Chapter 129 Battle of Northwest Generals

In the next few days, Werner Yori and others continued northward along the shore of the Great Lake (Lake Victoria) and investigated several places.

From south to north, you can only see ruined villages at first, and some fishing villages built by the lake are also deserted.

After Entebbe, the shores of the Great Lake (Lake Victoria) began to turn eastward, and gradually the number of people increased, until Kampala, the capital of the Buganda Kingdom, became more prosperous. It is obvious that this place is due to the deep settlement The central part of the Buganda Kingdom was not significantly affected by the war.

After passing Kampala, Werner Yoli and his party then set off eastward and traveled more than 200 kilometers. Along the way, they could see that the eastern part of the Buganda Kingdom and some basic tribes were not affected.

Finally, Werner Yoli and others arrived in Kisumu, the capital of West Kenya, replenished supplies, and then headed south back to Mwanza to report on the situation.

…

In April, Werner Jori's intelligence was sent to the Central District. After the East African colonial government compiled and analyzed the intelligence, it was sent to Ernst in Europe via telegram.

In the Telegraph, the Middle East and African governments believe that the conditions for annexing the northwest region are now ripe, especially the southern countries in the northwest region, which have obviously suffered heavy losses, and even countries such as Buganda in the north have also been deeply affected.

If we engage in a large-scale battle and recruit more people, there will be no problem in taking over this place.

After carefully reading the East African government's report, Ernst gave instructions to capture the south first. As for the Kingdom of Buganda and several northern countries that had not suffered serious losses, leave them alone.

After the construction of Kisumu and West Kenya is completed, we can concentrate our forces and launch attacks on the Buganda Kingdom from the east and south.

This can effectively avoid casualties in the East African colonies, and at the same time comply with the principle of putting the easy things first before the difficult ones.

In the telegram, Ernst emphasized that in order to occupy a place, it must be cleared and no indigenous population left there. As for Arab traders and foreign explorers, arrangements can be made for their evacuation.

To put it this way, of course, it is not to massacre the indigenous people, but to drive the indigenous people north and let them flee towards the places of their former allies.

To the west is the primeval forest of the Congo. Entering hastily without sufficient preparation is basically a narrow escape, so it doesn't matter if the natives want to flee west.

According to Ernst's own thoughts, the ruling classes of those southern countries would definitely choose to flee north. After all, they had fought with their allies against the invasion of the Eastern Bantu tribes last time.

As for resisting the East African colonies, after being hit hard by the East Bantu and the plague, these southern countries have not yet recovered. Whether they can organize a sizable army is a question.

In fact, after planning the last "purge" campaign, after several months of testing, it seems that the effect is very good. The East African colonies solved the problem of the whereabouts of the indigenous people without having to do it themselves, and at the same time weakened the influence of the indigenous people in other areas. power.

After receiving Ernst's order, the East African colonial government and the military began to formulate a battle plan for the smooth conduct of this battle.

April 5, 1868.

Central Government Chamber of the East African Colonies.

"This operation is an act of war. Our government is mainly cooperating with the military. Therefore, Mr. Jarman, it is up to you to introduce the battle plan so that our government departments can make corresponding arrangements." Director von der Leyen made set the tone and expressed the government's attitude.

"Okay, let me first explain the general plan on behalf of the military." Yaman stood up from his chair, walked to the map, held a baton, pointed at the Kingdom of Karawi and said: "This time, according to Enns According to the instructions of His Royal Highness Prince Te, in the first phase, we will mainly attack from the south. The military is preparing to replicate the last "purge" campaign. The main targets are the Kingdom of Rwanda, the Kingdom of Igala, the Kingdom of Karawi and the Kingdom of Burundi. nation.

The combat area is approximately 60,000 to 70,000 square kilometers. According to the request of His Royal Highness Prince Ernst, the area must be cleared of indigenous people.

Therefore, we are also responsible for driving all the remaining indigenous forces in the area to the north to continue to attack the remaining four northern countries and prepare for the second phase of the battle. However, the second phase of the battle still depends on Prince Ernst. His Highness's plan. " Yaman said.

"How many people do you plan to send out in the first phase of the battle?" Director Anderson asked.

"Currently, at the border between the Solon and Great Lakes regions and the Kingdom of Burundi and Karawi, in order to prevent the East Bantu people from returning to the East African colonies, we have deployed a defense line of more than 3,000 people, including more than 300 regular armed forces. .

My expectation is that on this basis, at least 6,000 militiamen and 1,000 regular armed forces will need to be mobilized from the rear. "

Yaman continued: "The scale of this battle is not expected to be too fierce. After all, several local kingdoms have suffered heavy losses from the East Bantu people before. Although the local nobles suppressed the East Bantu people, they basically injured the enemy. Thousand, self-destruction of eight hundred.

Coupled with the land abandonment and plague caused by previous wars, famine and disease greatly weakened the local population.

Therefore, we only need to pay attention to the large military fortresses and cities of these kingdoms, and basically we will not encounter large-scale battles.

However, if you want to carefully sort out such a large area and complete the expulsion of local people, you will need at least a scale of more than 10,000 people. This battle is different from the past. It is a typical extraterritorial operation. There are only two battles in Mwanza and Kigoma. Each city has the ability to support the battle in a short period of time, so the number of people cannot be small. "

The high-level officials in East Africa agreed with Yalman's explanation, because this battle is indeed different from the past. The northwest countries are deep in the interior of East Africa, and the center of gravity of the East African colonies is currently in the east. The Solon Lake District is the westernmost region in East Africa. , its material supply is more difficult than other regions, so it is really stressful to ensure the supply of front-line materials.

“In addition to the number requirements, the government also needs to follow up on immigration migration. In the past few months, immigration should give priority to the northwest region. At the same time, considering the second phase of the battle, immigration efforts in the West Kenya region must also be strengthened. Immigrants must give priority to this supply. Two areas,” said Staff’s Sweet.

"How should the recent immigration distribution ratio be divided?" someone asked von der Leyen.

"Six, three, one. In the next period of time, 60% of the new immigrants will go to the newly occupied area in the northwest, 30% will be allocated to the West Kenya area, especially the area bordering Buganda, and the remaining 10% will be allocated to Omorat, which is just right Omorat is not far from Western Kenya and can coordinate operations in the Western Kenya region," von der Leyen said.

"I agree, this can just enrich the population of the entire west." Anderson said.

"Everyone can put forward any good suggestions." Von der Leyen said to the government personnel.

"The new immigrants should be arranged as close to the front line as possible. It would be better to create a vacuum in the rear than to allow the natives to circle back." Someone suggested.

"Agreed, next one."

"Also, the recently formed Neihu Force can also be used. It is also more convenient to transport food and other supplies from Mwanza by water."

"adoption."

…

After a while, after government discussions, von der Leyen's attention returned to the military.

"What other requests does your military have? You can put them forward and our government will try its best to meet them," Von der Leyen asked.

Several military generals discussed it carefully, and then Arman said: "We must ensure the smooth flow of material transportation. New immigrants and materials can be transported to the front line at the same time. This can not only ensure the safety of food and grass, but also arrange for immigrants to follow up. Take root in the northwest region, so that in the second phase, we can also recruit more militiamen from the local area."

"Therefore, new immigrants to the northwest should receive military training as soon as possible, otherwise they will not be able to catch up with the second phase of combat missions! We, the military, can deploy more instructors from the rear."

"Our General Staff will do a good job in this regard," Sweet said. Staff members are required to train the militiamen.

The staff, most of whom were students of the Hechingen Military Academy, were bilingual and could better deal with training issues for immigrants in the German region, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Far East. They were also an important force for Ernst to monitor local and military forces in East Africa.

"Any questions?" Von der Leyen said.

"No more." everyone replied.

"In this case, everyone should go back and get ready! The meeting is over," Von der Leyen said.

The East African war machine was activated, and for the first time the entire colony was involved.

In the last Zanzibar War, only the coastal area was actually used, but this time the entire East Africa was mobilized.

Even areas that were not directly involved in the war were affected, such as the front lines where immigrants and supplies were given priority. Development of all developed areas has temporarily entered a stage of uniform speed.

The West Kenya District, Lake Solon (Lake Tanganyika) District and the Great Lakes (Lake Victoria) District were most affected.

The army and militia began to gather towards the Solon Lake region and the Great Lakes region, and the immigration rate in Western Kenya was also accelerated in advance.

The Neihu troops led by Werner Jori also began to actively operate on the west coast of the Great Lake (Lake Victoria), drawing lake shore maps, looking for suitable locations for landing materials and personnel, and preparing for follow-up and connection with the front.

This battle is advancing steadily. Because the local population needs to be driven away, the battle line is basically a straight line, advancing steadily from south to north.

As for the replenishment of army supplies, part of it relies on land transportation from the rear, and part of it is completed by the Neihu troops.

After the first phase of the battle is completed, the new immigrants will also be placed as close to the northern border as possible to isolate the natives from returning to the East African colonial occupation area.

At the same time, in the second stage, the new immigrants can provide militia and labor force for the East African colonies to conquer the four northern countries. The closer they are to the temporary border, the more convenient it will be to facilitate subsequent battles.