Bang!
The shot reverberated through the field as a round punctured into the centre of the 100-metre target. Glancing over to his elf servant, the shooter handed the musket to him. The elf got to work, tearing open a cartridge to reload the musket.
“That’s why having servants is a necessity,” His father explained, as he caught the musket thrown by the elf. He opened fire again.
Bang!
A hole appeared in the 150-metre target.
“Damn it! I should work on my shots,” His father grumbled and tossed the musket to the elf, who threw a freshly loaded musket at him.
“Why not let the servants open fire on the enemy as well? You could get double the firepower,” Jan remarked.
His father tapped on his chin, studying the musket presented before him.
“I wouldn’t trust an elf with my life. Plus…” His father dropped his tone, lowering his musket before whispering, “I don’t know whether they will open fire on me.”
The elf blinked and seemed to not comprehend his father’s words, but the gaze in his eyes told him otherwise. It perhaps reinforced his father’s notion in his mind, but he decided to give the elf a chance.
“I’m curious about their abilities, so tell your servant to take a shot at the target.”
Vincent Boddewijk shrugged and barked in Dutch to the servant. Switching positions with the servant, the Veldkornet carefully watched his servant point the musket to the target.
The elf seemed nervous. Its limbs shook with every breath, but a certain kind of confidence settled in his eyes. Cocking the musket, he opened fire.
As smoke left the barrel, the shot pierced through the centre of the 50-metre target.
“Not bad,” His father remarked, before tossing the elf another musket. The elf tossed him the used musket, and he began reloading it.
Crack!
The shot pierced through the 100-metre target as well.
“I’ve seen enough. I suppose the old Khoikhoi servant here picked up some tricks while on our campaigns,” His father remarked, and the servant grinned watching their accurate shots.
“So? Don’t you think you need your servants? The Khoikhoi over here isn’t a slave. I hired him a long time ago in the Cape Colony. He has been with me till today. I don’t think I can go on another campaign without him.”
“Thank you, sir,” The Khoikhoi mumbled in broken English. His father smirked.
“Where can I get them?”
“Any elven tribes would do just fine. Most of them rear cattle. Cattle are their currency. Elves with a lot of cattle get to have many husbands or wives. They work for you for a couple of years or months, and they go back and become a wealthy man or woman. The nearest best option would either be the Zulu or AmaZulu.”
“What’s AmaZulu?”
“They’re Zulus who have integrated themselves into Xhosa culture. The elves intermingle a fair bit, and some of them are assimilated. The AmaZulu are one of them.”
Jan took some to think about it.
“There’s not all. Foraging, cleaning, cooking and all the other chores will be done by these elves. Any men who have not been in a proper wagon group would not complain. But experienced men will grumble that they must do all these chores. Marching speed with being slower, morale will be lower, and the result will not be pretty. Every Boer Commando must have servants along with wagons.”
“You’re exaggerating things.”
His father shook his head.
“Trust me on this, Jan. Name me how many times you led wagons. Can’t say? Well, it’s zero. I have led many more than zero. In the two digits if I dare boast! And I’ve seen many men fail during the Great Trek due to the lack of servants they bring along. Their travel speed slows to a crawl, and the elven tribes pick off their remains.”
“You must get some servants. Pretorius will sack you immediately if you don’t procure them.”
Jan looked at the other side of the fence. A woman stood up straight whilst escorted by two guards. She wore a headdress made of porcupine quills and red feathers. Beda of necklace surrounded her neck and draped around her chest. She nodded with an icy expression, acknowledging his presence. The two Boers by his side stiffened as the Zulus held onto their spears tightly. Firearms draped their backs.
The clash of European civilization and Elfrican Elven civilization was set. As both sides, silently glared at one another. Jan even had to concede that the elves were rather stylish in their getup with the numerous colours on their outfit. Whilst he and the Boers wore plain clothes suited for trekking in the hostile Elfrican environment.
In terms of presence, the Zulus won. Nokuthula’s lips curled up, savouring her victory. The silence continued, both sides looking at each other. Whoever spoke up first lost in this contest, and the Boers were already pushed back in the style department.
The Boers took a couple of steps back, wanting to get out of range of the Zulus spears. Nokuthula, finally satisfied with showmanship, decided to finally stroll into the town hall, where they can converse away from the prying eyes of the Boers glaring at the Zulu incursion.
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“So, we speak, after all the turmoil, Commando Jan. Brave to not bring any of the men with you into this room, do you not fear the spear entering your throat?” Nokuthula’s hands roamed over the spear behind her back.
Steeling his face, Jan retorted, “If you had any wish to harm me, you could have done so a long time ago. Still…”
Jan looked in the window and watched the two parts of the town go on their way. The Zulu side was prospering in its way without Boer's influence. Whilst the Boers conducted most of their trade with British merchants, procuring and selling goods to the Brits who provided the best deals.
“How’s the town coming along?”
Nokuthula shrugged.
“It’s fine. Although it was rather difficult to trade with foreign merchants, a few brave souls did come in. They make some, we make some. We have also accrued some English currency through these various trades. Once the trade opens up, we could give shillings for Boer goods.”
“Can’t do much about the embargo. Pretorius’ orders. Plus, my people aren’t too happy for now. A couple of months once things simmer down when they realized they need labourers to sow the seed and till the soil, they’ll open up trade with the Zulus once more.”
“So, is that your purpose for this meeting? To request Zulu labour in one of your projects? What is it this time? An upgrade in the roads between Pietermaritzburg and Port Mpande? Or construction of a fort right against the Zulu border?”
Jan bit his lip.
“How do you know all of these?”
“You hired a couple of elves to serve as your bureaucrats. Once your chief, Pretorius, came along, they resigned. With little obligation or loyalty to your cause, there was no reason for them to not divulge your plans to me. You could build as many forts as you want or point as many guns as you wish at us. But we will swarm you, and hunt every last one of you down,” Nokuthula smirked.
“No need to be so hostile. We got bigger fish to fry. I’ll get to the point. I need Zulu labour to serve as servants for an upcoming campaign.”
“Who will you attack this time? Xhosa? British? Or the Transvaal and Free State Regions? Whatever you say, I don’t care. I refuse. I will not allow my men to serve as your servants. I find the term ‘servants’ demeaning. No Zulu who knew what they will be referred to as constantly will ever work with you. And let's not talk about recent events. You’ll need to regain our trust if you wish to work with us once more. The Princess is magnanimous, and that is why the whole town is not burned down yet. She gives chances, and she is giving you a chance to make it up to her.”
Jan stayed silent.
“Is there anything else you want to discuss? If not, we can end the discussion here.”
Nokuthula stood up and left the room.
Jan was left alone in the room, watching the window. He decided to make contact with the AmaZulu instead.
A flashy entrance into Xhosa lands with a wagon would likely invite retaliatory fire. Jan did not wish to violate their prior agreements, so he asked around. A bureaucrat found some info from a corporal who lived by the AmaXhosa territory. They hired some AmaZulu labourers to work on their farms. They were hired to help harvest their crops and ferry them to the market.
The corporal was the one who negotiated the deal with an AmaZulu chief. Riding on horseback with a couple of bureaucrats into Xhosa territory. They had to take stop as a herd of cattle passed in front of them. As a cow mooed in his face, the Xhosa handler shepherded the cattle away.
They reached a small village. A large hut stood in the centre, and various other huts that were smaller surrounded it.
“You see the second largest hut? That’s the chief’s favourite husband’s hut. Last time one of my boys made the mistake of entering it. Had to apologize many times to the Xhosa Chief before she was willing to continue with our arrangements.”
The corporal pointed at the hut. And sure enough, a male elf was lounging by it. It was a rather dashing fellow with a muscular stature. A couple of cattle sat around the house. Sheep, cows, and even dogs could be seen around the village.
Elven men and women scampered about, going about to accomplish their daily tasks for the day.
Escorted to the biggest hut, Jan watched her favoured husband enter it as well. Inside, the chieftess watched the newcomers with a stony face. The favoured husband stood behind her, whispering into her pointy ears for quite some time before taking a seat on a nearby cushion.
The chief pointed at a couple of cushions, and the Boer party took their seats, whilst the rest left the hut, not wanting to overcrowd it with their presence. Necklaces of reed, weed and shell shook as the chief studied the Boers.
“How can I help you all?” She asked in poorly accented Dutch, but no one laughed, considering the number of elves surrounding their little group.
“The Commando over here…” The Corporal took the lead in the discussion of their previous working relationship, “Would like to hire some men to serve as servants in upcoming campaigns?”
An eyebrow raised; the elf took a cup handed over by their favoured husband. With a sip, she settled it back down. He scampered off, intending to refill the cup for his beloved.
“It depends. Will the forces be heading into Xhosa territory? I know a couple of men led by your Chief Andries Pretorius who eye our lands. Are you one of these men?”
The corporal hurriedly shook his head.
“Of course not. We have done business a couple of times. We have no interest in your lands. But we do serve under Andries Pretorius, but we are not those men.”
“Then where will the men be heading? I urge you to have loose lips. Because we will be trusting each other lives in such a campaign, right?”
“Most likely with another Elfrican tribe or two. We will be heading in the Transvaal, Free States region. We will not be conflicting with your peoples,” Jan explained, and the AmaZulu matriarch shifted her gaze upon him.
“Then let us discuss compensation. How will my men be compensated? Cattle? Or coin?”
“I can offer both. It depends on what your men want.”
“I can assure you most of them would pick cattle. But very well, I see no reason in stopping you hire men to join you in your frivolous campaigns. You are free to do so around here. But I will not be advertising on your behalf.”
And with that, she barked words to the men around here. They approached the Boers, pointing at the door. Understanding their intentions, the Boers quickly left her abode, not wanting to start a diplomatic crisis.
“So, what now? Go to every house and knock?” Jan asked and turned to face his corporal.
“I know some men, let me ask them,” The corporal headed to a hut and knocked on the door. An elf went out the door and greeted him. Making some small talk for a couple of minutes, the corporal came over with the elf.
“This is Luxolo. I hired him to work on my farm a couple of times. He’s a reliable guy.”
Luxolo grinned and pointed at the cattle grazing by his hut.
“I gave him a little bonus since he worked rather hard. It took some time for the elves to understand what I want them to do, but this one, this one learnt quickly.”
The Corporal whispered his intentions to the elf who nodded. The elf went to other huts making house calls. And slowly a small army of elves began building up as they invited friends or family to join them for another work assignment.
“I thought every Boer hated elves?” Jan remarked, and the Corporal snorted.
“There are many reasons to hate them. Loved ones dying during the trek. The constant raids on our cattle. But there are also many useful reasons to work with them. Trading for their various goods, as well as the cheap labour they provide. The elves number in the thousands, but us, we’re only in the hundreds.”
Luxolo spoke to the elves in his language, before pointing at the cattle grazing by his hut. The Corporal got to work organizing them into servants for wagons, negotiating with them their wages at the same time. He was assisted by Luxolo, who helped translate the Corporal’s words in the best way he could.
Very quickly, the Corporal organized them, before looking over to Jan.
“Alright, I made some agreements with the locals. We just need to come and pick them up once we’re mobilized. But we’re going to need those wagons to be ready.”
Jan shrugged, “We’re still in the midst of harvesting hardwood to construct the wagon framework, as well as gathering the fabric needed to serve as the wagon cover. Horses are hard to procure.”
“Forget about horses. Most of us who trekked over here relied on the good old ox. It’s cheap and can carry a heavier load compared to the horse. I heard your plans from the other men. You wish to customize your wagons, to also allow a mounted cannon to be placed at either the front or back.”
“Yes, it will serve as mobile artillery. I don’t know whether horses will be able to withstand the shock caused by it. They will also have to carry a large load since that section has to be reinforced with harder wood to prevent damage to the wagon.”
“That’s why you should use ox. Travelling speed will be lower but it is easier to care for an ox. We could even trade with the local Elfrican tribes to replace our ox. But horses? That is hard to come by from the locals.”
Jan nodded. “I will inform the men and tell them to procure ox instead of horses.”
“When will the wagons be constructed?”
“A couple of weeks. But the first wagon should be constructed by the end of the week. Consider it as a prototype. I will be inviting the various corporals to look at the wagon and test it out since they will be using such wagons in an actual battle.”
“Very well, send one of your men to look me up then. But until then, I will be heading back home.”
The Corporal got onto his horse and rode off. Jan got up on his horse and followed behind him.