I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 1087 The Beliefs of the Indians

Southern United States.

Georgia.

Bacchus, a small town on the south bank of the Hortamarho River.

More than 500 Cherokee Indian warriors watched as American militiamen set up several cannons on the opposite bank of the river, their expressions filled with pain and fear.

Chief Chinnabe Hasai rode past the defensive line, but instead of loudly encouraging the soldiers as he usually did before the start of a war, he remained silent with a sullen face and his head bowed.

He knew very well that the American troops opposite him numbered at least 800, and all of them were equipped with flintlock muskets, and even had three cannons.

He led his tribe in resistance for nearly two months, suffering heavy casualties, but still could not stop the American invasion.

Currently, his soldiers have only a little over 100 flintlock muskets and less than 1 rounds of ammunition.

They were not afraid of death, but they were unable to repel the American troops in front of them with bows and arrows and spears.

Behind him were the tribe's last dozen or so towns, where nearly ten thousand tribesmen were gathered.

Once the Americans crossed the Hortamarho River, they would be left to die in the towns—yes, they had lost all their territory, and fleeing would only mean starvation.

"Why don't you give it a try?" a low, hoarse voice came from beside him. "You will surely be saved."

Hassa didn't need to turn his head to know that those were the long bull horns used for priests of the Creek tribe.

He came to the Cherokee tribe to preach six months ago; it was a form of Catholicism different from that preached by the British and Spanish.

However, the doctrine of the long bull horns did not conflict with the tribal legends, and it also acknowledged the spirituality of the tribal totem, so the high priest of the tribe tacitly approved of his actions.

And at this dangerous moment, this guy actually made the Cherokee tribe pray together!
The Cherokee would also pray to their ancestors when preparing for war, but they all knew that war relied on courage and the weapons at hand, and no one would do such a thing on the eve of battle.

Moreover, very few Cherokee people believed in the long-horned Catholicism.

Longhorn, however, refused to give up, pointing towards the town behind him: "You know you're no match for those Americans. Look at your people. Are you going to let them die rather than give it a try?"

Seeing that the chief ignored him, he had no choice but to dismount and wave to the tribal warriors, shouting, "Believe me, God will protect you! This was prophesied in the Gospels. Just pray with me sincerely!"

After saying this, he knelt down and began to make the sign of the cross on his chest: "My Lord Jesus, please incline your ear and hear my plight, for I am pitiful and have no one to turn to..."

The Cherokee were taken aback by his earnestness. They exchanged glances, and several of the baptized warriors followed suit, bowing their heads and making the sign of the cross: "In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen."

A charlatan atmosphere began to permeate the air. Even those who hadn't been baptized before started making the sign of the cross: "May our ancestors protect us!"

"May the spirit of the bison grant us strength..."

The long horns did not correct them. According to the Indian Gospel, the totems of each tribe were also divine beasts chosen by God, and praying to them was equivalent to praying to God.

As the chaotic prayers grew louder, Hasai frowned slightly, but then remembered what Longhorn had just said, sighed, and gestured to his chest as well.

What if it actually works?

There's no harm in trying it out...

On the north bank of the Hortamarho River, French diplomat Baron Lespes glanced at his pocket watch and gestured to his attendant, "François, it's almost time. If we wait any longer, the Americans will launch their attack." "Yes, sir."

The attendant immediately raised his whip and galloped toward the US military command post.

More than ten minutes later, Lespe, escorted by several American cavalrymen, arrived before Major Christie, the American commander.

Lesper handed his identification to the staff officer beside him, then bowed to Christie: “I’m sorry to disturb your work, esteemed Major. Oh, Mr. Taylor Kerman was supposed to come with me, but he was delayed by some matters.”

The latter knew that Kerman was a state diplomat, and after glancing at the documents issued by the French government, he frowned and said, "Is there something you need? There's a war going on here, and bullets don't discriminate. Perhaps you could wait until the war is over..."

"No, no, that would be too late," Lespe hurriedly said. "On behalf of the Governor of Saint Louisiana, I demand that you immediately cease the damage to our property!"

Major Christie looked at him in surprise: "What property did you say?"

Lesper placed several sheets of paper on the wooden table in front of him, then pointed across the river: “The town of Bucksley, and all the towns of the Cherokee tribe, are collateral of the Louisiana Bank.”

"?"

Christie picked up the papers and saw that they were loan agreements. The lender was a French bank, and the borrower was the Cherokee tribe. The amount was 18 francs, and the collateral was the tax revenue from the town of Bacchus and three other towns for the next 15 years.

He quickly flipped to the next document, which was a loan agreement for 13 francs, with the Cherokee tribe's leather harvest for the next few years as collateral.

There were a total of seven or eight loan agreements, with a total amount of at least 150 million francs.

The American commander frowned. The Cherokee tribe had mortgaged almost their entire tribe to borrow a large sum of money.

He set aside the agreements, shook his head at the French, and said, "I'm sorry, these are none of my business. Now please step aside, I'm about to begin the attack."

Lesper's attitude was extremely firm: "If you insist on this, the Governor will send troops to protect our country's interests!"

Christie was immediately taken aback.

France had only held the Louisiana colony for a little over six months and didn't have a particularly strong military, though it still had a thousand soldiers. Moreover, since the colony represented France, any conflict would put France in a diplomatic predicament.

He took a deep breath and said, "What exactly do you want? I must state that it is impossible for me to give up the attack."

Lesper smiled. "Actually, Mr. Kerman and I discussed this. The federal government's orders to you are to occupy Cherokee territory and, if necessary, kill them."

"What I want is to recover the loan. You see, at least I have to take the debtors with me. If there's really no other way, I can sell them into slavery to recoup some of the losses."

"Did you bring your army?"

Lesper shook his head: "No."

"Then how will you arrest them?"

"I will require them to abide by the agreement."

Major Christie rubbed his forehead. "Alright, you can try it. I'll postpone the attack until noon tomorrow."

“No, no, at least not until this weekend,” Lesper said. “The town is also collateral for the bank. I need to have their cashiers check what valuables can be moved.”

(End of this chapter)