African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 105 The Portuguese
1867 10 Month 5 Day.

East Malawi Lake District.

Mitomoni Village is located more than 100 kilometers south of Songgaia City.

The forests in the East Malawi lake area are relatively dense, and the tall and clustered trees are completely different from the endless grassland scene in the northern part of the East African colony.

In the previous life, even in the 21st century, the forest coverage rate of Tanzania remained at about 50.00%. In this era, the forest coverage rate of the entire Tanzania is only a lot more.

Unlike the tropical rainforest and subtropical forest, the forests in East Africa are not densely packed, and there are large gaps between the trees, while the trees are dominated by grassland, with few shrubs, etc., so it is easy to pass, that is Without a compass and a map it is easy to get lost.

Therefore, the East Malawi Lake area is also the land with the lowest degree of development in East Africa. After all, a fire in the grassland can burn a large area of ​​wasteland, and it is still very difficult for the small number of East African colonies to cut down these trees.

Everything has two sides. The forest is lush and timber resources are abundant. Due to the limitation of transportation capacity, these trees cannot be exported at present, but they greatly meet the needs of the East African colonies themselves.

Building houses, as fuel, and making tools can all use these rich resources. According to the current population size of the East African colonies, these timbers can be developed, which is really inexhaustible.

As one of the southernmost villages in the East Malawi Lake District, Mitomoni Village is also a small military stronghold.

In addition to the low walls made of mud and stones, there are also simple sentry posts made of wood, and there are wooden horses in the direction of the exit. This configuration is a bit luxurious for the southern natives.

Strictly speaking, East Africa has no borders with the Portuguese colony of Mozambique. After all, although Mozambique has a large population, there are not many Portuguese, and most of them are distributed along the coast.

It is naturally impossible for the Portuguese to fully control Mozambique, so there are a large number of indigenous tribes in Mozambique, and their relationship with the Portuguese is more like a vassal state.

As long as they submit to the rule of the Kingdom of Portugal, they are regarded as their own people. Of course, this situation is more obvious in the inland areas. In the coastal areas controlled by the Portuguese themselves, those indigenous people can only do cattle and horses for the Portuguese and bully them at will.

Before the end of the slave trade, Mozambique was an important source of goods for the Kingdom of Portugal.

The Portuguese colonization of Mozambique also followed the rules, first occupying the ports on the coast, and then gradually expanding inland along the river.

Of course, at first the Portuguese had an additional goal, which was to destroy the power of the Arabs as much as possible, so this was also a religious war.

In Mozambique, the Portuguese succeeded, and the Arabs along the coast were indeed weak, and it was difficult to resist the Portuguese invasion.

But when the Portuguese tried to go north to repeat this action, they encountered the Sultanate of Zanzibar, which was in a strong period. , the two sides jointly develop the interests of the West Indian Ocean coast.

The Portuguese once reached parts of Zimbabwe and Zambia when their power was the farthest, but because of the plague in the two places, the Portuguese were forced to withdraw to Mozambique. This was also the first failed attempt by Western colonists to develop the interior of Africa. .

Until now, the Portuguese have not successfully expanded into the interior of Africa. At most, they are important extraterritorial forces affecting the inland indigenous kingdoms and tribes.

……

A Portuguese patrol, fully armed, explored north, led by Tulio Pennelli, an officer in the Portuguese colony of Mozambique.

As a Portuguese who has been in the Mozambique colony for many years, Turio Pennelli is quite familiar with the local area.

The small team, 47 people in total, traveled along the traditional road to inspect the indigenous tribes under the Mozambique colony.

Gradually, Turio Pennelli came to the border area between the East African colony and the Mozambique colony.

In fact, the Portuguese did not know much about the expansion of the East African colonies. They only knew that the Germans defeated the Sultanate of Zanzibar, but the Sultanate of Zanzibar still existed, but retreated to the island of Zanzibar.

According to the Portuguese's thinking, the Germans should be on the same path as themselves, mainly concentrated in the coastal areas, and at most affect the inland tribes.

After all, the Portuguese themselves have developed their own power in Africa for hundreds of years, and they have not succeeded in going deep into the inland. The Germans have just arrived, and most of them have developed the coastal plains.

The village of Mitomoni is not too far from Lake Malawi, so it can be regarded as inland, so Turio Pennelli and his team casually set off towards the north.

Soon, after reaching the last tribe in northern Mozambique, its chief began reporting the latest news to Tulio Pennelli.

"Many people who escaped from the north were captured by us. They are all from the northern tribes. I heard that they were driven out by a group of white-faced people recently. Many rebels were killed or fled westward. They are also resisters. Unwilling to flee to the west, they escaped to our territory through the forest." The translator said to Turio Pennelli.

"White faces?" Tulio Pennelli whispered. "Could it be Germans!"

Turio Pennelli could not make up his mind, and said to the chief: "Tell me in detail about their appearance and clothing, as well as the condition of their weapons."

"Our people have gone to the north to check, and there has been a castle built there (Mitomoni Village), their skin color is very similar to yours (actually most of them are Chinese), they have the same weapons (guns) as yours, and their clothes are very similar to yours. Similar, but relatively uniform, not as good-looking as your clothes (Westerners wear fancy clothes, while East African colonies mainly wear military uniforms), and the northern tribes we captured said that the other party has a lion as a totem tribe." The chief replied.

"It seems that they are indeed Germans!" Tulio Penelli said to the team members, "In this case, let's go and visit, and then follow my orders and don't conflict with the Germans."

Soon, under the leadership of the chief, Turio Pennelli and his team rushed to the vicinity of Mitomoni Village. From a distance, there was a lion totem that the chief said was erected in front of the simple fortifications.

Turio Pennelli naturally recognized that it was not the tribal totem that the local aborigines said, but a flag, the family crest (armor) of the Hechingen family, and the flag of the East African colony.

In fact, Tulio Penelli only knew that it was the flag of a European noble family. As for Hexingen, there are so many nobles in Europe, especially in the German region. How did Tulio Penelli, a commoner in the Kingdom of Portugal, know him? come over.

The reason why we can know that it is the flag of a European noble family is mainly the lion on that flag, which is too common in Europe. Many noble families have this symbol on the coat of arms of the royal family. Generally, eagles and lions can be used as family emblems (patterns) Chapter) has a lot of background.

But this does not hinder, Turio Pennelli knows that it is the flag of the Germans, because on the eastern coast, Portuguese businessmen can still get a lot of information from East Africa, especially the mouth of the Rufuma River (the Rufuma River is the eastern East African colony and Mozambique colony), there are many such flags erected on the opposite bank.

What Turio Penelli didn't expect was that the Germans had penetrated into the inland areas of East Africa and established a large stronghold here.

(End of this chapter)