The sunshine in early summer is already a bit warm, and the moist wind blows by the Haltokan Lake, and it seems that the breath of the midsummer rainy season can already be smelled.
Shulot followed his father, and his father followed his grandfather. The high priest stood at the front, dressed in formal sacrificial attire. Nobles and priests gathered around, their bright feathers connected together, dazzling with gold and silver. Everyone put on the most formal, brightest and heaviest clothes and waited for the king's army outside the south gate of the city-state.
Shulot was also forced to wear a priest's crown with blue feathers. The long feathers drew an elegant arc on his head, making him half a meter taller out of thin air.
If it is a warrior's crest, the feathers can be inserted upside down and hang down behind the body to facilitate fighting. Fortunately, this feather crown was specially chosen by him. It is relatively simple, not inlaid with gold, silver or precious stones, and the weight is acceptable. The surrounding feathers pricked his face and itched. He quickly left the crowd, came to the edge and sneezed.
"What's the use of these feathers? Wearing them on your head looks like a bird." Shulot complained in a dissatisfied voice. Speaking of which, previous history books mentioned that the Indians never understood why the colonists loved gold and silver that only had luster, but did not pay attention to the more precious feathers.
"Feathers are gifts given by the gods, and they are also tributes that the gods love. The more gorgeous and slender the feathers are, the more they are a symbol of nobility and holiness." Akapu emerged from the side with a smile.
"It is said that the twin brother of Shuloter, the god of death, Quetzalcoatl, the Quetzalcoatl god, has the most beautiful feathers in the world. He uses his feathers to control hurricanes and drive his huge snake body to fly into the eastern waters, sleeping when the sun rises. Where He arose. One day, He will wake up and return from the waters of the East to bring peace and prosperity to the world."
"Is Quetzalcoatl a flying feathered snake?" Shulot was shocked and asked curiously.
"This is the conclusion drawn by the city-state priests from the ancient murals in the holy city of Teotihuacan." Acap pondered for a moment and said.
"But in the murals of the Great Temple of Tenochtitlan, Quetzalcoatl has a human image, tall, white-skinned, and bearded. He was defeated and exiled by other gods, and sailed to the mysterious east on a snake raft. Traparan, and promised to return.”
"God damn white skin and big beard." Shulot expressed strong dissatisfaction with this myth. One day in the future, the Spanish colonist Hernán Cortes will use this myth to successfully win over the first group of Nahua people to lead the party and establish a leadership position over the Tlaxcala servant army.
Then on the day when Quetzalcoatl promised to return, he pretended to be Quetzalcoatl and was introduced to the imperial capital Tenochtitlan by Montezuma II with the etiquette of worshiping the god. He tricked and captured Montezuma II, and then massacred the priests and priests in the Great Temple. The nobles destroyed the empire's ruling center in one fell swoop, and then deliberately left countless clothes and blankets contaminated with smallpox virus and fled.
Smallpox spread rapidly in the densely populated capital, leaving Mexicans unprepared and without a strong organization to deal with the epidemic. Smallpox could no longer be controlled, directly destroying the core ruling group of the empire and wiping out 80% of the population.
The city-state alliance was immediately disintegrated, leaving the group without a leader. Two years later, the chaotic capital fell to the conquistadors and Tlaxcala servants in the second siege, announcing the end of the Aztec civilization.
Next came the Tarascos, the Miztecs, the Zapotecs, the Mayans, and all of Mesoamerica. The returned Quetzalcoatl brought only death and destruction.
"Disease, myth, servants, cavalry, and warships." Shulot said with his fingers, "Five sharp weapons for colonists to conquer the new world. Come one by one, first eliminate potential servants, and then carry out religious reform."
The boy once again fell into an ideal that was beyond his capabilities, until Acap patted him on the shoulder. "Look south."
Shulot looked to the south, and a magnificent army appeared at the end of his field of vision. Crowds of people filled the sky, and the red uniforms were dyed through the clouds. It was the color of cochineal, a dye tribute from the royal city. After a full month, Shulot finally saw the empire's army.
King Tisoke first started mobilizing in the three cities of the capital. Ten Hikipili, or 8,000-man regiments, were gathered into an army directly under the royal family. Half of them were elite regiments from the city-state, including a full 2,000 Jaguar warriors. and Eagle Warrior. This is an army that no city-state can resist.
The army declared the majesty of the new king and marched westward for a week to intimidate Tarasco and other western cities and gather the coalition forces of various states.
Tepanikapan's army joined first, followed by Tolocan and Lachico, and successively five regiments of eight thousand men. Then the army turned southeast for ten days, passing through Kuonahuac and Huaztepec, and added two more regiments of 8,000 men.
The team then stayed for two days to meet with the leader of the Chontar people, and along the way threatened the southern border of the Tlaxcala people, causing a wave of villagers to flee inward. Finally, the army turned north, marched for a week, and pulled out three more 8,000-man regiments from the wealthy Sarco. Among the armies of these city-states that have joined one after another, the proportion of elite regiments is slightly lower, about two-fifths.
The army of twenty legions, now so vast that it covered the sky and the sun, came all the way north and arrived at the ancient city of Teotihuacan, which was only three days away from the capital in a straight line. There were more than 70,000 warriors among them! This is a force that shocks the entire Mexica tribe.
"The Kingdom of Shimai, the son of Haotian, there are Zhou in the right order. The thin words are shocking, and they are all overlapping." Looking at the magnificent army that gradually came and filled the entire field of vision, Xiulote couldn't help but pull An ancient sentence.
"What are you talking about?" Akap asked curiously.
"I would like to say again that I was shocked when I saw the king's army." Shulot made a shocked gesture. "The king seems not to be in a hurry to attack the Otomi people, but is mainly visiting various cities to announce the rituals."
"You're right." Akapu smiled and hugged Xilot's shoulders.
"Each city-state is a descendant of the gods and can independently decide things within a radius of dozens of miles. Although the king is the leader of the alliance, he cannot directly command the military affairs of each city-state, or even completely control the nobles in the capital. Let the city-states obey , we have to rely on the military power of the capital, the prestige of the monarch, and the blood relationship of our city-state."
"So when a new king takes the throne, the first thing to do is to establish prestige in the hearts of the city-states. First, he must gather an army, and then patrol the states. At the same time, he will meet with tributes and intimidate his opponents. Crushing the enemies and sacrificing them is the last step of the ceremony. .”
"Kill a turkey to scare a group of monkeys." Shulot thought of a familiar idiom.
"Turkey, monkey?" Acap was stunned for a moment, then laughed loudly, "This metaphor is so interesting."
Then Akapu lowered his voice, looked around, and then laughed in a low voice: "If the city-states are compared to monkeys, then the king who occupies the capital is the monkey king. Only when the monkey king is strong enough, can he command everything Monkeys nearby.”
"In this way, if the monkey runs too far and becomes a wild monkey, or a group of wild monkeys, it must be beaten from time to time in order to hand over the fruit on time."
"Yes. But the Otomi are not monkeys of the same race, nor are they stupid turkeys. They are cunning native dogs. Once they see a bad situation, they will hide themselves in holes."
While he was talking, the vanguard of the army had already rushed toward him. A full four elite regiments of 8,000 people passed through the southern road and then camped by Lake Haltokan.
More than 30,000 warriors of all levels gathered together. At a glance, the red and black pointed hats and yellow beast helmets were swaying, and the obsidian war clubs reflected the sea of light. The camp was buzzing with people, with eager and confident faces, infected by the power of the group, at the peak of their morale.
On the lake, thousands of canoes carrying food came all the way from the capital, Texcoco Lake District. Ten years of grain stocks were opened to ensure the supplies of the troops.
Then, an entire legion of senior warriors, lined up in the neatest formation Shulot had ever seen in his life, approached in silence. All members were wearing leather armor and throwing spears on their backs, one thousand Jaguar warriors, one thousand Eagle warriors, and six thousand fourth-level warriors. No words are needed. The relaxed and ready-to-fight posture proves that this is the core strength of the empire.
Shulot and Acap both shut up and became silent. In the face of absolute power, no words, no matter how fearless, are weak. Shusok stepped forward in two steps and pulled Shuluo back to the team. It was obvious that the king would not be too far away from his trump card. Shulot noticed that Shusoke's body was solemn and a little nervous.
Behind the most powerful legion in Central America, Trato Anitisoc's royal chariot came slowly under the escort of five hundred "hair-breakers". These guards, who resembled the Huns, had most of their hair shaved off, leaving only the top of their skulls and a handful on the left and right sides. Wearing green thick cotton armor and a mesh cloak on his back, there is also a back flag on the cloak with the abstract symbol of the sun god painted on it.
Shulot simply understood them as Imperial Guards, and their combat effectiveness seemed very strong.
Unfortunately, there are no suitable camel animals in America at this time, and ox-drawn carts, horse-drawn carriages, and elephant carts cannot be counted on. Tisok, the bloodline of the god, could only sit on a shoulder cart carried by dozens of people. He was wearing a white robe with red stripes and a white skull-shaped helmet, which was particularly eye-catching. The helmet was also covered with long green feathers. This image is taken from the powerful evil spirit in ancient mythology.
Behind the shoulder carriage, there is a row of feathered flags. The flag was flying high, equally eye-catching, with various hieroglyphs painted on it. Shulot was struggling to identify the sun, cactus, eagles, snakes, lakes and giants above, when he saw a messenger coming in a hurry.
"The supreme sun god, god of war, descendant of the patron saint Huitzilopochtli, controller of the city of Tenochtitlan, the great and glorious Tlato Anitisoc, must be the same Meet the blood relatives, the administrator of the ancient holy city of Teotihuacan, and the high priest Shuter!"
