OR1-EP2: Battle of Rhodesia (1)

The summer in the southern hemisphere has not yet passed. While the citizens of Europe were still making snowmen, their brothers and sisters living in the south were still enduring different kinds of heat. In sub-Saharan Africa, the harsh climatic environment makes survival one of the biggest tests. Both people, animals and plants must face this problem. Except for the indigenous people who have lived there since ancient times, no one would want to find a living in this barren land. All they can get is sand and bones.

It is precisely because these indigenous people have always stayed in the local area that it will cause unprecedented trouble to the EU. As long as they withdraw from their original settlements and choose to integrate into the EU's social environment, the colony management agency has many ways to completely assimilate these natives.

However, in addition to the unwillingness of the indigenous people, the main factor hindering the aborigines from leaving the settlements is the pressure from the European mainland. For a long time, some people seem to want to profit from it by keeping the natives in their original state. In order to eradicate all the hidden dangers that endanger the residents of South Africa, the army decided to launch a local encirclement and suppression operation and cover up the truth. Aboriginal knives and bullets can't hit Europe, and those who are still enjoying a superior life in the local area can naturally say that they want to be magnanimous to the indigenous people. The colony of South Africa has nothing to do with these people. If the actions of sending troops to eliminate the indigenous people are discovered, it will only welcome criticism with false mood.

Under the scorching sun, more than a dozen men in short-sleeved shirts stood in a clearing, and an officer dressed like them was looking up and down their appearance. The young officer looked at his colleagues and officers who were resting under the big tree in the distance, and said angrily to the newcomers in front of him:

"Now I'll give you half an hour to hide in the woods behind. The content is still the same. Whoever can hit me, your team will be handed over to him."

The crowd dispersed in a rush and fled. They want to grow two more legs or directly have wings. They were not sure to defeat this officer in such a complicated environment, if they faced a head-on confrontation in the wilderness, they still had a chance of winning. In order to train enough skills to survive the world war, Adalbert Herzog put himself in danger many times and went to the most dangerous areas to survive. The result of this is that Major Herzog has become the person who has the most abilities in similar operations in the entire South African region. This is not something that power and experience can replace. Just like McNeil said, if someone want to refute any opinions of Adalbert, the premise is to throw himself or herself in the mountains and forests for a year, otherwise that one will have no right to speak without personal experience.

Michael McNeil is the only figure hired by the army from idle citizens who can match Adalbert. The last battle between the two took place a few days ago and ended in a tie. After that, even those who were puzzled by the appointment of the army in the past gradually agreed with McNeil's command. On the border of Rhodesia, they are always at risk of being attacked by indigenous people and must not waste time anymore.

"This guy is really capable. I guess even a hundred or so people can't catch him." David Roberts looked at McNeil, who was eager to try. "According to this criterion, whether we have a gun or not, we are not the opponent of Major Herzog."

"He said long ago that we should not rush to shoot in places he is not familiar with. This is tantamount to exposing our whereabouts."

This training plan was developed by McNeil and Adalbert together. Major Herzog said that the indigenous people are fascinated in places they are familiar with, and soldiers cannot rely on conventional frontal combat thinking to fight against them. In order to make these mercenaries or thugs who had never participated in real wars realize the complexity of the situation, Adalbert decided to play the role of the natives, while others were responsible for encircling and suppressing the natives. The first day of the exercise ended in a fiasco by a large number of people. Over 30 people were 'killed' by Adalbert within two hours. According to the memories of the people present, Adalbert always came out from nowhere and gave their teammates a fatal blow. After everyone reacted, he immediately disappeared.

"Indeed, firearms are not useful in this scenario." Roberts sighed, "In your opinion, how does he compare to you?"

"On my own, I am better than him; in command, I am not necessarily inferior to him... However, I am definitely not as good as him for the task of surviving and fighting in such a complex or harsh environment." McNeil thought that they had to wear a thick layer of power armor every time they went to the yellow and red zones of Tiberium in the past, he suddenly felt that this kind of treatment was too extravagant. Although the dangers of ion storms in the red zone are well known, GDI soldiers never have to be directly exposed to the dangerous environment like the people in the yellow zone and then be infected.

Sitting side by side with them under the same big tree were Colonel Duttmann and Major Smilas. The two are discussing issues related to materials and logistics. It is obvious that the situation is not as smooth as they originally thought.

"Next time if you have a question, call the Guardian Corp Command Headquarters directly, and say that this matter is supervised by the Governor-general himself." Colonel Duttmann is still instructing his soldiers with the necessary details of the work. "Do reconnaissance in advance and reserve a supply point...Slight weapons must be in place as soon as possible, and other issues will be discussed later."

"The Guardian Corp said that the railroad track was recently destroyed by someone, and the weapons could not be transported." Smilas scribbled a lot of abbreviations and abbreviations of ghost symbols that he would not understand in his notebook with a pencil. "They said last night that they plan to deploy trucks to transport equipment to us, and they should be able to arrive tomorrow."

"Should!?"

"...Then I will ask again, but they may not take it seriously, because we can't explain the real situation."

Everyone was still discussing their small abacus, and suddenly heard a scream from afar. McNeil immediately got up and ran towards the source of the sound. They saw a fat man who fell down and was limping towards them. McNeil hurriedly stepped forward to check and found that the left and right people had injuries on their faces, their noses and faces were swollen. They might have been cut by branches, or they might have been punched in the front by their opponents. Compared to them, the guy lying on the ground seemed a little unlucky. He covered the middle of his legs with his hands, and was groaning in pain, and he didn't even care to say hello to everyone who came next to him.

Lieutenant Heinz Meyer also came to check the situation. He frowned and asked the two people next to him:

"How did he hurt?"

"At that time, the three of us happened to meet the major who jumped from the tree, and we were knocked down directly..." the others said with lingering fear, "This shouldn't be considered deliberate by the major, it's just that he accidentally bumped into it when he jumped..."

"Don't pursue this kind of problem first. The top priority is to send he to the hospital. If the situation is serious, send him directly to the rear hospital." McNeil concluded, "In addition, if your enemy is a real indigenous person, they won't be so soft-hearted. They probably will just chop off your heads and kick the ball."

In fact, in the initial plan, whether it was McNeil or Adalbert Herzog, their idea was to take the lead in improving the teamwork ability of these people. According to Smilas, their number is really insignificant compared to the indigenous people. Although the number of reinforcements arranged by the defense forces in the vicinity also exceeds that of the indigenous people, these reinforcements can only be used when the indigenous people are forced to attack the army. That is to say, only when the natives are forced out of the reservation by their contingent according to the original plan, the army can use force without hesitation.

However, McNeil soon discovered that this method did not work. Most people are used to being unconstrained in the past, and forcing them to cooperate may backfire. For this reason, McNeil had no choice but to retreat to ensure that everyone's combat skills are improved, so that even if they fall into a single-handed situation, they can still have the ability to save their lives. In order to understand the enemy's situation more conveniently, McNeil decided to first conduct reconnaissance on the surrounding indigenous tribes so that they could defeat them individually.

Another question has been lingering in everyone's minds, and that is whether there are Britannian agents or mercenaries among these indigenous tribes. Smilas' argument is that even if the Britannians are active in the local area, they will not go deep into the indigenous tribes, but watch the changes in the surroundings in the form of foreign aid. Most indigenous tribes are xenophobic, and it is not so easy for the Britannians to mix into the indigenous tribes and even gain control. After all, the indigenous people cannot understand many concepts that are common in modern society, and coercion and temptation are meaningless to them. The negative cases of trying to scare people by virtue of their reputations are finally killed and cooked by the indigenous people.

Smilas explained his speculation to McNeil, but did not get approval.

"What we can't do in the EU doesn't mean that others can't do it." McNeil said, "There are African nobles with black skin in the Britannian Empire. When will we have an African congressperson in the EU?"

"...The nature is different." Smilas was speechless. "The Britannians are good at using money to win people hearts and minds, but they don't understand the problems of indigenous people at all. If they want to use the same old methods of internally dealing with problems, it has no effect to win over the natives."

"That's a conclusion you came up with yourself, and it's not equivalent to the fact." McNeil smiled, "Well, we argue about this matter, and it can't affect the enemy's actions."

In addition to some survival skills, Adalbert Herzog also recommended training these people in shooting and fighting to maximize the use of materials. There are not many supplies they can get, and the imaginary scenes with fire support will not appear. The result of running out of ammunition and food is a dead end. If any idiot wasted bullets somehow, he would not only harm himself, but all his teammates as well. Taking into account the fact that shooting is equivalent to exposing, Major Herzog's request is that shooting can only be done if it is compelling, otherwise the problem should be solved by close combat as a priority.

Another group of people practiced shooting in completely opposite directions, and Colonel Duttmann transferred multiple moving targets from the rear to increase the difficulty. In addition, they may not have the opportunity to discover the indigenous peoples, or they may not be able to distinguish clearly... There are too many factors that hinder the effectiveness of the weapons in their hands. The colonel could only think of ways to mitigate some of the effects, but could not comprehensively consider all aspects. He is just an officer, not a philosopher who can change the minds of others.

Although McNeil was appointed as the interim commander by Colonel Duttmann, he naturally understood that he was just an ordinary citizen-he did not even have a legal status. Therefore, he never regarded himself as a commander, but regarded himself as a soldier like everyone else. This attitude won the favor of most people, and they expressed their willingness to follow McNeil's arrangements. However, the combat plan given by Smilas upset McNeil. The strategy originally proposed by Colonel Duttmann put them at great risk. The revised plan instead made this danger increased its power further.

"Let's talk about the details again." Smilas called McNeil to his side, holding a branch in his other hand and drawing various symbols on the sand. "There is a river here, and all the nearby indigenous tribes can't get around here if they want to survive. Once your infiltration operation is over, immediately retreat to this place, and we will send people over to respond. The defense force will take these from two directions with you. The indigenous people were completely blocked in the encirclement, and the one who came out would be killed."

"No problem, I think this method is feasible." McNeil carefully checked the plan drawn up by Smilas, and could not find any loopholes for the time being. The enemy is in the light and they are in the dark. The contradiction between indigenous tribes is probably greater than the contradiction between a single tribe and colonists. Although the indigenous people are more familiar with the environment than they are, when the task force spreads panic on the indigenous tribes with a surprise attack here, the conflicting tribes have only been defeated by each. The only possible difference lies in the extent to how much materials and personnel according to their expectations the defense and Guardian Corp can prepare, and the consequences of untimely response or insufficient materials are more serious than the siege of all the nearby natives.

"However, it is already winter. How do we explain this anomaly?" McNeil suddenly thought of a flaw. "In summer, it can be said to be a natural fire, but in winter it is not always possible."

"Man, every year, some idle young people go to mountains and old forests or similar places and then cause fires. This kind of news is very common." Smilas explained patiently, "If you pay attention to the news in other regions, you will find that this kind of strange fire may even also exist in winter. The citizens have long been accustomed to it. As long as we don't leak the least bit of information, they will only think that the indigenous people were burned to death by the fire."

"...The remaining part was frozen to death because of lack of food and clothing." McNeil added the remaining half sentence for Smilas with a smile.

"Perfect." Smilas applauded, "Look, we have reached a consensus. Now let us look forward to how useful these hired people can be."

TBC

Chapter Notes:

Warning: Some descriptions and dialogues in this article may be offensive. These conversations took place based on the simulation of apartheid society.

As we all know, the Britannian Empire has African-American nobles, but the EU has no officials of the corresponding level.