Chapter 246: The First Shot of the 1870 German War
According to future historical records, starting in July 1870, three major German states launched wars one after another. These three powers basically brought along all the German states to participate in the war. So people collectively refer to the three wars of 1870 as the 1870 German War.
Among them, the largest in scale (in terms of troop numbers and weapons), the fiercest in combat, and the most influential was the Franco-Prussian War. Second was the Second Austro-German War, and lastly, the Third East African Conquest War.
July 10, 1870
On a suspension bridge between the Lualaba River and the Zambezi River, crowds of people gathered. The newly expanded East African Army began to march in three directions.
The East African Kingdom, which had not yet fully integrated Zambia, was about to use its last strength to firmly establish the basic framework of the kingdom.
West bank of the Lualaba River
Msiri, along with his sons and his army under the Msiri regime, had already been waiting for a long time.
"Mr. Moerke! Your country's power is truly terrifying!" Msiri exclaimed with lingering fear. More than thirty thousand well-equipped and well-trained East African Kingdom troops had left this African chieftain deeply shocked.
"Of course, Mr. Msiri. Any tribe before the East African Kingdom is no more than clay chickens and pottery dogs, easily crushed. If we put in even a little effort, you wouldn't be able to stop us. You are a smart man. By choosing to cooperate with us, as a friend of East Africa, you will not be mistreated."
Msiri had already been shaped by the East African Kingdom as a die-hard "non-traitor." The East African Kingdom also made a promise that they would not "kill the donkey after it's done grinding."
Before the war, the East African Kingdom gave Msiri two choices. After East Africa cleared the entire south-central African plateau, Msiri could either go live as a noble guest in the Sultanate of Zanzibar or travel through Central Africa to develop in West Africa. Msiri chose the second option.
Looking at the massive East African army in front of him, Msiri felt a bit relieved about his earlier decision. If he had chosen the wrong side, he would now probably be a target for elimination. He didn't believe the few hundred rifles he had could ever stand up to the East African Army.
"Mr. Moerke, don't worry. This time our Yeke Kingdom will fully support your campaign. I can't speak for other areas, but the Luba Kingdom has always been my old enemy. Let my men guide your troops."
"Very good!" Moerke affirmed.
...
Bang…
The Third East African Conquest War officially began (the first was the war to eliminate the Eight Northwestern Nations of the Great Lakes Region; the second was the war against Zambia and the Sultanate of Gledi — all collectively called the East African Conquest Wars). The first shot was fired in the Kasongo region, located between the Lualaba River and the Sankuru River. The Lualaba is the upper section of the Congo River, while the Sankuru is a southern tributary of the Congo. Here, the northbound East African army encountered the troops of the Luba Kingdom.
...
First Town, Kiwete Royal Palace
Standing before a sand table, Felix explained:
"This time, the East African Army will split into four groups — the Northern Army, Western Army, Southern Army, and Southwestern Army. Their goals are the Azande Plateau and southern South Sudan; the Lunda Plateau and the Kwango Plateau; the Matabele Plateau; and the northern part of the Kalahari Basin, respectively."
"Once these objectives are achieved, East Africa will border Egypt to the north, the Portuguese colony of Angola and the Kingdom of Congo to the west, and Boer territories to the south. At the same time, we will form an encirclement around Portugal's colony of Mozambique.
That is to say, after this expansion, East Africa's neighbors will no longer be native tribes, but world powers: Britain, France, Egypt, the Abyssinian Empire, the Ottomans (on the Red Sea coast), Portugal, the Boers, and the Somali clans...
So East Africa will not launch such a large-scale operation again for a long time."
This was a very bold plan — the territory involved was about the same size as India. Once completed, East Africa's territory would reach over 7 million square kilometers.
This would also be the limit of East Africa's expansion. Beyond this, it simply could not handle any more. As usual, the highland areas were the foundation of the East African Kingdom. This expansion mainly targeted plateau regions, since only highlands and mountains in the tropics are suitable for human survival.
Given East Africa's limited capacity, it had to prioritize occupying the best lands in its view. So neither rainforests nor deserts were included in the plan.
Although the western and southern parts of the Kalahari Basin were essentially uninhabited, its desert climate and long supply lines made operations there unfeasible. Even if captured, it would be impossible to maintain communication.
Marching through the Congo rainforest on a large scale was only possible if losses were not considered — otherwise, it was nearly impossible. Even the indigenous people who had lived there for generations wouldn't claim they could cross it.
In fact, it's possible to occupy some riverbank strongholds by following the rivers, but it's totally unnecessary — those areas can't be effectively governed. Colonizing them might be possible, but the Congo rainforest barely has any population — just small, scattered tribes with no real value for colonization. All the valuable land in the Congo region is already included in this East African expansion.
It's important to note that the Congo region in previous times and the Congo rainforest are two different concepts. People tend to think of the Congo as having rich resources and vast farmland, but all its minerals, population, and arable land are concentrated in the plateau and mountain areas in the southeast, southwest, northwest, and northeast.
Take the Congo (Kinshasa) from past times as an example — its urban population was distributed in a ring around the rainforest. In this ring, the Mitumba Mountains in the east were already part of East Africa. The Katanga Plateau in the south was also under East Africa's control. Now with this expansion, the Azande Plateau to the north and the Lunda and Kwango Plateaus in the south would also be taken. Only the area west of Kinshasa would remain habitable.
That area happened to already be under foreign control — by the Portuguese. Before Belgium arrived, Portugal always claimed the Congo region as its sphere of influence. But the British disagreed, and other countries didn't recognize it either. Now the western Congo is split between Portugal and Britain, with the French colony of Gabon nearby.
"Our troops will march along the plateau terrain, so they won't suffer physically. The hardest region is the Kalahari Basin, where water sources are a huge problem. Although the Okavango River forms a large inland delta there, that's also why almost all animals gather in that place. The mapmakers say that herds of hippos defecate in the rivers and wetlands, making clean water hard to find. So the army can't be too large."
"Logistics is another big issue. The natives in the highlands grow some crops. If food is short, we can handle it locally. But in the Kalahari Basin, there's no agriculture at all. All food has to be transported from the east, and that cost makes large forces impossible. That's why the Southwestern Army has only around 1,000 men in total."
"The plateaus are mostly connected. Only rivers slow our progress. To fully control these areas later, we'll need to build roads and bridges."
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