Chapter 20: Camp

After Mutapa's visit, the Manyika kingdom had experienced the same consequences as the other kingdoms. Since they had destroyed some of their homes, they abandoned these homes and decided to hide in caves.

The kingdom lost its contact with the outside world especially the Portuguese who traded in their kingdom. The outsiders were afraid of the wild animals and they cut off ties with the Manyika kingdom.

When Gora visited them, he delivered the same message he had delivered to the Karanga and Zezuru people. The Zezuru and Manyika people were exposed to insistent attacks which ended with some fleeing the kingdom.

The kings of these kingdoms were outraged by the demands of cattle and decided to join forces. They sent messengers to each other and decided to declare war against the Bantu people.

They agreed on a day to meet and when the day came, they all joined forces and camped near the Bantu kingdom just outside the mountain region.

Word spread into the Bantu kingdom that these kingdoms had camped near their boundary at night and were seeking to wage a war with them. Changamire Zama sent some spies into their camp.

Among these spies was a man named Muchenjeri. It was easier for them to fit into the camp because there were three kingdoms and they could pretend to be warriors from any of these groups.

But Muchenjeri chose to go closer and listen to the conversation of the kings who were planning the war. They were sitting around a fire with a few warriors guarding them.

"Karanga warriors will enter the kingdom from the east, Zezuru warriors go through the south and the Manyika warriors go through the west. It will be harder for them to escape through the northern side because the king's compound is located there. Plus, the northern side has no major path leading out of the kingdom," Mambo Tenda of the Karanga kingdom said.

"What if we call them to fight in this open field? Going into their territory might be a trap for us. The Bantu kingdom is encircled by mountains and they might try to keep us inside for a long time," Mambo Gwati of the Zezuru kingdom argued.

"We want to destroy their homes and burn everything like they did to ours. We kill every male in sight," Mambo Wasu said.

"What about Mutapa? They are working with him. I believe he already has his own army. By now they know that we are here," Mambo Gwati said.

"Archers are very effective against his animals. There should be archers from all sides. If he shows, they shoot and him and the animals," Mambo Tenda responded.

"We enter the Bantu kingdom at day break. Destroy everything. It's time to cripple the giant," Mambo Wasu said.

"I am sure they will try to stop us in the mountains but our numbers are too great. We will break through the mountains and fight them in the plain," Mambo Tenda said.

Muchenjeri had heard enough so he left alone and ran back to the kingdom. It was already midnight when he arrived in the king's compound. He found the king pacing around in his hut. The other spies had returned.

When the king saw him, he quickly said, "Did you find anything?"

Muchenjeri nodded and said, "Yes. They are going to attack at day break. They will come from all sides except the Northern side. Changamire, they are angry. Somehow Mutapa has convinced them that he works with us. They are planning to destroy everything we have."

"There is nothing we can do to convince them that he is not one of us. Let's prepare for war," Changamire Zama said.

The people began moving women and children out of the villages and hid them in caves located in the northern side of the kingdom. Some of the elders had proposed to have women and children moved out of the kingdom but the king was afraid that they would come across Mutapa.

Mhare who was still asleep was taken with the women to the caves. There was also an elderly man with him. Every other man in the kingdom was commanded to fight because of the fear that the warriors could fail to handle three armies on their own.

Before sunrise, the Bantu warriors went into the mountains and added a few more traps hoping to weaken the coming armies before they reached the villages.

Archers of the Bantu kingdom dressed their bodies with leaves and climbed into trees in the villages. Some of the archers hid in pockets made in the mountains. Only those who were to fight on the ground kept wearing their red cloth.

More ground traps with spikes inside were set. After they were done, everyone took their position and waited for the three armies to come. The king stood beside Muchenjeri and some of the bravest warriors of the kingdom.

"Changamire, you don't have to fight with us. We can protect you," Muchenjeri said.

"I am not going to hide whilst my people die in the battlefield. I am going to fight," the king responded.

Warriors of the three kingdoms began singing war songs and playing drums. Their singing was so loud that everyone could hear them. Those who hadn't fought in a battle began to fear when they heard the armies singing.

After a while, the singing stopped and the Bantu people knew that the armies were now in formation. All the warriors of the Bantu kingdom hid themselves in the villages whilst waiting for the armies to arrive.

The Karanga people reached the top of the eastern mountains first and stood there in quietness. The Zezuru approached the mountains from the South and stood there. The Manyika were the last group to reach the top of the mountains from the west.

They planned on descending into the Bantu kingdom all at once. The Bantu king watched as three armies stood by the mountains in silence. The three armies began to sing songs of war. It was a move to reduce the fighting spirit of the Bantu people.

They just sang for a little while and went silent again. Mambo Tenda of the Karanga kingdom raised a torch of fire for a moment. He threw it into the kingdom and all the the three armies began descending into the Bantu kingdom at once.

Traps began tripping and some of the warriors from all three armies met death before they could even fight. The traps killed various warriors but they were not enough. Bantu archers stationed in the mountains had been instructed to shoot when the armies had passed by their pockets.

As soon as the armies crossed the archers' pockets, the archers came out and began shooting the armies from behind. Others rolled stones towards the armies that were descending into the kingdom.

The three armies found themselves in danger because if one missed a trap, the archers or rolling stones would get them. A greater number of the three armies fell because of this but they kept pushing further into the kingdom.

The three armies reached the plain where the villages were located with great difficulty. In the plain, ground pits filled with spikes welcomed these armies. Warriors who were leading these armies fell into these traps first.

The others manuevred through the traps and came to the villages. As they approached the villages, archers from the trees began shooting at them. The combined army of these three kingdoms had been reduced into half but their number was still great compared to that of the Bantu army alone.

Some Bantu archers in the trees got their share of death when the warriors from the other side began climbing into those trees. The others set fire on the villages and continued to press into the interior of the villages.

Bantu warriors began coming out of the huts to fight. The crashing of iron spears, grunting and groaning of men from both sides, fire and falling of men dominated this occasion.

The war had grave consequences as the attackers wanted to exact revenge whilst the defenders wanted to keep their kingdom intact. Casualties were experienced on both sides and the war continued into midmorning.

By this time, warriors from all sides were now tired. The war had gone further than what the three kingdoms thought. The Bantu king looked around as bodies of his men lay on the ground. He was tired as well from the fighting but he never stopped. He kept fighting until a stray arrow hit him from the back into his shoulder.