African Entrepreneurship Record

Chapter 66: Chapter 62 Fierce Battle

Bazir, leading over twenty staff members, was escorting the carriage heading east. After traveling for about two hours, roughly ten miles, they encountered the East African colonial army coming toward them.

Felix stepped forward to greet Bazir, ”Bazir, what are you all doing out here? What’s the situation in Zanzibar now?”

”Alas...” Bazir sighed.

”There was a coup in the Sultanate of Zanzibar. Bagash Bin Said took control of the army and imprisoned Sultan Magid Bin Said. We were driven out by Bagash Bin Said’s people.”

”Where did the immigrants go? The ship should have arrived today, right?” Felix asked.

”The ship that came today was from Europe, and I sent them north to the port of Tanga,” Bazir replied.

Felix squinted his eyes into slits and spoke in a deep voice, ”These Zanzibarians have really developed quite some nerve. If the tiger doesn’t show its might, do they really think we’re sick cats? We must teach them a lesson this time!”

Bazir asked in surprise, ”You’re not planning to retaliate right away, are you? Won’t you wait for the main force to arrive before taking action?”

Felix said disdainfully, ”I do not concern myself with Zanzibar’s army; I’ll teach them a lesson shortly.”

Bazir expressed some concern, ”Don’t overexert yourself. If things go wrong, it won’t be easy to clean up the mess.” As he said this, he signaled Hans Zhang with his eyes to try and dissuade Felix.

Hans Zhang placed a hand on Bazir’s shoulder in comfort, ”Don’t worry, Felix knows his limits. His actions may be bold, but we won’t undertake anything unless we’re confident it will succeed. Besides, we’re not legless; if things don’t go well, we can always run.”

Seeing that these two guys wouldn’t heed his advice, Bazir helplessly asked, ”Then how do you plan to take action?”

Felix responded, ”Of course, we’ll first scout the situation before making any plans. We’re not brainless, rushing blindly into danger without a plan.”

Felix, who had been in East Africa for so long, usually fought against unmodernized indigenous people. He hadn’t needed to use his brain much; a simple volley of shots was enough to easily claim victory.

Now facing an opponent with a bit of a challenge, it felt like finding rain after a long drought; he was itching for action.

”You guys might as well not go back. Since we’re not many in number, you can join us. I’ll lead you back to Dar es Salaam,” Felix said to Bazir and his group.

”Alright, we’ll trust you this time. We’re your subordinates now, but don’t mess around,” Bazir replied.

Bazir was once a Prussian soldier and wasn’t particularly fearful of combat; he was just a bit more prudent by nature.

”Rest assured! I came to East Africa for the high salary. My family is waiting for me to return! I value my life greatly and haven’t enjoyed it yet, so how could I act recklessly?” Felix said, thumping his chest in assurance.

The German soldiers in the colony were indeed hired for high wages. Aside from a basic salary, they were rewarded based on battle achievements. Each time they accumulated military merit, money followed. Though each battle didn’t yield much, there were plenty of battles to fight in East Africa.

Accumulated over time, the income became considerable. This was also why Felix and others rejoiced at the prospect of war, especially against forces like Zanzibar, which had civilization and a formed state in East Africa. A single battle there could equal several campaigns against savage tribes.

Ernst’s instructions for the colony were to act according to plan; every expansion had a direction. Going beyond the boundaries meant working for Ernst for free.

Regarding the Sultanate of Zanzibar, Ernst’s directive was: If people do not offend me, I do not offend them. As long as the Sultanate of Zanzibar posed no threat to the East African colony, no trouble should be made.

Students from the Heixinggen Military Academy and people sent by the consortium would check the effect and details of the war. They didn’t earn money through military merit, so they wouldn’t become overly enthusiastic about war.

Previously, the Sultanate of Zanzibar hadn’t targeted the East African colony, hence people like Felix couldn’t find an excuse to act. Now that the Sultanate of Zanzibar had acted recklessly, Felix would not be polite.

...

In the evening, the weather turned slightly cool.

Outside the city of Zanzibar.

Felix and his group were hiding in the forest not far from the city, waiting for the intelligence personnel to return.

Soon, a person dressed in Arab attire emerged from Dar es Salaam and entered the dense forest.

”Report, sir. The situation is clear; the enemy hasn’t imposed martial law. Ordinary people can still go in and out normally, there are no soldiers visible on the streets. Bagash Bin Said is now in control of Zanzibar, with his people in the palace...”

”Very well, take a rest,” Felix instructed.

He turned to the people around him and said, ”Looks like this Bagash Bin Said is truly not someone capable of accomplishing great things. He doesn’t even know not to provoke those he shouldn’t. And now, he’s not even acting cautiously.”

”Not particularly surprising. From my years of experience in Southeast Asia, many leaders of these small countries are like this; arrogance is not uncommon,” Bazir said.

”When it gets dark, we’ll take advantage of the night to catch them off guard,” Felix said, clenching his fist confidently against his chest.

As he spoke, he pulled out a map of Dar es Salaam, pointing at the palace marked on it.

”To catch the thief, first catch the king. We’ll head straight to the enemy’s command post and let Bagash Bin Said taste the feeling of being captured himself.”

...

At seven in the evening, the sky had darkened. The East African colonial army sneaked into the city. Entry was smooth. The Dar es Salaam palace, located in the city’s center, was a three-story building.

Bagash Bin Said was holding a victory banquet. As the first-time ruler, Bagash Bin Said felt everything went too smoothly today: taking over the regime, abolishing outdated systems, and expelling the Germans from the port of Dar es Salaam.

All of this was accomplished in one day, and Bagash Bin Said held a grand feast to commemorate the smoothness of his first day.

Due to religious doctrines, there was no alcohol on the table—aside from coffee, there were coconuts.

Bagash Bin Said held a coconut and addressed everyone, ”Today is the greatest day in the history of Zanzibar...”

Before he finished speaking, chaos suddenly erupted outside the palace, and intermittent gunfire ”bang, bang, bang...” was heard.

”What’s happening? Abdullah, go and take a look!” Bagash Bin Said shouted angrily, ”Who is missing today?”

The first thought Bagash Bin Said had was about the remnants of Magid Bin Said.

The ministers present looked at each other in dismay. At this moment, only Bagash Bin Said had the manpower, right? Could it be the Germans from the East African colony? It shouldn’t be!

Even if they wanted to retaliate, they would need to gather forces, which would take two or three days to arrive!

Although everyone knew that there were about two to three hundred East African colonial troops not far from Dar es Salaam, two to three hundred people wouldn’t be so reckless!

This is due to not understanding Felix’s personality, the added spirit of the Prussian military.

Although Prussia is seen as a war-crazy nation in the eyes of Europeans, in the eyes of the great powers, the quality of the Prussian army was just okay.

Before Prussia took down the French, they didn’t count as top players in Europe, even though they previously defeated Austria.

But it is tacitly agreed that Prussia’s victory was due to Austria’s state—dealing with domestic Hungarian and other regional nationalism, Italy’s side attack, Austria’s insufficient preparation, and Prussia quickly negotiating with Austria, leading to a war of low intensity.

And Prussia’s most glorious achievement under Frederick the Great, facing three adversaries at once, is attributed to Frederick’s own genius military ability, as it was the Russians letting up that allowed Prussia to escape crisis.

Prussia was eventually reduced to ruins, and later characters like Napoleon emerged, dominating the entire German region, with Austria being in slightly better shape.

Felix is one of those extreme lower-level soldiers in Prussia, retiring from the army only because of age.

However, Felix couldn’t stay idle. Not fighting in Europe, can’t he bully the natives in Africa?

The African natives disappointed Felix greatly; not a single one could fight. So, naturally, he had to test his strength against a somewhat formidable Zanzibar.

Outside the palace, Felix comfortably commanded the battle; the Zanzibar soldiers were too weak, in Felix’s opinion.

”First squad, throwers ready, aim and throw all towards the main gate.”

Due to the conditions of the East African colony, apart from Tanga port’s coastal artillery, grenades were the only large-scale destructive weapon.

In Europe, countries due to the prevalence of artillery and the upgrading of fortifications, the importance of throwers diminished.

In East Africa, grenades become ”nuclear weapons,” and among the natives, however tough they are, a grenade would send them fleeing.

For that matter, there were people like Leopold who used magnifying glasses to set fires and batteries to shock natives in the Congo, playing the villain as a deity.

The power of grenades seemed to unleash the wrath of death, and the world-unseen natives would even prostrate themselves, beseeching divine forgiveness.

Zanzibar, which had ”advanced” troops with rudimentary artillery, wouldn’t flee in fear of grenades like the natives.

However, Felix didn’t intend to use grenades to crush Zanzibar.

Zanzibar’s palace, a not-small three-story building constructed of bricks and stone, serves as the palace. Due to time constraints, Zanzibar’s soldiers could only rely on the palace walls for a desperate stand.

The palace’s doors and windows became rare shooting ports, so Felix concentrated ammunition hoping to break through from the entrance.

”Boom...” A loud explosion, half the palace’s gate collapsed.

The Zanzibar soldiers before the gate were sent to Allah, and those behind lay moaning, as the twisted structure of the palace made it difficult to fill the gap promptly.

Hearing no gunfire in front of the palace, Felix drew his saber, raised it pointing forward, and shouted, ”Soldiers, victory is before us, charge with me!”

”Kill...”

Due to the darkness, Zanzibar soldiers couldn’t ascertain the enemy’s numbers, so they dared not fight outside the palace; when the colonial troops suddenly attacked, they retreated inside.

Inside the palace, restricted by terrain, it was even harder to fight back and were blocked by the well-equipped East African colonial soldiers.

The smarter ones had already fled in the dark, and Abdullah, who came following the sounds, was captured by four or five East African colonial soldiers before he could even give orders.

The Zanzibar soldiers were unwilling to resist; some fled through windows, others roamed in confusion inside the building; at this moment, who cared about the palace, life was the priority.