Jungle exploration in the Battle of Lake Tanganyika

1965438+On June 5, 2005, the first stage of exploration began. Spicer and his men set out from Southampton, took two motorcycle gunboats that were disassembled into parts, and took a passenger ship on the Union Castle route to Cape Town.

While spicer's expedition was sailing in the Atlantic Ocean, a South African, John Lee, led 400 African laborers and began to open a road in the dense jungle at the southernmost tip of Congo. They set out from Elizabethville (now Lubumbashi), an important town in South Congo, and cut down a road for steam tractors in the inaccessible virgin forest. This is an extremely difficult job. When spicer and his party arrived in Cape Town in early July, only 20 kilometers of roads were opened. Spicer's expedition set out from Cape Town, carrying more than 100 boxes of materials, ammunition and motorboat parts, and went on by train. The South African Railway has already extended from Botswana to Northern Rhodesia and South Congo, so spicer and his party walked more than 2,000 kilometers in only 10 days. This is also the fastest and most convenient part of the expedition. 1965438+On July 9, 2005/kloc-0, they joined John Lee's African labor force in Fangolumi village, north of Elizabethville.

Spicer's men think their boss is arrogant and pretentious, but sometimes he is very likable. None of them can figure out his character. The day after the two teams met, spicer fired an important guide, John Lee, and decided to lead the team alone (it was later speculated that spicer probably thought John Lee's South African Dutch origin was unreliable and might work for the Germans while serving as a guide). Spicer's team has two steam tractors, which are used to tow trailers and carry motorboats that are broken down into parts. Other materials and ammunition are transported by local African workers. Before the procession set out, a man came to Van Gumi in the strangest way. Former Royal Rhodesian police captain Arthur Dudley rode his bike through the 200-kilometer jungle to report for duty. He will be responsible for organizing and leading African laborers and ensuring the logistics supply for the spicer expedition. At this time, Colonel Zimmer learned from the South African pro-German Dutch immigrants in Rhodesia that a British team was going to Congo to help the Belgians build ships. But he doesn't know when the team will arrive and which town to go to. He ordered his men to strengthen the reconnaissance work on the west bank of Lake Tanganyika and give them a fatal blow when the British arrived. 1965438+On August 8, 2005 18, the spicer expedition set out from Van Golomie and started the third stage of exploration. The whole team consists of 36 whites and more than 400 Africans. First, it is a tree cutter, then a steam roller and two steam tractors to pull dozens of tons of dry firewood for two motorboats and steam engines. Finally, the local black men and women are responsible for carrying water, ammunition, food and medicine. The whole team is 3 kilometers long from beginning to end. On the first day of the team's departure, they met the test when crossing the first river. Wayne Wright, the chief engineer, ordered the felling of trees and the construction of temporary bridges. The bridge was built at half past two in the afternoon, and by three o'clock sharp, the whole expedition had crossed the river. But there are more than 140 rivers and canyons ahead, and there are more than 2000 meters high Mitomba mountains.

As the expedition progressed, spicer became more and more arrogant. He bragged to everyone all day about his story of hunting lions in Gambia colony in West Africa, although no one had heard of lions in Gambia. But he didn't have the cocky attitude of British officials towards colored people at that time, so despite his eccentric personality, he was deeply loved by African workers. Spicer is sometimes ironic, and sometimes people have to respect him. This peculiar and unique temperament is probably necessary for adventurers.

The English biscuits and cans brought by the expedition soon ran out, and they began to hunt for a living. There are antelopes, deer and guinea fowl in the surrounding forest. Fresh water is taken from rivers that can be seen everywhere. It is filtered, boiled and filtered more than twice. Drinking water accounts for only a small part of it, and most of the fresh water is used to supply three huge steam engines. They also consume a lot of firewood. Spicer's men are very afraid of the legendary African man-eating crocodiles and lions, but the biggest danger comes from the surrounding insects. The foreman of the expedition was bitten by a bug on the shoulder and soon festered and maggots were born. Spicer picked out the maggots in the wound and gave his men a pest education lesson.

Spicer divides the 150 mile forest road into three sections, and sets up a supply station every 50 miles or so to store ammunition, medicines and other materials. In the dense virgin forest, the expedition advances about 6 kilometers every day, the fastest is 24 kilometers a day, and only 1.5 kilometers in a few days. Spicer was in a hurry. In a few weeks, the rainy season in Africa will come. If the transportation work can't be completed by then, the battle will be over before it starts. In Mawanda village in south-central Congo, Spicer requisitioned 42 cows and ox carts from local residents to help haul heavy motorboats and materials. He left an iou to the villagers to prove that these materials were requisitioned by His Majesty the King of Belgium, and asked them to claim compensation from local Belgian officials.

1965438+On September 8, 2005, spicer's expedition team reached the highest point of the Mitomba Mountains, and then descended smoothly. They entered the arid area, and the wheels of ox carts, steam tractors and trailers kept falling into termite holes under the hard ground, so they had to fill the holes with branches, and then everyone Qi Xin worked together to push the cars out. The biggest threat in arid areas is flies, which can spread deadly sleeping sickness. Many local villages are in a state of depression. Due to the lack of water, the daily drinking water of each expedition is reduced to half a pint (about 300 grams), and the steam tractor is also facing the dilemma of not working. Spicer told the African women in the expedition that whoever wanted to get water from a water source more than ten kilometers away would get a piece of cloth as a reward. Hundreds of women readily obeyed. The problem of water was solved in this way. 1 91510/October1day, the expedition arrived at the Lualaba River and started the fourth stage. Two motorboats were reassembled here, pushed into the water and floated down the river. However, the Lualaba River is a shallow river. Although the draft of spicer's motorboat is only a few feet, it has been stranded continuously, and it has been stranded 14 times on the voyage of 5438+02 12 mile in June.

After more than 20 days of trekking with an average of 65,438+00 miles per day, the spicer expedition arrived in Carballo, an inland river port, on June 5438+001October 22. There is a railway of more than 200 kilometers from there to Kalemie on Lake Tanganyika. In Carballo Railway Repair Shop, two motorboats were disassembled and repackaged, and transported by train to Kalemie, where they were reassembled and launched. 19151kloc-0/October 28th, after more than four months,14000km, spicer and his two motorboats finally arrived at Lake Tanganyika.

Colonel Zimmer has learned of the arrival of the British, but he doesn't know what goods they are carrying. The key to the success of the British army lies in destroying their three gunboats one by one when the Germans were unprepared. If the Germans knew that Britain had sent two speedboats, they might send three gunboats to annihilate them with an overwhelming advantage. German reconnaissance troops landed on the west bank of Lake Tanganyika many times, tore down the telegraph line and blew up the telegraph station, but the legendary British army never found it.

Port Kalemie is the west gate of Belgian Congo. 19 14 years, the Belgians built four forts there and stationed 300 people. There are shipyards, railway repair shops, telegraph stations, hospitals, barracks and other buildings. The Belgians provided a simple residence for spicer's expedition. Spicer took one of the largest shacks as his headquarters, and raised the flag of the Royal Navy at the flagpole in front of the door.

At the request of spicer, the Belgians also built a breakwater for Kalemie Port. They blew up hundreds of tons of stones and poured them into Lake Tanganyika. Rails were laid on the breakwater, leading from the houseboat to the water. Two motorboats in spicer are parked on the railway flatbed. In an emergency, they can be pushed into the water along the slope of the breakwater in a few minutes. Now that everything is ready, spicer is ready to go to war with the Germans.

According to the intelligence of the Belgian garrison, the Germans have three armed gunboats on Lake Tanganyika. The smallest gunboat is the Kingani, which was built in 1894 by the Babenburg Shipyard near Hamburg, with a displacement of 20 tons. Equipped with 76 mm rapid-fire gun and 37 mm machine gun. Secondly, the Hedewig weismann gunboat built in Hamburg in 1890 has a displacement of 100 tons and is equipped with two 76mm rapid-fire guns, which can transport 200 troops. The tonnage of either of these two ships exceeds that of two small motorboats in spicer combined. But compared with the armed gunboat earl GeZeng, still dwarfed. The Count Gozen, with a displacement of 800 tons, was named after the former German governor of East Africa. 19 13 started construction in babenburg, and 19 14 was transported to Africa, transported by railway to Kigoma port on Lake Tanganyika for reassembly, and launched on June 9, 2005. It was originally a cargo ship when it was built, but after it was transported to East Africa, World War I broke out, so it was requisitioned by the German colonial army, and an 88 mm gun and two 37 mm guns were installed as armed gunboats, which could carry up to 500 soldiers. After research, spicer decided to attack the weakest Kingani first.

1915121day, Colonel Zimmer sent the Kingani to land on the west bank of Lake Tanganyika to spy on the defense situation of Kalemie Port. Late the next night, Captain Walter Rosenthal jumped into the lake from the Kingani, braved the wind and waves and crocodiles, swam into the port of Kalemie, climbed ashore and hid in the trees by the lake. Due to the stormy weather that night, the Kinyani left Rosenthal and returned alone. After dawn, Rosenthal was captured by the African patrol in the Belgian Congo. Zimmer still knows nothing about the arrival of the British speedboat. Spicer had no chance to attack the Kinganis. From mid-February of 12, a rainstorm lasted for more than 10 days, and both sides stopped reconnaissance and war preparation.

12 On February 23rd, spicer began to launch a counterattack. He ordered two motorboats to be put into the water and began to search for German ships on the lake. 12 On February 26th, Colonel Zimmer dispatched the Kingani to the port of Kalemie for a bold reconnaissance activity. It was sunny that morning, and the black smoke of German ships more than ten kilometers away was clearly visible. At this time, the British people are gathering in front of the big hut in spicer to hold a morning prayer ceremony. Black people around saw the black smoke from German ships and ran around in panic. Spicer calmly read the prayer, and then ordered all the combatants to board the ship and set out. Spicer personally commanded Mimi, and Captain Dudley on a bicycle commanded Toto. Instead of wearing tropical shorts like everyone else, spicer wore a short khaki skirt, which looked like a tropical replica of the Scottish Highland Chief who ambushed the Roman Empire.

The Kingani approached the stone breakwater of Kalemie Port from the northeast. The Germans on board obviously knew nothing about the British speedboat hidden behind the breakwater. At noon 1 1: 25, pass about one kilometer outside Kalemie Port, then turn left and return to Kigoma. At this time, two motorboats rushed out from behind the breakwater like hounds and foxes.

Engagement is short and quick. The British are behind Kingani, so the 76 mm gun in the bow is useless at all. The Englishman's 3-pound rapid-fire gun is well aimed. Mimi and Toto hit the hull of the Kingani several times with beautiful lenses, and its bottom was also hit by shells. German sailors on board jumped into the lake to escape. Spicer ordered Mimi to sail forward and jump into the boat. Only three black sailors left on the Kingani surrendered to the British obediently. Spicer fished out 1 1 diving crew and soldiers from the water and successfully towed the Jingani home. In Kalemie Port, spicer held a military funeral for seven dead German marines. No one was killed or injured in the battle in England.

Belgian and British engineers overhauled the Kingani. They found that 1 1 holes were penetrated under the hull and the waterline. These loopholes were quickly fixed. Spicer replaced the 76 mm Krupp gun on the Kingani with the British 12 lb (76 mm) gun, and then named it Feifei. Although the name sounds like a French poodle, spicer proudly included it in his small fleet. After this war, spicer became more and more arrogant. Every week, he held a grand bathing ceremony in front of the local aborigines, slowly took off his waist cloth, showed the audience his dazzling tattoo patterns (from spiders and mice to women and skeletons), and smoked cigars and absinthe while taking a bath. Spicer's men thought he was crazy, while the natives called him "the king of waist cloth".

Colonel Zimmer knows nothing about what happened to the Kingani, but he is puzzled by the lack of news about this reconnaissance activity. It was not until more than a month later that he got the information that Kingani had been sunk (actually captured) from the intercepted Bijun telegram. But he didn't know whether the Belgians or the British did it, and he didn't know what boats they had. 1965438+On February 8th, 2006, Zimmer decided to personally lead Count Gozen and weismann to the port of Kalemie for reconnaissance. On the morning of February 9th, the wiesmann, which went south first, arrived at a lake bank in the south of Kalemie, where it met with spies lurking in the local area and learned that the Royal Navy had entered Lake Tanganyika. Weismann turned around and returned to the north, ready to go to Cape Kangguwei in German East Africa, meet the slow Count Gozen, and then destroy the dock facilities in Kalemie Port with naval guns.

At noon on February 9, the battle of Lake Tanganyika was imminent. It was wet, hot and foggy at that time. Under the refraction of high temperature and air, the originally invisible German ship is like a mirage. British soldiers boarded the ship quickly. This time, spicer commanded the new flagship to fly, and Dudley commanded Mimi, who was faster and more mobile. They searched south and soon saw a dark mass-wiesmann, which returned to the north at a speed of 10 knots. Spicer immediately ordered Feifei to meet them. The medical staff, engineers and local civilians in the expedition stood on the cliff to watch the battle. 10: 30, Feifei fired first, and weismann fought back bravely and turned around and fled to the east bank of the lake. Because the two sides were far apart, the British army failed to hit the escaped German ship for more than an hour, but Mimi went around to the front and blocked its way, forcing it to turn around and fight. The battle of Lake Tanganyika lasted 90 minutes. Finally, under the cover of Mimi, Feifei gave a fatal blow to Wieseman's engine room. In just a few minutes, it turned into a sea of fire and finally capsized and sank. Spicer sent someone to swim to the side of the sunken ship and fished out the Black Hawk Cross Flag of the German Navy of the wiesmann. This is the first enemy flag captured by the British in the First World War. In the battle, the Germans killed 7 people and captured 2 1 person. Once again, the British army suffered no casualties. Today, only Germany is left on Lake Tanganyika.

Spicer took his tattoo as an amulet and stood at the bow of the boat in this battle, refusing to find a place to hide bullets. The Baholololo people living in Kalemie think that spicer is an invincible warrior, and his magic makes him among the gods. Soon, Lake Tanganyika was covered with his clay sculptures and wooden statues, as well as various military caps, uniforms, beards and tattoos-His Excellency Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey spicer Simpson of the Royal Navy has become the "Great Vanayikuba God".

While spicer was enjoying the worship of the aborigines to his god and emperor, the Royal Navy told him through the telegraph relay station in Cape Town that his mission in the East African Lake District was over. The allies will use a new weapon to destroy four British seaplanes Gozen that have just arrived in Congo.

19 16 In June, these Belgian seaplanes took off from Kalemie and bombed Kigoma. Zimmer is ready to give up his proud flagship. He ordered all the machines and weapons on the Count Gozen to be dismantled, and then dragged to the estuary near Kigoma to sink, so as not to fall into the hands of the enemy and become a symbol of the other side's victory. The hull of Count Gozen soon sank into the muddy mouth of the Malagara River, and only the chimney was still exposed on the water.