Chapter 131 Conquering Kayanza
Kayanza is located in northwestern Burundi.
The capital of the Kingdom of Burundi is located in Gitega, which is the geographical center of the Kingdom of Burundi, in the hinterland of the Central Plateau (Burundi).
In peacetime, Gitega, as the national center, can naturally better strengthen the radiation of the Kingdom of Burundi to its surrounding areas.
But when the Eastern Bantu tribes came from the south like a tide, the undefended Gitega became in danger.
If it were just a small-scale attack, the Kingdom of Burundi could still handle it, but the Eastern Bantu tribes, that is, millions of indigenous people in the entire East African colony, were driven to this narrow area in the northwest.
Even if everyone stood still, it would still take a long time to shoot with a machine gun, let alone the Kingdom of Burundi, where even iron tools are relatively primitive.
Therefore, after being attacked by the Eastern Bantu tribes, the central government of Burundi fled to the northwest after trying to resist to no avail.
Kayanza, about 60 kilometers away from Gitega, has a slightly complicated terrain and is easy to defend, so it became the temporary capital of the Kingdom of Burundi.
However, the Kingdom of Burundi worked with other kingdoms to eliminate the forces of the Eastern Bantu tribes. Before they could return to the old capital, they encountered the menacing Germans.
In order to resist the East Bantu people, the Kingdom of Burundi built a large number of fortifications here, and at the same time a large number of people were temporarily relocated here.
This is one of the reasons why the southern part of the Kingdom of Burundi has a very small population. Without a certain number of people, it is impossible to resist the surging crowds of the East Bantu tribe, so many nobles choose to stay together with the central government for warmth.
Anyway, the land fertility in the northwest region is almost the same, and the rain conditions are basically the same. A large number of Burundian nobles migrated to Kayanza with food and people.
Kayanza lived up to expectations and blocked the invasion of the East Bantu people, and the vitality of the Kingdom of Burundi was also preserved.
…
"Ahead is Kayanza, the temporary capital of the Burundians. We estimate that the city's population has reached at least 15,000 people. It should be the hardest bone to crack in Burundi." Larry Antonio introduced to Yaman The situation in Kayanza.
Armand held a telescope and carefully observed the fortifications of Kayanza.
As a city that was expanded in a short period of time, Kayanza's city construction was very rough. Its city walls were built with many irregular rocks, which was far inferior to Gitega, which had fallen into the hands of the East African colonies.
Most of the stones in Gitega were simply polished, and the city looked neat. However, it was no longer prosperous after being looted by the East Bantu people. Later, when the East African colonies counted the number of people in Gitega, only 23 people were found.
Kayanza is different. Looking from the high ground, the surrounding fields are quite large. There are many shacks where poor people live outside the city. The population in the city is estimated to be even greater.
In addition to stones, Kayanza also used a large amount of rammed earth and wooden strips to strengthen the city wall. The city wall reached about two meters, and the city was twice the size of Gitega, which had been in business for many years.
"It seems that we need to prepare more manpower. It will be difficult for us to deal with so many natives with just a few people. If they run around randomly, we don't know which direction to choose first to arrest them," Arman said.
There are only more than 500 East African troops in front of Kayanza. It is possible to block one side. If you want to drive the natives north, you must block both the east and west directions.
"In this case, Larry Antonio, you go and mobilize another 600 people from other troops on the east and west sides, and say it is my order." Armen ordered.
"It's sir!" Larry Antonio.
The total number of people dispatched in the East African colonies this time was only more than 10,000, but the front was nearly 400 kilometers long, so only two to three hundred people could be allocated every ten kilometers.
In this way, there will definitely be fish that slip through the net and escape from the long snake formation in East Africa. However, the East African colonial government has already made follow-up arrangements. When the new immigrants arrive, they will reorganize the occupied areas.
A large Burundian city like Kayanza is worthy of Yaman's temporary deployment of manpower from other regions. Large cities with more than 10,000 people are rare in the entire Africa, and they can at least be ranked in the second tier.
…
With all the men in hand, Armen was ready to attack.
The Burundian soldiers on the city looked at the army led by Armen with vigilance. Due to the previous attack by the East Bantu people, the Kingdom of Burundi was actually in a state of paralysis in exchanging information with the outside world, so that the central government of Burundi only knew about the arrival of the East African army.
However, Burundians do not understand the details of the East African colonies, especially because the skin color of the East African colonial people is too fair and their clothes are very colorful.
It is quite similar to the Arabs, but the Arabs' clothing, which the nobles are familiar with, is completely different from that of this group of people.
As for European explorers, it was a rare animal that only a handful of northwest nobles had seen, and the top brass of the Kingdom of Burundi were among these few.
Not only European explorers, but also the indigenous nobles visited these indigenous nobles in the early days of the East African colonies, mainly to survey and map the local terrain.
…
"Uru, what do you think these strange people are doing?" Mopu said as he lay on the city wall of Kayanza and looked at the Germans digging simple fortifications in the distance.
Although digging fortifications is somewhat redundant for the East African army, after all, these natives have no longer-range weapons other than bows and arrows and throwing objects to shoot against the East Africans. If you stand a little further away, you can avoid the native attacks.
"I feel that they are in the same group as those southern barbarians (Eastern Bantu people), and they are definitely not good guys. They just finished dealing with the southern barbarians and they followed closely behind them. It is obvious that they are not here for peace." Ulu responded.
"But they obviously look different from the barbarians in the south! And the fabrics they wear are very good. The barbarians in the south are very poor and want to snatch everything from us. However, these people outside the city are obviously much richer than us. We used to have only The chief's family can only afford to wear so much cloth, but the whole body on the opposite side is like this, everyone has a share, they must be very rich." Mopp said, pointing to two pieces of Prussian military uniforms in the hands of East Africans in the distance.
"Anyway, Priest Abra just said that the other side is not a good person, especially the fire stick that seems to have no power. I heard that it has been enchanted by someone. As long as it makes a loud noise, it will absorb people's souls, so you'd better leave. If you stay further away from the city, your soul will be taken away by the other side, and you will die." Ulu said.
"I don't believe it. The Yaha priest of our tribe has given us secret holy water to drink. The Yaha priest told me that as long as we see the opponent rushing towards us, we can shoot the opponent with a bow and arrow, and the opponent will not be able to hurt us at all." Mopu Said proudly.
It's like two people are competing to see who has the most powerful priest behind them. Mopu's priest is obviously better. Not only can he break the evil spells of the Germans, but he can also fight back. However, the priests of the Uru tribe are powerless. This makes Mopu I feel like I have a lot of face in front of my new friends.
Uru and Mopu are from two different tribes in Burundi. Last time, they were brought to Kayanza by their leader due to the invasion of the East Bantu people. The two tribes were placed near the same defense line, so Uru knew each other. Mopu.
"I think these people must have been cursed by the kingdom's priests, so they dare not come forward. It has been two days, and they have not attacked. Instead, they are digging a hole there! I really don't understand, what is the use of that hole? It's not like they became demons because of the curse, you said, Uru." Mopu said to Uru.
"I don't know anything else, but I know it's lucky that it hasn't rained these days, otherwise the mud pit opposite would have turned into a pool." Ulu lazily leaned behind the city wall and said with a piece of grass in his mouth.
"Look! What is that? Ulu." Mopu suddenly shouted to Ulu.
"What is it?" Ulu stood up slowly, stretched himself out, and turned around to look at what Mopu was talking about.
There were also many sharp-eyed natives who discovered the movements of the East African army.
In the past two days, the natives have been very curious about the East African army outside the city, but the generals of the kingdom and the leaders of their own tribes have ordered that the city gates be closed tightly and no active attacks are allowed.
The natives on the city wall had no choice but to watch what the East African army was going to do. After digging holes, it seemed that they had not made any big moves.
Today, something new that the natives had never seen suddenly appeared. The natives on the city wall poked their heads to look at the new gadgets that were pushed to the open space in front of them by the East African army.
I saw that this thing was completely black, with a black hole as wide as the mouth of a bowl, and large circles like the sun on both sides.
…
"Ralder, are your skills good? You won't miss the target! We only have three shells, so save some for me." Arman said.
"Don't worry! Arman, I am an artilleryman. How could I not be able to make a living thing back then? Besides, no one on the other side has the ability to interfere with us. They only have kung fu calibration. Just wait for me to blast the city gate open with one cannon." !" Lauder said.
The novelty that Mopu saw was an artillery piece. It had just arrived in the East African colony this month, and Yaman had transferred one from the port.
After all, the natives' bows and arrows were not a living thing, and they also had city walls as bunkers. Armen was afraid that rifles would have no effect on the natives.
In fact, you can use local wood to build a large siege vehicle, push it to the city, lower it, and bury explosives. This can prevent bows and arrows from the opposite side and prevent falling rocks.
However, Arman just wanted to get an artillery piece for fun, so he applied to the East African colonies. Since there were not many artillery pieces in East Africa, only one was approved.
"Okay, we've already taken aim. As long as we hit it, we will definitely give a little shock to the group of natives on the opposite side." Lauder said to Armen.
"Okay, everyone, listen up, cover your ears, we're going to fire!" Arman and his men said.
When everyone was ready, Arman drew out his saber and shouted at the gate of Kayanza: "Ready!..."
…
Ulu stood at the top of the city and said to Mopu: "Look, there is a man standing next to that black thing, and he is pointing a knife at us."
"He should be the priest opposite! Can he cast spells from such a long distance?" Mopu asked doubtfully.
…
"Let go." Arman ordered.
Everyone in the East African position covered their ears, and Lauder lit the fuse.
boom……
Ulu and Mopu only heard a huge roar from the black thing, and a white flame flashed at the entrance of the cave.
Bang...
The city of Kayanza was shaken for a while. The city gate that was intact just now was blasted with a large hole along with the masonry, and half of it collapsed. The unlucky guy on the city gate was also buried in the ruins.
"The wrath of the gods, the gods are angry..."
The panicked natives shouted everywhere that Ulu and Mopu were very close to the city gate. Although they did not become the unlucky ones who died together with the city gate, there was still a roar in their ears.
The two of them were stunned by the explosion, and it took them a while to recover. They were so frightened that they couldn't speak. They immediately fell to the ground and made atonement to the gods.
The East African army had already stepped out of the trenches and rushed towards the place where the city wall collapsed. At the same time, they aimed their guns at the natives who were still standing on the city wall.
Bang...bang...bang...
The intermittent gunshots woke up the natives who were still praying to the gods. Now they didn't care about anything and ran towards the city. Everyone was crowded together at the passage. The native soldiers panicked and shouted as they ran: "The devil is here. God sent the devil to punish the Kingdom of Burundi. Everyone, run away!"
The streets were in chaos. The civilians who had been living on tenterhooks for several months had to endure this. Anyway, even the kingdom's army collapsed. Something terrible must have happened.
The foresighted natives had even packed up all their belongings and fled. Everyone in the city was fleeing north amid rumors and panic.
The king and nobles in Kayanza's temporary palace had a premonition that something bad was going to happen when they heard the sound of huge cannons. Coupled with the gunshots of the East African army and the screams of the people in the city, they immediately decided to run away without thinking.
Ordinary people don't know what the Germans are holding, but the most knowledgeable people in the Kingdom of Burundi still know it. Anyway, let the top brass of the Kingdom of Burundi think for themselves. They don't think warriors can defeat firearms. After all, Arab slave traders have already told them Seen it before.
With the experience of running away last time, all the residents of Kayanza City in the Kingdom of Burundi are familiar with the journey this time.
Adults, children, kings, nobles, chiefs, priests, commoners, slaves...
It seems that the scene of the East Bantu invasion has reappeared, but this time there are no "black" East Bantu people behind the Burundians, but bursts of gunfire.
For the Burundian people who are keen on "superstition", this is simply a hundred times more terrifying than the East Bantu people, especially when priests said that the Germans were holding soul-catching weapons.
Therefore, every Burundian (except for the nobles) firmly believes that the loud noise that penetrates the sky is the shrill roar of the devil. If caught by the devil, he will be immortal forever.
Serious chaos occurred in the city of Kayanza, with frequent stampedes and robberies. However, everyone ignored these trivial details and fled north towards Rwanda. If possible, the Burundians would like to have an extra pair of legs and leave. This is a place of right and wrong.