Reborn South Africa as a police officer

Chapter 760 Run Fast

This Christmas Eve is destined to be unsafe for some people. When the entire city of Pretoria is celebrating the festival, Bukavu, 1000 kilometers away, is gloomy. This is a semi-military permanent stronghold. There are more than [-] garrisons in the country, plus civilians who temporarily took refuge after the outbreak of the rebellion.

This rebellion was not without warning. Two months ago, the Belgian government decided to impose a special business tax in the Congo Free State. Africans in the state, and the total amount of taxes far exceeds the amount collected by the Belgian government, averaging nearly fifteen francs per Congolese.

Fifteen francs, roughly equivalent to 0.6 rand, is not a large amount, but it is undoubtedly a huge sum of money for Africans in the Congo Free State, and ordinary families simply cannot afford it.

At the end of November, the mercenaries of the Kasai Company surrounded a tribe that did not pay taxes on time, disregarding the pleas of the tribal chief, and slaughtered the entire tribe. This seriously exceeded the bottom line of the Congolese.

In the past, when the Belgians colonized, even though they levied and exacted severe punishments, they would not use such brutal methods. After all, dead people cannot generate profits.

Therefore, the Africans and Belgians in the Congo Free State seem to have reached a tacit agreement. The Africans in the Congo Free State accept the slavery of the Belgians. As conquerors, the Belgians recognize that the Africans in the Congo Free State live on this land. rights, the ruling basis on which the Belgians have been able to maintain colonial rule since then.

Now this tacit understanding has been broken. After the news spread, the Tatera people in the Cuango River Basin rose up. In just half a month, more than [-] Congolese joined the rebels, and the Congo Free State was full of flames.

Rebel activities were discovered around Bukavu half a month ago, and Bukavu immediately entered a state of war. A week ago, Bukavu was surrounded by rebels, and external traffic was interrupted.

"We still have a lot of ammunition, but the food can only last for a week. If there is still no reinforcements, we can only implement the food rationing system." The security captain Lie De Bobby was in a heavy heart, with two obvious dark circles, He used to be a very clean person, but now his body smells bad, his hair seems to have not been washed for several days, and his trouser legs are full of mud spots.

"How long can we last if the food rationing system is implemented?" Charles David, the head of Bukavu, was frowning. He had just been hired by the Imbi Rubber Company and came to the Congo Free State a month ago. It's really a bad time.

"About ten days. We now have too many women and children. Originally, we had prepared enough supplies for the security team to use for three months. I didn't expect that there would be so many more people now." Lied Bobby was also very helpless. The army was huge and intensified. In the few strongholds that were breached, all the men were killed and all the women were looted. Needless to say, the fate of those women must be very miserable.

Lied Bobby can only be thankful that his wife and children are in Antwerp, not in the Congo Free State. If he can escape the disaster this time, Lied Bobby will resign and return to Belgium. At this special moment, Lied Bobby De Bobby finally realized that there is nothing more important than being together as a family.

"So what will we do in ten days?" Charles David had never faced this situation before, and the business department of the Free University of Brussels did not have courses in this area.

"Either break out, or we all die together." Red Bobby's expression was calm, and he would never surrender if he surrendered. During these years in the Congo Free State, Red Bobby knew very well how white people treat Africans. If it fell into the hands of Africans, life would definitely be worse than death.

"Think of a way, you are the security captain." Charles David was distraught.

"I organized people to pick fruit outside the city, but they were attacked by rebels. These rebels are different from the Africans I knew before. They can use weapons very skillfully, and their shooting accuracy is very high. They are not inferior to our security. Moreover, the rebels were numerous and powerful, and we suffered heavy losses. Later, I organized people to go fishing in the lake, and I was also attacked by the rebels. It is hard to imagine that the fishing boats we used were wooden boats, while the rebels used iron boats. Hull boats, and the rebels put machine guns on the boats to shoot at us, we are powerless to resist, now we have lost all the fishing boats, there is no escape." Lied Bobby's expression was numb, and he wanted to swear but didn't Know who to scold.

"I knew it, I knew it, the damn southern Africa, the damn Nyasaland, the damn British, it's all their fault—" Charles David was unscrupulous, roaring out bursts, on the office window The glass was trembling.

Lied Bobby was silent, waiting quietly for Charles Davy to finish venting.

"—Is there any news from the head office?" Venting doesn't solve the problem, and we still have to face the reality afterwards.

"As before, let us stand firm and wait for reinforcements." Red Bobby stood up and picked up a bottle of wine to look at the label, and then poured two full glasses.

The potato vodka produced in Johannesburg can definitely make people drunk and relieve their worries.

"Will we have reinforcements?" Charles David slumped on the chair, his eyesight was out of focus, and his voice was a little ethereal.

"Who knows, everyone is calling for help. Bukavu is not a place to be saved." Red Bobby didn't hold out much hope, and there were faint gunshots in the distance, but it wasn't reinforcements. , it is estimated that another plantation owner who tried to take refuge in Bukavu was attacked by rebels.

The spread of information in this era is very slow. Some plantation owners in remote areas may have just learned of the rebellion in the Congo Free State. Many plantation owners did not think that the problem was serious when they knew the rebellion broke out. Miss the best opportunity to escape, and when the situation is completely out of control, the chance of escape has been lost.

Just as Charles David was about to speak, loud cheers came from outside the window.

Lied Bobby got up and opened the window, and heard someone shouting in a crying voice: "Boat, there is a boat, there is a boat coming—"

In the Congo Free State, the river is the lifeline. The Belgians developed the Congo Free State along the river. The river next to Bukavu is called the Luxi River, which connects Lake Kivu and the North Sea.

Because of the expansion of Nyasaland, the Congo Free State has lost control of the North Sea coast, and the Luxi River has also been blocked by the North Sea Police, and there are fewer and fewer ships coming and going, but the ships that can still appear at this time must be from the direction of the North Sea Coming along the Luxi River, Lake Kivu has been blocked by the rebels. The Belgians cannot break through without warships, and only the marine police ships in the North Sea can travel freely.

The mention of the marine police ship in the North Sea also made the Belgians hate it to the bone. It is estimated that the Germans feel more deeply. Police ships are equipped with more powerful weapons than destroyers. In the North Sea, Nyasaland's water police ships are giants that are difficult to challenge.

Regardless of whether it was a marine police ship from the North Sea or not, being able to appear in Bukavu at this time would be a savior. Charles David and Lied Bobby did not dare to neglect and reached the highest watchtower in the stronghold as quickly as possible.

You don’t even need to use binoculars to see the destroyer trying to dock on the simple pier. It is indeed a marine police ship in the North Sea. Charles David and Lied Bobby don’t know the square characters on the side of the ship, but they know this kind of square characters It was invented by the Chinese.

While Charles David and Red Bobby were observing, Captain Shi Zai of the Xuanwu was also observing Bukavu through a telescope.

"The river next to the pier is too shallow, and the Xuanwu can't dock, so we can only send a small boat." The first mate Thorndike's expression was very tangled. A rebellion broke out in the Congo Free State, and the Belgians massacred Chinese in Antwerp, but the Beihai police were ordered. Rescuing the Belgians in the Congo Free State was unacceptable to Thorndike.

Nyasaland's marine police ship is named after a city in southern Africa. There are four thousand-ton marine police ships in the North Sea, namely Little Rock, Xuanwu, Xuanji, and Ulysses.

"Then send, tell them that only women and children can be allowed on board, and our capacity is limited, we can only accommodate 100 people." Shi Zai put down the binoculars in his hand, looked back at Thorndike who was hesitant to speak, and then said Not in a good mood: "If you are told to go, you will go. Soldiers take obedience to orders as their bounden duty. If you understand, you must implement it, and if you don't understand it, you must implement it."

Along the way, Shi Zai often heard Thorndike's complaints.

Not only Thorndike, but most of the officers and soldiers on the Xuanwu could not figure it out. Nyasaland never advocated repaying grievances with virtue. The official guideline is to fight back with fire.

What made the officers and soldiers especially unacceptable was that this order was not issued by Rock, but by the Nyasaland State Government, so the officers and soldiers scolded Anton secretly.

"I don't understand—" Thorndike was unconvinced. Although he said he understood, his feet didn't move.

"What do you understand? If the Chinese were killed in Antwerp, we will declare war on Belgium and massacre Antwerp directly? Don't think that the governor is as narrow-minded as you. This time the Belgians will definitely not be able to keep the Congo Free State. In the future, the Congo Free State You may not know who you belong to, but why do you think we are here to save people? It’s not people who are saved, but people’s hearts and morals. Standing on this point, we will be able to take over the Congo Free State openly and aboveboard.” Shi Zai was convinced, no matter who the idea was Nyasaland reached out and took the moral height. It would be ungrateful for Belgium to accuse Southern Africa of fanning the flames.

"I'll send someone—" Thorndike was running very fast now.

(End of this chapter)