usatvline 46. Everyone is equal before the law.
46. Everyone is equal before the law.
Anything becomes distorted once politics is involved.
Dugan turned his head to look at the street scene of Bangalore outside the window, and the image of Katalina's shy and gentle face flashed through his mind, leaving him with only a soft sigh.
He has always abhorred being tied to politics, and even less willing to use a relationship as a bargaining chip—Catarina's marriage has already been manipulated by various forces, and he is unwilling to become one of them, letting this chance encounter become a complete exchange of interests.
Since then, Dugan has kept Katalina's matter to himself and has not mentioned it much.
For him, the most important thing right now is to quickly assemble and train the 108th Infantry Regiment.
Megan knew her brother well. Seeing Dugan's expression, she knew that Dugan had lost interest in the woman, so she didn't try to persuade him any further.
As the expansion work progressed, soldiers from different regions and ethnic groups came together, and conflicts emerged. The most prominent issues were two major problems: factionalism among white soldiers and discrimination against Indian soldiers by white soldiers.
The 2nd Battalion of the 108th Infantry Regiment was originally mainly composed of Scottish soldiers, most of whom came from Highland tribes and were proud of their ethnic groups, sharing a deep bond with one another.
After the expansion, in order to replenish the manpower, Duggan transferred a lot of English and Irish soldiers from other British troops to the 2nd Battalion. The original single ethnic structure was broken, and estrangement and friction followed.
Scottish soldiers prefer to wear traditional kilts, speak Gaelic with a heavy accent, and adhere to their ethnic customs.
English soldiers, on the other hand, were filled with a sense of superiority and looked down on the Scots for being "barbaric" and "backward," often mocking their clothing and accents and ridiculing them as "high and low savages."
The Irish soldiers were caught in the middle, unwilling to side with the English and finding it difficult to integrate into the Scottish community. The three sides often argued over trivial matters, sometimes even resulting in physical altercations.
The only thing that could unite these white soldiers was the Indian soldiers.
All white soldiers, regardless of whether they came from Scotland, England, or Ireland, consistently discriminated against the Indian soldiers who were recruited.
They viewed Indian soldiers as "primitives," and were unwilling to eat or live with them, or even train with them.
The Indian warriors recruited by Amir were mostly fierce-willed and could not tolerate humiliation. They nearly clashed with the white soldiers several times, which seriously affected the morale and cohesion of the troops.
Officers such as Horn and Silva intervened multiple times to mediate, and even Tom's military police were dispatched several times, but to little avail.
The white soldiers' sense of superiority was deeply ingrained, while the Indian soldiers' discontent was also accumulating. The conflict between the two sides was like a powder keg that could explode at any moment.
"This problem must be solved."
An army riddled with internal conflicts and disunity, no matter how well-equipped or large in number, will find it difficult to form a fighting force, let alone go to the front lines.
We must break down ethnic barriers, eliminate discrimination, and truly unite all soldiers so that they see each other as comrades they can entrust with their backs.
Dugan is a straightforward person who hates red tape, but this time, he locked himself in his room and wrote down 18 written orders for the 108th Regiment.
First, each battalion and company should group soldiers of the same ethnicity into the same unit sequence.
For example, the First Battalion was composed entirely of Scotsmen, and this battalion was allowed to be equipped with bagpipes, soldiers to wear kilts, and officers and soldiers to use Gaelic, etc.
Similarly, the Irish formed their own battalion, their uniforms could be adorned with green, shamrock, or other symbols, soldiers could carry their own harps, and their military music used Irish tunes.
Given that the majority of Irish soldiers were Catholic, their religious freedom could not be interfered with, even if a Protestant officer was in command. Duggan also specifically allowed Irish soldiers to request a military priest if they wished, but the priest's expenses would be deducted from the total pay of all Irish soldiers.
Indian soldiers were similarly organized into separate battalion and company units, except for officers who were British. Hindu priests were permitted to accompany them if needed. Hinduism and Islam were not interfered with; wearing caste markers, beards, and turbans were allowed. Brahmins and Rajputs were exempt from dirty work, could sit in high seats, and had their food supplied separately.
Thus, senior English officers commanded the troops, but below them, Scottish officers commanded Scottish soldiers, Irish officers commanded Irish soldiers, and Indian officers commanded Indian soldiers.
Everyone should mind their own business; even if there are conflicts, they shouldn't escalate to ethnic hatred.
At the same time, it also showed respect on cultural and religious levels.
Finally, there was the indoctrination of ideology. Duggan emphasized on various occasions that the identity of a "British soldier" must take precedence over national identity.
You are first and foremost British soldiers and enjoy the same treatment.
Next came the English, Scots, Irish, and Indians.
Finally, Dugan emphasized that private fights are strictly prohibited, and if a private fight occurs, regardless of the reason, both parties involved will be hanged.
These measures were effective.
For a long time afterward, the 108th Infantry Regiment's barracks were clearly divided into distinct areas.
Most of the English soldiers gathered in the open space in the middle of the camp, chatting quietly about local country matters, forming their own circle, and rarely approaching others.
The western side of the camp formed a quiet area where a few bagpipers among the Scottish soldiers would play long, melodious tunes in their spare time.
In a corner of the camp was the Irish soldiers' quarters, where they preferred to huddle together to sing songs from their homeland and attend Mass and prayers on time.
However, as the old saying goes, people can't teach you everything, but you can learn something in a day.
That afternoon, after training, the soldiers gathered near the camp's mess hall to receive their dinner.
A Scottish soldier, dissatisfied with the size of the bread distributed by the mess hall, got into an argument with an English soldier in charge of distributing food. The two exchanged heated words and soon began to fight.
Upon seeing this, the surrounding Scottish and English soldiers swarmed around, blaming and shoving each other, and it looked like it was about to escalate into a large-scale brawl.
Just then, an Indian soldier passed by and, seeing the situation, tried to intervene, but was shoved to the ground by an English soldier who hurled insults at him: "You lowly Indian pig, what right do you have to meddle in our white people's business? Get lost!"
The Indian soldier was bruised and battered, but he stubbornly got up, his eyes filled with anger and resentment.
Seeing this, the surrounding Indian soldiers swarmed around and confronted the white soldiers, instantly freezing the atmosphere and bringing the conflict to the brink of eruption.
Tom's military police arrived quickly.
"Stop it, all of you!"
The military police rudely shoved the soldiers, forcibly separating them.
Upon receiving the news, Dugan quickly arrived at the scene.
Dugan's face was cold and his gaze sharp as he swept over every soldier present. The once noisy camp instantly fell silent, and all the soldiers subconsciously stopped what they were doing and lowered their heads.
"Lieutenant Tom," Dugan said calmly, "I need you to set up the gallows within 15 minutes."
"Yes, sir," Tom replied.
Instead of reprimanding anyone, Dugan approached the Indian soldier who had been pushed to the ground and asked gently, "Are you alright?"
The Indian soldier paused for a moment, then quickly bowed and saluted, saying, "Thank you... thank you, sir. I'm alright."
Dugan nodded, slowly stood up, and glanced at the soldiers present again. His tone was serious and heavy: "I know that among you are Scotsmen, Englishmen, Irishmen, and Indians. You come from different places, with different customs, different languages, and even different skin colors."
He raised his hand, pointing to the British flag fluttering in the distance, and continued, "But remember, from the moment you put on this uniform and joined the 108th Infantry Regiment, you were no longer Scots, English, Irish, or Indians. You had only one identity—soldiers of the 108th Infantry Regiment. You were comrades who could trust each other and rely on each other's backs."
Dugan's gaze fell on the English soldier who had pushed down the Indian soldier, and he said sternly, "Soldier, state your name and unit number."
"Reporting...sir, my name is Jeremy, Private First Class, 3rd Battalion..." the soldier stammered.
"Who is your superior?" Dugan asked again.
"Captain Silva," the soldier said, forcing a smile.
"Captain Silva, this idiot's crime isn't serious enough for hanging, but it's enough for him to get ten lashes," Dugan said to Captain Silva standing behind him without turning his head.
"Execute it immediately, right here. Right now, immediately." Dugan didn't like to yell, but it was precisely this calm tone that was most frightening.
"Yes, sir." Captain Silva immediately led his men forward, tied the soldier to the hitching post, ripped off his shirt, and whipped him severely with a horsewhip.
Captain Silva slapped him hard; he was the first person to be punished for this kind of thing since Dugan ordered the purge.
Getting whipped is a small matter; it's a big deal that Captain Silva will lose face.
So much so that the full 10 lashes had already been delivered, and Captain Silva delivered another 10 lashes.
"Captain Silva, I meant 10 lashes. How many did you do?" Dugan looked at Captain Silva in surprise.
"Sorry, sir, I've never been good at math since I was a child, counting isn't my forte," Captain Silva said with a forced smile.
The soldier's screams and the bloody mess on his back made every soldier present gasp.
Only then did Dugan look at the two Scottish and English soldiers wrestling together.
"You're going to kill each other over a piece of bread? Have you forgotten who helped you up when you were wounded on the battlefield? Who stood up for you when you were in danger? It was your comrades, your brothers who fought alongside you!"
"Sir, we know we were wrong, please forgive us!" The two impulsive men were now starting to feel afraid.
By this time, Tom's military police had already set up the gallows.
"Sir, the gallows are ready."
"Sir, please, spare us, for God's sake!" The two soldiers knelt down and begged desperately.
"May God forgive your sins." Dugan made the sign of the cross on his chest and then turned away.
"Execute them!" Tom, accompanied by military police, ruthlessly sent the two soldiers who had been fighting to the gallows.
"Any form of racial or religious discrimination will be punished with whipping, and private fighting will be punished with hanging. Everyone is equal before the law." Tom pulled out the big tin megaphone and loudly read out the military order issued by Dugan.
The sound echoed through the camp, reaching everyone's ears.
From then on, Tom, the military police captain, got a nickname: "Tom the Loudmouth".