OR1-EP2: Battle of Rhodesia (7)

Few matters concern Governor-general Jacob Herzog more than the chores in South Africa. He is an EU citizen, or a descendant of Britannians, but he grew up in South Africa, and everything here is related to him. If he has no hope of hitting the throne of consul in this life, the benefit of the citizens of South Africa in his lifetime is his greatest contribution. After secretly deciding to assist the army in the eradication of the natives in the north who were under the command of someone unknown, Governor-general Herzog returned to his day-to-day affairs, hoping to find time to sort out the complex situation South Africa is currently facing.

"I hope that the contents of the reports you have given are true, and we do not have the patience to verify them one by one." Governor-general Herzog was admonishing his subordinates, "Also, the work of collecting civilian weapons must be carried out as soon as possible, I do not want someone to raise their arms and call for us being overthrown when the next time there is a large-scale protest... Let the work be arranged and dedicated."

Governor-general Herzog has always been stern, but he has done far more than anyone else in his hustle and bustle. As long as there is a chance, he will get away from work and go to other places to go on vacation or play. In short, no one could get him to work on legal holidays. In fact, this kind of escape is also an opportunity for him. He must always be able to think about some longer-term plans, instead of being fooled around by the acre in front of him.

But the characters he's meeting today probably won't like these frivolous entertainments. Even when extravagant hedonism is sweeping the world, there is still a market for groups with extreme ascetic ideas, who try to prove something through this asceticism, just as those who go out into the wild are eager to prove their limits. Even though the French Revolution had destroyed the Church's influence in the Old World once and for all, religion itself became an integral part of EU's culture, with its influence everywhere from the calendar to everyday language.

"I don't think the Church can go on in the future. Everyone knows that there are often people discussing confidential topics that should not be discussed." Governor-general Herzog complained to the bodyguard.

Nevertheless, he rushed to the church in civilian clothes to meet Alexandros Palaskas. This Greek came to South Africa at the invitation of Jorge Dias. Now that the cause and effect of lawyer Dias's murder has been investigated, he plans to return to Europe after the trial is completely over, and he will travel to Britannian Empire and participates in public welfare activities. Taking this opportunity, Governor-general Herzog hopes to entrust Father Palaskas to do some things that the Governor-general himself and the EU authorities are inconvenient to mention.

The priest himself is very popular here, and he has won the favor of the faithful with his image and eloquence. The priest's willingness to put his creed into practice, and taking great risks in doing so, made his reputation even louder among the citizens than his other rhetorical colleagues. It is said that he will soon have the opportunity to be promoted to bishop, and it is not known whether he will be in charge of local religious affairs in his homeland Greece or elsewhere.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Your Excellency." After finishing his morning work, Father Palaskas came to the Governor-general and drew a cross before speaking to the Governor. No outsider knew that the Governor-general was here, otherwise the church would have been surrounded by various media, and they would not miss any opportunity to uncover big news.

Herzog sat in a chair, set aside his crutches, and motioned for Palaskas to sit next to him.

"How is that boy?"

"They have set out to destroy the natives in the north, and there was a fierce battle in the middle of the night yesterday." The Governor-general stated the results of Colonel Carl Duttmann's report, "The current situation is not optimistic, this task force seems to be surrounded by enemies in the wilderness, but the dispatch of the army revealed the fact that they used force to exterminate the natives... We are not good people, but we have to abide by these rules."

"They'll be fine," Palaskas said lightly. "I'm not hostile to the natives who don't listen to the Lord. I always tell myself that they just lack an opportunity to hear the Gospel. But if they choose to obey the orders of foreign monarchs instead, who are our enemies...then they must be wiped out."

The personnel exchanges between the Britannian Empire and the EU have not been interrupted, including both normal exchanges and exiles. The EU has multiple intelligence agencies lurking within the Empire responsible for receiving dissatisfied opposition from the Empire to exile into the EU, and sometimes the Empire tends to ignore it. No matter how much those nobles can take away, they are not completely free from real estate like the financiers in the EU - the empire usually chooses to confiscate all the family properties of the exiles, in order to feed the appetite of the higher-rank nobles and some commoners.

"It was agreed in advance that we are having a serious exchange this time, and the Church doesn't want to make any extras." Father Palaskas first expressed his attitude, "You see, some small things can be entrusted to us to complete, but the certain kind that is enough to set us on the fire should be done by EU's professional intelligence personnel, we are only pastors serving the Lord after all."

"...It's not the first time that the Church has responded to exiles who escaped. You are very experienced in committing crimes under the surveillance of the Empire. I don't think you need to refuse at all... You are very good at these jobs. Besides, if the Government listened to my advice, I don't have to come to you."

"Your Excellency, with all due respect, you are overthinking it." Father Palaskas said with a smile, "This is an era of peace, and the Britannian Empire, which has been in decline and division for a long time, has no chance to threaten us at all. I can understand your concern; however, this arrangement is superfluous, and there is no need for us to cause tension on all sides at this critical juncture."

That's exactly what Herzog has been worrying about. Indigenous violence did decrease markedly after the army marched north and declared that it would use a tight seal to protect citizens, but South Africa's internal problems did not ease at all. As the trial date for Nito Mariam's voluntary homicide looms, so does the conflict between the various groups. Moreover, Governor-general Herzog knows very well what kind of bomb he has in his hands. It is a new bill that can completely make the conflict between the different parties completely lose the room for de-escalation. He had to do it for the sake of South Africa, for the sake of his people, even if there was a flaming hell ahead. Precisely because he was desperate, he could not allow anyone to interrupt him at this time.

"South Africa has been very chaotic recently, and we suspect that the Britannians are messing around." The governor-general said slowly.

"If I take any school-aged child on the street to here, they will say the same." The priest retorted without expression.

"Sir, I am not alarming." The Governor-general took off his black-rimmed glasses and looked directly at Father Palaskas, "My reliable information indicates that the Britannian Empire is on the verge of civil war or the next coup, and many nobles who feel pessimistic about the situation even say that they country will soon be destroyed."

"I hear this kind of words every year." The priest chatted slowly, "Since the end of the Second World War, the Britannian Empire, which was just getting better, fell into a slump and returned to the old way. Whether it's a civil war or a change of emperor, it doesn't matter to us."

"That's what worries me," said the Governor-general eagerly. "Both sides in the confrontation know very well that the Britannian Empire is already full of troubles. If there is an outside force at this time, this country will become a noun in history. Therefore, their consensus is that the only country in the world that has the ability to interfere with them is thrown into chaos at the same time, at least no manpower can be taken to expand the infighting of the empire." He tugged at the sleeve of the priest's vestment and said hoarsely: "In recent years, behind all the chaos in South Africa, there are shadows of the Britannian Empire, and their purpose is to start civil strife in our South Africa, even Southwest Africa, Central Africa, and East Africa, making the EU unable to look at the west."

The priest gave a forced smile.

"What evidence do you have?"

"It's all speculation." The Governor-general smiled bitterly, "Don't mention the evidence, even if we know the enemy's methods, we have no way to deal with it. My only hope is to increase the chaos in the Britannian Empire at the same time, and then we will have more time to deal with my own problems."

In fact, Alexandros Palaskas has also done many illegal activities in the Britannian Empire before, and Jorge Dias is providing cover when he investigates the living conditions of the natives in the Amazon rainforest. The priest was not afraid of the authority of Empire or Emperor, he believed in the honor of dedicating his life to a noble cause. It's just that Palaskas didn't want to take this life on a meaningless matter, and Governor-general Herzog decided to send people to spy on intelligence in the Empire and even intervene based on some empty speculation - this is undoubtedly a conflicting idea for the priest.

Palaskas stood up and gestured to leave. As soon as he took a few steps, he seemed to regret it, and hurriedly returned to his seat.

"We will have contact with local non-profit organizations and some commercial organizations, and there should be your units there."

"Yes, I plan to arrange for some people to go to Pendragon to conduct a detailed reconnaissance. They have to get enough evidence. It is best to convince the Council or the consuls in Paris to decide to intervene before there is unrest in our South Africa." Seeing that the priest's attitude had softened, Herzog regained his previous arrogance. He put the black-rimmed glasses back on and continued to explain: "I have a list of nobles who are neutral or sympathetic to our activities, who can provide cover and perhaps give us a chance to learn about the truth about this court battle at the Britannian Empire. Now that the Empire has had a civil war over the succession of the throne, we can make it happen again."

—If this list falls into the hands of the intelligence agencies of the Britannian Empire, those nobles will probably end up being slaughtered. Even if the list itself is fictitious, Emperor Charles or his opponents will choose to ignore the truth in order to eliminate dissent and expand the sphere of influence. After all, there have been cases where lower and medium-rank nobles were forced to flee after being stigmatized as EU spies because their family property was favored by higher-rank nobles. Anything happened to the Britannian Empire is not surprising.

Herzog returned to South Africa as an equivalent of exile after the European election defeat, and his experience in Europe made him more focused on the big picture. Whether it's Britannia or any other country, as long as it has the potential to surpass the EU, it must be eliminated, not to mention the monarchy living in the old world. The chaos in South Africa continued, and Governor-general Herzog believed that it was a conspiracy of the Britannian Empire. Since Paris ignored it, he was determined to fight against the layout of the entire Britannian Empire by himself. His opponent would never be the late Stephen II. That scum who couldn't even keep his eldest son could never have come up with such a plan. It must be a hero like Charles III who had such a strategy. Today, Emperor Charles continues to crack down on the opposition nobles, which has put these nobles parasitic in the old system at risk. They finally realize that they may choose to use force to fight against the imperial power. However, Charles' opponents were not only nobles, but also those pretenders who failed to gain imperial power. When these nobles attacked him, Charles III had no chance of winning.

"If he can survive, this emperor will become the most terrifying enemy of the EU for a hundred years, not just one of them." The Governor-general said to himself, "I have seen all kinds of politicians in my life, and no one is like the current emperor of Britannia who gives me such a strong sense of oppression, and Britannia may be reborn in his hands." Having said this, the governor-general clenched his fists, "I will not allow these remnants of the old world to be rising from the ruins, and I will not kneel before the emperor like my ancestors..."

Palaskas felt the wrath of the Governor-general, having seen the life of commoners under the Empire - even the bum of the EU was no more miserable than those.

"So, who are you going to recommend to do this?"

"We have a perfect man on hand: he has no files at all, all the documents about his identity are forged by the military, and the Britannians are not able to know the truth even if the whole world is investigated." Herzog smiled happily, looking like a child with candy, "It's Michael McNeil. If he comes back alive, I'll send him to do it right away... Hey, I'll tell you the truth about McNeil. He has offended a lot of people some time ago, at least I see that the colonel's attitude towards him has changed significantly."

"...the feeling of being bitten back by a cash cow?" asked Father Palaskas.

"Yes, he must not have thought that I knew this young man earlier than him... Although the scene was a little embarrassing, I believe that Michael McNeil is a talent who can do great things." The Governor looked very happy, "Anyway, we still have time. You can plan your itinerary carefully without delaying public welfare."

TBC

Chapter Notes:

Since the Code Geass worldview doesn't mention how democratic elections in the EU work, I'm assuming it's close to reality in France. Well, the Governor was apparently appointed.