first killing of the 2 soldiers
Why were they killed in the beginning in the small city?
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Yes, that's the reason. Bronson explains this in the movie.
shareWhat was the reason? The post was deleted.
shareMajor Claremont gets hold of a message originally adressed to gov. Fairchild. He gives it to his two officers to decipher. Overhearing this is Carlos the chef and the trains engineer Chris Banion. Later on the bodies of the two officers are found in the train engines tender. From that, we may deduce that Carlos and Banion killed the officers, so they couldn't read the secret message and tell Claremont about it. What's in the message is never revealed, but may have to do with the upcoming plot that both Carlos and Banion are a part of.
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So from that, we can accurately deduce that the message was a vile one, from the conspirators, with instructions about selling weapons to the Indians or to outlaw gangs. It's a good thing that Major Claremont( Ed Lauer) didn't try to decipher it, else he would almost certainly have been killed by Carlos and Banion.
The conspiracy is becoming clearer now, than when I first saw this movie as a kid. Basically, the criminals are selling guns to the Indians or outlaw gangs, clandestinely, while keeping up the pretense of being honest, upright American soldiers. But not all the soldiers are in on the plot, Major Claremont and the two dead soldiers, as well as a couple of other passengers like the doctor who is later killed, are not involved.
The conspirators are pretending to carry relief supplies like medicines and food to a presumably besieged garrison, where in fact, the garrison has already been defeated and taken prisoner, and is awaiting the clandestine shipment of guns.
It takes Bronson(Deakin) working undercover, to bust up the conspiracy and expose the culprits including Governor Fairchild( Richard Crenna).