Chapter 391 Sheep entering the tiger's mouth
The Kingdom of Swaziland is a little-known small country. Even historically, the British only turned it into a semi-colonial country in 1907. Generally, only two British people did this. In this situation, one is that it cannot be eaten, and the other is that it is really worthless. The Kingdom of Swaziland belongs to the latter.
But now the Swazi people are in bad luck. As the saying goes, if people sit at home, disaster will come from the sky. A group of troops who don't know where they came from directly attacked the Kingdom of Swaziland.
The Kingdom of Swaziland is just a small country with a population of tens of thousands. Don’t look at Swaziland’s small area and small population. In fact, the area where Swaziland is located is one of the most densely populated areas in Africa. one.
In the 19th century, the entire population of Africa was only more than 90 million, of which Egypt (including Sudan) and the Abyssinian Empire accounted for more than 20 million, and the East African Kingdom and black people accounted for more than 2,700 Ten thousand, three countries account for almost half of Africa's population. If we exclude the North African countries of Morocco, Tunisia, and Algeria, the population of other regions in Africa may only be about 40 million. This shows that Africa, especially sub-Saharan Africa How sparsely populated the land is.
This is mainly due to the low level of civilization of black people who originated in West Africa. As a result, they are still in the primitive social stage after spreading to the entire region. In primitive societies, the population growth is basically constant. Although there are many births, there are also many deaths.
So the environment has a great influence on the African population. The coast of the Nile River in Egypt, the Great Lakes region of East Africa, the Abyssinian Empire, West Africa, the Mediterranean coast of North Africa, the Lake Malawi region and the northeastern region of South Africa are the current regions of Africa. Several densely populated areas.
Swaziland is located in the northeastern region of South Africa, next to Maputo, the capital of the Portuguese colony of Mozambique, the Kingdom of Zulu, the British colony of Natal, the Republic of Transvaal, as well as East Africa and Mozambique The buffer state between them - the Gaza Empire (indigenous country).
Swaziland is less than a hundred kilometers away from Maputo. After East Africa occupies this place, it can pose a direct threat to the capital of Mozambique.
The King of Swaziland stood next to Felix and introduced the situation of the Kingdom of Swaziland to Felix.
"The east of my country is the country of the Portuguese, and the southeast is the barbarians of the Zulu Kingdom. A few years ago, the west was occupied by the Boers. Because the land is barren and the terrain is complex, generally no one will come to our country. Come to the Kingdom of Silan.”
I have to say that the Swazi people are relatively casual and have the same origin as the Zulu people, but they have completely different personalities. They directly chose to surrender after encountering the East African army. , no hesitation at all.
This made Felix very helpless. He originally thought that since the country was an indigenous country, there should always be wars to enjoy, but in the end, they did not resist at all.
Felix: "Well, I know this very well. This place is indeed not suitable for human habitation."
But this is not the reason why the Kingdom of Swaziland can continue to exist. This time in East Africa The strategic intention is obviously to control the Transvaal and the Zulu Kingdom, and the Kingdom of Swaziland is located at a key point south of East Africa.
"Your attitude should be unique in Africa in terms of performance, so I will react to the Kingdom of Swaziland on how to deal with it and strive for some good conditions for you." Felix said.
How to deal with the issue of the Kingdom of Swaziland is indeed difficult to handle. Everyone has been so cooperative. Of course, we can’t be too rude. This matter should be left to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to have a headache in the future!
At this moment, the messenger suddenly came over and reported: "Commander-in-Chief, our people found an unknown force in the southeast, and they are coming towards Swaziland."
Felix: "Armed by unknown forces! What's going on?"
"It's a white armed force, but I don't know if it's Portuguese or Boer armed forces."
"How many people are there?"
"There should be three or four thousand people."
Felix turned to the King of Swaziland and asked: "You have offended Swaziland recently. People!"
"How is this possible, General! Our Kingdom of Swaziland has always loved peace."
Of course, the King of Swaziland said so, but he didn't mean it in his heart. I think the main reason is that Swaziland has a small population and poor military strength, otherwise they would have left this poor place long ago. The Kingdom of Swaziland has been here since the 16th century and has no chance to expand outwards. Mainly because the Zulu people, who are all compatriots, are too aggressive and are desperate lunatics. As for the indigenous kingdoms in the north, they have no influence on Swaziland. For Lan people, it is a "big country".
Felix said to the messenger: "Let our people stop them. If they are Portuguese, then invite their commander over to talk. If they are Boers, then fight directly. . ”
If you don’t take the initiative to ask, you may not be able to tell where you are from. There is no clue about the appearance of the Portuguese and Boer armed forces.
At this time, the Boers on the mountainside were also confused. There were actually people from other forces here! Isn’t it said that Swaziland is a black kingdom?
So both sides looked at each other carefully. At this time, someone had recognized the East African military uniforms. They were probably the East Africans who invaded the Transvaal.
"Who are you?" the East African soldier shouted.
The soldiers from the Transvaal Republic on the other side heard this and said
“It’s German, it seems to be East Africa!”
“What should we do now!”
The Boer commander said: "Ignore them, we will return the same way for the time being."
At this time, Felix's messenger had arrived, "Commander Belk, the commander said that if there are Boers on the other side, they will stay."
Although it is not yet clear whether the Boers on the other side are Boers, but Seeing the opponent trying to run away, Belk couldn't sit still.
"Send my military order, don't let the Boers on the opposite side run away!"
Currently, Belk only has one brigade of troops, but the Boers are tired of traveling and traveling up the mountain. It was extremely physically demanding and left the East African Army waiting for work.
As the bugle sounded, the Second Brigade of the Mountain Division came out like a tiger. Belk took the lead and led the troops to rush directly towards the Boers.
This put the Boers who originally wanted to sneak away in an instant dilemma. Coupled with the terrain restrictions of the mountain road, they could not disperse. The retreat turned into a rout, and a stampede was unavoidable. The entire army was in a mess. On the other hand, the East African Army was in a high position. The advantage of playing low was brought into play, and the mountain division was obviously more adaptable to this kind of terrain, and they were able to walk quickly on the Drakensberg Mountain Road. In less than two hours, the East African Mountain Division ended the battle, and all the main Boers were captured.
Felix, who heard the sound of fighting, also led his troops and asked the captured Boer commander: "Are you the main force of the Transvaal Republic?"
"Yes, sir!"
"Then why did you appear in Swaziland?"
"Oh, because Pretoria urgently summoned our troops to return to defense, As a result, the Zulu Kingdom noticed our abnormality, so the Zulu people sent out heavy troops to encircle and suppress us. Although we tried hard to get rid of the Zulu people, we were unable to open a breakthrough. In the end, we had no choice but to use the Kingdom of Swaziland to , and then turned back to the Transvaal."
After hearing this, Felix immediately laughed out loud. This did not work out, but instead, he was given military glory for nothing.
(End of this chapter)