The most dangerous mission of the Spanish Regulars against the holy man who organized a jihad in Melilla

by time news

Mohamed Amezianebetter known as the mizzian, has tiptoed through the history of Spain. And that this local leader, demon for some, divinity for others, was the enemy to beat during the call Kert campaign, also omitted from most of the books. For almost ten months, the former saint of Segangan bled the Spanish troops located in the eastern part of Melilla. The trickle of casualties only ended when the newly created Regular forces killed him in a cavalry charge on May 15, 1912, during an operation to conquer Kaddur. And ABC, as usual at the time, gave a good account of everything in the heart of its pages.

Spain was experiencing shady years at all levels at that time. Society was more than in turmoil because, despite the constant sending of troops to Morocco, day after day, defeats darkened the pages of the newspapers. Logical, but not desirable, since the troops lacked training that would allow them to act efficiently on a theater of operations far from old Europe. The ‘no’s’, in the end, were too many: the errors that had caused the debacle of the colonies a decade earlier had not been studied; The officers had not been trained to direct operations in a territory lacking water and there were no troops versed in combat against local Kabyles who bet on the guerrilla system. Bad business.

Mosque where the remains of the Santon Mizzian are kept, which promoted and directed the 1911 campaign against the Spanish

ABC

For all this extensive list of reasons, and many more, the June 30, 1911, were founded the Indigenous Regular Forces; native units loyal to the Crown led by Spanish officers. Ideal soldiers to fight on unknown terrain for the average peninsular and in which the relationship with the Kabyles was essential so as not to lose men by shovelfuls. Its priority objectives were “to provide weapons services together with the Army forces, as well as guides, interpreters, confidants and other special missions entrusted to it when necessary.” But not even his presence in the area prevented El Mizzian, an old acquaintance whom our army had already defeated, from taking up arms in the eastern part of Melilla after uniting several Kabyles under his command.

The Mizzian started its revolt around the Kert River with the attack, near Ishafen, on a Staff Commission dedicated to topographical work. He did it back in August and calling his men to jihad. And Spain, for its part, responded by giving the starting signal to the Kert Campaign; a series of operations that plunged North Africa into a sea of ​​blood and cartridges. Throughout the following nine months, the caudillo put our country’s ailing armed forces in check with tricks and harassment. It seemed that only one thing would end this: the beheading of the hydra.

dance with death

ABC announced the end of El Mizzian in its edition of May 16, 1912, barely a day after the Regulars ended his life and, incidentally, decapitated the revolt that had kept Spain in check throughout a series of endless weeks. He started the morning more than tense in Tauriat Hach, in the vicinity of Kaddur (back in Melilla, go). It began with a clean shot, to be more specific, by a Rif unit that harassed all Spaniards who waved their mustache in the vicinity of a local ravine. One more day at the office for red-and-white soldiers in North Africa.

But the Spanish forces were not weak in the area; rather they were up to their hocks in the conquest of Kaddur. So the commanding officer of one of the columns that acted with El Mizzian, General Navarro, gave orders to seize that position before it generated more problems. “At nine in the morning, the regular indigenous cavalry commanded by the Colonel Berenguer He received orders to charge the enemy, who, stationed in the upper part of the ravine, fired deadly fire at our forces,” explained the ABC correspondent. He entrusted it to the soldiers of the third squad, commanded by Captain Fernandez Perez.

After the death of the Mizzian. Truck Transporting To Segangan, from Melilla, the corpse of the head of the Rifeña insurrection

ABC

No sooner said than done. The soldiers advanced at a gallop ready to attack the Cabileños. But as they gained altitude, they came face to face with their enemy equivalents: a unit of horsemen prepared to meet them. And the show had only just begun. “At that moment a Moor, who of course caught their attention for his arrogance and well-dressed nature, advanced on horseback towards the indigenous forces, calling them brothers and urging them in the name of God to go over to the harca”, revealed the diary. It was The Mizzian, and his goal was to get the Regulars to switch sides. Something not unreasonable, since it had already happened on so many occasions in the past days.

This time he was not so lucky. In fact, what she achieved with his gesture was to call out to the Grim Reaper. «A Spanish corporal threw his rifle at his face and fired a shot that hit him in the chest. The rider fell to the ground and the horse galloped off, “said ABC. This is the most widespread version, although there is something to give and take. What is clear is that the soldier with the lucky shot was Gonzalo Zanca; the fastest of our authentic ‘far west’. Although, behind him, many others grabbed the rifle. “The soldiers who went with the corporal fired almost simultaneously at the group of Moors who accompanied the one who had just fallen and who, due to their way of dressing, also seemed to be leaders, with such success that another five fell dead,” this statement completed. diary.

end of everything

Losing their leader meant a stab in the belly for the cabileños. The result: a total rout that “left corpses and wounded abandoned on the field.” And, with the field free, all that remained was to recognize what was left of El Mizzian. «The corpse was lying in a supine position. He was wearing a blue bathrobe with a brown djellaba and two silk shirts », ABC reported. Hanging from his neck he also wore a seal with his name and a rosary. And, as more intimate belongings, a Koran and a handkerchief. Of course, he also carried weapons: a terceria—a smaller-than-usual rifle intended to be carried by horsemen—and a Browning pistol. Both, with respective cartridge belts loaded to the brim.

The Spanish forces moved token at lightning speed. Berenguer arranged for the corpse to be taken to the town of Ulad Ganen to be examined. «The interpreter, Mr. Marin, a relative of the Mizzian, who was a member of the Spanish ranks, and who is one of the most loyal friends of Spain, and some Moors from the nearby towns and from the indigenous Police, who knew him well in life, they carefully examined the corpse and affirmed without hesitation that, indeed, it was the famous marabout,” the newspaper stated. The shirt was also stripped from the corpse to see if it had a series of marks that the Riffian leader was known to have. The news was confirmed.

And from a lucky shot, at the end of the revolt. Already at that time, ABC reported that “we estimate that the death of the famous agitator will greatly influence the end of the war.” He was absolutely right. Although the harca’s superior chief, Kaid Amar of Metalza, seized power on the fly after the fall of his superior, infighting within the group led to the disintegration of the revolt and the end of the war. conflict. With everything revolving around El Mizzian’s leadership and prestige, his death dissolved the cohesion of the local tribes. Spain, for its part, preferred to bury the conflict, forget about any possibility of conquest and left the Kert River as a natural border.

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