Chapter 178: The Yeke Kingdom
Carl was recounting his experiences and the various landscapes he had witnessed in front of everyone. Although Carl was about the same age as them, he had lived in three places— the Far East, Germany, and East Africa—while also attending school and working in factories. Indeed, his experiences far surpassed those of these young people from the rural areas of Germany and Austria.
Evening.
Everyone herded the cattle in the direction of the village, bringing another ordinary day to an end.
…
Mbeya.
A conference concerning the south-central African region was underway. Mbeya's military commander, Merck, was reporting on the situation to the high-ranking city officials and the special commissioners sent by the central government.
Standing in front of a map and pointing to it, Merck said, "This is Mbeya. As the most important city in southwestern East Africa, Mbeya is not only rich in resources but also a key military stronghold, guarding the route from the East African Plateau to the South African Plateau.
This large area to the east is the East African Plateau, which forms the main territory of our East African royal domain.
Moving west from the East African Plateau, the large dotted area directly to the west is the Congo Rainforest. If you go south of the Congo Rainforest, you reach the South African Plateau.
Unlike the East African Plateau, which is one vast plateau overall, the South African Plateau is composed of many smaller plateaus, including the Katanga Plateau, the Lunda Plateau, the Kwango Plateau, the Bié Plateau, and so on.
If you look here, this spot is the Katanga Plateau, located in the northeastern part of the South African Plateau, and connected to our East Africa. That's our target this time.
Lake Soren (Tanganyika) and Lake Malawi separate East Africa from the South African Plateau. Between these two lakes is a corridor over three hundred kilometers long, and our troops patrol that corridor every day.
Crossing that corridor is the first step in our conquest of south-central Africa."
Having familiarized everyone with the geography of south-central Africa and its link to East Africa, Merck then returned to his seat.
"Very good! It seems you have done your homework," the central commissioner, Siweite, said. "I have come this time with instructions from His Highness the Prince. This matter concerns our future strategy for East Africa's advance into south-central Africa, with Mbeya as the forward post. Merck, since your garrison in Mbeya should be quite familiar with the forces around East Africa, please give everyone a brief introduction."
Seated at the conference table, Merck addressed the group: "Mr. Commissioner and everyone present, there are essentially two main forces around Mbeya at this time. One is the Kingdom of Malawi, located in the southern part of Lake Malawi.
Malawi is not our target for now, so I'll focus on the power on the Katanga Plateau. To our west—on the Katanga Plateau—there exists a kingdom called the Yeke Kingdom, also known as the Msiri Kingdom. The Yeke Kingdom is relatively young; it was established only a few decades before our East Africa.
Its founder was a slave trader named Msiri. He originally came from the Tanganyika region, and his father was a porter for Arab merchants. Because Msiri had extensive knowledge, he acquired firearms by trading with Arabs and gained the trust of the local chieftains. Through continual warfare, he gradually expanded and ultimately established the Yeke Kingdom."
Feeling somewhat parched, Merck took a sip of water and continued, "By relying on the firearms supplied by Arab merchants, the Yeke Kingdom remained relatively dominant in the local area. In the early days, when we first opened up the Lake Malawi region (with Mbeya as its capital), we clashed with the Yeke Kingdom. Compared to ordinary indigenous forces, they were indeed formidable.
However, the Yeke Kingdom has a fatal weakness: they rely on Arabs for their ammunition, and we have cut off the Arab presence. Consequently, every round they fire is one fewer round available.
At the time, we had no particular interest in the Yeke Kingdom, and our numbers were relatively small. After repelling several of their attacks, we did not mount a counteroffensive. Later, when we needed a large number of slaves for development, we ended up cooperating with the Yeke Kingdom. East Africa continued supplying them with ammunition, while they provided slaves."
In truth, the cooperation between the Yeke Kingdom and East Africa had not been wholly voluntary, nor was it because the East African colony specifically targeted them.
Back then, Msiri established the Yeke Kingdom primarily by leveraging firearms. By exploiting his advantage in weaponry, he waged war in all directions, oppressing the nearby indigenous peoples. Yet after East Africa's colony was established—particularly following the creation of the Upper Lake Malawi region—it directly severed the Yeke Kingdom's original trade route with Arab merchants.
The Yeke Kingdom thus lost a great deal of economic benefit and naturally refused to let matters rest. Consequently, at the outset of the Upper Lake Malawi region's establishment, it tried to use force to topple the East African colony.
However, the East African colony was not so easily dealt with and had even more advanced weapons. The Yeke Kingdom found itself at a severe disadvantage. Its most critical issue was that it could no longer replenish arms and ammunition, rendering the Yeke Kingdom's existing arsenal little more than useless sticks.
Their superiority over the surrounding indigenous forces vanished, and many of their old enemies rose in retaliation. Furthermore, because the Yeke Kingdom itself governed harshly, internal uprisings also began to erupt.
The Yeke Kingdom's rule soon teetered on the brink of collapse. Fortunately for them, the East African colony later realized that developing East Africa still required a significant number of slaves. Yet the indigenous people within East Africa had already been fully captured, so it became necessary to acquire slaves elsewhere.
Looking at the surrounding regions, the Yeke Kingdom was the best source. After all, it had long been involved in the slave trade, surviving precisely by selling slaves. The East African colony also did not want to venture deep into south-central Africa to capture slaves itself, so it simply designated the Yeke Kingdom as its agent. The cost was only a small amount of ammunition.
The Yeke Kingdom had no other choice. If they obtained ammunition, they could rebuild their military power, suppress their populace and neighboring tribes, and continue to exist. Although they earned no real profit and essentially worked for the East African colony free of charge, it was better than total destruction. As a result, the Yeke Kingdom accepted the colony's demands.
"Yes, I'm aware of this," Siweite said. "At the time, Mbeya's military leaders reported to central command. But what we need now is the entire Katanga Plateau. We can get slaves from anywhere, but there is only one Katanga Plateau. The Yeke Kingdom is blocking our path of expansion."
As the head of Mbeya's military, Merck immediately spoke up: "Sir, our Southwest Military District holds the same view. We should strike the Yeke Kingdom hard, especially since we still owe them a reckoning for attacking us back then."
Of course, it wasn't that Merck bore a personal grudge against the Yeke Kingdom and wanted to destroy them. It was simply because, during the northwest campaign, the troops of the Southwest Military District had gained nothing while the Northwest and Northern Military Districts claimed all the honors. The Southwest Military District had been left behind to watch and guard against the indigenous forces of south-central Africa.
The East African colony's northwest campaign had been a resounding success, an almost effortless victory, and Merck naturally envied that. He believed that if it was merely about fighting indigenous groups, he could have managed it too.
Just as Merck was about to continue urging the commissioner to declare war on the Yeke Kingdom, a discordant voice rose from the Mbeya government personnel area.
"Mr. Commissioner, I actually have an idea—if we try it, we might take the entire Katanga Plateau at minimal cost."
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