Chapter 79: Winning Over
"——It was raining at the time, and it was Locke who spotted the smoking sentry. I wanted to attack directly, but Locke told me that we had to fight a beautiful annihilation battle——" Henry was spitting at the bar, surrounded by a group of senior officers. The major general was Marcy Meredith, a senior staff officer of the expeditionary force headquarters. The oldest colonel was Marcos Lloyd, the commander of the Royal Canadian Regiment. They all had prominent maple leaf logos on their hats, and the lowest-ranking officer present was also a major. This was probably the bar with the highest density of officers in Kimberly.
"To the Queen!"
"To Henry!"
"Cheers to Locke!"
The atmosphere among the officers was high, and whenever there was a wonderful moment, they would raise their glasses to celebrate. Henry and Rock also had free champagne, and Major General Massey treated them all.
"——Speaking of fighting, Locke is definitely an expert. He used explosive packs to drive the Boers out of the house into the wilderness and to the heavy machine gun position under my command. All I had to do was command the heavy machine guns to kill them. Unexpectedly, even Joubert was killed——" Henry was loyal enough and did not take all the credit for himself. As a result, Locke received more and more "respect for Locke".
"It's interesting that you used explosive packs." Major General Masi was very insightful and grasped the key point.
"Yes, explosive packs. We had no artillery, and even no dum-dum bullets when we arrived in Dordrecht—" Henry would cry poor when he should.
"Shh - watch your words, Inspector, we don't have any dum-dum bullets." Major General Massey pretended to be serious, causing everyone to laugh.
The British are like this, saying one thing in public and another in private, and they are very skilled at playing double standards.
"I mean the Boers' dum-dum bullets. We seized a lot of them—" Henry stared with his eyes wide open and pretended to be innocent, and the officers burst into laughter again.
"It's unbelievable that it was a group of police officers who shot and killed Jubert. You all deserve medals." Major General Massie has a high emotional intelligence, otherwise he would not have been able to hold such a high position.
High emotional intelligence is a common characteristic of big men. To be able to hold a high position, one does not necessarily have to be of noble birth. For example, Alfred Milner is not even a baron now, but that does not prevent Alfred Milner from serving as the Governor of the Cape Colony.
"Rocke, are you really a Qing Chinese?" Unlike Major General Marcy, Marcos Lloyd was more interested in Rocke.
"Yes, Colonel, I used to serve in the Chinese Battalion. I came to the Cape at the end of last year and have now become a naturalized citizen." Rock did not shy away from his background.
"Oh, then you are no longer a Qing citizen. You are a Cape person and a citizen of the British Empire." Marcos did not discriminate against Rock's background, or rather, Marcos concealed it better.
The Cape Colony has not yet gained autonomous status, so strictly speaking, Cape people are all British. Only after the Cape Colony becomes autonomous will the Cape gradually distance itself from Britain.
"Oh, I know about the Huayong Battalion, a unit composed of Qing people."
"So you once served in the Chinese Brave Battalion. That's right."
"Is the Huayong Battalion so powerful?"
The officers were talking about it, and some of them didn't understand the background of the Chinese Brave Battalion. Someone immediately explained it to them, and when everyone looked at Rock's eyes, they saw relief after suddenly realizing it.
"The Qing people are different ." Rock couldn't bear it any longer. It was absolutely wrong to confuse the Qing people with the Chinese. Although the Qing Dynasty ruled the Chinese, it could never represent the Chinese: "The Chinese have a 5,000-year history of civilization, while the Qing Dynasty only has a history of more than 200 years. Before the Qing Dynasty, the Ming Empire was the last country established by the Chinese. If you gentlemen know anything about the Far East, you should have heard of the most powerful fleet in the world at that time."
In fact, Rock is a bit extreme. What he said is meaningless and cannot change the impression of Chinese people in the minds of these British officers. In the minds of these British officers, Rock is no longer the same as other Chinese people. Just as Marcos said, Rock is now a British citizen.
"Calm down, Sheriff. No one denies the history of the Chinese. But that's just history, right?" Major General Massey's words were sharp, and his words left Rock speechless.
Yes, no matter how glorious the history is, it is just history.
Even though the Ming Empire had the most powerful fleet in the world at that time, it has disappeared in the long river of history. The Chinese people today are a nation conquered by foreigners. No matter how strong Rock 's national self-esteem is, he cannot change this reality.
"Yes, that's just history, but I firmly believe that the Chinese will be able to rise again." Rock knew that Major General Massey was right, but Rock couldn't accept it. Things may change over time, so just wait and see.
No, considering Major General Masi’s age, it is estimated that he will not live to see the day when the Chinese rise again.
"Yes, I see hope in you." Major General Massie did not deny this possibility. This was already the most euphemistic way of saying it. If the commandos had not killed Jubert, Major General Massie would not have listened to Rock's nonsense.
"Gentlemen, let us raise our glasses to celebrate our victory and to the great British Empire." Major General Massey did not give Rock a chance to speak and proposed that everyone raise their glasses to celebrate.
All the British people present responded loudly, and Rock also raised his glass, well, it was a bit bitter.
After saying goodbye to the officers and returning to his residence, Henry enthusiastically shared his gains with Rock: "All the prisoners have bounties, including those we killed. Joubert is the most valuable. We got a total of 20,000 pounds. Adding the previous 5,000, we now have 25,000 pounds. God, this is really a lot of money. I have never seen how spectacular 25,000 pounds piled together look!"
"Where is your title? Don't you have it?" Rock didn't care how much money he had. He could earn money in the future. The most important thing now was the title. It was the amulet .
"Of course, but not now. We have to wait until the war is over. The expeditionary force headquarters will report it together, and our names will definitely appear on the list. Note that it is us, not me, okay? Your name may also be on it. You are a Cape citizen now, and you are also eligible for the title." Henry waited until now to tell Rock the good news.
"Me? I may also be knighted?" Rock was surprised. This was a good thing he had never thought of before.
"Of course it's possible. Do you think I'm lying to you?" Henry laughed, thinking that Rock was so happy that he was silly.
It is indeed possible. The Second Boer War was of great significance to Britain. In this war, the British not only mobilized troops from their own country, but also from Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India and Ceylon. These colonial soldiers were of course eligible for titles. The British now needed to win them , and Rock was also lucky enough to have benefited from it.
