Sharpe is horrified to be told that his regiment,the South Essex,is to be disbanded and discovers a plot whereby corrupt war minister Fenner and other high ranking militarists【ZiYuanTun.Com】 auction off soldiers privately,keeping the profits but still claiming on paper that the regiments exist. Having gained the ear of the eccentric Prince of Wales who orders Fenner to give him a new regiment Sharpe is now in danger from Fenner and he and Harper survive an attempt to kill them. Putting it about that they are dead they enlist,using assumed names,in the South Essex,falling foul of vicious Sergeant Lynch and paranoid Colonel Girdwood who abuse the naive young recruits. After Harper is ordered to be shot he and Sharpe escape,helped by Jane Gibbons,whose sadistic,corrupt uncle Simmerson,who also benefits by the auction scam,intends to marry her to Girdwood. Jane knows that her uncle keeps a ledger containing all the illegal transactions,which Sharpe must obtain to bring down the miscreants. 译文(2): 夏普被告知他的团，南埃塞克斯，将被解散，并发现了一个阴谋，腐败的战争部长芬纳和其他高级军事家私下拍卖士兵，保留利润，但仍然声称在纸面上的团存{资源屯-ziyuantun.com}。得到了古怪的威尔士亲王的耳朵谁命令芬纳给他一个新的团沙普现在处于危险的芬纳，他和哈珀生存的企图杀死他们。假装他们已经死了他们用假名在南埃塞克斯入伍，与邪恶的林奇中士和妄想狂的格伍德上校发生冲突他们虐待那些天真的新兵。哈珀被下令枪决后，他和夏普在简 · 吉本斯的帮助下逃脱。简 · 吉本斯残忍、腐败的叔叔西默森也从拍卖骗局中获利，他打算把哈珀娶到 Girdwood。简知道她叔叔有一本记录着所有非法交易的账簿夏普必须得到这本账簿才能扳倒那些恶棍。
