Chapter 377 Progress in Italy

While the war against the Boers was being discussed in East Africa, the Italians took the lead and completed the first phase of their invasion of the Abyssinian Empire. The Italian expeditionary force led by Samuel captured Dese, an important city in the eastern part of the Abyssinian Empire.

The flag of the Kingdom of Italy flew over the city of Desa, causing a new round of turmoil in the Abyssinian Empire. The princes and ministers of the capital of the Abyssinian Empire attacked each other.

Kingdom of Shoa: "It is only because of the stupidity of the central government that the white-skinned Europeans invaded the territory of the empire. They must be held responsible for this act of humiliating the country and humiliating the country."

Tigray monarchs: "Assholes, it's obvious that you are always against us and have violated the central government's decisions, which allowed the enemy to find an opportunity to take advantage of it. The fall of Desai is inseparable from you."

The main feudal separatist kingdoms in Abyssinia are Tigray in the north and Shoa in the south. In addition, several important provinces such as Gojam, Wollo, and Simeon are also completely independent.

Later Theodore II unified these areas and recentralized the Abyssinian Empire, but the good times did not last long and Theodore II was eliminated by the British.

Separatist forces were re-formed in the above-mentioned areas. Prince Kassa of Tigray ascended the throne first and was crowned Johannes IV in the ancient city of Aksum.

But the current name of the emperor Johannes IV is very false. He came to power by stabbing Theodore II in the back and currying favor with the British. Even if he is a descendant of the Solomon royal family, he cannot convince the public.

Moreover, he made enemies everywhere and had conflicts with various forces at home and abroad. Among them, the opposition forces led by the Shoa Kingdom in the south were at odds with him. At the same time, he had serious conflicts with Egypt and often fought.

In fact, Johannes IV's ability is quite good, especially his military ability. At this time in history, he should have defeated the Kingdom of Shoa and convinced all the domestic forces.

But the troublemaker in East Africa changed history. Originally, the British supported Johannes IV with a batch of guns and ammunition before leaving.

However, because the East African Kingdom exported arms to various forces in the Abyssinian Empire, its advantage in weapons was offset.

Especially in the southern tribal areas, they now directly follow the instructions rather than the propaganda. Although they still support the central government on the surface, they remain unmoved by any orders from the central government.

The main rival of Johannes IV, the Kingdom of Shoa, has also regrouped and opposed itself everywhere.

When the Italian Expeditionary Force attacked the city of Desaix, all forces in the Abyssinian Empire requested a counterattack against Italy, but no force sent troops.

Among them, only the warlords in the northeast and the Kingdom of Shoa were able to support Desai City nearby. However, they were afraid that if they sent troops in the front, Johannes IV would sneak attack on their base camp in the rear, so everyone chose to watch indifferently.

The victory of the Kingdom of Italy this time can be said to have the right time, place and people. First of all, with the contact of Rubatino Company, cheap rice from East Africa directly entered the Port of Assab through the Red Sea.

Although rice did not suit the taste of Italian soldiers, it was cheap, and the originally insufficient military expenditures instantly became surplus.

Moreover, compared with flour, rice is easier to process and easier to carry. Each soldier can carry a little, and it will not turn into paste like flour when encountering rain.

With sufficient military rations, Samuel, who had been planning for a long time, immediately organized an army to attack the Abyssinian Empire.

Through intelligence analysis of the Abyssinian Empire, Samuel concluded that if the Kingdom of Italy wanted to capture the Abyssinian Empire at the minimum cost, it should avoid its attack and try not to touch the northern region, which is its economic center of gravity. It should start in southeastern Ethiopia.

Desaix is ​​the node where Samuel expected Italy to attack the north-south dividing line of the Abyssinian Empire. From the city of Desaix to the south all the way to Addis Abbe, the vast area is the weakest point of the entire Abyssinian Empire. Place.

Desai is located in the river valley in the eastern part of the Ethiopian Plateau. The terrain restrictions make it a strategic location from the northeast of Ethiopia to the south.

Controlling Desai can block the main Ethiopian force in the north with a small number of troops. This is very important for Samuel, who has limited troops.

Whether it is possible to hold Desse after occupying Desse, Samuel believes that it should be feasible, because the Abyssinian Empire is still divided, and there is Egypt in the north, which affects the energy of the warlords in northern Abyssinia. Abyssinia was bound to be unable to concentrate its forces on an attack against its own forces.

At the same time, there is another important factor in Samuel’s plan, and that is the issue of ethnic distribution within the Abyssinian Empire. The Abyssinian Empire can be roughly divided into three parts, one is the Orthodox Christian region in the north, and the other is It is the Arab religious area in the east, and finally the southern tribal area adjacent to the Turkana Province in East Africa.

The area that Samuel pointed at was mainly the Arab area, and the Arab area has always been at odds with the Orthodox area. The Abyssinian Empire has been fighting against the Arabs for its thousand-year history. When it was strong, it controlled the Red Sea coast. , and even reached out to the Arabian Peninsula. When it was weak, it was driven back to the plateau by the Arabs. Now is when the Abyssinian Empire is in a weak state.

As for the southern tribal areas, they have always been vassals of the Abyssinian Empire, equivalent to the existence of barbarians. After the black indigenous forces in the southern part of the Ethiopian Plateau were cleaned up in East Africa, there was no fresh blood injected into the southern tribes, which was greatly weakened. , the black people here have always been an important source of slaves for the Abyssinian Empire.

Losing a large number of slaves meant that the southern tribes lost an important source of income and further lost their right to speak within the empire. However, East Africa supports the southern tribes in arms transactions, which makes no one dare to underestimate the southern tribes.

Compared with the northern forces, the biggest disadvantage of the southern tribes is that they are more dispersed and have no unified core, so the southern tribes are not too enthusiastic about participating in imperial affairs.

Samuel's plan to take the southeastern region of Abyssinia first was quite conservative. This was never a key area of ​​concern for the Abyssinian Empire. The Abyssinian Empire had been actively exploring the north and northeast.

To the north is Egypt, and to the northeast is the Red Sea. The relationship between Abyssinia and Egypt can be traced back to the Nubian Empire. During the Eastern Roman Empire, the Aksum Empire, the predecessor of the Abyssinian Empire, had close ties with Egypt and Nubia. At the same time, Orthodox Christianity also flowed into the Abyssinian Empire and became its mainstream religious belief. If you calculate it this way, Ethiopia in its previous life was actually one of the successors of the Roman Empire. If it hadn't had a long history and was not as culturally unconfident as the Slavs, Western Europe, and Turkey, it would have been able to become a "Hero".

The coast of the Red Sea has always been the place that the Abyssinian Empire has been thinking about. Every time the Abyssinian Empire becomes powerful, it will try to take back the Red Sea from the Arabs. Only with the Red Sea in hand can the Abyssinian Empire become a regional hegemon. The competition between the Abyssinian Empire and the Arabs never ceased.

The area Samuel was trying to seize was not considered the core area of ​​the Abyssinian Empire before Menelik II moved the capital to Addis Ababa. It had a sparse population and sufficient farmland, which was very suitable for the kingdom's needs for settling immigrants. .