African Entrepreneurship Record

Chapter 140: Chapter 130: Eager to Try

”Report, sir! Kayanja City has been taken. Our men are now cleaning up the battlefield,” the person in charge reported to Arman.

”Very good, everyone, well done. We’ve achieved a great victory this time, and everyone will get an extra meal tonight,” Arman said.

The Battle of Kayanja was the first major battle of the northwest expansion war. Although the enemy’s performance was less than satisfactory, leaving some war enthusiasts wanting more, encountering a somewhat decent battle after so many days was a bit like enjoying a rare feast.

Arman walked down the streets of Kayanja. The streets of Kayanja were in chaos, with what remained scattered all around. Some house doors were even torn off, and several bodies were laid on either side of the road.

Upon closer inspection, one could see that none of them died from gunshots. The dark skin bore muddy footprints, clearly trampled by those fleeing.

Before the East African troops entered Kayanja, these natives, who died from the stampede, lay scattered throughout Kayanja’s streets. It was only after the East African soldiers entered the city that they moved the bodies to the roadside and organized them.

In terms of area, Kayanja is not large by European standards, more like a small town’s district. Thus, Kayanja’s residents could flee in a short time. But with so many people packed into such a small city, especially with the city having only four gates, three of which were blocked by East Africa, leaving only the north gate open for escape, a stampede was inevitable, leaving Kayanja in utter disarray.

After the battlefield was cleared, the East African army’s results were as follows: The city gate (south) collapsed and crushed seven enemies, twelve natives died in the stampede, East African soldiers killed sixteen enemies, and forty-seven natives were captured, including injured natives and children (who did not escape).

No East African soldiers were harmed, and they successfully took an empty city, advancing the frontline further into Rwanda and completing the task of expelling the native population from Kayanja.

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With the capture of Kayanja, the Kingdom of Burundi was basically finished. Subsequently, the East African troops in the region of the Kingdom of Burundi would not encounter any meaningful resistance.

Beyond Kayanja, it’s only a dozen kilometers to the border between the Kingdom of Rwanda and the Kingdom of Burundi. Thus, the Battle of Kayanja also signified that the Burundi front was basically wrapping up.

Compared to the Burundi front, the resistance encountered on the Karaveli front was even more insignificant. As a kingdom devastated the most by the Eastern Bantu people, even the king and central government of the Karavel Kingdom were eliminated by them.

With the Karavel Kingdom falling into chaos and leaderless, it could not resist the Eastern Bantu invasion, and many local nobles took the opportunity to defect from the Karavel Kingdom, joining the neighboring Buganda Kingdom and Ijara Kingdom.

These two countries indeed needed manpower to resist the Eastern Bantu, so they gladly accepted the nobles who brought their populations, using them to absorb the first wave of the Eastern Bantu’s impact.

So before the East African colonies invaded the Karavel Kingdom, this nation was already in name only, with the central government collapsed and border nobles fleeing. Fortunately, those nobles who couldn’t escape fought desperately against the Eastern Bantu, and with the support of neighboring countries such as Buganda, they finally defeated the invading enemy.

However, after the war with the Eastern Bantu ended, support for the Karavel Kingdom’s nobles from various countries ceased. For a kingdom like Karavel, constantly preparing for war with farmlands left desolate, this was a catastrophic blow.

In truth, even if East Africa did not invade the Karavel Kingdom, this native nation could not escape its fate of destruction.

If it weren’t for the great damages caused by the Eastern Bantu to the northwest countries, and other countries being eager to restore order and production post-war, with no time to bother with the Karavel Kingdom, countries like Buganda would have already divided up the Karavel Kingdom.

No need for Buganda and other countries to act now, as they have no time, but East Africa does. The East African army, in the territory of the Karavel Kingdom, drove the indigenous population like pigs towards the direction of the Buganda Kingdom and Ijara Kingdom.

Although the population of the Karavel Kingdom and the Kingdom of Burundi had already suffered greatly at the hands of the Eastern Bantu, the survivors hardly add up to sixty or seventy thousand. Compared to the original million Bantu, they are insignificant, but for those northern countries wanting to restore order and production, these sixty or seventy thousand refugees definitely spell disaster again.

”These natives should be running north. Running west only to eventually head north anyway is a complete waste of effort,” said John Qiao, the staff officer of the Western Route Army on the Karaveli battlefield, to Jia Ochirbat.

”Qiao, the natives don’t know our operational intentions. They are merely fleeing in the opposite direction of our advance. I bet these natives have never seen a map in their lifetime, so it’s no surprise they fled westward,” Jia Ochirbat said.

”But speaking of which, we haven’t encountered a decent enemy all the way. Ochirbat, it seems this time you won’t have the chance to surpass Felix,” John Qiao joked to Jia Ochirbat.

”Even if we defeat ten of these native kingdoms, it doesn’t compare to overthrowing the Sultanate of Zanzibar. To compete with that fellow Felix, you can’t just rely on these weakling native countries,” Jia Ochirbat said.

”I’ve already found the arena to compete with Felix. In the second phase, Felix will definitely attack the Buganda Kingdom from the northern part of East Africa. By then, we’ll have the chance to face him and see who enters the capital of Buganda first.”

The Felix that Jia Ochirbat is so keen on is the one who single-handedly conquered the Sultanate of Zanzibar last time.

Since Felix achieved such great results last time, he was promoted to commander-in-chief of the northern theater of the East African colonies, overseeing the entire Kenya colony.

Currently, the troops under Felix’s command are stationed at the capital of the Western Kenya district, Kisumu, which is why Felix missed out on this war against the four southeastern nations.

As the top military achiever of East Africa with accomplishments that include the destruction of a nation, Felix’s achievements are quite significant. Despite the downfall of the Sultanate of Zanzibar, it was once a major power of the Indian Ocean.

Though Felix’s victory may have some element of chance, it does not stop his peers from wanting to compete with him.

Jia Ochirbat is one of those people. Jia Ochirbat and Felix have an unusual relationship, not only are they from the same village, but they also served in the same Prussian military unit.

While in the Prussian army, Felix’s performance was as mediocre as Jia Ochirbat’s; they were just rank-and-file soldiers. But after coming to East Africa, Felix seemed to have found his stride, achieving brilliant results.

This was quite a stimulus for Jia Ochirbat. As someone from the same village, Jia Ochirbat knows Felix inside out, and in the army, their performance was similar. Yet, once in East Africa, his former colleague showed extraordinary talent, and Jia Ochirbat naturally couldn’t just accept this.

So Jia Ochirbat wanted to see whether Felix was simply lucky or truly had some skill. And to see if someone has true ability, a direct competition is needed for the clearest view.