Chapter 66
The organization of the Red Dragon Corps progressed quickly.
Gerhart, who had become Grand Marshal, had to step down from his position as commander of the 10th Corps. Instead of disbanding or reorganizing the 10th Corps, which had only about 6,000 men left even including those who had recovered from injuries, he decided to have them join the Red Dragon Corps.
"How did you persuade them?"
"When I said you were the corps commander, they all agreed."
When I visited Gerhart upon hearing this surprising news, he greeted me with a hearty laugh, holding the marshal's baton.
"...How was it really?"
"I knew you wouldn't believe it. The fact that it's Her Majesty's direct corps itself gave it persuasive power. The officers also said there was no problem as long as their positions were maintained."
"I see. Thank you."
"For me, it's most reassuring to have you lead them, so there's no need to thank me."
I expressed deep gratitude to him, as finding elite soldiers like those of the 10th Corps is a difficult task.
As a result, the Red Dragon Corps was composed of 4,160 infantry from the 1st Provisional Corps, 3,897 infantry and 1,890 cavalry from the 10th Corps.
A total of 9,947 troops.
Although it's on the smaller side for a corps, it's a sufficient number to turn the tide of war.
After finishing all the procedures like official appointment ceremonies over several days, I called together the officers of the Red Dragon Corps.
---
"Everyone has arrived."
"Hmm."
At the report from Alexandrov, the deputy corps commander, Viktor looked around at those gathered in the tent.
Except for a few officers from the 1st Provisional Corps, most were officers who had belonged to the 10th Corps.
About half of the 10th Corps officers had agreed to join the Red Dragon Corps, but even that half was more than those from the 1st Provisional Corps.
They were wearing their original uniforms and, although there had been no specific instructions, they were gathered in groups with those from their original affiliations, looking at each other.
Viktor, standing in the center, was also wearing the existing imperial officer's dress uniform and looking at them.
"I've called you all here today to decide the direction our Red Dragon Corps will take from now on. I am Viktor, appointed as the commander of the Red Dragon Corps."
"..."
"I'd like each of you to come out and introduce yourselves with your rank and name."
Viktor focused the officers' attention and gave a signal to Alexandrov, who awkwardly stepped forward.
"Deputy Corps Commander, Alexandrov Kalichin."
After he finished his introduction, other officers came out one by one and briefly introduced themselves.
"1st Infantry Regiment Commander, Klaus Schultz."
The fact that the 1st Infantry Regiment was composed of 10th Corps infantry was Viktor's courtesy towards the soldiers who had belonged to a regular corps.
The soldiers of the 1st Provisional Corps who might feel disappointed by this were personally persuaded by Viktor, and they accepted becoming the 2nd Infantry Regiment without much resistance.
"Boris, 2nd Infantry Regiment Commander."
The regimental commander of the 1st Provisional Corps infantry, which didn't have a separate infantry regimental commander, was decided to be Boris, who had continuously achieved merits in battle.
"Cavalry Regiment Commander Heinrich Rauch."
The cavalry was to be led by Heinrich, who had been in charge of the cavalry regiment in the original 10th Corps.
"I am..."
"4th Squadron Commander of the Cavalry Regiment, Hans Meyer. I look forward to working with you."
After other officers finished their introductions,
"As Her Majesty Louise Zainburg's direct corps, we will carry out combat and strategic missions representing Her Majesty's will."
Viktor began with a conventional expression.
"As we directly carry out Her Majesty's orders, we will operate differently from other corps. These black uniforms personally bestowed by Her Majesty will become the symbol of the Red Dragon Corps alone, serving to distinguish us from others. Adjutant Anna."
"Yes, General."
Anna left the tent at Viktor's instruction and returned with a large box.
-Thud.
"...?"
The puzzled officers waited for Viktor's instruction, and he soon opened the box to show its contents.
"...Is this a uniform?"
"That's right."
Inside were neatly stacked caps and uniforms with a black base accented with red.
Viktor picked up the uniform and cap with my name engraved on top and showed them to the officers.
"For the successful execution of our missions, we must move forward as one under the name of the Red Dragon Corps. This moment is the beginning of that."
He paused and slowly began unbuttoning the dress uniform he was wearing.
The officers' gazes all focused on him at once.
Although his body wasn't exposed as he was wearing an undershirt,
"Corps Commander?"
"...!"
The officers in the tent were flustered by Viktor's bold action, and Anna, despite having been forewarned, hurriedly raised her hands to cover her face.
As he slowly folded his existing uniform and put it down, then donned the new uniform and cap.
The tent fell into silence.
"Now we are no longer officers of the 1st Provisional Corps or the 10th Corps. We will move forward together as officers of the Red Dragon Corps. Deputy Corps Commander Alexandrov Kalichin."
"Yes."
Not stopping there, Viktor called Alexandrov and handed him a uniform engraved with his name.
Alexandrov also changed into the Red Dragon Corps uniform on the spot, just like Viktor, and Anna quickly slipped out of the tent.
"1st Infantry Regiment Commander Klaus Schultz."
"...Yes."
Klaus looked at the uniform in Viktor's hand for a moment, then,
"If it's burdensome, you can wear it from the next meeting."
"No, Corps Commander."
As if strengthening his resolve at Viktor's consideration, he took off the uniform he was wearing.
Seeing this, other officers also received uniforms from Viktor and put them on, and soon all the officers had changed into black uniforms.
"2nd Infantry Regiment Commander Boris. I look forward to your future achievements."
"I won't disappoint you, General."
Viktor went around among the officers, personally attaching badges engraved with the Red Dragon Corps emblem.
The eyes of the officers with attached badges became resolute.
Although quite different from how other corps commanders control their armies, the officers who had already experienced Viktor's abilities firsthand were deeply touched by his leading by example and sincerity.
"We are one. Let's move forward together until the name Red Dragon Corps becomes a symbol of fear and an object of respect."
"Understood!"
"Yes, General!"
The officers responded loudly to Viktor's declaration, and Viktor nodded with a satisfied expression.
"Now, we will discuss specific training plans and strategies."
All officers focused on his voice.
"We plan to maintain the current organization of two infantry regiments and one cavalry regiment. However, there will be major changes in the armament, strategy, and tactics of these forces."
He brought out a long box that had been placed in the back.
"You must have seen the cannons used by the 8th Corps. Although expensive and difficult to operate, it's a weapon with definite rewards."
"Are you planning to form an artillery unit?"
"That's right. But we won't stop there. We will be the vanguard of the imperial army's transformation."
Viktor, having answered Klaus, confidently opened the box.
"This weapon will replace all weapons of our infantry."
"...?"
Inside was a metal cylinder mounted on a long piece of wood, and on one side was a stick connected to various parts with strings.
"...Is this a weapon?"
Unable to identify the unfamiliar object just by looking at it, Alexandrov asked Viktor, representing the officers' confusion.
"This is a weapon called a gun. It's a weapon used by dwarves in the southwestern part of the continent, including the Anchester Kingdom,"
Viktor put down the early model matchlock musket for a moment and took out a pouch filled with lead balls to show.
"Using gunpowder that also goes into cannons, it can project these lead balls at high speed towards the enemy."
"..."
"In case of emergency, like this, a blade can be attached to the end for close combat. I plan to distribute this weapon to all infantry units."
Despite Viktor's explanation, the officers looked at the object with skeptical eyes, and,
"Do you need a demonstration?"
"...Yes."
"Since the weather is good, I can show you."
He took the officers to a pre-arranged shooting range.
Although the preparation was just setting up poles to hang targets in an empty field, Viktor thought it would be sufficient to show the power of the gun.
"The gun is used by aiming directly at the enemy. Compared to existing weapons, it's closer to a crossbow than a bow."
He called soldiers waiting at the shooting range to bring bows, crossbows, and armor.
"These are items prepared for comparison. Would you like to check?"
The officers quickly noticed that the bows and crossbows were no different from those used for military purposes, and turned their attention to the armor placed beside them.
Especially Heinrich, who had led the cavalry for a long time, noticed the identity of the armor just by briefly scanning it.
"...This armor looks like the plate armor used by the imperial heavy cavalry."
"That's right."
"Haha... If this is the target, it seems there's no need to shoot with bows or crossbows."
Heinrich said with a light smile filled with pride in the armor.
"Is that so?"
"The armor used by our cavalry is superior in both thickness and quality to other plate armors. By the way, how many meters will you be shooting?"
"I'm thinking 50m."
"At 50m, it would be difficult to penetrate with any bow or crossbow in the empire. In fact, I think this weapon called a gun might be similar."
Although they didn't step forward, other officers around shared similar thoughts with Heinrich.
Unless hitting joints or seams, the armor used by the heavy cavalry had never been penetrated by arrows.
"I'll show you the results. You'll certainly be surprised."
"...Alright."
Viktor answered with a small smile.
"Now, this."
"Yes."
Following Viktor's instruction, a soldier hung the plate armor on a wooden pole about 50m away and returned.
"This soldier will demonstrate the bow and crossbow instead of me. Are you ready?"
"Yes."
One of the soldiers waiting at the shooting range came forward at Viktor's call and demonstrated shooting with bow and crossbow.
"I will shoot."
He shot about 5 arrows each with a short bow and a long bow at the armor.
"Oh, all hit the target."
"...Your skill is impressive."
All the arrows he shot hit, but only slight scratches were made on the armor.
"Crossbow, I will shoot."
It was the same with the crossbow.
The high-quality plate armor, nearly 3mm thick, blocked all bolts fired from the crossbow.
"As expected."
"That's right."
The cavalry officers talked with satisfied smiles, and Viktor happily watched their reactions.
"Before demonstrating the power of the gun lastly, I'll replace the target with a new armor."
"!"
The officers, who were trying not to blame Viktor for deliberately postponing the gun demonstration to the end, could see confidence in his actions of even replacing the target with a new one.
"By the way, I'll demonstrate the gun shooting myself."
"..."
Although the officers were skeptical, thinking that a small lead ball couldn't achieve what even large arrows couldn't, they couldn't speak up when Viktor stepped forward to demonstrate personally.
The officers silently watched as Viktor loaded gunpowder and bullets into the gun, inserted the ramrod into the muzzle to push the bullet in, and lit the fuse.
"I will shoot. ...Ah."
After finishing the shooting preparations and aiming the gun at the shiny new armor, he,
"It would be better to cover your ears."
Finally advised the officers.
"Let's do as the General says."
"...Alright."
The officers who had heard the sound of cannon fire, which also uses gunpowder, raised their hands to cover their ears.
-Click!
After confirming that they were ready, Viktor pulled the trigger.
And a moment later,
-Bang!
"Aah!"
"...Ugh."
A huge sound along with gray smoke spread out, obscuring the officers' vision.
Some officers who hadn't covered their ears screamed at the unexpectedly loud sound, and some sat down on the spot.
The wind blew, instantly clearing all the smoke, and,
"Now, it's time to check the results."
Viktor walked directly towards the target, bringing back the plate armor.
The officers who saw this doubted their own eyes.
"How is it? Targets at this distance can be hit without tremendous training. Even if it misses, if fired simultaneously by a unit, the effect will be great."
The plate armor, once the pride of the imperial cavalry, had its chest completely caved in where it had received the bullet.
The officers could guess that if a person had been wearing it, they would surely have died.
"...It's amazing."
"Huh..."
The cavalry officers answered with a sour tone, while other officers looked at the traces left by the bullet with pure admiration.
"It's not a weapon without drawbacks, but what I will supply to the corps will be an even more advanced form than this. We will improve various aspects such as loading speed, accuracy, and reduction of vision-obscuring smoke."
"..."
"If our infantry of about 8,000 men utilize this weapon, I think we can become the masters of the battlefield."
Viktor said while cleaning the barrel with the ramrod.
"What do you think?"
"..."
The officers, looking alternately at the gun, the dented armor, and Viktor,
"How do you plan to train with this weapon?"
"How will tactics change..."
"Can cavalry use this weapon too?"
Began to enthusiastically pour out questions to him.