Rock had planned to return to Johannesburg after attending Alfred Milner's inauguration.
But on August 27, a serious violent incident occurred in Johannesburg, and Rock had to return to Johannesburg early.
"Boer guerrillas attacked the Summerfield Gold Mine last night. They stole about 5,000 ounces of gold, as well as weapons and explosives stored in the arsenal. The mine owner was killed in the attack." Martin was on his way to the Summerfield Gold Mine.
Report to Rock.
5000 ounces, about 155 kilograms.
"Is there any news about the Welch Fusiliers?" Rock was not in a hurry. The attack had already occurred. The guerrillas were probably thousands of miles away, so there was no point in worrying.
The Transvaal is still under martial law. The Welch Fusiliers are one of the three regular army units stationed near Johannesburg. However, the Welch Fusiliers are an infantry unit and are not equipped with many horses.
It was impossible for them to wipe out the guerrillas.
Although the expeditionary force headquarters has announced the end of the war, in fact, the Boer coalition has been broken into pieces, with guerrillas as units, and is still fighting.
These guerrillas have the opportunity to receive support from certain countries, such as a certain country's colony next to the Cape, so the expeditionary force headquarters puts a lot of energy on border defense, which leads to unprecedented security pressure in the inland areas.
In fact, the expeditionary force headquarters' approach was correct. Without external assistance, the guerrillas could only rely on raids to obtain supplies and fight to support the war.
It is unwise to directly attack the army. The troops in the Cape are all regular troops. Their equipment is much better than the guerrillas. The Boer coalition cannot defeat the expeditionary force on the frontal battlefield. The guerrillas are seeking death if they attack the regular army.
Therefore, gold mines have become the best choice for guerrillas.
There are gold mines all around Johannesburg. Although the mine owners hire security guards and thugs, these security guards and thugs are just a motley crew and cannot be compared with the guerrillas who have experienced the war. They can be used to scare the miners. The guerrillas are coming.
, I guess they can run faster than the mine owners.
However, in order to ensure the safety of the mine, mine owners often spend a lot of money on purchasing weapons. This makes the mine become a big fat meat in the eyes of the guerrillas. Attacking the mine can not only obtain gold as a supplement to funds, but also
Get a lot of supplies.
"No, there is no news from the Welch Fusiliers." Martin's answer was as expected by Rock.
Rock stopped talking nonsense. The leader of the Welch Fusiliers was also a talented person. In order to suppress the guerrillas, the expeditionary force cleared the wilderness in the Transvaal. There were probably more than 200 forts in Johannesburg, and three British troops were stationed in them.
Infantry Regiment, Not far from the Summerfield Gold Mine, there was a fort stationed with soldiers from the Welch Fusiliers, but when the attack occurred, those soldiers played no role at all.
In fact, it is understandable that the establishment of the British Army is not fixed. At different times, the number of people in a regiment can vary by thousands. Under normal circumstances, the establishment of a regiment of the British Army is less than 2,000 people. However, during World War I, the British
An army regiment can have tens of thousands of troops.
During the Boer War, the regiment-level unit of the British Army had about 2,000 men. These men were allocated to about 70 forts under the responsibility of the Welch Fusiliers. One fort only had about 30 men. If it was really attacked by guerrillas,
People really don't see enough of this, their defense is terrible, and they have no ability to attack at all.
Of course, the so-called "inability to attack" is when the guerrillas attack.
After the guerrillas withdrew, these regular troops became very active. When Rock arrived at the Summerfield Gold Mine, the mine was already under the control of soldiers from the Welch Fusiliers. The police were only responsible for the peripheral security of the mine.
You can't even get in through the gate.
In fact, it doesn't matter what the gate is. When the guerrillas attacked, they used explosives to blow up a section of the wall around the gold mine. The wall that was blown up has not yet been repaired, and the entire gold mine is undefended.
"Who is the person in charge here? I am Senior Inspector Locke of the Johannesburg Police Station. Please let me know." Locke knew the rules. While making the announcement, he slipped a five-pound note into his hand.
For the sake of the pound, the guarding soldier only muttered, "There are police in Johannesburg too," and went in cheerfully to report.
Saluting is impossible. Regular soldiers will not salute police officers, even if Roque is a senior inspector.
Soon, a second lieutenant walked out of the door quickly.
"Sorry, our regiment leader is investigating the attack and we don't have time now." The second lieutenant looked impatient and turned around to leave.
Damn it!
Rock could see clearly that many soldiers were shuttled back and forth in the gold mine. The large and small bags they were carrying were definitely not brought by them.
That's right, this is a gold mine, and the guerrillas come and go in a hurry, so it's certainly impossible to loot everything, so there's a lot to be gained.
"Very good!" Rock didn't bother, and ordered Martin: "Close the team, this matter is now under the responsibility of the Welch Fusiliers, and I will write a report later."
Well, the entire Transvaal is under military control, so it is reasonable to report it like this.
The second lieutenant came back immediately: "No, you are now responsible for perimeter security."
It's not that easy to leave.
"Mr. Second Lieutenant, you are the Welch Fusiliers. You are a regular army, and we are just police. We are not even qualified to investigate cases. Do you need our police protection?" Rock almost laughed out loud. This is too ridiculous.
.
"It's not about protection, it's about maintaining law and order nearby." The second lieutenant can also lie, and his ability to tell lies with his eyes wide open is no less than Roque's.
Well, maintaining law and order is indeed one of the tasks of the police station. The reason why Johannesburg established a police station is because the interim government hopes to resume the production of gold mines in the Johannesburg area as soon as possible. This is very important to the interim government because the interim government has allocated funds.
, There is no shortage of money now, but the interim government will have to be financially independent sooner or later, so tax work will be the core work of the interim government in the future.
To resume production, we must first ensure social stability. The regular army is responsible for suppressing the guerrillas, and the police's job is to maintain public order.
"There's not even a ghost around here. How can we maintain law and order? The guerrillas just robbed this place. They won't be back in a short time." Roque didn't say anything yet. The guerrillas robbed it for the first time.
, you robbed it a second time, I guess the rats in the warehouse of the mine will starve to death now.
The second lieutenant wanted to say something else, but Rock was in no mood to talk nonsense to him. The regular army and the police are not the same system. Even if your regiment leader is a general, he can't control Rock.
