African Entrepreneurship Record

Chapter 142: Chapter 132: First Stage Combat Mission Concluded

Subsequent conflicts between the East African armies and the Rwandan Kingdom and Ijara Kingdom were uneventful, facing little resistance; in fact, some indigenous inhabitants had already fled before the East African army arrived.

Learning from the example set by the nobility of the Burundi Kingdom, Rwanda and Ijara chose not to fight to the death with the East African colony but to relocate and start anew.

Look at the nobles of Burundi and Karaveli now, fleeing like dogs, heading all the way to the borders of Rwanda and Ijara, with most of their servants gone, taking much wealth with them.

Given the current state of the Rwandan and Ijara Kingdoms, the leadership lacks confidence in resisting the East African colony’s assault, and it’s unlikely the colony would accept their surrender. So, they might as well leave early.

By voluntarily yielding this land, they can preserve their strength and elite forces, relocating to Central and West Africa to show the indigenous people there a taste of civilization’s iron fist.

Just as the northwest countries faced a civilization gap against East Africa’s advanced weaponry, they have a similar advantage over the local tribal states.

Their iron-making and organizational capabilities exceed those of nomadic tribes, and these are not strictly agrarian nations, their martial valor remains, so they’re not afraid to face opponents of similar rank.

Add to this the northwest’s aristocrats are not reckless like the Eastern Bantu people; had the Bantu shown some charm to the local aristocrats, things wouldn’t have ended so disastrously.

The northwest aristocrats don’t mind having many chiefs of the Eastern Bantu below themselves but above the commoners.

But the Eastern Bantu tribes were arrogant, ignoring the feelings of local aristocrats, engaging in rampant slaughter and looting.

Even so, local aristocrats could turn a blind eye until the Eastern Bantu caused tragedies, attacking and plundering the wealth of the aristocrats.

This proved fatal for the northwest aristocrats, leading them to unite and suppress the Eastern Bantu.

This time, facing East African colonial invasion, the Rwandan and Ijara Kingdoms did not intend to fight desperately again; they simply couldn’t afford it.

The East African colony wanted land, not their lives, wealth, or slaves. There’s plenty of land in Africa, they could give some to the Germans and find another area to settle, anywhere but the Sahara Desert would do.

As a result, the leadership of the two kingdoms sent envoys to the East African colony, requesting their armies hold off, promising to leave voluntarily, to which the colonial government gladly agreed.

Thus, a harmonious scene unfolded within the two kingdoms, where the nobles of Rwanda and Ijara gathered their belongings (including slaves) to traverse north, encountering a new start in Central and West Africa, as the East African army leisurely accepted the lands.

Rwanda and Ijara decided to join forces, starting anew in Central and West Africa to establish territories, attacking distant tribes and neutralizing proximate ones.

This was not a strategic military maneuver, but because the Central African tribes, scattered and decentralized, could not unite.

The two kingdoms just need to take one step at a time to establish new states in Central and West Africa.

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June 27, 1868.

Following closely, the East African army advanced to Ruhengeri, Rwanda’s largest northern city, signaling the end of conflict within Rwanda.

June 30.

The entirety of the Ijara Kingdom fell, and the East African colony pressed to the borders of the Enkole Kingdom and Buganda Kingdom.

July 1.

The first phase of combat operations was largely completed, and the southern four nations fully fell into East African colonial control.

This campaign added approximately 83,000 square kilometers of land to the East African colony (excluding water areas).

In the brief period of warfare, the colonial government relocated new immigrants to these areas, reaching 80,000 people, making it one of East Africa’s most densely populated regions, quickly surpassing several large districts in the central and western regions.

Of course, this newly acquired territory’s infrastructure was not ideal, but it was far superior to the Omo River Basin, having been developed by indigenous kingdoms over the years, with some fields and roads usable, requiring only minor modifications.

Additionally, many Southern Germans were settled here along with Paraguayan orphans, balancing ethnicity, gender, and age, primarily enabling a population of young laborers, making the demographic more stable.

As long as the integration with Soron Lake and the Great Lakes Region was ensured, maintaining smooth communication and transportation, the East African colonial rule was fully consolidated.

This rapid advance naturally left some indigenous peoples unpurged, thoughtfully organized by the East African colony to be sent to the Rwandan and Ijara Kingdoms for their new enterprises, in Enkole Kingdom’s territory, the East African armies escorted them to the borders.

The fall of the southern four nations naturally shocked the northern four, especially the Enkole Kingdom and Buganda Kingdom, which strengthened their military presence at boundaries adjoining East Africa.

The indigenous peoples recently entered production were recalled to rejoin the army, with Enkole weakened in national strength while Buganda faced the pressure of dual-front warfare, leaving both kingdoms in poor circumstances.

If the second stage of warfare erupted, its impact compared to the first stage remained uncertain, as the northern four didn’t suffer fundamental damage from previous Eastern Bantu invasions, especially with Tu Rou Kingdom and Gitarra Kingdom sheltered by Enkole and Buganda Kingdoms, sustaining no losses.

Thus, the confidence of the northern four in resisting the East African colony formed their basis of confrontation, whereas Rwanda and Ijara were already ruined by preceding Eastern Bantu turmoil, selling off grandpa’s land without hesitation, while the core interests of the northern four remained intact.

The strong resistance of the northern four posed challenges for the second phase of operations, with East Africa’s advantage lying in having ample personnel at borders once this phase commenced.

A significant advantage in the second stage over the first is the double-front warfare, allowing East Africa to attack from both southern and eastern directions, leveraging Buganda Kingdom’s majority population along the Great Lake (Lake Victoria) shoreline, simplifying military and material transportation through water, directly targeting Buganda’s capital, Mongol.

Mongol is only a little over 150 kilometers from Kisumu, and using vessels, it would take merely two to three days to strike Mongol, the Buganda Kingdom’s brain.