WARNING: Mugabe jokes exist in this chapter.

OR1-EP4: Prelude to the Millennium (16)

The pleasant life in Paris had made McNeil a bit oblivious, and he might have forgotten about the difficulties that still existed in the southernmost part of the Dark Continent, if the timetable hadn't reminded him that it was time for a swift return to South Africa. Now that Governor-general Herzog had gained the support of the majority of the councilors and established a temporarily solid alliance, there was no reason for them to remain here, and it was time to head to South Africa to resolve the remaining problems. The day after his return to South Africa, McNeil was invited by Adalbert Herzog to board a Defense Force helicopter and cruise along the borderlands of Rhodesia to see what lay below. The land still belonged to South Africa, and, if nothing else, perhaps those councilors who had formed an alliance with Governor-general Herzog would propose that its adjoining areas be incorporated into South Africa as well, with further reorganization of the colonial institutions.

Major Herzog, who could not fly a helicopter, sat in the back with McNeil touring the scenery along the way. Now that the Governor-general was free of worries, he could make his mark, and the Major felt a heartfelt joy for the Governor-general's accomplishments. Even with all the tough talk and reluctance to use the Governor-general's name around, he was, after all, the Governor-general's only son, a fact that could not be changed.

"Does His Excellency still intend to run for Consul?"

In front of him was a vast expanse of exposed red soil, mining at any cost had severely damaged the African environment, and by the time EU realized the gravity of the situation, it was too late. The dire effects of this irreversible damage on the natural environment as a whole are so far-reaching that some radical environmentalists want to stop all industries that are destroying the local natural environment. The EU is not only taking away the freedom and future of Africa's indigenous people, it is even trying to take away the only home they have ever known, which is a sickening form of torture. However, any businessman who can let go of the business in Africa is not a simple person, those who only have a passion for the environmentalists cannot fight against them.

McNeil propped himself up against the side of the cockpit and squinted at the course of the river and the changing terrain. He wasn't in the mood to admire the view, only to think about how he could use the geography to fight aggressively. Occupational disease may have permanently destroyed his aesthetic ability - or perhaps he had just selectively sequestered that part of it within his mind.

"It's impossible to change what he recognizes."

The hot air became cooler as it became accustomed to blowing. The violent air currents blew McNeil's eyes open, and he stretched out his right hand to shield his eyes as he continued to observe the high and low ground. Not far away was a huge mining pit, some abandoned construction and digging equipment was casually discarded nearby, and there was not a single person around.

Adalbert Herzog smiled helplessly.

"I do hope he has a certain lesson." He pointed to his own head, "The kind of lesson that would make a man's head bleed but wouldn't be fatal. That way, he can go home and retire in peace. My father has offended far too many people in his life, and it's best to see it through while his fame and power are as good as it gets."

"Winter is coming, I hope the temperature stays moderately hot and cold." McNeil didn't answer directly.

Adalbert had the helicopter land near the pit, and he and McNeil couldn't wait to jump to the ground when the helicopter was maybe a meter above it. As far as the eye could see, the surrounding area was a graveyard of all kinds of apparatus and vehicles, the dust and buckled rust piled on top indicating that the area had been unvisited for a long time. In the shelterless plains, a path that had been overgrown curved its way to a town in the distance. People had once trodden every obstacle in the path with their own two feet, and when they fled the place, its true owners proved themselves more than capable of surviving in the desolate, barren landscape.

"When I was a boy, this was still a rather lively town." Adalbert rummaged through his coat pocket and pulled out a pair of white gloves, "I can't imagine that after only twenty years or so, this place was abandoned."

"When the mines were dug out, the industries that depended on the minerals naturally declined rapidly, it's not something that can be changed by human will." McNeil thought of cherry stone, "You say, if one day all the sakuradite mines in the world are dug out, how will mankind survive?"

"Perhaps mankind will have already self-destructed before that day comes." Adalbert grunted, "Have you forgotten? I'm a pessimist, all I've done is try to keep myself alive in a new world war."

"Don't be so pessimistic, humanity always finds new solutions in new times." McNeil cautiously approached the edge of the pit as he gazed into the deep, bottomless pit, pondering just how many minerals and sands had been dug out of this pit back in the day. The original trader who had dug here had probably removed all the facilities, not even the elevator that made it easy to move people up and down. If that was the case, the businessman should have taken all the equipment with him, instead of leaving it here to suffer in the sun and wind until it was reduced to scrap metal.

Only a few people are able to transcend the limitations imposed by their circumstances. Those who live in such towns, they have no choice but to flee, I suppose - like the people in the town McNeil visited in England. They were unfortunate compared to those who were born with access to more information, and their eyesight limited the choices they could make.

Seeing a sakuradite in the gravel nearby, McNeil rose from the side of the pit, took three steps up to it, picked up the small sakuradite, and played with it in his hands.

"How many similar towns are there in Africa?"

"Many, in those days we saw this approach of taking from nature rather than man as an important means of getting out of our economic difficulties." Adalbert didn't turn around; he was still sitting by the pit, staring at the town growing blurry in the distance.

"So, the problem of joblessness, the main body of which is indigenous, is the result of a significant reduction in jobs dominated by such industries." McNeil cupped his chin, he had actually pulled off a beard without noticing and bared his teeth in pain, "That would explain why the black natives who used to be around Arabs in North Africa but are now South Africans have become a destabilizing factor in the EU."

Industries dependent on traditional plantations and mining were able to provide a large number of manual labor jobs for these natives - who generally could not afford an education. Originally, they were able to make a living from this, but after these industries declined due to their inability to make a profit or for a variety of other reasons, the natives lost their chance to survive in the EU's colonial African society. The reason for this was that the original mode of operation was inefficient and the new generation of businessmen who had adopted a new mindset did not want to invest in these industries. The EU did consider the impact of the change in industry, as evidenced by the fact that the job of conductor is still retained in Europe to this day, but their benevolence was limited to Europe and Africa was not worthy of the EU's attention. It's just the EU's backyard, a source of cheap resources.

Michael McNeil and Adalbert Herzog moved side by side down the path to the entrance of the town. Several black children were playing around a puddle off to the side, above the sewage were countless mosquitoes hovering overhead. The children were oblivious to the annoying insects, and were enjoying themselves as they went about their game.

"Where before, ores and other resources flowed out of here, products flowed in from outside, and there was peace." Adalbert pointed to the railroad line in the distance, "Now those economists complain that the citizens of Rhodesia don't consume, but how are they going to consume when they don't have jobs or income?" Speaking of this, Adalbert grew more and more exasperated, "What's even more disgusting is that those scholars with their brains on their tail vertebrae actually staged a new currency reform in Rhodesia, which resulted in inflation several hundred million times over, and even the paper on which the cash were printed was worth more than the numbers on the face value."

"You be careful, these people don't always follow the law." McNeil looked warily at a few older men coming out of the exit of the town.

"What are you worried about? I always carry a gun."

Adalbert Herzog said so, and in his heart, he figured he wasn't going to get into any extra trouble, so he dutifully chose to take a detour and leave. The town was dead, as in literally dead as a whole, what remained were atomized individuals and the remnants of decaying buildings.

On the other side of the town were rolling hills, the side towards the road had been dug up to look like one of those star-spangled craters on the surface of the moon. Halfway up the mountainside were some rotten buildings abandoned by developers, where someone used to build mountain villas, but before the houses were finished, the neighborhood had gone cold, so naturally no one was interested in that project. The lifeline connecting the two sides of the mountain range is a bridge, and in many areas where transportation is underdeveloped and geography makes air transport impossible, these bridges and railroads represent the only hope for the locals.

"Until now, diamonds and gold have been sent from here to the Transvaal, Orange and other places in the south." Adalbert looked at the rickety bridge with considerable emotion, "If this bridge also loses its usefulness one day, the end of Rhodesia should come."

"They could do business with the neighboring regions."

"Don't be silly, McNeil." Adalbert shook his head, "Southwest Africa, Central Africa, and East Africa each have their own internal economic systems, are you aware of how much of a shock the inclusion of Rhodesia would be to the original system? Besides, Rhodesia is currently a wasteland with no future, and when the resources are squeezed out of it, it will be as unloved as the Sahara Desert."

McNeil joined Major Herzog in gazing at the bridge. Rhodesia had once had an immensely prosperous past, now it was just a scar and a disgrace to the African colonies. Natives, African Britannians, other Europeans ... Rhodesia had been torn apart and full-scale conflict was on the horizon.

If traders carrying goods were not going to pass over the railroad above, they had no choice but to take a detour across the Great Plains. The cost of the period is needless to say, and the fatigue of the transportation teams should also be taken into account. The hazards associated with fatigued driving were sometimes fatal afterward, and it was to be hoped that those drivers were not transporting sakuradite or other dangerous items.

"My foster father and I said that these explorers were heroes; when I got a little older, I thought they were a bunch of animal-like bandits." McNeil shook the short stick in his hand; he too had recently gotten into the habit of carrying a weapon with him. South Africa was no better than Paris, which as a dream ideal was crime free, while as an African colony South Africa deserved whatever chaos it became.

"And now?"

"We're all the same, ordinary people barely surviving in the world." McNeil was not in the habit of smoking, and when he saw Adalbert take out a cigarette, he declined it decisively.

Adalbert awkwardly stuffed the cigarette case back into his pocket.

"You're a man with no joy in life."

"Thanks for the compliment, some pleasures are not to be had."

"Your fun wouldn't be to keep thinking about how to fight in this environment, would it?" Adalbert looked at McNeil who had a stony face.

"I enjoy it." McNeil repeated, "The battles that took place between our army and the Chinese in the Keren Mountains in the direction of Abyssinia during the Second World War have always been held up to me as a model of mountain warfare. In all fairness, those Indians loyal to the Chinese showed the courage they deserved."

Adalbert hesitated for a moment and decided to join McNeil on the sandy soil.

"What about here?"

"Take control of the air, destroy the infrastructure of the plains, lock the enemy in Rhodesia, and force them to fight their way through to deliver supplies from here." McNeil spoke eloquently, "Of course, Rhodesia is ours after all, and the result of extensive destruction is that we have to pay for it. As such, I think this destruction should be limited to a level that will make things difficult for our opponents, rather than literally taking everything back to the Middle Ages."

"Gee, that doesn't seem to be the view from above." Major Herzog looked at the bugs burrowing out of the sand with distaste, "General Wood's proposal is to send out an airborne regiment in the event of an insurgency in Rhodesia to strike right at the major cities and carry out decapitation operations."

McNeil pondered for a while, and found that this plan seemed to have some feasibility as well.

"... However, considering the nature of the enemy, this is not the same as fighting a real enemy country." McNeil eventually decided against it, "We should consider the enemy's command structure, the impact on the citizens, and the cost of the aftermath."

The two men wandered the wilderness until that afternoon before returning, not expecting McNeil to receive shockingly bad news from Adalbert the next day. The biggest vase and rubber stamp in the Governor-general's hands-the Colonial Assembly-had unexpectedly vetoed Governor-general Herzog's order for a state of emergency in South Africa. This sudden betrayal and audacious backlash caught the Governor-general off guard, and he was already contemplating a last resort, which was to simply dissolve the current Colonial Assembly.

"What's all this about!?" McNeil screamed.

TBC

Chapter Notes：

The prototype of the Battle of Keren mentioned in this chapter is the real-life Battle of Keren. The British Indian Army played an important role in this battle.

Nonetheless, the Sino Indian Army still seems to sound like a strange term.