Chapter 637: The War for Tomatoes Begins
While Berengar led his forces in a campaign against the Aztec Empire, his former Grand Admiral was now the Colonial Governor of the German Colony of New Swabia, in the land that was once known as Venezuela in Berengar"s past life. Unlike the German Military Stronghold which was placed on the coast of Mexico, this was a full-fledged colony that had been operating for some time.
Until now, the fatherland had sunken substantial cost into the colony, with little in terms of material gain aside from potatoes. The expenditure reports were giving Emmerich a headache, who now wondered if this colony was a failure. After all, not a day went by without some kind of skirmish with the natives.
By now, the Germans had trained several captives to become translators, and despite their best attempts to communicate with the natives, the locals continued to show their hostility. The reason was simple: the Germans had brought with them diseases from the old world that the people of this land were unaccustomed to. In the time since their arrival, a pestilence had spread across the native tribes, ravaging their populations.
Thus, the natives despised the Germans, believing them to be the bringers of the apocalypse, and had destined themselves to fight until the last man standing against their foreign invaders. Thus, no peaceful resolution could be negotiated. With this in mind, Emmerich had enacted a shoot on site policy to eliminate any native they came across in order to thin their numbers and reduce the ambushes that the German soldiers continued to suffer.
With this policy in place, scouting parties could march deeper into the Andes and discover many new products. Among these discoveries was the tomato plant. Which Emmerich was currently staring at on his desk.
"You"re saying they"re completely edible and in abundance within the region?"
When the scout heard this, he quickly nodded his head in excitement. Before answering the Colonial Governor.
"We still don"t know if they will grow in the fatherland"s climate, but at the very least, we can grow them here. I can only imagine the many complex dishes that can be made with these. I"ve heard rumors that the Emperor loves food, and I bet he would find some good use for these vegetables."
Emmerich nodded his head in response to this. He was well aware of Berengar"s habits of overindulging with his favorite dishes. Sometimes he swore the man was sailing around the world solely so he can experience the taste of the world"s best food. He did not doubt that one day the man would sail to Asia just to experience its cuisine.
If these things actually tasted good, then surely Berengar would be interested in them. However, they already had a hard enough time explaining where potatoes and tobacco came from. To add another foreign product to the diet of the Germans would surely arouse suspicions by their people and those who visited their markets.
Ultimately, only the Kaiser could decide whether these plants made their way to the fatherland. It was simply out of Emmerich"s control. However, what he could decide on was whether his people grew these strange vegetables within the colony. Thus, Emmerich took a bite from the fresh tomato, willing to sample its taste. After a few moments, he nodded his head before approving of their cultivation.
"Gather as many of these as you can and grow them in the colony. I will alert this matter to the Kaiser when I am next able. As for the meantime, we will begin producing them ourselves. After all, the more food we can grow here, the better we can sustain ourselves."
The scout had a wide smile on his face as he nodded his head. He quickly departed from the Villa and relayed the orders to his troops. The war for tomatoes had just begun. After all, the indigenous people of the Andes were not just going to let them pick the tomatoes without a fight.
Days had pa.s.sed since Emmerich had given the order, and rain fell down upon the German soldiers who had marched deep into the Andes in search of tomatoes. These soldiers were on high alert, as the natives had a tendency to ambush them at any moment, hiding behind rocks, cliffs, and the thick foliage waiting for their prey to enter the range of their attacks.
The scout in charge of the German troops knew the villages in this area were cultivating tomatoes, and it was because of this that he had planned to raid them. Since there was no peaceful contact between the Germans and natives, it was just better to take what they desired and leave a pile of corpses in their wake.
As the Germans crossed the mountains, they soon found themselves in a range of the nearest village. The captain of the scouting company gazed into the distance through his binoculars and confirmed his target. After seeing that tomatoes were in abundance within this village, he quickly relayed his orders to the soldiers beneath his command.
"Alright, set up the mortars on the hill. The rest of you fix your bayonets and prepare for battle! Make sure not to damage the crops!"
The soldiers beneath the Captain"s command nodded their heads as they did what they were instructed. Each platoon had its own mortar team where they set up their weapon on the hill above. They quickly launched their projectiles at the unsuspecting village, setting its huts ablaze.
Before the villagers could even react, explosions were set off at the residential areas, tearing their houses apart, and spreading fire across the village. The people began to panic as they quickly rushed from their homes, and in doing so ran right into the iron sights of the German soldiers, who ruthlessly fired their rifles at the native civilians.
It was almost impossible to tell the warriors from the civilians apart in these villages, as they were often one and the same. It was because of this the Colonial Governor had ordered for their attacks to be ruthless, eliminating all the men and boys, while capturing the women and girls.
As the bullets. .h.i.t their mark, bodies were blasted apart and fell into a pool of their own blood. Those who could muster their courage charged at the german lines, however it was no use. The length of the rifles in the German hands, combined with the size of their bayonets, allowed for an easy slaughter, as the German soldiers cut down those foolish enough to fight them.
Before long, they ma.s.sacred the village, with a few women and children being rallied in the center. The soldiers bound them up as prisoners as they had orders to bring them back to the colony. Aside from killing the men and boys of a raided village; another command was given, which was the capture of women and young girls who survived the battlefield. Their purpose? To be used as colonial concubines when they came of age, so that the Colony could raise its numbers.
Unlike the Northern Colony of New Vienna, New Swabia had a desperate shortage of manpower. They simply did not have the labor to build and sustain the mines. Since slavery had been outlawed by decree of the Kaiser, Emmerich had to get creative in how he operated his colony. Though it might take a generation, they would have plenty of young men to work for the greater good of the colony in a few decades.
Of course, Berengar was completely unaware of this practice, as he was currently fighting a war in Mexico. However, it was only a matter of time before the crown found out about this. In the meantime, the soldiers ran across the village and captured as many tomatoes as they could, forcing the women to carry them in wicker baskets down the mountains and to the colony as they reaped the spoils of their slaughter.
The leader of the scouts gazed one last time on the destruction wrought upon the native population and merely sighed before shaking his head. If the native people had just cooperated like they had in New Vienna, perhaps they would have been spared such a cruel fate. Unfortunately, colonialism was a brutal endeavor, and the mistreatment of the native populace was often the cost of the wealth that came with it. After all, not every governor would be as diplomatic and tolerant as Arnulf was.
The scout could only sigh in defeat. Ultimately, at the end of the day, the natives could only blame themselves for not being powerful enough to stop the foreign invaders. There were a finite amount of resources on this planet, and sooner or later, each culture would fight for control over them. Such was the way of life. This was a destiny that mankind could only escape when they ascended to the stars above.
Having gazed upon the senseless slaughter, the scout returned his attention to the long march home. They had gotten what they came for. Now they could only hope that the Colony of New Swabia would grow and prosper under the reign of its new Colonial Governor.