The Longest Night
The great commotion that erupted in the South naturally reached the ears of the North. Even if he was only serving in an interim capacity, the man responsible for the White House could not afford to miss such intelligence.
“...What is this?”
Although his time was drawing to a close and he would soon have to hand over this seat to its rightful owner, he knew that for the Democratic Party to survive after the war, they needed to bring this conflict to a close as cleanly as possible. He had been keeping his ears to the ground regarding the South’s movements, mobilizing every intelligence network at his disposal.
“The Confederate army’s movements have stalled? Why?”
“There has been a massive slave uprising across the entire South, sir. The Southerners seem convinced that it is the work of John Brown and our Northern forces.”
“What? *Us*?”
He hadn’t done a single thing, so why was this happening? Still dazed, he summoned Lincoln.
“President-elect. Have you seen this newspaper?”
Douglas’s voice was frantic. The front page he spread out before Lincoln was covered in sensationalist headlines like 'Simultaneous Uprising Across the South' and 'The Ghost of John Brown'.
“I just finished reading it. It is quite surprising.”
Unlike his words, Lincoln’s face looked surprisingly calm. In truth, he had already guessed what might happen after hearing a rough outline from James Seuret. Of course, he was just as shocked that it had erupted on such a massive scale, but his level of alarm was nowhere near Douglas’s.
“Those bastards are shouting that it’s our doing! We didn’t do anything! Who on earth...”
“Who it is does not matter, Mr. Chairman.”
Lincoln looked up from the paper, speaking with startling composure.
“What matters is the result.”
“...The result, you say?”
“Look at this report.”
Lincoln handed over another telegram that had just arrived.
“The core generals of the Confederacy. Beauregard, Albert Johnston, Longstreet. Their family plantations have all been struck.”
“My God...”
“What will they do now? Their families are in danger in the rear; can they command on the front lines with peace of mind? No, they will be clamoring in Montgomery to be sent back to the rear immediately.”
Both Lincoln and Douglas knew the temperament of the Southern Dixie elites all too well. While it was realistically impossible to send all of them to the rear, at least one or more would inevitably be recalled. Moreover, with their families facing such turmoil, how could they possibly command on the front lines with a clear head?
“Lincoln.”
Douglas lowered his voice.
“Be honest with me. Something like this could never happen in isolation. Do you have an accomplice?”
“There is indeed someone who must remain in the shadows.”
It was a statement that amounted to a confession. Douglas’s eyes narrowed. 'John Brown.' He didn’t need to hear the name to know who it was, so Douglas had already reached his own conclusion. As everyone would surely agree, he had no intention of disputing the claim that John Brown must remain hidden. If it were revealed that the Republican Party had instigated a slave revolt, it could lead to grave difficulties later on.
“...I understand. Let us leave it at that, then.”
When someone speaks so plainly, one has no choice but to play along. As Douglas was inwardly marveling at John Brown’s resourcefulness, Lincoln nonchalantly made a suggestion.
“We must not let this opportunity slip by, Mr. Chairman. Now that the South’s command structure is paralyzed, it is time for us to launch our offensive.”
Douglas stared quietly at Lincoln’s face. Since when? Since when had this man been sharpening his blade so keenly in preparation for this moment? The rigid, small-town lawyer who had always preached 'integration', 'harmony', and 'the rule of law'—had he really planted gunpowder to shake the entire South in a way no one could have imagined, just in case?
For a moment, Douglas felt cold sweat running down his spine.
“Lincoln... do you have any more schemes left to shake the South?”
Lincoln shook his head with an air of innocence.
“I do not know.”
It didn’t look like he was saying he didn’t know because he truly didn’t. Sure enough, as if Lincoln realized his own words lacked conviction, he added a brief remark.
“However, I do not believe this will be the end of it, so I shall look into it.”
Douglas swallowed hard. 'As I thought.' That was effectively a subtle hint that a second or third blade was already waiting in the wings.
“Thank you for your honesty. Knowing this much puts my mind at ease.”
Of course, Lincoln had said he didn’t know because he truly didn’t, and he had simply answered honestly that he would ask James Seuret about any additional plans. After all, he really knew nothing of the detailed inner workings of this particular incident. Regardless, Douglas could only tremble at the sheer elusiveness of John Brown.
Natchez, Mississippi.
Provisional Office of the Confederate Security Forces.
Due to the immense pressure and demands from Southern planters, the Confederacy had no choice but to grit its teeth and establish a new unit. And honorably, I, James Seuret, was appointed as the deputy commander and operations officer of this unit. It wasn’t as if I had put in a request to be appointed; since everyone was asking me to take the role, what could I do? I couldn’t simply ignore their desperate wish that I was the only one capable of dealing with the arch-demon John Brown, so I had no choice but to shoulder this cross.
“Commander. It is time. Shall we begin the meeting...”
“Hm, I see. But being called 'Commander' feels a bit awkward...”
“What are you saying? You are one of only five Generals in our South.”
Robert E. Lee, who had joined the Confederate army on the condition that he would be tasked with protecting his home state of Virginia and other planters from the rear, had become the commander-in-chief of the newly formed Security Forces, thanks to my strong recommendation. However, despite the grand title, the forces allocated to the Security Forces were pathetic. One only had to look at the fact that I, the second-in-command, held the rank of Colonel to see the reality of the situation.
With the North eyeing them with at least twice the manpower of the South, would they be insane enough to concentrate their forces in the rear? If they did, the road to the capital would be wide open. The government was merely pulling the wool over everyone’s eyes, claiming that a distinguished general like Robert E. Lee would handle it, but there were no real countermeasures in place.
But for Robert E. Lee, the situation was no different. After talking to him, I realized he wasn’t exactly burning with the desire to hunt down and eliminate the John Brown who was plaguing the South. He just didn’t want to join either the Northern or Southern armies, and since he had found a very good excuse, he was simply making the most of it. In the first place, per my orders, Lee’s hometown had been completely excluded from this uprising, so he didn’t need to be particularly desperate.
“Now... then, Colonel Seuret. Let us begin the meeting.”
The 'Provisional Office' was nothing more than the oldest room in the Natchez City Hall. Even the desks and chairs were all surplus from Seuret Cotton. Commander Robert E. Lee spread out the map of the entire South—the only decent item in the empty room, which I had provided—on the table. His face didn’t show agony, but rather the resignation of a man forced into a dead-end job.
“I don’t know where to start. All the reports flying in from Montgomery are just demands to 'send troops because the damage is severe'.”
“Commander. When putting out a fire, one shouldn’t start by trying to catch the biggest flame, but by figuring out why the fire started in the first place.”
I presented the opinion I had already prepared. “Do we have the troops right now? Do we have the intelligence? We have nothing. Moving rashly in this situation is the perfect way to fall into John Brown’s trap.”
“I agree. Then, we should first investigate the extent of the damage properly, shouldn’t we?”
After glancing over the map, he continued in a calm tone. “Such widespread acts of destruction happened to coincide with the attack on Fort Sumter. This is clearly a meticulously planned move. We must identify their communication lines, funding sources, and their backers to prevent a greater tragedy in the future.”
As expected of a legendary general who left his mark on history. Even with only a little attention, he grasped the essence of the situation immediately. I nodded enthusiastically, as if in total agreement with his words.
“You are absolutely right, Commander.”
However, even if we wanted to investigate, the South, which had to fight an all-out war against the North, literally didn’t have a single soldier to spare for the rear. Lee sighed and pulled a few letters from a pile of documents.
“I just received word from Montgomery. Generals Beauregard and Longstreet have petitioned President Davis directly.”
“A petition, sir?”
“They requested special protection for the plantations where their families are staying. I heard that General Beauregard’s plantation, in particular, suffered immense damage. Apparently, the bastards very cunningly destroyed only the facilities and even left letters threatening the families.”
To be precise, it wasn’t a threat but a request for them to stay calm, but it seemed it could easily be interpreted as a threat from their perspective. Of course, I had no reason to correct the facts, so I started by expressing my outrage.
“Those heinous bastards... but what do you plan to do about it?”
“Well. I would like to do something, but we have no troops to send.”
“In that case, I will at least send my own slaves for the time being.”
If they couldn’t afford to send regular troops, I should use my local resources, shouldn’t I? I pointed to the locations of Beauregard’s and Longstreet’s plantations on the map and spoke passionately.
“This is not a simple threat. It is a high-level psychological warfare tactic to hold the families of the South’s top commanders hostage and tie their hands. Therefore, I will go myself, or if I cannot, I will have my slaves conduct a thorough investigation.”
“Indeed, your words have merit. We don’t know what evidence might be there...”
The culprit always returns to the scene of the crime. The reason is the anxiety that evidence might have been left behind. In that respect, I was no different. What if someone like Nick had left behind evidence that could lead to the deduction that I was involved in this incident? I had to weed all of that out through a legal investigation and verification, then forge or dispose of it.
“Very well. I trust your judgment. When do you plan to depart?”
“I will leave tomorrow.”
“Understood. Do not overexert yourself, and remember that you must be accompanied by an escort wherever you go, as we do not know where Northern spies might be lurking.”
“Yes!”
I finished my report with a sharp salute and leisurely returned to the mansion. There was something I absolutely had to take care of today, if only to conduct my 'evidence destruction tour' while circling the South starting tomorrow.
When I arrived in front of the main gate of Seuret Cotton, which was more heavily guarded than any fortress in the South, Ben approached me with a light bow.
“Master, you have arrived.”
“Is that so? Where is he now?”
“He is waiting inside.”
As expected of a man who keeps his appointments like clockwork. He came exactly when I called him. Opening the door to the chairman’s office, I saw a familiar face and spread my arms wide.
“Who is this? Is it not Mr. John Brown, the symbol of liberation who has plunged the entire South into terror?”
“Who? Me?”
The great black liberation activist, pointed out as the leader of the Arrows of Freedom and the mastermind behind this Southern uprising. John Brown was staring at me from inside my office, letting out a laugh of disbelief.
“Yes, let’s hear it. Just how great a thing are you trying to do, calling me to the South while taking such risks?”
“Before that, did you bring what I asked for?”
“You asked me to bring as many items symbolizing me as possible? Why this, too?”
He grumbled, but pointed to a massive bundle loaded with luggage. It is only right to tell someone who cooperates so actively. I held up the notebook and pen he had long cherished and grinned.
“I intend to leave these scattered around the plantations. The name 'John Brown' will now truly become the symbol that makes the South tremble in fear.”
“...What?”
But the fact that I am the mastermind behind all of this is something that must never be revealed, even after 100 years. It should only be relegated to the realm of conspiracy theories. In that sense, I couldn’t think of anyone other than John Brown to take this place.
“Really, this... *kekekeke*, listen here, Seuret!”
“Yes?”
“You are truly a madman, *hahahaha*!”
“Thank you for the compliment.”
You like it too, don’t you? Thank you for your cooperation.