Chapter 130 Invasion
In the mid-16th century, a kingdom was established in Burundi. The Tutsis, who lived by herding, came here and established their rule over the local Hutu farmers.
In the mid-17th century, the Kingdom of Burundi began to expand outwards. By the first half of the 19th century, King Ntal Rugaamba unified most of Burundi and occupied some areas in southern Rwanda and western Tanzania. However, this kingdom failed to establish a centralized governance system and remained in a state of decentralization and separatism for a long time.
The central and western part of Burundi is dominated by plateau terrain, and the terrain between it and the East African colonies is basically a flat plain.
Those responsible for defending the Kingdom of Burundi are mainly the East African army and militia stationed in the Lake Solon area, 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).
Arman personally sat here to handle frontline affairs. Based on prior intelligence analysis, Arman decided to attack Burundi and Karawi first.
The Kingdom of Burundi is dispersed and has many princes and warlords, while the Kingdom of Karawi has few people. Especially in the previous "purge" movement, it suffered the greatest impact, so it is in a state of half-death.
Both kingdoms were devastated and became even more divided due to previous onslaughts from the Eastern Bantu tribes.
Therefore, Yaman believed that these two countries could be captured at the same time. The main force of the East African army was also divided into two by Yaman, and they were respectively responsible for the combat tasks in the two countries. The two main armies ended up in the Kingdom of Igala and the Kingdom of Rwanda. Border convergence.
…
May 3, 1868.
The East African colonies invaded the Kingdom of Burundi and the Kingdom of Karawi without declaring war, and the East African army directly crossed the temporary border.
At first, the East African soldiers thought that a war would break out. Because this time the mobilization of the East African colonies was unprecedented, coupled with the 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 Kingdom of Karawi, the East African army did not encounter decent resistance, and it was difficult to even see a human figure.
Invasion is nothing more than killing, burning, and looting. However, the East African army is faced with a situation where there is nothing to rob in the two countries. Killing requires resistance, and plundering the population is not the goal of the East African government. It is to drive out the indigenous population. It is an established policy in East Africa.
The last "purge" campaign was so effective that throughout Burundi and southern Karawi, the East African army was like a deserted land.
In three days, the East African army on the Western Front advanced more than 100 kilometers. Along the way, there were very few indigenous people and the villages were abandoned. Instead, there were many indigenous people escaping the war in the dense forests and suburbs.
It was unlucky for these natives to encounter the East African army. Among these natives were the East Bantu people who had been expelled from East Africa. After seeing the East African army, they immediately ran away.
The natives of the Kingdom of Burundi had never seen the power of the East African army. They stayed there stupidly and suffered the iron fist of the East African army.
Even the militiamen were able to crush the natives with their superior weapons. After being shot, the natives reacted and began to flee north in panic.
It can be said that 99% of the indigenous people in Burundi and the Kingdom of Karawi have never seen any other race except black people, let alone hot weapons such as firearms.
The active Arabs and some European explorers in the northwest region may carry some advanced weapons, but the groups they basically deal with are the princes and nobles of the indigenous African kingdoms. For example, the Arabs will choose to deal with indigenous forces even if they participate in the slave trade. Cooperation generally does not end in person, especially in such a deep inland area.
In fact, European explorers are not a good thing 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. Naturally, they want to obtain first-hand information about Africa with African chiefs. King and other exchanges.
Although the results along the way were minimal, the East African army did not do anything, such as burning abandoned villages, and the entire East African controlled area was suddenly filled with smoke.
The main reason is that the indigenous people really don't have anything good. In addition, the land was abandoned after the war, and even valuable products such as food were not produced. The East African soldiers did not like the bottles and jars, so they simply set them on fire. To prevent the spread of the plague, no one knows what these villages have experienced before and whether they can do it properly.
Bujumbura (a city north of Lake Tanganyika).
"Oh, I thought that with such a large-scale mobilization, we would definitely encounter a large-scale war. But in my opinion, this indigenous kingdom is not as good as the tribes on the grasslands of East Africa! I encountered a few birdmen in so many days." Haisheng Li Complaining to his comrades.
"Isn't this good! You want to fight so much, and now you are rushing every day, setting fires, and shooting twice when you encounter the natives. You can't live such a comfortable life, but you have to fight to the death with the natives?" John Zhang said to Lao Li.
"Fighting to the death? I think it's just a matter of life and death. With this gun in my hand, I, Old Li, have never been afraid. I have never been able to defeat the opponent easily." Haisheng Li proudly touched the gun in his hand and said.
"That's because you haven't encountered any serious trouble. What kind of weapons do the natives have? The shovels in my house are stronger than the spears of the natives." John Zhang said.
"Isn't it that they don't have it? If they also have muskets, then I will naturally weigh it. Who makes them do without this thing?" Lao Li said.
"Just bullying the natives and being backward, wasn't the same way the Qing Dynasty was bullied by foreigners?" John Zhang said.
"Hey, don't talk to me about the Qing Dynasty. From top to bottom, the emperor and the local landlords and rich people, there is no good thing. Reincarnation back then was definitely a sin committed in the previous life. It would be better to be born in Germany after going around in circles. Here!" Lao Li said.
"Oh, it may not be so good to be born in Germany in this era. Look at the Austro-Hungarian immigrants in our team. Not only did they live a hard life before, but they were better than those in the Far East." John Zhang said.
"You can't say that. If you are poor, you are poor, and you have a tough back! With the backing of Germany and Austria-Hungary, you can speak tougher than us." Lao Li retorted.
"What are you afraid of? We are also Germans now. I heard from the recruiters in the Far East that if we wear this, we will be a human being in the Far East. Landlords, rich people, mayors and county magistrates should greet us with courtesy." John Zhang said.
"Besides, Prince Constantine and Prince Ernst have repeatedly stated that 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 based on the era of that time. It is mainly to reflect the changes in the mentality of immigrants. Please do not substitute it into modern times.)
…
Oruch Reis looked at another abandoned village in depression. Judging from the size of this village, it was very likely that it was an important city in the indigenous kingdom.
Because this place is several times larger than other villages, although according to the standards of Oruch Reis and others in the team, this city is at best a larger village whether it is placed in the Far East or Europe.
But in backward Africa, this place is most likely to be the central city in the region, or even the fiefdom of the princes and nobles.
This large and unassuming village was Bujumbura, the capital of Burundi in its previous life. Bujumbura is not special in Burundi at present. In its previous life, the Germans also colonized this place and ruled the Burundi region from this place. After Burundi became independent, it inherited Bujumbura. Jumbura's capital status.
A team of more than 300 people led by Oruch Reis has been moving north along the east coast of Lake Solon (Lake Tanganyika).
The shores of Lake Solon were definitely a densely populated area of the Kingdom of Burundi in the past, but Oruch Reis didn't see many people along the way.
And according to the speed of the team led by Oruch Reis, if they don't encounter any capable indigenous people, they will reach the border of the Kingdom of Rwanda in a few days.
The entire Burundi combat area extends forward for about a hundred miles and is connected with the East African colonial Great Lakes region (Burundi is further south than the Kingdom of Karawi).
It is exactly the area south of the straight line connecting the northernmost tip 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 north, all the way to the border of Buganda and the Karawi Kingdom.
The army heading northwest is heading towards the Kingdom of Igala. This road is the main force in the Karawi Kingdom war zone, while the army heading north is mainly to prevent the Buganda Kingdom from interfering southward, aiming at defense.
From Bujumbura in the far west, all the way to the junction of the Kingdom of Karawi and the Kingdom of Buganda at the Great Lake (Lake Victoria).
The East African army formed a straight line running from northeast to southwest, slowly eroding the four northwest countries from southeast to northwest.
The team led by Oruch Reis is the westernmost team 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.
Oruch Reis's team was temporarily formed by regular troops and militia. There were more than 40 regular troops, mainly Chinese. Because the immigrants from the Austro-Hungarian Empire and German immigrants arrived relatively late, there were relatively few people in the army. , especially immigrants from the German region (mainly within Germany) have only been introduced into the colonies in large numbers in recent months, so fewer have entered the army to develop.
The newly introduced German immigrants are mainly used to dilute the population proportion in each settlement and strengthen the spread of German culture.
At present, coupled with the immigrants from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the pan-German nation has actually taken advantage of it (Europeans are collectively referred to as the pan-German nation, and Chinese who marry white people are classified as mixed-race, which is used to divide the Chinese group. Of course, these are all quoted statistics. Concept, not as an official document of the East African government.), coupled with guidance in education and administration, East Africa is accelerating its Germanization.
As for the earliest German mercenaries, except for non-combat attrition (acclimatized) and some unlucky ones, most of them were already serving in the military and government agencies of the East African colonies.
Oruch Reis was one of the German mercenaries who followed Yaman to land in the East African colonies.