Chapter 922: Killing Spree
As the saying goes: cheap goods are not good, and good goods are not cheap. Soon East Africa learned the pain of Spain.
In May 1897, with the withdrawal of the Spanish army, East Africa successfully took over several Spanish strongholds on Mindanao Island. East Africa directly transferred some garrisons from the Lanfang Overseas Province to Mindanao Island.
"The Moros are the main residents of the island and believe in the Green Church. This is also the reason why the Moros are difficult to deal with. Under the rule of the Spanish, most people in northern Luzon believe in Christianity, so the Moros' hatred for "pagans" is innate. They are not as easy to conquer as the natives in northern Philippines. In addition, Mindanao Island has complex terrain and lush vegetation. Therefore, Spain has encircled and suppressed the Moros several times before, but the results were not great. Instead, it could only operate in several coastal strongholds and promised the Moros a high degree of autonomy, which means that its rule is in name only."
The intelligence personnel of the National Defense Security Bureau introduced the situation on the island to the first Governor of East Africa in Mindanao Island.
"In fact, the Moro people are the general name given by Spain to the believers of the Green Church on the island. They are divided into several ethnic groups and tribes, but they are more united because of their unified beliefs."
In fact, Mindanao has always been the most turbulent region in the Philippines in the past. The local Moros not only fought fiercely with Spain, but also with the Americans after they came. The Americans also failed to establish effective rule in the area.
So the United States gradually conducted political negotiations with Muslims in the south, and signed the Gilam-Bates Treaty with the Moro Sultan and the Sultan of Maguindanao. According to the treaty, Americans will not enter the south of the Philippines, and the affairs in the region will be managed autonomously by the Moros.
Later, the US and Philippine governments gradually changed the local population structure through immigration, making the Moros, who originally occupied 100%, become a minority, and then achieved overall stability in the local area.
But until the 21st century, Mindanao was also a region with a strong desire for secession in the Philippines, with warlords, separatist forces, independent armed forces, and government separatism.
Facing such a complex region, Berkeley, the governor of East Africa in Mindanao, also had a grim look.
"At present, the only areas we can control are Zamboanga and Davao. However, it is probably very difficult to consolidate the local rule." Berkeley said.
Zamboanga is easy to say. It is located at the western end of Mindanao Island and is the most important stronghold of Spain on the island. Davao is not a municipality in the Philippines in the past life. It is only a small town at present, but the port conditions are good, so East Africa chose to land in these two places.
"During the Spanish rule, Zamboanga was often attacked by Moros. It happened three times last year alone. As for Davao, the situation is better because our people are mainly concentrated in Davao and have formed an advantage in the local area." The person from the National Defense Security Bureau said.
Zamboanga has a long history just by hearing the name, and Davao is not famous yet, so the National Defense Security Bureau easily settled there.
This is also the area with the most Chinese in Mindanao. In fact, except for Zamboanga and Davao developed by the East African National Defense Security Bureau, the rest of the island is basically undeveloped. Even the East African natives would probably "cry" if they went to these areas.
This is not nonsense. After all, it can be seen from the beliefs of the population on the island that the Green Church originated in the desert area, and the tropical rainforest climate is a "green desert", so it is in line with the population distribution of this belief.
Of course, this is also related to the commercial activities of the Green Church, especially in ancient times, the Green Church was considered a higher level of civilization for these indigenous people, and the local indigenous people were naturally easy to be greened.
"So if you want to establish effective rule on the island, one of the things is to deal with the Moros on the island, otherwise it may become the most turbulent and expensive colony in East Africa."
Although the Lan Fang Overseas Province is also in Southeast Asia, the population is mainly Chinese, so the rule of East Africa is very smooth, and the Green Church area is unlikely to be so smooth. East Africa has a deep understanding of this in Zanzibar, and the Zanzibar people had a deep relationship with Oman at the beginning, so they had a place to run away, and they didn't have to fight with East Africa.
Mindanao is different. This group of Moros has a firm attitude towards external invaders. Including Berkeley, no one thinks Mindanao is easy to conquer.
...
Berkeley's idea was soon verified. Less than a month after he started to sort out the Zamboanga area in East Africa, the East African colonial forces suffered three small-scale rebellions.
"Governor, we lost more than a dozen soldiers this time. Although we killed more than 60 enemies, most of them ran directly to the jungle area, and we dared not pursue them rashly!"
Berkeley was embarrassed when he heard the report. Since he took office in Zamboanga, more than 40 soldiers have been sacrificed. Don't look at the small number, but Berkeley has only more than 500 soldiers in total.
"These natives must have been informed by the Moros in the city. The third attack was obviously premeditated. The enemies were completely wiped out in the first two times, and this time it was obviously more organized. Clues can be seen from the enemy's escape route and combat coordination."
"So we have to expel the Moros in the Zamboanga area and limit them to withdraw from Zamboanga within 15 days." Berkeley gave a direct order.
This barbarian is not obedient to the king, so he can be killed. This is the attitude of East Africa. Ernst had instructed him long before Berkeley arrived.
After all, in Ernst's view, land is more important than the value created by the colony. The annexation of Mindanao itself is not for the primary purpose of exploiting and oppressing the Moros. Even if the Moros are honest and stable, East Africa will not leave these troubles. Moreover, the Moros have shown a resistance consciousness that is several times stronger than that of the African natives, so they can't stay.
Berkeley's order really caused an uproar among the Moros in Zamboanga, and no one could accept such conditions from the East African government.
Sure enough, four days after the order was issued, the Moros launched the largest rebellion in the history of the Zamboanga region.
As the most developed area in Mindanao, the total population of the Zamboanga region is only more than 10,000, most of whom are Moros, and there are also some Spaniards and northern Filipinos, as well as Chinese.
Berkeley, who had borrowed weapons from the National Defense Security Bureau, was naturally fearless. On June 17, 1897, as the rebellion broke out, the Governor of Mindanao, Bolilan, who had been prepared for a long time, ordered the extermination of the Moros in the Zamboanga region.
Prior to this, some Moros had already fled in Zamboanga, leaving only 3,000 unwilling Moros in the city who wanted to resist.
Together with the personnel of the National Defense Security Bureau, East Africa's armed forces in Zamboanga reached more than 1,000, so as soon as the war started, the powerful East African armed forces launched a cleansing of the Moros.
This was also one of the few targeted massacres of colonial indigenous people since the founding of East Africa.
This day was extremely shocking to the Spaniards and Chinese in the Zamboanga area. Throughout the streets of Zamboanga, East African soldiers searched door to door. Anyone whose Moro identity was verified was executed on the spot. It can be said that nine out of ten houses in Zamboanga were empty.
On the same day, the National Defense Security Bureau also carried out a large-scale cleansing of the local population in Davao City, which made the Spaniards and Chinese in Mindanao see the real "brutality". The policy of leaving land but not people was thoroughly implemented by the East African colonial government in these two major strongholds in East Africa.
Spanish businessman Mosier later recalled: "I will never forget the darkest day in Zamboanga. The executioners from East Africa slaughtered the natives of Zamboanga like cattle and sheep. The sound of gunfire rang out all day long, one after another... This was one of the worst tragedies in human history. The production and commercial activities of the entire Zamboanga almost came to a standstill. Except for the Spaniards, Filipinos, Chinese and East Africans, no one was alive."