Chapter 62 Fierce Battle
Bazel led more than 20 staff members and drove the carriage eastward. After walking for about two hours and ten miles, they encountered the oncoming East African colonial army.
Felix stepped forward and greeted Bazel: "Bazel, why did you come out? What's the current situation in Zanzibar?"
"Alas..." Bazel sighed.
"There was a coup in the Sultanate of Zanzibar. Bagash bin Said took control of the army and imprisoned Sultan Majid bin Said. We were driven out by Bagash bin Said's people. of."
"Where are the immigrants? The ship should have arrived today, right?" Felix asked.
"The ships coming today are European ships. I asked them to go north to Tanga Port." Bazel replied.
Felix narrowed his eyes and said in a low tone: "These Zanzibar people are really capable. If tigers don't show off their power, they will treat us like sick cats. We must show them some color this time!"
Bazel asked a little surprised: "You are not going to take revenge now! Why don't you wait for the large troops to arrive before taking action?"
Felix said contemptuously: "As for the Zanzibar army, I don't take it seriously yet. I will educate them first later."
Bazel was a little worried and said, "Don't show off. If you mess up, it won't end well." After that, he motioned to Hans Zhang with his eyes to persuade Felix.
Hans Zhang put his hand on Bazel's shoulder and comforted him: "Don't worry, Felix still does things in a measured way. Although he acts a little bolder, we will not do anything that we are not sure about, and we are not sure. It’s not that I don’t have long legs and my behavior is bad, how can we still run?”
Seeing that these two guys didn't listen to the advice at all, Bazel asked helplessly: "Then what are you going to do?"
Felix said: "Of course we should first explore the situation and then make a plan. We are not brainless. We just rush forward and fight."
Felix has been in East Africa for so long, and he usually fights uncivilized natives. He doesn't need to think at all. He can easily win as long as he hits them with a volley of guns.
Now that I'm encountering a slightly more challenging opponent, it can be said that the rain is coming after a long drought, and I'm already feeling itchy.
"Don't go back, either. We just don't have many people. Join us and I'll take you back to Dar es Salaam." Felix said to the people in Bazel.
"Okay, I'll trust you this time. We are your subordinates now, and you can't mess around." Bazel said.
Bazel was also a Prussian soldier. He was not very afraid of fighting, but he was a little more cautious in character.
"Don't worry! I came to East Africa for the high salary, and my family is still waiting for me to go back! I take my life very seriously, and I haven't enjoyed it yet. How could I do anything wrong?" Felix patted his chest. Assured.
The German soldiers in the colonies were indeed hired with high salaries. In addition to the minimum guarantee, they were based on their performance. Every time they accumulated military exploits, it was money. Although they did not get much from each battle, there were many battles in East Africa.
Once accumulated, the income will be considerable. This is why Felix and others are happy to hear the war, especially for Zanzibar, a civilized and national force in East Africa. One fight is worth several times against the savages. Tribal sweeps.
Ernst's requirement for the colony was that it should act according to the plan and that every expansion should have a direction. If it goes beyond the scope, it would be considered as working for Ernst in vain.
Regarding the Zanzibar Sultanate, Ernst's instructions were that no one would offend me, and I would not offend anyone. He should not cause trouble until the Zanzibar Sultanate threatened the East African colonies.
Students from the Hechingen Military Academy and people sent by the consortium will verify the results and details of the war. They do not get paid for their military exploits, so they will not be too fanatical about the war.
The Sultanate of Zanzibar has not targeted the East African colonies before, so people like Felix can't find a reason to take action. Now that the Sultanate of Zanzibar is seeking death, don't blame Felix for being rude.
…
In the evening, the weather started to get cooler.
Outside Zanzibar.
Felix and a group of people hid in the jungle not far outside the city, waiting for the intelligence personnel to return.
After a while, I saw a man dressed as an Arab leaving Dar es Salaam and entering the dense forest.
"Sir, we have found out clearly that the enemy is not under martial law. Ordinary people can still come and go normally. There are no soldiers on the streets. Zanzibar is now ruled by Bagash bin Said, and his people are in the palace. …”
"Very well, you should take a rest first." Felix ordered.
He turned around and said to the people around him: "It seems that this Bagash bin Said is indeed not a big-time person. He doesn't even know that he has offended people he shouldn't have, and he is not acting cautiously now."
"It's not that unusual. Based on my many years of experience in Southeast Asia, most of the leaders of these small countries are like this, and there are also some who are more arrogant." Bazell said.
"When it gets dark, we will take advantage of the darkness to enter and catch him off guard." Felix clenched his fist with one hand in front of his chest and said sonorously.
He took out a map of Dar es Salaam and pointed to the royal palace on the map.
"Capture the thief first. Capture the king first. We will attack the enemy's headquarters and let Bagash bin Said taste the feeling of being captured."
…
At seven o'clock in the evening, it was already dark. The East African colonial army sneaked into the city. Everything went smoothly. The Dar es Salaam Palace is a three-story building in the center of the city.
Bagash bin Said was having a celebration banquet. As the first ruler of the country, Bagash bin Said felt that today was too smooth. He seized power, abolished the backward system, and expelled Darai at the same time. Germans in the port of Ssalaam.
All this was accomplished in one day, and Bagash ibn Said gave a feast to commemorate the success of the first day.
For religious reasons, there was no alcohol on the table, except for coffee and coconut.
Bagash bin Said held a coconut and said to the crowd: "Today is the greatest in the history of Zanzibar..."
Before he finished speaking, a sudden chaos was heard outside the palace. "Bang, bang, bang..." gunfire sounded one after another.
"What's going on? Abdullah, go and have a look!" Bagash bin Said yelled angrily: "Who is not here today?"
The first thing Bagash bin Said thought of was the remnants of Majid bin Said.
The ministers here looked at each other in confusion. At this time, you, Bagash bin Said, are the only ones with someone in your hands! Could it be that they were Germans from the East African colonies? Shouldn’t they be!
If they want to take revenge, they have to gather people and horses, and it will take them two or three days to get here!
Although everyone knows that there are two to three hundred East African colonial troops stationed not far from Dar es Salaam, but two to three hundred people should not be so reckless!
This is the bonus of not understanding Felix’s character and the Prussian military spirit.
Although Prussia is a war madman in the eyes of Europeans, in fact, the quality of the Prussian army is just that in the eyes of the great powers.
Before Prussia defeated the French, it was not yet a top player in Europe, although Prussia had defeated Austria before.
But everyone tacitly attributed the Prussian victory to the poor state of Austria. After all, domestic Hungarian and local nationalism rebelled, Italy attacked from the side, and Austria was not fully prepared. In addition, Prussia quickly negotiated peace with Austria, so the intensity of the war was not that great. .
The most brilliant record of Prussia was one against three during the period of Frederick the Great. This account must be attributed to Frederick's own genius military ability. After all, it was the Russians who let Prussia escape in the end.
Prussia was also beaten into ruins, and later a figure like Napoleon appeared, who was aggressive in the entire German region. At that time, the situation in the entire Germany was slightly better than in Austria.
And Felix is the more extreme of the many low-level soldiers in Prussia, that is, he retired from Prussia only when he was old.
But Felix couldn't sit still at all. If he didn't fight in Europe, he couldn't come to Africa to bully the natives?
Felix was disappointed with the native Africans. None of them could fight, so he naturally had to give it a try when he encountered someone like Zanzibar who had some strength.
Outside the palace, Felix calmly directed the battle. These Zanzibar soldiers were too weak. This was Felix's idea.
"In the first shift, the throwers were ready and aimed at me, and they all blasted towards the gate."
Limited by the conditions of the East African colonies, apart from the shore defense artillery at Tanga Port, grenades were the only weapons of mass destruction.
Due to the popularization of artillery and the upgrading of fortifications in European countries, the importance of throwing hands has become less and less.
When grenades arrived in East Africa, they became "nuclear weapons." No matter how stubborn the indigenous people were, they would immediately run away after throwing a grenade.
After all, there were people like Leopold who used magnifying glasses to light fires in the Congo, used batteries to electrocute the natives, and acted as gods.
The power of the grenade is like the death of the god of death. The natives who have never seen the world even lie on the ground and pray to the gods for forgiveness.
Naturally, an "advanced" army like Zanzibar with crude artillery would not be scared away by grenades like the natives.
However, Felix did not intend to use grenades to defeat Zanzibar.
The Zanzibar Palace is a large three-story building made of bricks and stones. Because it is the palace, the Zanzibar soldiers had no time to build positions and could only rely on the walls of the palace to resist.
The gates and windows of the palace became rare shooting openings, so Felix concentrated his ammunition to try to make a breakthrough from the direction of the gate.
"Boom..." There was a loud noise, and half of the palace door collapsed.
The Zanzibar soldiers in front of the door went directly to see Allah, and the soldiers behind the door also lay on the ground and wailed. Due to the tortuous structure of the palace, it was difficult to fill the gap immediately.
When Felix heard the gunshots stopped in front of the palace gate, he drew his saber, waved it and pointed forward, shouting: "Soldiers, victory is ahead, rush in with me!"
"kill……"
Due to the dark weather, the Zanzibar soldiers did not know the number of enemies, so they did not dare to fight outside the palace. After the colonial army suddenly came over, they hid in the palace.
The palace was restricted by the terrain, and it was even more difficult to counterattack, so it was blocked inside by East African colonial soldiers with advanced equipment.
Abdullah, who had a bright mind and had already fled in the dark, came in search of a voice. Before he could take command, he was captured by four or five East African colonial soldiers.
The Zanzibar soldiers had no intention of resisting, some fled through the windows, and some ran around in the building. At this time, they didn't care about the palace or not, and their lives were more important.