Chapter 330: Returning to Service (1/2)
Corporal Lach Wickten sat in the back of a supply wagon that was headed to the frontlines. The new and improved Schmidt Needle Rifle was in his hands that Ludwig had improved after thorough and rigorous stress testing. The young man cleaned the rifle with great care while dressed in his camouflage smock and field cap, with his helmet lying beside him.
This supply convoy not only brought forth much-needed supplies to the frontlines but reinforcements to replace the soldiers who were wounded or killed in battle. Some of these men, like Lach, were returning to the frontlines after being injured themselves.
The young Corporal could not wait to show off his new prototype rifle to the soldiers in his unit. As such, he was eager to regroup with them. By now, Berengar and his army had advanced beyond the City of Milan after stealing its treasures and was on its route to the small city of Parma, which lay between them and Bologna.
Any minute now, he would approach Berengar's army, where he would likely regroup with at least one of the Jaeger units that were nearby. While the Italians had pulled back the majority of their soldiers to reinforce the city of Florence in a desperate last stand against the might of the Royal Austrian Army, they had kept some small amount of troops in the field in an attempt to slow down the Austrian advance to buy the main Italian army some much needed time.
When Lach finally saw the tents of the Austrian encampment appear in the distance, he slung his rifle over his shoulder and placed his helmet upon his head before rushing towards the camp. The young Corporal waved at the supply convoy as he departed.
When Lach arrived, he was surprised to see that his company was currently resting in the encampment and not out in the field; he quickly approached Captain Andreas Jaeger as he saluted the man with respect.
”Corporal Lach Wickten reporting for duty sir!”
Captain Jaeger returned Lach's salute before responding.
”At ease Corporal, I hope you are well rested because we will be deploying to the front lines shortly.”
After saying this, the Captain noticed the rifle slung on Lach's shoulder was vastly different from the muzzle loading Jaeger rifles that were currently issued to the Jaeger corps and could not help but inquire about it.
”Corporal, what is that, and where did you get it?”
The moment Lach heard this, he unslung the weapon and presented it to his commanding officer.
”This is called a Needle Rifle; while I was away, Ludwig invented it. This particular rifle is a second prototype, but Ludwig has assured me it is free from any potentially harmful malfunctions. It has the same degree of accuracy as our currently issued rifles but is capable of firing 12 rounds a minute!”
When Andreas heard this, he was shocked that such a weapon existed, and as such, he wanted to see a demonstration; however, firing a gun while in camp was explicitly forbidden, and thus he would have to wait to see how well the rifle functioned until it could be demonstrated in the field.
As such, the man sighed before giving the Corporal his orders
”get back to your squad; I am sure they will be happy to see you have made a full recovery...”
Lach saluted Captain Andreas once more before replying in the affirmative
”Yes, sir!”
After Andreas saluted the young man back, Lach returned to his tent, where he met with his fellow soldiers. As for Andreas, he immediately began to search for his commanding officer to inform him of this new weapon. Eventually, he found Colonel Dietrich von Lienz in a meeting with King Berengar von Kufstein within the Command tent.
Knowing his place, the man patiently waited by the tenside until his superior officer departed; however, when Dietrich finally exited the tent, he was alongside Berengar, who looked at the young Captain with confusion. Seeing the King in front of him, Captain Andreas immediately saluted to him.
”Your Majesty, Captain Andreas Jaeger, reporting to his superior officer about some information received from a soldier returning to service after medical leave.”
Berengar was curious as to what valuable intel a returning soldier could have and, as such, spoke up before Colonel Dietrich could respond.
”Speak, if this is something so valuable that you would await by the tent side for your CO, then you are free to discuss it with me.”
Captain Andreas looked over to his Commanding Officer to see if he had permission. Meanwhile, the aging Colonel gazed at Andreas as if he were an idiot and silently nodded his head. As such, Captain Andreas no longer hesitated to speak his mind.
”One of my soldiers, Corporal Lach Wickten has returned with a Prototype weapon he has purchased from Baronet Ludwig; he calls it a Needle Rifle and says it is capable of firing a projectile out to a similar distance that our Jaeger rifles are capable of with more than twice the rate of fire!”
When Berengar heard this, he was shocked; the only needle rifles he knew of were the Dryse and Chassepot from his previous life, and they lacked in terms of long-range firepower compared to the Whitworth rifle that he had based his Jaeger rifles upon.
Not only that, but as far as he was aware, they did not yet have mercury fulminate to manufacture percussion caps; as such, he was pretty skeptical of this claim. Thus he responded with a hint of curiosity in his tone.
”Did the soldier call it a needle rifle?”
When Berengar asked this, the Captain looked at him with confusion in his eyes before nodding his head. Was it possible that Berengar knew about Ludwig's designs? Then again, he was the King, so it made sense if he knew about experimental weapons that were shrouded in secrecy.