Chapter 156: Burning
Bang... bang... bang...
Northern Kenya, gunshots rang out.
With each shot, African wildlife fell. In order to clear pastureland, buffalo, lions, warthogs, hyenas, leopards, zebras—any animal in sight—were all caught in the crossfire. The East African colonies first set the grasslands ablaze.
The fire drove the animals outward in all directions. Those unable to escape were consumed by the flames. Others lay half-dead on the scorched earth, groaning in pain.
In places untouched by the flames, East African immigrants had to handle the task themselves.
Currently, life for East African immigrants consisted of three regular activities: farming, fighting, and setting fires.
Farming, naturally, was the top priority in East Africa—no surprise there.
Fighting was for securing land. East Africa was constantly at odds with local native forces, so conflicts were to be expected.
As for setting fires, it was perhaps the oddest of all—fires to clear land for farming, fires to make space for settlements, and fires to destroy habitats of local wildlife.
Nothing saved more time and effort than lighting a fire on the dry-season African savannah. The whole of East Africa had a wild, primitive beauty of slash-and-burn agriculture.
The development of the East African colonies had put them on a direct collision course with both native Africans and wild animals. Be they human or beast, if they were native to East Africa, they could be wiped out without reason.
Ernst insisted he had no prejudice against the natives—these were purely conflicts of interest.
The real owners of this land weren't the black people, but the swarms of wild animals spread from south to north, across the entire sub-Saharan region.
Excluding the tropical rainforests—true no-go zones where no one knows what hides inside—most of the African savannahs were occupied by the usual suspects: lion prides, wildebeest herds, elephant herds, zebra herds, packs of hyenas, wild dogs, warthogs...
The African savannah, spanning over 8 million square kilometers from West Africa to East and South Africa, was home to these creatures.
Ernst felt no remorse killing them—there were simply too many. Talk of extinction didn't concern him.
He had no reverence for species extinction. The Earth spun just fine in his previous life despite countless species vanishing from the news.
Besides, he wasn't denying these animals a chance at life—they were just born in the wrong place.
The policy of the East African colonies was that wherever immigrants settled, everything local must be eradicated.
Now East Africa was vast and sparsely populated. Immigrants chose the best spots to live. Mountain valleys, primeval forests, deserts—they wouldn't bother with those.
Take the Serengeti, for instance. That enormous expanse (over 30,000 square kilometers) wasn't even slated for development. Ernst designated it a nature reserve.
To develop Africa, drastic measures were required—mass destruction of grasslands and forests was inevitable.
In truth, Ernst's slash-and-burn tactics had another goal: to dismantle the local ecosystem.
Africa was a breeding ground for diseases, not just for humans but for animals too.
What stuck in Ernst's mind from his previous life were African swine fever and African horse sickness.
African swine fever was practically AIDS for pigs. First identified in Kenya in 1927, it remained incurable for over a century—even before Ernst's time travel, no effective vaccine existed.
Its spread was vast—ravaging Africa, establishing a foothold in Europe, invading the Americas and Asia—even cold Russia reported outbreaks.
Wherever African swine fever appeared, mass exterminations followed. Pigs within several kilometers of an outbreak were all culled.
Highly contagious with a 100% fatality rate, it required extreme measures: kill the infected, quarantine, disinfect, and sanitize. There was no effective prevention or treatment.
The virus was first spread by soft ticks, while African horse sickness was carried by biting midges and other parasites.
Africa had long suffered from parasites, so livestock farming in the East African colonies faced the same threats.
Although these diseases hadn't emerged yet, Ernst dared not take chances.
Burning off the land was the cheapest, most effective method—cutting down everything in one sweep was all the times allowed.
Ernst's first "cut" landed on East Africa's wildlife. They were hosts to parasites and diseases and direct threats to livestock.
So clearing animals from the grasslands was essential. A fire could also destroy the parasites' habitats.
Once the rainy season arrived, fresh grass would regrow on the plains, and livestock could graze safely.
...
"Andrei! That pork is cooked through—I can smell it! What a waste!" Porter Young exclaimed, eyeing the warthog caught in the fire.
"Heh, don't even think about it. Orders from above—every animal corpse is to be burned. Wild game's tasty, sure, but you've gotta live to enjoy it," Andrei replied.
"I just don't see what the danger is—it's just a pig!" Porter Young argued.
"This isn't Eurasia. Just because it looks harmless doesn't mean it is.
Especially these wild animals. Back when we first arrived in East Africa, people made do without food. But now? There's no need to gamble with your life.
Don't take it personally, but these are hard-learned lessons from the locals—tropical animals carry parasites and diseases. Eating them without care can have serious consequences.
I once saw a native, poor guy didn't have an inch of intact skin—crawling with parasites. I couldn't eat for three days," Andrei warned.
That native wasn't actually infected from eating wild game, but from drinking unclean water—but Andrei still used the story as a cautionary tale.
There were countless examples of African natives infected with parasites. Unlike immigrants, the natives didn't even wear clothes or care about hygiene. Veteran settlers had seen plenty, and with colonial education, few dared break regulations.
Porter Young clearly remembered something unpleasant and quickly replied, "Now that you mention it, I once saw a native barefoot—his feet were chewed up by something awful (probably sand fleas). He could barely walk. Now that I think about it, it's horrifying."
"Right? So let's just follow orders. The bigwigs up top know more than us. They said this is science," Andrei said.
"You're right. Science is a good thing. Those who didn't listen got sick real fast. They learned the hard way. I'll be more careful from now on," Porter Young agreed.
...
At dusk, the immigrants piled the collected animal corpses onto stacks of firewood.
The foreman doused them with kerosene, lit a match, and in the raging flames, the animal bodies turned to dust and ash.
The scorched grassland was pitch black, waiting for the rainy season to bring life back again. But when that greenery returned, not a single wild animal would be found—only livestock raised by East Africans would roam the plains.
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