Reborn South Africa as a police officer

Chapter 488

The reputation of the Gurkha mercenaries is far from reaching its peak.

In 1814, a war broke out between the Kingdom of Nepal and the United Kingdom. Thirty thousand British troops with advanced equipment fought for two full years to defeat the poorly equipped Nepalese army with a total number of only [-].

This Nepalese army is mainly composed of Gurkhas.

After the war, the British government spoke highly of the Gurkhas, so they recruited mercenaries from Gurkhas west of Kathmandu. Since then, Gurkhas have followed in the footsteps of the British Empire and participated in two world wars, as well as post-war wars. All wars Britain has fought in.

The Gurkhas are infinitely loyal to their employers, that is, to the British government. They are taciturn and fearless. No matter what kind of combat mission they get, the Gurkha mercenaries will resolutely complete it.

During the two World Wars, many Gurkha mercenary troops in the United Kingdom were once organized and completely wiped out, and then continued to rebuild. Before 1962, Gurkha mercenaries had almost no defeats. Until 1962, Gurkha mercenaries The mercenaries face off against another legendary unit, and then they're beaten all over the place.

After India's independence, it also recruited Gurkha mercenaries from Nepal. From then on, Gurkha mercenaries served not only the British.

In this era, Gurkha mercenaries can only serve the British, and the British only recruit mercenaries from Gurkha west of Kathmandu, and the number of recruits every year is also very limited. Rock and Mars Howard came to Kathmandu Time has already missed the annual recruiting season, so Rock has to solve this problem by himself.

"It doesn't matter if you don't have soldiers, then let go of the trick. All Nepalese, as long as they are between 20 and 25 years old, can come and sign up. We will choose 500 people this time to recruit a brand new combat battalion. Treatment and other troops It’s exactly the same, the station is in Dhaka, that’s it.” Rock is not superstitious, there are only a few hundred people in the Gurkha village, and can they provide tens of thousands of mercenaries for the British government?

It's just self-deception.

I am afraid that the British government also knows this, but the characteristics of a corrupt government will not change this. They would rather force the people below to make fakes than stick to the so-called tradition.

"If you let go of the qualifications, my lord, you have to think carefully." The local conscription officer of the British government in Nepal kindly reminded.

"It doesn't matter, I just want the best." Rock is decisive. This time rebuilding the 35th Battalion is just an attempt. If the effect is good, Rock will also consider recruiting Gurkha mercenaries, the new First Cavalry Division, and Rhodes. Compared with the North West Asia Division, Gurkha mercenaries are more useful and cheaper.

It is not an exaggeration for the British government to evaluate the Gurkha mercenaries as "fearless". That's what makes them great soldiers, keeping them calm and calm in the heat of battle.

Gurkha mercenaries don't have much sense of right and wrong. As soldiers, they must sometimes perform combat missions that violate the moral bottom line, so many soldiers need psychological counseling after the war.

Gurkha mercenaries do not have this problem. They never care whether the order they receive is just or not, as long as it is an order, they will resolutely complete it. The most famous record is in Amritsar, shooting civilians with machine guns for an hour.

Another most important issue is that compared with Chinese soldiers, Gurkha mercenaries are really cheap. Hiring a Gurkha mercenary only needs a salary of ten pounds a year at most, and now the new First Cavalry The average salary of the division and the northern Rhodesian division has reached more than 50 pounds. If all Gurkhas are hired, the size of the new First Cavalry Division can now be expanded to more than [-] people.

Of course, this salary is relative. Compared with the Chinese, the salary of Gurkha mercenaries is very cheap. Compared with Nepal, becoming a mercenary is a rare high-income occupation. There is no statistics on the current GDP of Nepal. It is estimated that I can’t even earn a pound a year. In Nepal, being a soldier is the job that can really support the family. As long as one member of a family is a soldier, it can basically ensure that the whole family has no worries about food and clothing.

This was immediately reflected in the rebuilding of the 35th Battalion.

After the British government released the news at the local conscription office in Nepal, within one day, 1500 people signed up to join the army.

In a place like Nepal where the news is relatively closed, it takes a certain amount of time for the spread of information to ferment. Then within three days, the number of people who signed up to join the army exceeded 5000, and after a week, the number reached [-].

Only 35 people are needed to rebuild the 500th Battalion, and more than 2 people signed up. Most of them will be disappointed. Even the local conscription officer of the British government in Nepal did not expect such a turbulent crowd. On Rock's side.

"What should we do? If we only say to recruit 500 people, will those disappointed Gurkhas rebel?" Mars Howard was very worried. Rock and Mars Howard brought only one platoon to Nepal Guards, if something happens, dozens of people may not be able to control the situation.

"My lord, if possible, I suggest increasing the number of recruits. These Nepalese are brave and good at fighting. For some reason, they could not become mercenaries before. Now that they have this opportunity, they will definitely burst out with the greatest enthusiasm." Hilton Robert suggested to Rock.

This suggestion is a bit of a big deal for watching the excitement. The establishment of each battalion of the British army in India is fixed, and Roque has no right to change it casually.

However, one of Rock's biggest advantages is that, as the Baron of Nyasaland, Rock is also the commander of the new First Cavalry Division. The establishment of the new First Cavalry Division is determined by Rock. The government doesn't care either.

So Rock simply sent a telegram to Lord Belloc directly. Anyway, the troops in southern Africa are also considered British troops. The Gurkha mercenaries serving in southern Africa are not out of the scope of the British army.

Lord Belloc's reply to Rock is very simple. The 35th Battalion only needs 500 men. How many people the new First Cavalry Division wants? Go, and Lord Belloc has no objection either.

Then there is nothing to say, expansion, expansion, Rock increased 1500 places with a stroke of a pen, 2 people pick 500, it is too little, pick [-] is very suitable, and those who are not selected will not have much opinion.

According to the British government's standard for hiring Gurkhas at this time, as long as they are in good health, there are no special requirements for other aspects.

This time, there were 2 people signing up, and Rock could pick and choose, so Rock made all the rules.

Rock's requirements are more stringent. In addition to physical health, Rock also requires basic obedience, good coordination, and excellent physical fitness.

As for tactical ability, this is not important. After entering the army, you can train slowly. As long as your foundation is not bad, you can always practice it.

The first hurdle for Rock's selection is physical fitness. 2 people run laps in the military camp in Kathmandu in units of hundreds of people. Rock doesn't require time or distance, but only half of each unit can pass. 2 people seem like a lot , [-] were wiped out in three days.

Then there are obedience and coordination. These two points are more troublesome and require time to observe slowly. Fortunately, Lord Belloc did not ask for time, and Rock and Mars Howard can take their time.

All those who successfully passed the physical test were organized into a temporary company with a size of [-] people. All the officers were soldiers from Company A. These soldiers were originally trained as officers. Of course, there is no need to say about their personal qualities. They are very conscientious. , all the Gurkhas who performed poorly the day before were sent away after lunch the next morning, and each had a five-pence per day subsidy, which of course was sponsored by Rock himself.

As a result, those Gurkhas were so happy that even the Gurkhas who were sent away were very grateful to Rock. Five pence a day was about the same as the salary of Gurkha mercenaries serving in the British army.

Of course, limited by the conditions, when Roque and the others were in Kathmandu, the cooks they brought could only serve Roque, Mars Howard and other Chinese officers and soldiers, and those Gurkhas could not take care of them.

Only then did Roque see the level of Indian chefs.

Speaking of which, Indian chefs can be regarded as weird. They have a habit of making everything sticky and sticky, and they can't tell the original ingredients. Rock maliciously speculates that the purpose of the chef is to make people confused The type of ingredients, anyway, just fool the stomach.

Even if these smell bad, they probably don't taste very tasty, but these Gurkhas eat them with relish.

It seems that Visakam is right. There is indeed not enough food in India. Johannesburg has already used the extra potatoes to feed pigs. There are still many people in India who are starving. No wonder those Indians who left India, I don't want to go back to India anyway.

Although Rock's requirements were very strict, after half a month, Rock was still surprised to find that the last 2800 Gurkhas, even according to Rock's requirements, were qualified to become real soldiers.

"Keep all of them, 35 for the 500th Battalion, and the rest will belong to the new First Cavalry Division." Rock made a final decision, not afraid of the large number of people. There are still only a dozen people at the bottom, and it is really shabby.

Mars Howard does not have the courage of Rock, and Mars Howard is satisfied with getting 500 excellent Gurkha mercenaries. Rock's requirements are stricter than those of the British government. The last remaining 2800 Gurkhas , All of them can become the best soldiers, and now Mars Howard has the most trouble learning Gurkha.

This problem also exists for Rock.

(End of this chapter)