OR1-EP5: Hymn of the Bridge (5)

The independence of The Free State of Rhodesia was not an accidental event. During the gradual penetration of the European colonizers into the African continent, the conflicts between the colonizers and the natives continued unabated, and the different groups of colonizers began to be hostile to each other because of their entangled interests. At the end of the A.T.B. 20th century, the African Britannians living in South Africa continued their invasion to the north with merchant bands and armed guards, and succeeded in taking control of what is now Rhodesia and placing it under EU rule. By the end of the Second World War, the EU did not interfere much in the colonization of the African region, and North and South Africa took on a very different appearance. In the north, the EU ruled with a French mentality, i.e. direct rule that was not far from the mainland. Among other things, the three North African provinces have traditionally been considered part of the French Republic, where Algerians would take to the streets with the tricolor flag to celebrate holidays that were supposed to be exclusively French. In the south, the EU tried to keep the administration away from colonial affairs, and corporations or other unofficial bodies became intermediaries in the EU's governance of Africa, an indirect rule that spared the EU from directly confronting the wrath of the natives and allowed these intermediary businessmen to make a fortune.

This laissez-faire attitude changed a decade later, when the EU decided to bring all of Africa under the control of the Parisian authorities, and established six colonial commissions: North Africa (French-led), West Africa (French-led), the Horn of Africa (Italian-led), Southwest Africa (German-led), Central Africa, and East Africa. South Africa, the most complex, remained a free Union of South Africa, ruled by a governor-general who held real power and was appointed by the European side. In the process, ambitious and deliberately conflicted bureaucrats split up Rhodesia, and the land that was not incorporated into the other colonial commissions became part of the Union of South African Autonomies. This was a blow to the African Britons, who had long maintained their autonomy and had to be governed in South Africa by one parachuted governor-general after another, until Jacob Herzog became the first ever African-born Governor-general. Governor-general Herzog, however, was a true European man who had decided to serve the interests of the EU, and the African Britons were nothing in his eyes except the empty title of compatriots. At this point, there was no one left to protect the interests of the African Britannians, especially when Herzog tried to give more rights to the natives, who had been oppressed all this time, and the African Britannians realized that they had become a tool used by the Governor-general of Herzog to make new political achievements. So they decided to rebel against this indifference by force and flew the lion flag representing the Britannian Empire with honor. They believed that the EU was now becoming a cage to hold the Britannians, and that the Britannians could only truly get everything they dreamed of in the country of Britannia.

Michael McNeil walked out of the warehouse with such a flag and showed the False Flag to the other soldiers. This flag had the flag of the Britannian Empire in the upper left corner and two lions arching a shield in the lower right corner. The background of the flag was painted in cyan throughout, which looked incongruous.

"Why don't they use the tricolor flag?" A passing soldier casually asked, "This flag is simply unattractive."

"A tricolor flag of any kind is a symbol of republican traitors in the Britannian Empire, perhaps they are quick to identify with traditions from across the ocean." McNeil hung the recovered flag on a pole off to the side, and took himself off with the marching party to another nearby warehouse. He touched the swollen bag on his face and regretted a little that he hadn't noticed the mosquitoes. The mosquitoes in Africa were so numerous that they could eat a man, and some of the men fled back to Europe in a state of disarray, covered in eggs and claiming that they would never return to such a hellhole again. The last time he'd been on a mission in northern Rhodesia, he'd often applied mosquito repellent sprays to his body, saving him from having to worry about getting sick from suspected venomous bugs while being pursued by the natives and the Britannians.

On one side of the square were gathered many civilians, who at the sight of these fierce soldiers, reflexively gave way and waited for the soldiers to pass. Not far away was a stronghold where the defense forces distributed rations, and civilians had to go there to receive their daily needs of food that was originally theirs, only to have it all confiscated on the day of the defense forces' invasion. Most of the civilians were outraged by this, and the few brave souls who tried to get a say in the matter had already become dead at the point of a gun. Colonel Duttmann had only intended to stay here for a day or two, and the change in the situation had forced his troops to be stationed here. As such, supplies became a major problem, and the poor logistics led the soldiers to decide to make a killing in the town first out of fear of future food cuts. From that day on, the soldiers searched every corner of the town, frantically looking for anything of value. When some of the more sensible officers complained to the colonel, the colonel explained that this was a good way for the soldiers to release their inner stress.

"I assure you from my experience that it is." The Colonel always repeats this statement in an undeniable tone.

After the battle, the peaceful civilians quickly submitted to the defense forces. After the army captured the last of the recalcitrant militiamen and shot them in the square, no one would entertain the thought of resistance. These insensitive Rhodesian civilians always stood by the side of the road and watched the soldiers walk by in groups, with a dull gleam in their eyes that they didn't know whether it was hatred or bewilderment.

Michael McNeil walked into his makeshift quarters, he pulled out the strange timer in an unoccupied corner and saw that the date numbers on it had turned into double digits and were heading towards 90. The mysterious man had said at the time that he had 120 days to live, and with about three quarters of that left now, McNeil couldn't see anything significant enough to cost him his life for the moment. Five soldiers sat in a room watching the television, which broadcast news that rarely had anything to do with the war, and the eight media outlets that were under the Governor-general's control were bound to report the good news and not the bad.

"Good morning, citizens." The on-screen presenter read from an unoriginal script, "Yesterday, in southern Rhodesia, the Defense Forces dealt a heavy blow to the rebel pseudo-2nd Guardian Division and managed to liberate several towns under rebel control. The citizens of Rhodesia have written letters of thanks to the Governor-general's Office and this station for this, here are some of the letters from the citizens ..."

The soldiers were lounging in their rooms, their guns were piled up by the door, and their only entertainment was this watching these TV programs appointed by the Governor-general. Governor-general Herzog had succeeded in silencing the vast majority of the opposition, and the South African media would only report news that had been approved by himself - or some illegal content that he had deliberately leaked out. The complacent journalists are unaware that the Governor-General has given them the illusion that they are not in a vice-like grip by wisely loosening the strings in his hands.

The strength of the Rhodesian rebels was clearly nothing compared to that of the South African side. Already before the outbreak of war a large number of soldiers had refused to obey the orders of the General Headquarters of the Guardian Corp and had defected towards the north. The Free State of Rhodesian had integrated the defectors to create a full infantry division, and had hastily formed a brand-new armored division, relying on weapons left behind by the local garrison. In order to better counter the offensive from the south, the Rhodesian rebels have made another major push to integrate the yet-to-be-disbanded militia forces into three Guardian divisions, which will be deployed along the southern line of defense, lest the defense forces from South Africa attack Rhodesia's vulnerable links. With the Airborne Corps wreaking havoc behind Rhodesia and the Defense Forces closing in on the front lines, the situation does not look good for the rebels. If the Colonial Commissions bordering Rhodesia gave up standing idly by and tried to assist South Africa, this ridiculous country would quickly fall in less than a month.

McNeil, with a stony expression on his face, looked at the still-squeezing hosts and shouted to the soldiers who were clamoring for friendlies:

"Don't get too happy. They're not telling the truth."

Several of the mixed black and white soldiers looked at McNeil quizzically, not understanding why the soldier was uttering such claptrap in general.

"We're winning the battle; the rebels are retreating." One of the soldiers decided to refute McNeil's bizarre statement, "If this trend continues, the rebels will soon be surrounded."

"In the usual sense, that's true. However, the 6th Infantry Division of the Guardian Corp, which is engaged with the rebel pseudo 2nd Guardian Division, is currently in a frighteningly bad state." McNeil pointed at the soldiers who were still fighting outside the window, "The 6th Infantry Division of the Guardian Corp is stuffed with a staggering proportion of new recruits, and for that reason the General Command has even purposely arranged for the 2nd Infantry Division to be in the rear to cover them, it's to prevent the rebel army from invading Bechuanaland through the gaps when the front line collapses. Our army currently has absolute superiority in the air, and strategic bombing has already begun to disrupt the rebels' original supply lines, and the enemy's army is retreating on its own at the end of the battle for fear of the supply lines being too long, and is not collapsing."

Videos are being shown on TV of African Britannians gathering up indigenous blacks and burning them alive with flamethrowers.

"... Our original mission was to wait here for friendly forces, which would arrive and then begin the attack. However, so far we have not received any new orders, and unless the friendly forces were completely wiped out halfway across the country, they should have arrived at their intended location long ago." McNeil took out a map of Rhodesia and pointed to the southern region where both forces were dogged, "There are no casualty figures for the enemy or us, only the result that the rebels are retreating. The higher-ups must have wanted our side to cooperate with the Guardian Corp's attack, however the Guardian Corp's defeat has forced them to carefully consider whether they should send soldiers to their deaths on a plan that has no gain."

"That's your guess."

"Exactly." McNeil laughed, "Just a guess."

He had been in the GDI military for decades, and while he rarely did anything to deceive his superiors, he was never short of similar tactics, he just didn't want to use them. He wanted to be a pure soldier, not a politician who relied on his military background to go on a rampage.

It seems that the staff of the propaganda department realized the lack of hatred for Rhodesia among the general South African citizenry, and they went into overdrive to rush out hate-mongering documentaries and dramas. One of the highlights was the massacre of the indigenous people by the African Britannians in Rhodesia. Thanks to the fact that the Britannians did not hide their atrocities, the South African side, which had control of the airspace, had unimpeded access to the scenes of these tragedies to take photographs and video footage. In the images released by the television stations, the African Britons used extreme cruelty against the human beings whose skin color was different from theirs, often gathering hundreds or thousands of blacks together and then using fire-breathers to burn the cornered natives to ashes. As the African Britannians similarly raised their butcher knives against other non-Britannians, their atrocities instilled an unquenchable fear in white South Africans.

In fact, for McNeil, the propaganda was indeed exaggerated. The rebels were not that horrible, the African Britannians were not evil, and not all Britannians took part in the massacres. However, the public will selectively ignore these facts, and they will think that the Britannians are evil, just as the Britannians think that the natives are only worthy of slavery.

"What really prevents people from understanding each other is ignorance." McNeil said to the black soldier beside him, "The African Britannians don't want to understand you, they think that you are only worthy of living in the mold of their perceptions. But if we put the Britannians in the same position, this war will be pointless. His Excellency the Governor-General's aim is to bring about reconciliation, not for us EU citizens to hate each other."

The Governor-general General didn't necessarily think that way.

Soldiers and officers each have their own lives, and while soldiers can choose to completely relax their minds and bodies, commanders must always be on their guard. While McNeil watched television with the other soldiers, Colonel Duttmann was facing a difficult decision. After several days of rest, Colonel Carl Duttmann finally received new orders from his superiors. The Commander-in-Chief wanted the defense forces to establish a line of defense in Matabeleland and rout the rebels who were trying to invade from the south, and Duttmann's men needed to get to nearby Bulawayo as soon as possible to protect the industrial facilities there and prevent the enemy from seizing them.

The colonel, who had been living a life of leisure for a few days, listened reluctantly to his officer's lectures, knowing that those battles that had taken place in the nearby area had not turned out favorably for the defense forces. In a situation where the situation was still uncertain, it was important to avoid involving themselves in heavy fighting in order to survive until the end of the war - of course, once he judged that the war was nearing its end, then he would want to rake in the credit from the battlefield as well.

" En vérité, je crains que nous ne soyons pris au piège des rebelles." Duttmann saw Smilas and Adalbert appear in the doorway, and he hastened to voice his concerns to his officer in a respectful tone, "The rebel offensive has always been passive, and there must be something fishy behind their activities becoming more frequent."

" Qu'y a-t-il de si louche ?" An old voice came from the other end of the phone, " Ils essaient simplement d'être forts en s'appuyant sur les vétérans qui ont fait défection et sur les armes et l'équipement que nous avons laissés derrière nous. Même si nous ne pouvons pas gagner rapidement, ils seront rapidement vaincus dans une guerre d'usure après que la guerre soit entrée dans une phase d'attente."

"Mon général, mon avis personnel sur la question est..."

The division commander hung up, not giving Duttmann a chance to continue his sophistry. The Colonel sighed and called two of his subordinates in, peacefully allowing them to make their points.

Adalbert Herzog and Gene Smilas behaved differently in front of Colonel Duttmann. Smilas tended to be submissive to Duttmann, but on some occasions could be uncharacteristically assertive; Major Herzog didn't give a damn about his chief, and usually it was the colonel who listened to him carefully, with the colonel only taking the initiative on some crucial decisions.

"It's risky." Adalbert supported the Colonel's view this time, "With our forces securing air power, the rebels can only channel their supplies through the ground railroads, and the cities that serve as railroad hubs will inevitably become the focus of their attention. The void in defense they are currently displaying is the result of confusion in command, not a lack of strength." Speaking here, he picked up a pen and drew several consecutive circles on the military map, "Assuming that our army advances hastily at this point in time, the rebels will be able to concentrate about six regiments to launch a siege on our side. Although the consequence of the rebels doing so would be to be outflanked and pinched from the rear by the rest of our troops, I'm afraid we would be the first casualty."

"If we don't advance, our superiors will think we're cowards." Smilas interjected from the sidelines.

"That's right. However, even if the higher-ups' intention is for us to stall the enemy, if our side is routed, all the ploys will be a daydream." Major Herzog marked the position of the friendly forces, "Meaningful sacrifices are worth it. My greatest fear is that we pointlessly give many lives as a price ... and then gain nothing."

Something suddenly occurred to Adalbert Herzog and he asked the colonel a vital question:

"Sir, what kind of control is Bulawayo under now?"

"From what I've heard from my superiors, the rebels have not moved into the city." Colonel Duttmann rubbed the scar on his face thoughtfully, "Before the war started the local citizens and workers expelled the mayor and took control of those factories, they seem to have implemented self-governance in a strange way."

Major Herzog's realization dawned on him and he said eagerly to the Colonel, "Then I can probably guess the reason behind it. I know a local businessman who opened an automobile factory and a building materials factory, and he is one of the few African Britannia socialites who still supports us, and now his properties there have been seized by the locals. His Excellency the Governor-General has a pressing need to appease those Britannians who are willing to support South Africa at the expense of their own interests, and to do so he must protect the legitimate property of these people."

Smilas sneered, "I remember too, that guy was on the news. He owed his workers months of wages and cried poverty in front of the press, then turned around and spent hundreds of thousands of euros gambling in European casinos ... What are we doing taking in this kind of scum?"

War is not a game nor an arena for idealists. As long as someone supports the Governor-general of South Africa, as long as someone is willing to weaken the African Britannians, even if that person is a criminal and a devil of ten evils, Governor-general Herzog must bring them into his camp and protect their interests. This game even affected the army itself, and Lt. General Wood, as a general of African Britannian origin, would also choose to shelter those deeply righteous compatriots.

"Let's bet on it." The colonel tossed a coin on the table, "Bet the rebels won't take out six regiments against us."

New orders were quickly passed on to the various combat units that were about to leave the town and head towards Bulawayo, while other friendly troops would be stationed here in their place. Realizing that their happy hour would be over, the soldiers grabbed their loot with seven hands and exited the houses in good order under the command of their officers to assemble in the streets. These well-drunk youths were still young enough to have just experienced a not very brutal battle, and considered the enemy unbeatable. McNeil picked up his traveling bag and walked behind the group, joining several black soldiers in distributing some food to the old men and children of the town. The colonel ordered to take whatever supplies he could, as the next group of friendly troops would be responsible for feeding the civilians anyway.

"When we get to Bulawayo, we won't have to rob the civilians." McNeil said to Dumiso Tutu, who was following him, "That's one of the most developed cities in Rhodesia, and Major Herzog said that there's a sugar factory there ... Hey, have you ever been to Bulawayo? It's okay, I'll lead you there when the time comes."

The townspeople finally sent the plague away, but they were only greeted by the next batch of beasts. In addition, the 5th Infantry Regiment had rolled away their entire stock of food, and the next batch of the garrison would have no choice but to fulfill their needs with military rations, and this was bound to cause serious friction. The thought of these soldiers' usual atrocities brought palpable concern to the faces of the African Britannian civilians. They didn't bother to look at the soldiers with guilt on their faces when McNeil came to them with the food and just shut the door tight.

McNeil knocked on the closed door and no one came to open it. The crowd was a little frustrated that they had perhaps lost forever the goodwill and trust that a group of people should have had in them.

"McNeil-"

"Come on, come on, let's get outta here." McNeil waved his hand and left the bag with the food at the door, "There's still a lot of work to be done."

The follow-up news related to the town was only heard by McNeil on the third day of his arrival in Bulawayo. According to friendly scouts, the defense forces simply could not feed the civilians with the shortage of supplies, and threatened violence, which eventually led to a full-blown clash after one of the soldiers accidentally dropped a baby.78 soldiers had their heads bashed in by the townspeople, and hundreds on the townspeople's side were killed by the soldiers. The remaining soldiers also set fire to buildings and corpses in the town to prevent the General Command from finding out about their crimes.

TBC

Chapter Notes:

Note that the four EU Army ranks of Brigadier General, Major General, Lieutenant General, and Full General actually are Brigade General, Divisional General, Army Corps General, and Army General, respectively. This chapter only takes the actual equivalent terms for EU Army general officers.

Perhaps the Free State of Rhodesia is attempting to claim a certain member of the Britannian royal family as its monarch, while its actual leadership group calls itself the Regency Council.