The strong wind carries the chill of the end of December, and there is a kind of loneliness and solemnity unique to the autumn and winter seasons.
In tropical northern Mexico, there is no cruel white snow that covers everything, only beans with golden stems in the fields during the harvest season.
The end of the year has arrived, and in a blink of an eye it is already a bad day.
Perhaps due to the pressure of food, the two partial divisions quickly gathered together and immediately brought more than a month's food and grass.
The 20,000-strong army marched north for two days, and then separated to the northwest and due north. Thirty thousand warriors, nearly twenty thousand militiamen, and the holy and ruthless King Tisok were left behind, sitting under the city of Otopan.
Cassar stayed in the royal camp, leading a thousand Jaguars and five hundred Guardsmen, waiting for danger. King Tisok expected that the city-state of Otopan would seize the opportunity, leave the city to break the siege, and then welcome this "surprise".
Totec led eight thousand direct warriors and two thousand direct village militiamen, heading straight to Guamare in the northwest without stopping.
He had a wooden map, and whenever the scouts found an Otomi village, he would use bright red dye to draw a circle at that location.
Shulot originally did not want to participate in this expedition. He wanted to stay in the camp and teach his followers Chinese characters in peace. Avitt smiled, firmly held his arm, and dragged him out of the hut.
He could only leave one sentence: "You must study hard!" before he was ruthlessly dragged away.
Bertard selected sixty outstanding follower warriors to follow Shulot. Since Shulot created the "Behemoth" trebuchet, lower-level warriors have joined him one after another, and now there are more than 300 warrior followers.
Fortunately, the king is not in the mood to pay attention to such trivial matters now.
In order to maintain these followers, Shulot could only go to his father for alms from time to time. Shusok also agreed with a happy face and sent some Holy City warriors to act as the backbone.
The march lasted for half a month, with rolling mountains and hills along the way. At the beginning, there were dense forests. The further north you go, the less forest there is and the mountains gradually become gentler.
Shulot could clearly see hills and fields in front of him, as well as the faint smoke from cooking fires in the fields, and the barren mountain villages at the end.
Half a month later, the legion finally arrived at the city of Guamare. At this time, Totec's wooden board was covered with bright red marks.
Guamare City is a typical flat mountain city, built on a hill, with the bottom of the city wall more than ten meters above the ground. Shulot estimated that the city's area is about four square kilometers, and the height of the city wall is about four meters. The low hills still effectively strengthened the city's defense, and also halved the effectiveness of human catapults.
"Mountains, forests, mountain cities, and flat mountain cities. It seems that although the Otomi people are weak, they are not good targets for conquest." Shulot looked at the city-state in front of him and pondered. "If a war of territorial conquest is to be launched, who should be the first target of the empire's attack?"
Soon, figures flashed on the walls of Guamare. Avitt said that excluding the support for Otopan, there are currently about 5,000 warriors and 20,000 militiamen in the city. The numbers on paper are enough to fight the Mexica warriors.
The Mexican Legion marched to a place two miles away from the city. The eight thousand warriors took off their shields and war clubs and looked at the city head casually. Two thousand militiamen stayed behind to set up simple camps and guard the food and grass.
Toct sent an envoy, raising a flag and requesting dialogue with the city. Half an hour later, the city gate on the opposite side was half-opened, and a dozen nobles and priests came in a hurry. They were dressed in colorful clothes and feather crowns, and they were obviously dressed up.
The leader was a nobleman, wearing an exquisite black and white cotton robe with a smile on his face. Next to the noble was an old man with an obsidian crown. The old man was of short stature, wearing a black and white striped priest's robe, and had a serious look on his face.
Toct stood in front of the legion, and he motioned for Avitt to come forward to negotiate. Avit then took his entourage, grabbed the young man wearing the Tengu priest uniform, and stepped forward with a smile.
As soon as the two parties took a stand one mile away from the city, Shulot felt a chill in his body. When he looked up, the old priest opposite him was staring at him with eyes that were cut to pieces by a thousand knives. No, it should be the sacrificial robe he was wearing.
The nobleman of Guamare smiled and asked with a hint of respect: "Dear Mexica leader, descendant of the Sun God." Then he heard the old priest coughing in dissatisfaction.
The noble's smile paused, and then he continued: "I am a divine noble from Guamare. I wonder what the Mexica warriors have to do when they come to Guamare City? We have always been on good terms with the Mexica City-State Alliance. , this response to Otopan City is only due to the alliance, not the original intention of Guamare City. If your war group needs food and wine, the city-state can supply it in sufficient quantities."
Avitt also smiled slightly: "Descendants of the God of Day and Night, the army came this time. First, they hope that the city of Guamare will surrender to the great alliance and hand over a symbolic tribute. The second is to ask the city of Guamare. Withdraw aid to the city of Otopan and sever the alliance with Otopan."
Before the noble could speak, he heard the old priest's angry roar: "The Otomi people will never surrender to the Mexica people. The city of Ottopan is the ancestral land of the Otomi people and must not fall to the brutal Mexica people." Add the hands of heretics!”
Avit's face turned cold and he said loudly: "The great King Tisok is leading us, and the powerful city of Hilotepec has surrendered. And now, the fall of Otopan is imminent, and a hundred thousand warriors have surrounded the mountain city. After the city is broken, all descendants of gods, priests, and nobles will be sacrificed to the Sun God."
"The Mexica army carries roaring beasts. Wherever it goes, no Ottomi army can match it! There are only five thousand warriors in the city of Guamare now, and they are even more vulnerable to the attack of the army!"
Avitt paused and then said with a smile: "However, the city of Guamare is too far away from the capital city in the lake and it is really barren. The benevolent king actually does not have much interest in this land. The Mexica army His conquests only reached the city of Otopan."
"As long as you show respect, offer symbolic tribute, and withdraw Otopan's reinforcements, you can be protected by the alliance and live peacefully and safely on this land."
"The status of the nobles will not change in any way, and the Tarascans from the south will not dare to invade again. The alliance's caravans will also bring cotton, cocoa, feathers, gems, gold and silver ornaments, and even Mayan sacred smoke. Your life will be more sacred and richer than before."
Avitt gently described the bright future, and the nobleman was obviously moved. He opened his mouth and was about to say something, but there was another roar in his ears.
"Treacherous Mexica hyena! Don't deceive the people of the original god with false futures!" the old priest roared, like the angry groundhog in Shulot's memory.
"More than a hundred years ago, it was the ferocious Mexica people who drove us out of the fertile and fertile valleys and returned to the barren north. You cruelly took away the sacred sacrificial plate of the city of Hilotepec, and you also tried to make Otto The Mi people betrayed the ancient faith. You heretics! Now, you won’t even spare our ancestral land. The original god will punish you with divine punishment!”
"It's impossible to communicate well with a religiously fanatical priest." Shulot thought.
Avit ignored the priest and just tried to continue to seduce the nobles.
"Otopan City is the foundation of our Otomi people in the north and the home of all city-states." Seeing that Avitt ignored him, the old priest calmed down and turned to the divine nobles and said: "Chichimecs, The Tarascans, Mexicas, Tescans, and many times the aliens invaded fiercely, we relied on the mountain city of Otopan to survive, and then when the aliens retreated, we could regain our territory."
"Once Otopan falls, the Mexica people will definitely sacrifice the Otomi god descendants, nobles and warriors in the city, and then migrate to the Mexica people's own god descendants nobles. After a few decades, when Mexico The city of Otopan is standing tall in the north, so how can we, the Otomi nobles and priests, survive? Conquest will inevitably come again, and then we will have no city of Otopan to retreat to!"
The words of the old priest obviously moved the leading divine nobles. The nobles looked solemn and nodded slightly to salute the priest.
Avitt's face turned cold and he spoke out a cold threat: "If the city of Guamare insists on continuing to make mistakes, the army will not show mercy! All the villages ruled by the city-state will be reduced to ashes in the fire. The wealth will be robbed. Go, the land will become barren, and the Otomi will fall wailing until every man in the city has been sacrificed!”
Hearing this, the old priest waved the staff in his hand excitedly. Shulot felt that he would go berserk at any moment, and the warriors on both sides also drew their war clubs and protected their leader with their shields.
After a while, the old priest calmed down and said coldly: "The original god protects us! With your strength, you cannot capture Guamare City."
"Destroy the villages outside the city if you want. Ordinary civilians are just grass in the wilderness. Even if the fire burns them to ashes, they will grow again when spring comes. As long as we still control the city, one day the land will Repopulated with civilians.”
"And the city of Otopan is the cocoa tree planted by the original god. The descendants and nobles of the gods are the cocoa given by the god. Once the cocoa tree is cut down, the Otomi people will be abandoned by the god and then die."
"Even if you burn all the grass in the field, it is better to keep one sacred cocoa!" The old prairie dog roared at the end, and with Avitt's eyes filled with murderous intent, he left with the nobles.
Hearing this, Shulot fell into thinking, "It seems that in the eyes of all the ruling classes in this era, civilians are irrelevant expendables. This should be determined by the balance of power between warriors and civilians. How can I change it? ?”
Avitt shook his head and turned back to Totec. The cold-hearted commander-in-chief was not surprised and just took out a wooden board full of red circles.
The peace talks failed, and all that was left was blood and fire.
