Italian News 1902-1904

[Walter]

Well, they can just blame it on the other political parties sabotaging their attempts to regain all those territories should they be unsuccessful. :)

[Kaiser Kirk]

Battle of Moluco

The gunboat Conchiglia chugged up river Lurio slowly, behind it chains trailed into the water. Not far downstream, the chains attached to crude wooden barges loaded with supplies. The mouth of the River Riti slid past on the right bank, a sign that soon they would arrive at the mouth of the Muvo and the landing there. Held by the 42nd  Regiment and elements of the 46th Quartermaster Regiment, this was the Headquarters of the 4th Brigade of the African Legion. The landing was located at the confluence of the rivers, while the charred ruins of the native village sat to the northwest on the nose of the low ridge between the rivers. This was effectively the head of navigation, the fall rains had not quite set in and sandbars kept the vessel from venturing further upstream to where the great falls of the Lurio lay, where the river plunged down from the plateau.

The Captain had often wondered why the natives didn't camp by the water, but had mused to himself that between the hippos, crocs, flies, mosquitoes and all the other critters that came to the water, perhaps it made sense.  When he was back at Nacala picking up the barges, the Territorial Authority's seemed concerned with flooding and sanitation and had posted a rule that no colonial housing could be located within a distance equal to twice the width of a channel, though small canals could be dug. He had seen their model village, a stockade like something out of an American penny western novel, samples of a well, a canal and wooden trough for water, a shed with two communal traction engines, live stock corral, armory. Rough, but he had seen plenty of country here where a village like that would work. The landing hove in view and arrested his musing.

Not far away, on the ridge between the Lurio and Mualo rivers, in a place the Native Makau called Mecamera, the tribes had gathered. The lack of livestock placed a severe limit on their manpower and ability to gather in one spot long, as they had to carry their food on them. This being fall, some forage from the abandoned fields was available, but the thousands of tribesmen still had to spread out in several columns to forage. The scattered tribe lets had fought bitterly the eviction, but now they had been forced west, village by village, and the further they were pushed, the greater the number of people on the move.  Of the tens of thousands straggling west, were thousands of warriors. The warriors had first tried to fight the Italians, and found their spears no match. harassment raids, and careful use of their few rifles and limited ammunition had slowed and frustrated the Italians, kept them in large formations, but drove them to more extreme measures to stampede the natives in front of them.

But here, the Makau were running out of territory. To the West, the Yao, to the North, the Nguni.   A young chief had argued that by choosing ground with short sightlines, and attacking near dusk or dawn, they could negate the Italian's rifles.  A raiding party of several dozen warriors with trade rifles had been sent out, to snipe at the 4th brigade, and draw pursuit. The chosen battleground was just beyond the low rise where the NW ridge from the Landing met the main SW-NE ridge. At that junction, the NW ridge ended and a drainage running to the NW started, there the ground was cut by small watercourses and cloaked in scrubby trees.

The 422nd Battalion, African Legion, had been sent in pursuit of the Makau raiders. The men had marched swiftly in pursuit, in 2 company columns. Advance platoons, spread in a search line, led the columns. They had been successful in shooting a couple of the pests, but the others had – instead of escaping- kept returning to take more shots at the sweaty soldiers.

The ridge ran to the northwest for several kilometers, The Makau raiders halted and fired at intervals, but it only took a couple of hours to advance along it. There, the ridge split, traveling southeast to northeast. Northwest lay the headwaters of a stream, with several small drainages wreathed in vegetation extending up to the main ridge. The rifle fire came from the leading edge of the vegetation below, the pall of the black powder helping to hide those using it. The columns merged to descend the drainage of a watercourse while the advance platoons trooped down the flanking ridges. All the while the native snipers continued to engage and the  massed return fire had dropped several more, for once the Italians were winning the sniper exchange. The soldiers were feeling good about that until the flanking platoons encountered large groups of warriors surging out of the brush.  The rest of the battalion were puzzled by the sudden, heavy, rapid fire from the ridgelines and then could see the platoon members running down the hill from the ridge. The situation became clear when a couple thousand Makau warriors boiled out of the adjacent drainages and came howling down the hills towards the battalion.

The common private of the Legion had enlisted as an alternative to prison. There was only so much room on the farms for the youth, and manufacturing jobs in the city were scarce, so Italy had for decades had ghettos of their own hopeless. Tens of thousands turned to migrant work in Europe, and oft met hostility. Tens of Thousands scraped passage money to journey to the Americas, and many desperate souls turned to crime in the interim. The Legions offered parole, and on completion, land and a future. Compared to the regular army, this made the average private less experienced more desperate, more hardened, and now they had months of seasoning. But they were not fearless killers with cool disregard for their lives, nor had they been drilled for years, or had some undying loyalty to the Regiment. So some, well soiled themselves, some broke right then and there and ran up the drainage towards the Landing. Those that didn't got to see the ridge behind them fill with Makau and those that fled cut down.  Most of them listened to their leaders.  The leadership was all long service regulars, given a bump in rank on joining the Legion, and promised another at the end of their first term of enlistment.

They were not drilled in how to repel as massed spear attack, but as the officers barked orders the platoons took to mimicking each other's actions. 2nd Company's commander, Captain Luigi Frusci barked orders and doubled firing lines formed on both sides of the draw bayonets were fixed and regular calls to 'Aim... Fire' brought order to Chaos. 5th Platoon, 1st Company, was bunched and sent up the creek between the firing lines to form a wedge at the end of the column, to lead the retreat. At least it was tried. The soldiers were a little busy to cleanly follow orders and take their given formations.  Ragged firing lines formed on both sides, many fixed bayonets, a significant proportion heeded the calls to 'aim', much of the 5th platoon was happy to bunch together and push it's way up the draw through their fellow soldiers.  But the reality is that for a young native warrior carrying a spear and brightly painted shield, running 300m down hill does not take long. The Italian's 1889 Schmidt-Rubin rifles were among the most modern, fitted with a 12 round magazine and firing an advanced 7.5mm copper jacketed round. With bayonet fixed they were nearly 2m long.  The rifles performed well, but ironically the prior service rifle, the 1878/81 Swiss Vetterli in 10.4mm Swiss, would have been more effective. The 7.5mm round had great ballistics for long range, but in such close quarters, tended to punch through, while the older 10.4mm would have expanded and expended it's energy on the target. Combine this with the unfortunate tendency to quickly aim towards the center of mass....offset to the left by the warrior's shields, and a tendency to aim at the upper 1/3rd of a rapidly moving & descending target weaving through stands of bushes and the fire was surprisingly ineffective. Scores of warriors were slain, hundreds wounded, a couple thousand hit the line.

Unlike the Zulu, or the Nguni, the Makau did not have professional soldiers, they did not drill to stand in formation and go toe to toe with a foe. These were warriors, used to fighting inconclusive raids with minimal casualties.  Often warbands would face off and champions call each other to battle. The raiders that had led the 422nd Battalion to this location was far more their style, this mass attack was foreign to them, and while they were desperate, they were not prepared for the carnage of mass close combat. Many were shot when they paused short of the line to hurl their wooden throwing clubs, then they plunged in with shield and spear, met by the bayonets fixed to long rifles. The Italians also fought desperately, but had never drilled against a foe equipped with spear and shield. Many more warriors were shot point blank before they ever had a chance to engage, but particularly here, the high velocity copper jacketed round would pass through the wound, often hitting a following warrior in that dense mass attack. Few of these final panicked shots were immediately mortal, sufficient to stop the warrior...and those that did fall were replaced by a half dozen more.

In the orgy of killing, the men of the advance platoons all perished, as did almost the entire first company. A core of men rallied around Major Azzi, while others stood and were cut down, others broke and scattered*. Captain Luigi Frusci and Lieutenants Rodolfo Graziani & Pietro Pintor of the 4th & 5th platoons led the retreat. Elements of the remainder of the 2nd company rallied to them and they formed a ragged wedge pushing up the draw.  The Makau warriors, stunned by the carnage, and lacking any semblance of command,  flocked to the easier pickings of 1st company  like carrion birds. Little flocks of warriors made runs at the 2nd company, but most turned towards the easier pickings.

As much of 2nd Company reached the top of the draw, they were silhouetted and a new problem developed, as Makau warriors began to make use of their newly liberated weapons. Captain Frusci formed 2nd company up to pour fire down to relieve the remaining elements of 1st Company. A couple knots of soldiers, and some of those that had fled, rallied towards 2nd company, running for their lives. This attracted the focus of warriors scattered across the draw, and they began to advance towards 2nd company, enveloping it. Captain Frusci refused his flanks, maintained the discipline, but with the brushy chopped up terrain near the tops of these watercourses, warriors were able to duck behind small ridges and and brush to work way around. As the final elements of 1st Company fell, and their rifles were seized, the fire on 2nd company became greater. Already heavily burdened with wounded, Captain Frusci saw his remaining numbers of able bodied men dropping and signaled an advance in another direction- towards basecamp.

A slow advance began, shedding bodies and discarded equipment, and shadowed and dogged by the victorious Makau warriors, eager for the final kill. A ragged perimeter of soldiers shielded the core of wounded aided by the able as they fought their way back.


The 4th Brigade Landing was only 14km away, but the staggered pickets were only 10km away, they could hear the distant heavy sustained firing, followed by an eerie calm, then scattered shots,  then more fire. Something seemed amiss, and the Landing was put on alert. The 421st Battalion send 1st Company up to the burned village to investigate the disturbing sounds. While elements of the 6th Quartermaster regiment were on "porter" assignment, and all were armed with carbines, there were still nearly 1,000 able soldiers at HQ.

Relieved by 1st Company, the pickets there moved forward, and they were who first made contact with the battered remnants of the 422nd Battalion....well actually the cloud of Makau around them. The pickets fled back, and summoned 1st Company, which advanced on the double. The 1st Company broke the perimeter of the Makau cloud, and cleared a path for the remains of the 422nd Battalion. As they slowly advanced towards the landing, the firing became more evident there. The Stockade was manned, and a platoon sent out, only to meet the recoiling pickets. Only then did the Landing know of the horde advancing.

As the retreati..ahem, advancing soldiers came to the last military crest, and could see the landing and began to descend the long low slope towards it, so did the Makau see their victory slipping away. While having lost hundreds in killed and wounded, there were still nearly 2000 warriors, who had fortuitously discovered a great many spare rifles to bolster their meager numbers of trade rifles. These warriors were reluctant to let the Italians leave their party, and so attempted to stop them from leaving. The men on the stockade around Landing could see the dark figures closing in, and the limping movement of the retreat increasing. The 4th Regiment's artillery battery had too much recoil for the timber palisade, and no firing ports were cut in the walls. However, the machine gun battery was lugged up, and the Colt-brownings set into place. The Makau walled off the advancing soldiers about 1.5 km away from the landing, beyond range of help.

Most of the officers at Landing argued they should exit the base en masse to relieve their comrades, but Senior Colonel Ottavio Briccola refused to send a further relief column, fearing that was what the Makau wanted and it would be cut off as well.   While debate raged it was the Conchiglia gunboat, ascending the river Muvo, which flanked the Makau. The gunboat was not heavily armed, but the bow howitzer played havoc with any clusters of warriors, while the old, heavy, twin barrel, hand cranked Gardner guns proved once again reliable. Their heavy old-fashioned 10.4mm rounds carried well and had a devastating effect on the surprised Makau. The warriors near the tributary broke and fled from this new assault. The beleaguered soldiers rushed bankwards towards their salvation. Seeing this, Colonel Briccola relented and sent the rest of 4th Regiment and the Available 6th Regiment soldiers in relief, holding only one 6th Regiment company as his, err, the base's security.

The Makau broke soon after, retreating to savor their victory, emboldened by their success, and somewhat better equipped. Small bands of rifle equipped renegades would plague the Italian advance, and seek shelter among the Yao and Nguni.   4th Brigade would rally to recover the bodies, and send out punitive columns, and the local campaign turned from one of nominal eviction, to localized extermination. By year end, the victory had proved fleeting and the shattered Makau were pushed into Nguni and Yao territory. The captured rifles would continue to be used by renegades for some time. **

Aftermath
Col. Briccola  filed charges against Captain Frusci for abandoning Major Azzi in the face of the enemy. At the Courts-Martial, Captain Frusci was cleared of all charges and recommended for a commendation. An investigation was launched into Colonel Briccola's inaction, and he retired from the service.  The Conchiglia was given a unit citation, and it's commander a medal.
A committee was established to evaluate if a reversion to the 10.4mm round was called for, if pistols should be provided for non-officers, or if training for hand to hand fighting should taught. The Army was strongly against the Reversion, or adding several kg of weight to the average kit, but the concept of hand-to-hand combat as a type of useful physical conditioning was taken up. A subcommittee to look at hand-to-hand methods was established.

*As a historical footnote, a young fellow by the name of Beneto Mussolini was on parole in 1904. As penance for draft dodging- or in Navalism failing to register- he was serving 2 years in the Army. Now where in this Italian Army would they sentence a parolee? Gee, he'd be a private, and I shouldn't get bogged down with naming privates, that's too much detail for even me...but let's just say he may never rise to prominence in Italy...that's not to say another might...Muhahahahha.

**Casualties – I've been building replacements at a rate of 5% of those engaged account for death, disease, injury. With about 43,000 troops "in country",  this loss is part of that.

[Walter]

but let's just say he may never rise to prominence in Italy

... so either he is one of the many unnamed soldiers who were killed in this battle, or soon will be in another one or he ended up on the missing list.

At least I still have a little Mao running around somewhere... :)

[Kaiser Kirk]

but let's just say he may never rise to prominence in Italy

... so either he is one of the many unnamed soldiers who were killed in this battle, or soon will be in another one or he ended up on the missing list.

At least I still have a little Mao running around somewhere... :)

I'd rather see if I can create my own villians, than try to remember to make news items for the elements of a historic one's rise- or failure to. Plus, Mussolini was pretty 2nd rate compared to the 'A' list of WW II.

[Kaiser Kirk]

The Campaign
Normally I take into consideration other player's news for the period, and global events, and then decide how that would effect the vote compared to last time. The answer is, not much.

After a short election season the votes are collected and announced. Newspapers report both the local tallies on chalk boards, and the official tallies, and fewer suspicious discrepancies are noted than normal.

14%  Italian Workers Party
39% Italian Liberal Union Party 
32% The Liberal Constitutional party 
15% The Military party 

Shortly after the Election, Turati and Giolotti announce a coalition government, with Turati's party taking the Justice, Interior, Public works Portfolios. Turati will serve as Interior Minister, with Giuseppe Zanardelli as Justice Minister, and Alessandro Fortis will be the Public Works Minister. Fortis is of course famed for his view of the state under King Umberto "which abstains from everything, which increasingly reduces its actions and its responsibilities; the state which is feared, rather than appealed to ... is, it seems to me, doomed to die out.".

[Kaiser Kirk]

1905

Querimba, January 15th
What was now called The Clearances had ceased for most of December, the combination of the onset of  the warm, wet and heavy rains, and the need to build up supply depots near the heads of navigation. From there, a dozen of the steam traction engines could be brought up on barges and put to work to bring supplies forward into the brush. Of course they needed a surface to run on, but luckily the wet weather made spade work for the poor soldiers easier.   

A break in the weather allows the the resumption of the Clearance in the south, pushing to connect a road to the Zambezi river at the nearly abandoned Portuguese trading post of  Vila de Sena, allowing a resupply post to be established there.

With the rivers up, safe fords were few, and the Army's pontoon bridges vital.  The rivers thus formed natural subdivisions to the country side, while the coastal wetlands flooded, further restricting movement. This allowed the Marines to address the complaints from the Portuguese that the displaced tribes people had been raiding their coastal colony, and to conduct sweeps to round up the desperate tribal members and force them south, towards the swollen Zambezi.

February 16th, 1905
The dockyards at Taranto were spurred into frantic motion and the fire brigade summoned as twin explosions, followed by a gout of fire, came from the experimental submarine Neptune. The events would be hushed up, but an internal investigation was launched. The fire, killing 6 of the 11 man crew, was found to have initiated in the engineering spaces, and the explosion is believed to have been of leaked gasoline vapors. It had been triggered by a spark from the electric switch when the submarine's main propulsion motor was turned on. The vessel was taken in for repairs.

February 20th– Prime Minister Giovanni Giolitti brings a bill to the Chamber of Deputies for the nationalization of the railways that makes it a crime to stop or disturb railway service. The railway unions order a slowdown.

February 23rd - Citing his recent re-election, Prime Minister stands firm on the Railway Issue and states "The State of the Italian Railways is unacceptable, as exposed by the issues of moving and supplying men  in response to our Allies call. The poor cordination and standardization makes land commerce slower and more expensive than it should be. This leads to disunity and helps keep the southern portions of the nation impoverished. The Railroad companies and Unions perpetuate this state of affairs.  The People of Italy should be protesting this slowdown and clamoring for reformation !"

[Kaiser Kirk]

March 1st – The Official names for the 'western ports' of Malocello(Conakry), Vivaldi(San Pedro), and Pigafetta Bay (Walvische Baye).  The names commemorate prominent Italian explorers. 

Malocello was a Genoese explorer credited with the rediscovery of the Canary islands in 1312, and resided there for several decades. The town of Lanzarote in the Canaries is named for him, and the Italians feel it fitting the closest piece of Italian soil to the Canaries should also be named for him. 

The Town of Vivaldi lies at an estuarine river mouth on the Gulf of Guinea, The Vivaldis attempted a voyage to India in 1291, but were never heard from after passing Cape Nun. In1455 the explorer di Mare found reported descendants of the expedition along the Gulf of Guinea, so the name is fitting and commemorates 606 years of Italian presence on the Gulf.

Antonio Pigafetta served as Magellen's assistant and his written Report on the First Voyage Around the World was published in Italy, giving the most detailed account of Magellen's voyage.

For Conakry and Walvishe Baye, there are small trade ports present, while San Pedro is more of a native outpost, presumably with a Church and a small trade post. 

Since I didn't cover it at the time, a typical scene from these locations when the Italians arrived earlier : With the vessels of the expedition riding at anchor, a small flotilla of launches, put the Advance party and company of Marines ashore. As the Marines march to the town, the brigs sailed into the roadstead. The Marines stop at the edge of the town, while the Advance party strolls in and calls to see the town leaders. Several of the locals straggle forward, demanding explanations.

It is announced that the Italians desire to purchase the town, and all outlying areas for a pound of gold. From the prior expedition, several leading people will have been brought on board first and would accept the offer. Inevitably, several folk will protest the town is not for sale, to which the Italians will blithely reply, fine then you don't have to take our funds and these folk will divide the gold amongst themselves. This would lead to division among the locals, and some independent minded folk would shout that the town wasn't for sale and the Italians should go home.

The Italians would then calmly explain that all property titles will be formalized, that the townsfolk will retain title to their buildings unless sold, and observe that their patience was running thin. Somewhere, threats of violence would be leveled, to which the advance party would observe this would be an act of war, and the Marines and vessels would retaliate, the village would be conquered, and the lands seized....or they could take the pound of gold, divide it amongst each other, and keep title to their buildings. Eventually, deeds of sale would be drawn up, and a claim to all territory in a week's travel would be signed over.

[Kaiser Kirk]

March 5th – Counter protests against the Railroad strike occur in major cities. A new bill, introduced by  Alessandro Fortis, calls for a unified railroad holding company Regino De Italia Ferrovie would to be created. The Monarch has pledged to establish the company.  Existing railroad companies would be folded into this company and be issued stock in accordance to their value. The Government would also be given shares in return for loan guarantees (i.e. future IC expenditures) and seats on the Board. The company would be charged with establishing standards, strategic rail development and maintenance of the railroad system. Tickets will be purchasable for far destinations, and schedules synchronized to allow through transit. Routes will eventually be bid among the companies.

March 10th, 1905

Read Admiral di Reve looked proudly at Re Umberto as she and her sisters got a new coat of paint. The rains had delayed the job, but it was finally time to return to Italian colors and remove their Royal Navy colors – and the skyblue of the aft funnel, disused these many months. Their service last year, seconded to the Royal Navy's Malta fleet, had been a valuable one. The professionalism of the Royal Navy had set a standard for his sailors to aspire to, and the time had fostered a certain camaraderie. Lastly, while the Army had repaid England's staunch support for a united Italy, it was satisfying for the Navy to finally do so as well, even if it was simply replacing RN battleships deployed elsewhere. Still, the Re Umberto class had been closely modeled on the British ships, to the extent of the Elswick main guns, so it was fitting they could serve as stand ins.

April 1st
Over the winter, the cleared areas of Querimba had been consolidated, and major supply bases built up. At the Confluence of the Ruvuma and Lugenda rivers was I & II Legion HQ. The falls that defined the head of navigation on the Lurio river became the HQ for III and IV Legions. Dozens of steam traction engines were barged up and put to work bringing supplies forward to further advance depots. From there, the porter contingents organic to the Legion organization would supply the advance.

In Northwest Querimba, the I Legion pressed up both sides the Ruvuma river into Nguni territory, pushing the remnants of the Makau before them. Numerous Makau refugees had fled North to the river valley, and -unable to pass in the rainy season- then west along it's course. The militarized Nguni captured and enslaved the first waves, but overwhelmed by the numbers they ushered the rest onward to the North and Northwest. Many of the better equipped Makau warriors, already bring up the rear, formed renegade bands that operated out of Nguni villages to raid the advancing Italians.

Numbering close to a hundred thousand desperate Makau, these would cross the headwaters of the Ruvuma river and cause a disruption of life throughout the Great Lakes and upland Tanzania region.

South of this, the II & III Legions helped the push into Nguni territory and were pressing west towards the mountains that divided the headwaters of the Lugenda and Massalo rivers from Lake Nyassa. A steam traction engine route had been developed from the supply base at the river falls, and allowed II Legion to set up advance depots to operate out of. Gentle hills with woodland savanna, rich in wildlife, this fertile land was held by the Yao tribesmen, who had long made their way by aiding and abetting the Arab slavers traders raiding inland areas. As a result the Yao were relatively well armed, if with elderly weapons. While the Makau had generally marched west on the trade routes North and South of the Yao territory, sufficient numbers had washed into Makau territory to cause problems and forewarn them. Yao warriors took to the west and engaged the advancing Italian columns. The old muzzle loading rifles were slower to fire and not as accurate as the Italian arms, but added a new toll of wounded to the count.

The IV and V Legions covered the region between the Lurio and Zambezi rivers. Much of this was not technically within the Italian lands, but with displaced tribesmen surging into the Portuguese coastal zone, they spent much of the winter interning them, and moving them west. As the levels of the Zambezi continued to fall, Pontoon bridges spanning the river allowed the internment camp to be emptied. The Clearances then moved west and north, sweeping towards Lake Nyassa.

The Marines, arriving en masse throughout this period, took the chore of patrolling the new borders and the cleared areas, giving the new settlers secure locations to live. Many marines found themselves in the unenviable tasks of road building, to lay out a rudimentary infrastructure for the new arrivals.

Westward, in the fertile Highlands, and the area around Lake Nyassa, the smallpox plague spread like wildfire, destroying* whole towns throughout the region. To the North and South, it spread along the trade routes, until reaching edges of tribal territories. There, the tribes, alerted to what was happening, repulsed with force any who would come to their lands. This hyper vigilance quickly escalated to warfare spreading far beyond the disease. As the Makau made their way into these lands, they were not welcomed or allowed to pass, and so added to the warfare.  As such, the closing days of Spring, 1905, finds much of the Great Lakes and Upper Congo area engulfed in tribal warfare from the ripple effects of the Italian clearances on the coast of East Africa.


*From wikipedia on Smallpox in Africa : and then to Uganda in the 1840s. It is estimated that up to eighty percent of the Griquatribe was exterminated by smallpox in 1831, and whole tribes were being wiped out in Kenya up until 1899. Along the Zaire river basin were areas where no one survived the epidemics, leaving the land devoid of human life. 

[Kaiser Kirk]

July 1st   Regino De Italia Ferrovie formally comes into existence The unified railroad corporation will control the track and maintenance thereof, while bidding out the right to use the track for service. A minimum number of passenger trains and government cargo with controlled rates will be required, but the remainder of the service will go to winning bidder. The winning bid is to be allocated by a combination of bid price, favorable endorsements from towns served, and compliance failures. The system is explicitly chosen to favor cheap quality service over cheaper shoddy service. The system will be re-evaluated in 5 years.

July 20th, Querimba Hospital and Grassi Institute of Tropical Diseases, Nacala.
Minister of Agriculture, Francesco Nitti listened carefully to Professor Giuseppe Bastianelli*  as the two entered the wards.
"As I am sure you are aware, there were numerous concerns regarding our colonization effort here and the effects of tropical diseases. Certainly our records and tales of past settlement in tropical regions indicates that the first year lays low many of our race, what was called 'seasoning' and claimed a large number. We particularly looked to the histories of the Portuguese and Arabs along this, the "Swahili coast".

Of particular concern here is that for much of the coastline, there are low lying swamps lying just inland and there was considerable concern that there would be significant malaria problems. While Quinine  and Warburg's tincture alleviate this, it can still be debilitating, particularly when first acquired. There we are somewhat fortunate, as the majority of troops come from the poor south and the marshes of the North where malaria has been established since the time of Rome. There have been a fair number of recruits who have fled from the Austrian civil war, and they fare much worse.

The second disease of concern is the Dengue fever, which weakens and causes a rash, but in a small number of cases leads to hemorrhagic fever and death.  We have taken to placing those in the early stages in the infirmary and given them bully beef and plenty of tea to eat and drink. While midevil in approach, the energy in the beef may fortify them against hemorrhagic versions, at least that is our hope and better than nothing. We lack the data to truly determine a proper course of treatment.  We do not yet know how this is transmitted, but the suspicion is again the mosquito**.   

Yellow Fever was the third disease of concern, and was proved by Dr. Finlay of Cuba to be mosquito born. Here our fears have proven less well grounded. There have been just two cases, both from along the  Rovuma River in the far north of the province, one of whom died. Curiously, our allies in Zanzibar swear it is well established to the North, as far as the Great Lakes, and claim it is a disease of the Forest. Unfortunately all we really know about treating this, is rest and fluids and pray for God's Mercy. The Fever seems to take the old and weak more than the young, and we believe if one has symptoms as a child, one is proof, or so the Arabs claim. The traders claim the natives know the mild symptoms, but not the severe, which lends credence to the idea that it is a childhood disease, deadly in adults.

Lastly, there is sleeping sickness. Livingston himself wrote of this, and tried water buffaloes from India, which died of other causes on his ascent of the Rovuma river to Lake Nyassa. As your ministry has arranged for the worlds' livestock to be brought here, I suspect you know of this. Like Yellow Fever, this appears to be more virulent to the North, and just a couple years ago there was apparently a great outbreak by the Great Lakes to the North. While this has proven less alarming in human than feared, and are loosing livestock at an alarming rate. Without large infusions of fresh animals, the presumption that traditional European draught animals may not be viable here does appear correct. So we are seeking promising alternatives, and oddly two our champion work animals are Elephants, not from here, but from Burma of all places. Still the steam traction engines are proving requisite.

Overall, we have focused on mosquito abatement, seeking out and draining the still waters where they may be. Indeed, a dredge has been built and is draining marshy areas to the North and we have had several sailors here. As you can see, the town and encampments here are located on a hillock and ridge, while the area surrounding this lovely natural harbor was in fact plains already.  This was even extended to the jungle uniforms, the uniform hats and tents of the troops include cheesecloth drops, meant to bar mosquitoes from entry at night.  Despite the precautions we have tens of thousands of troops at risk, and  we have  seen considerable numbers of troops sicken, and the auge from these diseases is debilitating. Still, the death rates are proving lower than feared, and vulnerability seems to lessen once the diseases are passed."

Minister Nitti "Very interesting, and these findings do seem to be making their way into the colonization plans, are they not?"

Bastianelli : "Oh certainly, this is the reasoning for the placement of proposed villages away from watercourses and requiring flumes of flowing water to serve as aqueducts. Well that and all the wildlife near the rivers. Between the Mosquitoes and Hippos they really are unsafe. Curiously, we find that often when the engineers map an area and identify the best site for a fortified*** village, there is already a native village on or near the site.

*One of the assistants in Grassi's 1898 proof the female Anopheles mosquito transmitted Malaria to humans, as well as discovery of the three strains of malaria.
**confirmed 1906 by an American.
***The Italian plan is for villages to be initially surrounded by a palisade of spaced logs – actually something done by the Iroquois, saves on building time, while barring land predators and raiders. The African village location reflects something I read, that they were frequently some distance from water, while the Europeans would set up next to the river...with bad results. As the Italians are trying to come up with "best management practices" for colonization prior to colonists arriving, and mosquitoes and hippos ARE problems, I figure this is reasonable to come up with. Also avoids flooding.

August, 1905
The Armaments ministry gives orders for limited production and field testing of the Perino machine gun. The weapon has languished as "top secret" since 1901, when Giuseppe Perino, Commander of the Royal Artillery Factory, devised it. <i.e. when I research improved infantry, Italy will use this rather than the Maxim>. 

[Kaiser Kirk]

End of August, 1905
Chief Nyeusi Akitesema's village of the Nguni people, was situated on the slopes of a hillock, commanding the confluence between what others might call the Ruvuma river and the Lugenda, and gave a commanding view of the river bottoms.  The Arab merchants, who had in his youth traded arms for slaves, had brought white people to the village two years prior. They had left a brass plate tacked to a tree, and a flag of marvelous Green, White and Red, adorned with a golden device in the middle, which the Nguni had been told would lead to peace. This was planted firmly next to the "Christ Cross" the white man Livingston had caused erected in the village.

These assurances had proved only somewhat true. The iron boat of the white people, and their bands of warriors all dressed alike, had come to view the flag and cross, but not bothered his village. However, the Makau people, fleeing their ancestral lands from the assault of these white people had proven a burden. The first waves had passed through, and the Nguni had bought several young women for slaves. The tail end had proved warriors, and offered to assist the Nguni hunters in exchange for shelter while they raided the "Eye tall ens".  The Chief saw no reason for his warriors to become involved in the Makau fight, but so long as only the Makau were the fighters, he could see no reason not to, but forbade raids ON Nguni land.

This proved successful for some time, as many of the Makau were armed with new rifles, stamped with the same symbol as the flag, and proved quite accurate for hunting. The hunting was good this summer. Beyond the Nguni borders, the Italian Jungle  I & II Legions were engaged in clearances and ensuring no pockets of Makau had been left. The Makau raiders proved to bedevil them, claiming many casualties but primarily raising alarm.

To the West, the Yao were also proving more difficulty,  armed with Arab weapons obtained from slave trading through the late 1800s, they caused an initial surprise to the II and III Legions, as the makau, despite living closer to the Swahili coast, had not been as well armed or organized.  However, twenty and thirty year old rifles with questionable cartridges proved to be less effective than newer, Swiss bolt action rifles with a magazine feed. Skirmishing proves promising for the Yao, and so they lay plans for battle.

In the south, the IV and V Legions, assisted by the Marines, had cleared to the nebulous Portuguese border. In a couple occasions, Italian troops found themselves suddenly in plantations and towns flying Portuguese Flags. Good relations at the national level, assisted by the personal relationship between monarchs, help guide the locals to an equitable solution which saw the Italians leave in peace. The clearance area, extended past the nominal purchase area, to the Zambezi river is declared secured. With the river as a supply line, and Marines flowing in to provide rear area security, the Legions are able to turn and push inland.




September 8 – An earthquake strikes southern Italy with a magnitude of 7.2, damaging parts of Lipari Island and Messina Province, and killing between 557 and 2,500 people. The earthquake particularly affects the Calabria region, destroying as many as 25 villages, and 14,000 homes.* The Queen & Royal Children accompanied Public Works minister Fortis on a visit to this area. Minister Fortis later introduced a bill to help rebuild the area and spur investment  to aid these southern regions. 

*The question of when does this rise to an IC of damage is relevant. IC are light industry to employ a population of 1 million people. Presuming injuries and damage 5x the dead and destruction, roughly 12,500 people were injured. Which would be 0.01% of the people for an IC. About 70,000 small houses damaged, but there's just not much industry. Calabria is part of 3-historic regions allocated just 2 IC..there's just not much there to be damaged. Now the 1908 Messina earthquake will cost at least an IC as it effects a much more built up area.

Late September, 1905
The heart of the Yao land is Chiconono, in the foothills at the base of the mountains dividing Italian Nyasa (Malawi) and Querimba (Mozambique). The Italians, pushing along the SW-NE axis of the Lugenda River as their supply line, sweep the lowlands east of the foothills. The III Legion to the South of the River, and the II Legion to the North. The river valley has fertile alluvial soil with good water resources as it is fed by many perennial streams on both banks. The perennial water sources in the valley thus have good cultivation to sustain its inhabitants. Too the Italians however, many who have enlisted from the poor farming areas of the south, the land appears the best they have seen. The land is rife with wildlife, including the impressive African elephants.

In years to come, settlers will find that the river valley formed by the Lugenda River, which flows within deep banks, is rich in iron ore intercalated in quartz and granite rock formations. Crystallized lime carbonate is also found, and the future will find that coal is extracted from two coal fields, located on both sides of the river. Iron ore will be extracted from large areas to the west of the Pemba Coalfield. Gold is also found in the valley in upper reaches of the Rarico River, a tributary of the Lugenda River. However, all these are the future.

The confluence of the Lugenda river and the Laumbala river becomes a II & III Legion Supply base, with entrenchments along the ridge to the southwest. With the river still over 50m wide, supported by the gunboat, the II Legion pushes up the Laumbala river, into the escarpment lands. The river narrows, and the winches become useful to safely clear rapids. The gunboat turns to ferrying barges of supplies, as the Legion pushes ahead.

Despite a nominal King, the Yao are not a unified tribe, they live in isolated villages of a 100 or so, and exert an overlordship on Chewa villages. The Yao Chiefs trade in ivory and slaves, while the common Yao and their Chewa subjects conduct slash and burn farms to supply both tribal groups.  These scattered villages fall rapidly to the advancing legionaries. The small bands that try to stand and fight are rapidly overwhelmed.  A flood of displaced people join the wave of Makau heading east, over the mountains, into the smallpox ridden devastation of the Lake Nyassa region. Hungry, weak from travel, the constant trickle of new refugees gives the smallpox virus fresh hosts and carriers. The disease flares up repeatedly and is carried far beyond the lake area.

A factor in primitive warfare is supplies. Warriors cultures lack supply lines, making them mobile, but also making it difficult to assemble large groups of warriors for an extended time.  The harvest and hunting of the summer allow such a gathering. The disunited Yao, faced extinction, band together**. As warriors trickle in across Yao territory, the II Legion becomes more alarmed at the increased resistance. Help is requested, as I Legion is experiencing it's own difficulties, the III Legion is instructed to assist, with IV Legion moving north to assume it's duties, and V Legion holding the Southern flank alone.

It is on the ridge, south of Chicono, that the Yao, having gathered the harvest sufficiently to allow their tribal warriors to assemble.  Their traditional skirmish tactics having proven successful, they stick to a semi-zulu form of warfare learned from their neighbors to the north. For battle, when it comes, they will form a shieldwall, with the flanks advanced like the buffalo.  Lacking a formal military organization, the shield wall is formed in by small companies of each villages warriors, arcing across the ridge, with the flanks forwards as the "horns". Walls of heavy buffalo hide shields, capable of stopping musket fire from a distance, is augmented by a pair of spears – one for throwing, and a short stabbing spear. Riflemen accompanied by a assistant and a shieldman, form a picket line in front of the wall.  Encamped on a widespot on the ridge, they await the Italian advance.

As their scouts report the Italians in column ahead, their skirmishers move out, engaging the Italian scouts and forcing them to withdraw. At the long ranges of these sniper exchanges, the doubled buffalo hide shields, planted and tilted back, work. The Italian Maggiore  holds the lead battalion up, informs Regimental headquarters, and hunkers down while the next two battalions march into order.

Their front thus tripled, and the adjoining regiments informed, two full companies of the 4th battalion are moved ahead as scouts and the advance continues with the 3 battalions in column, spread along the ridgetop. Behind them comes the rest of the Regiment.  Several hours behind comes the bulk of the next Regiment.

The 4th battalion scouts, instructed to press the issue, attack the Yao skirmishers. When located, squads split, with one team attempting to pin with fire, while the other team moving to flank and kill.  By this time, II Legion had been in country for quite some time, and the men had gotten skilled at this. As reinforcements arrived, they were paired with selected veterans. There was some minor prestige in this, as the veterans were given a brevet promotion for the duration and could treat their 'apprentice' as a servant until the next wave of replacements came.

The Yao skirmishers did achieve their goal. The Italian advance was slow, and they did not manage to get scouting reports from more than a kilometer ahead of the advance. At the Yao camp, the warriors ate smoked meats and manoic over banked dry fires, drank water and rested in the shade. In early afternoon, they were called from their camps. The chosen place of battle was a large grassy area, with scattered scrub. A treeline along the north cloaked a spring and provided shade and resting areas. A gentle downhill led to the south, where the ridge broke sharply and a brush covered downhill slope ran for hundreds of meters. The slopes adjacent were smooth and fairly gentle.

It was this clearing that the Italian scouts first came to, and proceeded unmolested across most of, until taking withering fire from the tree line. Pinned down, they took cover in the thorn scrub and retreated slowly. The advancing battalions hurried up through the scrubby uphill of the ridge to the sound of heavier fighting. There they came into the grassland and shook the columns out into a three battalion front, trusting on the remainder of the regiment to provide reserves. They then advanced across the grassland

The shieldwall became evident, moving to the edge of the trees as the Italian line approached. However, by time the thousands upon thousands of warriors were evident, the "horns" of the shieldwall, down out of sight on the gentle sideslopes, well these were behind the Italian flanks.

This meeting, between 3 ½  weary, somewhat understrength battalions, perhaps 1700 men, scattered across a 750m frontage, and 7-8 deep ranks of Yao warriors emerging from the treeline – perhaps 6000 or so, was not a pleasant one for the Italians. Everything had been going so well.

The Italian lines started a slow retrograde action. They laid down heavy fire, providing the Yao with sudden notice that under several hundred meters, the shields that stopped large diameter slow moving bullets, had little noticeable effect on higher velocity steel capped 7.5mm rounds. The Yao also became suddenly aware of the difference between exchanging carefully aimed shots at distant targets, where rate of fire was not so distinct, and the capabilities of a bolt action rifle equipped with a 12 round magazine. The Italian battalions laid a withering fire at the advancing Yao, causing their front to recoil and withdraw to the treeline.

This the state of affairs when the "Horns" made their presence known. With 6,000 warriors to front of them, the beleaguered legionaries found they had been flanked by another 6,000 ...well no one was counting... The sound of the charging Yao caught the flanked battalions by surprise. What had been a valiant stand became an advance in another direction, one conspicuously away from the Yao.

The suddenly more rapid withdrawal of the Italians front encouraged the Yao to advance from the trees once more.  The Italian advance towards the way they came sped up as individuals decided it was a good time to walk quickly, or jog.

This was the scene that greeted the leading elements of 4th battalion, and 5th battalion as they hurried up the ridge through the scrub. With Colonel Vincenzo Garioni on-scene, they were ordered to secure the flanks, alternating companies were dispatched the the East and West. It was their heavy fire that kept the horns from closing.

The leading scouting elements of the 4th battalion were heavily mauled, as were the flanks of 1st and 3rd battalions, but the bulk of the Italian force made to the scrub and hurried downhill. Here, sightlines were shorter and unit organization impossible to maintain. The lightly geared Yao warriors, well fed, and fresh from rest, were able to catch and engage the rearguard of the Italian force. The Italians rifles, now anointed with bayonets to provide options when magazines ran low,  exacted a vicious toll. The undisciplined warriors of the Yao concentrated on small knots of Italian soldiers while the rest streamed away. The casualty count was decidedly in the Italian favor, but the far smaller Italian force could ill afford them.

Further back, the Colonel's orders reached the Regimental train, which reversed course back down the ridge towards another grassland, dominated by a rocky hillock. There, the mountain gun battery was rapidly screwed together and runners dispatched. Once assembled the stubby howitzers were wedged skyward and starshell was fired to alert other Regiments of the situation. 

This rocky knoll became the redoubt the Regiment assembled around, having lost over 15% of it's strength in the bush. The tide of Yao warriors, reorganized and flush victory, came pouring down the ridge and into the open, there. The Italians, good order restored under Colonel Garioni , held their fire and held their fire.  As the Yao warriors closed to 200m and broke into a charge, the Colonel still yelled to hold. Then, his saber swung down, and the four 75mm howitzers barked out their canister at the dark massed ranks. The machine gunners started cranking, and the heavy old twin barrel gardners spat their heavy 10.4mm rounds into the massed warriors, while the infantry commenced aimed fire. This stage, this was not a fight, it was a massacre. Ranks after ranks of charging warriors, equipped with spear and shield, were mowed down. Some staggered forward to reach the Italian lines singularly or in pairs, only to be cut down. The front ranks became a field of the dead and and the slowly dying , the movements of the wounded creating a macabre crawling effect. The Yao broke, and fled, across the open grass, but they were well within range. The rifles, machine guns and howitzers exacted a terrible toll on the fleeing foe. The "horns", untouched, lapped around the edges of the field, there they lingered until evening. The arrival of the next regiment in line convinced them they should depart.

** The last tab of my budgets includes my best demographic breakdown. Northern Mozambique in 1905 should have about 566,000 people, about 1/7th of it's 2006 population. Prorating the Yao population of 450,000 by that gets about 64,000 people. In reality, the demographic expansion was probably post WWII, and the 1905 pop might be just half of that. Figure 40% capable of fighting , but only half of those capable of being in one place, and soemthing like 12-13,000 warriors.

[Kaiser Kirk]

October 1905,

Supplies, particularly at the end of long supply lines, are always a problem. In the case of the Italian effort in Querimba, much of the funds expended were not for ammunition, as would be in the case in a European war, but for transportation and medical issues. Deaths or incapacipation from injury and disease were running nearly 4,000 troops, roughly 10% a year, less than a quarter of which were battlefield losses. It seemed the more troops in country, the more exposure there was, the greater the frontage with the native barbarians was, and so the casualty numbers kept climbing, even as the % remained the same*.

The further from the natural harbors of Nacala and Pemba they went, the greater the difficulties.  The river gunboats, with their ability to winch themselves- or tow barges, were critical in early stages until motorized lighters were more available.  The purchase of 100 steam traction engines from English workshops proved a considerable boon, as pairs dragging chains could clear paths through scrub, then till and grade the surface to create roads. With the roads built, they could be tasked to pull a small train of supply carts.  Draft animals were still heavily used, despite the ravages of tsetse fly- born sleeping sickness, which turned healthy animals into the next mess hall meal. The recent arrival of 20 Indian elephants and mahouts is viewed as having great potential to help matters.

These supply difficulties, the constant need for medical replacements and the problems of "clearing" large areas, would reduce the Italian advance to fits and starts. During the pauses, the Legions would work out of a base camp and ensure the locals had been evicted. The spring of 1905 saw the arrival of the lead elements of the II African Division, and late summer 1905 these troops started arriving on the front lines. The VI-VIII Legions, 18,000 men, brought the October strength to 60,000 soldiers and Marines, with the remaining 12,000 of the II African Division arriving during the Fall – the New Year will see 72,000 "in country". 

The 1st Division consolidates further North, while the 2nd Division assumes responsibilities for the southern front.

*Basically, I'm lazy, I'm using 5% per 6mo, as above and beyond whatever "Wartime mob" means. That works out to 9.75%/year.

[Kaiser Kirk]

Italian Ministry of War :
Plans for Coastal Defense and territorial protection moved forward with some standardized proposals.

For the province of Querimba, the Army is proposing to remove old Vittali rifles from mothballs and use them to train settlers. The 10.4mm rifles are robust, but outdated. It is felt they could be kept at home to give settlers a defense against marauding wildlife or barbarians. The heavier weapons could be kept at armories, allowing the Settlers to field a self defense force. Eventually, 2 Jungle Divisions could be fielded as reserve forces. The Legislature is favorably inclined.  The army is also advocating the construction of inland forts as depots and headquarters, but has failed to answer questions regarding the potential foe.

With the new ports, and the advent of torpedo boats, some thoughts have been placed on the best defenses for these far flung areas.  The Navy is advocating fixed, fortified batteries of  8 x 150L45 QF guns to cover the approaches as a minimum, though the navy would prefer the larger 180L45.  The Navy is also of the opinion that two new howitzer designs are needed, each to be at least 2mm smaller in bore than the closest naval rifle. This will prevent the more powerful round from being loaded into the thinner tubed howitzers. The first would be a medium 148mm piece, which could be shared with the Army and replace the antiquated 149mm, the second would be a larger 248mm piece. They would be mounted in a mixed battery, with four 148mm QF mounted in open turntables to provide all around defense. A pair of 248mm howitzers would be mounted in turrets to provide for ammo hoists, and provide a heavy punch at range. Each of these complexes would be supported by modern fortifications (1 citadel), or alternately, a short 2km fortified triangular perimeter in a Vauban design to be held by two regiments (10km is ½ div or 12,500men , so 2km would be 2,500men – providing both a defensive force and a potential counter offensive ability.).

The navy is estimating the cost of such a complex as :


8x150L45 Fortification : 8x 0.04 : $0.32 
or 8x 180L45 : 8 x 0.08 : $0.64
4x148L30 Open : 4x 0.02 : $0.08
2x 248L30 Turret : 2x 0.38 : $0.76
1895 Citadel : $2.667 
or 2km Fort line : $0.8


The navy is proposing that these be constructed over the course of several years while the howitzers are developed, work proceeds on the fortified batteries. Discussions in the legislature suggest some variant on this plan may be adopted for the new ports, but there is some pressure to apply them to older ports as well.

November 1905
The I Legion had been in-country the longest, they had been engaged since the beginning of the 'Clearances'. The past several months, having evicted the Makau from their hereditary grounds, they had been persuading the Nguni to pack up and leave the valley of the Ruvuma river.  The Nguni were proving reluctant, but  to the North and West, the tribal societies of Africa were embroiled in conflict as the Makau and Nguni refugees fled the Italian advance.

Not all fled, the Italians respected Christian, Jewish or Muslim settlements, considering them civilized as opposed to barbarian. There was also a significant contingent of warriors who stayed behind to raid the hated Italians. The effectiveness of the Makau warriors had grown with the weapons captured from the route of the 422nd Battalion to the south, and the inclusion of Nguni warriors with their trade rifles.

These pests had afflicted the I Legion, taking a steady toll of it's troopers. When the predominant victim were former convicts, this was not terribly alarming, but the barbarians had taken to targeting those with insignia, particularly brass insignia. This was terribly unpopular with the officers. They had also taken to capturing and torturing pickets, or those who chose to wander away from camp. Too many occurrences of finding colleagues messily dismembered and disrespected had left the I Legion seeking a target.

And oh, what a target there was. A village was situated on the slopes of a hillock, commanding the confluence between what others might call the Ruvuma river and the Lugenda. Led by the old Chief Nyeusi Akitesema, the village proudly flew the Flag of the Kingdom of Italy next to Livingston's cross. A select number of the legionaries, having been sentenced for poaching, swore that tracks indicated that warriors either hid in the village, or stopped there.

The death of popular Captain Guido Sarducky proved the tipping point. A humorist who cared about his men's welfare, he was quite popular.  Leading a small party to return to a nearby well and fill up canteens for some of his walking wounded, his party was cut off, tortured, put to death, and mutilated. Their remains filled the men with fury and some fear. The trackers were called for and the search for retribution followed.

The tracks led near, and presumptions were made, so the result was three columns descending on the village of Chief Akitesema. The elderly chief awoke in the middle of the night to loud "thwump" sounds followed by the screams and shouts of his villagers, and the crack of rifles. Seizing his spear, he stumbled out into a night lit by fires. The thorn barricades around the  village had holes blown in them by breaching charges of bundled howitzer rounds. The Italians poured into the village, seeking to surprise and "deal with" the Makau warriors they believed hiding there. Huts were broken into, but the surprised Nguni warriors grabbed their weapons and were gunned down. Women and children fled, but as the Italians had come from three directions, fleeing from one meant they ran headlong towards others. Italian soldiers, keyed for a fight and looking for blood, saw people running at them from the flame licked night, and gunned them down.  The Chief tried to rally his people around the flag of the Kingdom of Italy, a knot of resistance that was ...misinterpreted...and they were gunned down.

Several kilometers away, in the scrub on the top of a hillock, Makau warriors saw the flame of the village they had been at the day before, and heard the gunshots. Despite the risk, they decided to move at night, and make their path further upriver, to safer locations.

The morning found the village a bloody and charred ruin, the bodies of men, women and children scattered everywhere. A few women and girls, taken for ...entertainment...lived to see the morning. Unknown to the Italians, some had successfully fled into the night. The Italian officers, appalled by what the Morning light showed, and grimly hearing that none of the dead bore Makau tribal markings, assembled the regiment and lectured the men on the consequences, ordering none to speak of it. A pyre was made, and bodies piled on. The few survivors, well a batch of particularly hardened men were assigned to deal with that.

The official record would show the villagers were slaughtered by Makau, who the Italians then drove off.
The cover up would not be completely successful, the destroyed village would be noted, drunk soldiers would talk. The few escapees would run until safe, and then tell their stories. The truth would slowly trickle out, and be rejected by those that believed their civilized soldiers would never do such things...even if many had been recruited from prisons.

December 1905 saw the Italian Legions clear the headwaters of the Ruvuma river in the North, reach the shores of Lake Nyassa (Malawi) in the west, and control the northern bank of the Zambezi river from the lake down to Portuguese Mozambique.

[Walter]

Those dastardly brave Italians! ;D

[Kaiser Kirk]

Those dastardly brave Italians! ;D

Pretty much. They had intentions of doing this mass dislocation vaguely humanely, but it's becoming more messy and brutal as it goes on.
And this was my tip of the hat to Chief Black Kettle.