Chapter 276: "Old Friends"
In the former Central African Republic of another era, on the Azande Plateau:
In Mbure, a fort built along the terrain looked quite rudimentary, as if stones had been piled up at random. Yet passing through here would not be easy. It might not hold off "one man against ten thousand," but if a single platoon were stationed here, it could suffice. And if they mounted a few machine guns, probably seventy percent of African nations in a previous timeline wouldn't be able to get past.
This was a military strongpoint established by the East African Northern Army. Right then, a large group of African natives carrying all their belongings was passing through.
Compared to the Southern Army's area, the Northern Army's battlefield was far livelier. The places they moved through included southern South Sudan and the Azande Plateau.
The Azande Plateau lies in central Africa, sitting at the watershed between the Congo Basin, the Chad Basin, and the upper Nile Basin. A ridgelike mountain zone runs east to west for more than 800 kilometers, forming numerous passes that serve as vital north-south transport routes.
In a previous era, the Central African Republic occupied this location quite aptly. If the interior of Africa had been more economically developed, the CAR would at least have served as Africa's major crossroads. Even without economic considerations, the Azande Plateau also has immense military value, because from there, one can threaten both East Africa and West Africa—the two African regions with the best agricultural conditions.
In fact, the Azande Plateau itself has decent conditions. Its temperature and rainfall are slightly higher than East Africa's. If Ernst were to compare, he'd say it's somewhat like the Nanyang Basin (in the Far East).
It has a prominent strategic position as a traffic junction for north and south, with gem deposits. The Central African region has diamonds; Nanyang in the Far East has the largest ruby reserves in Asia, plus the leading kyanite, rutile, etc. The city in the basin is also famous for its jade carving—one of the three great jade-carving centers in the Far East. Both have gold, abundant forestry resources, good farmland, and also contain petroleum and radioactive mineral deposits.
All that to say, from another point of view, both places are relatively ordinary in terms of resource endowment—mainly suited for agriculture. But in strategic terms, each is indispensable to its region.
While central Africa's mineral resources look promising—gold and diamonds—these are so common in Sub-Saharan Africa that East Africa's current territory has them, too. Apart from petroleum, other minerals aren't worth much if found in small quantities. For example, iron ore in the rest of East Africa has hundreds of millions of tons of reserves, whereas in central Africa it's only in the millions. By African or world standards, that's meager. Of course, it's possible the resources simply haven't been well explored.
…
Watching the stream of people, an East African Army platoon leader named Rhodes remarked, "Those Burundians sure have it rough. They should've gone further west from the start, or they wouldn't be suffering a second blow now."
"Haha. According to our frontline intelligence, among those eight native kingdoms, only the former Buganda Kingdom fled the farthest—rumor says they reestablished themselves near some great lake in the southwest. They supposedly connected with Ottoman merchants from Libya through caravan routes and bought quite a bit of firearms, securing a foothold," said Vice Platoon Leader Vister.
The "great lake" Vister spoke of is Lake Chad. Migrating from the original "Great Lakes" region (like Lake Victoria) all the way to Lake Chad was no mean feat for the Bugandans. But now they're reaping the benefits, unlike those other local kingdoms in the Great Lakes region that are being forced to relocate a second time.
"That Musat I did show some strategic sense. During the Northwestern Campaign, he was already planning to flee west, whereas his eldest son—who threw himself at the Egyptians—vanished without a trace. Probably won't ever be heard from again," Rhodes commented.
That Musat I was the king of the old Buganda Kingdom who fled, in contrast to his crown prince who chose another path. Initially, the crown prince did get some favor from local Egyptian officials, but once East Africa had cleared out the Buganda population, the prince's "united front" value evaporated. With no more Bugandans, that so-called crown prince became worthless. After stripping him of the treasures he brought, the Egyptians cast him into the Sahara to survive or perish on his own.
"The so-called 'Northwestern Eight Kingdoms' might've been pushovers for our East Africa, but they're plenty strong against the native tribes here on the Azande Plateau. So when those local tribes faced us, rather than fleeing or surrendering like the Northwestern Eight did, they tried to oppose us," Vister added.
Though the Northwestern Eight lost to East Africa, they were far from weak. As they pushed into the Azande Plateau, they easily overwhelmed the local tribes.
While these two bantered, the people of the Burundian kingdom had already passed by. One Black man at the rear came up to Rhodes and Vister to bid farewell.
"Mr. Rhodes, Mr. Vister, thank you for everything!" the man said.
"Haha, no need to be so polite, Chief Romrom. Your Burundi Kingdom is an old friend of ours. It's really something to meet old acquaintances here," Rhodes answered. "As you continue west, allow me, as a friend, to give you a bit of advice: keep going as far as you can. Follow where the sun sets. If you ever come across anyone like us carrying weapons, don't panic—just turn around and head northwest."
Saying that, Rhodes patted his rifle, reminding Romrom to avoid any run-ins with other armed groups. It was partly friendly advice but also startled the Burundian chief.
"There are more of your people to the east?" Romrom asked.
"Of course not—but it's close enough. And they might be even harder to deal with than us. If you see them, just run. Definitely head northwest. That said, you needn't worry too much. You won't meet them as long as you don't reach the ocean," Rhodes said.
He was alluding to other colonizers on the African west coast. It was a kindly warning. West-northwest meant the interior of West Africa.
"Thank you for the warning, Mr. Rhodes. I'll lead my people northwest right away. Farewell!" replied Romrom, and he really did so. The newly revived Burundi Kingdom traveled on until it finally settled in the southwestern part of future Niger—evolving from an East African kingdom into a West African one.
Last time, the Burundian kingdom had already been wiped out, but remnants gathered on the Azande Plateau, choosing the third son of the late king as new monarch—Romrom.
At only sixteen, King Romrom led the Burundians across the eastern grasslands of the Azande Plateau, raiding women and riches, and reemerged in a new wave of prosperity. But before they had time to enjoy it, East Africans showed up again. Knowing he couldn't beat East Africa, Romrom directly negotiated with the Northern Army: he'd cede land in exchange for time. East Africa agreed. Hence, the sight of the Burundians migrating west. The same story repeated for the other former Great Lakes kingdoms that escaped to the Azande Plateau.
That's why the Northern Army's zone seemed so bustling—with throngs of native Africans making a grand exodus, retracing the footsteps by which their ancestors once spread across the continent, heading back toward their old West African homeland.
These migrating kingdoms would in turn cause tremendous shifts in West Africa. For instance, Burundi, Rwanda, and Bu(U)ganda were all turning into West African countries. Ernst found it amusing to think how their trajectories might unfold once they arrived in West Africa.
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