African Entrepreneurship Record

Chapter 1233: Chapter 242: Rhine People

At this moment, inside the city, Sultan Ali Dinar felt deeply wronged! No one could possibly agree to such unreasonable demands from the East Africans. He had mustered great courage and fought hard against the British, but now the East Africans were stepping in to take advantage, and they even wanted him to surrender. Where was Allah? How was this fair?

While Farsheng waited for a response from the Darfur people, the high-ranking officials within the city of Fashir were also discussing strategies. Clearly, the Darfur people were still harboring the hope of confronting the East Africans.

”Boom boom... bang...”

”Boom, pow...”

The East African mortars and grenade launchers were relentlessly targeting the city of Fashir. They quickly shattered the city’s crude walls, leaving some districts in complete ruins.

Grenade launchers were still used by some units of the East African Army, especially as squad-level fire support. Of course, East African Army hadn’t completely phased them out mainly due to a lack of pressure to do so.

Previously, East Africa produced a lot of grenade launchers because their military industry was lacking, and resources weren’t effectively exploited. So even if East Africa was resource-rich, they could only look on helplessly.

Thus, Ernst specifically used grenade launchers as a weapon to bully the indigenous people of the African continent.

The early grenades were more of a deterrent than a practical weapon. Regardless of its practical effect, a grenade was still considered ”artillery,” capable of deeply shocking the indigenous people. A few launches could make even the most determined native resistance falter.

Of course, the portability and dismantling ease of grenade launchers also appealed to early East African soldiers, especially given that East Africa didn’t have the current transportation infrastructure back then.

Even though the East African military industry and economy are no longer poor, the army remains frugal on some fronts and generous on others, particularly investing heavily in armored and air forces.

This has led to extreme imbalances in the development of the East African military; some units are equipped with outdated gear from the South African War, while others are at the forefront of global military technology.

Despite these issues, compared to the United States, the development of the East African Army can be considered relatively fortunate, as East Africa doesn’t face significant adversaries like the adjacent countries of Canada and Mexico do.

”Retreat!”

”Damn, the East Africans’ firepower is too strong. We can’t possibly deal with this; even the British don’t have such powerful firepower.”

”How are we supposed to fight this battle? Let’s get out of here quickly!”

”Someone help me; my leg’s trapped.”

The entire western part of the city of Fashir was in chaos, with both soldiers and civilians devoid of any will to resist in the face of East African artillery. They desperately wished for eight legs to escape this terrifying place.

The main buildings of Fashir were of poor quality, which greatly amplified the impact of East African artillery, making it look quite intimidating.

The Farsheng commander held binoculars, observing the changes inside the city of Fashir. Once he confirmed that the enemy’s morale was shattered, he decisively ordered the troops to attack.

East African officers and soldiers armed with Mauser rifles broke into the gap in Fashir city without encountering resistance and smoothly advanced to the city center.

At this point, Sultan Ali Dinar suddenly realized the situation and prepared to flee with his people, but it was too late.

”Surrender and you won’t be killed!” Suddenly, East African soldiers appeared, surrounding Sultan Ali Dinar and his group.

Though the East African soldiers had learned some language from translators, albeit awkwardly, Sultan Ali Dinar and others still chose to lay down their weapons decisively.

The East Africans were too excessive; with such firepower, even Sultan Ali Dinar dared to attack Khartoum. Yet, instead of attacking the Nile while the British were entangled in the European war, the East Africans came to attack him, a small fry. This left Sultan Ali Dinar feeling incredibly frustrated.

”I want to talk to your commander!”

Even after losing the war, Sultan Ali Dinar felt defiant and also wanted to understand the East African government’s intentions.

”Behave yourself, wait until our commander arrives,” said the East African soldier binding Sultan Ali Dinar with ropes.

Although he wasn’t sure what this Darfur high official speaking in bird-like language was saying, it was better to be cautious.

Soon, Commander Farsheng arrived with some officers and a translator to meet Sultan Ali Dinar.

”Are you Sultan Ali Dinar?”

”That’s me. You East Africans, why invade our Darfur? We haven’t offended you, have we?”

”I won’t be telling you that. After all, it’s part of our Empire’s strategy, and we’re just minor figures carrying out orders.”

”Hmph, even if you capture me, what can you do? You should know that we’ve already offended the British, and nominally we’re a British protectorate. Once the British arrive, you won’t be able to occupy this place.”

In Sultan Ali Dinar’s view, the British were the world’s foremost power, and the East Africans ought to be somewhat wary of them.

To his surprise, his words caused Commander Farsheng to laugh heartily and retort, ”Hahaha... Mr. Ali Dinar, if the British are so formidable in your eyes, why dare to offend them?”

Sultan Ali Dinar replied, ”Of course I know the British are strong, but aren’t they currently at war with that German... the Germans from Europe? So naturally, it’s time to seize the opportunity to free ourselves from British control.”

As part of the Arabian Sect’s influence, the Darfur people weren’t as ignorant as African Blacks; they knew something of international affairs. However, due to the vast distance, news takes time to reach Darfur.

Sultan Ali Dinar’s words reveal that he was aware of the outbreak of World War I in Europe and the war between the British and countries like Germany, and could clearly distinguish between Germany and East Africa.

This situation requires elaboration. In the initial phase of East Africa’s colonial expansion, they always claimed to be Germans. At that time, East African countries were still emerging, so the term German became widely known across the African continent.

After the founding of the East African Kingdom, East Africans could expand under the banner of the East African Kingdom, but by then the term ”German” was deeply ingrained in the hearts of the African indigenous people.

Moreover, the East African Kingdom was just a transitional name. Later, East Africa became the Rhein Empire, so changes in national propaganda could easily confuse the uninformed African natives, who continued to refer to the East African force as Germans.

In fact, Germany is the true Germany, but generally, African natives rarely come into contact with both Germany or the East African forces simultaneously.

Currently, there are two foreign terms for East Africa: East Africans and Rhine people.

Unquestionably, the former aligns with historical customs, continuing the early names for the East African Colony or Kingdom, while the latter follows the current national name of East Africa.

Rhein people, just like the Far East Empire calls American citizens ”Americans” or ”United States,” respectively.

After all, the United States is generally considered an Anglo-Saxon nation, just like Britain, despite the vast numbers of immigrants from other countries and regions in the United States.

The term Americans makes it easy to distinguish between the two, similarly with Canadians and Australians.

In the German mainland, there’s a similar nomenclature like Prussians, Bavarians, and Swabians, who essentially belong to the Germans.

Thus, in such a manner, more and more countries and regions in the International Community choose to call the Germans of the Rhein Empire as Rhine people.

Of course, the term East Africans hasn’t faded from history, at least the Germans like to call East Africans this way.

On one hand, many Germans don’t consider East Africa to belong to the same ethnic group as them, or they deem East African lineage impure. On the other, it actually serves as a derogatory term.

In the past Europe, Africa represented backwardness and savagery, so naturally, the neutral term East Africa gets stigmatized. At least, in some Germans’ parlance, the term East Africa is not a decent designation, reflecting the arrogance of many Germans toward East Africa.