OR1-EP5: Hymn of the Bridge (7)
Although the Rhodesian Rebels have won partial victories in several skirmishes in the south, they still face the defense forces on all sides. In order to avoid being completely encircled by the Defense Force, the Rebels decided to concentrate their forces in Matabeleland to attack the weak areas of the Defense Force's defenses. In their vision, it would take a long time for the defense forces to gather, and if they took advantage of this time to launch a surprise attack, they would be able to break the blockade line set up by the defense forces in one fell swoop. So the rebels, totaling about 10,000 men, advanced toward Matabeleland and met the defense forces in the eastern area. The defense forces were not prepared for such an audacious attack and were forced to fall back, unable to resist. Upon learning of the friendly attack, nearby defense forces rushed to support them, easily drawing the rebels into the encirclement. Due to the rebel commander's wrong estimation of the enemy's strength ratio, he blindly ordered a bloody battle to the end with the defense forces, resulting in the rebel army's death and injury, collapsing at the height of the battle, with many of the troop formations completely disintegrating, and the remnants of the army retreating towards the north.
The defeat of the rebels in the east had spared the city of Bulawayo and the 5th Infantry Regiment the danger of rebel attack for the time being. Gene Smilas briefed the companies on the battle in the vicinity and emphasized that the rebels were virtually invulnerable and that the previous defeat was merely the result of the inexperience of an army that had not been in a real war for a long time. This argument was not convincing, except that McNeil did not want to demoralize his comrades, so he also symbolically said that the rebels were really not a horrible opponent.
"How many senior officers have chosen to defect to the rebel side?"
"No general officers, at least not yet." Gene Smilas recalled what he'd heard from Colonel Duttmann, "On the contrary, there are colonels who have been transferred to the reserves who have decided to follow the rebels ... Apparently, they still have dreams of becoming generals."
Based on McNeil's own knowledge of the EU army, assuming that the defense forces outmaneuvered the rebels, that doesn't mean that the commanders of the defense forces had superior talent, only that the officers on the rebel side were more incompetent than their counterparts in the defense forces. Officers stationed in frontier areas may have lacked opportunities for advancement, but they also had more opportunities to really learn about the war itself. Of course, some don't bother to seek out the truth, preferring to live only in the world they've envisioned for themselves.
"In the long run, the rebels are bound to lose." McNeil said optimistically to the other soldiers, "Once things get out of hand, Europe itself will intervene, and with the current strength of the rebels, even if they take over all of South Africa, they'll just be completely wiped out by the defense forces."
Governor-general Herzog is not wanting the home front to intervene, he must keep all issues under his control in order to maximize the use of this war while accomplishing his ideals ... at least part of them. However, even if he fails, the rebels will not fare well. War was a contest of combined forces, and Rhodesia would not be able to break free from EU rule in any case, unless the Britannian Empire was willing to risk economic collapse by launching a foreign war immediately. In fact, many of Rhodesia's African Britannian socialites are already calling on the Britannian Empire to send in troops to save their compatriots, but the Empire is in the midst of chaos due to the purge of the aristocracy, and has no time to do so. One of the strongest pieces of evidence of this is that Emperor Charles, who loves to make harsh statements, has never made any comments about South Africa so far.
Yesterday morning, McNeil and other soldiers were dispatched to some factories in the city to negotiate with the workers there. They needed to protect the property of those Britannian merchants who had chosen to support South Africa, and their loyalty had to be rewarded. Workers' strikes were a regular and common occurrence in colonial Africa, except that there had been very few previous cases of workers expelling managers and occupying factories on their own, and the merchants usually eliminated the most recalcitrant of the leading figures before things got out of hand. McNeil had expected to see a bunch of hobos with nothing better to do, but he didn't realize that the workers were still going about their production activities in an orderly fashion, except that they weren't making cars anymore - and citizens weren't going to be buying them at this time of year.
"That guy would probably have a heart attack if he knew his factory had been converted into half an arsenal." McNeil said to Dumiso Tutu, who stepped aside.
"I've heard you guys say that the old guy is stingy as hell ... and would rather gamble than pay his workers."
Both of Dumiso Tutu's parents were laborers; they used to work as laborers in Rhodesia before moving to the Transvaal in the south. His father took part in several railroad workers' strikes, and during one of these strikes he was beaten by the police and broke his leg, becoming disabled in this way, losing his job, and ending up working as a janitor at a cemetery. However, this was a lucky ending; those workers who were shot on the spot by the police did not have such luck.
The workers' representative, a young white man in his twenties, listened patiently to McNeil's speech about the defense forces' demands, and then replied in a friendly manner:
"This factory is now owned by the workers, and we don't need guys who don't know anything to tell us how to do our jobs."
"At least the professional managers he sends out are better at it than you are-"
"They sit in their offices and play games all day long, in addition to withholding workers' benefits." The workers' representative said in disgust, "We can run this factory ourselves - you see, the factory didn't go out of business without the boss."
McNeil was dumbfounded by the cross-examination. Led by a representative of the workers, he toured the factory floor and found that the widespread idleness he had imagined had not occurred. The workers' representative explained that the factory was now the property of all the workers, and since the results of their work would directly affect their income, most of them were more motivated than before. Looking at these laughing and joking workers, and thinking about the stake men he had seen elsewhere, McNeil suddenly realized that he had little reason at all to persuade the workers to give the factory back to the owner. Legally, of course, what the workers were doing was illegal, but the greed Britannian merchant hadn't been doing anything illegal either.
"Well then, I hope you have the skills to keep what you got your hands on." McNeil solemnly shook hands with the workers' representative, "I'll report the situation here truthfully to my superiors."
McNeil visited many of the factories with a few black soldiers, while returning to the barracks to tell Adalbert Herzog the news of what was happening in these factories.
"Technically, all of their behavior is not illegal." Major Herzog was talking about something with a few officers, and when he saw McNeil arrive, he left his work at hand and went forward to greet McNeil.
"But these factories are someone else's private property."
"That's right, except that the city of Bulawayo has decided to confiscate them." Adalbert laughed out loud, "I think you probably don't know about these business struggles ... Previously, South Africa had also forcibly acquired the South African-based subsidiary of a European-based Sakuradite Energy company, and the other party had threatened retaliation, but it was later settled. "
"That's really-" exclaimed McNeil, who did not know much about business, and had always been one to be wary of it. But the world, from the smallest individual to the largest nation, could not function without economic activity, and commerce was a part of human society, as it had been from time immemorial. EU's merchants had triumphed on most occasions, half by the law, and half by all sorts of subterranean maneuvers that bordered on lawlessness. And so, they would always taste the bitterness of defeat on those opponents who were better at the latter than they were.
"This is something you should listen to as a joke, and not say anything to outsiders." Adalbert reminded him in a low voice, "His Excellency the Governor-general doesn't like people talking about those business activities of his behind his back ... He was never actually good at it."
Colonel Karl Duttmann was embarrassed, it seemed impossible for him to take over the factories. Unless the relevant authorities in South Africa declared the City of Bulawayo's behavior illegal, he would have an excuse to take the next step. For the moment, it seemed that the citizens had figured out the weakness of the businessmen, and since these businessmen and their assistants had fled the city when it was thrown into chaos, it was perfectly reasonable for the citizens to entrust the workers in the factories with restoring order. Had Governor-general Herzog himself fled South Africa, the rest of the Governor's staff would have found ways to continue to exercise the Governor's authority as individuals or as a group.
"Workers can be so difficult to deal with these days." The Colonel sighed as he lay on his bed, "It used to be that if the police fired a random shot into the air, they would scatter in fear."
"These people have weapons and factories in their hands, we can't clash with them at this time ... especially when the rebels are gradually falling into madness." Smilas rationally analyzed the current problem, "If you think you can't deliver to your superiors, you can explain the situation here towards them, and I think your superiors won't order you to force an attack ..."
Even if the other commanders thought that this autonomous city that did not listen to the orders of the Governor-general's Office should be wiped out, they would have to send additional reinforcements rather than have an infantry regiment with a total of only a thousand or so men forcefully attacking a large city. At a subsequent meeting, Adalbert Herzog also supported Smilas' opinion. Major Herzog was of the opinion that there was no need to make more enemies at the present time, and that it was necessary for them to treat Bulawayo and its citizens as temporary friends as long as they did not take hostile action against the defense forces. As for the problems connected with the factories, that should be left to the bureaucrats in the south.
"Mais ce sont eux qui ont également confisqué les biens de la banque locale." A captain objected to Adalbert's statement, "Si nous laissons faire, même après la fin de la guerre, ces marchands qui ont tant perdu s'en prendront à nous."
"C'est absurde." Adalbert narrowed his eyes disdainfully and crossed his arms, chortling at the officer one rank below him, " Vous voulez dire que les Vénitiens savent mieux se battre que les Turcs ? Nous sommes les experts ici, nous sommes ceux qui décident si nous pouvons nous battre ou non, si nous devons nous battre ou non, comment nous devons nous battre ou quand nous devons nous battre, qu'est-ce qu'ils en savent ? Ce serait un crime impardonnable d'être un soldat et de permettre à des profanes d'interférer avec le commandement normal dans un but ultérieur."
" Très bien, cette question est reportée pour le moment." Colonel Duttmann concluded impatiently, " Que personne ne discute, nous n'avons tout simplement pas le pouvoir de changer les choses. Major Smilas, nous continuerons à tendre des embuscades aux rebelles qui se trouvent à proximité, comme prévu."
After the rebels' last transport convoy had been destroyed, they had obviously raised their guard and switched to transporting supplies by another highway. But they couldn't get around Bulawayo anyway, and with the rebels confronting the defense forces in the east, wasting time halfway across the country would be tantamount to suffering even greater losses among the soldiers on the front lines. Worse still, their plan to force Bulawayo had gone bust: the defense forces had not clashed with the citizens, and the reinforced garrison was now more difficult to deal with. The fact that the rebels had no control of the air, and that their fighters would be shot down by enemy planes over the battle zone soon after takeoff, and that many rebel pilots were too frightened to take the fight to the ground, directly left the rebels with no details of what was going on along most of the entire front.
For this reason, Adalbert drew up an even bolder plan: to leave the city of Bulawayo and head out into the nearby wilderness to ambush the rebels. It wasn't necessarily a transport convoy they were waiting for; it could have been the main rebel force on the march. But high risk sometimes meant high reward, and if they could hold off the rebel reinforcements, Colonel Duttmann would be able to do another great service-at least that's what the colonel himself had always believed, and so he didn't hesitate to take a stand in favor of Adalbert's plan. Hundreds of soldiers marched across the potholed road and down the deserted field. This used to be a plantation, but then Bulawayo became a large industrial center and the nearby plantations gradually closed down. On the left side of the road was a jutting rocky hill, empty except for transmission lines and signal towers.
Adalbert Herzog ordered a halt to the advance, having received new instructions from the colonel: nearby friendly forces were exchanging fire with the rebels, and the colonel wanted Adalbert to go forward immediately to support them.
"The enemy is probably around 200 men, and I don't want to delay the rest of the operation." Adalbert gave the task to Lt. Heinz Meyer, "You go support the friendlies, I'm sure you'll survive."
"That's demoralizing to hear."
Lt. Meyer sent McNeil on a reconnaissance mission, and McNeil and three other soldiers drove the jeep, down the highway, and soon reached the spot Major Herzog had described. Slightly different from the scene in McNeil's mind, this time it was the rebels on the side of the road who were besieging the defenders who were stuck in the middle of the road. The rebels hadn't spotted them yet, allowing the jeep to park in the dead center of their vision.
"You guys contact the lieutenant right away, I'm going to go test the waters." McNeil flung the communicator to the two men, grabbed his own backpack and jumped out of the vehicle, snapping on his helmet before sprinting into the foot-high grass. He judged the position of the rebels by the sound of gunfire and gradually approached the area where the two sides were exchanging fire. After traveling dozens of meters forward, he once again pushed aside the weeds in front of him, and a soldier wearing a rebel uniform appeared in front of him.
Both men froze as the rebel soldier reacted not by meeting the attack, but by turning his head and running away. Seeing this, McNeil followed in hot pursuit, giving up his intention to shoot. It didn't take long for the rebel soldier to be grabbed from behind by McNeil's backpack, McNeil pulled him down hard to the ground, drew his dagger and slit the other man's throat. Seeing no one else around, he left the rebel soldier's body behind and continued to look for a way to approach the battlefield. After noticing that the grass was getting shorter, McNeil took up his binoculars, and in addition to seeing soldiers on both sides who were in the midst of an engagement, he was instantly suspicious when he noticed a helmet hanging from a trash heap not far away. He continued to feel his way forward until the upper half of his body was exposed beyond the grass, and then stepped back slightly to prepare for sniping here.
"Maybe I don't have what it takes to be a sniper." McNeil was a little frustrated.
When McNeil was young, he was a veritable all-rounder. The implication was that while he was good at all the tricks of the trade, he wasn't a top soldier in every area. It was his strength to fill in or to use his strengths against the enemy's weaknesses; if he had to compete with the enemy in a particular skill, he probably would have lost. Sure enough, McNeil's first shot missed his target, and the rebel sniper alertly retreated behind the trash heap, no longer exposing himself. Unfortunately, the sniper didn't know McNeil's location.
McNeil sighed as he held his breath and continued to observe the enemy's movements. Judging from the damage to the highway, the rebels had laid a trap halfway down the road and forced the defense forces to stop, then attacked from both the front and back at the same time. The defense force was unable to break out quickly, so they chose to stay put and engage the rebels, which resulted in them being surrounded. In any case, the rebels knew the land better than the defense forces, and they were able to use any conditions to create an advantage for military operations.
A rebel soldier was raising a rocket launcher to aim at a Defense Force soldier who was relying on an armored vehicle for defense. McNeil's quick eyes smashed his head and the rebel soldier fired the rocket at that moment, but his upper body was leaning back and instead of the rocket going out flat, it hit the air. The rebel soldiers saw this and created no small amount of confusion, they didn't know where the enemy snipers were hiding and fear drove them to seek cover close by rather than continue their reckless attack.
From the back of the highway came three armored vehicles, their machine guns proclaiming to the rebels who was the real master of the place. Before the vehicles had even stopped, several soldiers were already scrambling out of the vehicles and beginning to attack the nearest rebel. One soldier armed with a grenade launcher took aim at the area where the rebels were massing and blew up the rebels who were about to rush onto the highway, sending blood and limbs everywhere. The disbelieving rebels continued to charge up the highway in an attempt to block the reinforcements from the defense forces, only to be rammed from the front by the armored vehicles, and several were crushed on the spot. Seeing that Lieutenant Meyer had already led other soldiers to arrive, McNeil had planned to withdraw from his position, but he remembered that the sniper was still hiding in the shadows and decided to eliminate the enemy sniper before leaving. Unexpectedly, the enemy is exceptionally cunning, every shot fired away from the original position, McNeil aimed several times but did not catch the opportunity. McNeil was greatly embarrassed, and this almost humiliating feeling drove him to continue the pursuit, constantly advancing along the grass, looking for traces of the enemy.
He regained what he thought was a suitable position, set up his sniper rifle, and began to watch the enemy's movements. The rebel advantage was gradually leveled as more than forty men under Lieutenant Meyer joined the fray. Caught in a dilemma, the rebels decided to withdraw from the battlefield, but it wasn't so easy for the soldiers already involved in the battle to escape. When they got up from behind their bunkers, they were often caught by a bullet from the rear. The inexperienced rebels had not set up nearby fire points for covering fire, and they would be hunted down by the defenders in isolation.
A helmet appeared on the grass not far away, and McNeil, eager to eliminate the enemy, immediately pulled the trigger. The helmet disappeared into the grass in a straight line, which made McNeil realize that he had been tricked again.
"I'm patient ... very patient." He muttered to himself, "Just a little impatient."
Michael McNeil wasn't about to leave, he was convinced that the enemy hadn't been able to spot him, or else the other side should have returned fire at least once, and so far he hadn't suffered an enemy attack. Suddenly, someone behind him called McNeil's name. McNeil turned around to see a black soldier approaching him.
"We thought you were missing." Seeing that McNeil was safe and sound, the black soldier told him about what had just happened, "The lieutenant told us to find you as soon as possible-"
A bullet pierced the black soldier's helmet and his heavy body planted itself in the grass. McNeil repositioned his right eye behind the scope, judging the direction of the enemy sniper by the bullet hole he had just seen. The rebel soldiers were still retreating, and the sniper would probably run away as well; no one would want to stay where they were and wait to die. As soon as he gave up the fight and turned away, McNeil would immediately send him to God. Whether God would forgive him or not, McNeil would not consider for the moment.
All noise died down, and McNeil saw a head poking out from behind the grass covered by the edge of the highway. No one could save the trained sniper, and in a battle between flesh and blood and steel, steel always won big.
Michael McNeil put away his sniper rifle and retreated back the way he came. He trudged up the highway and greeted his comrades who were coming up from the rear, then went to the other side to examine the body. Noticing a small box-shaped pendant hanging around the headless body's neck, he ripped the pendant off and opened the box, inside of which lay a photograph in silence. On the photo was a couple holding three children, and the man in it was none other than this sniper.
"What are you looking at?" Dumiso Tutu tapped McNeil on the shoulder from behind, startling McNeil so much that he nearly backhanded the other man to unload his wrist.
"Nothing." McNeil perfunctorily. The father of three children ... McNeil had never been a father, and he didn't have any heirs, but he vaguely remembered the indescribable despair and anguish he felt when James Solomon died.
"May God forgive me."
TBC
Chapter Summary：
Sakuradite is not an energy source and cannot be used directly for power generation, but it can greatly improve power generation and output efficiency.
In fact McNeil was very psychologically active, as evidenced by his diary entries. He just chose to show his strongest side to his comrades.