Chapter 13: The Arrival of the "Red Uniform".

When the first zombies were about to be released in London, the village of Longborn, twenty-five miles away, was still peaceful. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

Wang Qiu and others, who were waiting for "Pride and Prejudice", did not wait for the beautiful and lively Mr. Bentley, and Mr. Darcy, another iceberg male god known for his arrogance, but ushered in a militia regiment that was ordered to move to Meritun from the north.

(As mentioned earlier, the small town of Meriton, just a mile from Longborne Village, was a frequent hangout of the Bennet sisters.) ）

- The British Army of this era was very small, with a measly total strength of 50,000 men (including the 6,400 Indian soldiers employed by the East India Company), and it was scattered halfway around the world from Canada to India. Therefore, this pocket army can only use the "regiment" as the basic strategic unit, and the rank of regiment commander is colonel. The higher level of the "brigade" is a temporary formation, consisting of a number of regiments when needed, and the brigade commander is the most senior regiment commander as a rule, and the rank of brigadier general is temporarily conferred, and the brigade is re-disbanded after the mission is over.

As for the "divisions" and "armies" one level higher...... If you don't count the overseas colonial garrisons, the total of the entire army in Britain at that time was about the size of a division, and if you want to appoint any division commander, wouldn't it be tantamount to robbing the commander-in-chief of the army?

The army regiments in Britain are roughly divided into two types: militia regiments (in fact, regular army) and guard regiments, the latter is stationed in the capital to protect the royal family, and the former is scattered throughout the country, supported by local governments, and will only assemble in the capital London or near some other port in wartime, waiting to be embarked.

The town of Meriton, which is only more than 20 miles from London, is one of the distribution centers where various militia regiments of the British Army often hang out.

(It's pitiful to think about, the British opened up the seven seas and conquered the world with such a small army, but the millions of soldiers and horses of the Qing Dynasty were moldy at home.) ）

Accompanied by the brisk and lively "March of the Grenadiers", a group of infantry carrying pick-up pistols rushed in from outside the town, and junior officers in red uniforms rode high-headed horses, swaggering through the city with great vigour, attracting the applause and infatuated attention of the ladies and ladies.

In the English countryside in this era, those wives and ladies who have no worries about food and clothing are very boring in their daily lives, and they can only use social interaction to fill the gaps in their lives. Although the so-called social life is just an exchange of some well-known gossip and gossip. And with the arrival of these "red uniforms", the social life in the countryside, which was not rich and exciting enough, suddenly set off a wave of turmoil. All the ladies and ladies were excited, waving at the red uniforms, and some of the guys who were suspected of being "uniformed" became even more crazy.

Wang Qiu, disguised as Mr. Collins, stood in front of a shop in the town of Meritun, watching this vivid scene with cold eyes.

By comparing with the costumes of the onlookers on both sides of the street, Wang Qiu had to admit that the reason why these wives and ladies in the British countryside fanatically love the red army uniforms and even become a group of brainless "uniform control" may also have a certain reason. Because the English high society dress at the end of the eighteenth century was really very lacking in beauty, and the skirts of the ladies were all high-waisted and straight, without any curves, as if the curtains were wrapped around the body. No matter how slender the girl is, as long as the skirt is put on, it will exude a pregnant woman's breath. Long skirts with whalebone braces and wide and fluffy hems, such as those in "Gone with the Wind" and "La Traviata", have not yet become popular in Britain in this era.

- Of course, this may also be a boon for some women who value health over beauty: no need to corset their waists, no need to go on a diet, no need to wear the dreaded corsets that often strangled ladies to faint, and the bones of upper-class women to deform and cause frequent difficult births (later in the Victorian era, the terrible corsets returned), or even high heels (at that time, only French women generally wore high heels, and English ladies mainly wore flat shoes, similar to modern women's sneakers)......

As for the men's clothing of the gentlemen...... The men's coats, which were popular among English gentlemen of this era, were even more comical, with a hem that was longer than the knee and had a slit at the back, supposedly to facilitate horseback riding. The jackets are all wide robes with large sleeves, and the pants are all loose and baggy, and they are all tied by belts to prevent them from falling off

In this era of dark loose men's clothing, relatively speaking, the British Army's straight red uniform is indeed the most eye-catching and most reflective of the male figure. At least visually, he is far more handsome than the gentlemen who follow the rules and wear dull clothes. Especially on those handsome and burly young people, it has become a piece of "little fresh meat" that is enough to make infatuated and resentful women drool......

It's a pity that in the eyes of the enemy, they are also pieces of fat that are easy to gnaw - for example, Nan Satoka, who is an excellent sniper in the Japanese police circle, dressed as a maid and stood beside Wang Qiu at this time, and evaluated these "red uniforms" in front of him from the perspective of a modern soldier: "...... The older ones are fat and bloated, and the younger ones are generally oily and powdery, and their muscles are very loose, and they can hardly see that they have received military training......"

“…… No need to make a fuss, who knows what these people were doing before? Maybe I just bought this officer title a few days ago. ”

Wang Qiu said calmly, "...... It is said that in the British Army at this time, there were many officers who had never fired, could not read maps, and even some could not ride horses, which was normal...... If I really go to the battlefield, even with the same weapon, I am confident that I can fight ten of them ...... at a time."

“…… Buy officers? Minami Satoka blinked incredulously, "...... What else can an officer position in the UK be bought for money? ”

“…… Don't you even know? All the officers of the British Army at all levels in this year have to spend money to buy! Wang Qiu replied.

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- Although later Hollywood films such as "The Patriot" boasted very exaggerated the combat effectiveness of the Red Coats Army of the British Empire in the late eighteenth century. But in fact, the British Army in this era is famous for being at the bottom of the fighting power in the whole of Europe. Because the British government had long focused on developing a naval fleet, and was willing to use "call-and-go" mercenaries in overseas colonial wars, the British Army, which had been seriously neglected, became a force that "doubted its ability to defeat Snow White's seven dwarfs".

At that time, the positions and ranks of officers at all levels of the British Army were actually bought and sold directly for money! Any officer can be promoted as long as he has money, and it has nothing to do with military merit and seniority! The only exception is artillery, because the officers of the artillery have to calculate the trajectory and understand a series of complex mathematics, which a layman really can't do, otherwise he risks pouring shells on his own heads. Therefore, at that time, the British Army had a special artillery academy, and only those who passed the examination could become artillery officers. However, this is only to raise the entry threshold for buying officials, and if an artillery officer wants to be promoted, he must also scrape together his own money to buy an officer, instead of having an official to do just because of his good grades or outstanding military achievements.

What's even worse is that, unlike the donation class of the Qing Dynasty in China, British Army officers who are full of commercial spirit can also sell the official hats they bought on their heads, relying on the difference between the two transactions before and after to make huge profits - the selling price of military ranks and official positions at all levels will fluctuate violently with the market situation, for example, if a regiment is about to be sent to some desert island in the Pacific Ocean to be stationed, then the price of officers in this regiment will plummet immediately. And if this regiment is to be transferred to a prosperous place like the capital London, the gold content of the officer's position in this regiment will naturally appreciate accordingly.

As a result, soon shrewd financiers saw the benefits and began to resell the officers' positions like reselling futures, and with the help of their inside information, they kept buying and selling majors and captains one by one, turning the officers' positions into investment and wealth management products like stocks and securities...... At the height of this kind of trading, there was even an underground exchange for officers' positions, referred to as the "official exchange".

Therefore, at that time, the right way for the promotion of British Army officers was to desperately rob on the battlefield and scrape together a large sum of money to buy higher ranks...... And if the king or the prime minister wants to promote a young officer, he must obediently pay for him to buy an official position out of his own pocket, and he cannot just go down with an official letter.

In short, the British Army officers of this era, before they withstood the test and tempering of the Napoleonic Wars, were basically a group of laymen who paid money to become officials. Most of them spend money to buy officer positions, most of them not to seek development in the military circles, but to have a decent status such as "Colonel So-and-so" and "Captain So-and-so" in the social arena, and can wear a dazzling military uniform to attract the attention of those ladies and ladies. (That's why in the romance novels of that era, there were so many officers who danced and picked up girls all day long and didn't do their jobs, but they were actually just a bunch of playboys who spent money to buy officials) or sought an umbrella for some of their gray businesses. There are also some guys who are simply optimistic about the market prospects of a certain officer position, so they preemptively build a position and wait for the appreciation to make a lot of money, similar to those guys in modern China who have bought several houses and waited for the appreciation......

In this way, the officer corps of the British Army became a trading ground with incredible liquidity, and all officers regarded their official hats as a special stock, ready to be thrown at any time. Basically, few officers at all levels are competent, and the vast majority of officers who spend money to buy posts do not have the most basic military qualities, or even do not have their posts at all. Many soldiers, from enlistment to discharge, never saw the commander of the regiment to which they belonged - because the colonel was busy dancing and playing in the city all day long, trying to marry a rich lady! Whenever a regiment is about to leave for battle, there is always a group of pampered officers who are in a hurry to sell their official positions at a low price, so as not to die on the battlefield. Some poor people with a strong desire for fame took the opportunity to climb to the sky, bought the title of officer at a very low price, and dreamed of making a name for themselves in the war.

British Army officers at the end of the eighteenth century were in such a situation where they were resold all day long, so what about soldiers?

At that time, Britain had not yet established a compulsory military service system, whether it was the navy or the army, if you wanted to recruit soldiers, you could basically only rely on catching strong men, and the vast majority of conscription targets were "social scum" who were discriminated against, including bankrupt farmers, urban poor, unemployed vagrants, criminals, gangsters, etc. - At that time, European countries generally believed that craftsmen, farmers, merchants and scholars were the creators of national wealth, so when conscription, countries tried not to consider those who had serious occupations. The vagrants who roamed the towns all day long, the drunkards who drank in the bars, and the thieves and criminals who roamed the slums became the best source of soldiers for the army. Because the rulers of various countries believe that these inferior people who do not do their jobs properly cannot create wealth for the country, but are an unstable factor that affects social order, it is better to recruit them into the army on the spot than to keep them as traitors in society, which can be regarded as giving them a legitimate job, and winning glory for the country if they are killed.

When these "social scum" enlist in the army, one can imagine what kind of negative impression those officers from the big guys will have on them. The Prime Minister of the time openly declared: "You must not raise them in war, because it is almost impossible for a man who makes a living by that profession to be an honest man or a good Christian." In addition, war is a science that is no longer needed when it runs out, so soldiers in peacetime are like fireplaces in summer. The Duke of Wellington, who commanded the anti-French coalition to victory at Waterloo, called his soldiers "scum recruited from all over the world, who only know how to drink." ”

And the way to train these "scum of society" into soldiers was endless whipping, punishment and drilling—officers in the eighteenth century were convinced that soldiers don't have to think, and that the right to think belongs to them. It is enough for the officers not to be reasonable with the soldiers, but only to exercise strict discipline and to make them have no time to worry about other things through non-stop work and drills, and to expend the energy of causing trouble. As for promotion, it is purely a dream, where is the poor ghost qualified to be an official?

“…… That is, the soldiers of the British Army in these years are scum, and the officers are stocks? Can such a rotten army fight? ”

After listening to Wang Qiu's introduction, Nan Lixiang couldn't help but feel embarrassed, "...... How did the country survive? ”

“…… First of all, the British are only the army, and the combat effectiveness of the Royal Navy of the British Empire is still relatively guaranteed. Britain is an island country, and it cannot be invaded without defeating the British fleet...... Secondly, in this day and age, the armies of other European countries are also very bad! ”

Wang Qiu shrugged his shoulders and continued to explain to Nan Lixiang - because in the plot of "Pride and Prejudice", there are many scenes about the "red uniformed" officers of the British Army in that era, so he has collected a lot of information about the British Army at the end of the eighteenth century, and has also had video chats with several history professors who study related topics, and has also dabbled a little in the military systems of other European countries in the same era.

“…… The British Army in this era is all about money, and if you have money, you can become a big official, which seems very unfair, but in fact, compared with the era of the feudal kingdom, it is already considered progress - you know, in this year of the European continent, it is the officers who are born in the nobility, and the soldiers are from the commoners, and there is a world of difference between the two. For officers, the higher the rank, the greater the chance of promotion, while ability and seniority have little impact on promotion. For example, in France before the Revolution, the senior officers of the French army were usually aristocratic men who were neither military nor motivated. These old men are usually pampered, and they don't live in the barracks at all, and they don't understand the soldiers under them, let alone the art of war.

As for those who were really capable, there was no way to move up the ladder - there was a clear rule in France at that time that anyone who wanted to become an officer had to be approved by the court genealogist and have at least one-sixteenth aristocratic blood. If you want to become a general, you must have the blood of a big noble, and a small nobleman can only be a colonel at most. As for those who have no aristocratic blood at all, such as the middle class and the descendants of capitalists, they can only be promoted to lieutenants at most in the French army of the Bourbons, and it is impossible to command a company, and even to spend money on officials like the British.

This is no longer a glass ceiling in the workplace, but a steel armor plate that is clearly prescribed, so the French bourgeoisie is naturally full of complaints. In addition to France, the armies of other feudal kingdoms on the European continent are also similar, with the same aristocratic supremacy and the same suppression of commoners. Therefore, after the Revolution, the French civilian officers who turned over were able to beat the waste wood aristocratic feudal armies of European countries......"

By this point, the red-uniformed men had all passed through the streets, the soldiers were locked up in the barracks and kept under strict control, and the young officers were roaming the streets, whistling at the ladies or pouring into the taverns to get drunk...... Wang Qiu, who was disguised as "Mr. Collins", couldn't help but shake his head when he saw this: "...... Speaking of which, according to Pride and Prejudice, this militia group should not be stationed in Meilitun until the end of September or early October at the earliest. But it's only early September...... This must be something going on, and it looks like it needs to be inquired into......"

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Obviously, the red uniforms of the new militia regiment did not have much sense of secrecy, and Wang Qiu, disguised as "Mr. Collins", only spent a few glasses of whiskey in the tavern in Meritun Town, and successfully poked out the mouth of a dejected lieutenant.

-- At a time when Britain, Austria, Prussia and other European countries had concluded their first anti-French alliance and were preparing to gather their forces to jointly strangle the French revolutionary forces, their militia regiment was also ordered to move south from the north of England as a reserve for crossing the sea and attacking the French mainland.

Originally, according to the scheduled schedule, it would be a while before their militia group would be able to move from its old garrison in the north. Unexpectedly, when the plague broke out in London recently, the dignitaries of the Hanoverian dynasty were also worried that the citizens of London would break out in panic and riot to the countryside when they left the capital in a hurry and fled to the countryside, so they ordered all kinds of troops to enter the city of London and enforce martial law to maintain social order during the plague...... It was a dangerous and unmeritorious chore for the army ordered to enter the plague area of London to crush the rebels—the sick did not recognize people, and their troops who entered the epidemic area to maintain order were equally likely to contract the plague. And most of the plagues of this year are still incurable. It is at least as dangerous as the United Nations peacekeepers who were mobilized to carry out relief missions in areas of Ebola outbreaks in Black Africa.

Obviously, the red uniforms of the British Army, which are now spent on officials, absolutely do not have the selfless, loving and dedicated sacrifice spirit of the "blue helmets" of the United Nations in later generations. When they thought that those high-ranking officials and nobles in London had run to the countryside to take refuge with oil on the soles of their feet, but forced them, the miserable people from other counties, to go to the plague-ravaged city of London to be unlucky bastards, the entire militia regiment was full of complaints and bitterness.

They were allowed to rest for a week in the small town of Meriton, on the outskirts of London, and catch strong men on the spot in the town to make up for the shortage of soldiers, and then they had to enter the city of London to carry out martial law tasks! If it is overdue, it will be done by military law!

Therefore, leaving aside the soldiers who were still kept in the dark, all the officers who heard the news felt that the future was bleak and uncertain, and they were ready to have fun in the last rest station of Meritun, or find a way to get out of trouble.

——After spitting out bitterness with Wang Qiu, the drunken lieutenant actually sold him his official hat again, saying that he was willing to transfer his lieutenant title at a six-fold discount on the market price, and then because he was refused, he slowly lowered the price to four folds...... It's a pity that Wang Qiu now has no intention of leaving Longborn Village, nor is he interested in going to London to experience his illness for him, so he resolutely refuses......... Wang Qiu, who was disguised as "Mr. Collins", couldn't help but shake his head when he saw this: "...... Speaking of which, according to Pride and Prejudice, this militia group should not be stationed in Meilitun until the end of September or early October at the earliest. But it's only early September...... This must be something going on, and it looks like it needs to be inquired into......"

※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※

Obviously, the red uniforms of the new militia regiment did not have much sense of secrecy, and Wang Qiu, disguised as "Mr. Collins", only spent a few glasses of whiskey in the tavern in Meritun Town, and successfully poked out the mouth of a dejected lieutenant.

-- At a time when Britain, Austria, Prussia and other European countries had concluded their first anti-French alliance and were preparing to gather their forces to jointly strangle the French revolutionary forces, their militia regiment was also ordered to move south from the north of England as a reserve for crossing the sea and attacking the French mainland.

Originally, according to the scheduled schedule, it would be a while before their militia group would be able to move from its old garrison in the north. Unexpectedly, when the plague broke out in London recently, the dignitaries of the Hanoverian dynasty were also worried that the citizens of London would break out in panic and riot to the countryside when they left the capital in a hurry and fled to the countryside, so they ordered all kinds of troops to enter the city of London and enforce martial law to maintain social order during the plague...... It was a dangerous and unmeritorious chore for the army ordered to enter the plague area of London to crush the rebels—the sick did not recognize people, and their troops who entered the epidemic area to maintain order were equally likely to contract the plague. And most of the plagues of this year are still incurable. It is at least as dangerous as the United Nations peacekeepers who were mobilized to carry out relief missions in areas of Ebola outbreaks in Black Africa.

Obviously, the red uniforms of the British Army, which are now spent on officials, absolutely do not have the selfless, loving and dedicated sacrifice spirit of the "blue helmets" of the United Nations in later generations. When they thought that those high-ranking officials and nobles in London had run to the countryside to take refuge with oil on the soles of their feet, but forced them, the miserable people from other counties, to go to the plague-ravaged city of London to be unlucky bastards, the entire militia regiment was full of complaints and bitterness.

They were allowed to rest for a week in the small town of Meriton, on the outskirts of London, and catch strong men on the spot in the town to make up for the shortage of soldiers, and then they had to enter the city of London to carry out martial law tasks! If it is overdue, it will be done by military law!

Therefore, leaving aside the soldiers who were still kept in the dark, all the officers who heard the news felt that the future was bleak and uncertain, and they were ready to have fun in the last rest station of Meritun, or find a way to get out of trouble.

——After spitting out bitterness with Wang Qiu, the drunken lieutenant actually sold him his official hat again, saying that he was willing to transfer his lieutenant title at a six-fold discount on the market price, and then because he was refused, he slowly lowered the price to four folds...... It's a pity that Wang Qiu now has no intention of leaving Longborne Village, nor is he interested in going to London to experience his illness for him, so he resolutely refuses......