He Opened A Matchmaking Agency In 18Th Century London [EN]: Chapter 87

87. A Decisive Commander

Everyone looked bewildered at the suggestion to impersonate the British army.

Lord Butler asked,

“Lord Sanderson, impersonate the British army? I’m not sure I understand.”

“It’s exactly what it sounds like. We need to trick the rebel slaves into thinking the British army is coming.”

“How so?”

“The British army’s nickname, ‘redcoat,’ is quite famous. In other words, the rebel slaves know that a red coat signifies the British army.

Since we can’t get proper uniforms right away, we’ll add red cloth to coats or jackets, wear tricorn hats [three-cornered hats], and don cross belts with metal buckles across our chests. In this darkness, we’ll look just like British soldiers from a distance.”

‘Redcoat’ was a nickname derived from the red uniforms worn by the British army and marines at the time.

“But even if we gather all available manpower, we’ll barely have 40 people. Do you really think the blacks will believe that such a small group is an army? Even if they do, would they be afraid of such a small force?”

Instead of answering, Theo made a request.

“Lord Butler, could you bring me a map of Jamaica?”

“A map? Ah, yes.”

Soon, Stephen brought a map from the study.

Theo spread the map on the table and continued his explanation.

“The only operation that can succeed in an absolutely numerically inferior situation is a deception tactic.

As I said before, we first make and wear red coats, arrange 20 armed overseers in a four-column formation at the front. Then, we march forward with loud drumming, allowing about 50 slaves to follow sparsely behind.”

He pointed to the path leading to Earl Evans’s mansion on the map.

“When I went to Earl Evans’s house last time, I noticed that the mansion is located on a narrow, long hill. So, if we slowly drum and fire our guns while marching up the hill in single file, the young and inexperienced slaves will be tricked into thinking that the British army is endlessly advancing.”

The entrance to Evans’s mansion was a narrow path leading up a long hill.

If about 70 people marched in four columns, it could appear as if a large number of troops were pushing up from behind.

“I don’t know. Do you really think they’ll be fooled so easily? They’ll quickly realize it’s fake after a while. How good is the blacks’ eyesight anyway?”

Theo shook his head at Stephen’s words.

“Because it’s night, their vision will be limited no matter how good their eyesight is. The British army’s march flickering in the torchlight will appear to be a much larger force than in broad daylight.

And from the moment they discover the British army is coming, they’ll be too terrified to just stand and watch. Once they’re convinced it’s the British army, they’ll panic and try to escape. And…”

Theo pointed to the side on the map.

“While we prepare to march from the front, 20 overseers will take a shortcut through the forest on this side in advance. And when the blacks are in chaos from the sound of guns and drums coming from the front, the overseers waiting on the side will fire their guns and make noise with drums and trumpets, pretending to charge in.”

The bald overseer, who had been listening with his arms crossed by the window, asked.

“Do you really think they’ll believe the army has come and be frightened by that?”

“Most of the rebel slaves are young and unfamiliar with this area. More importantly, if they are suddenly pressured from the front and sides in the dark night, the slaves, mixed with tension, excitement, and fear, will feel a strong sense of dread, as if they are surrounded by a massive force.

Once they are psychologically intimidated, the imagination that they are surrounded by numerous soldiers will grow uncontrollably, and they will have no choice but to believe that the army is really advancing before their eyes.

Eventually, they will all choose to flee to the mountains behind them. We will seize that moment to rescue the Evans family and escape.”

Overseer Murphy cautiously asked,

“But… in my experience, the blacks are smarter and more sensitive than you think. Even if they run into the mountains, they will definitely hide and keep watching. And if they realize they’ve been tricked, they’ll come down and try to kill us all.”

“Yes, that’s right. We must keep that in mind and move strictly on schedule.”

Theo’s hand pointed to another part of the map again.

“It will take about 30 minutes for the rebel slaves who have hidden in these hills to assess the situation, realize they have been tricked, and come down from the mountain to reach the mansion, considering the distance.

So, we must enter the mansion and find the Evans family within 30 minutes at the latest. After finding them, we get into the carriage we prepared in front and escape.

Since there are 300 of them and they are not familiar with this area, they won’t be able to chase us anymore once we get a little distance away in the carriage.”

Theo’s strategy seemed plausible, but everyone seemed unsure whether the slaves would really be fooled as he thought.

“Will it really go as Lord Sanderson says? What if the blacks don’t run into the mountains and try to resist strongly? They’ll immediately realize that the number of soldiers is ridiculously small if they get close.”

Theo calmly replied to Jonathan’s concern.

“This is just an operation. Of course, there is no guarantee that it will succeed. We are simply making a comprehensive judgment of the current situation and trying to deceive the enemy.

I don’t know if the rebel slaves have a plan, but if they do, we should see it as a battle of wits between their plan and our plan. We’ll have to see whether the rebel slaves fall for my trick or whether it fails.

It’s like a chess game, where each side unfolds their planned strategies, and it’s a battle of how well they work.”

Silence fell over the living room after Theo finished speaking.

There was nothing to refute, but they seemed hesitant about whether such a show would really work.

Ultimately, it was up to Lord Butler, the owner of the plantation and the highest authority, to decide.

“Father? What should we do? There’s no time to delay.”

Lord Butler, who had been deep in thought, opened his mouth as if he had made up his mind at Jonathan’s urging.

“Alright. Let’s do it! While we prepare for battle, let’s send someone to check near the Evans’s house first. And if the mansion hasn’t caught fire as Lord Sanderson said, we’ll become the British army.”

Then, words burst out here and there as if they had been waiting for it.

“Yes. I think so too! Let’s do it!”

“That’s right! Let’s do as he says. If they mistake us for the British army and run away, we’ll quickly rescue them, and if they don’t fall for it, we can quickly retreat since there’s some distance, right?”

“That’s right. It seems much safer than going in recklessly. If the blacks are fooled as he says, we’ll get the best result.”

Everyone unanimously agreed to follow Theo’s plan.

In the excited atmosphere, Theo asked Lord Butler.

“How many guns can we gather at most?”

Lord Butler had quite a few guns for self-defense and decoration.

“I have about 30, and if we include the nearby plantations, we can get close to 80.”

“That’s good. That should be enough to show some power and deceive them. We need to quickly gather the guns while we send someone to scout Evans’s house.

And please get as much support as possible from the white overseers on nearby plantations. We also need to pick about 50 trustworthy blacks. But you should bring those with families and older blacks.”

“Understood.”

Theo also asked Lady Butler.

“Madam, you need to quickly add red cloth to coats or jackets. We only need to imitate the British army, so there’s no need to sew meticulously. Instead, we must do it quickly.”

“Yes! I understand!”

“Also, please prepare enough belts and buckles. And make the hats look like tricorns!”

“Yes, yes! I understand. Marianne! Marianne!”

*

By Lord Butler’s order, all the guns used on the plantation and displayed in the house were brought out, and they were also borrowed from nearby plantations.

The collected guns were mostly flintlock muskets and Brown Bess muskets, which were commonly used by the British army.

At that time, the guns were quite heavy and long, and the reloading process required several steps, making them very inconvenient to use.

For that reason, the number of shots that could be fired in one minute was only about 2-3.

‘···?’

Then Theo noticed a peculiar gun.

The barrel was much longer than the other guns, and the workmanship was sleek, making it look solid and sharp.

Theo picked up the gun and examined it closely.

‘Huh?’

Unlike other guns, there was a spiral groove inside the barrel.

Looking closely inside, it was rifling [grooves inside a gun barrel that cause the bullet to spin, increasing accuracy].

He had shot guns a few times since coming to the 18th century, and he remembered being disappointed each time by the short range and inaccuracy.

Theo wondered if it was because there was no rifling.

At the time, most guns, including those used by the British army, were smoothbore guns without rifling, so the bullets did not spin, and the range after firing was reduced.

Theo asked Lord Butler.

“This gun has rifling inside the barrel, unlike the other guns? The range will be much longer, right?”

Lord Butler looked surprised at Theo’s words.

“How do you know about rifling, Lord Sanderson?”

“Pardon?”

“And you even know that rifling increases the range… As you said, that gun is a ‘Kentucky Long Rifle’ with rifling.”

“Kentucky Long Rifle… I see. But why does this gun have rifling? It’s the first time I’ve seen a gun with rifling.”

“The rifling manufacturing process is complicated and expensive, and reloading is too slow due to its structure, so it’s not yet used in the military. But I think it will be used soon. Because the accuracy is outstanding.”

“…Yes.”

The Kentucky Long Rifle was said to have the disadvantage of having an inconveniently long barrel and requiring the bullet to be wrapped in cloth to fit properly when reloading, which took more time until firing.

However, thanks to the rifling that rotated the bullet, the range was outstanding and the accuracy was high, so it seemed to serve as a kind of sniper rifle that could hit enemies coming from afar.

‘Where…’

He put the gun against his body.

It was heavy.

It was a long time ago, but Theo was more confident than anyone else in shooting in the military.

He participated in the division shooting competition and won first place in both day and night shooting, earning two reward vacations.

Chuck-

The gun can greatly increase the hit rate if you get used to the recoil and properly shoulder and aim.

The guns that the blacks who started the slave rebellion would have mostly smoothbore guns without rifling, so the hit rate was low, and the effective range was less than 50m.

Moreover, they lacked experience with guns and were not familiar with them, and in the absence of night vision goggles or tracer bullets, they were likely to panic during night shooting.

‘We’re out of range, and we have a much better advantage because it’s night and we know the terrain well. Moreover, this gun with rifling could cause great confusion.’

He lifted the gun and pulled it into his shoulder, and it felt quite powerful.

Although the barrel was somewhat long, it seemed sufficient to hit distant enemies.

Meanwhile, Lord Butler, who had been carefully watching Theo’s posture while shouldering the gun, said with admiration.

“I didn’t know you could handle a gun so well, Lord Sanderson.”

“Pardon?”

“The way you aim the gun is so stable, it looks like you’ve shot a lot?”

“Ah, no.”

“Do you enjoy hunting? Or perhaps… did you serve in the military?”

“…Pardon?”

Lord Butler’s eyes widened at Theo’s flustered expression.

“Oh? Wait a minute! Come to think of it, the way you unfolded the map and naturally came up with a plan, and the fact that you’re so knowledgeable about tactics and firearms… it seems like you were really a soldier? Am I wrong?”

At Lord Butler’s words, everyone around him glanced at Theo.

In a desperate situation where they might have to fight a war against black slaves, the appearance of a soldier with combat experience was enough to attract people’s attention.

“No, that’s…”

Lord Butler asked again with conviction, seeing Theo hesitate without answering.

“I knew it! You were a soldier, weren’t you? Right?”

Well, it wasn’t a complete lie if you think about it.

Although it wasn’t the 18th-century army, he had served in the 21st-century Republic of Korea Army’s reconnaissance company for over two years.

In some ways, Theo’s military knowledge might be far superior to that of 18th-century soldiers, who lacked tactical concepts.

The deception tactics he explained earlier were also an application of the tactics he had used several times while playing the role of counter-forces or during anti-infiltration operations.

“Well, I didn’t do it for that long. I just served in the military for a little over two years…”

At that moment, unexpected sighs of relief and exclamations burst out here and there.

“Oh!”

“I knew it, that’s what it was.”

“Whew-, this is really fortunate!”

“So, it was a pretty reliable plan after all?”

“I know, the operation sounded too plausible, I should have told us sooner, haha?”

The situation was rapidly changing from waiting for the British army to fight a war against the rebel slaves.

In this moment of desperation, having someone with combat knowledge seemed to provide greater comfort and reassurance than expected.

Above all, the trust that Theo’s operation was not a mere product of imagination but came from experience made people feel relieved.

“Lord Sanderson?”

Lord Butler seemed to be about to ask Theo for something.

“Yes?”

“None of us have any experience or concept of war or the military. Even when slave rebellions occurred, we just defended the area around the plantation, and we’ve never invaded the center of the rebel blacks like this before.”

“……..”

“So, I was wondering if you could lead us, Lord Sanderson?”

“…Pardon?”

“I once had the opportunity to talk to a great general. He was someone who had roamed countless battlefields. And he said that the most difficult enemy to deal with is a unit that moves in an orderly manner according to the commander’s instructions.

To break through those crazy blacks, I think you should become the commander and lead us.”

There was no need to talk about the importance of a commander in battle.

Moreover, in a battle applying these deception tactics, it is necessary to respond sensitively to psychological warfare, and for that, the command system must be clear.

Theo accepted without much hesitation.

“Yes, I will. To be honest, I’m ashamed to say that I gained a lot of experience in the military, but I think I can suppress the rebel slaves. Instead, you must give me all decisions on the ground. If the situation is not good, we may have to retreat immediately.”

“Of course! That’s exactly the kind of judgment we’re asking you to make.”

“Yes, I understand.”

They had a decisive commander for those who had been floundering without tactics or strategy.