Chapter 323 Ndebele Uprising

Constantine's inspection of Dodoma was not only out of curiosity about the East African Plateau, but also for the purpose of supervising local work. However, Constantine's leisurely visit to Dodoma did not last long.

April 2, 1871.

A telegram from Lusaka reached Constantine - the indigenous people of the Matabele plateau had revolted against the rule of the East African kingdom.

After Constantine read the contents of the telegram, his face was livid. He gritted his teeth and said to Sweet: "It seems that we are still too kind to the indigenous people of Matabele Plateau. After putting down the rebellion this time, we must let the local Ndebe Lai people know what real colonialism is!"

Generally speaking, the East African kingdom rarely pays much attention to black resistance. Most of the indigenous people hold extremely primitive weapons and it is difficult to cause trauma to the East African army. Even if there is a resistance movement, it is only a small scale. But the Matabele uprising is not Similarly, it can be said that almost the entire Matabele Plateau (almost the entire territory of Zimbabwe in the previous life) was in rebellion, and the main force in the rebellion was the Ndebele people.

The Ndebele people are a branch of the Zulu people. They are not native residents of Zimbabwe, but foreigners who entered Zimbabwe after 1837 and enslaved the local indigenous people.

He originally lived in the Zulu Kingdom, and his leader was Mzilikazi, a general under the Zulu King Chaka. Around 1822, when Mzilikazi led his army on the northern expedition, he broke away from the Zulu Kingdom due to disagreements with Chaka. Chaka, he led his troops to move to the Transvaal, conquering the Sutuo and Tswana tribes along the way.

From 1836 to 1837, he was finally forced to leave the Transvaal due to attacks by the Boers. The Ndebele people crossed the Limpopo River, conquered the Mashona people, occupied the vast area between the Limpopo River and the Zambezi River, and established the Matabele Kingdom with its capital in Bulawayo.

Therefore, the country established by the Ndebele relied on the military to make its fortune, just like Prussia. Its ruling class was a military aristocracy like the Junkers of Prussia, and its social organization was also divided according to military needs.

Men are divided into four categories. The first category, called "Ma Caicai", are teenagers who have not reached the age of recruitment. They herd livestock and receive preliminary military training. The second category, called "Machacha", are unmarried warriors. Warriors must achieve success in battle before they can get married. The third category, called "mantoto", were married warriors. The fourth category is called "Yingdonna", that is, military commanders.

The social structure of the Ndebele people is destined to have a very strong martial nature, and the Ndebele people have fought against the Boers and the Portuguese, and they are not uncivilized indigenous people.

The reason why East Africa was able to quickly seize the Matabele Plateau was because in 1868, the first leader of the Ndebele people, Mzilikazi, died, and in 1869, the entire Matabele Kingdom fell into During the chaotic period of the struggle for the throne, it was not until 1870 that Mzilika's son Lobengula inherited the throne. When the East African Kingdom invaded the Matabele Plateau, the Ndebele people were seriously weakened.

Constantine: "Sweite, you happen to be here, how do you think we should suppress this large-scale rebellion!"

As the chief of staff of the East African Army, Sweet analyzed: "Your Majesty, the military forces we can use at this time are mainly the border defense forces in South Salzburg Province on the shores of Lake Malawi. The military forces in Zambia cannot be changed at will, and Our troops in the Matabele Plateau are mainly concentrated on the borders with the Transvaal and Mozambique. Due to information constraints, they may not know the news about this rebellion, and at the same time they do not dare to guard the border. act rashly."

As the hinterland of East Africa, Zambia’s military strength is actually not very strong, that is, it can just suppress the local indigenous people. It is dominated by militias, so it must not be dispatched at will. The Matabele Plateau was not solved, but instead caused the Zambian region of instability.

East Africa's rule in Zambia is different from the restrained rule in Zimbabwe. It is a tough and repressive rule, relying on the East African Plateau as its rear area. East Africa is not afraid of resistance from the local Zambian indigenous people and can support Zambia from the East African Plateau at any time.

Zimbabwe is different. The restraint rule adopted by East Africa is to give full power to the local indigenous ruling class and temporarily maintain local stability. Only after Zambia is digested, the East African Kingdom will transform it.

As a result, it now seems that the Jisi rule is over. This is why Constantine is very angry. The Ndebele uprising is a slap in the face. In the area under strong rule, the indigenous people are out of control. As a result, In the slightly pleasant areas of East Africa, these natives do not give the East African Kingdom any face. This is the so-called penalty of drinking wine if they are not toasted.

Sweet continued: "Our troops stationed in the Lake Malawi area are used to defend against the Portuguese. Their mobility and equipment are among the best, so now we can quickly suppress the local rebellion by moving south to the Matabele Plateau in time. Once the information communication is smooth, the border troops on the Matabele Plateau can also actively cooperate with the suppression."

The Ndebele uprising broke out almost instantly, because the central government still existed, and its monarch Lobengula should have completed the integration of all forces within the kingdom at this time. In addition, the East African troops on the Matabele Plateau were defeated by Mozambique and The Transvaal was restrained at the border, but not very strong in the interior, so Lobengula took advantage of the loophole.

Lobengula was a relatively promising monarch. Historically, after Lobengula succeeded to the throne, he continued to strengthen the military organization of the Matabele Kingdom and attached great importance to army construction. He supplemented his army by recruiting troops from conquered areas. At the same time, we will imitate the Zulu military training methods and purchase new firearms to improve the combat effectiveness of the troops. He also encouraged his tribe to intermarry with other tribes and maintain the original social structure of the conquered areas.

In this time and space, the emergence of the East African Kingdom interrupted his development trajectory. But now it seems that even if history has changed, Lobengula still relies on his talents and has become a person respected and admired by the Ndebele people. leader.

After all, the East African Kingdom had never seen anyone who could organize such a large-scale uprising. Lobengula was the first indigenous person to impress the East African Kingdom.

However, Constantine had decided that he could not keep his son. The Ndebele uprising also sounded the alarm to Constantine, reminding him that the merger of the Principality of Hechingen into Prussia was also due to a popular uprising.

Constantine: "Sweite, this time it will be up to you to personally suppress the rebellion. I have the following requirements. Remember, first, Lobengula, a terrorist, must be caught. He must be seen alive and dead. Second, after the war, all the Ndebele people will be captured by me, and I will turn them all into slaves; third, all those who insist on resisting will be killed on the spot; finally, no indigenous people will be allowed to connect with each other, we Rule them separately according to their regions.”

Constantine made up his mind to capture the entire Ndebele people and bring them to the East African Plateau for the most brutal rule, letting them know the consequences of offending him.

At the same time, the Ndebele Uprising also gave itself a warning. The indigenous people must not be allowed to form the absolute core. Next, the East African Kingdom will destroy the central government of all indigenous forces in the territory to avoid the recurrence of the Ndebele Uprising.

For the East African government, the Ndebele Uprising was a large-scale rebellion, and it was the first time East Africa encountered an organized and premeditated large-scale rebellion by indigenous people, so it had to strike hard.