shadow of britain

Chapter 612: The Colonel is under house arrest?

From a sociological perspective, an act that offends a strong and distinct collective sentiment constitutes a crime. In Tsarist Russia, these political exiles did not offend collective sentiment, but the sentiment of the ruling class headed by the Tsar, so they also occupied a very special position among other types of exiles.

—Arthur Hastings

In this vast snowy land, the cold wind seems like an uninvited soul, tearing every inch of skin.

The wheels of the carriage creaked low on the thick snow, echoing with the sound of the horses' hooves as they moved farther and farther away.

The sun has already set, and its afterglow has dyed the endless snowfield a blood-red hue.

The Russian winter is as cold and merciless as this land, and today, it is full of unspeakable terror and despair for the political prisoners being escorted.

At the front of the convoy was a military police captain wearing a dark green uniform.

His face was stern, and his deep eyes seemed to be able to see through everything in front of him, even the fear and silence in the darkness.

From time to time he patted the horse's neck gently to make it move forward steadily.

Under the tall military cap, there was a calm face, although the cold and oppressive atmosphere around him did not shake his composure in the slightest.

The gendarmerie captain had a strong sense of majesty. He held the whip tightly in his hand and occasionally waved it hard to remind the carriage team to maintain speed and discipline.

He did not talk directly to the prisoners, but handed over all power and fate to the soldiers who had long been accustomed to living like zombies.

In the convoy, several Polish political prisoners were taken to a horse-drawn carriage, sitting in a humiliating posture with empty eyes.

Their faces were pale, as if they were overwhelmed by the long journey and the cruel fate that was about to come.

The haggardness and fear on the faces of several young people were particularly noticeable. In their hearts, they were once radical thinkers and freedom fighters against the tyranny of Tsarist Russia.

However, their thoughts were now locked in the icy cage of silence, turning into unspeakable pain and regret.

They are destined to spend the rest of their lives surrounded by the cold wind, buried in the mountains where no one knows.

A military police officer walked up to the car, opened the window, and ordered in a cold voice: "Keep quiet and don't forget your fate."

The car window was slightly open, and the wind and snow blew into the car mercilessly, as if judging the soul of the prisoner.

The prisoners did not speak. They hung their heads helplessly, not daring to contact the outside world. Even in their lowered eyes there was not a glimmer of resistance.

The woods not far away gradually disappeared from sight, replaced by an open wilderness. Snowflakes danced wildly like mad elves, and there was deathly silence all around.

The convoy advanced slowly on the thick snow, and Druisk was already vaguely visible ahead. The quiet little town was like an abandoned stone, deeply embedded in the vast wilderness.

Compared with cities like Moscow and St. Petersburg, the existence of Druisk seems meaningless, and perhaps even time has never left any traces here.

But for this gendarmerie that has been marching in the ice and snow for days, it is always a blessing to have a city where they can take a temporary rest and drink a cup of hot wine.

"Go quickly." The captain said coldly, without a trace of emotion in his voice.

The guards whipped the horses and the convoy continued to move forward. The wheels of the carriages made dull sounds on the snow and gradually drove into the city gate.

The gendarmerie captain did not stop or even look up, but calmly directed the convoy straight through the streets of the small town.

The houses on both sides of the street were silent, the windows were closed, and there were few pedestrians on the street. Occasionally someone would poke his head out of the house with a strange and curious look in his eyes.

However, after seeing the caravan logo, all eyes quickly shifted away. In the past two years, the residents of Druisk have become accustomed to this cruel phenomenon - those prisoners coming from afar are only staying temporarily and will eventually disappear in this ruthless northern land.

The convoy slowly drove past the sentry tower at the city gate, passed through a narrow street, and finally stopped in front of a seemingly ordinary but intimidating building - Druisk's temporary prison.

The half-drunk jailer holding a bottle of wine shuddered when he saw this group of people, and the drunkenness that had just brewed in him was instantly thrown away.

The captain of the military police dismounted and nodded to the guard who saluted at the door. His guards took action, pulling the prisoners from the carriage and pushing them into the grim building.

The temperature here is almost suffocating, and the air is filled with the smell of rust and frost, which makes people feel indescribable depression.

The military police captain took out a match and lit his pipe, took a deep puff, and two streams of smoke slowly blew out of his nostrils.

The jailer straightened his tattered hat, came up to the captain and saluted, "Sir, please show me your ID."

The captain of the military police glanced at him, and the jailer trembled all over with just one glance. Fortunately, he did not make things difficult for the other party. Instead, he took out a certificate made of dark leather with a golden double-headed eagle emblem in the center from his arms.

Russian Empire

General Directorate of the Gendarmerie
Official ID card

Name: Richard Huett
Rank: Cavalry Captain

Position: Military Police Captain

Affiliation: Main Directorate of Gendarmerie of the Russian Empire
Region: District 2

Certificate number: № 7825
Issued on: January 1832, 5

Job Description: As an Imperial Military Policeman, Richard Huet is responsible for law enforcement and maintaining order, especially in controlling political prisoners, maintaining national security, suppressing lawlessness and monitoring counter-revolutionary activities. He is also authorized to participate in criminal investigations, assist local military operations, and execute special orders issued by the central government.

Work Area:

This certificate allowed Richard Hughet to enforce the law throughout the empire, particularly in the east and remote areas where greater order was needed, including Siberia and Poland.

Validity: This certificate is valid from the date of issuance until otherwise renewed or terminated.

Signature and Seal:
Issued by:
Head of the Third Department of the Imperial Office of His Majesty the Tsar of the Russian Empire, Commander of the Military Police Regiment, General of Cavalry
Alexander Khristoforovich Benckendorff
Date: 1832/5/20

Location: St. Petersburg

The jailer's hands were shaking as he held the documents. He kept muttering, "Another gendarme..."

Richard Huett frowned slightly upon hearing this, and his sharp eyes, like knives, instantly stared at the jailer: "Are you dissatisfied with the military police?"

The jailer shuddered, and he handed the certificate back with both hands: "No, of course not, Captain! I just think it's a coincidence, because there is a gendarmerie colonel visiting the city."

"Colonel?" When Huet heard the word, several familiar faces instantly appeared in his mind.

There are not many colonels in the gendarmerie corps. Any gendarmerie with the rank of colonel is either the gendarmerie commander of a province or the gendarmerie supervisor serving as deputy.

There are only 50 administrative units at the provincial level in Russia, so the number of gendarmerie colonels must not exceed .

Although Huette didn't dare to say that he knew all the colonels of the gendarmerie, at least the colonels in the first and second districts were familiar faces. Even for those whom he had never met, Huette had at least seen their names on the list of ranks.

Thinking of this, Huet couldn't help but want to pay a visit to him. He asked, "What's the name of that gentleman?"

The jailer dared not lie to the captain of the gendarmes, so he answered in detail: "It was Mr. Hastingoff from Petersburg."

Huett thought about it carefully, but he really didn't remember such a person. He put the certificate back in his arms and calmly looked at the jailer who was still looking down.

"From Petersburg?" Huette repeated softly, with a hint of doubt in his eyes.

A few names flashed through Huette's mind - these people either had deep backgrounds in the gendarmerie, or were elites who had just been transferred in from the border areas.

However, the name Hastingoff did not stick in his memory.

This means that this person may be a rising star who has just come to the fore, or a lesser-known character, at least he has not yet occupied a sufficiently prominent position in the empire's vast bureaucratic system.

"Is he a new appointment?" Huett frowned slightly, trying to piece together more clues in his mind: "Maybe he was transferred from the East or the Caucasus."

He suddenly remembered that Russia had been undergoing many changes in recent years, especially under the rule of the new Tsar Nicholas I. The gendarmerie had almost all-encompassing power, and any sudden incident in any place could lead to a greater power struggle.

As a young military police officer who intends to go further in the system, Huette has reason to suspect that the emergence of the little-known Colonel Hastings may be conveying a signal of some deeper game within the military police corps.

Who does he belong to?
Count Benkendorf's new favorite?
Or is he a close confidant of Lord Dubert, the "two-faced man" who is gaining power in front of His Majesty the Tsar?

"If he is really newly appointed... then he may not know me." Huet murmured in a low voice, feeling a surge of uneasiness in his heart.

As the only British person in the Russian gendarmerie system, he has already established a certain position in the gendarmerie system.

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Although he didn't care about power struggles most of the time, he couldn't take the arrival of the new colonel lightly, even if it was the slightest threat.

Even as a foreigner, he was not at risk of being exiled by the Tsar…

However, if he offended the wrong person in the power struggle, he would still be deprived of his hard-earned Russian noble status as well as his military rank, salary and other benefits.

After enjoying the pleasure of being addressed as Lord Hugh, it was too cruel for him to be sent back to his position as a clerk in the company, being ordered around by the manager to do this and that. This heavy mental blow was too much.

Even if they are all errand runners, there is a huge difference between running errands for the Tsar and running errands for the manager.

"I should go and see him."

Huett stood in front of the cold prison building, took a deep breath of the icy air, glanced at the jailer in front of him, and finally spoke: "Colonel Hastingoff is staying in this city?"

The jailer was stunned for a moment, obviously not expecting Huett to suddenly mention Hastings, and seemed a little hesitant. But he obviously didn't dare to hide anything, so he whispered, "Yes, Captain, Colonel Hastings is currently staying at the mayor's residence."

Huett frowned slightly and asked softly, "Mayor's Mansion? When did he arrive? Did he meet with local officials?"

The jailer obviously knew that these questions were tricky, but he did not try to avoid them. He just answered truthfully: "Lord Hastingoff arrived last week. He had several talks with the mayor, the judge, and the superintendent. However, the colonel seemed to be carrying the emperor's secret order, so he did not reveal his identity in the first five days, but found a small hotel to stay alone. During that time, the colonel went to the city hall, the police station, the city court and other places in plain clothes every day to investigate. Until everything was clear, he finally revealed his identity, which scared the mayor and others."

When Huette heard this working method, he immediately concluded that Colonel Hastingoff must be an expert among the military police.

He had once met an old gendarme transferred from the border region in St. Petersburg. He was also a ruthless character who liked to travel incognito and was as tough as Hastingov.

The term "incognito visit" may not sound new, but don't think that incognito visit is easy just because it sounds old-fashioned.

If you don't have real skills and are not bold and careful, it's very easy to get yourself 'missing' if you try this.

Although the Third Bureau and the Military Police have great power, great power also comes at a price.

Their power is based on criticizing the incompetence of other government departments, and the nature of this work is naturally not welcomed by other departments.

The trigger for all this was the controversial "Report on Public Opinion of 1828" published by the Third Bureau.

The Report on the Public Opinion Survey of 1828 showed that the supervision of the Third Bureau and the Gendarmerie over the government's power organs was absolutely effective.

However, because this report exposed social reality, it also aroused the hatred of many senior officials, and some even tried to persecute the Third Bureau and the Gendarmerie.

The third round of counterattack was a sharp evaluation of the main leaders of the central power organs in the "Public Opinion Survey of 1829".

The third bureau first praised the hard work of Finance Minister Conkling, but also pointed out that Conkling was stubborn and unwilling to listen to anyone's opinions. Conkling's assistant Druzhinin was very capable at work, but had a tendency to be corrupt and disregard the law.

Interior Minister Zakrevsky is short-sighted and shallow-minded.

The Minister of National Education, Levin, is stupid, ignorant and uneducated.

Chernyshev, the Minister of War, had a bad reputation and extremely bad personal ethics, and was the object of common hostility from the whole society.

The judicial system has been under fierce attack from the Third Bureau for several consecutive years. In the annual work reports, Russia's judicial department was directly evaluated as still at the level of the end of the last century, with backward working methods, rigid management system, corrupt and incompetent judges, and lagging trial procedures.

All the central departments wanted to kill the Third Bureau and the gendarmerie, but after all, all the central departments were in St. Petersburg, which was under the feet of the emperor, so it was difficult for everyone to act rashly.

But for local agencies, the situation is very different.

The commander of the Moscow gendarmerie, Volkov, submitted secret reports to Count Benkendorf, director of the Third Bureau, more than once, listing in detail various evidences to prove that the Moscow Governor, Duke Golitsyn, was extremely dissatisfied with the activities of the gendarmerie in the area and was ready to attack the gendarmerie at any time.

At the end of last year, Colonel Maslov, head of the Seventh District, was not only obstructed by the Governor of Kazan when he was carrying out his work in Kazan, but his personal freedom was also restricted - he was placed under house arrest in the mayor's residence for a week.

However, compared with what happened in Saratov Province, the treatment Colonel Maslov suffered was relatively light.

A few years ago, when cholera broke out in Saratov, the local gendarmes reported the corruption of the Saratov governor to their superiors, and the governor even tried to poison the gendarme with cholera. Fortunately, the gendarmes' report had already been passed to Count Benckendorff, so the governor was eventually dismissed from his post and severely retaliated by the Third Bureau for the poisoning - his entire family was exiled.

As for the group of police officers whose duties overlap with those of the gendarmerie, the two are simply old enemies. The gendarmerie will monitor the work of the police, and the police will monitor the travel and activities of the gendarmerie.

Under the instructions of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, this group of local police even dared to monitor the second-in-command of the Third Bureau - the head of the First Section, von Walker.

It has caused Von Werck to write to the Director-General for help - I must speak to your Excellency about this matter, which is unpleasant. The local police, attached to the Ministry of the Interior, travel in plain clothes and hang around the house where I live, watching visitors and restricting my movements.

In such a context of serious confrontation among departments, the military police who dared to use the tactic of incognito visits are all examples of great skill and boldness.

After all, if this trick is not used well, it is easy to end up like "Mandala? What military police? There has never been a military police in our city. Maybe he was unlucky and was eaten by the wolf cub."

As Huette thought of this, his heart suddenly shuddered.

Colonel Hastings stayed at the Mayor's Mansion?
Could it be that he has these bastards of Druidsk under house arrest?
Huet quickly gathered his thoughts and made a calm decision.

He waved his hand, signaling the two subordinates beside him to come forward.

"Get your equipment ready." His voice was low and serious, and his eyes revealed a deterrent force that could not be ignored.

The subordinates immediately obeyed the order and turned to prepare. Huett continued to pace in the yard, feeling a little uneasy.

He knew that Hastingoff was not a simple character, especially since he conducted the investigation so low-key and even did not disclose his identity at the beginning, which in itself revealed a hint of unusual information.

After a while, two subordinates came over with weapons in hand, one of them was holding a standard rifle, and the other was carrying two daggers and a pistol.

Huet said nothing, but nodded and waved for them to follow.

"Get in the car and go to the mayor's mansion."

(End of this chapter)