Chapter 1359 Ending (first update, please subscribe)
March 16th, as usual, was a sunny day.
Katanga, Elisabethville.
Second Lieutenant Teng Guinan of the Ninth Commando Team was sitting leisurely under the shade of a tree, happily eating breakfast.
Breakfast is not the May 8th-style self-heating food for individual soldiers. Although the steaming field dry food is very popular, as long as conditions permit, everyone still likes to eat food made in the cooking truck.
Breakfast was Tang style - camellia, steamed buns, and eggs.
After eating the eggs, Teng Guinan devoured the big beef steamed buns in one gulp. The thick peppercorns made him feel very comfortable.
With a satisfied look on his face, Teng Guinan picked up the tea lunch box on the ground and took a big sip, then burped with satisfaction.
At the same time, his subordinates were all leaning on sandbags, chatting and enjoying the delicious hot meal.
While they were enjoying breakfast, the sound of artillery sounded again in the distance - the bombardment of Elizabethville has not stopped. In fact, it has never stopped. In the past half month , they dumped tens of thousands of artillery shells on the city every day on average.
Listening to the sound of artillery in the distance, Teng Guinan, who had already finished his breakfast, picked up the "Type 77 submachine gun". He preferred the lightweight submachine gun to the assault rifle, but people always have their own habits. , Teng Guinan likes this kind of submachine gun, not because it only has seventeen parts, but because when he was in India, after getting promoted, the weapon he used was this kind of submachine gun. It is extremely reliable, even if it falls into the mud. In the rice fields, it can also fire normally.
Teng Guinan, carrying a submachine gun, came to the trench and observed the city with a telescope. The smoke clouds from the explosion kept rising.
At this time Jiang Haoer came over and asked:
"Company Commander, when will these foreigners surrender?"
"Who knows? But sooner or later they will Surrender!”
Putting down the telescope, Teng Guinan said:
"Soon, these Westerners won't be able to hold on for long. Yesterday the air force blew up their warehouse, and without supplies, they can't hold on for a few days,"
After that, he said in an extremely contemptuous tone:
“Westerners... can’t bear any hardship!”
Then he specifically added:
"The same goes for Indians!"
For the defenders under artillery fire, every minute and every second is suffering. They don't know how long they can hold on, but they know that with the As the shells fall, they may die at any time.
"General, now, every minute, people are dying, Indians, Swedes, Irish..."
In the headquarters, Colonel Floyd frowned , he turned his attention to Chandler, the commander of the United Nations forces, who was still bandaged,
"They are bleeding and dying, general!"
Chandler just sat on the soft chair and listened to the colonel's report. After a long time, he said.
"Colonel, what do you mean?"
"General, our ammunition depot has been destroyed, thousands of casualties, and now there is no hope of victory, I think, for the sake of humanity For the sake of doctrine, surrender is the only option at present."
Lying on the soft chair, Chandler looked at the officers in front of him and said:
"But, gentlemen, we are. United Nations forces..."
As soon as he finished speaking, Major Frank from Ireland said:
"It's not like the United Nations troops have never surrendered before. Now we must consider everyone. We are here to maintain peace, not here." "He's going to die here."
Major Frank has had enough of all this, just him, including everyone else, they have had enough of being bombarded by others all day long.
They are not here to be cannon fodder, not to be cannon fodder for Africans.
"General, what do we have now? We have nothing. We have neither planes nor assistance from the outside. We can even watch them drop artillery shells on us. In this case We have been able to persist until now and have done our best.”
Major Frank said in an extremely serious tone:
"General, we must be responsible for our men, and I have received an order from Dublin requiring me to be responsible for my men."
This is no longer a suggestion, but a "notice".
In fact, after the United Nations troops were surrounded, the most nervous ones were not the United Nations, but Sweden and Ireland. While they were in contact with the surrounded troops and asked them to ensure their safety, they Put pressure on the United Nations and ask the United Nations to solve all these problems as soon as possible.
At the same time, they contacted NBC through private channels, hoping that they would "exercise influence" to ensure the safety of the besieged Irish and Swedish troops. As for the affairs of the United Nations, they did not care at all.
For these two countries, what they care most about is the safety of their own people.
Politicians in these two countries know very well what kind of disaster will happen if their armies suffer heavy losses here?
So for Ireland and Sweden, the important thing is to evacuate their own people safely. As for surrender... it is not a big deal, it is nothing more than raising a white flag.
The most important thing is that one of your own must not die!
Confront their suggestions, or rather notices. Major General Chand, who had narrowly escaped death, did not look embarrassed, but said with a long sigh.
"Then... negotiate with them."
At 10 o'clock in the morning that day, three officers came to the outer positions of the city.
The leader was an Indian major, accompanied by an Irish major and a Swedish major.
The three of them represent the United Nations forces.
The representatives of the three countries just looked at each other, and then walked out of the trench holding white flags. The sniper spotted them immediately, and soon Teng Guinan walked out.
When Major Singh, the leader, saw the officer approaching, he deliberately moved his beard with his hand, as if he wanted to maintain his dignity.
"I am the envoy of the United Nations Forces Command, and I am here to negotiate."
Major Singh unfurled the small white flag in his hand, then puffed up his chest and strode towards the An East Asian officer walked away.
"I am Major Singh from the United Nations Forces Command, and I want to see your commander."
Going in front of the second lieutenant, he raised his chest slightly and raised his chin, his eyes straight. He looked into the eyes of this short officer and said loudly.
He seemed to be trying hard to maintain the dignity and pride of an Indian officer in front of this man.
Teng Guinan looked at the other person. He did not speak English. After a moment of silence, he said:
"I can speak Hindi. I was stationed there for a long time."
In an instant, Singh lost his previous momentum, and he immediately changed his language to communicate with the short officer in front of him in Hindi.
What to communicate?
Just to meet their commander and negotiate surrender!
On March 17, after several days of artillery battles, the UN troops in Elizabethville finally made a wise choice.
More than 20,000 United Nations troops and Congolese troops laid down their arms.
After the news came out, the whole world was in an uproar. That was all. The military defeat forced the United Nations to sit at the negotiating table and begin discussing Katanga's future with an extremely serious attitude.
For the current United Nations, they have no other choice. Negotiation is the only way out.
...
After the United Nations troops raised the white flag in Elizabethville, Li Yi'an just said lightly:
"This is reality."
Just like his son's original judgment , since the siege of Elizabethville, the initiative has been taken by NBC, or in other words, by the "Black Knight".
With private communication between Ireland and Sweden, it is only a matter of time before the UN troops surrender.
As for the United Nations... no one cares about him at all!
This is true even for small countries like Ireland and Sweden.
Putting down the report in his hand, perhaps because everything was expected, Li Yixuan did not feel any surprise, and just asked calmly:
"Dad, what about Congo?" How will the future end?"
"The future..."
Does Congo have a future?
After thinking about it, Li Yian said:
"The future of Congo is not important, what is important is Katanga...it belongs to us there, and soon, our company will gain local Mineral resources, especially uranium ore..."
Mention "Uranium Mine", Li Yian emphasized:
"Although we have uranium mines in Australia, the uranium mine in Katanga is different. It will truly belong to us, whether it is military or economic. From a different perspective, it is extremely important.”
"I know that nuclear power will be the focus of our development in the future. The use of nuclear power can reduce our dependence on imported oil and natural gas, thus improving energy security..."
Li Yixuan thought for a while and said:
“So, what we need is Katanga, not Congo,”
“Yes, we just need Katanga back. This is also our position in international affairs. We only need to Where NBC needs it, it is enough to exert influence. As for other places, it is not important at all..."
Listening to his father's answer, Li Yixuan smiled and said:
"In other places, let the Americans and the Soviets worry about it!"
"Haha, yes, let them worry about it!"
The son's words made Li Yian laugh, the United States Su can worry about the whole world, NBC only needs to care about profits.
What direction will Congo develop in the future?
The situation in Congo is doomed - Lumumba's supporters have risen in eastern Congo, known as the Simba (Lion) Movement. This time, the rebels echoed with Lumumba supporters in Stanleyville and quickly established the People's Republic of the Congo with Stanleyville as its capital.
The leader of the Simba movement is Murrayre, who turned out to be the Minister of Education in Lumumba's cabinet. It was supported by the Soviet Union, Cuba, Algeria and Egypt. They launched a major purge in the areas they controlled, and a large number of clerks, teachers, civil servants, mechanics, government officials, and opposition leaders were executed in front of Lumumba's statue. At the same time, his power was also expanding rapidly. With the support of Soviet Russia, his military strength exploded. In just a few months, he controlled two-thirds of Congo's land. The Congo's central government once again fell into trouble. Crisis, government collapse.
The sudden change in the situation has caused a sudden change in the situation in Congo. Katanga, which was once regarded as a local division, no longer seems to be important. After all, for the United States, the biggest threat has always been the Soviet Union. The emergence of the Simba movement changed everything.
With the rise of the "Simba Movement", what choice will the United Nations make?
There is only one choice - to recognize Katanga's "independence". In this way, the "Congo Crisis" that lasted for several years finally returned to its original situation.
Is all this important?
It doesn't matter at all. What matters is that Katanga is owned by NBC!
While Li Yian was deep in thought, Li Yixuan asked:
"Father, what about our relationship with the United States?"
"The United States..."
After a slight pause, Li Yian said:
"Washington should make a rational decision!"
(End of this chapter)