CHAPTER 289: CHAPTER 276: OVER 3,000 KILOMETERS

In a past life, southwest Democratic Republic of Congo, on the banks of the Kongou River.

Commander of the Western Route Army, Merk brought the East Africa army and Mwesili’s servant army successfully arrived here.

The Kongou River is a tributary of the Congo River, originating from the Longda Plateau within Angola, flows into the Kasai River, and then into the Congo River.

The Kasai River is the largest tributary on the left bank of the Congo River. The main tributaries from upstream to downstream are the Sankuru River, Shiwenbe River, Shikapa River, Kwilo River, Kongou River, among others. This area has a dense network of waterways, significant elevation changes, and abundant water resources.

The main tributaries from upstream to downstream are the Sankuru River, Shiwenbe River, Shikapa River, Kwilo River, Kongou River, among others.

Among them, the Kongou River was once the border river between Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola, and now it is used by East Africa as a national boundary line, across which lies the Congo Kingdom and Angola colonial influence.

"Having controlled the right bank of the Kongou River, our journey also ends here. Thank you for your cooperation, Your Excellency Mwesili. We, East Africa, will provide the conveniences for migration as agreed beforehand for you and your people."

Having said that, Merk holding a pencil, drew a red line along the course of the Kongou River on the map, and did the same for a few other north-south flowing rivers, with Kongou River being the last one.

Mwesili was already prepared for this, he didn’t mind in the least bit, but there was one thing he couldn’t hold back, "Your Excellency Merk, everything’s good, but could the East Africa kingdom provide me more tobacco and alcohol?"

Under the deliberate cultivation by East Africa kingdom, Mwesili eventually succumbed to being a drunkard and a tobacco user.

"Of course, no problem! Mr. Mwesili, this is easy to handle, we can give you a batch for free now, but later it can only be bought with money."

"Naturally, that’s no problem," Mwesili replied.

What East Africa demands is actually precious metals, animal skins, and some local specialties, in a nutshell, anything valuable can be traded, and for Mwesili, this is completely a minor issue.

"Your Excellency Merk, I don’t know where you plan to place us?" Although Mwesili knew East Africa had arranged a route for his kingdom, he didn’t know the specific location, only knew it was to the north.

"See!" Merk spread out the map, saying to Mwesili, "Here is East Africa, now our position is here, and your kingdom is at this position, you will travel all the way east, until this lake (Tanganyika) area, then take a boat to Bujumbura, from here you’ll detour northwest, finally crossing over northern East Africa territory to here, this is a place we East Africa call Cameroon."

Seeing the large circle Merk drew on the map, Mwesili was somewhat shocked, this was not the migration he initially thought it would be! This distance is incredibly far too!

Actually, in Africa, indigenous kingdoms and tribe migrations are quite common, Mwesili’s Yake Kingdom had migrated westward due to East Africa’s expansion.

But usual indigenous migrations were to proceed from original regions to nearby areas conveniently, while the migration route announced to Mwesili by Merk bypassed the Congo rainforest, taking a long detour instead.

Although Mwesili was quite unfamiliar with maps, having spent these days often beside Merk, he saw him constantly fiddling with maps, thereby gaining some ideas.

When Mwesili once asked Merk where his own kingdom was, Merk pointed on the map, a thumb-sized location was the entirety of his kingdom’s territory, while next to it, East Africa compared with the Yake Kingdom was a mere handful, now East Africa’s area is even larger.

Seeing Mwesili a bit worried, Merk comforted, "The distance is a bit long, but it’s not much of a problem; it’s just over three thousand kilometers! There’s also a waterway in between, it won’t take much time."

Mwesili had no idea what over three thousand kilometers meant, but he knew that the line Merk drew could encircle the Yake Kingdom a few times just from looking at the map.

Well, anyway, food during the journey will be shouldered by East Africa, he wouldn’t mind such a long journey anymore, Mwesili then asked, "Cameroon, what’s the environment like there?"

"It’s about the same as here, perhaps slightly more rainy, otherwise there’s no major difference, and there the indigenous forces are very weak, you can still rule there as king." Merk replied.

Mwesili skeptically asked, "If that’s the case, why doesn’t East Africa take over that land then!"

"Hehehe, East Africa is already at its limit now, we still have a vast amount of land undeveloped, no time to manage such distant places, and it wouldn’t hurt you to know that East Africa’s current aim is to clear out local natives, as for methods, wouldn’t be nice to talk about them. If back then your attitude wasn’t good, cooperated poorly, you might have met the same fate as the previously exterminated natives, so migrating north was a good option, once there we can’t oversee you anymore." Merk stated.

Even though the words sounded unpleasant, they were all truth, Mwesili pondered for a while, feeling that in previous situations being aware of current affairs was indeed wise.

Mwesili confirmed again, "Mr. Merk, are the local natives there really weak, you wouldn’t deceive me right?"

"That’s natural, Your Excellency Mwesili, you once traded on the East Africa grasslands, you should know the state of those tribes back then, frankly, your established kingdom is a symbol of civilization compared to them, the situation in Cameroon is similar to the former East Africa grasslands, besides you’re armed with firearms, while those natives are still using spears and bows, don’t ever say yourself armed with guns couldn’t beat those natives."

"I see, if my army goes there, it should be easy to establish itself, no, it should become their new rulers." Knowing those natives’ state, Mwesili gained more confidence.

Mwesili had a firearm force of a thousand strong, along with the conventional arms of the Yake Kingdom of several thousand, such might indeed could triumph over local Cameroonian natives.

"Mr. Merk, I have one last question!"

"Go ahead?"

"Which is, once my kingdom migrates into the so-called Cameroon, how can I obtain your goods later?"

Mwesili looked at the map and found that the East Africa kingdom’s said Cameroon was quite a considerable distance from East Africa, even appearing isolated.

Merk said, "That’s easy, by then you dispatch a caravan, report to our border personnel, then it’s done, trading! We, East Africa kingdom, highly welcome it. Oh, don’t forget to mention your name, after all, you are someone with contributions to East Africa, perhaps you can get some discounts."

Unlike East Africa’s closed coastal areas, East Africa kingdom advocates free trade in the inland areas, because compared to the natives East Africa is the difference between an industrial country and an agricultural one, relying on the small goods produced by the Heixinggen financial group, it can obtain various needed resources for East Africa from the hands of African chiefs.