(last update: O8.17."O9)
While fully aware that an alliance with a *major* power would be the best way to be soon involved in a war, the first POPP cared to negotiate the possibility to hire military forces from very distant or notoriously neutral minor countries; his heirs scrpulously renewed the contracts. The total strenght potentially available amounts to five battalions of infantry and two regiments of light cavalry, practically without artillery (indeed, as a sign of non-belligerence, the Presipality only have some 25 barrels, almost two centuries old, in its Arsenal,
with ample provision of powder, cannonballs and tools but no carriage - except for the 4 guns, of very light / light battalion gun type {fauconneaux}, that 'adorn' the inner courtyards and gardens of the Palace, but are used only to fire funeral salvoes at a POPP death).(Then, quite possibly Maurice de Saxe sent plans of his advanced amusette to Louys, who had 'a number' secretly cast at the Manufacture d'Armes de Saint-Etienne; foreigners cannot obtain another comment than: "Would it be true, amusettes are not artillery pieces anyway, just oversized muskets".)
A- The LEGION
The most unexpected (and most unlikely to be actually hired) source of foreign mercenaries. When France was totally surrounded by Charles Quint’s possessions (Emperor of Germany, King of Spain and ruler of a great part of Italy), King Francois the 1st signed an alliance with Turkey (to the horrified indignation of whole Christiandom). As the ruler of a Country, indeed independant of the French Crown, but geographically and linguistically French, des Entommeures negotiated an extension of the treaty. In exchange for the possibility of quasi-official Turkish commerce with Europe via Monte-Cristo harbour (huge transit taxes collected here) and garantees as to the fate of Turkish sailors shipwrecked on Monte-Cristan shore, Turkey pressed the Bey of Algiers to allow the raising of a mixed IMAZIGHEN ‘Legion’ in Kabylia. As soon as allowed the Legion was raised at double the intended strenght (which was equivalent to a battalion of infantry and a regiment of light horse) and kept permanently in active service by the Kabyle Confederacy, to protect Kabylia from ‘razzias’ by briganding neighbours and tax collectors backed by janissaries sent by the Bey from the ‘arabized’ coast. The combination of the natural courage, warlike qualities and cunning of the Kabyles with regular discipline and training makes the Legion exceptionally efficient. It is of course the single regular unit in the whole Maghreb. How if hired the contracted half of the actual Legion could reach the shore and then cross to Monte-Cristo is an open question, though theoretically Turkey would take care of the transfer.
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For a quick description of its current uniforms, the cavalry is not dissimilar (in style of dress, not in colors) to the cavalry raised by Spain in the Maghreb: more precisely it looks like French late 19th C. Spahis Algeriens (with added pistol holsters and saddlecloth similar to Napoleonic Mameluks’ saddlery), but with the local long-barreled musket instead of an european-issue carbine, no bayonet, plus local sabre and belt dagger; trumpeters, musicians and junior officers wear various turbans rather similar to those of the infantry, while following European interpretation of 'orientalia' that of kettle-drummer is almost Mameluk-like and for senior officers of 'Bengal lancer' type!
The infantry looks like early French Zouaves (with white turban; boots instead of low gaiters), but with local sabre, dagger and pistol in addition to the ‘european’ musket and bayonet..
The colors pattern is: sky blue jacket with daffodil-yellow braiding (gold for officers, regardless of the regimental 'metal') and very dark blue ‘tombo’ (the trumpeters, drummers and musicians reverse the colors of the jacket and the ‘tombo’, and wear a red turban);
'flashy' red-orange, orange or 'fluo' yellow sash according to rank,‘islamic green’ for trumpeters, drummers and musicians;
baggy trousers from mahogany to old rosewood according to rank, yellow for kettle-drummer, yellow-orange for trumpeters and drummers, raspberry for other musicians;
black boots, brown for non-coms, red for trumpeters, drummers and musicians, of yellow Morocco leather for junior officers, green for senior ones; with various degrees of golden embroideries from non-coms up;
red burnous lined white for the cavalry and mounted infantry officers (white lined sky blue for the kettledrummer), but for all ranks with the golden embroideries of the 20th C. spahis marocains burnous.
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The ‘islamic green’ flags, of the ‘musilm’ serrated silouhette, bear the traditional good-luck «Fatma’s hand» (probably dating from Punic times), in gold for the cavalry, silver for the infantry, over a very large 'Z' in berber alphabet, red outlined in the regimental 'metal'.
B- The GARDIANS DE
These wild and fiercely independent cattle herders agreeded to send (rent) the equivalent of a
regiment of cavalry if Monte-Cristo called for help. It is said that this agreement was negotiated through an old 
Gardians currently look quite like ‘Infernales’ gauchos of the Argentinian War of Independance, but wear, instead of a red cap, a red 'picador' round hat;
while for Manadiers (herd-owners) the hat is larger (Britton-fashion) with the rim generously embroided in gold on both side: one side is worn up, and the exposed area is decorated with medals, buttons and jewelry.
When on the warpath the Gardians add to their equipment a saddlecloth of hussar pattern, traditionally reddish-brown, decorated with embroideries incorporating medals, pieces of colored glass and tiny mirrors to display their wealth.They carry permanently a Bowie-like knife on the right, one or two pistols hooked to the jacket (the Manadiers instead wear two pistols in a Turkish ‘stomach’ holster, Mameluk-fashion) and of course the long, slender pike with which they control their quasi-feral cattle. When going to fight, they obviously remove the stopping roundel and add a tuff of horsehair dyed in the color of their Manade. For real war, each adds a sword or sabre of sorts, and a shortened musket, carbine (often rifled for Manadiers) or at least a blunderbuss.
They represent an excellent, if totally irregular, type of light cavalry.
C- The INFANTERIE CONFEDEREE.
Following the precedent of the ‘Capitulations’ between France and Switzeland, Monte-Cristo signed an agreement with the quasi-helvetic Confederation of Köln-Erhabener-Augstpferde. According to the Nyons Contract, Monte-Cristo when requiring it would have «total priority» to hire the four mercenary regiments of infantry that constitute the only source of income of the little Confederation (witout chocolate or clockworks to export).
Each regiment has two battalions: the second represents a depot, training cadre and home defense force, the first is the field unit that is rented. Each regiment owns a few ‘swedish’ 4-Pders pieces crewed by supernumerary musketeers of the 1st company, but only two regiments at a given time affect them to their field battalion.
KEA battalions almost never converge their grenadiers companies, even when in service of a country routinely doing it; could have something to do with the sharing of casualties, expenses and extra bonus.
Swiss regiments in foreign service carry flags of the type corresponding to their employer country; Köln- Erhabener-Augstpferde prefering to rent its mercenaries on an annual basis to the higher bidder, KEA field battalions carry flags of the Confederate design: following the model of Swiss regiments in French service, a white cross on a quartered 'french' scarlet and medium blue field; 5 'ondulating' flames in each quarter, the central and the exterior 2 white, the 2 intermediate of the regimental coat color edged gold; only for the 2nd batallions (kept in Confederate service), on the center of the flag the coat of arms of KEA: a white fish on a shield vertically divided in red and medium blue. Only the sash attached under the pike head, the ‘tie’, shows for what country they are currently fighting. A flag without ‘tie’ indicates a regiment presently unemployed, and that the Confederation is in search of a new contract. When under contract but still on the march to join their new employer army, KEA battalions display their flags with the Confederation ‘tie’ and are deemed still ‘neutral’. Together with their high repute of honesty and discipline, this allows them free passage through any territory, including that of their 'future foes'.
Similarly, while Swiss regiments in foreign service wear uniforms following largely their permanent employer’s fashion. Köln- Erhabener-Augstpferde regiments on the opposite wear uniforms reflecting the religious alignement of their area of recruitment.
The names of the regiments, incidentally, are those of their first colonels, kept by tradition (to change the names of known products is bad marketing practice).
The four regiments share the same facing color, a light brown in the cocoa/ Toblerone/ milked chocolate range. In all cases the coat and smallclothes are of the same color, to save when buying cloth. Black tie when not quoted otherwise, always white for officers.
-The Isgutbanan Regiment is wholly Roman Catholic, thus wears an uniform of totally French cut and fashion; banana-yellow cloth, garance cuff-straps with ‘imperial’ blue buttonlace edged silver, the regimental metal.
-The Toblereine Regiment is recruited mainly, but not only, from Catholics: Austrian uniform (small pompoms in the corners of the tricorn, grenadiers bearskin with ‘bag’), while oddly the drummers wear the shoulder rolls and false sleeves of English pattern; light beige cloth (Toblerone packaging), red tie, metal: gold.
-The Nesmilche Regiment is of Calvinist conviction: Prussian uniform (with lapels and ‘prussian’ cuffs), though the grenadiers mitre is of Hanovrian type; light-medium blue cloth (Nestle chocolate bars packaging), metal: gold.
-The Goldlindter Regiment is also of Reformed recruitment: Prussian uniform (without lapels and lace, but lace on the waistcoat buttonholes, ‘Saxon’ cuffs with lace on buttonholes, Prussian grenadiers mitre; bright red cloth (actually the color of French firefighters cars), metal: gold but one out of two cuff buttons & buttonlaces is white/silver. (In the time of the WSS, in each regiment the 1st battalion had ‘gold’ and the 2nd ‘silver’: of course this caused complications and undue extra cost when personal changed battalion, so was soon discarded; the peculiarity of the Goldlindter cuffs is a rememberance of the valiant conduct of a task force made of troops from both battalions).
The drummers and musicians wear a coat in the Confederation livery: medium blue coat and abundant lacing of red over white (a very simplified design of the 'Pisces' astrological sign repeated on the white -silver for drum-major- lace). The lace is worn according to the French, English, Bavarian (edging the whole swallownet, and longitudinal along the sleeves) and Prussian (swallownet, chevrons on sleeves) pattern respectively. The lining of the coat (visible on cuffs, &c.) is of the regimental ‘normal coat color’.
(Actually the Köln- Erhabener-Augstpferde regiments are born from the convergence of three sources: two posts on the SOCDAISY Yahoo group, one suggesting to use well-known food packagings to design your uniforms –think of a MacDonald Regiment!– the other alluding to quasi-Swiss mercenary units; and a comment on the ‘Emperor vs Elector’ blog suggesting to the semi-helvetic Colonia Iulia Equestris to loan mercenary infantry, Swiss-fashion. So these four regiments are a kind of (totally unsolicited!) proposal for the mercenaries from Colonia Iulia Equestris. The coat of arms of Nyon (as Colonia Iulia Equestris is now called) is given on the Colonia Iulia Equestris blog, hence the livery and the flags. )
CONCLUSION.
Of what help could these foreign contingents be to an endangered Monte-Cristo is obviously highly questionable. Only the Gardians would be at hand on short notice. As for the Confederate Infantry battalions, their availability would be subjected to negotiations with their current employer(s) –and payment of huge compensations; then they would have to march from whatever corner of Europe they are presently campaigning in. The arrival of the Legion Kabyle would be even more problematical, and delayed. Anyway, the equivalent of two brigades practically without artillery would be deprived of any strategical significance. Nevertheless the Presipapal treasury claims to keep permanently, as a special reserve, enough gold to raise the seven regiments and maintain them for more than two years. It must be remembered that their potential availability had been kept over some one and half centuries at an extremely low cost for the Presipality –some annual gifts to three sets of modest rulers/ chiefs. All in all, these potential foreign contingents are probably to be seen as a deterrent –a minor pawn in the complex, sophisticated, tortuous Monte-Cristan diplomatic game. As with any deterrent, its actual use would indeed prove its failure.
UPDATE: WOULD OTTOMAN TROOPS COME TO THE RESCUE OF MONTE-CRISTO?
Part of the underground Presipapal diplomacy seems to be currently devoted to warming up the relationships between the Ottoman Empire and Christian Europe (comment). It may be more than coincidental that a Monte-Cristan soldier of fortune recently trained an unit on the European model for the Porte (april "8 comment): Robert 'Bob' de Nard (now aka Saïd Mustapha Mahdjub) claims to be 'free-lance' but may well be, at least part time, an agent of the Palace (and occasionally, through it, of the French King and the covert diplomacy of the Secret du Roy).
The uniform of this GARDE LE LA PORTE combines traditional Janissary and 'modern', 'europeanized' features, but de Nard, as he always does, used typical colors of the Presipality: black headgear and shoes, bleu turquois upper garnments, 'mermaid pink' lower ones. France somehow provided ‘Marine - Tulle mod. 1734’ muskets complete with bayonet and (mahogany) leathers, though the pouch of the cartridge box is decorated with a crescent and a star; a janissary sabre, a local dagger and often pistol complete the weaponry.
To be ignored by the conservative elements of the Diwan, the unit officially is not of military nature, but a body of special secretaries, learned in foreign tongues and endowed at home with the translation of Christian gazettes and new books, with some military training as to become abroad translators-cum-bodyguards of Turks emissaries, official or private.
The rather secret man who took personal command of the new unit (and is certainly at its origin) is a fascinating exception: an Ottoman noble fully aware of the decline of the Empire. And a learned and open-minded man, admiring how Peter the Great resurrected Old Russia; obviously the 'Grey Wolf', as he is known, intends -like Pyotr III of Slavonia recently did and as the Raj of Golconda is currently doing- to follow his example and to raise European-trained units and progressively turn the innumerable traditional hordes into 'modern' regiments.
To what intent? The Grey Wolf openly quotes Darius and Marathon to justify that an attempt to reverse the tide in Europe would be premature. Instead he claims that to restore the Empire it must fulfil its role of Amīr al-mu minīn, 'Commander of the Faithful', extending his authority over the whole Choura, the Muslim world. Yet according to reliable sources the man is rather indifferent to religion, e.g. often reminding that Jews and Christians, followers of the Book, are to receive a privilegied treatment; a Monte-Cristan agent even claims he privately enjoys pork, champagne and cherry. So he is a 'nationalist' rather than an islamist, the religious themes are just to stir and win the overpowerful conservative circles. His (indeed grandiose ) plan implies: to the West, to re-absorb Egypt, restore and widen control over Maghreb (currently limited to parts of the coast, and purely nominal anyway), and conquer -at last- Morocco; to the South to extend to Sudan, impose a protectorate over Ethiopia, absorb Somalia and Zanzibar; to the South East to occupy the whole Arabian peninsula down to Bahrain; to the Est to expand through the Caucasus to Samarkand on the Silk Road, and (the Grey Wolf quotes the conquests of Iskandar, Alexander the Great) to what in other times would be called Afghanistan and Pakistan: Persia is a big mouthful but would fall once surrounded, perhaps keeping for a generation a nominal independance as a vassal state... Those listening to this enthralling project hope that the Ottoman Empire will then turn its renewed strenght against Europe.
In all likelihood the Grey Wolf is in contact with POPP Louys - probably through de Nard himself, almost certainly through other Monte-Cristan channels. It is whispered of a secret agreement between them, to have a battalion of the G.P. sent to Monte-Cristo in case of need: indeed a platoon already came to the Presipality, escorting the Mehter Takımı when the Ottoman Band was the Guest of Honor of a recent festival. The distances involved makes actual intervention in due time unlikely, but to have Ottoman troops up to one's sleeve is impressive, the more so if it is supposed to be a secret: Louys certainly did not miss such an opportunity to enlist a new potential ally?
Part of the underground Presipapal diplomacy seems to be currently devoted to warming up the relationships between the Ottoman Empire and Christian Europe (comment). It may be more than coincidental that a Monte-Cristan soldier of fortune recently trained an unit on the European model for the Porte (april "8 comment): Robert 'Bob' de Nard (now aka Saïd Mustapha Mahdjub) claims to be 'free-lance' but may well be, at least part time, an agent of the Palace (and occasionally, through it, of the French King and the covert diplomacy of the Secret du Roy).
The uniform of this GARDE LE LA PORTE combines traditional Janissary and 'modern', 'europeanized' features, but de Nard, as he always does, used typical colors of the Presipality: black headgear and shoes, bleu turquois upper garnments, 'mermaid pink' lower ones. France somehow provided ‘Marine - Tulle mod. 1734’ muskets complete with bayonet and (mahogany) leathers, though the pouch of the cartridge box is decorated with a crescent and a star; a janissary sabre, a local dagger and often pistol complete the weaponry.
To be ignored by the conservative elements of the Diwan, the unit officially is not of military nature, but a body of special secretaries, learned in foreign tongues and endowed at home with the translation of Christian gazettes and new books, with some military training as to become abroad translators-cum-bodyguards of Turks emissaries, official or private.
The rather secret man who took personal command of the new unit (and is certainly at its origin) is a fascinating exception: an Ottoman noble fully aware of the decline of the Empire. And a learned and open-minded man, admiring how Peter the Great resurrected Old Russia; obviously the 'Grey Wolf', as he is known, intends -like Pyotr III of Slavonia recently did and as the Raj of Golconda is currently doing- to follow his example and to raise European-trained units and progressively turn the innumerable traditional hordes into 'modern' regiments.
To what intent? The Grey Wolf openly quotes Darius and Marathon to justify that an attempt to reverse the tide in Europe would be premature. Instead he claims that to restore the Empire it must fulfil its role of Amīr al-mu minīn, 'Commander of the Faithful', extending his authority over the whole Choura, the Muslim world. Yet according to reliable sources the man is rather indifferent to religion, e.g. often reminding that Jews and Christians, followers of the Book, are to receive a privilegied treatment; a Monte-Cristan agent even claims he privately enjoys pork, champagne and cherry. So he is a 'nationalist' rather than an islamist, the religious themes are just to stir and win the overpowerful conservative circles. His (indeed grandiose ) plan implies: to the West, to re-absorb Egypt, restore and widen control over Maghreb (currently limited to parts of the coast, and purely nominal anyway), and conquer -at last- Morocco; to the South to extend to Sudan, impose a protectorate over Ethiopia, absorb Somalia and Zanzibar; to the South East to occupy the whole Arabian peninsula down to Bahrain; to the Est to expand through the Caucasus to Samarkand on the Silk Road, and (the Grey Wolf quotes the conquests of Iskandar, Alexander the Great) to what in other times would be called Afghanistan and Pakistan: Persia is a big mouthful but would fall once surrounded, perhaps keeping for a generation a nominal independance as a vassal state... Those listening to this enthralling project hope that the Ottoman Empire will then turn its renewed strenght against Europe.
In all likelihood the Grey Wolf is in contact with POPP Louys - probably through de Nard himself, almost certainly through other Monte-Cristan channels. It is whispered of a secret agreement between them, to have a battalion of the G.P. sent to Monte-Cristo in case of need: indeed a platoon already came to the Presipality, escorting the Mehter Takımı when the Ottoman Band was the Guest of Honor of a recent festival. The distances involved makes actual intervention in due time unlikely, but to have Ottoman troops up to one's sleeve is impressive, the more so if it is supposed to be a secret: Louys certainly did not miss such an opportunity to enlist a new potential ally?
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