African Entrepreneurship Record

Chapter 79: Chapter 75: The Great Escape

Early morning.

The sun slowly rose from the horizon.

The fiery sunlight illuminated the entire savannah of East Africa, where the animals were grazing.

Suddenly, their sensitive ears perked up and twitched slightly.

In the distance, a hurried and chaotic sound of footsteps came.

”Bang... Bang... Bang...”

The sound of gunfire shattered the tranquility of the savannah.

The animals, who had never heard gunfire before, were bewildered, staring to the west with vigilance.

Soon, a group of people appeared before their eyes.

Some animals, without finishing their grazing, began to flee in all directions.

The newcomers were none other than the indigenous people of East Africa, about forty to fifty of them, running towards this direction, out of breath.

As a memory engraved in their genes.

These Black people, armed with spears and carrying bows and arrows, instinctively awakened the ancient memories within the animals.

”Danger!” This was the animals’ instinct.

But the Black people were not in good shape either.

Judging by their appearance, they had clearly lost the courage they usually had to deal with wild beasts and were panicking.

They were disorganized, with no sense of teamwork, only thinking of escaping this place as quickly as possible.

A hundred meters behind them, one could see a group of colonial soldiers and militiamen from East Africa.

A·Thor.

The sheriff of Luo’an Village in the northern highlands.

Riding a black steed, he led the soldiers from the village and the conscripted villagers, pursuing the Black indigenous people ahead.

He did not gallop too fast so that his subordinates could keep up, as after all, two legs cannot outrun four.

Of course, the indigenous people ahead were an exception, for A·Thor had never seen people run so quickly.

A·Thor and his men had been pursuing these Black people all night.

Just yesterday, following the orders of the East African colonial government, A·Thor destroyed a nearby indigenous tribe.

In the vast savannah of East Africa, the density of Black people was not high, and the tribe of these Black people was actually the only tribe within a hundred-mile radius of Luo’an Village.

A·Thor easily demolished their tribe, yet a group of resisters refused to surrender and took advantage of the chaos to escape.

A·Thor personally led his team to capture these fugitives, but as it was getting late, he and his subordinates did not immediately catch up with the fleeing indigenous people.

Today, following the tracks, A·Thor quickly caught up with the indigenous people, whose strength was gradually waning.

It was A·Thor and his team who had just fired warning shots.

But upon hearing the gunfire, the Black people didn’t slow down; instead, they ran even faster.

To these Black people, the guns in the hands of the colonizers were devil’s weapons that roared like demons, and those chosen by the demons were destined for hell.

The instinct for survival filled every fiber of their beings, and with a final burst of energy, they charged forward desperately, hoping to escape these agents of the devil.

These indigenous people, who had spent years racing against African wild beasts, truly had remarkable stamina, quickly widening the gap between themselves and A·Thor’s group.

”Damn it, what have they been eating to run so fast!” A·Thor fumed.

”Everyone, continue the pursuit. We absolutely must not let them escape today.”

For a moment, everything that could move on the savannah was running — the startled animals, the frightened indigenous people, and the colonial soldiers pursuing them.

Gradually, A·Thor suddenly ordered, ”Halt the advance.”

A·Thor had sharp eyesight; he had spotted a river in the distance, halting the indigenous people’s steps.

”Now, let’s see how you plan to escape. Everyone prepare, we’re going to encircle them slowly.”

Meanwhile, the Black people were desperately staring at the river in front of them. Having lived on the savannah most of their lives, aside from fetching water, these indigenous people rarely swam.

Were they going to perish here?

Of course not, as a few indigenous people who knew how to swim had already started trying to cross the river.

A·Thor saw this from afar and hurriedly ordered, ”The river might not be deep, we absolutely can’t let them escape again, charge!”

However, the situation turned out to be different from what A·Thor had envisioned.

The few indigenous people who had gotten into the river were just about to swim across when suddenly, there were screams of agony.

The indigenous people on the bank were about to attempt crossing, only to see their companions, amidst shrieks, being dragged underwater by something.

Several crocodiles, clamping onto the indigenous people in the river, surfaced.

The river water immediately turned crimson with blood.

A·Thor was inwardly delighted, exclaiming, ”God bless us.”

Seeing that crossing the river was also a dead end, the Black people gave up resisting.

They laid down their weapons and knelt on the ground, begging A·Thor and his men for mercy.

As for the final resistance, who could fight against demons? Running was daring enough; defiance was out of the question.

A·Thor leisurely rode his horse to the front of these Black indigenous people.

The thought of these indigenous people wasting so much of his effort made him furious.

He raised his whip and lashed fiercely at the bare backs of these indigenous people.

Seeing that A·Thor was not using the demon-roaring thing to kill them but merely whipping them instead, the indigenous people felt relieved.

Lying on the ground, speaking in odd languages, they begged for forgiveness and continuously kowtowed.

Having vented his pent-up frustration, A·Thor finally ceased punishing these ungrateful indigenous people.

He said to his subordinates, ”Tie them up with ropes and escort them back.”

The indigenous people were tied up by the colonial soldiers, forming a long line.

With guns pointing at them, everyone slowly moved in the direction of return.

...

This scene played out repeatedly on the East African land, though there were exceptions.

Some tribes, capable of resistance and refusing to surrender until death, adhered to the principle of fleeing when outmatched, heading deeper into the continent.

This was what the colonial forces wanted to see, as long as these indigenous people moved westward, they would be on the run anywhere within the East African colonial boundaries.

And the only viable paths for them to survive were either northwest towards Uganda, Burundi, and Rwanda, or southwest towards Zambia and Zimbabwe.

The colony used a pocket formation to drive these indigenous people, as Kenya to the north was the direction of the East African colony’s future expansion, a sparsely populated arid region, making it unlikely for the colony to complicate matters for itself.

The southern area was under Portuguese influence, also making it difficult to maneuver. The east was already within the grasp of the East African colony, naturally preventing any escape.

As for capturing those small tribes, it was mainly to continue trading with the Sultanate of Zanzibar, recycling funds.

Most indigenous people, however, were herded into the western inland areas.

Without resources and only manpower, they inevitably fought for land and resources with the original indigenous tribes and states to survive.

Creating chaos across the western interior entirely served the interests of the East African colony.

On one hand, it disrupted the more developed indigenous nations’ systems, destroying their potential resistance capabilities.

On the other hand, these indigenous people would be caught in inter-tribal warfare, providing an opportunity to reduce their numbers, something Ernst wouldn’t do himself.

Though there was no justification for the colonizers’ actions, a direct versus indirect involvement still differed significantly.

In the previous life, Leopold of Belgium was so detested that people spat upon his name, calling him a beast; his conduct was just too disgraceful.

Although all were colonizers, Leopold’s approach was so crude that even the English and French appeared saintly by comparison.

Only the Japanese could salvage Belgium’s reputation, as nobody was more barbaric in inhumane actions than the Japanese.

This led Ernst to a bold idea: if Leopold was so ”outstanding,” perhaps in this timeline he could help him.

After all, Ernst knew he himself couldn’t escape the stain of history, so finding someone more vile to stand before him might make himself seem somewhat normal.

Just like the Americans, instead of discussing Native Americans, engage in debates about human rights issues.