Chapter 269: The Great Zimbabwe Ruins
The East African Southern Army had come to conquer the Matabele Plateau, bringing disaster to the local tribes. With the Portuguese to the east and the Boers to the south, the only territory left was the barren Kalahari Basin to the west and a few other Black states to the north. But with the East African expedition, they found themselves completely encircled by colonial powers.
Under normal circumstances, if it were only a few hundred—maybe a thousand—colonial troops, the tribes in Zimbabwe could have handled them. But the Southern Army boasted more than 20,000 soldiers, which was far too many for the tribes to resist.
The Great Zimbabwe Ruins
A platoon from the Southern Army was stationed here, tasked with establishing a small logistics hub to secure the supply route.
"This place is a ghost town—everything's built of stone, and it's pretty tall, which is rare in Africa. But why did the local tribes abandon it?" asked Lieutenant Demair in puzzlement.
"Hard to say," answered his second-in-command. "For all we know, the locals didn't build it themselves; it could have been an Arab idea."
"I disagree!" came a voice from nearby. A middle-aged man carrying a backpack and leaning on a walking stick appeared, accompanied by a Black porter hauling his luggage.
"Who are you people, and what are you doing here? Why are you speaking German?" Lieutenant Maidel (the text alternates the name, but we'll keep it as written: 迈德尔 / Maidel) looked warily at the unexpected visitor, raising his rifle.
"No need to be nervous, friend. I'm a German geographer, Karl Mohr, here to study local tribal culture. This fellow is my hired servant," explained Karl Mohr.
Hearing that explanation, Maidel lowered his guard slightly. "A German! That's terrific news. You're the first German I've met in the African interior besides those from the East African Kingdom. Which part of Germany are you from?"
"Sir, I'm from Saxony—Dresden, in fact. Ever heard of it?" Mohr replied.
Maidel finally lowered his weapon completely and walked up to Mohr, extending a hand. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Mohr. I'm also from Germany—well, formerly Württemberg."
"Judging by your uniform…" Mohr looked closely at their attire, which had a German-style look to it but also some unique elements.
"We're the East African Kingdom's Army."
"The East African Kingdom? Never heard of it," Mohr said curiously. "Isn't that supposed to be an African country's name?"
Maidel didn't answer right away. Instead he asked, "Mr. Mohr, how long have you been in Africa?"
"Not long—just two or three years."
"No wonder you've never heard of us. You haven't been back to Europe since you arrived?"
Mohr shook his head. "No, I've been surveying these ancient sites—like this stone city you're in. Gathering useful information is tough, and since this ruin is quite old, I've stayed put."
"Ah, that explains it," Maidel said in realization. "You've been out of the loop, Mr. Mohr. The East African Kingdom is a German-founded kingdom in Africa, established only a few months ago."
"Huh? But aren't overseas territories all supposed to be colonies? I figured this was a Prussian or Austro-Hungarian colony," Mohr said.
"It's the East African Kingdom, founded by the Hechingen royal family. Hechingen was a small state in southern Germany—you might've heard of it?"
"I've heard the name 'Principality of Hechingen,' but I'm not that familiar."
"Our king's surname is Hohenzollern."
"That explains it. The Hohenzollern family… Still, a German-founded kingdom in Africa is something you don't see every day. I've been around here for a while and never ran into you before."
"That's because we only recently incorporated this area into the East African Kingdom. Up to now, no settlers have moved here—just the army," Maidel explained.
Although an East African force of more than 20,000 sounded formidable, they were scattered across an area of some 500,000-plus square kilometers—not enough to leave much trace. It was perfectly normal that Mohr hadn't encountered any East African troops until now.
"So your kingdom must be quite large. This is deep inland. East is the Portuguese, and I landed at one of their ports. The Boers are to the south, so you must've come from the north."
"Yes, we have a massive territory. Traveling from our newly created southern frontier province to reach here alone takes a dozen days."
In reality, few East Africans could say exactly how large their kingdom was—its boundaries were constantly changing. Even Ernst himself wasn't fully certain.
"A southern frontier province, huh?" Mohr mused, gleaning that the East African Kingdom was dividing its territory administratively.
"So, Mr. Mohr," Maidel continued, steering the conversation back to the moment Mohr appeared, "do you have any special insights into these ruins?"
"Yes. Personally, I think this large cluster of stone structures has a European style—likely introduced from Europe. Look at how they lack roofs, all built with gray granite blocks of considerable skill, and some of those stones show signs of chiseling. Those tall stone walls up on the hill are clearly of European design," Mohr explained.
"Interesting viewpoint!" Maidel commented. "But I'd say the locals built it themselves, maybe with some Arab influence. I don't see how Europe fits in at all."
Mohr, hearing Maidel's rebuttal, asked, "What's your view, then?"
"Well, this site is sizable enough, but it's still crude. You talk about chiseled marks, but to me that's no more advanced than the basic stone-knapping even 'primitive savages' can do. I've seen plenty of tribes that make impressive stone spears by chipping rock by hand. And these are just big circles of stone—maybe there were buildings here once. Stacking stone blocks into a house isn't that hard. European architecture would never be so rough."
"You make some valid points," Mohr conceded, "but I don't believe African tribes had the ability to build something so massive by themselves. I've traveled extensively in Africa—ruins like this only appear in the north, and in Sub-Saharan Africa you rarely see stone cities. This is the only cluster I've found. I've asked the local tribes, and they have no such building tradition, so it can't be their work."
…
They were arguing over what is known in later times as the famous Great Zimbabwe Ruins. There are over two hundred such sites across Zimbabwe, all in similar style. Each is referred to locally as "Zimbabwe." Their origins have always been controversial. Historically, Karl Mohr was the one who first brought this marvel to global attention. Though it was considered a "miracle" and became a UNESCO World Heritage site, Ernst would have considered the ruins overrated. Without North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa has little in the way of notable cultural heritage, which is precisely why "Great Zimbabwe" stands out as a kind of "big fish in a small pond." Besides Australia, Sub-Saharan Africa has the fewest significant ancient cultural relics. Even in terms of stone constructions, the indigenous peoples of the Americas far outstripped their counterparts south of the Sahara by many leagues.
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