Chapter 1218: Occupation of Zalingei

Zalingei.

In the previous life, the capital of Darfur State, this place already belonged to the hinterland of the Darfur Plateau. It took the East African army less than two days to officially enter this important town in Darfur.

"Drive directly into the city center!"

Following Farsen's order, the Seventh Infantry Regiment swaggered into the urban area of ​​Zalingei.

To call it an urban area is to respect the local indigenous people. The entire Zalingei is actually not as prosperous as the rural areas in East Africa. Due to climatic conditions, the population is only about three or four thousand, and this is the largest residential area that the Seventh Infantry Regiment has seen so far.

As for why the speed is so fast, it is mainly due to the motorization of the East African army today. In the face of this kind of steel creation, the local tribes in Darfur, let alone resistance, just seeing the cars carrying East African soldiers and weapons and equipment makes their legs tremble.

"God bless!" After seeing the car, an Arab believer was shocked and huddled in the house to peek through the window hole in the wall. The narrow earthen house may give them some psychological security.

Some brave Zalingei residents stood on the street, their eyes full of curiosity about East Africans and cars.

"The houses here are very similar to those in other parts of Sudan, all in earthy yellow, but the construction is relatively neat. This should be the most prosperous town in Darfur that we have seen along the way."

Farsen sat in the co-pilot seat, holding the handrail on the roof firmly with one hand and said to the driver.

The experience of military vehicles is naturally not much better, and the road conditions in Darfur are basically the same as no roads, even in the so-called urban areas of Zalingei.

The so-called roads are just narrow passages between houses. Because of the flow of people, they have been compacted a little, but this strength is simply impossible to bear the weight of East African trucks. It can be said that there is smoke all the way.

The East African soldiers in the rear compartment have a thick layer of dust on their heads, clothes, and weapons and equipment.

"The situation is similar to what I expected. There is no army in the hinterland of Darfur now. Those tribal warriors holding primitive cold weapons don't even have the desire to fight us." Farsen said.

"Captain, if it were me, I wouldn't have confronted the truck with a knife and a spear. In the eyes of these natives, military vehicles are probably no different from monsters."

Farsheng's driver firmly controlled the steering wheel, paying attention to the road conditions while talking to Farsheng.

Darfur is a remote place, and it is a place where no one lives. Otherwise, the British would not have allowed this place to be autonomous. If it weren't for the Darfur Sultan's troops, I'm afraid the British would not want to care about the Ali dinar.

The Darfurians in the remote countryside naturally have no knowledge. Their situation is only a little better than that of the African natives a few decades ago. After all, they can still have some commercial exchanges with the Arab world, but this kind of communication is also very effective.

Because this place is too poor, especially after East Africa blocked the border, Darfur's economic and trade channels with the southern grasslands were cut off, and even middlemen could not be used.

Arabs are born businessmen. After all, the areas where they live generally do not have much material output. The Arab countries in the Middle East used to thrive by monopolizing the trade between the East and the West.

In the past, the Arabs in Darfur were similar. Darfur merchants could trade with black people in the southern grasslands and then transport them to other parts of North Africa.

However, since East Africa occupied the Azande Plateau, this kind of trade has basically ended, especially after the opening of the northern railway, the materials of the Azande Plateau basically chose to go out to sea from Mombasa.

Cutting off someone's financial resources is like killing their parents. Darfur once tried to compete with this strange force in East Africa, but the final result was also obvious, that is, it could not beat it at all.

Fortunately, the agricultural conditions in Darfur are still acceptable, and some planting and nomadic industries can be engaged in, which can barely feed the hungry.

The distance from the outer edge of Zalingei to the center is not far, so soon, the vehicles of the 7th Infantry Regiment arrived in the middle of the conversation.

As for how to distinguish the city center, it is very simple. Just aim at the minaret of the Zalingei Mosque and drive in the right direction. The Zalingei Mosque is also the only building in Zalingei that looks like a decent building.

Soon, the 7th Infantry Regiment of East Africa assembled in front of the mosque. Along the way, the 7th Infantry Regiment had divided out about two companies of troops to control the occupied area.

So when it arrived in Zalingei, the 7th Infantry Regiment was not full, but the number of people was still considerable. Even if the indigenous armed forces in the entire Darfur region and the British colonial army joined forces, they could not be the opponent of the 7th Infantry Regiment.

"Captain, this person is the sheriff of Zalingei. According to him, the tribal coalition forces in Darfur are currently fighting the British army in Fasher in the east, and the entire hinterland of Darfur is empty."

An East African warrior reported while carrying a local official in Arab clothing.

Fasher was the capital of North Darfur in the previous life, and it was also the place where the Sudanese government forces and the local armed forces in Darfur had fierce exchanges of fire in the previous life.

It is also a major transportation route connecting the Darfur region in eastern Sudan.

At least if the British want to quell the rebellion, they must first take El Fasher before they can enter the heart of Darfur. Now the Darfur Sultan Ali Dinar is probably leading his troops to make a final resistance against the British colonial army.

This Ali Dinar also couldn't see the situation clearly. Although Britain was indeed deeply mired in the quagmire of the European war, the British Egyptian colonial government did not need local support at all. It could suppress the entire Sudan region alone, not to mention the Darfur region.

As the Sultan of Darfur, Ali Dinar's power was not strong, which was closely related to the economic situation, social culture, natural environment and terrain of the Darfur region.

The various regions in Darfur were originally difficult to communicate with each other and were scattered in oases. In addition, nomadic tribes accounted for a large proportion of the local area, and were divided into two forces, black and white. Therefore, Darfur was a large tribal alliance to a certain extent.

In other words, Britain was too unkind in the past, which led to many forces in Darfur gathering under Ali Dinar to seek independence and fight against the British.

But this coalition was destined to be very fragile. As long as Ali Dinar failed, it would immediately scatter like a bird and a beast.

Of course, East Africa was satisfied with Ali Dinar, a "freedom fighter". Without his resistance to the British, East Africa's invasion of Darfur would not have been so smooth.

"Claessen, Zalingei and the surrounding areas will be in charge of your battalion. The regiment commander and I will lead the main force to El Fasher to end this farce." Hera said.

It is only 200 kilometers from Zalingei to El Fasher. If the East African army sets out now, it will only take a few hours.

As for why it took El Fasher and others two days to reach Zalingei, it was mainly because they overestimated the military strength of the Darfurians at the beginning.

So the 7th Infantry Regiment was quite cautious in the beginning, especially on the first day, wasting most of their energy, only to find that Darfur did not have a decent army at all, and its main force had already gone to the east with Ali Dinar.

And only a small number of elite soldiers under Ali Dinar could use firearms, and most of the Darfur warriors could only fight against the British army with cold weapons.

And even the elite soldiers of Ali Dinar, or the British colonial army, had weapons that were two orders of magnitude lower than those of East Africa. The regiment commander Farsen and the regiment staff Hera could not imagine how they would lose!

If they can't even defeat the British colonial army, then the East African Defense Force should just disband. Now it's different from the South African War. East Africa not only has an absolute advantage in weapons, but also in manpower and logistics.

When the British colonial army encounters the 7th Infantry Regiment, they can only avoid it, but all this will have to wait until the 7th Infantry Regiment arrives in El Fasher.