Dragoons! (1)
The air hummed with a deep mechanical whir, punctuated by sharp bursts of static.
“All units! Replace the mana stones!”
“R-replace!”
Bruno’s voice boomed out, amplified through the loudspeaker magic tool. Right after came the troops echoing his commands in perfect unison.
Flap!
I stepped out of the tent and, sure enough, found the soldiers deep in training.
“Hey, Bruno! How’s the training coming along?”
“Ah, just a moment! I’ll come report in person shortly!”
Ugh, it was deafening. The loudspeaker turned every word into an assault on the ears.
That aside, why not just tell me right away? What was so important that he had to come talk in person?
Flap!
“You’re here?”
Bruno entered my tent.
“What’s so impressive that you have to come explain it in person?”
“Sir….”
He suddenly grabbed my arm.
Huh? What was he doing——
“Please, save me!”
…Huh?
“So in the end, the takeaway is that the troops are completely useless, right?”
“I didn’t put it that harshly.”
“No matter how you spin it, you said they couldn’t keep up with your training. That means they’re trash. Simple as that.”
“W-well… yes, that’s true.”
I had assigned him the job to make him suffer a little, but seeing him return looking this dejected actually made me feel a bit guilty.
“The horseback riding drills and cannon handling were fine when practiced separately, but combining the two created problems. Correct?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Then just drill them until they get it right. Why are you even worrying about it?”
“Huh? Is that really allowed?”
Sigh. What a frustrating guy.
“Look, most things work out if you keep at them long enough. It’s not like solving an Olympiad math problem.”
“Olym…piad? Math competition?”
“Never mind, forget I said that. Anyway, keep training, but let’s tweak the method a little.”
“In what way, sir?”
What else? The same method I always use.
“Tell them that outstanding performance will be heavily rewarded in their evaluations. There are twenty trainees right now, yes?”
“Correct.”
“Then split them into teams of five and say the best performer in each squad becomes the leader. Grant them independent command authority. If they ask what that means, tell them they’ll be treated almost like you or Hans. They’ll work their asses off.”
Of course, in reality the treatment would fall a little short of that, but it was still true that they’d be regarded as officer-class rather than regular soldiers.
“You’d go that far just for training?”
Bruno looked genuinely surprised.
“Just for training? This could become the core tactic for our entire mage corps someday. Who knows? Weren’t you the one who jumped at the chance because you saw that potential?”
“Huh? Y-yes, of course!”
Wait, was he? Or did he just want an excuse to ride horses and blow off steam?
…Maybe I should’ve just left this bastard to suffer.
“Anyway, for this to become our unit’s main battle doctrine, we need a solid middle-management layer that can take orders and execute them. While we’re selecting those people through this training, let’s also light a fire under the troops’ ambitions.”
After all, he had no problem bragging about himself. “Bruno, Dominator of the Battlefield,” and all that nonsense. A guy who hypes himself up that much shouldn’t have any trouble flattering others.
“Understood. I’ll return to training immediately.”
“Good. Work hard. Once it’s complete, come give me a full report.”
“Yes, sir!”
Flap!
…He’d manage, right? There was no way he’d screw it up after I gave him advice this good.
Two weeks passed.
A message arrived from Bruno saying training was finished.
Now that I think about it, I haven’t seen his face once in nearly two weeks. Where the hell has he been?
Since he said training was complete, I told him I understood and decided to go inspect the results. On the way, I also summoned the 1st Prince and the 3rd Prince.
“So what exactly are we supposed to call what you’re showing us today?”
“We’re temporarily calling them dragoons.”
“Dragoons? You’re not actually riding real dragons or anything similar, are you? Besides, that name overlaps with what they use in the Biraf Coalition Kingdom.”
“Huh? Biraf rides dragons?”
“Not dragons—some subspecies of drake, I believe? I’m not entirely sure, but I understand they ride reptile-like mounts instead of horses. They call themselves dragoons.”
…Huh? In the desert they ride lizards instead of camels? And they call it dragoons?
Well… if riding drake subspecies is accurate, I guess I can concede the name. But then what are we supposed to call ours?
This was awkward. The princes were already using the term.
I had casually planned to just use “dragoon” like in my previous life. Who knew the same name was already taken elsewhere?
“Th-then let’s go with Dragoon for now.”
“Dragoon… Very well. We’ll use that.”
Phew. At least that was settled.
The real question was the current state of the Dragoon unit Bruno was bringing. Honestly, I wasn’t expecting much. Two weeks of training wasn’t going to produce miracles.
Clop-clop-clop! Neighhh!
“We have arrived, sir!”
Bruno returned on horseback. Even in winter, white sweat and steam rose from the horse’s back—he must have covered quite a distance.
“Good. Reorganize first, then greet Their Highnesses.”
“Huh? Why? What’s the—— Gasp!”
He finally noticed the princes. Bruno quickly dismounted and offered a crisp salute.
“1st Prince, 3rd Prince. I hope you have been well.”
“Hm. So you’re the one tasked with developing this project? Sir Bruno Barenfeld, correct?”
The 1st Prince’s voice was warm and booming.
Oh, he even remembered Bruno’s full name. That was surprisingly impressive.
Bruno’s eyes widened in shock, then he looked flustered. Still, the way the corners of his mouth twitched upward showed he was clearly pleased.
“Y-yes! That is correct. I am Bruno.”
“Excellent. Sir Sternfeld assured me this new branch called the Dragoon would revolutionize the mage corps. Would you show us as well?”
Uh, I don’t remember hyping it up that much…
…Or did I? I might have oversold it a little when I was squeezing out more budget.
Bruno glanced at me with an expression that basically screamed What the hell did you tell them?
I don’t know, man. If you trained them properly, my words become reality. Ever heard of a self-fulfilling prophecy?
“I-I will demonstrate immediately. Unit, prepare to fire!”
Clack! Clack!
The sound of mana stone cartridges opening on the saddle-mounted altar cannons echoed across the field. Troops swiftly pulled fresh stones from the pouches beside their saddles and loaded them with impressive stability, even while holding the reins. The training had clearly paid off.
“Fire!”
Shwoooong! BOOM!
Twenty Fire Balls screamed through the air and obliterated the target Bruno had indicated. Still, up to this point it wasn’t dramatically different from regular altar cannon fire.
Bruno must have wanted something more impressive, because he immediately issued new orders.
“Each squad, disperse and regroup! Execute mobile encirclement and autonomous fire!”
“Execute!”
The Dragoon unit’s crisp replies rang out as the twenty riders split into four teams of five. They began circling the hill we had used as a target, maintaining even intervals.
Shwoooong! Boom! Kaboom! Bang!
Intermittent shots continued without pause. The fact that they could fire accurately from horseback without losing balance was a massive improvement over the pathetic display I’d seen before.
In just two weeks? Not bad, Bruno. Not bad at all.
I hadn’t expected this level of performance. It was genuinely beyond my expectations.
That’s probably a tactic that uses mobility to prevent infantry from closing in while maintaining continuous firepower.
It reminded me of the old Mongol swarm tactic. Even if infantry tried to chase them down, they’d never catch a unit of dragoons circling on horseback. The result was a brutally effective method of one-sided bombardment until the enemy’s mana stones ran dry.
The cannon fire continued for a full thirty minutes before the demonstration finally ended.
Clap, clap, clap!
“Magnificent! Truly excellent! This is an outstanding new branch! Sir Sternfeld, couldn’t we issue these to the knights as well?”
“As I explained before, these were designed with mages in mind, which is why we could lower the cost. If you could provide additional budget——”
“Ahem. Forget I asked.”
Damn. That had been a golden opportunity to milk more funding.
Even though the 1st Prince had refused, he kept staring at the Dragoon unit with clear regret in his eyes.
Well, if every knight were equipped with one, it really would create an invincible force.
Roughly a thousand knights served under the 1st Prince. If even half of them—five hundred—could rain down fireballs like the unit we just saw, the 2nd Prince’s army would melt like ice cream on a hot day.
But the production cost… Ugh.
As always, the problem came down to money. Why couldn’t this world have a “Show me the money” button?
“Perhaps even just for some of the knights…”
“Brother, you know exactly how large a budget Sir Sternfeld is talking about. Let’s use that money to buy more food and equipment instead.”
The 3rd Prince’s calm voice cut in. When did I ever spend that much?
Okay, I did dump half a territory’s annual budget into communication magic tools, but still… Damn it. I can’t even defend myself.
I had spent quite a lot. Still, the results spoke for themselves, which was why the princes kept investing in me.
“Anyway, this isn’t the time for that. We should first greet Sir Barenfeld, who worked so hard on today’s demonstration.”
Clop-clop-clop!
The sound of approaching hooves grew louder. The Dragoon unit and Bruno were returning.
“You’ve done well, Sir Barenfeld.”
“I merely performed my duty.”
“Hahaha! Such modesty!”
Modest? This guy?
Two weeks ago he was strutting around calling himself the Dominator of the Battlefield, and now he’s playing modest?
Modest my ass. He was just putting on an act because the princes were watching.
“With this level of skill, they look ready for immediate deployment. Would it be all right if I took them and put them to use?”
“Pardon? Taking them is fine, but… where exactly are you planning to go?”
I was caught completely off guard by the 1st Prince’s sudden proposal. Spring was still a long way off—what battlefield was he thinking of taking them to?