1840Indian rebirth

Rainy Day couldn't help but frown: "Why do I feel that this sentence sounds familiar?"

Mashao did not explain, but changed the topic: "Of course, if you have nothing to do, you can still use it to explore the nearby area. Maybe you can find gold mines or meteorite or something."

The North American Indians have been a stone tool society for a long time, but they are not completely devoid of metals. At least they still have some meteorite.

Like most ancient civilizations, Indians regard meteorite as a noble and even magical metal, no cheaper than gold.

…

The U.S.-Mexican War continues, the fighting in central and southern Mexico has become increasingly fierce, and the war in the northwest has basically ended.

To be precise, the frontal war has ended. As for the non-frontal war, it has intensified.

With the change of sovereignty, guerrilla warfare and security warfare spread like wildfire, especially the guerrillas led by Chavez, who shuttled around and grew stronger and stronger.

There are many mountains in northern Mexico, which is the best terrain for guerrilla warfare. Guerrilla tactics can be said to be at home here.

It is conceivable how much trouble Chavez's guerrillas will cause to the US military.

In addition to sporadic battles between Americans and Mexicans, Indians also appeared in various conflicts.

As the largest Indian settlement in western North America, Sleeping Bear City was inevitably affected.

Of course, Sleeping Bear City will not take the initiative to cause trouble, trouble will come looking for itself.

"Chief, there are some foreign Navajo people who want to see you." the soldier reported.

"What do you want from me?" Ma Shao asked casually while he was immersed in writing.

The soldier said: "They said they wanted to seek help from Sleeping Bear City."

Ma Shao thought for a moment and said, "Let them come in."

"yes."

After a while, led by soldiers, a Navajo young man in his twenties entered the chief's hall with a bitter look on his face.

"Honorable Son of the Sky, you must make the decision for us!" The Navajo kneeled on the ground and said in an exaggerated tone.

Ma Shao finished writing a line of words and then closed the manuscript. The cover of the manuscript read "Guns, Germs and Steel", which was exactly the book he had planned to write.

At present, this book has been written for less than half, and the progress is not fast, mainly because it is written in two languages, one version in Apache and one in English.

Ma Shao raised his head: "What's your name, and what difficulties did you encounter?"

As a close ethnic group to the Apaches, the Navajo people still need to help as much as they can, not to mention that they still need to absorb the population.

"I...my name is Big Mouth." The Navajo young man said, just like his name, his mouth is indeed a bit big, especially when he kneels down to complain.

Big Mouth continued: "The American army in Santa Fe City kidnapped our chief, the noble son of the sky, please save our chief."

"Why did the American army kidnap your chief?" Ma Shao asked first.

Dazui shook his head: "We don't know why, we didn't provoke them, we didn't even have contact with them."

Ma Shao thought for a moment: "Did the American army attack you?"

"Yes!" Big Mouth nodded repeatedly, "We definitely did not attack or contact any Americans, I swear to the Great Spirit! However, not long after those Americans occupied Santa Fe, they attacked us and kidnapped our chief and

Several tribesmen."

"Everyone knows that the Apache Sky Children are benevolent and powerful, so we come to ask for your help."

"Please!"

The horse whistle pondered for a moment: "You should know that the US military is a dangerous existence. Frankly speaking, this is beyond the capabilities of Sleeping Bear City."

Dazui was stunned: "You can't even do anything about it?"

"It's not a matter of method." Ma Shao said slowly.

"We are willing to give gifts!" Dazui immediately added.

Ma Shao shook his head: "It's not about gifts."

"What is that?"

Ma Shao looked at Big Mouth: "It's a risk. If it is to protect the citizens of our tribe, we are willing to take high risks, and we can even consider going to war with the Americans."

After a pause, he continued: "But unfortunately, you do not belong to the Apache Plains tribe, so we will never risk war with the Americans for this."

"This..." Da Zui was startled, "Then, can we join the Plains Tribe now?"

"Okay." Ma Shao said, "We welcome all indigenous people to join us. When they come, they will be Apaches."

Big Mouth immediately said: "Okay, we are willing to join the Plains Tribe."

Ma Shao nodded.

Although this was just what Da Zui said, it did not necessarily represent the opinions of the entire other clan. But for Ma Shao, this was enough.

"Tomorrow we will set off to Santa Fe City to make contact with the Americans," he said.

The next day, the horse guard took two hundred cavalry, Dazui and several other Navajo people and headed for Santa Fe.

The city of Santa Fe now belongs to the United States.

Not only Santa Fe, but also New Mexico, California and even the entire southwestern part of North America have been included in the territory of the United States.

Judging from the map, the current territory of the United States is almost the same as that of later generations.

The main difference is Alaska and Oregon. In the original history, it would not be long before these two large areas would be integrated into the United States.

Of course, although the United States has now obtained a large area of ​​Mexican territory, it has not yet obtained the Mexican people.

Chavez, Santa Fe's former militia chief, is still leading his guerrillas in frantic attacks on large and small U.S. military bases, forcing the U.S. military to continuously increase its troops.

It will take a few more years for the United States to gain access to the Mexican people.

And a few years later, in the 21st century, the United States no longer wants to get the Mexican people, but the Mexican people hope that the United States can get them.

In later generations, Ma Shao often heard this sentence: Mexicans hated the United States for annexing half of their land, and they hated the United States even more for not annexing the other half...

The horse whistle and his people arrived in Santa Fe, and soon met with the commander of the US military stationed here.

This officer can be considered an acquaintance—Alexander Donivan.

The horse whistle remembered Colonel Donivan. He personally sold the Browning pistol on this man's waist.

The two parties met outside the city, both on horseback.

"Colonel, long time no see." The horse whistle greeted politely.

"Hello, Chief Albert." Donivan said, "Do you want to come to Santa Fe?"

"No, I'm here to negotiate with you this time." Ma Shao said, "About Chief Gray Bird."

Donivan thought for a moment: "Gray Bird... this is the name of the Navajo chief, right?"

Ma Shao nodded: "Yes. As far as I know, you kidnapped him."

But Donivan shook his head: "Then you must have been deceived by the Navajo. We did not kidnap Gray Bird, we arrested him."

"Arrest?" Ma Shao frowned slightly.

"Yes." Donivan paused, "I used to be a lawyer, I can't mistake the two."

The horse whistle asked: "You said you arrested Gray Bird, what crime did he commit?"

"Kidnapping," Donivan said, "They committed the crime of kidnapping. They kidnapped twenty American citizens. As the U.S. military, of course we have the obligation to sanction them."

The horse whistle looked at the big mouth next to him and asked in Apache: "He said you kidnapped twenty Americans, is that true?"

"Nonsense!" Big Mouth firmly denied, "We definitely did not kidnap Americans, not even one!"

Ma Shao communicated with Donifan in English again: "My people said they did not kidnap Americans."

"Your tribe?" Donivan was obviously surprised. "Aren't they Navajo?"

"That was before, now they are members of the Apache Plains tribe." Ma Shao said.

Donifan nodded slowly, thoughtfully, and then said: "Well, they are your tribe now. I hope we can solve this problem."

Then he looked at Big Mouth: "I hope you can abide by the most basic honesty. You attacked a village two months ago and kidnapped twenty villagers. There are all witnesses and physical evidence. Do you need me to call the victims?

Do you only admit it to your family members?"

Ma Shao conveyed the message to Big Mouth.

Big Mouth immediately pointed at Donivan and yelled: "Shameless Americans, the people we arrested are obviously Mexicans, what does it have to do with you! You are just here to cause trouble!"

"..." Ma Shao was silent for a moment, not knowing how to translate it.

The big mouth is still yelling curses.

After a while, the horse whistle signaled him to stop, and then looked at Donivan: "He thinks they are arresting Mexicans, not Americans."

Donivan smiled: "Now New Mexico belongs to the United States, and of course the people living here are American citizens. They are Mexicans, but only in the past."

He pointed at the Navajo people waiting for Dazui: "Just like them, they used to be Navajo people, but now they are Apaches. You turned them into Apaches, I admit it, then I will turn them into Apaches."

You should admit that Mexicans have become Americans, right?"

Ma Shao was silent for a while: "Do those villagers think they are Americans?"

This time it was Donivan's turn to be silent for a moment, and then he shrugged: "At least the few people who came to me for help said they were Americans."

The air was quiet for a while.

Donivan said: "Let's do this. Let's release each other's hostages, and the matter will be wiped out. What do you think?"

It seems that this is the only way things can be handled.

The horse whistle convinced several Navajo people and then agreed: "Okay, we will release each other's hostages, you return the Apaches to us, and I will return the Americans to you."

The two chatted for a few more words.

Donivan said: "The southwest is in chaos right now, and the rebel guerrillas have already annoyed us. I don't want many more Indians to be involved in this chaos."

"In fact, my superiors want me to take the initiative to attack the Indians, but I have not done so yet." He paused and then continued, "If possible, I would prefer to use non-war means to quell the chaos."

"Chief Albert, I know that your tribe is a civilized tribe. So, you'd better restrain the Indians in the southwest. No matter what grudges they had with the Mexicans in the past, now, there are only Americans and rebellions here."

Americans, I will not allow them to infringe on the interests of Americans."

…

It's the season of coldness and withering again. Every winter, almost all living things will face a difficult time.

Unsurprisingly, before the official arrival of deep winter, several more Indian clans gathered to seek refuge in Sleeping Bear City.

Most of them are still closely related clans, and there is also one clan that is relatively distantly related.

"Where do you come from?" Ma Shao asked this clan.

"We're Chumash, from California."