Richard Sharpe returns from Spain to England, before returning from England to Spain to invade France, c.1813
***
Good ol' Sharpie got the right girl, finally. Again. Things are indeed looking up for the alley cat officer, formerly from the gutter.
At the outset of this tale, Sharpe's dilapidated regiment, the South Essex, is in desperate need of reinforcements. They have been rotated off the line, set to light guard duty while they await fresh men from jolly old England. Turns out, the men aren't coming. Something damned strange is afoot back home, and Sharpe is sent to figure it out (and bring the new recruits back to Spain).
When Sharpe gets back to the home base, he finds it nearly deserted. "Where is half my regiment?" he says. "Missing." they say. A old soldier tells him that the missing regiment is still recruiting soldiers. "Whaaa?" Harper and Sharpe then hit upon a classic buddy comedy idea: dress as ruffians and try to get recruited. Then they'll get to the bottom of this strange situation.
Sharpe learns that the South Essex rearguard is being illegally "crimped"; the recruits, hidden away in a swampy wasteland, are being trained then auctioned off to other Army units while the officers (and some higher ups) pocket the poor soldier's pay. Not cool, bad guys. Guess what? Sharpe puts an end to it (eventually), and winds up with the charming Jane Gibbons (whom we've met before) as his new blushing bride. He leads the new dudes back to the old dudes and participates in the clearing of the last French forts blocking the way into France itself. Goodbye, Peninsular War, hello Napoleon's doorstep.
Now we're getting somewhere! Sharpe is still a Major at the end of this one, but there is an opening for the command spot (Lt. Colonel) for the South Essex. Methinks there'll be a promotion in Dick's future.
