Chapter Two - Tactical Withdrawal
Faced with a large force of well trained troops equipped with actual weapons the Sokot army took the only decison available to them in the circumstances.
They bravely decided to make a tactical withdrawal.
This cunning move worked surprisingly well, confusing the Portuguese army considerably, their forces marching past a bemused and very terrified Sokot army
It was almost as if the Portuguese troops expected the Sokot forces to do the honourable thing and meet in battle, instead of running for the hills.
Provinces were still falling in the east and Portugal's western African holdings were now fully under Sokot control.
Portugal was already attempting to secure peace with Sokoto, likely cowed by Sokoto's ability to decimate hugely outnumbered forces and look so fashionable in pink.
Sokoto though was determined to continue the war for now, hopeful that yet more provinces could perhaps be won. This a real possibility as Portugal's large army had inexplicably begun attempting to recapture Mocambique rather than crush the impudent Sokot brigades continuing to besiege her provinces mere miles away.
The perplexed Sokot commanders could only assume Portugal truly was afraid of Sokoto's forces.
Delighted that Sokoto's army had proven itself the equal of Portugal's, well at least the equal when the odds were stacked heavily in Sokoto's favour, the Sokot government recruited Sokoto's first general.
Unsurprisingly General al-Hajj clearly represented the ability of Sokoto's armed forces. Although surprisingly for an army now famed for its tactical withdrawals he was rather slow.
Having finally reclaimed Mocambique Portugal's army was at last on the move once again. And once again so too was Sokoto's, quickly fleein-uh, withdrawing as soon as the Portuguese force neared. Sadly after a few weeks of employing this hide and seek tactic some Sokot units were finally too slow.
Thankfully Portugal was kind enough to concede defeat just as she stood on the cusp of victory, Sokoto gladly accepting the peace deal.
Thus Sokoto won her first war, gaining her first coastal provinces and gaining her army considerable experience from this conflict, her armed forces learning to pack running shoes for use in future wars.
The war now ended Sokoto's unfortunate soldiers were quickly set against their deadliest foe once again, the attrition causing wilderness, as they were readied for their next engagement.
With the men now in position, a highly reluctant party of Sokot diplomats was sent forth.
War having been declared Sokoto's diplomats returned a few days later hidden in a dung cart, their only safe means of escape from the enraged Transvaal.
Sokoto's forces eagerly marched into Transvaal hoping for another easy walkover victory, or flee-desperately-over as the case proved, as with the war against Portugal. Unfortunately whilst Transvaal had a very small army it was led by a very talented general.
Thankfully Sokoto had an aweless, unqualified buffoon to stand against Cilliers and, rather more importantly, considerably more troops. Sokoto soon claiming victory after the Transvaal army became tired of slaughtering Sokoto's ill led forces.
Cilliers routing force was quickly harried to destruction despite al-Hajj's best efforts to constantly lose more men than the horribly outnumbered Transvaal army.
Mere months after having secured her first coastal provinces, and whilst war with Transvaal still 'raged' on, Sokot soldiers succumbing to numerous cramp related injuries whilst bravely besieging Transvaal's provinces, Sokoto constructed her first navy.
Admittedly said 'navy' consisted of nothing but poorly constructed transport ships which resembled little more than elaborate rafts, the hastily recruited and highly inexperienced Sokot shipbuilders as yet unsure of their work, but it was a start. A leaky, barely able to float deathtrap of a start, but a start nonetheless.
Sokoto had been at war with an entirely undefended smaller nation for many months now with victory nowhere in sight and the Sokot government were beginning to worry about this. Clearly the army was needing someone with fresh ideas to lead it to victory over the stubborn Transvaal.
Clearly too General al-Walid was not this man. Not only was al-Walid overly religious, his claims to have attended a war college baffled the rest of the military as Sokoto had nothing even slightly resembling a war college. It was not until later that it was uncovered al-Walid had in truth previously worked as a teacher. As Sokot classrooms regularly resembled battlefields, his claims to having attended war college were then happily accepted.
Finally, nearly a year after the last of Transvaal's armed forces were crushed, the war came to an end.
At last Transvaal's horribly oppressed people had been freed. Freed that is into the warm, welcoming embrace of ineptly tyrannical Sokot rule, which had of course been the reason for this conquest. Sokoto had merely wished to liberate Transvaal from the cruel rule of Transvaal, the needs of Transvaal's people at the forefront of her mind throughout this conflict.
The fact that Transvaal was home to a number of very lovely gold mines was but a small and entirely unregarded benefit from this noble liberation.
With the ending of the war peace was thus enjoyed once again by a considerably enlarged Sokoto. This period of peace would not last long however.