African Entrepreneurship Record

Chapter 1232: Chapter 241: Troops First, Diplomacy Later

Of course, initially stationing the third battalion at Zalingai doesn’t mean the main forces have to depart now; the Seventh Infantry Regiment arrived at Zalingai at three in the afternoon, so leaving tomorrow morning isn’t late.

Even if Zalingai’s Darfur wanted to notify Fashir’s Sultan Ali Dinar, they couldn’t be faster than the East African Army; this is the advantage vehicles bring.

So the Seventh Infantry Regiment plans to rest for the night locally and then proceed to Fashir.

And the residents of Zalingai, faced with such an unfamiliar army from East Africa, have no awareness of resistance at all, especially since many aspects of the Seventh Infantry Regiment are beyond their understanding.

They might recognize Mauser rifles as firearms, but the problem is that other than Darfur’s main force in Fashir, other regions of Darfur don’t have firearm units currently; relying on religious faith and cold weapons to oppose the East Africans—only madmen would do that.

Of course, if they knew the East African Government’s plans for their future, they might think differently; the East African Government hasn’t prepared ”tickets to the future” for them.

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The next day, after a restful sleep, the Seventh Infantry Regiment officially set off toward the direction of Fashir.

With the guidance of the Zalingai guide, the journey was smooth. In the Darfur region, the East African Army’s biggest fear is getting lost because the place is unfamiliar, with only vast deserts in sight.

And before noon, Fashir City was officially right under the nose of the main forces of the Seventh Infantry Regiment.

”Ahead is Fashir City. Sultan Ali Nadir and the main forces of the various tribes should be inside the city of Fashir,” said the Zalingai guide.

”Good, order the troops to enter combat status,” commanded Farsheng.

Ali Nadir’s troops do have firearm units, so they still pose a slight threat to the Seventh Infantry Regiment, and according to Captain Farsheng’s thoughts, it’s naturally to capture Fashir, this military stronghold, with zero casualties.

With that, East Africa’s convoy stopped about a kilometer from Fashir City, with nearly two thousand East African officers and soldiers beginning to prepare various combat strategies and unloading from the vehicles.

Based on the current strength of the Seventh Infantry Regiment, as long as it does not encounter the British colonial main forces in Khartoum, it faces no match within the entire Sultanate.

And such a large formation of the Seventh Infantry Regiment naturally attracted the attention of the Darfur troops inside Fashir City.

”Quickly report to His Majesty the Sultan, there’s an unknown armed force in our rear, and they’re driving some kind of movable house!”

The so-called movable house surely refers to the East African Army’s vehicles.

Soon, the messenger reported the information to Sultan Ali Dinar.

”What, a force of over two thousand people appeared in our rear?” Ali Dinar was shocked.

”Could it be the British?”

The first thought that came to him was the British, since the British are currently engaged in battle with his forces.

It’s worth mentioning that Ali Dinar is no fool; he certainly wouldn’t engage the main forces directly against the British Army but instead set up ambushes along the road from Khartoum to Fashir to harass the British Army, making the British colonial forces abandon their plans.

So Fashir is currently not a combat zone; the battlefield is further east, while Ali Nadir commands and coordinates from the rear.

This is a relatively wise approach; the progress of the British Army has indeed been delayed considerably, and East Africa has a substantial link to this.

Because in the past, Fashir didn’t have direct transportation links to Khartoum, relying on the south’s Obeid and then turning towards the Nile River to reach Khartoum.

But in this timeline, Obeid is East African territory, so the transportation between the Sultanate and Darfur has to navigate northern areas with harsher conditions.

The reason for this outcome is that, in the past, when East Africa was expanding north, the British hadn’t colonized the Sultanate yet, so a lot of lands in southern Sudan fell into East African hands before the British colonized the Sultanate.

”It shouldn’t be the British; their uniforms and flags are clearly different from the British. Besides, we haven’t seen their type of moveable ’houses’ with the British. Lastly, their numbers are too many, a large group of British troops wouldn’t suddenly appear in our rear without warning.”

Ali Dinar listened with a somber expression as his subordinate analyzed, and a terrifying thought began to quietly form in his mind, generating an unspeakable fear within his heart.

”It’s East Africa, it must be East Africa!” Ali Dinar suddenly said, ”They must have launched an invasion against Darfur from the rear while we were engaged with the British Army, but how did they arrive at Fashir silently?”

This is also an unsolvable question for the Darfur people, as in their understanding of warfare, no matter how fast the enemy’s movements, some message surely would leak.

From East Africa to Fashir, without crossing the desert, it would take at least ten days to half a month to arrive. Moreover, Ali Dinar hadn’t left the rear without any troops, even though those forces might have surrendered due to the strength gap, surely some would reach Fashir to report!

While Ali Dinar and the Darfur high command were still entangled in these series of problems, the East African Seventh Infantry Regiment wasn’t going to give them ample time.

A loud ”boom” was heard as a cannon shell fired upon Fashir’s city walls, creating a large hole. This was the power exerted by East Africa’s small-caliber artillery.

Fashir City’s defense had clearly never faced such threats, and its defensive thinking was still stuck in ancient times, primarily relying on cold weapon combat strategies.

Moreover, the Fashir area lacked materials, population, and economic foundations, making Fashir’s city walls quite thin.

After a few more artillery shells precisely hit the walls of Fashir, turning the west side of Fashir City into a complete mess.

Captain Farsheng said with satisfaction, ”This should be able to intimidate Ali Nadir. Have the Zalingai guide go into Fashir City and inform Ali Nadir, they must either surrender or face destruction. If a white flag doesn’t rise on the city walls within an hour, we will storm Fashir City.”

Generally speaking, before the battle, diplomacy precedes force, but Captain Farsheng directly reversed this approach. Before showing power, the enemy may be arrogantly ignorant; after all, aside from dispatching spies and other personnel, East Africa seldom communicates with Darfur.

Darfur has little understanding of East Africa, which easily leads to a lack of respect for East Africa, so Captain Farsheng felt East Africa should first show its strength before negotiating.

Regarding whether this might incur the discontent of the Darfur people, so be it. With strength, Farsheng doesn’t bother about the thoughts of the Darfur people.

And the Zalingai guide nervously walked toward the direction of Fashir City. The demands made by the East Africans were simply unreasonable; no one could predict whether Ali Dinar would vent his anger on him, just an ordinary person, after all, Ali Nadir could not afford to offend the East Africans.

But the Zalingai guide was different; he didn’t have East African identity, just a poor fellow forcibly conscripted by East Africans in Zalingai.

As they watched the Zalingai guide enter Fashir City, Captain Farsheng raised his sleeve and started timing on his watch.

But no reaction came from Fashir City for quite some time, and when the time reached eleven forty-seven in the afternoon, Farsheng said to Hera, ”It seems Ali Dinar won’t accept our ’courtesy.’”

Hera said, ”So what are you planning to do, will we truly attack directly?”

Farsheng said, ”I’ve given these Darfur Sultans ample time to consider. Since the guide entered Fashir City, an hour has passed; even if there were more to say, it should be finished by now.”

”Whether Ali Dinar agrees or not, he should at least send someone to negotiate with us. Clearly, these sultans are unwilling to comply, and if they wish to resist to the end, then let us show them the firepower of the East African Army.”