The East African Southern Army's objective was to conquer the Matabele Plateau. To the local natives, the Southern Army's arrival was undoubtedly a disaster.
To the east were the Portuguese, to the south the Boers. All that had remained had been the barren western land—the Kalahari Basin—and the other Black kingdoms to the north. But with East Africa's expedition, they had been completely surrounded by colonizers.
If, as usual, the colonial armed forces numbered only a few hundred, at most a thousand men, the natives of Zimbabwe could still handle them. But the entire Southern Army numbered more than twenty thousand men—far too many for the natives.
Great Zimbabwe Ruins.
A platoon from the Southern Army was stationed here, tasked with establishing a supply transfer station to ensure the logistics route remained unobstructed.
"This is an empty city, but it was built entirely of stone, and it's quite tall. That's truly rare in Africa. But why did the local natives abandon this place?" Platoon Commander Dehmel asked in puzzlement.
"Hmm, that's hard to say. It might not necessarily have been built independently by the natives. It could also have been the Arabs' idea," the deputy platoon commander said.
"I don't see it that way!" At that moment, a voice came from nearby. A middle-aged man carrying a backpack and leaning on a cane appeared, followed by a Black man carrying his luggage for him.
"Who are you? Why are you here? And why do you speak German?" Dehmel watched the unexpected visitor warily and raised his rifle.
"Don't be nervous, my friend. I am a German geographer, Karl Mohr. I am studying native culture here. This is a servant I hired," Karl Mohr explained.
Hearing his account, Dehmel relaxed his guard slightly. "A German? That's wonderful! This is the first