

“You don’t know where to go? Then follow the sergeant next to you!!”

“Hurry!! Let’s do just as much as we did in training!!”

After about 30 seconds, as if the soldiers had finished their shifts, the order to fire immediately fell.

“launch!”

Then, just like before, the 3rd row who had just fired returned and fired.

Although I can’t say that there is not even an inch of distortion, the appearance of the soldiers was more than I expected.

After that, the soldiers showed the same 3-line volley fire over 4 times, and then the training ended.

When the training was over, the aristocrats all looked as if they were dumbfounded and said.

“If I had led my knights to face them… They must all be dead.”

“really… If there are soldiers who stand against them… You will see hell.”

Shortly thereafter, soldiers from Frost’s battalion arrived with targeted armor.

“The armors here are the ones we used as targets.”

Because the top, bottom, and even the helmet were bombarded with bullets, the targeted armor was punctured like a sponge.

If there was a knight wearing that and charging, he would have died 100%.

A single bullet and a few grams of gunpowder could kill a knight that would take at least several years to train. What a cost-effective weapon this was.

And I put aside that sentiment for a while and called Colonel Samuel and said,

“It’s a perfect result, you worked hard. In order to repay you for all your hard work, I will provide meat and wine to all the soldiers in the Nantes Barracks, including you. And from tomorrow, divide the order among the soldiers for 7 days and give them 2-3 days of vacation in turns.”

“Yes, I understand.”

After saying that, I spoke to the nobles who were surprised by the power of the gun they had never seen before.

“I will pass the rest of the matter on to you through the instructions. Now go back and manage your own troops.”