Pope Augustus

During this time, Augustus was not idle. When he first met Dracula, he had asked Dracula to decide on a ranged weapon to be the standard armament for the Swiss Guard.

Dracula took this matter very seriously, as it was both the first task the Pope had given him and a matter concerning the Swiss Guard itself.

Dracula analyzed data from various bows, crossbows, and guns active on the battlefield, comprehensively assessed their performance in actual combat, estimated their future development prospects, obtained physical samples for comparison, and finally set his sights on the flintlock gun invented by Mahan of France.

In the narrow sense, it's not wrong to say that the flintlock gun was invented by Mahan at the end of the last century. However, in the broader sense, the flintlock gun includes the wheel-lock gun, which was invented as early as 1515 by the Nuremberg clockmaker Johann Kiefuss.

The basic principle of the wheel-lock gun is as follows: an iron wheel is connected to a spring. When the wheel is turned, the spring is compressed, storing energy, while the wheel cannot turn due to the lock of the gun mechanism. When the trigger is pulled, the gun mechanism releases the wheel, which rotates rapidly under the propulsion of the spring. Then, the wheel rubs against a flint, producing sparks that ignite the priming powder in the flash pan, and these sparks enter the gun barrel through the touchhole to ignite the main charge and fire the bullet.

In fact, the principle of the flintlock gun is fundamentally similar. If calculated this way, Mahan's contribution to the flintlock gun could only be called an improvement. But this was undoubtedly a very successful and most far-reaching improvement.

The matchlock gun, preceding the wheel-lock gun, marked humanity's transition from cold weapons to hot weapons in warfare. However, early firearms had numerous and obvious drawbacks; in many cases, they were even far less practical than cold weapons.

Firstly, because igniting a matchlock gun required a length of matchcord, every musketeer at that time had to carry several meters of matchcord wrapped around his body. Before battle, the matchcord was lit to prevent it from failing to ignite in damp weather; experienced soldiers would even light both ends of the matchcord to be ready for a second shot at any time. This meant one matchcord wouldn't burn for very long. And matchcord wasn't readily available everywhere; a matchlock gun without matchcord truly became just a stick for poking fires.

Lighting the matchcord was also very dangerous; sparks could easily ignite the bandolier carried on the body, causing an explosion and tragedy. For this reason, musketeers had to maintain distance between themselves, and such a relatively loose formation would give the enemy many opportunities. Moreover, a lit matchcord easily exposed one's position at night, turning any night raid into a live target practice.

Secondly, operating a matchlock gun was extremely complex. Firing a matchlock gun could be divided into 25 steps, and even the best shooters could only fire two or three shots per minute. Although there were remedial methods like the 'three-rank volley,' it still couldn't prevent enemies from charging directly at the musketeers. At such times, musketeers would be unable to defend themselves, so they had to be mixed with soldiers using cold weapons to form companies or battalions.

Thirdly, it could not be used in rainy weather, as water ingress would prevent ignition. It also couldn't be used in strong winds, as the wind would blow away the priming powder on the touchhole. Battlefield weather conditions are unpredictable; if one was unlucky enough to encounter bad weather, there was absolutely nothing that could be done. Furthermore, because smoky gunpowder was used at the time, firing was like a smoke bomb, severely obstructing the vision of friendly forces.

Fourthly, its accuracy was poor, and its effective range was short, only capable of hitting targets within 100 meters. Such a short range severely limited its effectiveness on the battlefield. The time it took for enemy infantry to enter firing range and charge forward was only about ten seconds; within this time, the matchlock gun might not even have fired its second round. If the opponent was cavalry, it was even more out of the question.

The clockmaker Johann Kiefuss, by chance, had an inspiration and combined the mainspring of an alarm clock with a flint, leading to the birth of the world's first wheel-lock gun. The wheel-lock gun immediately overcame the fatal flaws of the matchlock gun, allowing it to fire reliably regardless of the weather.

The military of his country quickly noticed Johann Kiefuss's invention of the wheel-lock gun and spared no expense to equip their troops with it. The wheel-lock gun quickly proved its worth on the battlefield, as its advanced wheel-lock guns allowed it to defeat the French army, which was equipped with matchlock guns, in a heavy downpour. The wheel-lock gun's reputation soared thereafter, and it was widely adopted by cavalry in various countries.

However, the wheel-lock gun was not without its flaws; it was not only complex in structure and very expensive to manufacture, but also cumbersome to use and unreliable in firing when the steel wheel was contaminated. Thus, people began to develop new 'ignition' methods.

Soon after, the Spanish removed the mainspring-driven steel wheel, which originated from clocks, and instead clamped a piece of flint in the jaws of the cock. Next to the touchhole was a striking plate. When firing was desired, the trigger was pulled, and under the action of a spring, the flint struck forcefully against the side of the flash pan, producing sparks that ignited the priming powder.

This firing mechanism was called the snaphance flintlock, and firearms equipped with it were called snaphance flintlock guns. The snaphance flintlock gun greatly simplified the firing process, improved the ignition rate and shooting accuracy, was convenient to use, and had a relatively lower cost, making it suitable for mass production.

Mahan further made significant improvements to the flintlock gun, successfully developing a reliable and perfected firing mechanism and safety mechanism, which elevated all aspects of the flintlock gun's performance to a new level.

By the mid-17th century, many European armies were widely equipped with flintlock guns, which remained in service for over two hundred years thereafter.

However, having good equipment does not mean that all countries immediately adopt it. The upgrading and replacement of equipment has always been an extremely lengthy process. No one is wealthy enough to replace all the equipment of all their troops at once, especially large nations that are difficult to manage.

Furthermore, without sufficient battle examples as proof, many countries remained in a wait-and-see attitude. And who could guarantee that a situation like this wouldn't occur: having just spent a fortune replacing equipment, even better equipment quickly appears? As a result, during the Thirty Years' War, the main force of most countries on the battlefield was still matchlock infantry.

Having made up his mind, Dracula prepared an explanation and went to see the Pope, expressing his thoughts. Unexpectedly, the Pope was very interested in what he said, had some understanding of it, and greatly praised his choice.

Dracula's estimate of the flintlock gun's future development prospects was just that—an estimate, but Augustus knew it all too well.

Augustus also raised many questions: could the current flintlock gun be widely used in the army? What was the cost-effectiveness of combining the flintlock gun with the smoothbore gun? Were there any areas where the flintlock gun could still be improved? Would the application of the flintlock mechanism to cannons help improve cannon performance…

For Dracula, these questions were too sharp; all his previous preparations for a response were rendered useless. What he had initially expected to be a question-and-answer session, once guided in this way, turned into a very relaxed discussion.

The two conversed happily, discussing with great enthusiasm for several hours. Through the discussion, Augustus gained a deeper and more comprehensive understanding of the development of firearms during this period. Dracula was also impressed by the Pope's profound knowledge and ingenious ideas.

It was ultimately decided to purchase flintlock guns from France to equip the Swiss Guard, with Augustus himself allocating the funds and Dracula handling the procurement. If it went through layers of government departments, it would likely cost a lot more unnecessary money. Augustus also specifically asked Dracula to bring him one to study.

As the 'Eldest Daughter of the Church,' France would not act unreasonably on such a minor issue to make things difficult for the Swiss Guard, especially since it was a profitable business that no one would refuse. Furthermore, the French believed that as long as the Pope discovered the benefits of the flintlock gun, he would increase purchases later, leading to a steady stream of wealth.

Things went smoothly, and the flintlock guns were quickly delivered to the Swiss Guard. Compared to bows and arrows, which require long-term training, firearms inherently have a lower barrier to entry, and the flintlock gun was among the best of them.

For the highly capable Swiss Guard, mastering the use of the flintlock gun was naturally a given. After only simple training, they could wield the flintlock gun as if it were an extension of their own arm.

During this period, Augustus personally visited the Swiss Guard's training sessions many times, sometimes even joining them to discuss the use of the flintlock gun, which earned Augustus extremely high prestige within the Swiss Guard.

This also served as a reminder to Augustus: if he ever had new ideas in the military field, the loyal, reliable, well-trained, and small-scale Swiss Guard would be excellent guinea pigs. Although their overall quality was far superior to that of ordinary armies and could not be generalized, they could still reveal some issues.

Upon learning that the Pope desired a flintlock gun, the French generously presented him with a top-performing, luxuriously decorated flintlock gun. Augustus adored it, carrying it with him wherever he went, taking it out to admire and play with from time to time.

Augustus, originally from a science and engineering background, very much wanted to try and improve the flintlock gun again with his own abilities. However, after disassembling and reassembling it countless times, he found no clues whatsoever, and couldn't help but lament: 'One realizes the scarcity of knowledge only when it is needed.'