Wearing British clothes as a second-generation aristocrat

90. Physical pleasure and spiritual torment

Colonel Albert, who had arrived with great momentum, was now caught in an awkward dilemma.

Hundreds of British soldiers behind him were waiting for him to speak and for him to back them up.

But Colonel Albert was now all bark and no bite. He didn't dare utter a single tough word.

Gris continued, "Colonel Albert, on the fastest horse, could reach War Office in London in just a few hours..."

Colonel Albert was not an outsider like Decken or Harcourt. He hadn't been in the British Army for nothing all these years. He knew the power behind the names Abraham and Rivers, not to mention Connby.

"Alright, it's just a few soldiers who got drunk and got into a fight. A few days of confinement will do." After weighing the options, Colonel Albert had no choice but to concede.

"Very good, the matter is resolved." Griss spread his hands and turned to face the soldiers of the German Legion.

"Long live!" the German soldiers cheered.

With the standoff between the German Army and the British forces over, the German Army barracks in Bexhill returned to calm.

On their first day in office, Dugan, Gris, and Ken helped the German soldiers resolve a major, difficult task, which greatly increased the soldiers' goodwill towards them.

"General, this is a list of officers for our German Legion." Colonel Deken handed Dugan a list that detailed the unit numbers and commanders of the German Legion.

The German Army Corps consisted of 8 infantry battalions, each with 652 men, totaling 5216 men; 5 cavalry regiments, each with 520 men, totaling 2600 men; 6 artillery batteries, each with 64 men, totaling 384 men; and an engineer detachment of 120 men, for a total of 8032 men.

1st Light Infantry Brigade, Commander: Baron von Alten

The 1st Infantry Brigade was originally commanded by Adolf Barthes, the Duke of Cambridge and the seventh son of George III, with day-to-day operations temporarily managed by Major von Umptada. However, Major von Umptada is currently recovering from injuries at home, so the position of brigade commander is temporarily vacant.

2nd Infantry Brigade, Commander: Baron Ernest Longwater

The 3rd Infantry Brigade currently has no brigade commander, only two battalion commanders: Georg de Derryberg and Augustus Hönstein.

The German corps' cavalry was stationed at Dorset Weymouth and consisted of two dragoons and three hussars.

Colonel von Bock, Commander of the Dragoon Regiment

Hussars Commander Baron Victor von Altyn

The artillery commander-in-chief was Colonel von der Decken himself, whose subordinates included Hartmann and Röttig, commanders of the mounted artillery company, as well as Brückmann, Kürmann, and Heisser, commanders of the infantry and artillery companies.

The engineer detachment consisted of four captains: Berensbach, Prot, and Mainek.

Except for the 4th Infantry Brigade and the 3rd Hussars Regiment, which are still under construction, all other units are fully equipped and manned.

"Summon all the officers from Dorset Weymouth to Bakershill," Dugan said, glancing at the list. "We need to get to know them."

"Yes, sir," Colonel Deken replied.

The following days were uneventful, and three days passed in the blink of an eye.

That afternoon, Major Harkert, with a look of bewilderment, hurriedly entered the officers' command post.

At this moment, Dugan was sitting and chatting with cavalry officers, including Colonel von Burke, who had come from Dorset Weymouth, while Gris and Ken sat idly by his side, trying to read through the camp documents and adapt to the daily routines of officers.

"Brigadier General," Major Harkert saluted, "the five soldiers in the solitary confinement cell have asked me to make a request: I hope you can change the way you are punishing them."

Dugan was quite surprised to hear this: "Change the punishment? What, do they think my punishment was too lenient? A week of confinement for reflection isn't enough, they want to increase the punishment?"

Harker suppressed a laugh and shook his head. "On the contrary, they begged to cancel the punishment of writing self-criticisms and replace it with caning."

Upon hearing this, not only was Dugan stunned, but Gris and Ken, who were standing next to him, also widened their eyes instantly, their faces full of disbelief.

Why would he voluntarily ask to be whipped when he could easily write a self-criticism? Has this guy gone mad?

Dugan frowned and asked, "Are they deliberately asking for trouble? Give me a reason!"

Harkert sighed and said, “Sir, you don’t know this. Most of the soldiers in our legion, except for a few officers, come from the poorest families in Hanover, displaced farmers, and artisans. They have been poor since childhood and have never had the opportunity to study or learn to read.”

"More than 90% of the soldiers in the entire legion were illiterate. The few who had some literacy could only barely read and write simple letters home and recognize their own names; they had no ability to write complete documents at all."

Major Harkert said, both amused and exasperated, "For the past three days, five soldiers have been locked in solitary confinement. They have no drills or guard duty, which seems like a leisurely life, but they have been tormented by a written self-criticism, which keeps them up all night. The profound self-criticism you are demanding is an insurmountable problem for them, one they have no idea how to even begin to solve."

"They said that whipping was only physical pain, and that if you grit your teeth and bear it, it would dissipate after a while. At most, it would only cause skin and flesh injuries, and you could recover in a few days. But writing a self-criticism was a complete torment to the soul. Staring at a blank sheet of paper, scratching your head and racking your brains, you couldn't squeeze out a single word. The torment day and night and the anxiety were far more agonizing than being whipped."

Dugan was left speechless, both amused and exasperated by the explanation.

However, upon closer reflection, Dugen himself came from a future era where nine-year compulsory education was widespread and everyone could write self-criticisms. He was already accustomed to the conventional punishment of writing self-criticisms for making mistakes, so Dugen subconsciously felt that this was the gentlest form of discipline.

They completely forgot that this was Europe in the early 19th century, where even basic necessities like food and clothing were hard to come by, and literacy was an absolute luxury. A thousand-word self-criticism was, for an ordinary soldier, a more terrifying form of torture than military whipping.

Gris and Ken gasped in astonishment, suppressing their laughter as they exclaimed, "So there's something even crueler than whipping!"

Harker continued, "The five of them were illiterate and could not possibly complete the punishment of writing a self-criticism. They were willing to each receive ten lashes."

"Okay, I agree." Dugan thought for a moment, figuring that punishment was just a means, not an end.

As a result, a saying circulated among the soldiers in the German Army Corps: "I'd rather face French bullets and bayonets than paper and pen in solitary confinement."

Time flew by, and in less than half a month, Gris and Ken's official appointments came through. The two rascals put on their uniforms and roamed around the military camp, enjoying the soldiers' salutes and feeling quite pleased with themselves.

Gris remained true to his playboy ways and soon hooked up with a farm girl in Bexhill by spending lavishly on her.

The girl's name was Betty, and her family supplied milk to the German Army.

In 1804, milk was a common drink in Britain, but there were significant differences in social class, urban and rural areas, and drinking habits.

At that time, milk was mainly a daily drink for the poor, while the wealthy used it for cooking, making desserts, or adding it to tea or coffee, and rarely drank raw milk directly.

So, in order to seduce Betty, Griss spent his own money to buy a lot of milk from Betty's house, which he didn't drink himself but gave to the cooks to process.

Dugan knew Gris's character, and since he was paying for the milk himself, why not?

On this day, two pieces of news came from London.

On May 18, 1804, the French Senate passed a constitutional bill abolishing the French Republic and proclaiming the establishment of the First French Empire, officially bestowing upon Napoleon Bonaparte the title of "Emperor of France".

The second piece of news was that the War Office urgently summoned Duggan back to London.

So Dugan went to find Gris and Ken and asked them to keep a close eye on the energetic young men in the camp, along with Colonel Decken.

Ken said it was no problem, but Dugan searched around and couldn't find Gris.

"Griss probably went to see Betty," he said confidently.