Corbett's Battle Of Adowa (continued)

15. The Quarrelling Eagles

WHEN MENELIK ascended the throne, he intended to be King of Kings, in fact, as well as in name.
The Emperor quickly noted that Ras Mangasha had succeeded in establishing himself as an entirely independent ruler in Tigre, at least in which the Italians didn't have occupying troops.
In reality, Tigre lay like a carcass between the two eagles, namely Menelik on the South, and the Italians on the North.
The influence of Count Antonelli and the ministers of Rome overruled the Italian generals, Baldiserra and his successor Orero, in believing that Menelik was under the Italian protectorate and Italy had an obligation to support him until the whole country was under the monarch's rule.
In January 1890, in the middle of the muddle caused by the Treaty of Wuchale and the gut-wrenching famine, Menelik headed northto obtain Mangasha's submission, while General Orero, under orders from Rome, headed south to support him.
Orero reached Adowa, then the capital of Tigre, while Menelik pentrated as far as Makale, the former capital of Ethiopia during John's reign. Then the eagles, as is usually the case, begin to quarrel over Tigre's carcass.
Menelik was supposedly miffed at Orero's rapid advance, and Rome ordered the general out of Adowa, leaving his ally, Ras Sebath, in charge. The Emperor was stalled in Makale. Then he moved on to Hausien.