"It seems that I still had the foresight, if I had signed a contract on the ship, I wouldn't have this accident now, and you insisted on experiencing the African style, and as a result, the two of us almost reported to God early." Franz said with a slight teasing.

"Who knows, why this group of natives suddenly went crazy! I should have learned what you did in Côte d'Ivoire, and wiped out a few tribes first. ”

Friedrich recovered from the shock and was even in the mood to argue with Franz and ridicule the latter's deterrence plan in Côte d'Ivoire.

The women's assault party that rushed into the celebration area was almost killed, and just as the royal guards also rushed in through the gate, and while the two were still arguing, there was a neighing of war horses around them.

300 meters is nothing for a cavalry, at most a minute away.

(This is not to say that it takes a minute for a horse to run 300 meters, but the reaction time of the cavalry, from hearing the gunfire to coming to support.) ）

Most of the attackers were brave, and of course most of them were killed in the first place, but even the most courageous groups were still a few who hesitated after seeing the tragic death of their comrades.

As the situation reversed, the attackers who were on the attacking side just now could only huddle in the corner, although they still had machetes in their hands, but the courage to charge was gone, and those who were lucky enough not to die were even cowardly enough to even do it themselves.

The Royal Guard had the experience of cornering them, because the situation was mostly under control, and the next thing to do was to find out who was behind it.

It is important to have a few live openings for interrogation, and the officers are also paying attention to whether anyone is desperate to get rid of the attackers.

Because usually this kind of attack happens, it is an internal ghost who is haunting.

After about three minutes, there were no living natives left in the entire celebration area, except for a few chiefs and the few remaining attackers huddled in the corners.

It's just that the slaughter out there continues, and it's impossible to expect these elite soldiers to show mercy to the would-be attackers.

"Why did you murder us?" Franz pointed a gun at one of the chiefs and spoke in very stiff Portuguese.

The other party shook his head, Franz's marksmanship was very poor, and even at a distance of about two meters, he could not guarantee a hit. In the end, he had to awkwardly empty the magazine before "sending the other party away".

Franz came to another chieftain.

"It's your turn, why did you murder us?"

Seeing the previous chieftain's plight, the second chief immediately spoke in the native language, and Franz was trying to aim for the other's head in order to kill him with a single blow.

Only then did the chief react and immediately changed to Portuguese.

"Nope! Not us! It was King Cabrynon of the north, who promised us that if we were to get rid of them, he would persuade King Gazzo of Dahomey to let us go. ”

The northern part of Togo was a low plateau, but because of the Cora Mountains, European explorers at this time knew little about the geography and folklore of the north, so Franz did not want to venture inland to take the big risk.

"What's your name?"

"Kamdic."

"Do you know how to communicate with those Dahomeys?"

Kamdic nodded vigorously.

"Go and tell them, and let them tell the King of Dahomey that if he continues to fight slaves, sooner or later he will be punished with justice. They lay down their weapons and go. ”

Kamdic walked to a stop about five meters away from the Dahomey women and exchanged words with them in the indigenous language.

The female warriors' eyes widened in disbelief at first, and one of them threw away his weapon and fled into the woods, but no one shot from behind, and the others followed suit and quickly fled into the grass, and soon disappeared from Franz's sight.

"Why did you let them go?" Friedrich asked.

"What's the use of keeping them? Isn't it because you want to enrich your harem? Franz asked rhetorically.

"Excuse me, with a group of female 'Assasin', I'm afraid that one day I'll die an unknown death." Friedrich said with a sigh of relief.

(Assasin is a legendary sect that once used assassinations to control the country, represented by the old man of the mountain, which is used here to refer to the killer.) ）

"I think you're afraid you won't be able to find it at night, right?" Franz teased.

"You have a point"

Friedrich was speechless.

"Truth be told, even if we kill them, there's no point in anything other than venting our anger, we need to let the king of Dahomey know what's going on here. Suppose we send a messenger, not to mention the question of whether the other party believes it or not, do you think the person sent will come back alive?

And if I can, I still hope that the other party will retreat and choose to cooperate with us. After all, this senseless killing can neither increase our glory nor make us feel the slightest bit of joy. ”

Of course, Franz himself suspected that these indigenous chiefs might have lied, otherwise how could it be so convenient to transmit information with the efficiency of communication in this era?

Europeans of this era may not know much about the Kingdom of Dahomey. But Franz was well aware that this was one of the few African countries that had ever defeated a great power, and that its territory was less than a tenth the size of the Ethiopian and Zulu kingdoms.

At this time, the slave trade in Benin had not ended, and the Kingdom of Dahomey was not the country that had fallen into decline, and now it had more than 6,000 women's guards, and a total of nearly 20,000 troops could be mobilized.

At the same time, the Zulu army, known as the first military empire of "Black Africa", had a total army of only 50,000 troops, and its population was ten times that of the Kingdom of Dahomey.

Moreover, Dahomey is a landlocked country, and Franz neither wants to offend the slave traders, nor does he want to fight deep into the interior of Africa, let alone be used as a pawn in his hands.

This attack was so strange that he didn't believe that two landlocked indigenous countries would send people to the beach to intercept him.

It has only been a dozen days since he came to Togo, and if it is really a planned murder, then it will take a long time to prepare and plan from the collection and acquisition of intelligence, to the formulation of the plan and the collusion with the local natives, to the dispatch of a team of reliable killers to carry out the mission.

He felt that with the efficiency of the indigenous kingdoms, there would never be such a capacity for mobilization and organization. There is also a speculation that before he arrived in West Africa, the well-intentioned people in the tribe had already received the news.

However, Franz thought about it and dismissed the second possibility, after all, it was 1,700 kilometers from Guinea, and the geographical disadvantage and inefficiency of communication led him to deny that the murder was the result of a series of links between these indigenous tribes.

Excluding the above three points, only the last possibility remains, the fourth power, which is most likely a slave trader or a rival of the Austrian Empire.

At least there are people who don't want Franz to continue what he is doing now.

So Franz firmly believes that now is not the time to turn his anger on the natives, but to do his great plan – to gain a foothold on the West African coast, and only by laying the first steps can he avoid being swayed.

Looking at his thoughtful nephew, Friedrich wondered if he was thinking differently. In short, he couldn't figure out what Franz really thought in his heart.

Soon the casualties were counted, and in the battle in the celebration area just now, the legendary powerful Dahomey warriors lost a total of thirty-five people, while only one person on the side of the Austrian royal guard had his arm slashed.

Coupled with his previous experience in Côte d'Ivoire, he did not feel that these indigenous tribes posed any real threat to the Austrian army on the battlefield, so he let Franzhoo come.

"And what are you going to do with it here?" Friedrich asked.

Friedrich's meaning, of course, is to kill the rest of the people to get rid of the trouble, and no matter what the other party is, as a betrayer, he should be ready to be killed.

Franz shook his head, he didn't think it was a good idea, and then walked up to the three chiefs and said.

"Give you thirty days, and after thirty days, I want all the chiefs of southern Togo to sign the treaty. If it is more than thirty days, even if it is more than one day, I will exterminate a tribe as a punishment for breaking my word. You should have seen what happened to the Bayo tribe, and if I'm not mistaken, he should be the most powerful chief of you, right? ”

Franz kicked Chief Bayo, who had been shot dead in the first place, and the guards had thought of him the first time they were attacked.

As a result, the most influential chieftain in southern Togo and his two strong bodyguards were instantly beaten into a sieve.

Even if he survived, there were not many people left in his tribe at this time, after all, the language barrier between the two sides, and both the royal guards and Franz's direct cavalry regiment felt that the attack on the royal family was a great stain on their glory.

There were even some people who felt that this was a good opportunity to curry favor with the two Grand Dukes, and there was no reason why they would spare the treacherous natives.

And most importantly, Archduke Franz doesn't seem to be very fond of looting, but as long as he kills everyone, it is "taking", not "robbing".

Although the cavalry will soon be eliminated by the European battlefield, it is still the most terrifying harvesting machine on the African continent at this time.

Especially in the open plains of southern Togo, even the trees that can hide are very scarce, so the terrifying cavalry raid just now left the natives who are still alive with a nightmare that they will never forget.

The remaining three chiefs nodded like garlic, and fled to their tribes.

(End of chapter)