Second Lieutenant Most finally wrote a note of approval to Claude and asked Claude to go to the weapons and equipment department of the logistics department to pick up twenty-eight Obash Type III matchlock guns. In addition to the normal nine-man team and the slow eight-man team, Claude, the four noble children, and the errand boy Mike are each equipped with one of these crooked-neck muskets. Claude applied for the extra five guns in the name of replacing broken muskets during training. He pestered Second Lieutenant Most for a long time before he agreed.
After acquiring the musket, Claude began to personally train the recruits on his own. He abolished the so-called training of marching in formation and firing in unison. The main training is to stand in a military posture, stand at attention and salute, then become familiar with the musket, master the essentials of aiming and shooting, then practice loading and applying ammunition, and finally firing at the target.
After everything was put into place, Claude was ingenious and dug a tunnel in the yard, placed stones, built a low wall, and then asked the soldiers to hide inside or lie on the ground, in a narrow space or It is to practice loading and charging the musket and aiming and shooting while lying on your side or lying on the ground in an awkward posture.
So the seventeen recruits who received Claude's training, as well as four noble children, as well as the sixteen-year-old Michael, and of course Claude himself, were rolling on the ground all day long, looking disgraced every day. Not only did they have to take a shower every day, but they also had to clean their uniforms every two or three days. Four noble children protested. They said they had never heard of or seen such training. Claude silenced them with just one sentence: Training like this will allow you to save your lives on the battlefield...
Facts have proved that it is actually a big mistake to equip the Obash Type III standard matchlock gun, also known as the crooked neck musket, to those so-called combat-effective veteran combat teams. The thinking of those veterans has been finalized. Long-term training has made them accustomed to the fighting method of lining up and firing in unison. The accurate shooting of the crooked-neck muskets is not important to them.
Although they admitted that using a crooked-neck musket could improve the accuracy of shooting, they were not used to moving these accessories such as the pill box, plate cover, and matchlock clamping handle to the right side. They thought it did not look as good as on the front of the barrel spine. The large protrusion on the right side of the barrel looked very uncoordinated and particularly annoying, so they were unwilling to use this crooked-neck musket.
But Claude's recruits have basically no experience in using muskets. For them, it is not important whether the muskets look good or not. What is important is that after they have mastered the aiming and shooting method of this crooked-neck musket, every time they use it, Hitting the target during training will bring a sense of satisfaction and pleasure to their own body and mind. Even the four noble children are no exception to this. With their family in decline, they cannot afford to play with muskets at home. Even if they have muskets hidden at home, they will not be allowed to take them out to practice shooting.
The only thing that made them unhappy was the practice of loading ammunition and powder, either lying on the ground or hiding in a pit, or hiding behind a big rock. It is indeed very difficult to load the musket under such circumstances. But Claude held on to this one the tightest. He often stood by with a whip and counted, and if the time exceeded his prescribed time, he would be whipped off.
Although other recruit teams in the military camp were trained to stand and load their muskets, everyone had seen it. But Claude said that it was his business if others were willing to stand as targets for the enemy, and you are my subordinates. I have to be responsible for your lives and will not let you die easily on the battlefield. But not dying doesn’t mean you don’t have to destroy the enemy, and hiding doesn’t mean you can escape…
After hearing this, everyone understood the meaning of why Claude asked them to train like this. Their own shooting training made them understand how stupid it was to stand as a target for the enemy. It is very troublesome and inconvenient to load and charge the musket while lying on the ground, but that does not mean that it is impossible to load and charge the musket. In addition, if you lie down on the ground and hide in a tunnel, your target is small, and it is difficult for the enemy to hit you. However, you can hide yourself and slowly aim and shoot at the enemies standing in your field of vision...
Before the rainy season arrived, Claude asked the soldiers to tear down a fence in the yard, and then asked the soldiers to build two large sheds, about a hundred meters apart. In order to build these two wooden sheds, Claude went to the Logistics Department and talked nonsense with Captain Kantaya for a long time, and finally allocated the necessary building materials in the name of training supplies.
These two wooden sheds were indeed built for training. The large sheds were used for soldiers to train on loading ammunition and aiming and shooting, but they were all done while lying on the ground covered with straw mats. The small wooden shed was used to display the targets. All the original human-shaped targets were used by Claude to go to the city of Conigada to print nearly a thousand pieces of red target paper with large traps and small circles at his own expense. The remaining targets were used to build the wooden shed. Twenty or so human-shaped half-length targets were made of wood with target paper attached to them, and all the training items were ready.
During the April rainy season, most of the training for new recruits of the Blue Feather Corps has been stopped. The soldiers are hiding in the camping tents, playing cards and war games, waiting boredly for the rainy season to pass. But in the large yard behind the treatment center, the recruit training that Claude was in charge of was still going on in full swing, and bursts of musketry sounded from time to time.
If you don't light the match rope, although it is difficult and troublesome to load the ammunition and charge while lying on the ground, there is no possibility of misfire. But on the battlefield, the match rope is basically lit. At this time, standing up to load the musket is convenient and fast, and it is also safe. Even if there is a possibility of misfire, the gun will fly into the sky. .
But Claude asked the soldiers to lie down on the ground to load their muskets and pay special attention to where the muzzles were pointed when the match was lit. What Claude asked was to aim at the open space in the front yard and develop the habit of not firing the musket horizontally, so as not to accidentally hit the teammates next to him.
At the end of April, Second Lieutenant Most came to visit the treatment center. Claude's shooting training for his soldiers had already alarmed the battalion. The consumption of gunpowder guns was three to four times that of other combat teams. This made Lieutenant Most had to come and find out.
"Your soldiers have more than fifty shooting trainings a day?" Second Lieutenant Most was very surprised. After reading the gunpowder consumption form registered by Claude and the registration form of the soldiers' results for each shooting training, Second Lieutenant Most Express disbelief.
You must know that other combat teams only conduct marching and firing firing training, and they do not fire more than twenty times a day. A soldier on Claude's side has to practice shooting more than fifty times a day, which is incredible. Especially the people above him knew what kind of rubbish the recruits on his side were. .seven
"You can go and see the results of my soldier training." Claude said with a little pride.
So Lieutenant Most followed Claude to the large training yard. After the shooting, Claude asked Belklin and McJack, who were staying in the small wooden shed in front to check the shooting results, to bring the new target paper they had just put on in their ponchos for Lieutenant Most to check.
"Eleven nine-rings, five ten-rings, three eight-rings, and one seven-ring. What do you think of these results?" Claude said.
This time it was not just the nine-man normal squad and the eight-man slow squad that were shot, but also three people, Aboyev, Murield and Diavid. The one with the worst results was Aboyev, who took the seventh ring.
Second Lieutenant Most looked at the red-heart target paper in front of him curiously, and the question he asked had nothing to do with the shooting results: "Why did you let all these soldiers lie on the ground and shoot? Why did you let all the members of the stretcher team stand?" In the back, why are they standing here without weapons? And where did these target papers come from?"
Claude had to explain to him that these soldiers could not train to march in formation and fire in unison. As for the stretcher team, Claude asked them to stand behind the wooden shed mainly to let them get used to the sound of muskets, so that they would not run around in panic on the battlefield. They originally wanted to conduct stretcher-carrying training, but it had to be suspended due to the rainy season.
These target papers were printed privately at my own expense. They were not expensive and cost just over a gold crown. Although Second Lieutenant Most was very interested in Claude's privately printed target paper, he had no idea of introducing it into military camp training. It's very simple. The queues are marching and firing volleys using human-shaped wooden targets. In this way, the coverage rate of each volley firing can be estimated based on the bullet marks on the target. The range of the musket's maximum range on the enemy is used. Sexual killing does not require shooting accuracy.
"These soldiers of yours have very high shooting accuracy. As a security team for the treatment center, they have already met the requirements. I personally think you can stop shooting training for them. There is no need to waste the gunpowder of the battalion. The Logistics Department's Second Lieutenant Carlos, the officer in charge of gunpowder, has made two reports, asking us to thoroughly investigate and punish you for wasting gunpowder and guns..." Second Lieutenant Moste summed it up tactfully and warned Claude.
Since everyone knew that behind Claude there was Baroness Maria, who was deeply trusted by His Majesty the King, most of the officers in the battalion were unwilling to deal with Claude for fear of inadvertently offending Claude. It caused worries among the army.
Otherwise, Claude and Captain Cantaya's request for building materials to build two wooden sheds would not be easily approved. In addition, every time they apply for gunpowder from Second Lieutenant Carlos, they will be satisfied. The main reason is that they are not willing to pay for this. If you offend Claude for a trivial matter, you will be penalized. Besides, Claude had a very legitimate reason for wanting these. It was to train soldiers, not to line his own pockets. The results were here, and no one had anything to say.
Claude could only smile bitterly. Why is it so difficult to do something? But this is also a helpless thing. Soldiers in this world and this era do not have sharpshooters in their minds. They all rely on bullets. Oh, here they rely on gunpowder and guns. out concept. They are accustomed to the war mode of lining up to kill. They rely on marching in formation within the range to fire and inflict damage on the enemy. Then they face the enemy's artillery fire with the lives of their soldiers and stride forward until they launch a charge and engage in desperate hand-to-hand combat with the enemy to obtain the victory. victory.
Victory in every war means that countless young soldiers die on the battlefield and become cannon fodder that no one cares about. The victor can also count how many soldiers on his side have died and how many families need pensions. The losers can only estimate how many troops they have lost. As for their names and family members, it is not important. Sometimes they even burn the files of these fallen soldiers in order to evacuate, so that these war dead can be completely forgotten in this world. disappear.
Claude also wants to work hard to at least change the stereotyped war model in some people's minds: "The shooting training I conducted for them is not just to let them take on the tasks of guarding and patrolling, but to make them They have strong offensive and defensive capabilities. If you don't believe it, Lieutenant, then when the weather is clear, we can conduct a field confrontation exercise to test the offensive and defensive capabilities of my soldiers... "
Second Lieutenant Most became interested in what Claude said about the field exercise: "You mean, if we let you soldiers conduct a confrontation exercise with a combat team, are you confident of winning?"
Claude shook his head: "You are wrong, it is not a combat squad, but a squadron. It is best if they are equipped with an artillery."
"Are you crazy? There are only about twenty of you, not even enough for two full squads. How do you get such confidence?" Second Lieutenant Most was shocked.
"I am confident of victory. You can test it to see if I am lying. But I have a condition. Before the field confrontation exercise, you ask Second Lieutenant Cross to meet the gunpowder and gun requirements for shooting training that I need. Share. If the field confrontation exercise fails, I am willing to use my own money to compensate for the cost of the gunpowder and guns we have consumed." Claude made a promise.
Second Lieutenant Most looked into Claude's eyes and found that his eyes were firm and confident. The Second Lieutenant nodded slowly: "Okay, I can convey your request to Second Lieutenant Carlos, but after the weather clears, we will conduct a field confrontation drill." I will ask the battalion headquarters to proceed, and I hope you won’t let me read the joke.”
"I promise you will be surprised." Claude smiled.