OR1-EP2: Battle of Rhodesia (19)

Governor-general Jacob Herzog picked up his napkin and wiped his hands, and began to turn his attention to the large French escargot on his plate. He hadn't been much of a fan of French food before, and had tried those dishes with a hard-on only to impress the bigwigs from Paris. However, disguises and habits sometimes always turn into instincts, and after decades Governor Herzog finally realized that he no longer would have any overreactions to dishes that used to be repugnant to him. For a time, he thought he still had the gift of being a gourmet, so much so that when someone sarcastically called him a pig used to find truffles, he just laughed and took the title.

"Those pigs find truffles for us, and I find enemies that jeopardize EU for you." Herzog always laughed at the offense in this way, "I have a good nose, unlike some wild dogs without a master on a leash, who have grown a collapsed nose with no sense of smell for nothing."

The Governor-general today, as always, was dressed in a black suit and his trademark black-framed glasses, looking like a musician about to take the stage. Opposite him was a middle-aged man in a navy-blue military coat, the two Stars of Bath on the gray threaded lapel pin on his collar indicating his status, eclipsing the gold threaded lapel pins on red backgrounds beside him who were willing to serve him willingly. There was only one officer in the whole of South Africa in such a position, Lieutenant-General Colin Wood, Commanding general of the Guardian Corp, and there was a member of every colonial body of characters like him. Their dreams can be broadly divided into two categories, the former wishing to remain in Africa as kings of the soil and make a name for themselves, the latter hoping to return to Europe soon to fight for a career. There was no future in staying in Africa, they had already hit the ceiling of their careers, unless the Senate in Paris was willing to further integrate the African colonies, at which time they might still have a chance.

"Those unscrupulous media are already happy, and yet you have the leisure to invite me to dinner here." Lieutenant General Wood hadn't moved his knife and fork at all; the accident on the Northern Reserve had put another nail in the coffin of the defense force and Guardian Corp, which already had little to show for it. The prevailing public opinion in Europe was sympathetic to the natives, and if the natives endangered the safety of their citizens with acts of violence, it must be because of the inhumanity of the rule of the colonial establishment - in the spirit of reflecting on the past as a point of departure, the young people of the present generation had been taught by and large to do so. They don't understand that their own lives are themselves built on a mountain of corpses and blood in Africa, and that trying to get a good name and profit often ends up with neither of them in the end.

"What's it to me?" The Governor-general glanced up at Commanding general Wood, "It's your men who caused the trouble, our colonial administration has always been neutral, anything that happens to the military has nothing to do with us."

The attendant next to him brought the caviar, and the Governor signaled for the plate to be placed on Lieutenant General Wood's side, his eyes still fixed on the large snails in front of him. Behind the two men were two distinct factions of entourage; the attendants behind the Governor were dressed in suits and sunglasses, while the officers behind Commanding general Wood were in uniform. This stark contrast caused the atmosphere between the two men to lose its usual casualness and become tense. There was a lesson in shirking responsibility, and this was how some eager young men were sent to the brig by their respected superiors in such a haphazard manner.

Jacob Herzog was the only governor-general of the EU's colonies in Africa, and he also enjoyed all the powers due to a governor, including the power to intervene in various fields in case of emergency. Neutrality was a joke, a statement that Commanding general Wood would certainly have taken at face value had it come from the mouths of the High Commissioners of the three neighboring colonial commissions. However, Governor Herzog himself had more control over the military, and at this moment he suddenly made his neutrality known as nothing more than a choice to stand by and watch.

"I don't think any of us would have expected things to deteriorate to this situation." Lieutenant General Wood finally couldn't help himself when he saw that Governor-general Herzog was only focusing on savoring his food. After thinking about it, he decided to aim for the nearest German pork knuckle first, a food that was clearly not suitable for an old man like Herzog, who had already passed his sixtieth year. The attendants beside the two men could only watch as their top lieutenants feasted, and they gradually became so hungry that they wanted to pounce on them and turn into gourmets. This was only a fantasy after all, and the crowd remained motionless, standing in place, the same as the large trees near those upscale residential areas.

"Now we have a perfect time to put all the blame on the fire." Governor-general Herzog swallowed the food in his throat and spoke out, "Neither the Guardian Corp nor the Defense Force were directly involved in the arson, and the people in charge who were directly related to the arson are all dead, and the only survivor is still lying in a coma in the hospital in Orange, and outsiders will never know that it was a man-made arson and will only think that those unlucky natives who built the fire They would only think that the unlucky natives had accidentally set fire to their own homes. All the dead natives and soldiers were burned to death, and you should make sure it becomes a fact ..."

"That was a big fire." Lieutenant General Wood smiled broadly, "Then you can go ahead and extort a large sum of money from the Consul to appease the restless Britannians."

"It's just a deal." The Governor-general's cloudy eyes rolled around, "If they support me, I'll return the favor; if they go too far, then there's no need for me to remember these favors ... for myself. I am the handpicked Governor-general of South Africa by the current EU consul trio and the Senate, not a subject of Britannia, and I will not look upon any EU citizen of South Africa who supports the Empire of Britannia as my compatriot."

However, Governor-general Herzog's mood was much less relaxed than he appeared to be. The internal conflict in South Africa was intensifying, and he sensed that things were getting out of hand. Governor-general Herzog was convinced that the main culprits for all the problems were the rigid divide and rule policy of the EU since the beginning of the colonial era, and the infiltration and sabotage of the Britannian Empire in South Africa. He is not sure of solving the internal problems first, if the Britannian Empire is always watching, any reforms will go bankrupt with external intervention, and his political enemies in the EU are only concerned with defeating him and the African-European citizens he represents, disregarding the bigger picture. They can only see what is in front of them and do not realize that the rapid changes in the current situation are not subject to individual will.

"Wood, I have one more thing to remind you of." Thinking of the causes and consequences of this plan to go north to exterminate the natives, Governor-general Herzog decided to find a way to eliminate the hidden dangers, "Don't be in a hurry to do it now-when the situation in South Africa settles down, you find a way to transfer the commander of the Fifth Infantry Regiment out of this colony, anywhere, preferably let him go straight to the Middle East to deal with those Arabs."

"Did he offend you?" Lieutenant General Wood asked curiously.

"No, I am no longer angered by such trifles." Governor-general Herzog laughed dumbly, "I mean, I can understand the mindset of young men who want to maximize their profits while they still have the capital to speculate, yet there are those who have the guts to place a bet but are too afraid to look at the closing results, such men are not fit to speculate at all, and would be better off finding a place to retire."

Lt. General Wood grinned, enjoying this satisfaction of having control over someone else's future and destiny.

"Where to send him?"

"Doesn't he always want to go back to the mainland?" The Governor-general put his empty plate aside and looked at the Frankfurt red sausage again, "Then do him a favor and send him off to Germany. History will prove to us that perhaps geniuses are dusted off because they are born out of time, but waste is only waste wherever it is placed."

"Good, the Rhineland District's logistics department has been short of people lately, I'll find a way to find an opportunity to politely tell them that there's a young talent here who aspires to return to his homeland to repay it." Wood nodded in agreement, "As for now, let him continue to get away with it for the time being."

Herzog was not afraid to offend, nor did he want to actively offend. He would pay attention to Colonel Karl Duttmann solely because the latter's every move was so out of the ordinary that it went beyond what was expected of a soldier. Duttmann dreamed of finding a chance to soar, and thinking that the best way to do so would be to get on the express train of Governor-general Herzog, he pitched in to plan various actions to fulfill Governor-general Herzog's desire to quell the situation in South Africa. Unexpectedly, these pleasing and flattering eventually backfired, and Governor-general Herzog had already learned that Duttmann had fled from the battlefield, so his appraisal of him plummeted, and he only wanted to throw this corpse of a man who couldn't even do his job well to repair the railroad in Siberia. In order to paralyze Duttmann, the Governor General allocated him a total of more than 10 million euros for the aftermath of the task force list, hopefully, the Colonel will not have any evil thoughts about this sum.

Colonel Karl Duttmann, however, came back from the dead that night and took the train from Rhodesia to the Transvaal in a flash, leaving the shambles in the hands of Major Gene Smilas. He waited for several days, and when the outside world did not react to this, he finally left his hiding place with confidence and boldness and returned to the front to inspect the situation. The Colonel gave Smilas and Adalbert Herzog symbolic praise for their bravery in the face of danger in front of the soldiers, before stating that the aftermath should be left to their superiors, and that all they needed to do for the time being was to stay put. If there was anything that pleased him more than escaping the censure of his superiors, it was the fact that Governor-general Herzog had at last appropriated the commission as agreed. Only one man from the entire task force-Michael McNeil-had survived, and with that man still in the hospital undergoing resuscitation, perhaps the payment would soon become Colonel Duttmann's personal property.

What Duttmann never expected, however, was that the morning after he ran back to Rhodesia, he bumped into a mummy-wrapped McNeil coming into his office to claim the bounty.

"Great ..." Duttmann cursed every object he could in his mind, but feigned enthusiasm on his lips, "I always thought you'd been sacrificed, but when they said they hadn't found a body, I believed you were still alive -"

"I'm afraid you can't sleep if I'm not dead." McNeil limped in, "Thanks to you, I've still got my life back, and now I want you to honor your promise to pay out our share of the bounty without fail."

Gene Smilas, clutching his papers, entered from the rear and was taken aback at the sight of McNeil. He stayed at the door without a word and watched the situation unfold. The soldiers in the rear, seeing such a grave expression on their officer's face, simply stayed where they were as well.

"Well, well, that's easy, I'll give you the check now." Duttmann promised with his mouth, but his legs felt like they had roots.

"You are a bit forgetful, I said ours." McNeil said hoarsely, "The rest of the bounty for the hundred or so men is going to be paid out as pensions to their families."

The smile on Colonel Duttmann's face froze as the old fox blurted out, full of concern, "They're all nameless, faceless savages, some of them with no family, some of them with false identities, how do you want me to verify that? Things are already a mess on the reservation now, so you shouldn't burden us with it."

"I'll do the verification; I'll find their relatives."

McNeil said, almost in a low growl, "Do you think that would work?"

"No, absolutely not!" Duttmann balked, "You've burned down half the reservation, you've got a lot of dead and wounded, and the army's going to be criticized, this money is about right for the aftermath. McNeil, I'll pay your share for sure, but other things are not your concern."

McNeil didn't answer, but simply lunged forward and slammed his fist into Colonel Duttmann's face, knocking the colonel onto his back.

Seeing the state of affairs, Smilas greeted his soldiers and swarmed over McNeil, who was about to throw a full punch at the Colonel, and controlled him from behind before pinning him to the ground. The bruised and swollen colonel climbed to his feet in a rage and pointed at McNeil and said to Smilas:

"Smilas, have him shot at once! He dared to attack the commander of the defense forces, and we have the right to shoot him at once-"

Smilas gave the hysterical officer a cold look and retorted painlessly:

"Don't continue to embarrass us; Adalbert wouldn't carry out such an order if he were here."

With that, the major waved his hand, pointed to the door, and motioned for the crowd to carry McNeil away.

"Lock him up and treat him like a patient, don't starve him." Smilas stood in the corridor and shouted to his men who were far away, "Someone will surely fish him out in less than a week, you'll have to remember that."

Hearing Smilas hint at Governor-general Herzog's intervention, Duttmann was filled with rage that was suddenly poured over him. He was aware of Governor Herzog's attitude, and that true Smilas would certainly intervene, for McNeil was a better tool for the Governor-general, and could do more for him. But he clearly saw the same gleam in Smilas' eyes as his own; they were of the same kind, and there was only one could survive between kindred spirits.

A commander who left his soldiers behind would not be loved. Although Smilas had been forced to withdraw from the scene, he had at least fought alongside Adalbert Herzog, rather than running straight back to the rear like Colonel Duttmann. The colonel eventually dropped the idea of punishing Smilas for fear of sparking resentment among his soldiers.

TBC

Chapter Notes:

The rank insignia of the EU army described in this article are supplemented in accordance with the picture of the Code Geass: Akito the Exiled, unfortunately I did not find the complete official setup picture.

I just recently realized another even more alarming fact: the EU, the Britannian Empire, and the Chinese Federation may be using three completely different unit systems.