Chapter 60 March to the Port of Dar es Salaa
Dürer put on an Arab robe and rode a horse, appearing on the streets of Dar es Salaam without looking outstanding.
Dürer himself is a German. With his white skin and Arab costumes, he does look like a local Arab if you don't look carefully.
Without attracting the attention of the soldiers of the Zanzibar Sultanate, Dürer quickly drove towards the border area on horseback.
When the East African Colonies promised Majid Sultan not to station troops in Dar es Salaam, the East African Colonies turned to the next best thing and left two hundred troops on the border some distance from Dar es Salaam.
It is used to prevent changes in the Sultanate of Zanzibar, or to ensure the smooth passage from Dar es Salaam Port to the East African colonies.
After all, for a country with a standing army of only a few thousand people all year round, a two hundred well-equipped army already has a certain threat capability.
There are currently about 8,000 armed forces in the East African colonies, of which, except for 2,000 Germans and more than 300 Austro-Hungarian immigrants, the rest are Chinese immigrants.
These more than 8,000 troops are spread over nearly 700,000 square kilometers of land in the East African colonies.
Among them, there are about 3,000 colonial troops in the three eastern coastal areas. After deducting the necessary local guards, the number of people that can be quickly mobilized by the East African colonies is about 1,500.
These 1,500 include 200 people in the direction of Dar es Salaam, 300 people in Tanga Port, more than 500 people in the first town, and the number of troops that can be flexibly mobilized in the rest of the three coastal areas.
…
"Stop! Who is that?" The East African colonial soldiers stationed in the Kibaha area (about forty miles away from the port of Dar es Salaam) stopped Dürer, who was dressed in Arab clothing.
"One of our own, take me to see your commander quickly. I have important military information to report." Dürer said breathlessly.
As soon as they heard that it was military information, the soldiers did not dare to neglect and immediately reported it to the commander in the camp.
After verifying the identity of the visitor, Felix, the military commander stationed in the Kibach area, met with Dürer.
"Sir, this is Mr. Barzel's personal letter!" Dürer handed the letter to Felix.
Felix took the letter, opened it, and read it.
For a moment, Felix frowned and asked, "Mr. Dürer! Did you see any strange movements by the Arabs on the way here?"
"Sir, I did see a lot of soldiers on the streets of Dar es Salaam. They seemed to be conducting some kind of military operation, especially in the direction of the palace. People were not allowed to pass. I bypassed them and came out from the south of the block. "
"Are you sure it's a military operation? That's right!" Felix asked.
"Sir, on weekdays in Dar es Salaam, only the royal guards of the Sultanate of Zanzibar appear in the streets, while the army is stationed outside Dar es Salaam and at the docks."
Dürer continued: "This morning, our people saw an unusual dispatch of the Zanzibar garrison at the dock, but no one noticed at the time. At about eight o'clock, the number of soldiers on the streets of Dar es Salaam increased, and the number of soldiers at the dock increased. There are not that many Zanzibar troops, which means that the Zanzibar troops outside the city have entered the city. Moreover, Mr. Bazel observed that most of the soldiers entering the city were armed with live ammunition, and there was no trace of the Zanzibar Sultan Majid Royal Guards. Mr. Bazel observed We expected that there must be a big problem in the Sultanate of Zanzibar. However, we didn’t hear any gunshots, so we didn’t dare to jump to conclusions, but we couldn’t let the situation go unchecked, so we came here to report the situation.”
After hearing what Dürer said, Felix looked at his staff officer Hans Zhang and asked, "Zhang, what do you think?"
Hans Zhang is a student who graduated from the Hechingen Military Academy. His original name was Zhang Yuzhu. After enrolling, all students were given German names. At that time, they were given a list and asked to choose a name that they felt comfortable with.
At that time, Zhang Yuzhu felt that the name Hans was easy and easy to remember, so he changed his name to Hans. The surname was translated into German. The German instructors could not distinguish between hundreds of family surnames. The German instructors classified all surnames with similar pronunciation. Be grouped into one category.
So "Zhang, Zhao, Jiang..." is very difficult to pronounce for Germans. It sounds like "Zhang" in Chinese, so they simply write it as "zhang" in German transliteration.
When these students first arrived in Germany, they could not read a single Chinese character. No one could write their own names, so they followed the instructor and changed their last name to "zhang".
After changing his name, Zhang Yuzhu's name became "Hans·Zhang".
…
Staff officer Hans Zhang thought for a moment and said to Felix: "Judging from the current situation, if we report to the colonial government first and wait for a decision from above before dispatching, it will be too late."
"If there is a coup in Zanzibar and a new government is established, then the new government's attitude towards us is likely to be different from before. Currently, we only have more than 20 staff in the Port of Dar es Salaam. There may be new immigrants arriving in Hong Kong this afternoon, and these immigrants are unarmed, and more than 20 armed staff alone will definitely not be able to stop the Zanzibar government forces."
"Immigration is the top priority in the East African colonies. The principal has repeatedly emphasized the need to ensure the safety of immigrants arriving in the East African colonies. If there is a military turmoil in the Zanzibar Sultanate, it may threaten the safety of new immigrants arriving in Hong Kong today!" Hans Zhang analyzed.
In fact, the current immigrants from the East African colonies are not only limited to the Port of Dar es Salaam, but can also land at the Port of Tanga. The problem is that the conditions at the Port of Dar es Salaam are mature, so the Dutch prefer to dock at the Port of Dar es Salaam. , and immigrants from the Austro-Hungarian Empire will also give priority to the closer port of Dar es Salaam because they have to detour through the Atlantic Ocean. Only the Hechingen Consortium’s own fleet will use Tanga Port when pulling cargo. Set off.
This situation will only change once the Suez Canal opens. But at that time, the location of Tanga Port may not be the closest to Europe... (Mombasa acquired it after this incident.)
"That's right. If we act a step too late, we may not be able to control the situation, so we must take action immediately." Felix agreed.
"Now we should send people to report the situation to the colonial government in East Africa and at the same time march towards the port of Dar es Salaam."
"Mr. Dürer, please stay and rest first! The people responsible for immigration admission will pass by here at noon every day, and then you can return to Dar es Salaam with them."
Felix said this with little regard for Zanzibar. In fact, Felix was so conceited. As a former Prussian soldier, Prussia often followed His Majesty the King to fight the weak against the strong in Europe.
Felix believed that as long as the army was courageous, it would not necessarily defeat the weak against the strong. In addition, Zanzibar's army was a "weak chicken" in Felix's eyes. After all, European countries were expanding crazily around the world. Although Prussia did not participate, But Prussia was also a well-known military power on the European continent.
Small countries in the world like Zanzibar are often beaten by the Dutch and Portuguese, so naturally they are no match for Prussia.
Felix has a hot temper, and as the saying goes, a raging group of people live together, and only Hans Zhang, the staff officer, can temper Felix's temper.
This is because Hans Zhang received systematic military study as a graduate of the Hechingen Military Academy, so his behavior style is quite like a Prussian officer. Every time he comes into contact with Hans Zhang, Felix feels like he is the same as before. The conversation with his Prussian noble chief reminded Felix of the days when he served in Prussia, and now he feels nostalgic for it.
But when it comes to fighting, Felix, who was once the leading soldier of Prussia, has a kind of bloody courage. Since entering East Africa, Felix has often fought against the natives without losing.
It’s just that Felix was rough and tumble, and his control of the army was carried out completely in accordance with Prussian army regulations. There were no execution errors in every battle formation. Therefore, staff officer Hans Zhang did not stop Felix in most cases, but supported him. Felix's behavior.
"Pass my order and the entire army will gather immediately and march towards the port of Dar es Salaam!" Felix ordered.
Naturally, the soldiers led by the reckless Felix acted vigorously and resolutely. After receiving the order, they quickly organized their equipment and assembled them.
Felix and Hans Zhang led by example, walking in front and marching eastward with the soldiers.
The army of only two hundred people showed the momentum of a regiment, and marched towards the port of Dar es Salaam with smoke and dust flying all the way.