Reincarnated as Napoleon II-Chapter 46: Weapon Testing Part 1
Marie Louise remained near the carriage, guarded but attentive. Elisabeth stepped down beside her, gaze fixed on the lanes ahead.
"Are they going to hold a military parade?" Marie Louise asked.
"I believe they are going to test a weapon or something, Your Majesty," Elisabeth replied.
"Call me Marie, you will be my daughter-in-law after all," Marie said.
"No, that would be improper..."
"No, that would be improper..." Elisabeth said, lowering her gaze slightly.
Marie Louise smiled, not unkindly.
"Improper," she repeated. "Perhaps. But you are family now, whether the courts have finished arguing about it or not."
Elisabeth hesitated, then nodded once.
"...Marie," she said quietly.
The Empress seemed satisfied.
Ahead of them, activity began to shift.
Officers moved into position along the range. Flags were raised at the far end of the lanes. Engineers stepped back from the firing line, clearing the space with practiced efficiency. Everything happened without shouted orders. Signals were passed by hand. Whistles were short and restrained.
Napoleon II stood several paces ahead, speaking with a small group of men near the covered rack. One of them—an older armorer with ink-stained fingers—unfastened a canvas cover and folded it back carefully.
Elisabeth leaned forward slightly.
"What kind of weapon needs this much preparation?" she asked.
Marie Louise followed her line of sight.
"Whatever it is," she said, "your husband seems confident."
Napoleon I had moved closer to the firing line. He stopped just behind the marked boundary, hands clasped behind his back, eyes fixed on the rack. His expression was neutral, but Elisabeth noticed the stillness. He looked the same way generals did before battle.
Napoleon II turned and approached them.
"You’ll want to stand here," he said, indicating a reinforced viewing position slightly elevated from the ground. "Clear line of sight. Safe distance."
Marie Louise nodded. "I assume this is not a musket."
"No," Napoleon II replied. "It is not."
They took their places, and Napoleon I took his seat that would give him the best possible view.
Napoleon II walked up to the front and faced the attendants.
"Gentlemen and ladies, today you are going to witness the birth of a new warfare," Napoleon II declared. He beckoned one of the officers to hand him the current standard-issue musket used during the Napoleonic wars.
The officer obliged and handed him the musket, the Charleville M1777 model.
Napoleon took it from the officer and then spoke. "This is the weapon used a decade ago against the coalition. As you can see this is a beautiful rifle but it is slow, inefficient, and the range is just measly 50 to 100 meters. Not only that, when fired, it produced a lot of smoke. The British had solved this problem by introducing a new type of gun called the needle gun. With the inception of that gun, France is now technically behind in terms of weapons. What you are going to witness here is the rifle that will make it obsolete."
Napoleon II flicked his fingers again.
This time, the officer approached carrying a different rifle.
Napoleon II took it from the officer and held it up, not theatrically, just high enough to be seen.
"This," he said, "is the Model 1829 Infantry Rifle."
"It is bolt-action," he continued. "Breech-loaded. Uses a self-contained metallic cartridge. Powder, primer, and projectile sealed as one."
A murmur ran quietly through the observers.
Napoleon I leaned forward slightly.
Napoleon II worked the bolt once. The motion was short and smooth. Metal slid, locked, and seated with a firm click.
"No ramrod," Napoleon II said. "No exposed powder. No priming pan. No misfire from rain or wind."
He angled the rifle sideways so the action was visible.
"Five rounds," he added. "Internal magazine. Loaded from the top. A trained soldier can reload in seconds."
Hearing those features, Napoleon I’s eyes widened.
"Did you just say five rounds inside the gun?"
Napoleon II simply nodded. "That’s it."
"And the range?" Napoleon I asked.
Napoleon II didn’t answer immediately. He gestured to the range officer.
"Target," he said.
The marker at five hundred meters was raised.
A few of the officers exchanged looks. That distance was well beyond what line infantry considered practical.
Napoleon II stepped to the firing line himself.
An aide moved instinctively, then stopped. No one interrupted him.
Napoleon II took position. His stance was relaxed, practiced. The rifle settled against his shoulder without adjustment. He aligned the sights.
He fired.
The sound was sharp and contained. No rolling smoke. No obscured view.
The distant target jerked.
Napoleon II worked the bolt and fired again.
And again. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦
Five shots.
Five impacts.
The grouping was tight.
He lowered the rifle and handed it back to the officer without comment.
Silence followed.
Napoleon I broke it.
"Impossible..!"
"Impossible..!"
Napoleon I rose from his seat without realizing it. He stepped closer to the boundary line, eyes fixed on the distant target as if it might correct itself.
"At that distance," he said, voice lower now, "a battalion would barely see the enemy. And you struck it five times."
He turned slightly and nodded to the range officer.
"Bring the next target forward."
The five-hundred-meter marker was lowered. A new one rose at three hundred.
Napoleon II gestured, and the officer handed the rifle back to him. He didn’t take a firing stance this time. He held it casually, angled down.
"At three hundred meters," he said, "a trained soldier can hit consistently. At five hundred, selectively."
"And reload?" Napoleon I asked. "Under pressure."
Napoleon II worked the bolt once, slow enough for everyone to see.
"Five rounds. Then a stripper clip." He reached to the side table, picked one up, and demonstrated. The cartridges slid into place in a single motion. The clip was discarded. The bolt closed.
"Six seconds," he said. "Less if practiced."
A low ripple moved through the officers again. A soldier that could fire five times at a far distance and accurately hit their target, this is going to revolutionize warfare as told by Napoleon I himself.
"If you are surprised by this Father, then the others would surely shock you. This is just the beginning."
