Chapter 269 Great Zimbabwe Ruins
The East African Southern Army's destination was to conquer the Matabele Plateau, and the arrival of the Southern Army was undoubtedly a disaster for the local indigenous people.
With the Portuguese in the east and the Boers in the south, the only things left were the barren land in the west - the Kalahari Basin and other black countries in the north. However, with the East African expedition, they were completely surrounded by the colonists.
If, as usual, there were only a few hundred or at most a thousand colonial armed forces, the natives of Zimbabwe could still deal with it, but the entire southern army had more than 20,000 people, which was too many for the natives.
Great Zimbabwe ruins.
A platoon of the Southern Army stationed here is responsible for setting up a material transfer station here to ensure the smooth flow of logistics channels.
"This is an empty city, but it is built entirely with stones and is quite high. It is rare in Africa. But why did the local natives abandon this place?" Platoon Leader Demeier asked in confusion.
"Well, it's hard to say. It might not be built independently by the indigenous people. It might also be the idea of the Arabs." said the deputy platoon leader.
"I don't think so!" At this time, a voice came from nearby, and a middle-aged man with a backpack and a cane was seen, followed by a black man who helped him carry the luggage.
"Who are you? Why are you here? Why do you speak German?" Meidel looked at the unexpected visitor warily and raised the gun in his hand.
"Don't be nervous, my friend. I am a German geographer, Karl Moher. I am here to study the culture of the indigenous people. This is my rented servant," Karl Moher explained.
Hearing this man's self-introduction, Meidl let down his guard a little. He said, "German, that's great! This is the first time I have seen Germans in the interior of Africa except for the East African Kingdom. Where in Germany are you from?"
"Sir, I'm a Saxon from Dresden, have you heard of me?" said Karl Mohe.
Meider finally put down his gun, walked up to Karl Moher, stretched out his hand and said, "Hello, Mr. Moher, I am also from Germany, and I used to be from Württemberg."
"Look at your attire?" Karl Moh said as he looked at the military uniforms of the East African Kingdom. Although the style was very similar to that of the German region, there were still some different elements.
"East African Kingdom Army."
"The Kingdom of East Africa? Never heard of this country?" Mohe said curiously. Besides, this is the name of an African country!
"Mr. Mohe, I wonder how long you have been in Africa?" Maidel did not answer immediately, but asked instead.
"Not long, just two or three years."
"No wonder then. Haven't you been back to Europe in these years?"
Carl Moher shook his head and said, "Really not. I am here to survey historical sites, such as the stone city where you are. It is difficult to collect useful information, and the history of this site is quite long, so I have been staying here."
"I see!" Meider suddenly realized, "In fact, Mr. Mohe, you are a little out of touch with the news here. The Kingdom of East Africa is a kingdom established by our Germans in Africa, and it was established only a few months ago."
"Uh, aren't all overseas colonies? I thought they were colonies of Prussia or Austria-Hungary!"
"The Kingdom of East Africa was established by the Hechingen royal family. Hechingen is a state in southern Germany. You should know that!"
"I have only heard of the name of the Principality of Hexingen, but I don't know much about the details."
"Our king's last name is Hohenzollern."
"So that's how it is. The Hohenzollern family makes sense, but it's still a little strange for Germans to establish a country in Africa. But I've been active here for a while, so why haven't I seen you guys before?"
"That's because this place has just been incorporated into the territory of the East African Kingdom. Currently, apart from the army, there are no immigrants migrating here," Meidel explained.
The East African army of more than 20,000 people looks intimidating, but scattered over more than 500,000 square kilometers of land, they can't even create a wave, so it is normal that Carl Moh had not encountered other East African troops before.
"Then your East Africa should be quite large! This is the interior of Africa. To the east are the Portuguese. I landed at the port there. To the south are the Boers. You can only come from the north."
"It should be very large. It will take more than ten days just to get here from the newly established Southern Frontier Province in East Africa."
In fact, most East Africans have no idea how big East Africa is. Even Ernst cannot know it clearly because the territory of East Africa is always changing.
Southern Frontier Province? Carl Moher heard another piece of information: this East African kingdom was divided into administrative regions.
"I wonder if you have any unique insights into this relic?" Meidel asked at this time, bringing the topic back to the scene when Carl Moh appeared.
"Yes, I personally think that this large group of stone buildings has a European style and may have come from Europe. You see, there are no roofs here. They are all built with gray granite stones with sophisticated technology. Some of the stones have been carved. The tall stone walls on the mountain are clearly European-style buildings." Carl Moch said when he heard Meidel's question.
"This... is a really novel idea!" Meider commented, "But if you ask me, I think this thing was probably made by the African natives themselves. At most, it has something to do with the Arabs, but it has nothing to do with Europe at all."
Hearing Meidl's rebuttal, Karl Moh said, "What do you think?"
"Although the scale of this site is not bad, it is too rough. And the carving marks you mentioned seem to me to be the skills of some primitive people. I have seen many natives, and some of their stone thatches are very good, the kind that are purely hand-knocked out of stones. And this is a circle surrounded by a lot of stones. It may have included houses in the past. Building houses with stones is not a difficult task, and European buildings are not so simple."
"What you said makes sense, but I don't think the African natives are capable of building such a huge project by themselves. I have been to many places in Africa, and such large-scale stone ruins only exist in North Africa. These stone cities are only scattered here in the entire sub-Saharan Africa. Moreover, I have investigated the surrounding indigenous people, and they don't have such skills, so these buildings can't be completed by indigenous people."
…
The stone ruins that the two were arguing about were actually the famous Great Zimbabwe ruins in Africa in the past. There are more than 200 ruins of the same style in the Zimbabwe region, and each of them is called "Zimbabwe" by the local indigenous people. There has always been controversy over who built them.
In his previous life, Karl Moher was the first person to make this miracle public. Although it is called a miracle and is included in the World Cultural Heritage List, Ernst said that this thing is not worth the price at all. In other words, there is really no historical and cultural heritage in Africa (excluding North Africa) to brag about, which is why the so-called Great Zimbabwe ruins are just a "chicken head".
Apart from Australia, sub-Saharan Africa is the most culturally desolate region in the world. Even when it comes to playing with stones, Indians are dozens of blocks ahead of sub-Saharan Africa.
(End of this chapter)
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