African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 922 Massacre

As the saying goes: There is no good cheap product, and there is no cheap good product. East Africa soon learned Spain's pain.

In May 1897, with the withdrawal of Spanish troops, East Africa successfully took over several Spanish strongholds on Mindanao. East Africa directly transferred part of the garrison troops from the Lan Fang Overseas Province to Mindanao.

"The Moros are the main inhabitants of the island and believe in the Green religion, which is why they are difficult to deal with. Under Spanish rule, most people in northern Luzon believed in Christianity, so the Moros' hatred for 'pagans' is innate. They are not as easy to conquer as the natives in northern Philippines. In addition, Mindanao has complex terrain and lush vegetation, so Spain has encircled and suppressed the Moros several times before, but the results were not great. Instead, they could only operate in a few coastal strongholds and promised the Moros a high degree of autonomy, which means that their rule was in name only."

National Defense Security Agency intelligence officers brief the first East African Governor to Mindanao on the situation on the island.

"In fact, Moro is the general name given by Spain to the Green Church believers on the island. They are divided into several ethnic groups and tribes, but because of their unified faith, they are more united."

In fact, Mindanao has always been the most turbulent region in the Philippines in the past. Not only did the local Moro people fiercely confront the Spanish, but the same was true after the Americans came. The Americans also failed to establish effective rule in the local area.

Therefore, the United States gradually conducted political negotiations with the Muslims in the south, and signed the Gillam-Baits Treaty with the Moro Sultan and the Sultan of Maguindanao. According to the treaty, the Americans would not enter the southern Philippines, and the affairs in the region would be managed autonomously by the Moro people.

Later, the U.S. and Philippine governments gradually changed the local population structure through immigration, turning the Moros, who originally accounted for 100 percent of the population, into a minority, thus achieving overall stability in the area.

However, until the 21st century, Mindanao was still a region in the Philippines with strong desire for secession, with warlords, separatist forces, independent armed forces, and government separatism.

Faced with such a complex situation in the region, Berkeley, the East African Governor-General in Mindanao, also had a grim expression.

"The only areas we can control right now are Zamboanga and Davao, but it may be very difficult to consolidate our rule there," Berkeley said.

Zamboanga is relatively easy to deal with, as it is located at the western end of Mindanao and is Spain's most important stronghold on the island. Davao was not yet a municipality in the Philippines in the past, and is currently just a small town, but its port conditions are excellent, so East Africa chose to land in these two places.

"During the Spanish rule, Zamboanga was often attacked by Moros. Last year alone, there were three attacks. As for Davao, the situation is better because our people are mainly concentrated in Davao and have already formed an advantage there," said a person from the National Defense Security Bureau.

The name Zamboanga alone suggests that the area has a long history, and Davao is not yet famous, so it was easy for the National Defense Security Bureau to set up shop there.

This is also the area with the largest number of Chinese in Mindanao. In fact, except for Zamboanga and Davao developed by the East African Defense Security Agency, the rest of the island is basically undeveloped. Even the natives of East Africa would probably "cry" if they went to these areas.

This is not nonsense. After all, it can be seen from the beliefs of the island’s population that Green Religion originated in the desert area, and the tropical rainforest climate is a "green desert", so it is consistent with the population distribution of this belief.

Of course, this is also related to the commercial activities of the Green Church. Especially in ancient times, the Green Church was considered a higher level of civilization than these indigenous peoples. In addition, the local indigenous peoples were naturally easy to be greened because they were close to the water.

"So if we want to establish effective rule on the island, one of the things we need to do is to deal with the Moros on the island. Otherwise, this place will probably become the most turbulent and expensive colony in East Africa."

Although the Lan Fang Overseas Province was also in Southeast Asia, its population was mainly composed of Chinese, so the rule over East Africa was very smooth. However, it was unlikely to be so smooth in the Green Church areas. East Africa had a deep understanding of this in Zanzibar. At the beginning, the people of Zanzibar had a close relationship with Oman, so they had a place to escape and did not have to fight to the death with East Africa.

Mindanao is different. The Moros are firm in their attitude towards external invaders. No one, including Berkeley, thinks Mindanao is easy to conquer. …

Berkeley's idea was soon verified. Less than a month after starting to tidy up the Zamboanga area in East Africa, the East African colonial forces suffered three small-scale rebellions.

"Your Excellency Governor, we lost more than a dozen soldiers this time. Although we killed more than 60 enemies, most of them ran directly to the jungle area. We dare not pursue them rashly!"

Berkeley's face was so embarrassed when he heard the report. Since he took office in Zamboanga, more than forty soldiers have been sacrificed. Don't underestimate the number, but Berkeley only has more than 500 soldiers in total.

"These natives must have been tipped off by the Moros in the city. The third attack was clearly premeditated. The enemies were completely wiped out in the first two attacks, but this time they were more organized. Clues can be seen from the enemy's escape route and combat coordination."

"So we have to expel the Moros in the Zamboanga area and require them to withdraw from Zamboanga within fifteen days." Berkeley gave a direct order.

These barbarians refuse to submit to the king's rule and should be killed. This is the attitude in East Africa, as Ernst had warned long before Berkeley arrived.

After all, in Ernst's view, land is more important than the value created by the colonies. The annexation of Mindanao itself is not primarily aimed at exploiting and oppressing the Moros. Even if the Moros are honest and stable, East Africa cannot allow these troubles to remain. Moreover, the Moros have shown a resistance consciousness that is several times stronger than that of the African natives, so they cannot be allowed to remain.

Berkeley's order indeed caused an uproar among the Moros in the Zamboanga area, and no one could accept such conditions from the East African government.

Sure enough, four days after the order was issued, the Moros launched the largest rebellion in the history of the Zamboanga region.

As the most developed region in Mindanao, the total population of Zamboanga is just over 10,000, most of whom are Moros, with some Spaniards, northern Filipinos, and Chinese.

Berkeley, who had borrowed weapons from the National Defense Security Bureau, was naturally fearless. On June 1897, 6, as the rebellion broke out, Governor-General of Mindanao, Bolilan, who had been prepared for a long time, ordered the extermination of the Moros in the Zamboanga area.

Prior to this, some Moros had already fled from the Zamboanga area, leaving only 3,000 unwilling Moros in the city who wanted to put up a last-ditch resistance.

Together with the personnel of the National Defense Security Bureau, the East African armed forces in Zamboanga reached more than 1,000. So as soon as the war broke out, the powerful East African armed forces launched a cleansing of the Moros.

This was also one of the few targeted massacres of colonial indigenous peoples since the founding of East Africa.

This day was extremely shocking for the Spaniards and Chinese in the Zamboanga area. Throughout the streets of Zamboanga, East African soldiers searched house to house. Anyone whose identity was verified as a Moro was executed on the spot. It could be said that nine out of ten houses in Zamboanga were empty.

On the same day, the National Defense Security Bureau also launched a large-scale purge of the local population in Davao City, which made the Spaniards and Chinese in Mindanao witness the true "brutality". The policy of keeping the land but not the people was thoroughly implemented by the East African colonial government in these two major strongholds in East Africa.

Spanish businessman Mosier later recalled: "I will never forget the darkest day in Zamboanga. The East African executioners slaughtered the natives of Zamboanga like cattle and sheep. The sound of gunfire rang out all day long, one after another... This was one of the worst tragedies in human history. The production and commercial activities of the entire Zamboanga almost came to a standstill. Except for the Spaniards, Filipinos, Chinese and East Africans, no one was alive."

(End of this chapter)