The Shadow of Great Britain-Chapter 1665 - 48: Scotland Yard’s 89th Regiment (Part 2)

Those willing to be active, then exercise more.

Those unwilling to be active, send them to prison for a stint of hard labor, and they’ll be honest.

Of course, the two-faced Sir Arthur’s thoughts were completely different from what he said.

"If controlling weight is necessary, Her Royal Highness might have to miss the Duke of Wellington’s dinner."

The Duchess of Kent put down her knife and fork and looked at Arthur: "Does the Duke of Wellington’s banquet serve large portions?"

"Indeed, Your Highness." Arthur answered with a smile: "Although the Duke values pomp, he dislikes a table cluttered with silverware or being surrounded by unnecessary servants. What he despises most is the French, who serve only a scoop of each dish, and in the end, even your stomach isn’t filled despite the extravagance."

Lady Leisen glanced at Arthur, seemingly disapproving of his dismissal of French cuisine.

"Does the Duke of Wellington eat simply?" Victoria asked further.

"Himself? As frugal as an old regimental commander in the barracks." Arthur laughed: "He enjoys Indian curry with Basmati rice, a side of spicy mango chutney, and a glass of port wine. If you’re unfamiliar with him, you wouldn’t dare engage in idle chatter at the table or flatter him. If you rashly praise him, calling him the Lion of Waterloo, he’d just coldly look at you and say, ’I simply accomplished the task His Majesty the King assigned to me.’"

"I seem to have heard someone mention such an incident..." The Duchess of Kent recalled: "The Duke of Wellington once angrily rebuked a member of parliament, saying, ’How dare you stand here and criticize me, where were you during Waterloo?’ The member hesitated for a long time, saying he was just a baby then. The Duke immediately scolded back: ’Then you’d better go back to your cradle now.’"

"Oh..." Arthur teased: "Frankly, this doesn’t seem like something the Duke would say; he’s generally not that blunt. This sounds more like something General Pickton would say."

The Duchess repeated: "General Pickton?"

Conroy, seasoned from years of military experience, explained from the side: "That General Pickton, the ’Devil’ who died at Waterloo, His Grace the Duke of Kent mentioned during life that General Pickton fought bravely, but only God knows what foul words might jump out of his mouth..."

The Duchess of Kent was suddenly enlightened: "General Pickton... Was he originally the commander of the 88th Regiment? The Royal Irish Flintlock Gun Regiment stationed at Devonport, which we inspected last summer. Delina even bestowed their new regimental colors."

Conroy corrected her: "Your Highness, the flags were awarded to the 88th ’Blaine’s Bloodhounds’, who were once under Lord Blaine. General Pickton led the ’Devil’s Brigade’ 89th Regiment."

Arthur smiled and chimed in: "It’s not completely wrong. Since the 88th and 89th are both Irish regiments, it’s indeed easy to get them confused. If I hadn’t served at Scotland Yard, where there are retired veterans from both regiments, and they often argue over who is the ’most Irish of the Irish regiments’, I’d often mix them up, too."

Upon hearing this, Victoria couldn’t help but ask.

Since she attended the flag awarding ceremony for the 89th Regiment last year and personally handed the new regimental colors to the regiment’s commander, Viscount Roland Hill, she held a favorable impression of this unit and naturally hoped her regiment was the strongest Irish regiment.

"So, who do you think is the most Irish of the Irish regiments, the 88th or the 89th?"

Arthur replied with a smile: "It depends on whom you ask. If you ask a veteran from the 89th, then it’s definitely the 89th. Conversely, the 88th would claim the same. Both units possess quite glorious military histories."

"Then if I have to ask which one is the strongest?"

"Hmm... if you must ask..."

Arthur pondered for a moment: "Let’s start with the 88th Regiment. During the Battle of Busaco in 1810, they stood out to save the situation when the battlefield was unfavorable. It’s said that after witnessing this battle, the Duke of Wellington exclaimed: I’ve never seen a charge more heroic than that of the 88th just now. And during the Siege of Rodrigo City, the ’Devil’ General Pickton gave a special address to his ’Devil’s Brigade’: Tonight, I don’t intend to rely on gunpowder; we’ll use cold weapons to resolve this battle. Subsequently, the 88th made good on their word, forming a line to advance on the enemy. When they were 300 yards from the French position, the French opened fire on them from right to left. But the 88th not only didn’t disband; they quickly recovered amid the impact, filled the gap, and then accelerated forward at double speed until they were only 50 yards from the enemy before stopping, launching a round of fire, and after the firing ceased, charging up the slope with bayonets on General Pickton’s command."

Victoria couldn’t help but curiously ask: "Did they win in the end?"

"Of course." Arthur answered with a smile: "The 88th has never lost in a bayonet battle; otherwise, Scotland Yard wouldn’t have appointed retired officers from the 88th as fencing instructors."

"And the 89th?"

"The 89th, well..."

Arthur winced at the collective mockery the 89th Regiment received at Scotland Yard.

Compared to the bloodshed of the 88th Regiment, the 89th Regiment’s performance in the Napoleonic Wars could only be described as bleak.

Their first battle after forming in 1793 was the Duke of York’s Dutch expedition, which ended in defeat in Flanders, and Britain’s idea of defending the Netherlands against the French completely collapsed.