Many years later, Huang Gang still remembers the sweet taste of battlefield coffee that afternoon.

For Huang Gang, it is not only a cup of coffee, but also the door to a new world, a simple cup of coffee, let Huang Gang know that this world is not just hungry and cold, not just immutable, from which day, the color of the world for Huang Gang has become colorful, and no longer boundless darkness.

The 2nd East India Division did not attack again, and the officers and men who had narrowly escaped the bombardment and fire fled Xianda to surrender to the mercenaries, throwing away their weapons and kneeling on both sides of the road with their hands raised in the air, waiting for the final verdict of fate.

Perhaps they also fantasized that the mercenaries would co-opt them in the same way as the Dutch colonial government and let them continue to serve the mercenaries.

This is also the practice of the East Indies, not only the colonial government, but even if there is a conflict between two tribes, as long as one side admits defeat and surrenders, the other side will lay down the butcher's knife and absorb these surrenderers to continue to work for themselves.

Therefore, the East Indian troops were extremely brutal in their mission, because they knew very well that they would probably not be punished more after the war.

But with mercenaries, this obviously doesn't work.

David didn't care about East Indian traditions at all, and even if the Port of Medan needed free labor and needed more workers, David wouldn't sell these people to Andy.

Otherwise, it will be too unfair to those who are tortured and killed.

"If you need labor, you will spend money to hire it, this is the work of your Adan company, and dealing with these prisoners of war is the work of our umbrella company, not to mention that these prisoners will not end well if they are handed over to you, even if they work to death on the construction site, they can't make up for the mistakes they made, you don't see those who don't see the dead, no relatives are tortured and killed by these beasts, so there is no immediate pain, we don't just want to give justice to those who died innocently, It was also a warning to the other forces of the East Indian colonial government not to turn their guns on civilians at any time, or else they would pay the price. "David is resolute, even if Andy gives a good price, David will not sell.

In fact, this was a regular operation in the past, and in Southern Africa, in Port Elizabeth, and even in Madagascar, this transaction was a big source of revenue for Umbrella Company.

"David, be sensible, killing them will not bring any benefits, but will have a negative impact on the umbrella, sell them to me, let them go to work in the port of Medan, I promise that they will live in endless regret in the future, I guarantee that they will all die miserably in the end, and no one will leave the port of Medan alive." Andy knew why David was so angry, mainly because the people who were slaughtered by the Second East India Division were all Chinese.

Andy is also Chinese and knows what is going on, but Andy is different from David, David is a soldier in his bones, Andy is a businessman in his bones, businessmen will consider problems more from interests, and soldiers are more direct.

Although the treatment of workers is being improved to a certain extent in southern Africa, it is undeniable that sweatshops are still the mainstream in this era.

Southern Africa is getting richer because of the dark mines, on the harsh working conditions of the cement plant at the Favart steel plant, on the nameless corpses under the ever-stretching railroad tracks, and on the fact that the Zulu population is not increasing, but decreasing.

Otherwise, with the economic base of southern Africa, there is simply no capacity for large-scale infrastructure construction across the country, and Roque would not be able to provide so many benefits for military families, and the salaries of Chinese workers and white workers would not be so high.

There has been controversy in southern Africa over whether or not to carry out the death penalty.

Many people, including Roque, believe that the execution of a person who has committed a capital crime is objectively a waste of human resources.

Therefore, those who should have been sentenced to death should be sentenced to life imprisonment, and then serve their sentences in the form of labor to atone for their crimes until the end of their lives, during which time the wages due to the offender should be paid to the victim or the injured party for damages.

Last year, a prisoner sentenced to life imprisonment caused an uproar when he suddenly attacked in a mine and stoned another convict who was about to be released from prison.

Although the perpetrators were killed on the spot, the families of the criminals who were stoned to death were devastated, and the prison and the mining company jointly compensated the victims.

The incident sparked controversy over the death penalty, and the Ministry of Justice finally approved the reinstatement of the death penalty in southern Africa, which would prevent similar incidents and better uphold the authority of the law.

The East Indies are not Southern Africa, so Andy thinks the matter is negotiable.

"Andy, you have to be sensible, these people are devils, you see they are extremely obedient now, in fact, they are all disguises, you might as well go to the shore of Lake Toba and take a look, I think you will change your mind." If David doesn't change his mind, a lot of people will die next, and the damned people will have to die.

"David, you say that it doesn't make sense, it's an objective fact that the Port of Medan needs more workers, don't say that they are devils, in fact, we are the same, didn't the Albatross cause civilian casualties when it bombed Xianda?" Andy is welcome, no one can say anything about anyone these days, and no one is much nobler than others.

"Maybe there is, maybe not, it's inevitable!" David was indifferent, Xianda is now in ruins, and there must be civilian casualties, but there is no way to investigate this problem, and it cannot be avoided in the war.

What's more, for some people, it is really better to live than to die, not to mention that it is better to die than to live, and the poor women who were sent back to Medan the day before the mercenaries surrounded Xianda, half of them hanged themselves last night.

The Chinese still value chastity more than the whites, and more women were injured during the Boer War, and not many committed suicide after the war ended.

For many Chinese, chastity is more important than life, and this includes not only women, but also men.

"Then you're a double standard." Andy looked disdainful, if you really want to talk about it, David is the real executioner with blood on his hands.

David is one of the veterans of the umbrella, and I don't know how many people have died in the hands of David in these years, many of whom are innocent, but there must be many innocent people.

"That's right, I'm a double standard, this is the creed of our umbrella company, what's mine is mine, and yours is mine!" David is not ashamed to talk about morality with mercenaries?

Crazy!

In the end, Andy did not get his wish, and with David's order, nearly 5,000 officers and soldiers of the 2nd East India Division who surrendered were collectively executed.

The Medan troops were in charge of the execution, which was also one of the important tasks of their trip.

Three days later, the mercenaries returned to the port of Medan, while the Medan forces continued south across Lake Doba towards Panti.

Hicks was finally promoted to the rank of officer and went to the Medan Army as the commander of the 1st Regiment.

Hicks' deputy is still Middleton.

After seeing the "Albatross" bombing Xianda, Middleton had the idea of resigning, but under Hicks's persuasion, Middleton still dismissed the idea.

The first regiment is the first unit in Medan to complete the reorganization, the whole regiment has a total of 1,500 people, all the officers above the rank of second lieutenant are all mercenaries, in addition to equipping a large number of light and heavy machine guns, in order to strengthen the firepower of the first regiment, David also equipped the first regiment with mortars, purely in terms of firepower, the first regiment is second only to the mercenaries in the port of Medan.

"Our mission is to occupy Panti, and then use Panti as a springboard to launch an attack on Patong, and then threaten Jambi and Palembang, and when we take Palembang, it means that we control the whole island of Sumatra." Hicks is ambitious, and this time joining the Medan army is an opportunity, maybe Hicks and Middleton can break away from the umbrella and become the top of the future East Indies, which is why Hicks persuaded Middleton.

Although the Umbrella Company is not bad, as mercenaries, Hicks and Middleton cannot stay in one area for long, and the location changes as the mission progresses.

A bachelor like Hicks is better, but a family like Middleton is very troublesome, and the long separation between the two places has made Middleton extremely painful, and Middleton hopes to be stable and reunited with his wife and children.

"How big is Sumatra?" Middleton looked at the map with some hesitation.

"470,000 square kilometers." Hicks sneered.

"470,000? God, we're not that big in Nyasaland—" Middleton couldn't believe it, it didn't actually look big on the map.

It's really not that big, unless you add the de facto control zone of Nyasaland in the Congo Free State.

"So, now you know why I'm willing to stay, I discussed it with Ling Zhi, do you see these small islands next to you? The largest is several thousand square kilometers, and the smallest is only a few tens of square meters, and he will help me buy a plantation that is about the same size, which can open up 1,800 acres, and then I will help him become the future parliamentarian of the East Indies. Hicks was thinking a little far, and now the members of Congress had come out.

Hicks was talking about the long chain of islands next to Sumatra, and if Roque knew about it, he would definitely not recommend Hicks to buy it, because Hicks would have had a great time if he had made his home on the islands, in case of a tsunami or something.

"What if it doesn't work out?" Middleton deliberately found fault, which does sound unlikely, but it is man-made.

"Then when we don't say anything." Hicks smiled, this kind of thing of interest exchange is just a tacit understanding, and it is definitely impossible for him and Ling Zhi to make a note or something.

"I'm going to buy one too, and we'll be neighbors when the time comes." Middleton is tempted, it is not bad to be a member of Congress, and to be an island owner.