"What a big river!" Shulot couldn't help but sigh while standing on the hill, looking at the Leman River.
"Indeed, what a big river!" Avitt also stood beside him, with the command flag on his back raised high.
He looked to the east where the river originated, to the northeast where the city of Xilotepec was located, and finally to the north of the king's camp, and admired it from the bottom of his heart.
"Xulot, do you know what's so good about this river?" Avitt smiled.
"What's so good about the river? It must be that marching along the river is faster and it's easier to transport food." The smart young man understood it as soon as he thought about it.
"Yes. And this location is particularly good." Avitt nodded in agreement, "Do you know how long it takes to get from here to the Mexica camp outside Xilotepec?"
"I'm not like you. I've fought here, so I don't know the specific terrain." The young man shook his head.
"It only takes eleven days from here to the main camp outside Xilotepec. Seven days by water to the east, and then four days by land to the northeast. How long do you think we walked from Xilotepec to Otopan? "
"Oh, that stretch of mountains and forests lasted about sixteen days." The young man thought of the difficult trek through the mountains and forests.
"Yes, if there is no enemy interference, it will be sixteen days. It will be at least five days faster to walk from here." Avitt became a little excited, "Do you remember that from Xilotepec to Otopan, the army set up How many mountain camps will be used to transport food?”
"Four, about three days apart from each other."
"That's it! From here, it only takes nine days to get to the nearest mountain camp outside Xilotepec Camp. Six days are by water and three days are by land. It is also the distance from Otopan Camp to Xilotepec Camp. The only way to go!"
Avitt smiled and patted the command flag behind him, and the big umbrella above his head swayed: "It will take at least thirteen days to get there from the siege camp."
"It's only four days faster. Avitt, what are you excited about?" The young man glanced at Avitt speechlessly, and then noticed the flag that was three meters high and still waving, and felt a pain in his back.
This thing is only a little smaller than the king's four-meter-high commander-in-chief flag, but the commander-in-chief flag is always placed on the king's shoulder and he doesn't have to carry it himself.
"Four days faster! Well, it's really useless now, but it means we have the initiative. The eagle always has to ride the wind to fly fast enough to catch the galloping hare."
"The premise is that you have to see the hare first." Shulot has already guessed something. He also has the ambition to soar, but all this can only go with the flow.
"So, we'll stay here now." Avitt laughed. "Like you said, wait for the rabbit to hit the stakes."
"The wooden stakes are easy to defend, but this river is not so easy to defend." The young man looked at the Tarasco patrol team on the other side of the river. They were holding bronze spears with a cold light in their hands. They were looking at the Mexica army from a distance across the river. . Further back, several scouts were running quickly, reporting to the rear.
"I still have this command flag. It has been idle for two years, and I finally put it on my back." Avitt smiled and patted the tall flag again. The process seemed to give him a special kind of pleasure.
"Are you so happy carrying a flag? This umbrella flag looks very heavy. Don't you feel tired after carrying it all the time?" Shulot asked with some concern, "Have a rest and let someone else carry it for you. Bar!"
"This is the supreme command of 30,000 people. How can you hand over the power given by the gods to others?" Avitt said with a smile, and then changed his tone, "Why don't you come and help me carry it?"
The young man waved his hand quickly. He was so heavy, but he was not a fool: "You just said that this is power, how can you hand it over to others casually?"
"Of course you can't leave it to others. But, Shulot, you..." the teacher opposite laughed, "I can still accept it if I leave it to you."
"Come on, don't try to trick me into helping. This thing is old and heavy." The wise young man had already seen clearly the teacher's plan, "I'm still a child, just let me go."
Avitt laughed happily. He smiled and joked: "You are still young now and don't know the benefits of this flag. When you grow up, you will try your best to carry it. You are not happy with it if it is light, so you want to change to a heavier one. The heavier the better, I won’t let go until I’m exhausted.”
Shulot curled his lips: "I want to be the master of power, not a slave of power!"
"Master? Slave?" Avitt studied it carefully for a while and then said: "This is a good metaphor. So how do you plan to be the master?"
"Being a master... hmm." The young man thought for a while and rolled his eyes: "Maybe he is restraining his desires?"
Avitt was immediately amused. He patted Hulot on the head and said with a smile: "You are the master, why do you have to restrain your desires? As a master, you only need to learn one thing: how to control your slaves and how to use your power. !”
Avitt once again used ancient ruling class ideas to brainwash the boy.
"In other words, you have to think about, what are you going to do with your power?"
"What about you, what do you want to do with your power?" the young man asked.
"I want to use the power I have now." Avitt patted the commander's flag again, "To catch the biggest and fastest rabbit. In order to gain more power!"
"What after that?"
"After that... the condor will fly into the sky, and wherever it can see, it will be its hunting ground, and it will eventually become the kingdom of God." Avitt softly recited a line of sacrifice to the gods. prayer. "I want to be a condor and conquer the whole world. What about you?"
"The cactus will penetrate deep into the earth, and the places it can touch will be connected by the roots, and therefore become people's homes." Shulot then read out the next prayer. "Then I will be the cactus, going to condense an empire."
"Then, the condor landed on the cactus. He promised the Mexica people: the fields of corn and deer, the boundary covered by the sky and the earth, will be your future!" The two then chanted together, their voices Gradually, it floats higher and higher into the sky, and then falls to the earth, like an oath dedicated to the gods.
Fierce emotions were integrated into the voice and stirred in the hearts of the two of them. They stood side by side and looked into the distance.
After a long time, Avitt smiled softly: "The corn has just sprouted, so we are discussing how to eat it. It seems that we are thinking too far."
Shulot also nodded: "Then drive the stakes first, what if the rabbit comes?"
The boy and the teacher looked at each other and laughed.
Avitt immediately used the power of the commander to turn the north bank of the Leman River into a large construction site.
He first selected five hills and highlands by the river and set up five forward camps. The camps were located against the mountains, built small but strong, and were several miles apart from each other. Thus controlling the entire area suitable for crossing the river. These camps were like nails. Even if the Tarascans crossed the river from a distance, they would be threatened by the nails.
In each camp, Avitt placed 3,000 militiamen and 1,000 city-state warriors as the basis of combat strength, 100 direct samurai, and 10 military noble Jaguars as the command level. Their mission was not to attack, but to hold the camp for at least five days. Relying on a strong camp, the morale of the army is maintained. Occupying a favorable location, a militiaman can achieve the combat effectiveness of half a samurai.
Next, Avitt built another large camp one day away from the camps.
He put ten thousand real elites here. Recharge your batteries, avoid the enemy's sight, and be ready to strike mid-cross at any time. This is the main force in the field, maintaining the initiative to choose and enter the appropriate battlefield. Shulot's newly formed Longbow Guards were also in the camp.
At the same time, Avit had already sent envoys up the river to establish contact with the capital's fleet. While fighting for food and reinforcements, they also required effective water intervention forces.
Amid the chilling armament, two weeks passed quickly. The first batch of Mexican boats finally arrived from the capital upriver with food supplies, like a small ant colony.
And the Tarascans finally assembled. The 80,000-strong army came in force and set up camps stretching for several miles on the south bank of the Leman River. Opposite them were the Mexica's walls, boats and warriors, a line of defense connected by mountains and rivers.
