Chapter 1 Rock
November 30, 1899, Cape Town.
Just like the previous two days, as soon as daybreak came, Rock came to the steps in front of the corridor and sat down, looking at the distant sky in silence.
Cape Town at this time was not yet the second largest city in South Africa, and there was not even the concept of South Africa. Cape Town was only the capital of the British Cape Colony, and the Cape Colony was at war with the Transvaal Republic established by the Boers and the Orange Republic.
In other words, this was during the Second Boer War. Because of the discovery of the Rand gold mine, the British launched a war against the Boers. The tenacious Boers never surrendered, and with the support of almost all European countries, they fought an unyielding war with the British.
Just last month, the British suffered a complete defeat in the Battle of Ladysmith, with 1,139 British soldiers killed in the battle and about 250 missing. The British troops also lost 10 cannons on the battlefield, while the Boer army suffered only 8 deaths and 30 injuries.
At almost the same time, the British army also suffered defeats at Kimberley on the Western Front and at Stromberg on the Central Front, with a total loss of more than 2,800 people. This directly led to the resignation of Admiral Redvers Buller, commander-in-chief of the expeditionary force, who had suppressed local uprisings in Ireland.
After the news of the British army's defeat on the front line reached Cape Town, the already restless Cape Town fell into turmoil. Rock was a policeman in Cape Town. A week ago, Rock was attacked while on patrol. Although his companions reinforced him in time, Rock survived, but Rock has been in a coma due to brain injury. When he woke up, the Rock of the 19th century became the Rock of the 21st century.
This is either a prank or the legendary time travel.
After confirming this, it took Rock two days to convince himself to accept it.
What if you don’t accept it?
Rock didn't know why he was able to travel through time, so he had no way of traveling back. Since he couldn't change this fact, he had to actively adapt to it. At the very least, he had to return to work at the police station as soon as possible, otherwise the British might really send Rock back to Hong Kong to recuperate.
Don't think this is a good thing. According to Rock's understanding of the British, the British are most likely not so kind. If Rock gets on the ship, there is an 80% chance that he will be thrown into the sea to feed the fish by the British. Anyway, Rock has no relatives in this world, and the British don't even have to pay a pension.
What's more, Rock didn't want to go back to Hong Kong, let alone the Qing Dynasty. Before coming to Cape Town, Rock was a member of the Chinese Battalion. Ordinary people may not know about the Chinese Battalion, but as a half-baked history lover, Rock just knew the Chinese Battalion. This unit was known as the most elite traitor unit in history. Their most glorious moment was during the Eight-Nation Alliance's invasion of China. Because of their bravery in the battle to break through the Qing capital, they appeared in the Forbidden City military parade as a member of the British army.
Although the British claimed that this was a reward for the Chinese Battalion, a closer look will reveal how vicious the British move was. If no one had noticed the Chinese Battalion in the chaos of the previous war, the fact that it participated in the military parade not only nailed the Chinese Battalion firmly to the pillar of historical shame, but also completely solved the loyalty issue of the Chinese Battalion. No matter what the reason for them to join the Chinese Battalion, they became traitors to their own ethnic group and were no longer accepted by their own ethnic group.
So forget about going back to the Qing Dynasty, just be a policeman in Cape Town and be a lackey of the British.
"Rocky, how do you feel? Are you going to be discharged from the hospital today?" A gentle voice woke Rock up. It was Melody, the nurse in charge of taking care of Rock. She was a descendant of the Dutch, which is what the British called Boer farmers. In fact, the Boers are also white people, and are not the same as the natives of Cape Town.
This description is not correct. After more than 200 years of colonization, the Boers could actually be considered indigenous people of Cape Town. However, after the British seized the Cape Colony from the Boers, they stubbornly classified both the Boers and local blacks as indigenous people, even though the Boers did not look much different from the British.
"I feel good, thank you Melody. I want to get back to work as soon as possible. My colleagues have complained to me several times that the dogs on that street have become more arrogant recently because I'm not here." Thanks to his many years of foreign trade career, Rock's English is pretty good. Although he can't speak standard London accent, he has no problem communicating with most British people.
This was enough to surprise Melody. In this era, very few Chinese people understood English. Even if they did, most people's English level was similar to that of Indians, with strange accents and grammatical errors everywhere. Even the official translator of the Chinese Battalion often had to use hand gestures to communicate with British officers, and even so, he was often confused.
Rock can understand this feeling. When he was doing foreign trade in the past, many foreigners thought they were good at Chinese and insisted on communicating with Rock in Chinese. This was often the most painful moment for Rock. Even though he was clearly saying "MMP" in his heart, he had to smile on his face. He couldn't discourage the enthusiasm of foreign friends to learn Chinese.
"Luo, your English is very good. Where did you learn it from?" Melody instantly turned into a curious baby. It was indeed very good. Judging from the accent alone, Rock's English was more standard than Melody's. The difference between them was probably as big as that between Mandarin and Cantonese.
"My former superiors, you know, are all pure English." Rock dared to swear that he used the word "pure" and definitely not "purebred". However, it was a when it came out of Rock's mouth, it sounded like "purebred", which immediately made Melody tremble.
As a Boer, although Melody now works for the British, don't expect Melody to have much good feelings towards the British. Rock's situation is the same as Melody's. It's like two colleagues complaining about the boss while having a private meal, which quickly brings them closer to each other.
Of course, Melody would not ask why the British officers of the Chinese Battalion would teach Rock, a Chinese, English. Although this did not sound reasonable, who doesn't have a secret?
Besides, even if Melody asked that, Rock had something to say. After all, Rock was not an ordinary soldier in the Chinese Battalion, but an ordinary corporal. Although it still sounds very "ordinary", it is already the highest military rank that a Chinese can get in the Chinese Battalion.
"Okay, then a pure English doctor will examine you. As long as he approves, you can return to work, otherwise you may be sent back to the Far East." Melody's words immediately made Rock's heart rise.
Melody may not know what being sent back to Qing means to Rock, but Rock knows.
