African Entrepreneurship Record

As the saying goes: ”Cheap goods are not good, and good goods are not cheap.” East Africa soon experienced Spain’s pain.

In May 1897, with the withdrawal of Spanish troops, East Africa smoothly took over several Spanish strongholds on Mindanao Island, and directly redeployed part of the Lan Fang overseas provincial garrison to station on Mindanao Island.

”The Moro people are the main inhabitants of the island, following the Green Sect, which is also the reason why the Moro are difficult to deal with. Under Spanish rule, most of Luzon Island in the north believed in Christianity, so the Moro people’s hatred towards ’infidels’ is innate. They are not as easily conquered as the indigenous people in northern Philippines. Moreover, the geography of Mindanao Island is complex, with lush vegetation. Therefore, despite several Spanish encirclements of the Moro people, the results were minimal. Instead, the Spaniards could only operate in a few coastal strongholds and promised the Moro people a high degree of autonomy, making their rule nominal.”

Intelligence personnel from the National Defense Security Bureau introduced the situation of the island to the first East African Governor stationed on Mindanao Island.

”In fact, the term ’Moro’ is the Spanish collective term for the island’s Green Sect followers. They are divided into several ethnic groups and tribes internally, but because of their unified faith, they are more united.”

In reality, Mindanao Island has always been the most turbulent area in the Philippines, where the local Moro people not only fiercely resisted the Spaniards but continued to do so when the Americans arrived. Even the Americans failed to establish effective control over the area.

Therefore, the United States gradually engaged in political negotiations with the southern Muslims, successively signing the Kiram-Bates Treaty with the Moro Sultan and the Sultanate of Maguindanao. According to the treaty, the Americans did not enter the southern Philippines, and affairs within the region were autonomously managed by the Moro people.

Later, through immigration methods, the United States and the Philippine government gradually changed the local demographic structure, transforming the Moro people, who originally made up 100% of the population, into a minority, thereby achieving overall stability in the area.

However, until the 21st century, Mindanao Island remained a region in the Philippines with strong separatist sentiments, plagued by warlords, separatist forces, independent armed groups, and fragmented governance.

Facing such a complex situation, the East African Governor stationed on Mindanao Island, Berkeley, also wore a solemn expression.

”Currently, the areas we can control are limited to Zamboanga and Davao, but consolidating rule here will be very challenging,” Berkeley remarked.

Zamboanga can be considered well-situated, located at the western end of Mindanao Island, and was Spain’s most important stronghold on the island. Although Davao is not yet a directly governed city in the Philippines and is only a small town, its favorable port conditions led East Africa to choose to land at these two locations.

”During Spanish rule, Zamboanga frequently faced attacks from the Moro, occurring three times just last year. As for Davao, the situation is slightly better because our people are mainly concentrated there, already establishing an advantage locally,” the National Defense Security Bureau personnel said.

The name Zamboanga alone suggests its long history, while Davao has not yet made a name for itself. Therefore, the National Defense Security Bureau easily established a foothold there.

This area also happens to have the highest number of Chinese on Mindanao Island. Apart from Zamboanga and the Davao developed by the East African National Defense Security Bureau, the rest of the island is virtually undeveloped. Even if East African natives ventured into these regions, tears would likely be shed.

It is not random talk; after all, one can discern from the island’s religious demographics that the Green Sect originally arose in desert areas, and the tropical rainforest climate is akin to a ”green desert,” aligning with this faith’s population distribution.

Of course, this also relates to the commercial activities of the Green Sect, especially in ancient times, where the Green Sect represented a higher level of civilization compared to these indigenous people. Additionally, being in proximity provided early opportunities for influence, naturally making the local indigenous population more susceptible to conversion.

”Therefore, in order to establish effective rule on the island, the first step is to pacify the Moro people on the island. Otherwise, this place may become East Africa’s most turbulent and costly colony.”

Although the Lan Fang Overseas Province is also in Nanyang, with a predominantly Chinese population, East Africa’s rule there proceeded smoothly. However, in the Green Sect regions, things are unlikely to be so straightforward. East Africa had already experienced this in Zanzibar. Back then, the Zanzibar people had significant ties with Oman, allowing them a potential escape route, preventing them from engaging in a life-or-death struggle with East Africa.

Mindanao Island is different. The Moro people’s stance against external invaders is resolute, and it is generally acknowledged, even by Berkeley, that Mindanao Island is not easily conquered.

…

Berkeley’s assumptions were soon validated. Less than a month after East Africa began organizing the Zamboanga area, the East African colonial forces experienced three small-scale revolts.

”Your Excellency Governor, this time we lost over a dozen soldiers. Although we killed more than sixty of the enemy, most of them fled into the jungle, and we dare not pursue them rashly!”

Upon hearing the report, Berkeley’s expression was so grim it seemed to squeeze out water. Since taking office in Zamboanga, over forty soldiers had already been sacrificed. Though the number may not seem large, Berkeley commanded only a total of just over five hundred soldiers.

”These indigenous people must be receiving intelligence from Moro informants inside the city. The third attack was obviously premeditated. While the first two attacks led to the complete annihilation of the enemy, this time there was evident stronger organization. Clues can be seen from the enemy’s retreat routes and their combat coordination.”

”Therefore, we must expel the Moro people from the Zamboanga area, demanding they completely withdraw within fifteen days.” Berkeley issued the order directly.

To not submit to imperial transformation leads to slaughter; this was East Africa’s stance long before Berkeley’s arrival, as Ernst had advised.

Ernst believed that the land was more valuable than the wealth a colony could produce. The annexation of Mindanao Island was not primarily for exploiting the Moro people. Even if the Moro people had been docile and stable, East Africa could not leave these troubles behind, especially since the Moro exhibited resistance awareness far stronger than the African indigenous people, making their presence even less tolerable.

Sure enough, Berkeley’s order sparked significant unrest among the Moro people in the Zamboanga area, as no one could accept the conditions set by the East African Government.

As expected, four days after the order, the Moro people launched the largest rebellion in the history of the Zamboanga area.

As the most developed region on Mindanao Island, Zamboanga’s total population was only over ten thousand, the majority of whom were Moro people, with a portion of Spaniards, northern Filipinos, and Chinese.

Having long since borrowed weapons from the National Defense Security Bureau, Berkeley naturally had no fear. On June 17, 1897, as the rebellion erupted, the Governor of Mindanao Island, Boli Lan, who had been well-prepared, ordered the complete eradication of the Moro people in the Zamboanga area.

Prior to this, a portion of the Moro people in the Zamboanga area had already fled, leaving only about three thousand stubborn Moro determined to resist.

In addition to personnel from the National Defense Security Bureau, East Africa’s armed forces in Zamboanga numbered over a thousand, so once the fighting began, the well-equipped East African armed forces carried out a cleansing of the Moro people.

This incident marked one of the rare targeted massacres of colonial natives since the founding of East Africa.

The day was deeply shocking for the Spaniards and Chinese in the Zamboanga area. On every street of Zamboanga, East African soldiers went from house to house. Anyone confirmed as a Moro was executed on the spot, leaving the city nearly empty.

On the same day, the National Defense Security Bureau also conducted a large-scale cleansing of the local population in Davao City, making the Spaniards and Chinese on Mindanao Island witness true ”brutality.” The policy of leaving the land but not its people was thoroughly implemented by the East African colonial government in these two primary East African strongholds.

Spanish merchant Mosier later recalled: ”I will never forget the darkest day in Zamboanga, when East Africa’s executioners executed a bloodbath on the indigenous people of Zamboanga as though they were slaughtering cattle and sheep. The gunshots rang out for an entire day, one body after another… This was one of the most serious tragedies in human history. Production and commercial activities in the entire Zamboanga almost came to a halt. Other than Spaniards, Filipinos, and Chinese, along with East Africans, not a single soul was left alive.”