Chapter 60: Marching towards Dar es Sala
Dürer, dressed in an Arab robe and riding a horse, did not look outstanding when he appeared on the streets of Dar es Salaam.
Dürer himself was a German, and with his white skin and Arab clothing, he did look like a local Arab if you didn't look closely.
Without attracting the attention of the soldiers of the Zanzibar Sultanate, Dürer rode his horse quickly towards the border area.
The East African Colony had originally promised Sultan Majid that it would not station troops in Dar es Salaam. However, the East African Colony chose the next best option and left an army of 200 men on the border some distance away from Dar es Salaam.
It is used to prevent changes in the Sultanate of Zanzibar, or to ensure the smooth passage from the Port of Dar es Salaam to the East African colonies.
After all, for a country whose standing army has only a few thousand people all year round, two hundred well-equipped troops already have a certain threat capability.
Currently, the armed forces in the East African colonies number about 8,000 people, of which, in addition to 2,000 Germans and more than 300 immigrants from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the rest are Chinese immigrants.
This army of more than 8,000 people was distributed over nearly 700,000 square kilometers of land in the East African colony.
There are about 3,000 colonial troops in the three coastal areas in the east. Excluding the necessary local guard forces, the number of people that can be quickly mobilized in the East African colonies is about 1,500.
The fifteen thousand include two hundred people in Dar es Salaam, three hundred people in Tanga Port, more than five hundred people in the first town, and the rest of the troops that can be flexibly mobilized in the three coastal areas.
…
"Stop! Who are you?" An East African colonial soldier stationed in the Kibaha area (about 40 miles away from the port of Dar es Salaam) stopped Dürer, who was dressed in Arab clothes.
"I'm one of you. Take me to see your commander. I have important military intelligence to report." Dürer said breathlessly.
Upon hearing that it was military intelligence, the soldiers did not dare to delay and immediately reported it to the superiors in the camp.
After verifying the identity of the visitor, Felix, the military commander of the Kibaha area, met with Dürer.
"Sir, this is a handwritten letter from Mr. Bazel!" Dürer handed the letter to Felix.
Felix took the letter, opened it, and began to read.
After a moment, Felix frowned and asked, "Mr. Dürer! Did you see any unusual movements of the Arabs on your way here?"
"Sir, I did see quite a few soldiers on the streets of Dar es Salaam. They seemed to be carrying out some kind of military operation, especially in the direction of the palace. People were prohibited from passing through. I bypassed them and came out from the southern part of the neighborhood."
"Are you sure it's a military operation? I'm not seeing things!" Felix asked.
"Sir, on weekdays, only the royal guards of the Sultanate of Zanzibar appear in the streets of Dar es Salaam, while the army is stationed outside Dar es Salaam and at the docks."
Dürer went on to say, "This morning, our men saw the Zanzibar garrison at the dock move out unusually, but no one noticed at the time. Around eight o'clock, the number of soldiers on the streets of Dar es Salaam increased, while there were not so many Zanzibar troops at the dock, indicating that the Zanzibar troops outside the city had entered the city. Moreover, Mr. Bazel observed that most of these soldiers entering the city were armed with live ammunition, and there was no trace of the royal guards of the Zanzibar Sultan Majid. Mr. Bazel guessed that there must be a big problem with the Sultanate of Zanzibar. However, we did not hear any gunshots, so we dare not jump to conclusions, but we cannot leave the situation alone, so we came to report the situation."
After listening to what Dürer said, Felix looked at Hans Zhang, the staff officer beside him, and asked, "Zhang, what do you think?"
Hans Zhang is a graduate of the Hechingen Military Academy. His original name was Zhang Yuzhu. After entering the school, all students had to give themselves German names. At that time, they were given a list and asked to choose a name that they thought was easy to pronounce.
At that time, Zhang Yuzhu thought that the name Hans was simple and easy to remember, so he changed his name to Hans. The surname was transliterated from German. The German instructors could not distinguish the Hundred Family Surnames, so they classified all the surnames with similar pronunciations into one category.
So the Germans find it difficult to pronounce "Zhang, Zhao, Jiang..." and they all sound like the Chinese "Zhang", so they simply write them as the German transliteration "zhang".
When these students first arrived in Germany, they were illiterate and no one could write their own names, so they followed the instructors and changed their surnames to "zhang".
After changing his name, Zhang Yuzhu's name became "Hans Zhang".
…
Staff officer Hans Zhang thought for a moment and said to Felix, "Given the current situation, if we report to the colonial government first and wait for a decision before dispatching, it will definitely be too late."
"If a coup really happens in Zanzibar and a new government is established, the attitude of this new government towards us is likely to be different from before. Currently, we have only about 20 staff members stationed in Dar es Salaam Port, and there may be new immigrants arriving this afternoon. These immigrants are unarmed, and we will definitely not be able to stop the Zanzibar government forces with only more than 20 armed staff members."
"Immigration is the top priority for the East African colonies. The principal has repeatedly stressed the need to ensure the safety of immigrants arriving in the East African colonies. If military turmoil really occurs in the Sultanate of Zanzibar, it may threaten the safety of the new immigrants arriving today!" Hans Zhang analyzed.
In fact, the current immigrants from the East African colonies are not limited to the Port of Dar es Salaam, they can also land at the Port of Tanga. The problem is that the conditions at the Port of Dar es Salaam are mature, so the Dutch prefer to dock at the Port of Dar es Salaam. Immigrants from the Austro-Hungarian Empire will also give priority to the closer Port of Dar es Salaam because they have to take a detour across the Atlantic Ocean. Only the Hechingen Consortium's own fleet will depart from the Port of Tanga when transporting goods.
This situation can only change after the opening of the Suez Canal. But at that time, the location of Tanga Port might not be the closest to Europe... (Mombasa was acquired after this incident.)
"That's right. If we act a step later, we may not be able to control the situation, so action must be taken immediately." Felix agreed.
"Now we should send someone to report the situation to the East African colonial government and march towards the port of Dar es Salaam."
"Mr. Dürer, you should stay and rest for now! The people responsible for receiving immigrants will pass by here at noon every day, and you can go back to Dar es Salaam with them then."
Felix said this without showing any regard for Zanzibar. In fact, Felix was so conceited. As a former Prussian soldier, Prussia often followed His Majesty the King in Europe to defeat the strong with the weak.
Felix believed that as long as the army was courageous, the weak would not necessarily be defeated when attacking the strong. In Felix's eyes, the army of Zanzibar was a "weakling". After all, European countries were expanding madly around the world. Although Prussia did not participate, Prussia was also a well-known military power on the European continent.
Small countries like Zanzibar in the world are often beaten up by the Dutch and the Portuguese, so naturally they are no match for Prussia.
Felix has a hot temper. As the saying goes, bad guys always stick together. Only the staff officer Hans Zhang can moderate Felix's temper.
This is because Hans Zhang, as a graduate of the Hechingen Military Academy, received systematic military training, so his style of doing things is quite like that of a Prussian officer. Every time Felix came into contact with Hans Zhang, he felt like he was talking to his former Prussian noble chief. This often reminded Felix of the days when he served in Prussia, and now he missed them a little.
But when it comes to fighting, Felix, a former Prussian soldier, has a kind of bloody courage. Since entering East Africa, he has often fought with the natives without being defeated and has become quite inflated.
However, Felix was a rough but meticulous person. He controlled the army in full accordance with the Prussian military regulations, and there were no mistakes in the execution of each battle formation. Therefore, in most cases, the staff officer Hans Zhang did not stop Felix, but supported Felix's actions.
"Pass my order, all troops must assemble immediately and march towards the port of Dar es Salaam!" Felix ordered.
The soldiers led by the reckless Felix were naturally swift and resolute. After receiving the order, they quickly organized their equipment and assembled.
Felix and Hans Zhang set an example by walking in front and marching eastward with the soldiers.
The army of only two hundred people demonstrated the momentum of a regiment, advancing towards the port of Dar es Salaam with smoke and dust flying all the way.
(End of this chapter)
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