Lukas stood at the helm of his capital ship, which just so happened to be a retrofitted Linde-Class Battleship. The British Navy, after years of planning, had now begun its invasion and annexation of West Africa. However, after arriving at the Ivory Coast, Lukas realized that his brothers had already beaten him to the area, and because of this, he was forced to travel further south in pursuit of land and resources.
Thus, after sailing for God knows how long, the First Fleet of the British Navy landed in the region that had been once known as Ghana in Berengar's past life. After sending the British soldiers ashore, who were dressed in uniforms like those worn during the end of the Great War, Lukas stepped foot on African soil for the first time in his life.
Naturally, he and his men had purchased an ample supply of malaria medicated from the Reich, and were thus mostly immune to the deadly diseases effects. At first the British Army did not come into contact with any of the Locals, who unbeknownst to Lukas were currently engaged in a war with their southern Neighbors who were continuously being pushed out of their lands, by those African tribes who were expelled beyond Germany's growing colonial borders.
Thus, after making camp on the shores, Lukas gazed through his binoculars further inland with a look of utter contempt on his handsome face. With a click of his tongue, he voiced his disdain to his General who had accompanied him on this journey.
"Tsk... It is exactly as father said... There are no cities, roads, bridges, or basic infrastructure to speak of. These people are truly savages, barely even human if you ask me...."
The General nodded his head in agreement with his monarch's words, before voicing his opinion on the matter.
"I wonder if perhaps these savages have even discovered steel. This is truly pathetic.... I suppose we have no choice but to follow the Germans' course of action. Forceful expulsion, if not outright extermination...."
Lukas placed his binoculars back in their pouch before inserting a magazine into his g27 rifle. Once the 8x57mm round was fully loaded in the chamber, he switched on the safety. It was only after he was ready for combat that the British Emperor voiced something which the General was not expecting.
"The Reich has an alliance with these savages somewhere in the East. He says that they are off limits. I have no doubt that the old lecher has managed to fuck one of these.... creatures and even sired a half-breed with her. So, do expel these beasts eastward when you begin burning their villages."
The General saluted his emperor before responding in the affirmative.
"Yes, your majesty!"
Hours passed as the British Army secured a foothold in Ghana, and it was not until the next morning that they had begun their march beyond the coastline in search of natives to slaughter. As they stalked through the woodlands of the West African nation, the British soldiers eventually came across a peculiar sight.
There was a village approximately one thousand meters out, and after viewing through his binoculars, Lukas could see that it was under assault by another tribe of Africans. Though what the difference was between the two tribes, he could not tell.
Not that it really mattered, as this land now belonged to Britannia. Thus, he gave the order for the heavy machine guns and mortars to move into position before ordering an attack on both sides of the ongoing tribal conflict.
"Kill them all!"
With this command given, the British Soldiers began to fire their storm of bullets towards the unsuspecting village, which was already burning from the southerners attack. The African Warriors from both tribes immediately halted their actions as the crackle of gunfire filled the air.
They had never heard such a loud and destructive noise before, and immediately looked to the skies in search of rainfall. But it was not water with hit their faces, but the blood of their kinsman, which spattered from the wounds of those hit by the copper jacketed lead projectiles which the British soldiers fired en masse.
While the heavy machine guns chugged in the distance, the British rifleman advanced further near the village, with their bayonets affixed. They then hid behind cover, whether that was a rock or trees, before shooting the contents of their magazines towards the African tribesmen.
It was not just the riflemen who advanced, but also the light machine gunners, who wielded their MG-27(t)s which were based on the Czech ZB-30 machine guns from Berengar's past life. Bursts of automatic fire were shot from the light machine guns, which accompanied the sustained fire coming from the heavy machine guns.
In doing so the British Army sent tens of thousands of bullets into the village. Even after bodies dropped to the ground, they continued to fire their shots at the corpses, whether for sport, or simply to confirm the target was dead.
It was only after five minutes of gunfire had passed that the whistles blowed, signalling the Army to cease their fire. Immediately afterward, the soldiers reloaded their weapons, ensuring that fresh magazines and belts were in their guns, before advancing through the village, clearing the small mud huts in search of any survivors which they might need to kill.
However, what few natives were not slain by the torrent of bullets were fragged by the mortars which fired indiscriminately into the village, claiming the lives of men, women, and children. In the end, there were no survivors.
Lukas gazed upon the carnage that his army had caused, and that he himself had participated in, and found that he did not feel a thing. Normally, the man would feel remorse and empathy if he had inflicted harm upon his own people, whether that was the Germans or the British. But after massacring an entire village of Africans, all he felt was disgust over the gore which he was forced to witness.
Despite the fires caused by the other invading tribe, the villages were not fully destroyed, at least not its structures. Thus Lukas gave a command to his soldiers.
"Dismantle every structure that still remains and toss the bodies into the sea. Soon enough, this land will be colonized by our people, and the last thing we need is a bunch of half standing mud huts in the way of the construction companies.
While you're at it, build a star fortress upon this land, whether it is made with stone or timber I really don't care, all we need is some sign of habitation for this region to be legally recognized as British soil by the other powers."
The British soldiers immediately accepted their orders, and began cutting down trees to use as timber, before making a crudely manufactured star fort which they then began to construct a road between this star fort, and coastal encampment which they had initially established upon landing in the region.
Lukas waited nearly two weeks for these tasks to be completed, rather impatiently. After all, his brothers had already made significant progress in Northern Africa, if he did not conquer his own lands soon, then Britain would be left behind the Iberian and Byzantine Empires, and as the eldest son of Berengar and Henrietta, Lukas was technically a bastard, even if the world thought he was a legitimate child through Adela.
Thus, he was quite competitive with his brothers, who had already built mighty empires of their own. Lukas had gotten a late start, due to being a few years younger than Alexandros and Ghazi, and because of this he was playing catch up. However, now that he had a foothold in Africa, he could claim that the British Empire now had its first colony, which would allow him to have an easier time invading and annexing more land within the massive continent.
After two weeks had passed, Lukas was on the march again, and he would not stop his conquest until all of Ghana, Togo, Burkina Faso, Niger, and Chad were effectively under British Rule. Unfortunately, the British conquest of Africa would have to stop there, because in a few years Hans would hold a conference among the European Empires, and divide the rest of the continent between them.
This would ultimately leave everything under Nigeria, and everything west of Tanzania, directly under German control. Whereas the native Africans would either perish in the flames of war, or flee into the Zulu Empire, which would be the last safe haven in Africa for its native peoples.
The rest of the continent would be settled by a variety of European and Arab colonists. Which would change the fate of Africa from being nothing more than an impoverished third world continent to a modern and thriving utopia for its foreign colonists.
I wanted to thank you all for supporting Tyranny of Steel up to this point. From here on out, until the very end of the novel, updates are going to be less frequent with one chapter a day. Instead, I would like to invite all of you to read my new novel Interstellar Age, at https://www.webnovel.com/book/interstellar-age_ 26235247006730205
Which will be receiving my primary attention from here on out. Thank you all for the support you have shown me, and I look forward to writing novels for you all for years to come!
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