Chapter 391: Sheep Entering the Tiger's Den
The Kingdom of Swaziland, a small and little-known country. Even historically, it was not until 1907 that Britain made it into a semi-colony. Generally, the British only do such a thing under two circumstances: either they can't swallow it, or it truly has no value. Swaziland belongs to the latter.
But now the Swazi people have run out of luck. As the saying goes, "Sitting at home, trouble comes from the sky." A force from who-knows-where suddenly launched a surprise attack on the Kingdom of Swaziland.
The Kingdom of Swaziland has only tens of thousands of inhabitants. Don't be fooled by its small area and low population; in fact, the region where Swaziland is located is one of the more densely populated parts of Africa.
In the 19th century, the entire population of Africa was only a little over ninety million. Of those, Egypt (plus Sudan) and the Empire of Abyssinia accounted for more than twenty million, while the East African Kingdom plus its Black population made up over twenty-seven million. Those three areas alone make up almost half of Africa's population. If you exclude Morocco, Tunisia, and Algeria in North Africa, then the rest of Africa might total only around forty million people. This shows how vast and sparsely populated sub-Saharan Africa especially was.
A key reason is that the Black civilizations originating in West Africa remained very primitive, and when they spread across the entire region, they were still in a primitive society. In such societies, population growth essentially remains constant: although birthrates may be high, mortality is also high.
Hence, the environment had a huge impact on Africa's population. The areas around the Nile in Egypt, the Great Lakes region of East Africa, the Abyssinian Empire, parts of West Africa, the Mediterranean coast of North Africa, the Lake Malawi region, and the northeastern part of South Africa are currently among Africa's most densely populated zones.
Swaziland lies in the northeast of South Africa. Nearby are the Portuguese colony of Mozambique with its capital at Maputo, the Zulu Kingdom, Britain's Natal Colony, the Transvaal Republic, and the buffer state between East Africa and Mozambique known as the Gaza Empire (a native kingdom).
Swaziland is less than a hundred kilometers from Maputo. Once East Africa occupies it, they can directly threaten the capital of Mozambique.
At this moment, Swaziland's king was standing next to Felix, describing the Kingdom of Swaziland's circumstances.
"My country has Portuguese territory to the east, and to the southeast lie those barbarians of the Zulu Kingdom. Some years ago, our west side was occupied by the Boers. Because the land is poor and the terrain complex, under normal circumstances no one would come to our Kingdom of Swaziland."
One can say the Swazi people have a rather laid-back attitude. Though they share ancestral roots with the Zulu, their dispositions differ sharply. When they encountered the East African Army, they immediately chose to surrender, showing not a shred of hesitation.
That left Felix quite helpless. He had figured, however small this native kingdom was, there would at least be a fight or two—something to test his mettle. But in the end, they didn't resist at all.
Felix remarked, "Hmm, I understand. This place really isn't very suitable for human habitation."
But that doesn't justify letting the Kingdom of Swaziland continue to exist. East Africa's strategic intent this time was plainly to secure control of the Transvaal and the Zulu Kingdom, while Swaziland's location is exactly at the crucial point of East Africa's southward push.
"Your stance is truly unique in all of Africa," Felix said. "So regarding how to handle the Kingdom of Swaziland, I'll report to our kingdom and try to win you some decent terms."
Deciding how to deal with Swaziland wasn't easy. They were so cooperative that East Africa obviously couldn't just be rough with them. Felix would leave that headache for the Crown Prince to resolve.
Right then, a messenger arrived with an urgent report: "Commander, our troops have discovered an unidentified armed force in the southeast, advancing toward Swaziland."
Felix asked, "An unidentified force? What's the situation?"
"It's a group of white soldiers, but we're not sure whether they're Portuguese or Boers."
"How many are there?"
"Probably three or four thousand."
Felix turned to the King of Swaziland. "Have you folks ticked someone off recently?"
"That's impossible, General! Our Kingdom of Swaziland has always loved peace," replied the king.
Of course, what he said was different from what he thought. The main issue was that Swaziland's population is so small and its military so weak—if it had been stronger, they might have left this wretched place long ago.
The Kingdom of Swaziland had stayed put since the 16th century, with no chance to expand outward—partly because their closest kin, the Zulus, were fearsome fighters, totally unafraid of death, and partly because the native kingdoms northward seemed like "major powers" to the Swazi.
Felix told the messenger, "Have our men block them. If they're Portuguese, invite their commander over to discuss matters. If they're Boers, then we'll give them a fight."
Without making inquiries, it was really hard to tell from appearances whether the force was Portuguese or Boers; they dressed similarly.
At that moment, the Boers halfway up the mountain were also stunned: there turned out to be another faction here! Weren't they told that Swaziland was a Black kingdom?
Both sides cautiously eyed each other. Some recognized the East African uniform, realizing this must be the same East African force that invaded Transvaal.
"Who are you?" the East African soldiers shouted.
The Transvaal soldiers across the way whispered, "They're speaking German, so it must be East Africa!"
"What should we do now?" one asked.
Their commander said, "Ignore them for now. Let's turn around and go back the way we came."
But by then, Felix's messenger had arrived. "Colonel Belk, the Commander says that if these are Boers, we can't let them leave."
They weren't completely sure yet, but seeing the other side preparing to withdraw, Belk wouldn't stand by.
"Relay my orders: don't let those Boers slip away!"
Currently, Belk only had one brigade on hand. But the Boers were weary from travel, and they had to climb up the mountain—very draining. That allowed the East African troops to exploit the situation at leisure.
When the bugle sounded, the 2nd Brigade of the Mountain Division charged like tigers leaping from their den. Belk personally took the lead, rushing at the Boers.
Those Boers who'd hoped to sneak away found themselves trapped, with the mountain terrain preventing them from spreading out. Their attempted withdrawal became a panicked retreat, turning into a stampede. The entire unit fell into chaos. Meanwhile, the East Africans' advantage of fighting from higher ground became evident, and the Mountain Division was plainly more suited to this rugged environment. On the Drakensberg trails, they moved swiftly. In under two hours, the battle ended. The main Boer force was completely captured.
Hearing the fighting, Felix brought his troops over. He addressed the captured Boer commander: "Are you the Transvaal Republic's main army?"
"Yes, sir!"
"How did you end up in Swaziland?"
"Sigh, it's because Pretoria urgently summoned us to return and defend it. But the Zulu Kingdom noticed something off about our movements, so they sent a large force to surround us. We tried our best to shake them off but couldn't break through, so we had no choice but to go through Swaziland before returning to Transvaal."
Felix couldn't help bursting into laughter. They hadn't managed to borrow the path after all—like sheep walking into a tiger's mouth, delivering an effortless victory to him.
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