Chapter 4

"Swabbing the Scum Clean"

In the days that followed, with the Russian Navy strengthening its massive fleet for an invasion of Crimea, the British and Danish kingdoms set about recruiting as many young men as possible to enlist in their respective Navies. Each day, Sir Percy and several British and Danish admirals would parade through the streets of Copenhagen seeking those with keen interest to join this adventure that they were preparing for.

"Young men of Copenhagen and those men formally of London," cried Sir Percy as he was followed by a parade of the two navies' best men. "If you would not be starved by cruel masters, if you would not be ruled by anyone except the kings and queens of England and Denmark, God bless them, then you can do no better than to enlist in the British and Danish navies."

As they marched through the streets, several young men dropped what they were doing and joined in the parade that was growing larger and larger with each step that they took. Most of the men were young able bodied men in their 20's and 30's, but some were in their 40's, 50's or even 60's. In a sense, anyone who was able to fight were enticed to join in the parade. Soon, they all came to a large house near the palace where several ranking officers were present, ready to interview the men that Sir Percy and his men had recruited.

"So, you have all come to join in our fight against the cruel aggressor?" said a thin looking but stern British navy officer. "Well, let me be clear that from this day forward, you will live the life of a soldier to their majesties of England and Denmark. If you wish to leave now, then the door is open and you can go back to your miserable pathetic little lives."

The officer motioned for another soldier to open the door that leads back into the streets of Copenhagen. Some of the recruits knew that they had made a mistake and some were already walking out while most of the men stayed where they were.

"You!" barked the officer, turning his attention to a man whose looked as if he had one too many drinks at a nearby tavern. "Are you willing to serve in their majesties' navy?"

"Who's navy?" asked the man, drunkenly. "I only thought his grace, King Eric, was the whoo…"

The man fell over on his left side, only to be caught by several recruiters on that side. They managed to wobbly get him back onto his feet and this to the officer was a man who was beyond help or so he thought.

"My friend," he said. "You are a pathetic excuse for a man. In normal situations, I would have you thrown out. But, you will be taught to focus on goals of defending this kingdom. So, hand over that bottle."

He then looked down to a bottle of liquor that was in his hand and when the man refused to hand it over, the navy officer snatched it quickly and then poured what was left of it out of the bottle, creating a large puddle of liquor. Once the bottle was emptied, he took the bottle and smashed over the man's head, causing him to bleed a little, but managing to wake him up from his drunkeness.

"Now then," said the officer, looking at the drunk squarely in the eye. "Are you ready to serve your leaders, my friend?"

The man nodded nervously when he realized who was standing in front of him. Now that he had order again, the officer then turned his attention back to his recruits.

"Let that be a lesson to all of you," he barked. "Those who will be looking to you do not tolerate the behavior that was demonstrated here today. Now then, if you will follow me, we will begin your transformation from men into sailors."

So, the recruits followed the officer into the courtyard and then were lined up on a ramp going up into the backyard of a chateau. At the bottom of the ramp was a pump that was attached to a well and strong men wearing only a white tanktop was pumping water out of it.

"Now, what you are seeing here," explained the officer. "Is somewhat of a standard that we enforce in our ranks. Soldiers that are in clean uniforms are something that I have seen the gay ladies of London pearl their eyes over. Be obedient, be clean for what is a pitfall is to drink."

It was at that moment did a recruit in his 30's unwisely decide to speak up to the naval officer.

"That will not concern you for I do not drink," said the young man in a cocky voice, angering the officer who came over and clutched him by the scruff of his shirt collar to the point that he was almost being choked upon.

"What will concern you," he snarled, looking at the man straight in the eyes. "Is that you will never speak to myself or a fellow officer in that manner again!"

Suddenly, a loud booming voice was heard and the startled officer looked up to see Sir Percy walking over the recruits. After a few moments, he decided that the next phase of their recruitment was to begin rather than to scold the officer for his behavior on the young recruit.

"Swab the scum clean," he said in a disgusted voice and the naval officer led the recruits over to the water pump where the man pumping the water let out a smile for his favorite part was coming up.

"All right, it's time to understand the reasoning," said the officer, who was joined by several more officers. "Between bossing your kit and being clean. Right, strip off!"

Doing as they were told, the recruits stripped off their civilian clothes along with their undergarments as buckets of water were thrown at them while Sir Percy watched from a short distance away. At that moment, John came in to oversee the cleaning process along with him.

"I see we have new recruits," he remarked as several of the recruits discarded their long johns and britches before water was thrown onto them. "How are they?"

"They seem to be worthy of their desires," replied Sir Percy. "I think with a little training, they can be at full strength to fight off our enemy."

"Who is getting stronger day by day," sighed John, as he walked back into the chateau. "Time is of the essence, Sir Percy. These Russians are dangerous warriors who can destroy anything that stands in their way."

It was then that Sir Percy had some urgent news for John and it was concerning Eric's friend from Northern France.

"However, while the recruits are important," said Sir Percy. "There is something far more urgent at the moment and it is concerning our only French friend that would aide us in the defense of Crimea."

Knowing that Prince Adam was on his way, John demanded that Sir Percy would say anything else, but he would find out not from Sir Percy, but from King Eric himself…