The Shadow of Great Britain

Chapter 1569: Chapter 11: The Double Talk of London’s Officialdom

Palmerston took a small sip of wine, his actions as composed as ever, as if he’d never thrown a teacup to the ground in anger.

If it were the first time meeting him, one would never guess that Palmerston’s nickname at the Foreign Office is ”The Overseer.”

He held the bottom of the cup with one hand and gently stirred the wine with the other, seemingly considering how to put his words just right.

”Arthur, I must say, I’ve always had a good impression of you. Especially those military reports about Russia were brilliantly written, though the Duke of Wellington seems to have differing opinions.”

This news quite astonished Arthur, because Wellington had never mentioned this matter to him before.

”Really? What does His Excellency think I got wrong?”

Palmerston set down the wine glass and leaned back on the sofa: ”It’s about the part covering Russian army training methods. I recall you mentioned in the report that the Russian army still uses outdated drills, emphasizing dense formations and marching orders, not adept at small unit operations. What you might not know is that most of the Duke’s troops are the same way, or to be more specific, apart from the York ’Green Jackets’ of the 95th Regiment who enjoy the privilege of advancing in columns and smaller units, His Excellency orders other troops to move in lines rather than columns, which is one of the reasons we consistently defeat the French.

Because, in the Duke’s view, if a formation is as strong as iron, lined up neatly, then a line has a definite advantage over a column, because the firing line of a line is much longer. Additionally, a rapid attack on a column can force the enemy to disband, a task columns cannot accomplish in close-quarters combat. Of course, columns aren’t without advantages; their main advantage lies in penetrating enemy positions and raiding the rear, and if successful, the outcome is unquestionable. During the Peninsular War, the French launched two attacks on our positions using columns, once at Busaco and another at Albuera, but on both occasions, the Duke’s forces successfully resisted and defeated them.”

Hearing this, Arthur spoke, ”Regarding this, I can fully understand His Excellency’s intentions. His Excellency is known for steady marching and formations and excels at defensive battles, so preferring line marching is naturally reasonable.”

Palmerston nodded slightly, ”However, what you said isn’t fundamentally wrong. Lines have their advantages, but correspondingly, the British Army is also notoriously slow in marching during the Napoleonic Wars.”

Arthur asked, ”Then aside from this, was there nothing in the report that His Excellency found praiseworthy?”

”Of course there was. For instance, the new uniforms you designed for Scotland Yard are indeed very splendid and have earned Wellington’s appreciation. His Excellency has always felt that we pay too little attention to clothing and appearance, but from a military perspective, a soldier’s attire is actually quite important. Only a neat and well-ordered army will appear more organized and honorable. In this regard, the 61st Regiment, the Flower of Toulouse, is a typical example.”

If it were someone else, they might not connect the 61st Regiment with fine uniforms.

However, Arthur served at Scotland Yard back then, and there were a few veterans in the police ranks who had retired from the 61st Regiment, and they would occasionally boast about their glorious past.

On the eve of the Toulouse battle in 1814, the 61st Regiment had just completed their new uniform transition, and during this bloody confrontation between the Duke of Wellington and Marshal Sult, the 61st Regiment displayed extraordinary bravery and resilience while attacking the French positions. Despite the loss of 16 officers and 353 soldiers, with a casualty rate of over 60%, they continued to conquer the French defenses.

And the regiment’s heavy casualties in the Toulouse battle were rendered particularly conspicuous by the brand new uniforms on the fallen soldiers.

Thus, the nickname Flower of Toulouse for the 61st Regiment spread swiftly.

Wellington believed that designing a fine uniform to enhance the army’s sense of honor was unsurprising to Arthur.

What surprised him was that, in Wellington’s eyes, the officers at Scotland Yard should enjoy the same treatment as the army and accept the same constraints.

Compared to 1829, when Scotland Yard was just established, and its officers were disliked by the Home Office civil servants as a bunch of ”contractors,” perhaps this can also be seen as a symbol of the Greater London Police Department’s advancing status.

Before Arthur could rationalize it all, Palmerston chuckled and said, ”When I went to Paris for the parade in 1815, Wellington was leading his 60,000 troops victorious from the Peninsular War to Paris. At that time, Prussia’s army was originally twice the size of the Duke’s forces, but interestingly, when Wellington arrived in Paris, his strength was enough to rival the Prussians. Although the Duke had not received reinforcements, and the Prussians had not suffered significant attrition during battles, in my observation, the ostensibly 120,000-strong Prussian Army was actually not larger than the Duke’s forces. Can you guess why?”

Perhaps Palmerston didn’t expect Arthur to answer, so after a pause, he answered his own question, ”That’s because the Prussians simply disappeared as they marched.”