“Representative James Henry Lane says roughly two thousand Missouri Border Ruffians have gathered.”“I’ve heard that as well.”Colonel Sumner could guess what Max was after.“You’re asking me to protect Lawrence in case they march, is that it?”“Even if Kansas is a territory, that’s still a clear violation of the border.”Max laid out the background of the incident, but Colonel Sumner’s reaction was lukewarm.“The Missouri Border Ruffians haven’t even moved yet. And even if they do, what am I supposed to do without orders from Washington?”Fort Leavenworth had been built to keep the peace among western settlers, travelers, and the Indian tribes. After the Kansas–Nebraska Act, it had also put effort into protecting the Kansas settlers.Yet when it came to the Border Ruffians who had committed repeated fraud at the polls and even hauled in cannon, they had shut their eyes and ears.There were complicated reasons, but the main cause was that President Franklin Pierce, elected with support from the slave states, would not allow Fort Leavenworth to intervene.“With the president siding with the slave states, no wonder this country’s turned into this mess.”“John Brown. Watch your tongue in front of me.”“I didn’t say anything that isn’t true.”“If you came all the way here just to talk like that, you can go back.”Whatever his stance on slavery, Edwin Vose Sumner was trying to do his duty as a soldier.To John Brown, he just looked like a man clinging to his post instead of his convictions.“So even if the people of Lawrence are killed, the commander plans to just sit and wait for orders from Washington?”“That’s what it is to be a soldier. If your own men went against your will, what would you do?”“That would never happen. If they didn’t share my will, they wouldn’t be standing beside me in the first place.”“Heh.”Trading words with John Brown was no easy task. He criticized Sumner in a roundabout way and chilled the room.Max, seeing enough, spoke up again.“Let’s all calm down. As I see it, there are two main reasons the commander can’t move to help Lawrence.”First, there was no visible threat yet. And second, even if something did happen, he had to wait on orders from Washington.Sumner nodded in agreement.Max leaned in a little closer and asked him:“If those two problems were solved, what then?”“In that case, I’d have no reason not to move.”“Then let’s do this. We all know the current president is on the side of the slave states, don’t we?”John Brown nodded vigorously, and Sumner didn’t react either way.Which meant he acknowledged it himself.“There’s no doubt Missouri is going to act soon. When they do, the president will just watch and won’t lift a finger to stop them.”The leader of the Border Ruffians, David Rice Atchison—formerly a senator from Missouri—was a powerful figure in the ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) same Democratic Party as President Pierce.“If they brand Lawrence a band of criminals, the president will accept it. By then it’ll be too late for you to intervene. So the only way to solve this in one stroke is to report to Washington right now. And the content of the report is this.”Sumner stared at Max’s mouth.He had no idea what was about to come out of it.John Brown was no different.He had come along to try to get military help, but seeing Colonel Sumner’s lukewarm response, he hadn’t expected much.Then Max said something as shocking as it was unexpected.“There’s reason to suspect an armed uprising in the town of Lawrence.”“!”“You could report that the very fact they’re building a fort suggests they’re planning to do something. That would do, wouldn’t it?”Sumner and John Brown’s eyes went wide.Max had shifted the blame for what was about to happen from the Border Ruffians onto Lawrence.John Brown’s gaze swung toward Max.So that’s why he didn’t tell Governor Charles Robinson and Lane.From Lawrence’s point of view, it was hardly a pleasant strategy.But the important thing was the outcome.In a clash between Missouri and Lawrence, the army’s only role would be as mediator.Understanding what Max was aiming at, Sumner let out an admiring breath and spoke.“The result’s the same, but the reasons have been switched.”“Exactly. You’ll already have the president’s orders in hand, so all you’ll have to do is wait until Missouri makes its move.”If Sumner had been a defender of slavery, this plan would never have flown.But in his one year as commander at Fort Leavenworth, Sumner had later written of that period as a time of torment, regretting that he had acted on the side of the slave states. There was no doubt he was an abolitionist.Sumner asked Max:“But are they truly building a fort?”“We’re not up to anything strange—it’s purely for defense.”A fort couldn’t move.So of course it wasn’t for offense.But how it was framed would make all the difference to Washington’s reaction.The report itself was simple.Before anything suspicious happened, they were building a fort and a defensive line, and Jayhawkers from the free states were gathering in Lawrence.If that’s all the report says…Once he’d finished arranging it in his head, Sumner spoke.“Frankly, I don’t think Missouri will drive their forces too far. At most, they’ll send enough men to get Jacob Branson back.”“I’d like it if that’s all it was, but we still have to prepare for the worst.”“Well, sending the report is no great trouble, so I’ll grant your request. Just remember it may all depend on how things develop.”If the Border Ruffians didn’t move, or their numbers were too small. Or if Lawrence showed some other intent—the army’s response would change.Until the conversation with Colonel Edwin Vose Sumner was over, John Brown kept his mouth shut, lost in his own thoughts.On the road back from Fort Leavenworth to Lawrence,as they neared the mouth of the Kansas River, John Brown finally spoke.“Seeing you has given me much to think about. I thought we were alike, but there’s a great difference in our methods. The way you rescued Jacob Branson, for one. You’re cautious and meticulous, and you read the board better than most.”“You flatter me.”“You deserve the words. But… from where I stand, it looks like you’re trying to avoid the war. Am I wrong?”To John Brown, who longed for change, that was how it must have looked. After all, Max was trying to use the army to block the crisis.But Max shook his head firmly.“You’re wrong. I’m actually in the middle of enlarging the board.”“Enlarging the board?”John Brown asked again, his expression saying he didn’t follow.“If things play out the way I think they will, people will say it themselves. That the situation is serious enough for the army to have to step in. And then they’ll think: to make Kansas a free state, we’ll need guns, not ballots.”“Hm.”“If there’s a way to raise the stakes without spilling blood, isn’t that the way we ought to take?”John Brown stroked his beard and sank into thought.Why is it I can’t come up with methods like that?“Looks like our boat’s here.”At Max’s words, the two of them rode onto the ferry still in their saddles. ****Having had Jacob Branson snatched from him, Jones tried to bring pressure to bear on Lawrence from every direction. The first place he went was Governor Wilson Shannon.“Snatching a prisoner who’s awaiting execution of the law is a clear crime. If we let this slide, who’ll obey the law?”“Of course, of course.”“We have to get Jacob Branson back from them as well.”Shannon nodded at Jones’s words.There was no denying that violently carrying off a prisoner was a serious offense. Replacing the dismissed Andrew Reeder, Wilson Shannon had become governor, but he didn’t think much of this case.“Then what would you suggest we do?”“The Jayhawkers are dug in at Lawrence. To get Jacob Branson out of there, we need to call up the Kansas militia.”“Do it. I’ll entrust this matter to you.”“Understood.”As Jones turned away, his eyes glittered.At last he had his chance to kill the Oriental bastard. His heart pounded so hard with excitement his eyelids trembled.Just you wait, you Oriental coolie bastard.Jones “called up” the militia in Lecompton and the nearby towns—at least, he pretended to. Then he slipped over into Missouri to meet David Rice Atchison.“Wilson Shannon has delegated the militia call-up to me.”“If the board’s been set, we’d better move.”Atchison began gathering the Border Ruffians, together with the Stringfellow brothers.But as the size of the force grew, they couldn’t cover the weapons.To solve it, Atchison gave the Stringfellow brothers a drastic order.They would loot the military arsenal at Liberty Arsenal in Missouri.“Don’t leave a single piece behind—take every last thing!”Around a hundred armed bandits took part in the raid.Even after such an outrageous act, the governor and authorities of Missouri turned a blind eye.They couldn’t allow Kansas to become a free state, no matter what.News of the armory raid reached Colonel Sumner at Fort Leavenworth.“Those lunatics! They had the nerve to rob a military arsenal?”Sumner had already received the president’s permission to march on Lawrence.But he was reluctant to strip Fort Leavenworth bare and head for Lawrence immediately.The town of Leavenworth was crawling with pro-slavery activists.“Triple the guards on the arsenals!”After giving orders to his subordinates, Sumner sat at his desk and went over the conversation he’d had with the Oriental.How did he anticipate this and line up his response?The more he thought about it, the more a dry laugh escaped him.Things were playing out exactly as the man had said, and it was absurd. ****A large force from Missouri marched into Kansas. Their number was over two thousand, and among them were old men, women, and children.David Rice Atchison, leading them, denounced the abolitionists who wanted to rob them of their property.“Killing them isn’t murder! All we’re doing is killing vermin that poison this land!”Atchison openly encouraged killing and arson, whipping the Border Ruffians into a frenzy.News of the large-scale advance spread across Kansas in no time.Abolitionists scattered across the territory started streaming into Lawrence.Governor Charles Robinson reorganized the militia.James Henry Lane took overall command as a brigadier general.Holliday was appointed a colonel.And Max was still sheriff of Lawrence and leading the young Jayhawkers.While the Border Ruffians were on the march, Max and the key officers inspected the town’s earthworks and shelters.Charles and Lane held frequent strategy meetings, wrestling with how to respond.“Judging from their route, we’ll end up in a standoff along the Wakarusa River.”Though they called it a river, at its narrowest it was only about twenty meters across, and shallow enough to ford without boats.Governor Charles Robinson spoke with a grim face.“Their numbers are considerable, so my first thought is to try to talk things out with Atchison. We have to avoid the worst-case scenario, don’t we?”It was the right sentiment, but everyone’s expressions were skeptical.The pretext for their march on Lawrence was to take back Jacob Branson.But right now, he was staying dozens of miles away from Lawrence.Even knowing this, Atchison was still moving on Lawrence. There was no doubt his true goal was war.As the hour of decision approached, people looked up at the fortress standing tall on Mount Oread and made their comments.“Good thing we built that fort, at least. General Lane really did something big for us.”“That’s right. Once they see that, they won’t dare dream of attacking.”Off the back of this incident, Lane’s stock had skyrocketed for proposing and pushing through the fortress construction.And Max, in turn, had credited it to Lane’s achievement, greatly increasing the value of his gift.At last, they began to see the Border Ruffians beyond the Wakarusa River.Holliday, a law student and businessman who’d never been in a real fight, was sticking unusually close to Max today.“Colonel, you need to keep up appearances.”“Ha. I’m telling you, I’m just going to stick to you like glue, so get used to it.”As the tension in the town ratcheted higher, another big event hit.“Soldiers are coming down from the north!”“What?!”Border Ruffians to the south, soldiers to the north—Lawrence was being surrounded.As despair washed over everyone’s faces,Max and John Brown alone were overflowing with composure.

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