As deputy brigade commander and interim commander of the Second Infantry Brigade of the Desai Division, Lieutenant Colonel Reedes, 37, was not allowed to go to the Portuguese battlefield. All officers and soldiers, including the Second Brigade, were ordered to stay in Catalonia and North Aragon during the battle between the main force of the Desai Division.

Lieutenant Colonel Reedes seemed extremely reluctant to make an arrangement. He had tried his best to plead with the five-man regiment, and even wrote a letter to the Duke of Hruna far away in Paris, hoping to participate in the Portuguese war, but it was useless. Because this order was issued by the Supreme Commander, the Duke of Andrew Desay himself. After learning the truth, the old staff felt very frustrated, but had to obey the order.

In Desai's view, Lieutenant Colonel Redes may find it difficult to become an excellent senior commander due to his own ability (so he has not been promoted to the right now), but he is brave and loyal to himself. It is particularly worth mentioning that Lieutenant Colonel keeps a considerable distance from the hidden factions in the army and will not accept any faction.

Therefore, Desai stayed Lieutenant Colonel Redes and the Second Brigade, which was mainly composed of the Irish, to cooperate with the secret actions of the Military Intelligence Agency and the Gendarmerie. At least he would not be worried that Catalonia would fall into turmoil due to the internal power vacuum when he went out with the main force of the division, and repeated the power seizure plot planned by Murah, Talleyrand, Fouche and others in Paris in February 1809.

Of course, the above reasons Desai would not make explicit or implied to Lieutenant Colonel Redes. As compensation, Desai agreed to another request from Lieutenant Colonel Redes to appoint him as the chief instructor of the Desai Division, responsible for training and supervising the soldiers who had just joined the army, especially the Catalan Guard Regiment, which was mixed with a large number of recruits, and the Third Infantry Brigade of the North Aragon Guard Regiment.

According to the adjusted expedition arrangement, the Desai Division mobilized a total of 16,000 officers and soldiers, and 40 artillery pieces of various caliber. Among the participating troops, the first brigade of the main infantry, the third brigade of the infantry temporarily formed by three guard regiments, a cavalry brigade (there are only 2,000 people at present, and the other 1,000 will be supplemented from Marshal Sirte), a gendarmerie of the Ministry of Gendarmerie, all of the engineering regiments, most of the artillery regiments, as well as divisional baggage regiments, battlefield hospitals, etc.

Today, the troops inspected by Lieutenant Colonel Reedes were established only around the North Aragon gulf regiment. The Major Jose Mardan, who stood beside the chief in charge of the newly built local force, was the former commander of the Spanish resistance guerrillas in the North Aragon area where he had sworn to surrender to the Duke of Hruna.

Originally, this newly formed North Aragon security regiment was not among the expeditions to Portugal. However, after the commander of the engineering regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Otser, issued the motion to the military five-man regiment after on-site inspection of the mountainous terrain in eastern Portugal. Because the complex and changeable terrain in northern Aragon is very similar to that in eastern Portugal, these guards composed of mountain hunters and former guerrillas in Aragon are very suitable for mountain combat in special environments.

...

Whenever he expressed disappointment or dissatisfaction in his heart, Lieutenant Colonel Reedes would involuntarily touch his incomplete half of his left ear and shook his head gently. Because his eyes were full of a group of mobs who did not uphold military discipline, these mountain hunters and former guerrilla soldiers of the North Aragon Security Regiment wanted to fight a positional battle with the well-trained British Expeditionary Force in a strange and unfamiliar area where the enemy was dark and we were blind and blind. It was simply a death sentence.

It has been 5 minutes since Major Mardan issued the assembly order, but there are still latecomers in the battalions and company columns, and the whole formation has become chaotic; most of the soldiers are dressed in disheveled clothes, with no standing posture, and a look of disarray of military discipline; these people are lined up on the playground, talking to each other, and the noise is endless. When they see the two commanders standing not far away, the scattered soldiers are not panicked, and the three or five ruffians even whistled loudly to make fun.

"What a group of hopeless clowns! Even if they were given a uniform, they were just a group of clowns in uniform uniforms!" Lieutenant Colonel Reedes made such a comment in his heart.

The chief instructor turned around and questioned the regiment commander Mardan with a dissatisfied expression, "Major, are your soldiers all veterans who have fought for one year?"

Major Mardan replied without thinking, in a very affirmative tone, "Yes, Lieutenant Colonel! They are the stunning guys I have carefully selected from the 4,000 guerrillas. Since 1807, most of us have fought wars with the annoying Portuguese, the shameless British devils, and the damn Frenchman..."

(Note, before 1808, France and Spain were still solid allies. Many Aragonese and Catalans joined the Spanish army and formed the French coalition, and went to Portugal together to fight with the Portuguese army and the British team. After 1808, the French coalition was disbanded, and many Spanish soldiers returned to their hometowns and participated in the guerrillas against Napoleon's army.)

When he said this, he was speechless, Major Mardan felt that something was wrong and the trouble came from his mouth. The commander in front of him and the Duke of Hruna whom he was loyal to were all part of the damn Frenchman.

For such unintentional words, if it were a year ago, the irritable Reds would have beaten the verb to the point of being bruised and swollen, but now, the lieutenant colonel, who is a senior officer of the brigade, has become accustomed to it and just laughs it off. In the second infantry brigade he commands, many Irish soldiers were once a member of the Redshirt (British Army) and once fought face to face with the French army.

According to the "Church Oath" which began in September 1809, all members of the rebels who held the Bible in the hands of the Catholic Church and swear allegiance to Duke Hruna under the witness of the priest will no longer be held accountable for any war before the oath.

So, Lieutenant Colonel Reedes waved his hand to Major Mardan with tolerance, gently erasing the hint of embarrassment between the two, indicating that the latter did not need to worry about this.

On another level, Redes would not care if his wife's brother was in a taboo. The chief instructor of the Desay Division just married an Aragon woman in exile in Catalonia in October last year, and the woman's younger brother was Major Mardan. On weekdays, as professional soldiers, the two naturally would not talk about their family affection in the barracks, but the expedition was imminent, and some bans had expired.

"Jose, I really don't understand, how can you command these guys who can't even stand in the basic queue, fighting the regular army of Marshal Ney in the North Aragon Mountains for about two years?" Lieutenant Colonel Redes asked curiously, his voice pressing down very low.

"Who told the French army to plunder food at will, burn churches and rob our women!" Mardan blurted out that he no longer had any taboos when facing his brother-in-law, not his superiors.

"Damn bastard, I married your sister in the Catholic church!" Lieutenant Colonel Reedes chuckled, but as soon as he finished speaking, he said sadly: "I really hope it is me who went to the battle, not you. Sophia always complained to me in her letter that she would not go to Manresa to visit her only relative before her brother went to the battle."

Mardan smiled and shrugged, "General Rusty didn't mean that the Portuguese war would end before the end of the year. Maybe I could still come to Manresa on Christmas to visit my newborn nephew!"

Reeds stretched out his finger and signaled, "Remember to bring back three gifts, including me, your brother-in-law! But before that, I must ensure that you can go home alive. The officers, soldiers and uniforms of your regiment will be in place tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. Now, I want these young men to know how to fear and obey military discipline before going to the battlefield!"

After saying that, Lieutenant Colonel Reedes turned around and walked towards the soldier, Major Mardan slowly followed closely behind.

At this time, the soldiers of the North Aragon Security Regiment had noticed the abnormal situation and adjusted their standing posture slightly. They seemed to be barely able to become battalion companies, but many people were still whispering, "buzzing" like restless flies.

"Hey, look, that Frenchman with half ears and scarred face is a lieutenant colonel, one level higher than Mardan!"

"Damn it, you should call the leader of the regiment, or Major Mardan!"

"Aha, I remember, didn't Mardan's sister marry a French lieutenant colonel?"

"Yes, yes! Maybe the major asked his brother-in-law to deal with you, a bastard who disrespects the superior!"

...

"Stop making trouble, stand up quickly!" Ortega Garset, the soldier who was at the forefront of the entire regiment, couldn't stand it anymore. So, the sudden loud scolding made the audience silent.

Lieutenant Colonel Reedes had stopped 3 meters away from the front soldiers, watching coldly as the group of more than 800 veterans composed of mountain hunters, without restraint of officers and sergeants. Although he was a little disappointed, he was not desperate at least. At least one of the rabies in front of him with extremely poor military discipline could still stand up and maintain the honor of the regiment.

On the side, Major Mardan began to introduce the officer in front of them to the soldiers, "This is the commander of the Second Infantry Brigade, Lieutenant Colonel Reedes. From today on, he will become the chief instructor of the entire Desay Division, including the North Aragon Guard."

"Yeah~~~~~Yeah!" The soldiers raised their arms to the new commander as usual. This seemed to be a normal reaction for ordinary people, but it was not what a well-trained army should do.

"Shut up, clowns!" Once you enter the role of instructor, this burly and strong old non-commissioned officer has a loud voice that can cover the shouts of hundreds of people.

Perhaps the extreme anger in his heart made the dark red scars on Lieutenant Colonel Reds' face become more ferocious, like a regional demon, making the soldiers present creepy and silent after seeing it.

The terrifying lieutenant colonel took two more steps forward, and after scanning the audience with his sharp eyes, he cursed again: "You group of miscellaneous people should pay tribute to the commander, not cheer, unless you win a hearty battle!"

The soldiers who were scolded for being foolish all raised their right hands and began to salute to the lieutenant colonel officer in front of them. However, the uncoordinated and clumsy performance made these people look more like a group of circus clowns.

Lieutenant Colonel Redes twisted his neck impatiently and shouted loudly: "Enough, enough, trash! For the first time, I want to express my gratitude to the slow-moving quartermaster, because he had not had time to issue you a uniform uniform. That's how I would not accept any of your military salutes, and you are not worthy of enjoying my return gift.

Just now, your regiment commander, Major Mardan, told me that the soldiers of the North Aragon garrison regiment do not like restraint, like small moves, and always like to argue with the commander. I was very unhappy to hear this. Therefore, from now on, the above situation does not allow it to exist. Any commander's commander must be implemented in a timely, unconditional and unscrupulous manner. The entire team must obey military discipline and learn to act in a consistent manner. Otherwise, we will be killed by the enemy, not by the enemy! Do you understand?"

The last sentence of the lieutenant colonel was completely roaring at the soldiers, and its loud noise almost broke through the fragile eardrums of the soldiers in the front row.

"I understand... it's clear!" The soldiers looked at each other for a while, and then they agreed weakly.

"Damn it, I didn't hear you, are you useless Turkish sick men or Spanish flies in heat!" The chief instructor swears and spits with his saliva.

"I understand." This time, the soldiers' answers were finally consistent, but they were still not loud enough.

Therefore, the chief instructor was not satisfied. He humiliated the hundreds of soldiers in front of him over and over again with the most vicious words. Until the fifth time, Lieutenant Colonel Reedes barely nodded and gave up after hearing the uniform and loud answers of the soldiers.
Chapter completed!