A full two weeks have passed since that unforgettable mobilization, and the legions of the Teotihuacan city-state have finally been formed. The dry season has passed and the rainy season has not yet arrived. The cool wind has become humid, but the warm sunshine is still so comfortable.
The south part of the city was converted into a large military camp. During this period, Shulot watched his father meet with the hereditary nobles who participated in the war, salute, greet, have dinner, make promises, and then exchange gifts. Then he watched him fist-bump, hug, brag, praise, compete with the elite warriors, and finally drink tequila until he was drunk.
Xiu Suoke also occasionally met with representatives of the rural soldiers to mediate disputes and show his dignity. Slowly, a military leadership group with Shusok as the core finally took shape, and the newly formed 8,000-man regiment was barely able to be commanded.
The Aztec military system is based on a 20-man squad, with the core of the squad being a captain. Then stack up in units of 20, 200 people, 400 people, 800 people, until the final group of 8,000 people, Hikipili. The ultimate unit of force against which all city-states are measured.
Under Xiulote's tireless suggestions, Shusok finally divided the legion into ten battalions, each with about 800 men. As for the specific number, no one here except Xiulote could count clearly.
Among the ten battalions, five elite battalions come from urban communities and are basically composed of formally trained warriors. Among them, senior warriors of the fourth level of combat, including Eagle and Jaguar warriors, are all gathered in a senior veteran camp. They have Enough ability to use a throwing gun. This is the core of the Legion's combat effectiveness. The commander of the old camp is naturally the most trusted number one warrior commander Orosh.
What remained were five civilian battalions, conscripted militiamen from subordinate villages, most of whom had only rudimentary training experience. Some of the warriors had experience hunting with slings. They were all gathered in a sling battalion, and the other four were melee battalions.
On this day, the reorganized legion finally gathered in the military camp's school grounds. The priests held high the banner of the gods and maintained order at the scene together with the nobles at all levels. The warriors gathered together at the head of the battalion, forming circular formations with uneven areas.
Shusok was dressed in a gorgeous battle uniform and stood in the most conspicuous position. He was surrounded by noble officers from each battalion. They were all very proud of themselves. They looked at the "army" under their command with great pride and spoke enthusiastically. With a desire for fighting.
Shulot took Akap, the new bodyguard and assistant sent by his grandfather, to visit each camp in the name of a priest.
The first battalion is the old camp. Senior warriors wear yellow or green leather armor, red and yellow cloaks, and animal-shaped helmets. He held a shield in one hand and a dancing stick in the other. The obsidian sharp blades on both sides of the fighting stick shone sharply in the sunlight. Most of them carry a throwing spear on their backs, with the spear thrower stuck at their waists.
The veterans stood naturally, and the team automatically formed an expanded battle formation. Their faces were relaxed, with the indifference of having experienced life and death. The right hand full of calluses danced the war stick casually, bringing out the charm of hard work. Shulot turned around twice and counted more than two hundred menacing eagle and tiger heads.
"It turns out we only have two hundred Jaguar and Eagle warriors." Shulot sighed in disappointment, "This is a bit far from the legion I imagined. I thought we could have a legion of Jaguars and Eagles!"
"Eight thousand jaguar warriors?!" Acap chuckled. "The entire city-states of Mexico combined may not be able to make up this number. The three capital cities can probably pull out more than 2,000 jaguars and eagles. , plus more than five hundred 'hair-breakers', this is enough for each king to suppress many city-states. You know, both the Jaguar and the Eagle Chapter are the first-class military nobles of the alliance!"
"Okay. The eagle will have it, and the jaguar will have it." Shulot started to take notes in his mind, "Old camp, ace, sword/club shield soldier, throwing spear, leather armor, morale High-spirited, average discipline, intimidating ordinary troops. Excellent assault infantry." Mimicking a familiar evaluation method, this helped him quickly understand the strength of the unit.
Next, the second to fifth battalions are elite battalions. Depending on their wealth, warriors of all levels wore leather armor or battle clothes, and some even wore cloaks. Most of the warriors wore pointed hats, the same obsidian war clubs, and leather bucklers. The faces of the newly promoted warriors showed all kinds of excitement and imagination about fighting.
In the somewhat chaotic team, Shulot saw two familiar faces, one smiled warmly at him, and the other smiled stiffly at him.
"Elite battalion, elite, sword/club and shield soldiers, semi-leather and light armor, average morale, poor discipline. The melee infantry that maintains the front line has a somewhat low armor coverage rate. Okay, it's acceptable."
Further back, the sixth to ninth civilian camps. The equipment of these village militias is much simpler. Most of them were topless, and only a few were wearing combat uniforms. Stone spears, wooden spears, stone clubs, all kinds of weapons, the popularity of shields is also very low, only a few leaders have standard war sticks and shields.
The village militiamen chatted excitedly among themselves, and the camp was noisy. Perhaps they share the same passion for combat, but this untrained passion will soon be worn away by the enemy or the harsh environment.
"Civilian camp, ordinary, short spearmen, civilians without armor, low morale, no discipline." Shulot put his hand on his forehead, "What can such armed men be used for? Cannon fodder to fill the battle line? If they are not gathered together. The regiment cannot be maintained at all. Maybe after improving discipline, we can consider the Naga-gun Ashigaru?"
The Tenth Throwing Battalion gave Shulot some fresh feelings.
These experienced hunters hold a long rope and hold the ends with two fingers. Then use all your strength to turn the rope so that the stone continues to accelerate in the center of the rope, making a whizzing sound. Then, based on feeling and experience, at a suitable angle, he opened one finger to let the rope unfold, and then launched the rounded stones with a whoosh sound, kicking up bursts of dust on the school field.
Although the accuracy of the stone throwing is impressive, the power of the cluster launch is still considerable, especially for opponents with no armor or light armor. Unfortunately, although this equipment is simple, it does not take a year or two to master it well.
"Sling battalion, ordinary, sling soldiers, civilians without armor, low morale, no discipline. Long-range strike units that require terrain support to destroy the enemy's morale." Shulot said he could only accept these only long-range troops. As for the simple single bows used by some hunters, Shulot tried shooting a few wooden arrows before expressing despair at the range and power.
"Why are our archers so weak?" Shulot asked in confusion.
"Bows and arrows are inherently weak. Only weak tribesmen would use such weak weapons." Akapu said matter-of-factly. "Well, that's not entirely the case. The Tlaxcalans have a single bow that is nearly 1 man tall, with a copper arrowhead that can shoot through a layer of cotton armor within 50 paces. Our warriors were killed by the despicable Tlaxcala There have been many sneak attacks by the Kara.”
"The 50-step cotton-breaking armor sounds very good. We can also form such archers. Powerful long-range troops are very important in certain terrains."
"How can long-range sneak attacks be done by warriors, and how can they capture prisoners? Without prisoners, there will be no promotion, so Mexican warriors prefer close combat and don't like to use bows and arrows." Akap chuckled.
"Of course, another reason is that ordinary craftsmen do not have the skills to make bows. The wood for bows needs to be prepared for a long time, and the bow skills also require long-term practice. Some leaders will have a decorative bow at home, but it is still not enough to form an army. . What’s more, the range of the Tlaxcala bow is very short, and its power is not as powerful as that of the spear. The damage to the warrior’s leather armor and cotton armor is always limited.”
"Where did the people of Tlaxcala get their raw materials and technology?" The young man was only concerned about technology. In his view, archers and cavalry are essential components of the army and their tactical role is irreplaceable. There is nothing we can do about the cavalry for the time being, but archers still need to be formed.
"Who knows what crafts they have? They worship Miscuatl, the god of hunting, and have always had many bow makers. The leather, silk thread, bone glue and wood used should be homemade or come from the Nahuas or Mayans on the seaside For trade, those Mayan merchants have many sources of goods. But it doesn’t matter, without bows and arrows, our warriors are still sweeping the world.”
"Swept the world? That's true now. But in the future, the world will sweep us." Shulot thought with a wry smile.
With spears, bows and arrows, and leather armor, Shulot carefully thought about the legion's flaws and improvements. Overall, the political structure of the Mexica city-states is similar to that of the early Greek city-states, or the fifty princes of the Western Zhou Dynasty. The military equipment and organizational level were barely maintained during the Spring and Autumn Period when Wu and Yue were fighting for hegemony. Only the military mobilization capability reached the level of the Warring States and Qin Dynasty.
"There are no cavalry, no archers, and no heavy infantry. This is still hundreds of years away from the Roman legions or the Qin army. Europe is already in the era of matchlocks and plate armor." Xiulote looked up at the sky. , Akapu also followed to look for novelties in the sky.
"Metals, only copper ore. Copper spears, copper armor, hoplites, Macedonian phalanx." Xuelot's eyes lit up, then dimmed again. The only known copper ore was in the hands of the Tarascans.
"There is a long way to go." Shulot muttered words that no one could understand. "Fortunately, I still have time."
At this time, a messenger hurriedly came from the south gate, bringing a message: "The king's army has set off from the capital!"
