Chapter 130 Invasion
In the mid-16th century, the kingdom of Burundi had been established. 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 outward. 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 flat.
The people 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 hit hard and became even more divided due to previous attacks by the Eastern Bantu tribes.
So 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 finally fought in Iraq. The borders of the Kingdom of Gala and the Kingdom of Rwanda meet.
……
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 being.
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 from the war in the dense forests and countryside.
When encountering the East African army, these natives were unlucky. 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, such as the Arabs, even if they are involved in the slave trade They will also choose to cooperate with indigenous forces and generally will not end up personally, especially in such deep inland areas.
European explorers are actually 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. They want to obtain first-hand information about Africa. I also communicated with African chiefs, kings, etc.
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 in the north of Lake Tanganyika).
“Well, I thought that with such a large-scale war, I thought that this indigenous kingdom was not as good as the tribes on the grasslands of East Africa! I met a few birdmen in so many days. "Haisheng Li complained to his comrades.
"Isn't this just right! You want to fight so much, and now you are rushing every day, setting fires, and firing two shots at the natives when you encounter them. 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.
“Fight to the death? I think it’s the only life-and-death struggle. With this gun in my hand, I, Old Li, have never been intimidated. I have never been able to defeat the opponent easily.” Haisheng Li proudly touched his hand. said the gun.
"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 true that they don't have it? If they also have muskets, then I will naturally have to consider 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 tell me about the Qing Dynasty. From top to bottom, the emperor and the local landlords and riches, there is no good thing. The reincarnation was definitely a sin committed in the previous life. This is going round and round. It's better to be born in Germany!" 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. They had a hard life before, and they were better than those in the Far East." John Zhang said.
"You can't say that. If you are poor, you are poor, but 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 are also human beings in the Far East. Those landlords, rich people, town and county magistrates will also want to see it. Greet us with courtesy," said John Zhang.
"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 most a larger village whether it is placed in the Far East or Europe. .
But in backward Africa, this is very 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 used it as the center to rule the Burundi region. Burundi After independence, it inherited Bujumbura's status as the capital.
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.
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).
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 Kingdom of Karawi to the junction of 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 one of the East African army on the entire front. It is currently resting in Bujumbura, and Lao Li and John Zhang are in this team. Chinese immigrant soldiers.
Oruch Reis's team was temporarily formed by the regular army and militia. There are more than 40 regular troops, mainly Chinese. Because the immigrants from the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the German immigrants arrived relatively late, so in The number of people in the army is relatively small, especially since immigrants from the German region (mainly within Germany) have only been introduced into the colonies in large numbers in recent months, so there are even fewer people entering 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 called 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 concepts cited in statistical data and are not official documents 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 (acclimated) and some unlucky ones, most of them were already serving in the military and government agencies of the East African colonies.
And Oruch Reis was one of the German mercenaries who followed Yaman to land in the East African colonies.
(End of this chapter)