Question

1942: As far as was possible he kept his subjects as mindless fighting-cocks, troops that could be promised to one power if there was a chance of screwing up another power to a bugger subsidy. — Rebecca West. Black Lamb and Grey Falcon (Canongate 2006, p. 1052)

Accepted Answer

(transitivehttps://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Glossary#transitive) To raisehttps://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/raise (rent, fees, etc.) to extortionate levels.

Sentence	1942: As far as was possible he kept his subjects as mindless fighting-cocks, troops that could be promised to one power if there was a chance of screwing up another power to a bugger subsidy. — Rebecca West. Black Lamb and Grey Falcon (Canongate 2006, p. 1052)
Definition	( transitive https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Glossary#transitive ) To raise https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/raise (rent, fees, etc.) to extortionate levels.

Power Subjects Mindless Fighting Cocks Troops Promised Chance Screwing