"Because the people of the East Coast have built the castle to their doorstep." "If they don't do anything else," said Second Lieutenant Porter, "the few barbarian tribes that depend on them in the valley to the west will either be conquered by the easterners or forced to migrate, and they will also lose an excellent place for their winter livestock, not to mention the invisible loss of prestige." Due to a combination of factors, they must fight this war, and although they did not choose the time and place of this battlefield, they felt that they had no way out. ”

While a few people were talking, the priests had finished a certain stage of the ritual. Then came an even more cruel and bloody scene - the sacrifice of the living, even old mercenaries like Ensign Potter and Little Hagel, who had been fighting on the battlefield for many years, still couldn't accept this scene in front of them, it was too cruel and barbaric. Pastor Strom, on the other hand, kept his eyes closed, his hand on the cross, and his mouth kept chanting.

"It's tradition." Shavi didn't know when he walked up to a few Europeans, and whether they understood or not, he said to himself: "The gods have guided us in everything and blessed us in everything, but this requires blood sacrifice. ”

The Europeans are silent, and perhaps it is not a good idea to come and visit their pre-departure religious ceremony today.

"Have you sent a hundred barrels of gunpowder and buckshot?" Pastor Shawi asked Pastor Strom who knew a little of the common language of the Xhosa, so he was the interpreter between the two sides many times.

"It's here, right in the cart over there, and I hope this gunpowder and buckshot will bring you good luck." Pastor Strom relayed Hagel Jr. in fits and starts.

Shawi nodded. Didn't speak again. The Dutch sent a hundred barrels of gunpowder, buckshot, and arquebuses in the name of supporting the Kama tribe. But they're not unpaid. Although the price is slightly cheaper than usual. However, it is also a big expense for the Kama tribe, which has been fighting for many years and whose economic situation is not very good. But who let the big war now that the war is imminent, and the tribe is also very short of these war materials, no matter how expensive it is, they have to grit their teeth and buy it.

Thinking of the current predicament of lack of food and clothing in the tribe, Shavi shook his head. Although the years of brutal tribal annexation wars have made the Kama tribe an extremely powerful tribe in the nearby region, just as the militarism between the nations of the civilization can cause economic crisis, the barbarians are not exempt. A large number of young and middle-aged men were integrated into the army, leaving cattle and sheep untended and the land uncultivated, even though the Kama tribe won more and lost less in the war. Won a lot of booty and captured a large number of slaves, but the rapid expansion of the tribe's population still caused the tribe's economic situation to slowly deteriorate.

Shawi usually helps Kama take care of some internal affairs of the tribe, and he also knows more or less about the economic situation of the tribe. Since the year before, the yield of sorghum, a staple food of the tribe, has gradually declined since its peak, and although this is due to the increasingly dry climate, it is also an indisputable fact that the sown area of sorghum has decreased. In addition to sorghum, the production of watermelon, sesame, peanuts and flax, which are important to the tribes, has also been severely reduced, which has made it difficult for the Kama tribe to barter with a few friendly tribes.

The main reason for all of this is the serious shortage of arable labor. Although many of the wars waged by Kama brought back a large number of slaves, firstly, these slaves also had to eat, and secondly, they were very efficient. In addition, Kama had promised to treat ordinary slaves well, and tried to gradually assimilate these people into the population of the Kama tribe. As a result, slaves were inefficient, agricultural yields were delayed, and the sown area even declined slightly. Over time, it is not so surprising that the tribe's food production began to decline gradually.

This is true in agriculture, but it is also in animal husbandry. Over the years, with the abnormal changes in the climate, there has been less and less pasture available for grazing, which has greatly limited the size of the herd of cattle and sheep. If it weren't for the fact that Kama led the tribal warriors to conquer large tracts of land and pastures, and gradually banned the bad habit of slaughtering livestock on a large scale to sacrifice to the gods, perhaps the number of cattle and sheep in the Kama tribe would have been even smaller. However, the combined number of cattle and goats was more than 10,000, and with the frequent trade with the Dutch people, the Kama tribe, lacking hard currency, could only send batches of cattle and sheep to those outsiders in exchange for muskets, ammunition, leather armor and other items that were in short supply to the tribe, which further limited the growth of the number of cattle and sheep. Because of this, the Kama tribe is unacceptable to the loss of water and pasture on the shores of the "Lake of the Gods" on the west side of the mountain, which is a good place for livestock to spend the winter, which is extremely important for the herders who depend on it for their livelihoods.

Either way, it seems that this war must be fought. Shavi sighed deeply, the people of the East Coast really picked a good time. The tribe is now fighting on all fronts, and if it weren't for the easterners building the castle directly near the mountain pass, it is believed that Kama would still continue to endure until he believes that the tribe is ready enough to start a war with the easterners.

Unfortunately, the Tribe is not ready now. Although more than half a year ago, after the Eight Banners tribes of the people on the east coast entered the east, Kama began to gradually adjust the focus of the tribe's conquest, on the one hand, he began to gradually end the war with some tribes in the east, and he did not hesitate to suffer some small losses for this. On the other hand, Kama also asked the tribe to constantly take out "hard currency" such as cattle and sheep, sesame, peanuts, and flax to exchange iron products, arrowheads, hemostatic herbs, and other war materials with some friendly tribes in the north. However, the time is still short, and the policy that has lasted for more than ten years can not be so easily reversed, and at present, a large number of warriors of the Kama tribe are still pinned down in the east, facing off against those hostile tribes. In this way, Kama's plan to defeat the rival tribes in the east and launch a thunderous blow against the easterners with all 15,000 elite warriors was ruined.

The Kama tribe is now in a two-pronged dilemma - although the people of the East Coast have not yet made a clear war against them, even the all-powerful Kama is a little caught off guard in the face of such a difficult situation. However, the resolute king soon told Shawi and other generals and priests that the people of the East Coast were evil and brutal enemies, that their greed would never end, and that their shameless desires must be extinguished with blood, and that the great Kama tribe must defeat this vicious enemy and keep the god-given livestock for the winter camp.

Under the orders of the prestige king, the war machine of the Kama tribe also began to slowly unleash. A large number of cattle, sheep, and flax were sent to the Dutch in exchange for some muskets and ammunition; At the same time, the Horde hired a considerable number of Dutch soldiers to instruct the tribe's warriors in the use of muskets and the strategies and tactics derived from them, which of course came at a great cost.

While turning to the Dutch for help, the Kama tribe also began to exploit their war potential to the fullest. First of all, Kama ordered that the strong men who had been in the tribe for more than three years be incorporated into the army, and promised them that they would be given freedom after the war, and that land and women would be given to them. These policies stirred up some morale among the slaves and increased the strength of the Kama tribal army. Second, he organized all the musketeers into a line, about seven hundred men, because the Dutch told them that the only way to fire a volley was to assemble in a dense formation, and Karma thought so. Eventually, he withheld most of the rations of some of the old men and stubborn slaves in the tribe to ensure that the soldiers on the front line had enough food to eat during the war.

On this last point, the new Priest Strom once objected to the great King Kama, but was prevaricated by Kama's remark that "all tribes do this nowadays". Instead of writing to the Dutch Governor of Cape Town, the Reverend Strom asked the colonial authorities to provide him with some precious food, and the upright and merciful Reverend Strom would personally give food to the barbarians on behalf of the newly built Kama Tribal Church to bring the glory of the Lord to the Lord. The pious Governor Dejan praised the noble soul of the Reverend Strom, and he was happy enough to provide some of the wheat to the Kama tribe free of charge, much to the great affection of many people, including Shawi. Many people even converted to the arms of the Lord Jesus on the spot and became Christians.

After putting the tribe's affairs in order, at the beginning of May, when the crops in the fields were harvested, the Kama tribe held a sacrificial ceremony to pray for the gods to bless the tribe with a great victory over the people of the east bank. Now, the ritual has come to an end, and the warriors of the Kama tribe have killed the slaves one by one, and they are led by sacrifices and shouting praises to the gods.

Shawi ignored the few Dutch people beside him and strode towards Kama, who had already been mobilized on a large scale within the tribe on Kama's orders, and more than six thousand tribal warriors and four thousand slave warriors were incorporated into the army. In a little while, it will be the day of their expedition, and in addition to these soldiers, there will be a huge number of people carrying food, arrows, gunpowder and other supplies. After all, these tens of thousands of people went on the expedition, and all kinds of things were complicated. Although this is not the first time that the Kama tribe has done this, Shawi still has a lot to discuss with Kama. (To be continued......)