This Christmas Eve, which was destined to be unsafe for some, was a gloomy 3,000-kilometre retreat in Bukavu, a permanent semi-military stronghold with more than 1,000 troops and civilians who had taken refuge in the rebellion.

The rebellion did not come without warning, and two months earlier the Belgian government had decided to impose a special commercial tax on the large corporations of the Congo Free State, but all the taxes were passed on to Africans in the Congo Free State, and the total amount of the tax was far greater than the amount collected by the Belgian government, averaging close to fifteen francs per Congolese.

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

At the end of November, Kasai's mercenaries surrounded a tribe that had not paid its taxes on time and slaughtered the entire tribe despite the pleading pleas of the tribal chiefs, which grossly exceeded the Congolese bottom line.

In the past, the Belgians colonized, even though they imposed violent and severe punishments, but 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 understanding that the Africans in the Congo Free State accept the enslavement of the Belgians, and as conquerors, the Belgians recognize the right of Africans in the Congo Free State to live on this land, and the Belgians have always been able to maintain the basis of colonial rule.

Now this tacit understanding has been broken, and after the news spread, the Taitella people in the Kwango River valley rose up, and in just half a month, more than 100,000 Congolese joined the rebels, and the territory of the Congo Free State was full of wolves.

Half a month ago, rebel activities were discovered around Bukavu, and Bukavu immediately entered a state of war, and a week ago, Bukavu was surrounded by rebels and external communications were interrupted.

"We still have a lot of ammunition, but we can only last a week, and if there are still no reinforcements, we will have to implement a food rationing system." Security Captain Led Bobby was in a heavy mood, two dark circles were obvious, he used to be a very clean person, but now his body smelled, his hair seemed to have not been washed in days, and his trouser legs were covered with mud.

"How long can we stay in place if we have a food rationing system?" Charles David, the head of Bukavu, had a sad face, having just accepted an offer from the British Rubber Company to come to the Congo Free State a month earlier.

"For about ten days, we now have too many women and children, originally we prepared enough supplies for the security team for three months, but we didn't expect to add so many people now." Led Bobby was also helpless, the rebels were growing stronger, and all the men were killed and all the women were plundered in those few strongholds that were breached, no need to ask, the fate of those women must be very tragic.

Led Bobby can only be glad that his wife and children are in Antwerp, not in the Congo Free State, and if he escapes this fate, he will resign and return to Belgium, and at this special moment, Led Bobby finally realizes that nothing is more important than being a family.

"So what are we going to do in ten days?" Charles David had never faced such a situation before, and there was no course in this area in the business department of the Université Libre de Bruxelles.

"Either break out, or everyone dies together." In the years that Led Bobby has been in the Congo Free State, he knows very well how white people treat Africans, and if it falls into the hands of Africans, it will definitely be worse than death.

"Think about it, you're the security captain." Charles Davy was distraught.

"I organized people to go outside the city to pick fruits, but they were attacked by the rebels, these rebels are different from the Africans I knew before, they can use weapons very skillfully, shooting accuracy is very high, not inferior to our security personnel, and the rebels are outnumbered, we suffered heavy losses, and then I organized people to go fishing in the lake, and they were also attacked by the rebels, it is hard to imagine that the fishing boats we use are still wooden boats, but the rebels use iron-hulled boats, and the rebels also put machine guns on the boats to shoot at us, we are powerless to resist, Now that we have lost all our fishing boats, there is no escape. Led Bobby's expression was numb, and he wanted to say something dirty but didn't know who to scold.

"I knew, I knew, damn Southern Africa, damn Nyasaland, damn the British, it was all their fault—" Charles David erupted unbridledly, the glass on his office window trembling.

Led Bobby didn't speak, quietly waiting for Charles David to finish venting.

"-Is there any news from the head office?" Venting doesn't solve the problem, but you still have to face reality later.

"Let's hold on as we did and wait for reinforcements." Led Bobby stood up, picked up a bottle of wine, looked at the label, and poured two large glasses.

The potato vodka produced in Johannesburg is definitely a great way to get drunk.

"Will we have reinforcements?" Charles David sat slumped in his chair, his eyes out of focus, and his voice a little ethereal.

"Who knows, everyone is crying for help, and we in Bukavu are not a place to be saved." Led Bobby was not holding out much hope, and there was a faint sound of gunfire in the distance, but it was not reinforcements, and it was probably a rebel attack on a plantation owner trying to take refuge in Bukavu.

In this era, information is spread very slowly, and some planters in remote areas are estimated to have only just learned of the rebellion in the Congo Free State, and many plantation owners do not think that the problem is so serious when they know that the rebellion has broken out, and as a result, they miss the best chance to escape, and when they find that the situation is completely out of control, they have lost the opportunity to escape.

Charles David was just about to speak, when a huge cheer suddenly came from outside the window.

Led Bobby got up and pushed open the window, and heard someone shouting in a crying voice: "Boat, boat, ship—"

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

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

When it comes to the North Sea police ship, it also makes the Belgians hate it to the bone, which is estimated to be more deeply felt by the Germans, and the world estimates that Nyasaland is using standard destroyers as marine police ships, and the Nyasaland water police ships are equipped with more powerful weapons than destroyers, and in the North Sea, Nyasaland water police ships are difficult to challenge giants.

Regardless of whether it was a police ship from the North Sea or not, it would be a savior to be present in Bukavu at this time, and Charles David and Led Bobby did not dare to slack off, and reached the highest watchtower of the stronghold as quickly as possible.

You don't need to use a telescope to see the destroyer trying to dock at the improvised dock, it is indeed a North Sea police ship, Charles David and Led Bobby don't know the square words on the side of the ship, but they know that the square words were invented by the Chinese.

While Charles David and Led Bobby were observing, the captain of the Xuanwu, Shi Zai, was also observing Bukavu with a telescope.

"The river next to the pier is too shallow, and the Xuanwu can't dock, so it can only send small boats." Thorndike's expression was very entangled, a rebellion broke out in the Congo Free State, the Belgians killed the Chinese in Antwerp, but the North Sea Police were ordered to rescue the Belgians in the Congo Free State, which Thorndike could not accept.

Nyasaland is named after a city in southern Africa, and there are four 1,000-ton police ships in the North Sea, namely Little Rock, Xuanwu, Xuanji, and Ulysses.

"Then send them, tell them that we can only let women and children on board, and we have a limited capacity, we can only carry a hundred people." Shi Zai put down the telescope in his hand, looked back at Thorndike, who was about to speak, and then he was not angry: "If you want to go, you will go, soldiers take obedience to orders as their duty, and they must be implemented if they understand, and they must be implemented if they do not understand." ”

Along the way, Shi Zai listened to Thorndike's complaints.

It's not just Thorndike, the vast majority of the officers and soldiers on the Xuanwu can't figure it out, Nyasaland has never advocated repaying grievances with virtue, the official guide is to retaliate with a tooth for a tooth, and if others bully you, you have to fight back bravely, and there is no such thing as compromise.

What made the officers and soldiers especially unacceptable was that this order was not given by Roque, but by the government of Nyasaland, so the officers and soldiers scolded Anton behind their backs.

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

"What do you understand? If a Chinese is killed in Antwerp, we will declare war on Belgium and slaughter 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, and the Congo Free State may belong in the future, why do you think we are here to save people? It is not the people who are saved, but the morality of the human heart, and if we stand on this point, we will be able to receive the Congo Free State in the future. "Shi Zai is convinced, regardless of who came up with the idea, Nyasaland now reaches out and pulls a hand, and occupies the moral height, and in the future, Belgium accuses southern Africa of fanning the flames that is ungrateful.

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