Chapter 233 Certificate of Surrender
Ivory Coast, Crewe tribe.
Chief Pons was still excited about the transaction he had just made. He had exchanged 600 guns and 20,000 rounds of ammunition in one go. But now that the Akan tribe is finished, the French can only deal with themselves. If this trend continues, sooner or later he will be able to organize an invincible army.
While Chief Pons was still dreaming of his spring and autumn dream, other nearby tribes had already sent envoys to the Austrian army's camp, telling the whole incident in more detail, and expressing their willingness to send troops to support the Austrian offensive.
Abidjan, Austrian imperial camp, former Spanish trading post.
Friedrich was irritated by the constant arrival of messengers reporting the same thing.
"Franz, it seems that they regard us as idiots. Those indigenous people want to use our hands to eliminate dissidents. If all the indigenous people unite, it will be extremely detrimental to us. After all, our army cannot It would be too costly to stay here for a long time.”
"Uncle Friedrich, I'm glad you didn't say: 'That's just right, bring them together and solve it all at once.' But things may not be as complicated as you think. There are dozens of tribes and hundreds of languages in this area. , it is not easy to unify.”
After the previous battle, Franz is now very confident that even if the entire indigenous people of Ivory Coast unite, they can defeat it.
To be honest, Franz really didn't consider the cost of maintaining the occupation. He really wanted to do business. After all, history proved that forced plunder was far less profitable than joint development.
And even if you want to localize, you still need enough manpower. At this time, the concepts of Austrians are changing. Before the railway was built, many Austrians had never left the place where they were born, or even visited the city.
But now Franz still has no way to recruit enough people willing to leave their hometown to develop these colonies.
At this time, Franz noticed that Miss Shanyin was looking at him expectantly. She probably had her own ideas.
"Miss Shanyin, do you have anything to say?"
"Yes, Archduke Franz. I think you are here to do business, and those French people are obviously here to destroy business. They not only destroyed your business, but also broke the rules you set. They must be punished, and Those natives will come in handy.”
"It's good not to forget our original intention." Franz praised.
"Use indigenous people to kill the French?!" Friedrich looked shocked. It was clear that he had just tricked the French with the help of the British, but now he was just replaced by indigenous people.
"But what if the French know that we instigated the indigenous people to do it?" Friedrich said very worriedly.
"This matter was done by the Akan tribe and the Kru tribe together. Because the slave trade spoils were unevenly divided, internal strife broke out. So the French trading post sent us envoys for help, but by the time we arrived, it was too late. , so we imposed sanctions on the Akan and Kru tribes."
There is nothing wrong with Franz's statement, because in this era, in the eyes of Westerners, the indigenous Africans are primitive people. Not to mention the uneven distribution of the spoils, even if those tribes take the initiative to attack the trading post, the French government will believe it.
And whether they believed it or not, as long as Franz provided a sum of money, officials of the French Colonial Bureau would be willing to sell this trading post, which was not very profitable and had been attacked by indigenous tribes, to the Austrian Empire.
French trading post at night.
Captain Flor was very depressed. His efforts in the past few years were all in vain, but it was not easy to survive from the British. After all, if the money was gone, he could continue to make money. If his life was gone, everything would be the same. Retired.
After this period of ups and downs, Captain Flor swore that after he made this last move, he would return to France and find an honest and dutiful woman to live in the country, working at sunrise and resting at sunset.
The trading post was poorly guarded, and oil lamps and candles were expensive. Except for a few people who took turns guarding the slaves, most of them had gone to bed.
It was extremely quiet in the woods today. Only the mosquitoes on the beach kept chirping. Thomas had to keep driving away the mosquitoes with his hands. Although the entire trading post was extorted by the British for two million francs, for him, a newcomer in the industry, , not only did it not scare him, but it made him full of motivation.
Thomas even began to imagine that after working for a few years, he would have tens of thousands of francs. Then he would first live in the Moulin Rouge for a month, and then go to Blue Satin.
(Moulin Rouge, a famous attraction in France.)
Tutubayo is the leader of a small tribe. Their tribe only has more than 500 people, but most of them are brave and good at fighting. Tutubayo is the bravest warrior among them. His apron is made of the mane of the most brutal lion on this grassland.
However, due to the emergence of muskets and the small population of the tribe, Tutubayo was destined not to become a great chief. And as those already powerful tribes became stronger and stronger, the fate of his tribe being annexed seemed inevitable.
At that time, the annexation between tribes usually ended by killing all the men on one side or selling them all as slaves.
After Tutubayo saw the power of the Austrians, he decided to take a gamble. So when other tribes were still hesitating, he took the initiative to step forward and ask to be the vanguard.
Although Tutubayo's behavior aroused dissatisfaction among the leaders of the Mande and Vodak tribes, they did not dare to do anything extraordinary because of the presence of Franz and Friedrich.
Franz readily agreed to his request. After all, Austria needed an agent in the Ivory Coast, and the young man in front of him, who was extremely ambitious and had little foundation, was very suitable.
Although the leaders of the two tribes, Mander and Vodak, now respect Franz, it is only a superficial phenomenon.
When Franz proposed that they go rescue their trapped compatriots, the two leaders resisted and refused to accept the petition. When Tutubayo stepped forward, these two guys also tried to use their power to overwhelm others. .
What Franz hates the most is this kind of guy who wants to get benefits without putting in any effort, but also wants to save face and doesn't want others to show off.
Such people will be of no help to the construction of the colony and will be the main force in future rebellions. In the future, countries will definitely penetrate each other's colonies, and by then these guys will be easily bribed, or they will become self-reliant after receiving support from other countries.
Tutubayo used the cover of night in the woods to climb over the French-nailed fence and arrived at the main entrance of the trading post.
The two guards were dozing, and from time to time they would drive away mosquitoes with their hands. He took off his bow and arrow and drew the string to full length.
There was just a "whoosh" sound, and an arrow went straight into the throat of a guard. The arrow was coated with poison, and the guard who was shot fell down without even grunting.
As soon as the other guard turned to look at his fallen companion, a big black hand covered his mouth, and then his neck was scratched by a cold blade.
Thomas wanted to say something, but the blood foam blocked his throat, and he could only make a gurgling sound.
After the two guards fell, Tutubayo imitated a bird call, and then a group of indigenous people armed with broadswords and spears came out of the woods and filed into the French trading post.