Way of Overlord
Chapter 175: Politics of the Western Tribes

Chapter 175: Politics of the Western Tribes

Why would the strong tribe reject any talks of alliance with Western Zhou?

The strong tribes on the western border of the Great Steppe have a natural inclination to seek expansion.

For them, strength begets more strength, and territorial conquests are often the path to increased power and resources.

Similarly, the Western Zhou soldiers have their own ambitions, desiring to expand into the territories of the Great Steppe tribes.

This dynamic creates a volatile situation.

The strong tribes on the Great Steppe, faced with the pressing need to grow and protect their interests, frequently look westward as a source of potential expansion.

In response, Western Zhou, keenly aware of these tribal tendencies, employs a multifaceted strategy.

They aim to make alliances with weaker tribes to prevent any unification of the stronger ones, while actively confronting these powerful tribes to curb their growth and ambitions.

It’s a perpetual cycle of territorial ambition and defense, where both sides understand the imperative of acquiring land and resources to bolster their strength.

These tribal and geopolitical intricacies have contributed to a longstanding struggle for dominance along the western border of the Great Steppe.

So, what the Western Zhou did was the opposite when it comes to weakening the Great Steppe tribes on the western border.

Rather than confronting the strong tribes directly, they chose to befriend and support smaller clans.

By bolstering these small tribes, the Western Zhou intended to use them as a counterforce against the more powerful and ambitious tribes.

Crucially, they struck a balance in the level of support they provided to these smaller clans.

It was a delicate act, ensuring that they received enough assistance to pose a challenge to the stronger tribes but not so much that these smaller tribes would grow into significant powers themselves.

This approach aimed to keep the tribes on the western border of the Great Steppe fragmented and at odds with one another.

By supporting multiple smaller tribes, Western Zhou effectively sowed discord and prevented any unification that could threaten their interests.

It’s a strategy designed to maintain a status quo of division and internal strife among the tribes of the Great Steppe, thereby securing Western Zhou’s position in the region.

The strategy of Western Zhou, in befriending and supporting smaller tribes along the western border of the Great Steppe, is a subtle but effective approach to maintaining their own security and interests.

By nurturing these seemingly insignificant clans, they’re able to create a force that, when united, becomes a formidable power.

Even the strongest of tribes cannot underestimate the cumulative strength of multiple smaller tribes joining forces.

With ten thousand men and horses, there’s a significant military potential, and it’s highly likely that among these numbers, there will be exceptional individuals, skilled warriors, and strategists.

When the strong tribes of the Great Steppe face this united front, they might emerge victorious, but not without incurring significant losses.

Such internal and external threats weaken the strong tribes, preventing them from coalescing into a force capable of challenging Western Zhou.

Internal and external being threatened, how could then any strong tribe on the western border of the Great Steppe could then pose a threat to the Western Zhou?

They can’t and that is the genius of the plan of Western Zhou

The Western Zhou’s approach to using the dynamics between strong and weak tribes on the western border of the Great Steppe is indeed a clever strategy.

"Using the weak to fight against the strong" It is an interesting strategy. It is more surprising that it works.

While in many cases, the strong would naturally win in a conflict with the weak, it becomes a different scenario when applied strategically.

Strong tribes are inherently a threat to smaller tribes, and the strong often seek to expand their territory, which could encroach upon the lands and resources of smaller neighbouring clans.

Western Zhou takes advantage of this by capitalizing in these situations in which the strong tribes are occupied or away, perhaps focused on external conquests, which temporarily leaves their territories vulnerable.

This is the genius of the plan

After all, like Valgrun had discovered the only way for a strong tribe on the western border to expand is to expand to the west.

And to the west of the western border of the Great Steppe is none other than the Western Zhou itself

So, when Western Zhou capitalized on the situation, it means protecting themselves using the people of the Great Steppe.

The only reason for a strong tribe on the western border is away is only when they fight and try to take lands of Western Zhou.

Spies and envoys of Western Zhou act would then as agents of disinformation, spreading the word among these small tribes that the strong tribe is away, fighting to take lands on Western Zhou

The small tribes, driven by immediate self-interest and the prospect of seizing the resources and bounty of the strong tribe, react by defending their own territories.

Of course, Valgrun also recognizes that this is also an act that is helpless by the small tribes.

After all, if the strong tribes are not contained and get more lands from Western Zhou, then if Western Zhou could not restrain the strong tribe.... then what would happen to the small tribes

The tribes of the Great Steppe all have different way of life and they do not identify like the way Yan people identify with the Yan empire, the Zhou people identity with Western Zhou and the likes.

This not only weakens the strong tribe as they face a two-front conflict but also pits smaller tribes against the formidable enemy.

By fostering this infighting, Western Zhou ensures that the tribes on the Great Steppe remain divided, distracted, and unable to unite against Western Zhou itself.

It’s a brilliant use of the dynamics of strength and weakness in tribal politics to maintain control over the western border.

It is by this method and its variation that the Western Zhou managed to keep their western border safe

Their methods has always the use of cunning diplomacy and instigate fighting among the tribes on the western border of the Great Steppe.

Valgrun is keenly aware of the Western Zhou dynasty’s divisive tactics, which include killing champions of one tribe and framing rival tribes for the act.

These cunning schemes are designed to pit the western border tribes against each other.

In addition, the Yan dynasty manipulates events to create false scenarios where tribes are blamed for attacks they didn’t commit.

These underhanded tactics make it exceedingly challenging for any tribal chief along the western border to unite the tribes.

Suspicion and distrust run deep, and tribal leaders on the western border must navigate a web of intrigue, deceit, and intertribal conflicts as they face external threats and internal division, making any chief that make it his mission to unite the tribes a truly daunting one.

Western Zhou focused their intrigue only on the western border of the Great Steppe.

Because Yan would handle the south and as for the other, the tribes are too far from them and did not pose any threat.

When he was young he laments this and he knows he could not unify the lands around him. And without the unification of the land, the dire future he envisioned would surely come.

But in his youth, he had used all of his sweat, blood to protect the Great Steppe from being invaded by Western Zhou.

He is not ashamed to face the Skyfather and the Earth Mother.

Valgrun however is now old.

There is many wounds all over his body and there is many hidden injuries. Even though he is not as old as some of the old chief n other tribes, he look older than some of them

The years has not been kind to him and the constant battle and war has left him with many hidden injuries all over his body

But even though he is not as youthful, he has a bright mind and a large heart

Valgrun, with the wisdom that comes with age, has come to terms with his role and limitations.

He is not suited to be the unifier.

While he is not the one to unite the Southern Great Steppe, he recognizes the qualities needed for such a role.

His experience has shown him that being a capable general and a great tribal chief are not sufficient to unify the diverse tribes of the steppe.

It needs a different kind of ability.

The ability he has is not enough

Valgrun recognizes the requirements for a successful unifier of the Southern Great Steppe.

Such an individual would need to possess a combination of personal charisma, be in the right circumstances, command a powerful force, and have a vision that transcends the petty inter-tribal conflicts that have plagued the region.

It needed someone like that to take control.

Because for the western border to truly be secure, there needs to be a true central authority on the Southern Great Steppe

He would not think more than that. He did not think that there is someone who could unite the entire Great Steppe.

To him, that sounds like a fairy tale.

It is enough, if there is a figure among the rising warlords and chief in the Southern Great Steppe right now, that could rise to the occasion and unite the tribes of the Southern Great Steppe.

As long as one if the many warlords that is vying for the lands of the Southern Great Steppe could unite the Southern Great Steppe and give him the power to command the western tribes of the Southern Great Steppe, Valgrun is confident he could even capture the capital city of Western Zhou.

Expanding the power of the Great Steppe and break the chains of inter-tribal conflict and focus on external enemies

Valgrun is waiting for a Great Overlord!

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