Chapter 80: War Faction

Fang Lian became more and more angry, his face flushed and he said, "Shulang, you Apache running dog! Chief, we should immediately form a coalition and attack Mianxiong!"

Vertical Wolf was much calmer and almost ignored him: "Chief Owl, I hope you can respect the Plains Tribe and let me bring back the traitor Square Face."

"You--" Square-faced man tried to take action but was stopped by Owl.

Owl stood up and looked at Shulang. "Go back and tell Ma Shao that Fang Lian is a Comanche. I won't let you take him away."

Then he took a deep breath and raised his voice: "The Twin Wolf Clan also belongs to the Comanche. If Ma Shao is unwilling to hand over the Twin Wolf Clan, I will, I will consider summoning the Comanche coalition forces and make you pay the price!"

Shulang didn't say much and just turned and left.

After the wolf left the tent, Fang Lian gritted his teeth and said, "Chief, we can't let this traitor leave. We should catch him and cut off his scalp!"

"No matter what, he is now a messenger." Owl shook his head, "Killing a messenger is against the rules."

"Then we should also form a coalition as soon as possible." Square Face pointed in the direction where the vertical wolf left. "It's only been half a year, and some people from the Twin Wolf Clan have completely betrayed the Comanche. If we delay any further, it won't be long before all of them will become Apaches!"

Owl felt a little headache and sighed: "I know... let me think about it."

For a period of time afterwards, he was always in a dilemma.

Fang Lian had been urging him to attack Mian Xiong, and he had indeed threatened Shu Lang. But when it came to actually taking action, he still didn't dare.

For many days, the owl spent his time in hesitation and could hardly sleep at night.

Sometimes he was excited and wanted to follow Fang Lian's advice, and sometimes he was timid and worried about failing the war.

Until this day, an unexpected guest came to the forest tribe.

"Chief Broken Bow!" The owl looked at the visiting guest, a great chief of the Arapaho people, in surprise.

"Haha, long time no see, Owl." Chief Broken Bow looked to be in his thirties or forties, with a burly build, especially strong arms. He greeted warmly.

The owl reacted and immediately smiled warmly: "Welcome, Broken Bow."

The forest tribe held a welcoming ceremony for Chief Broken Bow. Around the campfire, the air was filled with the smell of strong liquor and barbecue.

The two chiefs sat together, holding wine skins, and drank strong liquor together.

"Owl, we are old friends." Broken Bow put down the wine bag, "I came here this time hoping to form a coalition with you to counterattack the Apaches."

Owl couldn't help but feel pleasantly surprised by the news.

He was hesitating whether to attack Sleeping Bear, but he didn't expect that reinforcements from the Arapaho people arrived at this time.

Of course, this was not too surprising. As a warlike people, the Arapaho were almost always associated with war. When he saw the broken bow, he had expected it.

Owl did not immediately state his thoughts, but asked first: "As far as I know, you have already made a truce with the Apaches, haven't you?"

"Hmph." Broken Bow snorted, as if he remembered something unpleasant. "It was those cowards of Crow who wanted to stop the war. I didn't agree. I have always been a staunch advocate of war!"

The owl said nothing.

Broken Bow continued to talk to himself: "They also said something about the Sons of the Sky, and that all the indigenous people should put aside their hatred and unite... I think they are just cowards, and they are afraid of death!"

Owl thought for a moment, "How many Arapaho tribes are planning to counterattack the Apache?"

"Ahem... two." Broken Bow was obviously a little embarrassed, and quickly changed the subject, "But I have also contacted two Cheyenne tribes. Together with your forest tribe, it will be no problem to organize a coalition of one thousand people, or even one thousand and fifteen hundred people. How is it?"

Owl did not agree, but took another sip of wine, as if considering: "If we form a coalition, are we going to take on the entire Apache tribe?"

"Of course!" Duan Gong blurted out.

Owl shook his head, "I don't think that's necessary. Among the Apaches, the most dangerous one is the Sleeping Bear Clan, which is the clan ruled by the 'Son of the Sky'. I don't need to say much about his achievements."

After a pause, he continued, "We should focus our efforts on attacking only the Sleeping Bear Clan, rather than going to war with the entire Apache."

Broken Bow disagreed: "Ma Shao is indeed dangerous, but after all, it is just one clan. Our three clans' coalition forces are only attacking a small clan. Wouldn't it be a joke if we tell others about it?"

"It seems you don't know Ma Shao's current situation yet." Owl smiled.

"how?"

"Ma Shao has become the great chief of the Plains Tribe, and has gathered almost all the Apaches in the tribe into his clan. Now his clan has as many as one or two thousand people." Owl said slowly.

Broken Bow was very surprised: "Really?"

Owl nodded. "So I say, we should just attack the Sleeping Bears. One Sleeping Bear clan is already quite powerful. If we were to go up against the entire Apache tribe, our chances of winning might not be high."

Broken Bow was silent for half a second. "But how can we only deal with the Sleeping Bear Clan? As you said, Ma Shao has already led the Plains Tribe. If we attack the Plains Tribe, the other Apache tribes will definitely support him."

Owl smiled and said, "Tribes are often unwilling to support each other if they can stay out of it."

"In fact, the Sleeping Bear clan annexed one of my clans. We can use this as an excuse to tell other Apache tribes that we have no intention of being enemies with the entire Apache tribe. We just want to take back the clan from Sleeping Bear."

"In this way, other Apache tribes will at least reduce their support for Sleeping Bear, and our coalition forces will surely win."

Broken Bow thought about it and said, "That makes sense."

The two talked again and soon reached an agreement, deciding to form a coalition in the near future to jointly defeat the Sleeping Bear.

"I have one more request," the owl said finally.

Broken Bow seemed to have guessed his thoughts: "Slave?"

"That's right."

Broken Bow waved his hand nonchalantly: "No problem, when we defeat the Sleeping Bear Clan, you can choose the captives first. Do you plan to sell these slaves to the white people?"

"Of course not. We use them ourselves. Some of our Utah slaves died not long ago." Owl shook his head. "They are not worth much if sold to white people. They are not black slaves."

Broken Bow laughed and said, "If you ask me, apart from the women, it would be more convenient to just kill the other captives. Slaves are useless."

At this time in North America, it was not only white people who held slaves, some Indians also held slaves.

Even some free black people owned slaves, and they were not much different from white slave owners. They still liked black slaves because they were the most valuable.

There were also many types of slaves. In addition to the most common black slaves, there were also white slaves and Indian slaves.

White slaves were mainly indentured slaves, such as gamblers who sold themselves for money; Indian slaves mainly came from wars, such as some Comanches who liked to turn captured enemies into slaves.

All in all, North America was very free during this era, and it was not surprising that someone enslaved someone else.