"Sir...... Mr. Governor, I think...... We could, uh, ...... too"

The revolver in Shelz's hand was so hot that he dared to hold the handle with only two fingers.

"You mean surrender?" Fremont asked.

"Uh...... I've read in the newspapers that big people like you don't usually use this word, what you often say is...... Strategic compromise, win-win ...... Something like that......"

"Forget it, my little brother Zuozhiya!" Fremont took the gun from Shelz's hand and flicked the roulette wheel in his hand, the sound of the roulette wheel brushing did not drown out the overwhelming shouts, but it did distract the two of them for a while.

Fremont continued: "Listen, they're shouting, 'Capture Fremont alive,' what do you think will happen if I fall into their hands?" ”

"Uh, I don't know." Shelds said honestly.

"Well," Fremont sighed, "and it looks like we'll have a few minutes before we can talk again—it's ridiculous, I used to talk to someone who was either the Secretary of State or the Commander of the Theater of Operations, but I didn't expect that at this time, I would have to open up to a strange hairy boy who had never even married......"

"Sir, if you don't want to say it, I don't really want to hear it either. I'm never married, but I have children, and if I die, someone will miss me! ”

Shields was stunned for a moment, and then burst out laughing. "Okay, okay, my little brother Zorgia, you've finally done the right thing. The only use you have for this country is to add a population to it......"

Fremont laughed for a while, gathered his thoughts, was silent for a while, and said, "Actually, I never thought that I would fail!" ”

"I never thought about it, Mr. Governor!"

"But I just failed, it's something that can't be helped, and that's the way it is, I failed!" Fremont said, "Fail in the most unlikely way, when it's most unlikely!" I'm remorseful and remorseful, but what's the use? A failure is a failure......"

Shelds didn't speak again, and listened quietly as Fremont continued.

“…… As a person, it's not a big deal to fail, as long as you can survive, it's okay to start all over again. It is actually a very easy thing for a person to succeed, find a rich wife, or go around the circle of the powerful, this is an easy way, but some people are too inferior, thus limiting their path to success; ”

“…… As a soldier, failure is actually not a big deal. The federal government has money, and it doesn't matter if it fails a hundred times, just convince them that it's profitable from you, and they'll arm you again and again. You look at Winfield Scott, or Zachary Taylor, are they really capable of it? No, they're just a bunch of pigs who only know how to eat! ”

"But the parliamentarians like them, and the president likes them, why? Just because they look like they can bring a Mexico to everyone! ”

"Hughes, you have to remember that you don't have to be very capable in the future, you have to be useful, or at least look profitable. You have to pretend to be yourself all the time, whitewash yourself, don't feel ashamed of this, the shame should be those poor people who can't even take out a steel hammer in their pockets and think that they are kind and benevolent! ”

Shelds stopped talking, but still didn't speak. He untied the rope he had made out of his white shirt, which was too short to be of any use. He tied his white shirt to the barrel of his gun, intending to use it later.

“…… But as a politician, failure is a terrible thing. You can succeed a hundred times, but one failure can drive you into the abyss, and your enemies will not show mercy in the slightest, and politicians don't have the option of 'surrendering' or 'fleeing' – you may think we're hypocritical at first, and you have to use words like 'strategic compromise' or 'win-win' – but I'm telling you, Hughes, we're real, it's 'strategic compromise' and 'win-win', and we don't need to lie about such details! ”

"Hughes, I can't escape, I can't escape! As a politician, my life is over! ”

"If the Indians are still a bunch of stragglers, and they're still scattered like they used to be, I can try to escape. There's no shame in escaping, and I have a lot of ways to get back on my feet when I get back to Washington. In a class like ours, we can even have a few more lives than others. But you see, the Indians are already in power, and I have no need to run away. For the congressmen in Washington, I will only be their nourishment and stepping stone, really, there is no need for it! ”

"I can't get Oregon back in the hands of a united Indian, not just me, but no one!"

"I have to die here, and it's good for everyone. Especially for you, and for the Fremont family, it's good. ”

"It was not the guns and bullets of the Indians that defeated me, but the torches that littered the mountains. They are on the road to becoming strong, and I have nowhere to go! ”

"You might blame me for why I had to move camp. But, Hughes, when Colonel Carney came with the expeditionary force, the battle between him and I had already begun. I was defeated not only by Turtledove, but also by Colonel Carney, and by the people in Washington who were not on my side. I've been out of there for too long, and that's another reason why I've failed. ”

Fremont sighed, raised his gun, pointed it at his throat, thought about it, and switched it to his forehead.

The Indian soldiers had completely surrounded them and were slowly walking towards the cliff.

Torches shone brightly on the Indians, all of whom looked red, and rummaged through the corpses on the ground as if they were looking for gold in a pile of rubble.

……

"Shelz, give you a piece of advice!" Fremont said. This time he didn't call the wrong name.

"Mr. Governor, you say!" Shields raised the barrel of the gun hanging from his white shirt.

"When the Indians shoot, don't run away—"

"Well, Mr. Governor, I don't understand...... How can you say that, they saw me, they didn't shoot......"

"—in that case, you'll die a decent death." Fremont said.

"I surrender! I surrender! Sheldz shouted, waving the barrel of his gun vigorously, his white shirt like a jumping ghost.

"Seltz, Shelz!" Fremont sighed and said, "Don't you understand, you can't surrender!" ”

"I surrender! I give up! Shelz shouted.

"We have never accepted the surrender of the Indians for so many years, and how can they accept our surrender now?" Fremont did not stop Schelz from yelling, nor did he stop him to listen to himself, but only said to himself:

"From the first time we raised the butcher's knife against the Indians, we have aimed to exterminate their race, how good must they be to tolerate our surrender? Beginning with George Washington, generations of whites have carried out this policy thoroughly and without leaving any stone unturned, and the path to reconciliation has been blocked to the point where it can no longer die! ”

Shields raised the barrel of the gun with its white shirt hanging from it and walked forward, leaving Fremont behind.

"Bang!"

A gunshot rang out from behind him, and Shelds froze for a moment and did not look back.

In front of him, rows of densely packed barrels were facing him.

……

Fremont collapsed in a pool of blood.

"Hughes," he murmured, "you'll be 2 years old in three months, and unfortunately I'll never see you again......"

Fremont wasn't by the wrong name, and what he had just said was for his own children.

That Shelz was nothing more than a poor boy in the countryside of Zorgia, without a strong in-law, uneducated, not smart, and would soon die.

And his child, Hughes, will grow up in a rich house, go to the best school, marry a powerful woman from New York or Washington, and will be a useful person in the future, and will have all kinds of medicine and blood, and will live a hundred years.

That Shelz simply thought it was a war between whites and Indians.

But in Fremont's mind, it was also a war between the rich and the poor—at least on this battlefield, he didn't lose.