Chapter 305: War Plan

To rush to occupy the West African region before the Germans, after Qiao Di and a group of officers arrived safely in the Congo territory, they immediately began to plan the war against local indigenous people.

Although the Congo territory had not yet carried out expansion, the Congo territory was, after all, Spain's largest colony, and naturally, it was also the place where the largest number of colonial troops were stationed.

After Qiao Di arrived in the Congo territory, he found that besides 1 colonial division that could be mobilized, he could also mobilize 3 colonial garrison regiments to cooperate in the war.

These troops added up to more than 25,000 people; let alone attacking one of the indigenous forces, even sweeping away several indigenous countries in the west of the Congo territory was very likely.

Qiao Di knew the importance of occupying West Africa as early as possible to Spain, and he did not hesitate at all; the day after arriving in the Congo territory, he issued his order.

The colonial division as the main force quickly gathered toward the Guinea region. This war goal was the Bam Kingdom in the north of Guinea, which was a long-standing indigenous country, established for close to 500 years.

Of course, no matter how long the history was, such an indigenous country was still vulnerable in front of the Spanish colonial army.

Although the colonial army was also composed of indigenous people, it was a qualified army that had undergone certain training. The soldiers all used rifles uniformly provided by Spain, and their comprehensive combat effectiveness was several levels stronger than these indigenous armies that lacked training.

The Bam Kingdom belonged to part of the Cameroon region, where natural resources were rich and the indigenous population was large.

Unlike history, because of the expansion of the Congo territory, Spain increased its investment in the Guinea colony.

This also led to Germany's infiltration into the Cameroon region being later than in history, and they did not take down Cameroon in 1884.

Because this land just happened to be in the colonial merger plan formulated by Gao Da, Gao Da also absolutely did not allow Cameroon to be taken down by the Germans.

The reason why Qiao Di launched the war so anxiously was precisely to establish Spain's ruling status over the Cameroon region before the Germans.

In fact, one could see from the map that Spain had already occupied most of the Cameroon region. The region that was not yet under Spain's control was only the Bam Kingdom.

Unlike the indigenous people in the eastern region, the civilization degree of the Bam Kingdom was higher than that of the eastern region.

As early as the 15th century, Portuguese missionaries had reached this region, and thus launched a vigorous slave trade.

Although countries around the world had abolished the slave system, the connection between the Bam Kingdom and European countries had not been interrupted. Many missionaries chose to come to this land to spread Christianity, and at the same time brought advanced firearms and cannons for the indigenous people here.

Of course, these missionaries and explorers would not suffer losses. What they brought back were gold and silver, as well as a large amount of ivory, palm oil, and timber.

Long-term trading with European missionaries and explorers allowed the Bam Kingdom to possess a certain military strength. The entire kingdom had about 2 million people and armed an army of more than 30,000 people.

This army had more than 5,000 people equipped with various firearms and also equipped with dozens of cannons of different calibers.

Although the styles of firearms and cannons were various, it was undeniable that such an indigenous army equipped with advanced weapons had a greater threat than other indigenous armies without firearms and could possibly cause a large number of casualties to the Spanish colonial army.

Because Spain had more war plans later, this war against the Bam Kingdom could not bear too many casualties.

Qiao Di wrote and drew on the map and finally determined a relatively detailed attack plan against the Bam Kingdom.

The Bam Kingdom had no coastline, and most of the country was mountainous. To the west of the Bam Kingdom was the Aro Alliance, which was a federation formed by many indigenous states.

The Aro Alliance and the Bam Kingdom were similar, both earning a certain income through slave trade and the export of palm oil and ivory, and purchasing a batch of weapons and equipment from the hands of missionaries and explorers.

To the north of the Bam Kingdom was the Sokoto Caliphate, which was also the most powerful indigenous force nearby.

The Sokoto Caliphate was also a loose federation formed by many indigenous chieftain states, and the highest leader of the country was the Caliph of Sokoto.

As the most powerful indigenous country in the West African region, the Sokoto Caliphate possessed an indigenous population of tens of millions and millions of non-Muslim slaves.

Theoretically, the Bam Kingdom, the Aro Alliance, and the Sokoto Caliphate all had a common enemy, which was the European colonists who wanted to conquer this region.

But the ethnic and religious beliefs of these three countries were different, and the relationship between them was not that good.

Qiao Di's attack plan was actually to use the contradictions between indigenous people, let other indigenous people remain neutral when Spain attacked the Bam Kingdom, so that Spain had the opportunity to conquer the Bam Kingdom calmly.

Theoretically, letting the Aro Alliance and the Sokoto Caliphate remain neutral had high hopes of being achieved.

As long as Spain did not launch a war against them, these federations formed by multiple indigenous tribes were also difficult to twist into a rope; after all, indigenous people and indigenous people were not friendly neighbors.

Before launching the war against the Bam Kingdom, Qiao Di contacted the Governor of the Congo territory, requesting the territory governor to contact the Sokoto Caliph and the Aro Alliance in the name of the Congo territory government, using the form of material trading to let them remain neutral in this war.

These indigenous countries had no industrial foundation, and European industrial products were still very popular in Africa. Spain could also require these countries to remain neutral by gifting firearms; these countries got firearms and thought they were not afraid of Spain's invasion, so naturally, there was no need to support a country that was hostile to them.

Of course, the firearms gifted to these indigenous people were definitely not Spain's most advanced rifles. As a country that did not ban guns, there were still many hunting guns and pistols in Spain, and these firearms could be sold to these indigenous countries.

Current hunting guns were basically muzzle-loading guns, which not only had a very slow loading speed but also had limited bullet range and power.

Pistols were even less worth mentioning; the range and power were weaker than hunting guns, and the effective range could only reach 50 meters.

Such firearms had a weak impact on the war; even if given to these indigenous people, it had no impact on Spain.

Of course, the more firearms these indigenous people were equipped with, the more likely they were to cause greater damage to the Spanish army.

But the problem was that the Spanish colonial army was composed of indigenous people, and indigenous people in Spain's colonies were not to mention countless, but definitely enough for Spain to squander.

Just the population of Morocco, the Philippines, and Lanfang was enough to arm an army of hundreds of thousands, not to mention the black people everywhere in the Congo territory, who could arm an army of millions.

Hearing Qiao Di's request, the territory governor did not hesitate at all and immediately sent diplomatic representatives to the two indigenous countries.

Because these two indigenous countries had trade relations with European colonists, under the premise that the two countries did not break out a war, the diplomatic representatives sent by Spain also had no life danger.

Although African indigenous people did not have the tradition of not beheading the envoy when two countries were at war, they also understood that if Spain's diplomatic representatives had life danger, they would have to face Spain's military edge.

The first to receive the news was the Aro Alliance, which was closer. Because they were closer to the Bam Kingdom, this also led to the relationship between the Aro Alliance and the Bam Kingdom always being bad.

Although it could not be counted as a mortal enemy, there was also a competitive relationship between them. Both countries relied on palm oil trade to earn income, so it was strange if the relationship could be good.

Learning that Spain was willing to exchange industrial products and firearms for the Aro Alliance's neutrality, the Aro Alliance did not hesitate at all and expressed willingness to do this deal.

Of course, they were not stupid either. Spain's attack on the Bam Kingdom had already exposed its ambition, and the Aro Alliance hoped to purchase more firearms from Spain to ensure its territorial security.

To let the Spanish agree to sell more firearms, the Aro Alliance even swore that their purpose of purchasing firearms was to fight against the Niger Kingdom to the west.

Compared to the Bam Kingdom and the Aro Alliance, the Niger Kingdom was another relatively special existence.

The founder of the kingdom was Eri; there were not many records about Eri. Local legends circulated that Eri was an existence "like the sky," believing that he descended to the earth and then established the Niger Kingdom.

Such legends had some mythological nature but were deeply trusted by local residents.

The Niger Kingdom was also a relatively chaotic existence, attracting a large number of people rejected by their own countries to come to take refuge, which also created the ethnic diversity of the Niger Kingdom.

Many indigenous people who had their land snatched by Western colonists all chose to come to the Niger Kingdom, which also strengthened the Niger Kingdom's population.

With the strengthening of the Niger Kingdom, it would naturally affect the living space of surrounding countries. The Aro Alliance's so-called war against the Niger Kingdom was half-true and half-false; after obtaining enough firearms, such an attack plan might not be false.

After consultation, Spain agreed to sell 1,500 hunting guns and 20,000 bullets in exchange for the Aro Alliance's neutrality.

Just because transportation needed time, these firearms and bullets needed more than a month to be transported to the Aro Alliance.

To let the Aro Alliance rest assured, after the two sides reached a verbal agreement, the Congo territory collected more than 200 hunting guns and 500 bullets and sent them to the Aro Alliance, expressing Spain's sincerity in wanting to promote cooperation.

The Aro Alliance that received the firearms was very happy, and they also expressed that they would absolutely not interfere in Spain's war against the Bam Kingdom.

Determining that the Aro Alliance would not interfere in the war, Qiao Di did not hesitate at all and immediately ordered the army to march toward the Bam Kingdom.

Although the news of the Sokoto Caliphate had not yet been transmitted, for Spain, it was already not important.

The capital of the Sokoto Caliphate, Tibiri, was nearly 1,000 kilometers away from the capital of the Bam Kingdom, Fuban. Even if the Sokoto Caliphate was willing to support the Bam Kingdom, this distance of 1,000 kilometers was enough to dispel their thoughts.

The distance of 1,000 kilometers for African countries was a chasm that was difficult to cross. This journey had neither trains nor highways; these indigenous people wanted to come to the Bam Kingdom and also needed to cross several indigenous tribes and mountains.

By the time they reached the border of the Bam Kingdom, the war launched by Spain had long ended. By then, not only could they not support the Bam Kingdom, but they would also sabotage the relationship with Spain.

To defeat the Bam Kingdom faster, Qiao Di chose to divide the troops into two routes.

The colonial division set off from Guinea, all the way north to attack the border of the Bam Kingdom. The force of 20,000 people was enough to cope with the Bam Kingdom's 30,000-strong army, and the border between Guinea and the Bam Kingdom would also become the front line of this war.

This was not over yet. The remaining three colonial garrison regiments would be temporarily merged and launch an attack on the Bam Kingdom from the direction of the Baka tribe.

The Baka tribe was an indigenous tribe that Spain had already conquered, just located to the east of the Bam Kingdom.

The Bam Kingdom was similar to a rectangle, and the capital was located in the middle-east of the rectangle.

From the Guinea colony to the capital of the Bam Kingdom, Fuban, there was a distance of 200 kilometers, plus the reason for many mountains, it was difficult for the Spanish army to quickly capture Fuban.

But attacking from the direction of the Baka tribe was different. The capital of the Bam Kingdom, Fuban, was only 30 kilometers away from the eastern border; if the Spanish army's attack was relatively smooth, there was even hope of surrounding Fuban the next day.

Even if the colonial division attacking from the Guinea colony northward frontally did not go smoothly, it could tie down most of the Bam army.

This was the best opportunity for the three colonial garrison regiments to sneak attack. If the Bam Kingdom put most of its army on the southern border, their eastern border would become abnormally empty.

If they also put part of the army on the eastern border for defense, then the colonial division in the south, under the situation where the number did not fall into a disadvantage, defeating the Bam Kingdom would only be a matter of time.

Such a layout could be said to be very reasonable, and the Bam Kingdom had little room for resistance.

Their troop strength was also not enough to cope with the attacks from the south and east at the same time, and temporarily gathering the army was completely too late.

By the time they learned that the Spanish army had launched attacks on the southern border and the eastern border, their resistance would be too late.

By then, the Spanish army could catch a turtle in a jar and completely surround the Bam army. As long as the attack on either the southern battlefield or the eastern battlefield achieved an advantage, the Bam army could only constantly retreat.

The land area of the Bam Kingdom was, after all, limited; where could they retreat to?

To the south and east were Spanish troops, to the west was the Aro Alliance with a not-so-good relationship, and to the north was the Sokoto Caliphate.

Although they could also retreat to the Aro Alliance or the Sokoto Caliphate, under the situation where the Bam Kingdom was occupied by Spain, fleeing to the Aro Alliance or the Sokoto Caliphate would not get the other party's preferential treatment, and it was even possible to be arrested by the other party and then respectfully sent to the hands of the Spanish army.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 306 =====