African Business Chronicles

Chapter 63 – Capturing the Zanzibar Palace

After a hasty battle,

the Zanzibar army lost its fighting strength. In the palace, the East African Colony's troops captured several hundred people, while other Zanzibari soldiers scattered throughout the city of Dar es Salaam, unable to resist further.

Felix led his men into Zanzibar's banquet hall, where they were greeted by the ministers of Zanzibar…

Three minutes earlier

"Your Excellency, the Regent, and all esteemed ministers—something terrible has happened! The Germans have broken in. General Abdullah has already been taken prisoner, and now the Germans are capturing people everywhere," a maid rushed into the hall, flustered.

"What? Impossible! How can this be? How could they get here so quickly? Has our kingdom's army turned into fools that they couldn't hold out for even ten minutes?" Baghāsh ibn Saʿīd's face changed drastically.

According to his own plan, he ought to have assembled the national forces and, later on, wiped out the Germans in Tanga, then cut off the German colony's sea connections, forcing them to surrender. Since it was only the first day after the coup, Baghāsh ibn Saʿīd was set to mobilize the kingdom's troops tomorrow. He thought he was already moving fast, knowing the German colony was over a hundred li¹ away from Zanzibar. By his logic, it should take them at least two days to arrive—plus they had to wait for the news of Basil's expulsion to reach them, gather forces, and so on. He estimated at least three days. And as for the two hundred or so Germans stationed outside Dar es Salaam, he never imagined Felix would be so bold.

"Your Excellency, I don't know how many Germans there are, but everything outside is in chaos. It seems our forces have definitely lost." The maid looked frightened.

"How can this be…" Baghāsh ibn Saʿīd slumped weakly into his chair, deeply skeptical and momentarily stunned.

The ministers, however, were anything but anxious—instead, they felt secretly thrilled. Finance Minister Ali suppressed the joy in his heart and gave the other ministers a signal with his eyes.

The others instantly understood, inching closer to Baghāsh ibn Saʿīd.

"Arrest this traitor!" Ali shouted.

A dozen ministers swarmed forward, using their own plump bodies to pin Baghāsh ibn Saʿīd firmly to the seat.

"What are you doing?! Are you rebelling?! I'm the Regent of Zanzibar!" Baghāsh, jolted by Ali's outburst, suddenly cleared his head. But before he could react, he was trapped under a dozen piles of fat, unable to move an inch.

"Humph, you insolent traitor—still daring to spout nonsense. I've endured you for quite some time!" Ali sneered.

"Exactly. From the moment you staged your coup against Sultan Majid ibn Saʿīd, we knew there was no good end for you," the Minister of Foreign Affairs said.

"If only we had seen your true colors sooner, perhaps Sultan Majid wouldn't have suffered so. We merely waited for our chance…"

Each minister took a turn berating Baghāsh, piling on insults with none of the meekness they had shown earlier that day.

Just then, the palace doors flew open, and the East African Colony's troops stepped in.

Ali

"Good sirs, at last you've come! We've waited so long. May I ask your name?" Ali feigned excitement, grabbing Felix's hand, as if on the verge of tears.

Felix jerked his hand away in disgust. "My name is Felix. And let me remind you, I'm your enemy—why would you be 'waiting' for an enemy to attack your country?"

Ali wore a big smile:

"No, no, you misunderstand! Our Sultan Majid ibn Saʿīd wholeheartedly cherished our friendship with your colony. Under His Majesty's leadership, we always considered the Germans who came here as close friends, dear as kin!"

"Your colony has been developing East Africa. We may not have done much, but whenever we could help, we did. Even Tanga, we offered it to you all. That's how great our friendship is!" Ali heaped on the flattery, so thick it might make one cringe, even wiping imaginary tears from his eyes with a corner of his sleeve.

Felix, a blunt Prussian soldier, felt quite awkward facing all this praise. Basil, noticing his discomfort, stepped forward to speak:

"Ali, do you remember me? I'm Basil from the East African Colony's Dar es Salaam liaison office."

"Ah, Basil! Of course I remember. We once met in the palace, along with Mr. Arlmann. By the way, how is Arlmann doing these days?" Ali asked, putting on a friendly air.

"Mr. Arlmann is well, but I doubt he cares about your concern," Basil replied coldly. "Anyway, Ali, how do you explain what happened today?"

Ali hurriedly tried to explain:

"Basil, this truly wasn't the kingdom's doing—it's the misdeeds of that Baghāsh fellow! He imprisoned Sultan Majid and colluded with the army to take us all hostage, making trouble for you. His Majesty and we ministers all appreciate you and your colony—this incident was purely caused by Baghāsh."

"You're saying everything is Baghāsh's fault, so that absolves you from responsibility? You realize the huge damage you caused us? We'll wait for instructions from our higher-ups." Basil's voice sounded stern.

Sensing Basil's anger, Ali tried to offer more excuses, but Basil simply turned away and muttered a few words to Felix. Felix nodded.

Then Felix faced the Zanzibari officials:

"All right, we don't need your excuses. I'm just a junior officer. I can't speak for the colony's government. You can wait for further notice. Meanwhile, you will all remain here in the palace until my superiors arrive."

The ministers tried pleading or explaining further, but Felix brushed them aside, turning away to secure the rest of the city.

East African Colony, First Town

The East African Colonial Government had already received Basil's report. Several senior figures were gathered to discuss countermeasures:

von Delyen – A representative from the Hechingen (Blacken) Financial Group overseeing the colony.Arlmann – Officially the colony's top military officer.Sivett – A graduate of the Hechingen Military Academy and now chief of staff of the East African Colony. Formerly known as Ma Youcai.

Seated at a long table, they reviewed the newly arrived intelligence.

"It seems that newly emerged Zanzibari leader is unfriendly toward us," von Delyen remarked.

Arlmann said:

"We can't allow him to remain in power. We should send troops to help restore Majid ibn Saʿīd and proper order in Zanzibar."

"Agreed," von Delyen replied. "Otherwise, Baghāsh's ignorance will create major problems for our immigration and future expansion. So, we should deploy forces. Now, let's hear your plan."

Sivett proposed:

"It won't take a complicated plan. We can pull troops from First Town, Second Town, and surrounding villages. To beat Zanzibar, we don't need that many men—fifteen hundred should do."

Von Delyen hesitated:

"But apparently the Zanzibari army also numbers a few thousand. Is fifteen hundred men enough?"

Arlmann reassured him:

"Zanzibar's standing army at most has a few thousand. Dar es Salaam as the capital might have three thousand at best. Their weapons are outdated, so fighting them would only need a thousand. Even if they draft local men, a rabble of untrained recruits is no match."

"Very well, let's put it to a vote. All in favor of sending troops?" von Delyen asked.

Unanimous agreement. The colony decided that Arlmann would lead 1,500 soldiers, plus the two-hundred-plus men under Felix near Dar es Salaam, to subdue Baghāsh ibn Saʿīd in Zanzibar.

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