EXCERPT

The war against the Musgum took place in the valley at the foot of the Mandara mountains where the Habe were supposed to be hiding. Their forefathers were driven there by the Fulani in the early 17th century, during the Jihad led by Modibbo Adama, a disciple of Usman Dan Fodio. They hid in the rocky terrain because the Fulani cavalry could not follow them into the crevices.

The Musgum, along with the Massa and Sumeya clans were the original inhabitants of the region but the Fulani were settlers-nomadic cattle herders who wandered into their territory. The original inhabitants accommodated them, gave them lands, and they thrived. Before long, the Fulani began to take advantage of them and started claiming the land as theirs. Inspired by the conquest in Sokoto, they acquired a newfound superiority complex over the natives, whom they referred to collectively as Habe due to their practice of idol worship, while referring to themselves as Fulbe. They were not satisfied with just co-existing together, they wanted to rule over them and make them their slaves. The Fulbe bred horses and were excellent blacksmiths. Because of that, they have some of the best weapons of that time. Over the centuries, backed by Sokoto, they fought the indigenes and took over their lands and property.

Those who embraced Islam were speared. Those who refused were killed or enslaved. Their women were forced to become concubines for the royal families. The lucky ones escaped and hid in the Mandara mountains. Their ancestors may have chosen to flee instead of fighting, but the new generation of the Musgum, Sumeya, and Massa were fearless. They were filled with resentment for the Fulani and wanted to take back what they believed was theirs. They had been strategizing and training for years for those same reasons. They came out in full force and faced the enemy with unflinching courage. The Musgum came to war with an army of one hundred and fifty men led by their chief. The army was stationed facing the East and behind them, were mountains which they intend to retreat to. Unlike the Fulani soldiers, the Musgum were foot soldiers, with only the Sarking Musgunawa and ten others on horses – the ones they stole when they attacked the traders, Hayah thought. They also had inferior weaponry when compared to the Fulani, but he also observed they were better prepared this time than in the previous battles. The Fulani on the other hand came out with an army of one thousand, three hundred and fifty men. A very clear advantage over them, but for some reason, the Musgunawa didn’t seem scared at all. Each Fulani soldier was armed with the finest sword and fortified battle regalia, most of which were bought from Arab traders. One thousand of the men were on horses while the remaining there hundred were on foot. They would be able to annihilate the Musgum army within minutes, or so they thought.

For some reason, the Musgunawa did not seem afraid at all. In fact, they seem to be passed by some strange courage. Hayah reviewed the situation from their chief to his men and couldn’t help but wonder if they had something up their sleeves or were simply suicidal maniacs. He had a gut feeling that something was amiss, but he dismissed it as mere paranoia on his part. He wasn’t in the mood to shed any blood today. In fact, since he met Fantah, he had been experiencing strange, funny changes on the inside. All he wanted was to be with her. Suddenly, he was tired of all those unending and pointless battles.

Wanting to move things along, he stepped forward, flanked by his four lieutenants – Adamu, Arabu, Umaru, and Bawuro, to have a final peace talk with the Sarking Musgunawa, as it was customary before battles then.

“If you surrender now, we will let you go back home alive and in peace,” Hayah Yelled.

“We will not surrender. We came here to fight and avenge our forefathers,” the Sarking Musgunawa yelled back.

“So be it!” Hayah yelled back and gave the signal for his men to attack. He wanted to get it over with as soon as possible and go home. In fact, based on the enemy’s fewer numbers, he surmised it would be over in a few minutes, and he would return to Maroua with a favorable battle report for the Lamdo by sundown. After that, he would leave early for Ndokula the next day to go and see his beloved Fantah. That thought filled him with so much joy that he almost forgot he was on the battleground.

Within minutes, the battleground was alive with the sound of swords clanking against each other. There were screams of courage and pain. Blood was everywhere. After about ten minutes of intense battle, the Musgum army turned around and fled. As usual, the Fulani cavalry gave chase.

They pursued them to the foot of the Mandara mountains, and then deep into the elevated and rocky unfavorable terrains. Just as they were about to retreat, there was a blood-curdling scream as another column of one hundred soldiers descended on them from the left and another from the right, led by Sarking Massawa, and started attacking them from both sides. The Fulani were disoriented for a few seconds due to the element of surprise of the ambush, but quickly, they regrouped and began to fight back. Their horses were having difficulties moving in formation due to the elevation of the area and the sharp jagged rocks. Because of that, the Fulani soldiers kept falling off their horses, leading to their eventual deaths, with most of their horses injured or killed by the sharp jagged rocks in the process.

In the meantime, the Musgum army suddenly turned around and started to attack them from the front with renewed vigor. So, this was the trick, Hayah thought. That was why they were not scared at all. They had studied the Fulani army and had anticipated their moves. They lured them to this impossible terrain to ambush them, and it paid off. He felt raging anger at himself for this temporary setback and for his inability to have foreseen this old war trick coming.

Hayah yelled orders to his men to fall back, but before they could, another column of one hundred and eighty soldiers led by the Sarking Sumeya emerged from behind the rocks and blocked them from behind. The Fulani were being hit from the front, the back, and on both sides. They were completely boxed in, and they had no choice but to fight to the death.

It had been the Sarking Musgunawa’s plan all along. And it worked. He reasoned that the Fulani’s victories were not only attributable to the superior weapons and numbers but also due to their strategy of divide and rule, which had been so successful because the indigenous tribes had been fighting them separately, and as a result, facing their inevitable destruction. Not only were the Fulani in possession of superior artillery, but they also had extensive training and were always battle-ready. They never laid down their arms. Therefore, they always won with minimal losses. He decided that if they were ever going to stand any chance against the Fulbe, they had to unite their forces. They also needed the surprise the element of surprise because no matter how hard they trained; they were still at a disadvantage. But with the surprise element, they might be able to confuse them just enough to deal them a blow so heavy that they wouldn’t dare come after them again. And that was exactly what happened, resulting in a very satisfying outcome indeed.

But he made an error of judgment when he overlooked something very important. For the Fulbe, it was not just a war of attribution, but a war of ideology and identity. Every one of those Fulani soldiers believed that they were fighting for a higher purpose and that there would be a reward if they died in the process. Either way, they never lose. That belief filled them with a lot of courage. So, instead of cowering and succumbing to defeat, Hayah yelled at his men to fight to the death, and they were filled with renewed vigor! His men followed suit. The war began to take a different coloration. The Fulbe charges at the Habe! The Habe shouted “Eeiihoo!” and charged back at them. Every time the Habe hit the Fulbe, they hit back harder. They fought back with the ferocity of a cornered animal. The sound of metal against metal was deafening and terrifying. Heads were flying, and men were falling like leaves. It was an orgy of blood and guts. The ash-grey color of the rocks turned red with the blood of the wounded and the dead. After about twenty minutes of pure gore, the Habe turned around and fled for real this time. They were flummoxed by the turn of events against them, and the Fulbe decided it was unwise to give chase, so they tended to their wounded.

The Musgum lost eighty-seven men that day, the Sumeya lost seventy-one, and the Massa lost one hundred and one. But the Fulani, even though victorious, lost over five hundred men. The element of surprise worked, and they suffered heavy losses. They may have won the battle, but it was a pyrrhic victory.

Hayah could not believe what had just happened. After ‘picking his bottom jaw off the floor’, he began to process the whole series of events in his head. They were tricked. The Habe outsmarted him. Despite his training and sharp instincts, they were still able to pull a fast one on him, and he lost almost half of his men in the process. His pride was greatly wounded, and he was royally pissed!

He looked across the battlefield and saw scores of dead and wounded men and horses and felt bile climbing up his throat. It was his fault, and he knew it. Not only was he distracted by his romantic thoughts, but also ignored the warnings his gut gave him. One of his strengths was his sharp instincts which never failed him, and he was angry at himself for ignoring it. Most importantly, he evaluated the enemy by their size, which was a wrong premise in war strategy, exclusive of other factors.

“We seriously underestimated them,” Hayah thought about the very important rule of war and promised never to make the same mistake ever again. He should have seen it coming. The Sarking Musgunawa was way too confident and eager for this confrontation to take place, which showed he was well prepared for it. If the trend continues, they will end up losing the war to the Habe entirely. He felt chills up his spine at that thought.

His men were also angry and were going around to check for any surviving Habe, and instead of taking them as hostages, they stabbed them to death out of anger. He was too upset to stop them. It was a horrible day and he contemplated on what to tell Lamdo Gerai. Hayah was particularly upset. Not only for the losses, but because war was an area of special interest for him, and he was good at it. Coming from Sokoto, the seat of Fulani power, the place where the most famous Jihad in African history started, where every noble male was trained all their lives on warfare for the protection of their land and religion, he arrived in Maroua at the time of war with the Musgum, Massa, and Sumeya Habe, and he was instrumental in their often routine defeat by the Fulani, which endeared him to the good graces of the Lamdo of Maroua as his favorite general. The constant string of victories he had won him favors, not just from the Lamdo but also the Love of the people. The people had heard for a long time of a great man, a savior who would come from the East to emancipate them from the Habe. For some time, he was able to fulfill that role, and they believed he was the one. But these Habe was threatening to take that away from him. He had made the grave mistake of underestimating them, but he won't repeat that again.

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