OR1-EP1: Rainbow Nation (10)
Governor-general Jacob Herzog lay lazily on the recliner, buckling his hat on his face so that the harsh sunlight would not directly shine in his eyes. He doesn't like this kind of weather, and the summer in the southern hemisphere sometimes makes people feel a sense of confusion, especially for those who often wander between Europe and southern Africa. In the north, the weather is slightly milder, but there will be no fundamental improvement. Nature once awed by humankind shows its power unreservedly on this land. Colonists from Europe conquered the indigenous people, but could never conquer the climate of Africa. Such a sinister place is full of threats, and the warriors who are willing to come here are already ready to die away. In the past, the EU relied on warships equipped with artillery to continuously occupy strongholds on the coast. At that time, they dared not continue to deepen inland. The true full-scale conquest occurred at the end of the first century of the Republican calendar (around the 19th century). The advent of a new generation of technological revolution has allowed Europeans to finally let go of all the madmen who dare to resist. As the EU itself continues to undergo rapid changes, the African colonies closely related to it have also been affected. The governor-general used to be the only master who held power in the colony. Each governor-general relied on his own power to obtain a huge amount of wealth, and sometimes they even tried to blackmail from their fellow immigrants. Today, the governor-general has almost become a historical term, and many colonies no longer have a governor-general who can dominate arbitrarily. The Governor-general was replaced by the High Commissioner. Fortunately, Herzog became the governor-general of South Africa. Perhaps no governor-general will appear in Africa in the future. He wants to seize this opportunity as much as possible to fulfill his ideal.
"Your Excellency, do you want to try it?"
The yelling of others dragged him back from his contemplation, and Governor-general Herzog turned his head dissatisfied and continued to doze. He came here as a guest to meet the important people he desperately needs to meet, but was placed on the golf course to play with these idle businessmen who do nothing all day long. In the past, he is of course willing to get away from heavy work to do some entertainment. The current situation he is facing does not allow him to waste time so extravagantly. Time flies. During the years when Herzog was ruling South Africa, the situation continued to deteriorate, and conflicts and violent activities among different groups could not be fundamentally curbed. He came here confidently, accepting other people's accusations in disgrace. Everyone believes that Herzog should take full responsibility and clean up their charges, regardless of how much Herzog paid for them before.
The important person he was going to meet with was still flying in the sky. Literally, the small plane above Herzog was piloted by the man himself, which was one of his personal hobbies. This phenomenon is very common in Africa. Whether it is flying airplanes, hunting, or various other weird hobbies, they can have their own market in Africa. Unfortunately, Herzog has never been interested in these things. Since he does not want to take the initiative to establish a cooperative relationship through hobbies, there is naturally no reason for others to invite him enthusiastically. Over and over again, Herzog was actually isolated, and his age prevented him from getting along with the younger generation of colonial officials.
"I said, what is your commander doing besides flying around and wandering around every day?" Herzog asked the secretary next to him, "The work here is so leisurely, I have to find a way to remove the unqualified officials and send them here."
"Occasionally to have fun with the indigenous people, sir." The secretary stood upright by the recliner, daring not to neglect the governor-general in front of him. In modern times, the governor-general has long lost command of the army. However, the prestige of the governor-general still exists, and Herzog himself is powerful, no one wants to offend the most powerful person in South Africa. If there is no relative who is a member of Parliament, it is best not to be tempted to confront colonial officials. This is the consensus of all.
The plane hovered in the sky for a long time before it landed slowly on a nearby runway. Before the plane stopped, a middle-aged man wearing a pilot's clothing had jumped out of the cabin. The soldiers and mechanics on the side hurriedly greeted the big man. He and some of his subordinates came to the prepared square table with a smile, picked up the water bottle on it, took a few sips, and then calmly went to Herzog who seemed to be asleep.
"Sorry, Your Excellency, I was delayed for a while due to personal problems. Please forgive me."
The middle-aged man took off his jacket and greeted Herzog. Governor-general Herzog didn't look up, and threw the hat on his face aside, and said sarcastically:
"Fortunately, at least you have the opportunity to brag to God that you died in an air crash instead of dying in a brothel after excessive drug use."
"I don't want to mention these things, Your Excellency." The middle-aged man sat aside with a grim look. "You have enough enemies. I warn you from a friend's point of view not to create more enemies for yourself."
"I only care about whether Paris has reviewed the draft I proposed last time." Herzog sat up with the assistance of the secretary. He coughed a few times and continued: "We have to let them recognize the facts. It's the coming war, not a joke. Anyone who has a little foresight will realize that South Africa and even the whole of Africa is sitting on the powder keg, which will explode soon. They waste a lot of useless troops in the Far East, confronting the weak Chinese Federation, but not seeing the rise of new enemies."
On the other side of the golf course, several officers were playing another game. They brought a few army dogs, and ordered their soldiers to push a few bound natives in front of them. These malicious military officers explained to the natives that as long as they ran faster than the military dog, they could get a life back; otherwise, they could only be the food for the military dog. After hearing this threat, the indigenous people were frightened and lost their motivation to survive. Two soldiers stood on the outside of the runway to supervise this alternative game. As soon as the whistle sounded, two aboriginals were bitten by army dogs by their throats and fell to the ground struggling. The third native seemed to run faster. He ran as fast as he could. Maybe he could survive by running into the distant woods. However, the people who made the rules of this game would certainly not allow the bet to escape. A young whistling officer raised a rifle set aside, aimed at the native's back, and shot without hesitation. The bullet pierced his left lung. The army dogs who caught up with him swarmed up and ate him.
"Look, my shooting skills are quite accurate." The officer bragged to his companions triumphantly, but his colleagues didn't seem to appreciate it. A major wearing myopia glasses immediately retorted:
"Idiot, you missed it."
"If you really place a bet, you will definitely lose." Another officer took out a few notes from his pocket. "Anyway, that kid has temporarily beaten a few beasts. It seems that God really can shape people into strange shapes."
The only reason these people can appear here is that they all have powerful elders in Europe. Otherwise, they should be stationed in a nearby barracks like other officers of the same age, guarding against attacks from indigenous people. These people can't fight in the front-line troops, and want to get enough qualifications, there is only one place waiting for them-the headquarters of the garrison. As a mixed force composed mostly of indigenous people, the role of the garrison is only to clean up the mess for the defense forces, and at the same time, it is also responsible for part of the work of maintaining security in the colony. After each request from Europe arrived in Africa, not to mention the Guardian Corp, even if it was Governor-general Herzog, he dared not refuse it. This directly led to the current Guardian Corp becoming a good place for scum.
"I'll be straightforward. The First consul appointed your remarks to be alarmist." The middle-aged man wiped his hands and looked worriedly at the young officers who were still playing around. "The Council of Forty approved the Siberian Fortress defense plan. As for all your proposals, they were all rejected. Moreover, I have heard rumors that if you publish proposals everywhere to attract attention, they will impeach you."
The middle-aged man originally thought this would make the Governor-general retreat. Unexpectedly, the governor-general became furious after listening. He grabbed the water bottle next to him and threw it out, yelling:
"Let them impeach me! Continue to impeach me! Go and impeach me now! A bunch of bastards, none of them have the guts to put their conspiracy into practice."
Herzog's anger remained unresolved, only a few complaints came from a distance. It turned out that the water bottle he threw out unbiasedly hit a young officer. The man originally wanted to scold someone, but when he saw the bottle thrown by the governor-general, his anger suddenly died down. They greeted the Governor-general in embarrassment, and then quickly slipped away like thieves. Perhaps they didn't want the Governor-general to ask them what they were doing.
The governor-general looked at the back of those cynical youths going away, and lay back on the couch in disappointment.
"... Would you let this kind of people protect the lives of citizens? I don't trust them."
"In my opinion, you worry too much." The middle-aged man comforted Herzog, "After so many years, we have enjoyed a generation of peace. As long as we work hard to maintain this situation, the officials in Paris will be calmer. New wars will not break out here. Even if the worst happens, it should be the homeland elite to deal with, and we will not become victims. Herzog, you should think about how to save your son. Otherwise, your family will be extinct here."
Seeing Herzog seemed to be heartbroken by these remarks, the middle-aged man knew he was wrong, and left the governor-general behind and took the club to play golf. He is less than sixty years old, and all his ideals have been smoothed out by the icy world. His only wish is to smoothly retired. As long as the slightest scandal occurs within his jurisdiction, he will suppress it at all costs and will not let any news affect his current status. What exactly is Herzog pursuing? The Governor-general is isolated and helpless, from a promising star to the enemy of everyone, this is the Governor-general's own responsibility.
Several soldiers trot all the way to the commander who had just finished a shot.
"Sir, a key witness in the case of Major Herzog has disappeared."
"Didn't I tell you to control him in the military zone?" The middle-aged man looked at the soldiers who brought him bad news irritably. "What happened?"
"This is an accident. I heard that when the garrison issued the order, the person in charge of transmitting the order misunderstood the order and entered the higher level of combat readiness. As a result, it caused a lot of confusion." The soldiers cowered and continued, "They said, the details need to be investigated..."
"...Tell the messenger that he can go back to his hometown and continue farming." The middle-aged man turned his head to find the ball and found that Governor-general Herzog was walking towards the court. The old man with white hair held a golf ball in his hand and stared at the confused commander with a smile.
Although he still has many doubts about Herzog, one principle will not change: Governor-general Herzog will always plan and make decisions from the perspective of South Africa as a whole. It is a pity that many people often fail to understand, so they intervene only by relying on unilateral misjudgments, making Herzog's many strategies fail, and those who interfere with the governor-general arrogantly claim that they have stopped the possible tragedy. As Herzog continues to overdraw his credibility, the status of the garrison has become quite dangerous. If they support Governor-general Herzog in any form, then they will have to bear immeasurable costs and subsequent consequences.
"History will prove that I am right."
"History only cares about who is right, right and wrong are relative in the future." The middle-aged man slid his club, "It is a shame to stand by and watch when others create history-don't get me wrong, I don't care who is winner, it's not me anyway. If there are tasks that I can help, just tell me and I will try to do it. As long as these things are within my authority, I can help you."
Governor-general Herzog dictated several place names, and the middle-aged man secretly wrote them down. These areas are bordered by indigenous reservations. Another common point is that most of the local defense is carried out by African Britannian soldiers. The middle-aged man thought that Governor-general Herzog was going to take care of his nominal compatriots, so he took the words on his own terms:
"I think maybe the Guardian Corp should continue to expand. I can call the shots. When you think the time is right, I will issue relevant orders."
"You got it wrong." Governor-general Herzog smiled triumphantly, "On the contrary, I need you to find a reason to disband all the original garrisons in the above-mentioned places. The reason should be your own."
The commander was stunned, he could not figure out why Herzog made such a decision. Herzog can only rely on these nominal compatriots, and if the governor-general abandons their expectations, he will be completely alone.
"Give me a reason."
"I must keep it secret to you. I can't trust anyone on this issue." The governor-general looked at the sudden rain clouds in the distance, "I hope we can survive this storm...live into the new world."
TBC