The Shadow of Great Britain

Capítulo 1347: Chapter 188: Has the Colonel Been Put Under House Arrest? (3)

Upon hearing about this working method, Hutter immediately concluded that Colonel Hestingov must be an expert among the constitutional soldiers.

He had once encountered an old constable transferred from a frontier region in St. Petersburg, a similarly formidable character as Hestingov, who also enjoyed conducting secret inspections.

The term ‘secret inspection’ might sound familiar, but never let its clichéd nature deceive you into thinking it’s a simple task.

If lacking true skill and courage, it’s quite easy to get oneself ‘lost’ playing this game.

Although the Third Bureau and the Constitutional Guard had great power, such power came with a price.

Their authority was based on criticizing the incompetence of other government departments, a nature of work that naturally wouldn’t earn the favor of other departments.

The fuse of all this was the highly controversial “1828 Public Opinion Report” released by the Third Bureau.

The “1828 Public Opinion Report” indicated that the supervision by the Third Bureau and the Constitutional Guard over the government’s power structures was absolutely effective.

However, because this report exposed societal realities, it also aroused the hatred of many high-ranking officials, with some even attempting to persecute the Third Bureau and the Constitutional Guard.

The Third Bureau’s retaliation was to sharply critique the major leaders of central power institutions in the “1829 Public Opinion Survey.”

The Third Bureau first praised Chancellor of the Exchequer Conklin for his diligent work but also pointed out Conklin’s stubborn nature, labeling him as someone unwilling to listen to anyone’s opinion. Conklin’s assistant, Druginin, though incredibly capable, showed tendencies towards corruption and disregard for law.

As for Home Secretary Zakrevsky, he was seen as short-sighted and shallow in thinking.

The Minister of National Education, Levin, was criticized as ignorant and uncultured.

And as for the Minister of the Army, Che Ernixuev, the Third Bureau believed his reputation was tarnished, making him the common enemy of society.

The judicial institutions faced continuous fierce attacks from the Third Bureau for years, with Russia’s judicial department being directly described in annual work reports as still at the level of the end of the last century, with backward methods, a rigid management system, corrupt and incompetent judges, and delayed trial procedures.

All central departments wanted to eliminate the Third Bureau and the Constitutional Guard, but since they were all in Saint Petersburg, where the emperor resided, they couldn’t act recklessly.

However, the situation was significantly different for local agencies.

Moscow Constabulary Commander Volkov sent multiple secret reports to Count Benkendorf, head of the Third Bureau, detailing various evidence to prove that the Governor of Moscow, Duke Golitsyn, was extremely dissatisfied with the local activities of the constitutional soldiers and was always ready to lodge attacks against them.

And towards the end of last year, Colonel Maslov, head of the Seventh District, encountered obstruction from the Governor of Kazan while conducting work in Kazan and was even placed under house arrest at the Mayor Mansion for over a week.

However, compared to the incident in Saratov Province, the treatment Colonel Maslov faced was relatively mild.

A few years ago, during a cholera outbreak in Saratov, the local constitutional soldiers reported the governor’s corruption to their superiors. The Governor of Saratov even attempted to use the cholera to poison that constitutional soldier. Fortunately, the soldier’s report had reached Count Benkendorf, and the governor was eventually dismissed and severely retaliated against by the Third Bureau for his poisoning attempt.

As for those police officers whose duties overlapped with those of the constitutional soldiers, they were nothing short of arch-nemeses. The constitutional soldiers would monitor the police’s work, while the police would track the movements and activities of the constitutional soldiers.

These local police, under the orders of the Russian Home Office, even dared to monitor the Second-in-Command of the Third Bureau, Chief of the First Division, Von Walker.

This left Von Walker no choice but to write to the director for help—”I must discuss this matter with Your Excellency, as it is unpleasant. Those local police, belonging to the Home Office, roam in plain clothes around my residence, monitoring visitors and restricting my activities.”

In such a severely antagonistic environment among the departments, any constitutional soldier daring to employ secret inspection tactics would undoubtedly be a model of extraordinary skill and courage.

After all, if not executed well, one might easily end up with the outcome of ‘A constitutional soldier? What soldier? Our city never had any constitutional soldiers come through. Perhaps he was just unlucky and got eaten by wolves.’

With this thought, Hutter’s heart suddenly jumped with a jolt.

Colonel Hestingov is staying at the Mayor Mansion?

Could it be that the dog pack in Druiysk has secretly detained him?

Hutter quickly organized his thoughts and calmly made a decision.

He waved his hand, signaling two subordinates to step forward.

“Prepare your equipment,” he said, his voice low and solemn, his eyes revealing an undeniable authority.

The subordinates immediately obeyed the orders and turned to prepare. Hutter continued pacing in the yard, a hint of unease surfacing internally.

He knew Hestingov was never a simple character, especially as he investigated so covertly, not even revealing his identity initially; this alone indicated something extraordinary.

Within a short while, the two subordinates returned, armed, one with a standard rifle, and the other carrying two short knives and a handgun.

Hutter didn’t say much, simply nodding and beckoning them to follow.

“Get in the car, head to the Mayor Mansion.”