Chapter 130 Invasion
In the middle of the 16th century, Burundi had established a kingdom. The Tutsis who lived on herding came here to establish their rule over the local Hutu farmers.
In the middle of the 17th century, the Kingdom of Burundi began to expand outwards. By the first half of the 19th century, King Ntal Ruga Amba unified most of Burundi and occupied some areas in today's southern Rwanda and western Tanzania. However, the kingdom failed to establish a centralized system of governance and has been in a state of decentralized separatism for a long time.
The central and western parts of Burundi are dominated by plateau terrain, and the terrain between the East African colonies is basically flat.
Responsible for defending the Kingdom of Burundi is mainly the army and militia stationed in the Lake Solon area in East Africa, that is, the western section of the defense line from the Great Lakes to Lake Solon.
In order to command the front line more flexibly, the East African colonial government established the Northwest Wartime Command in Kasanda (place name).
Yarman personally sits here and handles front-line affairs. According to the prior intelligence analysis, Yarman decided to take Burundi and Karawi first.
The Kingdom of Burundi is scattered, with many princes and warlords, but the Kingdom of Karawi has few villains. Especially in the previous "purge" campaign, it was hit the hardest, so it is in a half-dead state.
Both kingdoms have been hit hard, and have become more divided due to the impact of the previous Eastern Bantu tribes.
Therefore, Yarman believes that these two countries can be taken at the same time. The main force of the East African army is also divided into two by Yarman, who are responsible for the combat tasks in the two countries. Frontiers meet.
…
May 3, 1868.
The East African colonies invaded the Kingdom of Burundi and the Kingdom of Karawi, without declaring war, the East African army directly crossed the temporary border.
At first, the soldiers in East Africa thought that a war would break out, because the mobilization of the East African colonies this time was unprecedented, and with the addition of extraterritorial operations, it should be a tough battle.
But the reality is different from what the East African government expected. In Burundi and the southern part of the Karawi Kingdom, the East African army did not encounter decent resistance, and it was even difficult to see people.
Aggression is nothing more than killing, burning, and looting. However, the East African army is facing a situation where there is nothing to grab in the two countries. Killing must be resisted. And plundering the population is not the goal of the East African government. It is only by driving out the indigenous population. is the established policy in East Africa.
The last "purge" campaign worked so well that throughout Burundi and southern Karawi, the East African army seemed to be no man's land.
In three days, the East African army on the western front advanced more than 100 kilometers. There were very few indigenous people along the way, and the villages were abandoned.
It is unlucky for these natives to meet the East African army. Among these natives, there are East Bantu people who were expelled from East Africa before. After seeing the East African army, they ran away immediately.
The natives of the Kingdom of Burundi had never seen the power of the East African army, and they stayed there stupidly, and suffered the iron fist of the East African army.
Even the militiamen can crush the aborigines by virtue of their superiority in weapons, and the aborigines reacted after being shot, and then fled north in panic.
Ninety-nine percent of the natives of Burundi and Karawi Kingdom have never seen other races other than blacks, let alone guns.
The Arabs and some European explorers who are active in the northwest region may carry some advanced weapons, but the groups they basically deal with are the princes and nobles of the African indigenous kingdoms, such as the Arabs, even if they participate in the slave trade, they will choose to fight with the indigenous forces Cooperation generally does not end in person, especially in such a deep inland area.
European explorers, in fact, are not good things in this era. Most of them are funded by European capitalists and nobles. They can be said to be the reconnaissance team of the invaders. They want to obtain first-hand information about Africa. The king waits for the exchange.
Although the results of the battle along the way were minimal, the East African army did nothing, such as burning abandoned villages, and the entire East African controlled area suddenly burst into flames.
The main reason is that the aborigines really don’t have any good things. In addition, the war-torn land was abandoned before, and even valuable products such as food were not produced. To prevent the plague from breeding, no one knows what these villages have experienced before, and whether they are clean or not.
Bujumbura (a city in the north of Lake Tanganyika).
"Hey, I thought that such a mobilization of troops would definitely lead to large-scale wars, but in my opinion, this indigenous kingdom is not as good as the tribes on the East African grasslands! I have encountered a few birdmen in so many days." Haisheng Li Tucao with his comrades.
"Isn't this just right! You want to fight so much, and now you rush on the road every day, set fire, and shoot twice when you meet the aboriginals. You don't have such a comfortable life, do you have to work hard with the aboriginals?" John Zhang said to Lao Li.
"That's because you haven't encountered any serious problems. What kind of weapons are these aborigines holding? The shovels in my house are stronger than the long spears (spears) of the aborigines." John Zhang said.
"Isn't it that they don't have it? If they also have muskets, then I will naturally have to weigh it. Who told them not to have this thing." Lao Li said.
"It also bullies the backwardness of the natives. Isn't the Qing Dynasty also bullied by foreigners in the same way?" John Zhang said.
"Hey, don't mention the Qing Dynasty to me. From top to bottom, the emperor's old man and the local landlord's old money are not a good thing. The reincarnation back then is definitely a sin made in the previous life. It's better to be born in Germany. What!" Lao Li said.
"Heh, it might not be so good to be born in Germany in this era. Look at the group of Austro-Hungarian immigrants in our team. They lived a hard life before, and they were better than the Far East." John Zhang said.
"You can't say that. People are poor because they are poor, and their backs are tough! With the support of Germany and Austria-Hungary behind them, they speak harder than us." Lao Li retorted.
"What are you afraid of? We are also Germans now. I heard from people recruiting people in the Far East that wearing this outfit makes me a human being in the Far East. Those old landlords, town chiefs and county magistrates should greet them with courtesy." John Zhang said.
"Besides, Prince Constantine and Prince Ernst have repeated orders. There are no ethnic groups in East Africa. As long as you recognize the sign of Germany, you are a German..."
(This is a dialogue plot fabricated based on the background of the time, mainly to reflect the change of immigrant mentality, please do not substitute it into modern times.)
…
Oluchi Reis looked at another abandoned village depressedly. Judging from the size of this village, it was very likely that it was an important city of the native kingdom.
Because this place is several times larger than other villages, although according to the standards of Orucci Reis and others in the team, this city is at most a larger village no matter whether it is placed in the Far East or Europe.
But in backward Africa, it is very likely that this is the central city in the region, or even the fiefdom of princes and nobles.
This unattractive large village is Bujumbura, the capital of Burundi in the previous life. Bujumbura is not special in Burundi at present. In the previous life, the Germans colonized this place and ruled Burundi from this place as the center. After Burundi became independent, it inherited Burundi. Jumbura's capital status.
Orucci Reis led a team of more than 300 people, which has been heading north along the east bank of Lake Solon (Lake Tanganyika).
The coast of Lake Solon was definitely a densely populated area in the Kingdom of Burundi in the past, but Orucci Reis came all the way and didn't see many people.
According to the speed of the team led by Orucci Reis, if they don't meet any more powerful natives, they will be able to reach the border of the Kingdom of Rwanda in a few days.
The entire Burundi combat area extends about a hundred miles forward, and has been connected to the Great Lakes region of the East African colony (Burundi is further south than the Karawi Kingdom).
It happens to be the area south of the straight line connecting the northernmost end of Lake Solon (Lake Tanganyika) and the southwest corner of the Great Lake (Lake Victoria).
The East African army in the Karawi Kingdom mainly has two attack directions, one is directly northward, all the way to the border of Buganda and the Karawi Kingdom.
All the way is to advance in the northwest direction, approaching the direction of the Kingdom of Igara. This route is the main force in the war zone of the Karawi Kingdom, and the army on the route to the north is mainly to prevent the Kingdom of Buganda from interfering in the south, with the goal of defense.
From Bujumbura in the far west, to the junction of the Kingdom of Karawi and the Kingdom of Buganda at the Great Lake (Lake Victoria).
The East African army just formed a straight line from northeast to southwest, slowly eroding the four northwest countries from southeast to northwest.
The team led by Orucci Reis is the most western part of the East African army on the entire front. It is currently resting in Bujumbura, and Lao Li and John Zhang are Chinese immigrant soldiers in this team.
Orucci Reis's team was temporarily formed by the regular army and the militia. There are more than 40 regular troops, mainly Chinese. Because the immigrants from the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the German immigrants arrived later, the number of people in the army is relatively small. , especially immigrants from the German region (mainly referring to Germany) have only been introduced into the colonies in recent months in large numbers, so there are fewer developments in the army.
The newly introduced German immigrants are mainly used to dilute the population ratio in each settlement and strengthen the spread of German culture.
At present, with the addition of immigrants from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the pan-German nation has actually taken advantage (Europeans are collectively referred to as the pan-German nation, and Chinese who marry whites are classified as mixed blood to divide the Chinese group. Of course, these are statistical data references The concept is not an official document of the East African government.), coupled with education and administrative guidance, East Africa is accelerating Germanization.
The earliest German mercenaries, except for non-combat attrition (not acclimatized) and some unlucky ones, most of them had already served in the East African colonial army and government agencies.
And Orucci Reis was one of the group of German mercenaries who followed Yarman to land in the East African colony.
(end of this chapter)