Chapter 131: The Conquest of Kayanza

Kayanza is located in the northwest of Burundi.

The capital of the Kingdom of Burundi is located in Gitega, which is the geographical center of the Kingdom of Burundi, in the heart of the Central Plateau (Burundi).

In peacetime, Gitega, as the national center, can naturally better strengthen the influence of the Kingdom of Burundi on the surrounding areas.

But when the Eastern Bantu tribes poured in from the south like a tide, Gitega, which had no strategic location, became precarious.

If it was just a small-scale attack, the Kingdom of Burundi could still handle it, but the Eastern Bantu tribes, which were millions of indigenous peoples in the entire East African colony, were driven to this narrow area in the northwest.

Even if everyone stood there motionless, it would take half a day to fire machine guns, let alone the Kingdom of Burundi where even iron tools were still relatively primitive.

Therefore, after being attacked by the Eastern Bantu tribes and trying to resist in vain, the central government of Burundi fled to the northwest.

Kayanza, about 60 kilometers away from Gitega, has a slightly complex terrain and is easy to defend, so it became the temporary capital of the Kingdom of Burundi.

However, after the Kingdom of Burundi, together with other kingdoms, eliminated the forces of the Eastern Bantu tribes, it encountered the aggressive Germans before it had time to return to its old capital.

In order to resist the East Bantu people, the Kingdom of Burundi built a large number of fortifications here, and a large number of people were temporarily migrated here.

This is also one of the reasons why the southern part of the Kingdom of Burundi has a small population. Without a certain number of people, it is impossible to resist the surging tide of the Eastern Bantu tribes, so many nobles choose to stick together with the central government.

Anyway, the soil fertility in the northwest region is similar, and the rainfall conditions are basically the same. A large number of Burundian nobles migrated to Kayanza with food and population.

Kayanza lived up to expectations and blocked the invasion of the Eastern Bantu people, thus preserving the vitality of the Kingdom of Burundi.

…

"Ahead is Kayanza, the temporary capital of the Burundians. We estimate that the population in the city is at least 15,000. It should be the toughest nut to crack in Burundi." Larry Antonio introduced the situation of Kayanza to Alman.

Armand took a telescope and carefully observed the fortifications of Kayanza.

As a city that was expanded in a short period of time, Kayanza was built very roughly. Its walls were built with many irregular rocks, which was far inferior to Gitega, which had fallen into the hands of the East African colonies.

Most of the stones in Gitega have been simply polished, and the city looks neat and tidy. However, it is no longer as prosperous as before after being looted by the East Bantu people. Later, the East African colony counted the number of people in Gitega and found only 23 people.

Kayanza is different. Looking from the high ground, you can see that the surrounding fields are quite large. There are many huts where poor people live outside the city, and the population inside the city is estimated to be even larger.

In addition to stones, Kayanza also used a large amount of rammed earth and wooden strips to reinforce the city walls. The wall reached about two meters, and the city was twice as large as Gitega, which had been in operation for many years.

"It seems that we need to prepare more manpower. It is a bit difficult to deal with so many natives with just the number of us. If they run around randomly, we don't know which direction to choose to catch them first." Alman said.

There were only more than 500 East African troops in front of Kayanza. It was possible to block one side, but if they wanted to drive the natives to the north, they had to block both the east and west directions.

"Well, Larry Antonio, go and gather another 600 men from other troops on the east and west sides, and tell them that it is my order," Alman ordered.

"Yes, sir!" Larry Antonio.

The total number of people dispatched from the East African colonies this time was only more than 10,000, but the battle line was nearly 400 kilometers long, so only two to three hundred people could be deployed every ten kilometers.

In this way, there will definitely be some fish that slip through the net and escape from the long line of enemies in East Africa, but the East African colonial government has already made follow-up arrangements, and when new immigrants arrive, the occupied areas will be reorganized.

A big city in Burundi like Kayanza is worthy of Armand's temporary transfer of personnel from other regions. A city with a population of more than 10,000 is rare in the whole of Africa and can at least be ranked in the second tier.

…

With all the men in place, Alman prepared for a powerful attack.

The Burundian soldiers on the city wall looked at the army led by Alman vigilantly. Due to the previous attack by the East Bantu people, the external communication of the Kingdom of Burundi was actually paralyzed, so that the Burundi central government did not know about the arrival of the East African army.

However, the Burundians did not understand the details of the East African colonies, especially the fact that the people in the East African colonies had very fair skin and their clothes were very bright.

They were more similar to the Arabs, but the nobles knew Arab clothing, which was completely different from that of this group of people.

As for European explorers, they were rare animals, seen only by a handful of Northwestern nobles, and the high-ranking officials of the Kingdom of Burundi were among these few.

Not only European explorers, but also the early East African colonies visited these indigenous nobles, mainly to survey the local terrain.

…

"Uru, what do you think these strange people are doing?" Mopu said as he lay on the wall of Kayanza, looking at the Germans digging simple fortifications in the distance.

Although digging fortifications was somewhat redundant for the East African army, after all, these natives had no longer-range weapons other than bows and arrows and projectiles to fight back against the East Africans. Standing a little further away would allow them to avoid the attacks of the natives.

"I feel that they are in the same group as those southern barbarians (Eastern Bantu people), and they are definitely not good guys. They followed closely after we dealt with the southern barbarians. It is obvious that they did not come for peace." Ulu responded.

"But they obviously look different from the barbarians in the south! And the cloth they wear is very good. The barbarians in the south are very poor and they compete with us for everything. And this group of people outside the city are obviously much richer than us. In our place, only the chief's family could afford so much cloth. But the people on the other side are all dressed in the same cloth. Everyone has a share. They must be very rich." Mop said, pointing to the Prussian military uniforms of which each East African had two in hand in the distance.

"Anyway, Priest Abra said just now that the other side is not a good guy, especially that fire stick that looks insignificant. I heard that it has been cast with magic. As long as it makes a loud noise, it will absorb people's souls. So you'd better stay away from the top of the city. If your soul is taken away by the other side, you will die." Ulu said.

"I don't believe it. The Yaha priest of our tribe has given us secret holy water to drink. The Yaha priest told me that as long as we see the enemy rushing towards us, we should shoot them with bows and arrows. The enemy can't hurt us at all." Mopu said proudly.

It was like two people competing to see whose priest was more powerful. It was obvious that Mopu's priest was better. Not only could he break the Germans' evil magic, but he could also fight back. The priest of the Uru tribe had no way to deal with it. This made Mopu feel very proud in front of his new friends.

Uru and Mopu are from two different tribes in Burundi. Last time, because of the invasion of the East Bantu people, they were taken to Kayanza by their leaders. Because the two tribes were settled near the same defense line, Uru got to know Mopu.

"I think these people must have been cursed by the kingdom's priest, so they dare not move forward. It has been two days, and they haven't attacked. Instead, they are digging a pit there! I really don't understand, what's the use of that pit? Could it be that they have become insane because of the curse? What do you think, Ulu?" Mopu said to Ulu.

"I don't know about the other things, but I know it's a good thing it didn't rain these days, otherwise the mud pit opposite would have turned into a pool." Ulu said lazily, leaning against the city wall, holding a piece of grass in his mouth.

"Look! What is that? Ulu." Mopu suddenly shouted to Ulu.

"What is that?" Ulu slowly stood up, stretched himself, and turned around to see what Mopu was talking about.

There were also many sharp-eyed natives who noticed the movements of the East African army’s positions.

In the past two days, the natives have been very curious about the East African army outside the city, but the generals of the kingdom and the leaders of their own tribes have ordered the city gates to be closed and not to take the initiative to attack.

The natives on the city wall could only watch and see what the East African army was going to do. Apart from digging pits, there seemed to be no other major moves.

Today, something new suddenly appeared that the natives had never seen before. The natives on the city wall leaned their heads out to look at the new stuff that was pushed to the open space ahead by the East African army.

I saw that this thing was completely black, with a black hole as thick as a bowl, and large circles like the sun on both sides.

…

"Lourde, are you skilled enough? I hope you won't miss the target. We only have three shells, so please use them sparingly." Alman said.

"Don't worry! Alman, I came from an artillery background. How could the food I used back then be bad? Besides, the other side doesn't even have the ability to interfere with us. They have plenty of time to calibrate. Just wait for me to blow open the city gate with one shot!" said Lourdes.

The new thing that Mop saw was a cannon, which had just arrived in the East African colony this month and was transferred from the port by Alman.

After all, the bows and arrows of the natives are not useless, and they have the city walls as cover. Alman is afraid that the rifles will have little effect on the natives.

In fact, you can use local wood to build a large siege vehicle, push it to the bottom of the city, and bury explosives. This way you can defend against the opponent's arrows and falling rocks.

However, Alman just wanted to get a cannon to play with, so he applied to the East African colony. Since there were not many cannons in East Africa, only one was approved.

"Okay, we've aimed. Once we shoot it, it will definitely give the natives on the opposite side a little shock." Lourdes said to Alman.

"Okay, everyone listen up, cover your ears, we are about to fire!" said Alman and his men.

When everyone was ready, Yarman drew his saber and shouted at the gate of Kayanza: "Ready!..."

…

Ulu stood on the top of the city wall and said to Mopu: "Look, there is a man standing next to that black thing, and he is pointing a knife at us."

"He should be the priest on the opposite side! Can he cast spells at such a long distance?" Mopu asked doubtfully.

…

"Release." Alman gave the order.

Everyone on the East African position covered their ears as Lord lit the fuse.

boom……

Ulu and Mopu only heard a huge roar from the black thing and a flash of white flame passed by the cave entrance.

Bang...

The city of Kayanza was shaken violently. A big hole was blown in the city gate, along with the bricks and stones that had been intact just now. It collapsed in half, and the unlucky guy on the city gate was buried in the ruins.

"The wrath of the gods, the gods are angry..."

The panicked natives shouted everywhere. Uru and Mopu were very close to the city gate. Although they did not become the unlucky ones who died with the city gate, they could still hear a roar in their ears.

The two men were stunned by the explosion and it took them a long time to recover. They were so scared that they couldn't speak. They immediately fell to the ground and atone for their sins to the gods.

The East African army had walked out of the trenches and rushed towards the collapsed area of ​​the city wall, while aiming their guns at the natives who were still standing on the city wall.

Bang…bang…bang…

The intermittent gunshots woke up the natives who were still praying to the gods. Now they didn't care about anything else and kept running towards the city. Everyone was crowded together in the passage. The panicked native soldiers shouted as they ran: "The devil is coming. The gods have sent the devil to punish the Kingdom of Burundi. Everyone, run!"

The streets were in chaos. The civilians, who had lived in fear for several months, could not bear this. Anyway, even the kingdom’s army collapsed. It must have encountered something terrible.

The natives who had foresight had even packed up all their belongings and ran away. Everyone in the city fled to the north amid rumors and panic.

The king and nobles in the temporary palace of Kayanza had a bad feeling when they heard the huge artillery fire. Combined with the gunfire of the East African army and the screams of the people in the city, they decided to flee without a second thought.

Ordinary people don't recognize the thing in the Germans' hands, but the most knowledgeable people in the Kingdom of Burundi know it. Anyway, let the top leaders of the Kingdom of Burundi think about it themselves. They don't think that warriors can defeat firearms. After all, the Arab slave traders have already seen it for them.

With the experience of running away last time, all the residents of Kayanza City in the Kingdom of Burundi were familiar with the route this time.

Adults, children, kings, nobles, chiefs, priests, commoners, slaves...

It was as if the scene of the invasion of the East Bantu people was reappearing, but this time there were no large numbers of East Bantu people behind the Burundians, but bursts of gunfire.

For the Burundian people who are keen on "superstition", this is a hundred times more terrifying than the Eastern Bantu people, especially since there were previous sacrifices saying that the Germans were holding soul-sucking weapons.

Therefore, every Burundian (except the nobles) firmly believed that the loud noise that pierced the sky was the devil's miserable roar, and that anyone caught by the devil would surely never be reborn.

There was serious chaos in the city of Kayanza, with frequent stampedes and robberies, but no one cared about these details and fled north towards Rwanda. If possible, the Burundians would wish they could grow an extra pair of legs so they could leave this place of trouble.

(End of this chapter)