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 situation in Zanzibar now?"
"Alas..." Bazel Er 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 killed by Bagash bin Said. Driven out by righteous people.”
"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 really think we are sick cats. We must give them some help this time." Look at the color!”
Bazel was a little surprised. asked: "You are not planning to take revenge now! Why don't you wait until the large army arrives before taking action?"
Felix said contemptuously: "As for the Zanzibar army, I won't take action yet." Keep it in mind, 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 won't do things that we are not sure about. We did it, and it’s not like we don’t have long legs and are not doing well, 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 planning to do?” How to act? "
Felix said: "Of course we need to explore the situation first and then make a plan. We are not brainless and just rush forward."
Felix. Si has been in East Africa for so long, and he usually fights uncivilized natives. He doesn't need to think at all. As long as he shoots them with a volley of guns, he can easily win.
Now that I encounter an opponent who is a little bit challenging, it can be said that the rain is coming after a long drought, and my heart is already itching.
"Don't go back, either. We just don't have many people. You should join us and I will take you back to Dar es Salaam." Felix said to Bazel and the others said.
"Okay, I will 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, so how could I do anything wrong." Felix assured, patting his chest.
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.
If you accumulate it, your income will be considerable. This is why Felix and others are happy to hear about the war, especially Zanzibar, which has a civilization in East Africa and has formed a country. It was worth several raids on the savage tribes.
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.
Concerning the Sultanate of Zanzibar, 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 effects of the war and the 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 were hiding 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 has no martial law, ordinary people can still come and go normally, and there are no soldiers on the streets. Zanzibar is now ruled by Bagash bin Said. His people are in the palace..."
"Very good, take a rest first," Felix ordered.
Turn 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 offended, and now he still... Not acting cautiously.”
“It’s not unusual. Based on my 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.
As he spoke, he took out a map of Dar es Salaam and pointed to the royal palace on the map.
“To capture the thief first, capture the king. 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.
This was all accomplished in one day, and Bagash ibn Said gave a great feast to commemorate the success of the first day.
Due to religious reasons, there is no alcohol on the table. In addition to coffee, there is also coconut.
Bagash bin Said held a coconut and said to the crowd: "Today is the greatest in the history of Zanzibar..."
Before the words fell, I only heard There was sudden chaos outside the palace, and "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?"
Bagash bin Said Said's first thought 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 get revenge, they have to gather people and horses. 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 considered the 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. , 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 calculated on Frederick's own genius military ability. After all, it was the Russians who let Prussia lose in the end. Escaped.
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 was the more extreme of the many low-level soldiers in Prussia, that is, he retired from Prussia only when he was old.
But Felix can’t sit still at all. If he doesn’t fight in Europe, why can’t he come to Africa to bully the natives?
Felix was disappointed by the natives of Africa. 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.
"The first class, the throwers are ready, aim for me, and blast them towards the gate."
Limited by the conditions of the East African colonies, except for the shore defense artillery in Tanga Port, grenades are the only large-scale weapons. 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.
Hand grenades became "nuclear weapons" when they arrived in East Africa. No matter how tough 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 and used batteries to electrocute the natives in the Congo, acting 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.
Zanzibar's "advanced" army with crude artillery will naturally 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 a royal palace, the Zanzibar soldiers had no time to build positions and could only use the walls of the palace. The body bears the burden and resists stubbornly.
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 vacancy immediately.
Hearing the silence of gunshots in front of the palace gate, Felix drew his saber, waved it and pointed forward, shouting: "Soldiers, victory is ahead, rush in with me!"
"Kill..."
Due to the 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 run away in the dark, came looking for a voice, was captured by four or five East African colonial soldiers before he could take command.
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. Life was more important.
(End of this chapter)