The King

15. The New Army

The French had taken great pains to transport all the separate factory components through the Persian Gulf and into the rundown harbour at Bandar Abbas. From there they had brought the materials by mule and on carts through the mountains and forests, which were almost impassable, to Tehran, Isfahan, Shiraz and Tabriz. With the same perseverance they had transformed the Persian army into a modern fighting force.

Some of the factories were now in operation. Now the vizier could proudly gaze on the manufactured products with his own eyes and hold them in his hands. He wanted to share the results with the shah, so he invited him to inspect the army.

It was a beautiful day. The shah was being led round by a group of officers. When they reached the top of the highest hill they stopped. From there they had a view of the entire plain, and the king was startled by what he saw: a large army in perfect formation. It looked every bit like the kind of French army he had seen in the French history books. He took his binoculars in hand to study some of the soldiers up close, and his open mouth betrayed his astonishment. He studied their berets, coats, gleaming boots and rifles. You could see the word ‘unbelievable’ forming on his lips. His eyes then fell on a row of brand-new cannons glittering in the autumn sun.

The vizier rode down the hill alone. A gentle breeze played with the shah’s coat. As soon as the vizier reached the army, one of the French officers shouted, ‘Ready!’

The soldiers raised their new rifles and steadied them against their shoulders. The shah searched for the vizier’s face through his binoculars and saw his smile.

‘Fire!’ shouted the vizier, sitting astride his horse and pointing into the distance. Shots were fired. The shah’s horse whinnied and reared up. The shah struck him lightly on the flank and urged him to calm down.

At the vizier’s signal a group of sergeants sped to the cannons and turned the barrels to the horizon.

‘Fire!’ shouted the vizier once more.

Seven successive shots were fired. The shah had to pull firmly on the reins to keep his horse under control. Then he went down the hill to join the troops.

The French officers saluted and were ordered to begin the parade. The columns of soldiers marched past the shah, who kept touching his hand to his hat. He was clearly impressed. The vizier had done good work, but the shah refused to compliment him.

‘Has the entire army been reformed this way?’ he asked.

‘No, not the whole army, Your Majesty! We’re not quite ready yet. It will be a while before we’ve reached that point.’

The impressive parade made the shah think of the discipline of the Russian troops during the last war, when he had fought side by side with his father. Clearly the vizier had enormous influence over the army. He seemed more like the commander-in-chief than the shah himself. A plan began to ripen in his mind. With these armed forces he would be able to free Herat from the hands of the British and the Afghans.

The vizier had the officers step forward and he gave a short speech in French, describing the activities they had completed. Then he introduced them to the shah one by one. The shah put his hand in his coat pocket and handed each officer a large gold coin on which his own image was depicted.