OR1-EP2: Battle of Rhodesia (2)

When the EU replaced the Britannians and began to penetrate the inland areas of southern Africa, their heads were hit in the face of reality. At that time, EU had not yet stepped out of the line infantry era. Marching battles were like a fashion show. Soldiers and officers were dressed in fancy dresses, and they were living targets that couldn't be more conspicuous on the battlefield. This danger was not detected in the European mainland. When they confronted the natives in the desert, jungle and wilderness, the bloody tragedy made EU finally wake up. Military experts realized that the protective and camouflage properties of military uniforms are more important than gorgeousness, just as the steel helmet was born during the First World War. However, even if the field troops wear training uniforms for combat needs, those commanders and staff officers who sit firmly in the bunkers at the rear still regard their uniforms as the only thing that can be used to show off their power. The compromise solution is that the ordinary uniforms of the EU army still retain certain characteristics of the old age. This navy-blue military coat is not suitable for appearing in the tropics. Soldiers who come to Africa to serve without exception have changed their clothes into short-sleeved shirts.

"...So, I never liked these superiors who were essentially clerks. They didn't know anything about the military except for their prestige." David Roberts looked at the officers approaching them and sighed heavily. McNeil stood behind him, equally grimace at these uninvited guests. In order to cope with these special commissioners from the army, Colonel Duttmann had to work hard to disguise, the key is to let the visitors be able to see the results they have achieved recently. In McNeil's view, even if Colonel Duttmann has all the irritating shortcomings, he can only be regarded as a bad-tempered insider military officer, and these guys who suddenly come out to interfere with normal training are completely outsiders.

Unlike the training of recruits who have no military experience, most of the members hired for special operations have some combat experience. Among them, some people are the same as David Roberts, who are veterans caused by various reasons; the others are slightly embarrassing, they are mercenaries or thugs of criminal organizations, if they were going to commit crimes here, they will be arrested on the spot. The complexity of personnel has increased the difficulty of management, and at the same time, it has also made the higher-level departments uneasy. In this regard, Colonel Duttmann explained to his superiors many times, but with little success. However, even those opponents who were dissatisfied with Duttmann himself could not change this plan, because the army was unable to exterminate the natives with a big plan, and the only alternative was to let others do it for them.

"It looks pretty good." A short officer with a moustache said to the colonel. "I thought we would see a group of stragglers. It seems that your skills are beyond our expectations."

"No, the real reason is that they even have more opportunities to participate in actual combat than ordinary soldiers." Colonel Duttmann explained with a smile, "For example, some people used to be mercenaries... Their missions are much harder than those of us who can only stay in South Africa to guard the city."

In front of them were a dozen soldiers who were training in shooting. The colonel briefed the colleagues who came to inspect the training situation in the past few days, and dealt with all kinds of innocuous but disturbing problems. Some time ago, someone proposed to directly use the indigenous people as targets. This appalling plan was immediately strongly opposed by most people. However, Colonel Duttmann himself knows some inner circle's information. Certain military officers do regard shooting indigenous people as an important entertainment, if someone embezzles the indigenous people they have locked up in their homes as live targets, that's better. However, if he did that, it would be equivalent to exposing another evidence of the military's crime, and he would lose his life.

In another clearing, Adalbert Herzog is directing his men to fight. He has only one requirement for melee combat, and that is to kill the opponent in a short period of time. Whether they keep enemies alive depends on the situation. At the beginning of this training, Adalbert wanted to use McNeil as a model. Unexpectedly, he was knocked to the ground by McNeil within ten seconds. This made Adalbert, who has always regarded himself highly, from the sky to the ground. Since then, he has always sought McNeil's advice on this issue before putting the plan into practice.

The colonel was full of spring breeze and asked the special commissioners to observe closely. His wishful thinking is to use a certain kind of battle to frighten these laymen who can only verbally show prestige. Sure enough, the three special commissioners who had just been frightened by the noise of the shooting just saw these brawny men holding daggers and other sharp instruments fighting with real guns, and their legs were shaking as they were afraid that these reckless men would hurt them. Smilas winked, McNeil hurriedly held up one of the officers and continued to step forward, uncontrollably persuading:

"You guys come from afar and don't take a closer look, how can you have a detailed view it without taking a serious look? We have been training for thousands of days, and we have been training for such a long time. If we can't even catch your eyes, wouldn't it be a loss of wealth?"

The hapless commissioner closed his eyes, pretending to be dead, and did not dare to refute McNeil's words. These hired desperadoes are willing to fight against the natives only for the bounty, and this is the consensus of the military. They set a reasonable price for everyone, and the reward after the task is over is enough for most people to have a worry-free undergarment for a few years.

There is no need to hesitate to fight, this was said by the colonel himself. Most of the people who participated in this operation were not innocent. They more or less had an unbearable past and a criminal record sufficient to make them go to jail. Colonel Duttmann's promise not only includes bounty, but also New Life. Since he can forge a false identity for McNeil enough to live a stable life in South Africa, he can handle other people's affairs.

Adalbert Herzog was very distressed after hurting others in training, at night, he came to McNeil to complain. McNeil realized that this young man who claimed to have never received the slightest blessing from his governor-general father, in fact, could not get out of his father's shadow.

"I thought you wouldn't be bothered by this kind of thing."

"It is normal to be injured in survival, but it is undoubtedly disadvantageous to be injured beforehand... Just like pilots who die in training, they have become waste before they can show any value." Major Herzog was upset.

McNeil quipped: "Everyone would think that someone who is so keen on surviving in extreme environments like you would support social Darwinism."

"Then you are all wrong. My idea is to let everyone have the ability to survive in unavoidable disasters, and let people who do not have this ability have it, instead of eliminating them directly with some high-sounding slogans. "Adalbert Herzog stared at the busy soldiers in the distance. Veterans are suitable yet, but those who came from mercenaries and thugs are used to life of licking blood and daydreaming. They don't know if they can see the sun tomorrow, so they always choose to spend their little leisure time on pleasure, and the ascetic training that Adalbert formulated for them seriously interfered with their original rhythm of life. Many people became manic, but they had nowhere to vent. The place was heavily surrounded by the military, and the fate of those who dared to escape would be the same as those of the natives. Seeing these people fidgeting tormented by their inner thoughts, McNeil only found it funny.

"They don't really like something, they just like to indulge... to put themselves on the edge of life and death, that feeling can't be said clearly in one or two sentences." McNeil once described his view of mercenaries to Adalbert, "Unconstrained is their biggest feature. If one day EU decides to formalize the management of this black market, I guess they will switch to other criminals."

The special commissioners came with awe-inspiring power, and were frightened and confused by Colonel Duttmann's dismount. They realized that the mercenaries and thugs they despised were really planning to enter the wilderness and jungle to eliminate hundreds of natives, and it was easier for any one of the soldiers to strangle them than to kill chickens. After the inexplicable self-arrogance disappeared completely, the special commissioners were finally willing to sit down and talk to Major Smilas about the logistics supply issues closely related to the mission. In order to achieve the desired effect of the program, Colonel Duttmann ordered the training to continue, so that these special commissioners would not immediately forget about frightening sense without hearing the gunshots within a minute.

"This is Commander McNeil. He is responsible for managing these people in the upcoming mission." Smilas pointed to McNeil, who was standing aside and staring at him, and talked with the commissioners without a smile. "We should deal with the minor issues in advance, specifically the supply line. They will shuttle through the indigenous territory. To maintain their combat effectiveness, they must be able to get supplies from time to time. I want to hear what you have now for a suitable plan."

The commissioner said casually: "Airdrop. The terrain here is more complicated, but we can overlook the entire battlefield from the air, and we also know the location of the task force. Although the indigenous people have some light weapons that are suspected of being smuggled, they have no ability to take our planes down."

"Then we will be exposed." McNeil realized that something was wrong, "Doing so will bring additional risks to the task force, and the natives will definitely besiege."

"Those natives are just primitive people who can use guns. Why should you care about them?" The commissioner asked inexplicably, "You are not scared by the natives, are you? That's right, none of you have succeeded in preventing the indigenous people from entering the city and killing citizens, so long."

Seeing McNeil's speech, Smilas felt that he couldn't keep silent, and the other commissioners seemed to taunt them intentionally. The young military officer with a big beard pretended to be mysterious and said: "Everyone, I am afraid you have consciously overlooked a detail, that is, the colonel himself has evidence that Britannians or other foreign forces are making trouble behind their backs. Whether they are the Britannians or Embroidered Uniform Guards, if they are to direct these indigenous people-although I don't think they can really mix themselves with the indigenous people-then any information we accidentally expose will be fatal."

The commissioners disagree, until Adalbert Herzog reiterated this to them, they finally let go of their inner contempt. However, this is not because they care about the success or failure of the mission or the lives of these people, but because they cannot offend Adalbert. Even if the governor-general seems selfless, he will never show mercy to the enemy who endangers his only son. The driver who blamed the murder on Major Herzog is a lesson for the past. If Adalbert reported the situation to his father, the Governor-general would only need to ask the lieutenant general of the Guardian Corp to play golf, and the future of the three special commissioners would be ruined in a few words.

"So..." one of the officers asked cautiously, "What do you think?"

"Supply should be synchronized with the blockade." McNeil took this opportunity to express his thoughts. "In our combat plan, an indispensable step is to tighten the encirclement net step by step, until the natives are completely locked in cages. Then we will wipe them out with reasonable excuses when they try to break through."

In this way, as long as the task force has a chance to return to the blockade, they can take a rest, and then set off to continue to fight against the exhausted natives. However, the problem that follows is that the pressure on the logistics system caused by the entire blockade will increase exponentially. Of course, McNeil knows this well and he can only expect the other commissioners not to mention this defect. He will only consider the lives of his nominal comrades in arms, and the logistics are not within his management.

The three special commissioners whispered to each other, not knowing what they were talking about. Regardless of their objections, McNeil or Adalbert can find ways to refute them. However, after they leave here, whether they will reflect the truth is not what everyone can predict.

"This matter is very difficult." In the end, the shorter commissioner said, "I think you should know that the recent violent sabotage has affected transportation. The chief is worried that the enemy's purpose is to cut off our supply lines. Now, in order to maintain normal traffic, we are under pressure."

"It's all nonsense." Smilas was furious. "Could it be that you guys also went to escort the transport truck yourself? How much pressure is there? The escort team has the most importance, you guys don't count."

When Smilas finished speaking, it was the turn of Colonel Duttmann to come forward and play the role of a good man. He and the special commissioners reached a preliminary agreement that as long as the rear situation permits, they will do their best to ensure the supply of materials on the front line.

"We didn't mean to deliberately obstruct, but we worried about the shortage of supplies." The commissioner quickly explained.

"Well, let me think of a way for you-now let Major Herzog inform his superiors and let the governor-general pressure." Colonel Duttmann laughed, "Don't play tricks with us, we should put our minds on dealing with the enemy."

TBC

Chapter Notes:

The functions of the EU military commissioners appearing in this article are similar to the military administrators of the Nazi German Wehrmacht in reality.

Military administrators are one of the legacy of the old era when the governor-general still has the actual commanding power of the army. They are not part of the army or civilian officials.