Chapter 323 Ndebele Uprising
In addition to being curious about the East African Plateau, Constantine also had the reason to supervise local work when he inspected Dodoma. However, Constantine’s leisurely visit to Dodoma did not last too long. Long.
April 2, 1871.
A telegram from Lusaka reached Constantine's hands - the indigenous people of the Matabele Plateau broke out in an uprising against the rule of the East African Kingdom.
After reading the contents of the telegram, Constantine looked livid. He gritted his teeth and said to Sweet: "It seems that we are still too kind to the natives of the Matabele Plateau. After putting down the rebellion this time, we will definitely be better." Let the local Ndebele people know what colonialism really is!”
Generally speaking, the East African kingdom rarely pays much attention to black resistance. Most of the indigenous people hold extremely primitive weapons and it is difficult to cause trauma to the East African army. Even if there is a resistance movement, it is only a small scale. But the Matabele uprising is not Similarly, it can be said that almost the entire Matabele Plateau (almost the entire territory of Zimbabwe in the previous life) was in rebellion, and the main force in the rebellion was the Ndebele people.
The Ndebele people are a branch of the Zulu people. They are not native residents of Zimbabwe, but foreigners who entered Zimbabwe after 1837 and enslaved the local indigenous people.
He originally lived in the Zulu Kingdom, and his leader was Mzilikazi, a general under the Zulu King Chaka. Around 1822, when Mzilikazi led his army to march north, he had an affair with Chaka. Ka had a disagreement and broke away from Chaka. He led his troops to move to the Transvaal, conquering the Sutuo and Tswana tribes along the way.
In 1836-1837, he was finally forced to leave the Transvaal due to attacks by the Boers. The Ndebele people crossed the Limpopo River, conquered the Mashona people, occupied the vast area between the Limpopo River and the Zambezi River, and established the Matabele Kingdom with its capital in Bulawayo.
Therefore, the country established by the Ndebele people, like Prussia, relied on the army to make its fortune. Its ruling class was a military aristocracy like the Junkers of Prussia, and its social organization was also divided according to military needs.
Men are divided into four categories. The first category, called "Ma Caicai", are teenagers who have not reached the age of recruitment. They herd livestock and receive preliminary military training. The second category, called "Machacha", are unmarried warriors. Warriors must achieve success in battle before they can get married. The third category, called "mantoto", were married warriors. The fourth category is called "Yingdonna", that is, military commanders.
The social structure of the Ndebele people is destined to have a very strong martial nature, and the Ndebele people have fought against the Boers and the Portuguese, and they are not uncivilized indigenous people.
The reason why East Africa was able to quickly seize the Matabele Plateau was because in 1868, the first leader of the Ndebele people, Mzilikazi, died. In 1869, the entire Matabele Belay The kingdom fell into a chaotic period of struggle for the throne. It was not until 1870 that Mzilika's son Lobengula inherited the throne. When the East African Kingdom invaded the Matabele Plateau, it was when the Ndebele people were seriously weakened. .
Constantine: "Sweite, you happen to be here, how do you think we should suppress this large-scale rebellion!"
As the chief of staff of the East African Army, Sweet analyzed: "Your Majesty, the military forces we can use at this time are mainly located in South Salzburg Province on the shores of Lake Malawi. The border defense forces and military forces in Zambia cannot be changed at will, and our troops in the Matabele Plateau are mainly concentrated on the borders with the Transvaal and Mozambique. Due to information constraints, they may not be aware of this rebellion. The news is not clear yet, and we dare not act rashly because of border security.”
As the hinterland of East Africa, Zambia’s military strength is actually not very strong, that is, it can just suppress the local indigenous people. It is dominated by militias, so it must not be dispatched at will. The Matabele Plateau was not solved, but instead caused the Zambian region of instability. East Africa's rule in Zambia is different from the restrained rule in Zimbabwe. It is a tough and repressive rule, relying on the East African Plateau as its rear area. East Africa is not afraid of resistance from the local Zambian indigenous people and can support Zambia from the East African Plateau at any time.
Zimbabwe is different. The restraint rule adopted by East Africa is to give full power to the local indigenous ruling class and temporarily maintain local stability. After Zambia is absorbed, the East African kingdom will its transformation.
As a result, it now seems that the Jisi rule is over. This is why Constantine is very angry. The Ndebele uprising is a slap in the face. In the areas under strong rule, The indigenous people are not popular, and as a result, in the slightly pleasant areas of East Africa, these indigenous people do not give the East African Kingdom any face. This is the so-called toasting and not eating, but the penalty wine.
Sweite continued: "Our troops stationed in the Lake Malawi area are used to defend against the Portuguese. Their mobility and equipment are among the best, so we will go south to the Matabele Plateau in time. The local rebellion can be quickly suppressed, and the border troops on the Matabele Plateau can also actively cooperate in the suppression after the information communication is smooth.”
The Ndebele uprising broke out almost instantly, because the central government still existed, and its monarch Lobengula should have completed the integration of all forces within the kingdom at this time. In addition, the East African troops on the Matabele Plateau were defeated by Mozambique and The Transvaal was restrained at the border, but not very strong in the interior, so Lobengula took advantage of the loophole.
Lobengula was a relatively promising monarch. Historically, after Lobengula succeeded to the throne, he continued to strengthen the military organization of the Matabele Kingdom and attached great importance to army construction. He supplemented his army with troops from conquered areas. At the same time, we will imitate the Zulu military training methods and purchase new firearms to improve the combat effectiveness of the troops. He also encouraged his tribe to intermarry with other tribes and maintain the original social structure of the conquered areas.
In this time and space, his development trajectory was interrupted by the emergence of the East African Kingdom. However, it seems now that even if history has changed, Lobengula still relied on his talents and still became Ndebe A leader whom the Lai people respect and admire.
After all, the East African Kingdom has never seen anyone who could organize such a large-scale uprising. Lobengula was the first indigenous person to impress the East African Kingdom.
However, Constantine has decided that the son cannot stay. The Ndebele uprising also sounded the alarm to Constantine, reminding him that the princely kingdom of Hechingen was annexed to Prussia because of the people. The cause of the uprising.
Constantine: "Sweite, this time it will be up to you to personally suppress the rebellion. I have the following requirements. Remember, first, Lobengula, a terrorist, must be caught. He must be seen alive and dead. Second, after the war, all the Ndebele people will be captured by me, and I will turn them all into slaves; third, all the solid people will be killed. All the rebels will be killed on the spot; finally, no indigenous people will be allowed to connect with each other, and we will rule them separately according to the region. "
Constantin is determined to capture the entire Ndebele people. The East African Plateau carried out the most cruel rule, letting them know the consequences of offending themselves.
At the same time, the Ndebele Uprising also gave itself a warning. The indigenous people must not be allowed to form the absolute core. Next, the East African Kingdom must destroy the central government of all indigenous forces in the territory to avoid the Ndebele Uprising. Reappear.
For the East African government, the Ndebele Uprising was a large-scale rebellion, and it was the first time East Africa encountered an organized and premeditated large-scale rebellion by indigenous people, so it must strike hard.
(End of this chapter)