OR1-EP2: Battle of Rhodesia (13)
McNeil has always believed that only by understanding the history of the enemy can he predict their behavior and discover the core interests of them. He once went to the library to look for books related to the Britannian Empire, from which he had a general understanding of the general appearance of the monarchy. After the death of Elizabeth I, her son Henry IX succeeded to the throne, and the world believed that the king's biological father was Karl, Duke of Britannia at that time. The North American Colonial Uprising failed because of Franklin's betrayal (later as an Earl in the United Kingdom), and Britain controlled all of its American colonies until the early 19th century. Along with Napoleon's victory, an uprising broke out in the United Kingdom. Elizabeth III of the Tudor dynasty fled to Edinburgh but was still captured by the rebel army and was forced to abdicate and exile in America. With the assistance of Ricardo (Duke of Britannia at that time), the monarchy was rebuilt. A few years later Elizabeth III died, Ricardo became the king and later the emperor, called Richard IV, renamed the realm as Holy Britannian Empire.
But the nascent empire lacked stability from the start. In order to truly transform the North American colonies into homeland and suppress citizen resistance, Richard IV wantonly entrusted the new powerful nobles, and established the Royal Guards known in history as the "Knights of the Rounds" as a buffer of power with the great nobles. However, while the aristocrats stabilized the rule of the empire, they increasingly became the scourge of the empire. Since the death of Richard IV, none of the orthodox crown princes of the empire has been able to successfully inherit the throne. The most typical example is the assassination of the crown prince Basilio after the death of Aurelien I, which directly led to the Britannian Empire falling into the Civil War. At that time, the expanding EU had already begun to intervene in this civil war, hoping to divide the Britannian Empire entrenched in North America into two, and then completely end the remnants of these monarchies who fled to the New World.
The return of Alto Weinberg saved the empire, and the orthodox heir he brought back, Claire (later known as Victoria I), resolved the succession problems. After that, the imperial prime minister Lincoln abolished slavery legally, and the Southern Army was completely defeated. However, even if powerful monarchs like Alec I emerged in the Britannian Empire later, its sphere of influence has never been able to expand beyond the Americas, and the greatest achievement it has achieved is to unify the entire America. It was not until World War II that the Britannian Empire extended its tentacles to the Pacific Ocean and became the well-deserved hegemony of the Pacific Ocean. However, after a brief period of glory, the corrupt noble group dragged the Britannian Empire back into the abyss of division and turmoil. As for today, even the most optimistic Britannian nobles believe that they are on the verge of extinction, which is enough to explain the recent marked increase in the number of exiles to the EU. With such internal chaos, the Britannian Empire still has the mind to send spies and agents to the EU colonies to create chaos, which shows that Charles III is not an idler. Anyone who can make a correct judgment on the current situation will not underestimate the threat of the new emperor.
McNeil had always guessed that the Britannian Empire would trouble the Europe through various means, but he never expected that the Empire would be so bold and reckless. Sending active-duty soldiers into foreign countries as spies to carry out infiltration and sabotage missions? Once this shameful thing is exposed, there will be no room for negotiation between the two countries. If it wasn't that the new emperor made a hasty decision without thinking, it was because he believed that the EU would not know any accurate information. Now, with these long-standing culprits of chaos and panic in South Africa before him, McNeil is unfortunately on the wrong side, with his fate in the hands of his enemies.
A dead hero has no value. Even if he uses lies to deceive the enemy, as long as he can delay time, any means are appropriate. McNeil is speculating on the bottom line of the enemy's tolerance. He won't pretend to allegiance to the enemy. If the problem can be solved in an upright manner, it is always a bad idea to compromise.
"What a pity." Darlton shook his head. "Britannians are second-class citizens in the EU. Whether you admit it or not, that's the truth."
"I think, compared with the African natives, our life is still easier." McNeil did not intend to listen to Darlton's persuasion, "Here, at least all Europeans are equal in name. I don't believe that anyone would want to be born in a world that depends on blood to determine destiny, we in the EU are doing our best to remove the barriers that prevent mutual understanding between us and Aboriginal people."
"Equality will only breed a bunch of lazy waste."
"Not necessarily, it seems that I am a little better than you new species that have evolved from the law of the jungle." McNeil sneered, "I have always heard that Britannian people pay attention to chivalry, maybe chivalry is dead."
Darlton had a few conversations with his subordinates, considering whether to immediately eliminate the enemy in front of him or not. At present, the overall situation has been decided, and the victory of the indigenous people is unstoppable. At that time, these indigenous coalition forces may have the hope of attacking the EU army's defense line. Their mission has been completed more than half, and it is not a big deal even if a soldier of unknown origin runs away. Once McNeil immediately went to inform his superiors, it would be too late.
"Okay, I'll give you a chance to keep yourself alive." Darlton pulled out the dagger he carried with him, "Anyone without ability is not worthy of being a Britannian. If you can survive today, one day you will realize that we are right."
McNeil knew his aggressive approach was working. If it were any other enemy, he would definitely not use this kind of retort to ridicule them, but would choose to soften his attitude so that the enemy would not violently shoot him at once. When it comes to melee combat, McNeil has never been afraid of anyone, even the elites of the NOD Brotherhood who belong to the Black Hand are not his opponents, let alone these self-righteous Britannian wild dogs. He watched the actions of the enemy officers, trying to find out the enemy's flaws and strive for a quick victory. Of course, the enemy also has the possibility of repenting, and at that time he will choose to hijack the enemy in order to create a chance to escape.
Darlton took the first step and stabbed McNeil, but McNeil parried away with a dagger. Although the two sides fought hand to hand, the dagger in McNeil's hand was too short, and he had no advantage in using it. If he was not careful, he would be injured quickly. The two Britannian soldiers standing behind watched the fight with fear. At first Darlton took the initiative to attack again and again, but McNeil could only parry, and had no chance to fight back. Just when they thought the situation would be doomed, things began to change in McNeil's favor. Darlton was young and energetic, and seeing that he was not able to get the slightest advantage from multiple stabbings, he gradually became anxious in his heart. If he had participated in a boxing match, he would have realized that the attacking side actually consumes more energy, which is one of the reasons why McNeil has been waiting for the enemy to show his flaws. When Darlton suddenly found that his reaction speed began to decline, he hesitated. The panting Britannian officer could not advance or retreat. He knew that his next attack would be easily caught by McNeil. This time, let alone showing the benevolence of chivalry in a pretentious manner, his life might be lost. Therefore, in the eyes of his two men, the whole battle process was characterized by Darlton inexplicably stopping the offensive and turning to the defensive.
"Didn't your Britannian Empire pay much attention to melee training?" McNeil, who was on guard, asked suddenly, "The twelve most elite knights of the round table in the empire are all melee experts. Maybe there are similar forces in the regular army. I'm just wondering, can they go faster than a bullet?"
"Maybe someone can, but it's definitely not me." Darlton didn't want to answer McNeil's question at first, he was worried that McNeil would take advantage of this opportunity to attack, but he saw that McNeil didn't intend to attack, so he gradually be relaxed, "I'm not talking nonsense, there are some people who can do it, and maybe you'll see them later."
"Even so, the role played by a single person on the battlefield is negligible. The emperors emphasized this kind of martial arts that is flashy to most people so much, in fact, they were afraid that the untouchable civilians in their eyes would blow up the nobles with guns." McNeil laughed, "As long as the common people believe that chivalry is the foundation of the empire, no one will form a rifle association."
Darlton was shocked. He found that the man in front of him had an extraordinary ability to deceive people. Just when he was about to refute, McNeil rushed up with lightning, pointing the dagger at Darlton's throat. Darlton had no time to defend, so he had no choice but to use his tricks and stab the opponent with a backhand swing of a knife to relieve the urgent need. As a result, the dagger in McNeil's hand suddenly turned and swung downward, stabbing Darlton's right arm holding the knife. Darlton suffered from pain in his arms and could not hold the sharp weapon in his hand. Before he could struggle, McNeil kicked him up and hit his chest, and he fell backwards. McNeil picked up the short knife that fell on the ground, looked at it carefully, raised his head and said to Darlton who just got up:
"You didn't shoot me just now, and there's no need for me to kill you. Well, maybe you can bet—if you order to shoot now, I'm likely to kill you before my death."
However, McNeil would not give the enemy a chance to hesitate at all. After saying this, he turned his head and rolled into the nearby bushes, running wildly. Bullets don't have eyes, and if that Britannian officer really repents, he'll die there even if he has a hundred lives. Now that Carlo Farah had fled long ago, McNeil decided to confirm the fire situation first. If David Roberts had indeed started the fire as planned, they would be retreating towards the river at this moment.
Andreas Darlton was helped up by the soldiers who rushed forward, and the dagger was still stuck in his right arm.
"Sir, we let him go just in case, what if—"
"What if?" Darlton grinned and reprimanded his subordinates, "One person cannot affect the war. We have already won, and these natives will soon make a mess of the EU's South African colony. Does he still have the ability to change the result of the war? Get rid of hundreds of thousands of natives? Besides, as long as you keep your mouths in check, no one will know what happened here."
Michael McNeil left the river and followed his planned retreat route to find traces of friendly forces. Soon, he found that the sky in the distance was reflected in red, but his teammates hadn't arrived on this road for a long time. McNeil hid on a nearby slope and watched the fire spread. He prepared for the worst, maybe his teammates were trapped by fire or enemies that appeared suddenly, and he needed to find a way to rescue them all immediately. Without the rest of the team members, it is impossible for him and Carlo Farah to escape alone anyway.
It is common for wild fires to occur in Africa. It is not the first time that the aborigines accidentally caused a fire by lighting a fire. Usually, they can quickly control the fire, or simply choose to escape, but this time the fire came quickly and spread extremely fast. Even a stupid person with a bad mind can guess that someone probably set the fire on purpose. Therefore, David Roberts and others who set fire while evacuating were quickly discovered by the natives. After learning that these people were the culprits of the arson, the natives rushed up desperately, chasing and intercepting the group of people one after another. At first Roberts could barely lead his teammates to retreat, but soon they found themselves surrounded by heavy fire, and the situation was precarious. At this time, as long as the surrounding natives retreated in spite of the difficulties, they might still be able to find a way to escape. However, even at the risk of their own people being burned alive, these aborigines resolutely launched an attack. This reckless attitude inadvertently blocked the last hope of David Roberts' team. Their activity space was gradually compressed, and they were about to die in a sea of flames.
"We really deserve what we could get." David Roberts lamented, "Before you kill innocent people, you have to know that yourself will die on the spot."
However, perhaps their lives were not destined to end here, or the natives who were busy attacking were negligent because they did not notice the situation on the edge, just when Roberts had completely given up all hope of escape, the flames in a corner of the fire scene suddenly went out , the panicked McNeil ran in panting. Everyone was surprised, only to hear McNeil shout:
"What are you waiting for? Run now!"
This time no one pretended to be humble, David Roberts was the first to run, and the others followed. They successfully escaped from the encirclement of the fire, and they didn't have chance to stop and rest until they were hundreds of meters away from the fire scene. David Roberts looked at McNeil gratefully, and just as he was about to say something thankful, McNeil stopped him.
"Don't waste time, we will retreat to the river side immediately." McNeil concluded, "The Britannians are commanding the natives behind, and they won't just let us go. Everyone is ready to fight, this time I'm afraid we're going to face a fierce battle."
TBC
Chapter Notes:
There is no clear evidence of Andreas Darlton's combat duties prior to becoming a KMF pilot. In a sense, he may have served in something like the Imperial Special Air Service.
Considering that we don't have more reference settings to design the command structure of the Imperial Army, referring to the British Army in reality will become the main option.