Avitt stood solemnly on the hills of the north shore. He was condescending and focused on the enemy in front. Next to him, there are dozens of drummers, conch trumpeters and flag bearers delivering orders, waiting for the commander's orders.
This is the crossing of the narrow Leman River. Even in the rainy season when the river water rises, the width is only five or six hundred meters, and the narrowest point is less than three hundred meters.
The Tarascans launched simultaneous efforts to cross the river within a range of more than ten miles. Hundreds of canoes were loaded with warriors with spears in their hands. They sailed like arrows and came northward almost instantly.
As soon as the commander gave the order, a low drum beat sounded on the river. Groups of Mexica canoes also surged out. The oarsmen increased their speed to the maximum, and after a few breaths of calm, the fleets from both sides violently impacted together.
Shulot felt that the world paused for a moment, and then there was thunder.
He saw two large boats, the bows of which collided with each other, and stopped moving forward with a crash. Then the ship shook violently, spun on the spot, and suddenly came together again. The sailors and militiamen on both sides had no time to wait for the ship to calm down, so they roared and waved their weapons, jumped on the enemy ship, and fought each other.
A Mexica militiaman held up a small shield with his left hand to block the stone spear that was being stabbed. He then held out an obsidian short blade with his right hand, inserted it into the waist and abdomen of the enemy in front, and then stirred it clockwise. The Tarasco sailor screamed and fell backward into the water. The place where he fell quickly turned red. As soon as the militiaman smiled, his chest suddenly felt cold, followed by a sharp pain, and he lost strength instantly. When he finally lowered his head, he could only see the spear that had reached the bottom of his body.
The Tarasco spearmen diagonally opposite cheered with ferocious faces, attracting attention not far away. He tried to pull out the spear, but couldn't. The thrust just now was too hard and too deep, and it got stuck in the ribs. Just as he was about to try again, a stone ax came from the side and rear, hitting the side of his neck fiercely.
The spearman's miserable howl was only half before the stone ax fell again. Then a thick bare foot kicked his chest, kicking his head-tilt body into the running river, erasing all traces of his existence in the blink of an eye.
The big boats are connected to each other. And the big boat versus the small boat is another kind of crushing.
The young man saw more than a dozen oarsmen increasing their power at the same time, and Mexica's big boat suddenly jumped up, like a hunting cheetah, and pounced straight on several small boats on the opposite side. A small boat had no time to get out of the way and was hit straight into the side string by the big boat. The boat was pushed up diagonally, lifted violently, and finally turned over, completely overturning. Several people on the boat screamed as they fell into the water. Before they could stretch out and swim, they were stabbed by several stone spears, piercing their heads like melons.
The other small boat quickly deflected, spinning and barely avoiding it, and then spinning again to connect with the big boat. Immediately, more than a dozen warriors roared and rushed towards them on the big boat. They used more than a dozen weapons to hit the few, stabbing several people on the small boat into bloody gourds.
The continuous impacts finally caused the big boat to lose speed and float on the water for a short time. When the dozens of small boats around found an opportunity, they swarmed in like a pack of wolves and surrounded the big boat. The militiamen surged up from all directions, stabbing with their spears. The sound penetrated deeply into the flesh, and the blood immediately soaked the deck.
The battle on the water is particularly brutal. The warriors were entangled with each other, weapons were coming from all directions, and their feet were always shaky and slippery. Falling into the water often means death.
While being distracted by the fierce water battle, Shulot quickly ended the sacrificial ceremony blessed by the God of War. After praying to the patron saint Huitzilopochtli, the Mexica warriors finally gained the confidence to fight against the "evil cultists" of the alien god.
Only then can the young man take a closer look at the boats on the river. Both the Mexica and the Tarasco people here only have sailless canoes powered by oars.
The so-called canoe uses the trunk of a tree as a complete keel, and then the trunk is dug out to dig out the hull, and the bow and stern, corners and sides are modified. In this era, Mesoamerica's shipbuilding technology was limited, and there were no methods of nail reinforcement or keel splicing. Only by using a big tree as a boat can it not leak or fall apart.
Therefore, the length and width of the tree trunk are the length and width of the boat body. Tall, broad birch and fir trees are often the first choice for canoes. Fortunately, Central America was densely covered with forests at this time. Large trees hundreds of thousands of years old can be seen everywhere, and there is no shortage of canoe materials.
Canoes on the battlefield can be divided into two categories: large and small. Large canoes are the core of water warfare, and their manufacture requires complete logs and complicated processes. It is at least fifteen meters long and three meters wide, allowing four people to sit abreast. Of course, there is no height to speak of when a canoe is on the water. On both sides of the ship, many round shields were fixed with ropes to protect rowers and warriors, as well as to protect against stones and bows and arrows.
To efficiently power a large canoe requires at least ten paddlers. In addition to the rowers, a large boat can carry up to thirty warriors, while maintaining enough space for the warriors to wield their weapons. The large canoe is also a tool for transporting large items. The sacrificial plate of the city of Chilotepec was transported back to the capital of Mexico by the large canoe.
Small canoes are the most numerous ant colony and are much simpler and easier to make. It is generally no more than eight meters long and one and a half meters wide, and can be used by two people side by side. Only two oarsmen are needed to effectively drive a small boat, but sometimes a single person can do it. It can hold six warriors, or an equal volume of supplies. It is also the most commonly used transport vessel by fishermen and merchants.
Shulot knew that the Nahuas and Mayans in the East also had a "giant boat" that traveled along the coast. Giant boats require certain skills and rare giant trees. It is thirty meters long and three to four meters wide. There is no way, the width of the canoe is strictly limited by the width of the tree.
This giant sailing boat is a paddle-sail boat with a mast and a large rectangular sail installed in the center. Sails were made from animal skins, cotton or even linen mats. With the sail as power, at least sixteen rowers are needed on the boat.
The Nahuas and Mayans drove giant boats across the boundless lake, trading precious spices, gems, feathers and sacred smoke. The Mayans even sailed to distant islands to trade tobacco and cotton with Taíno tribes. There are Caribbean islands that are primitive but already densely populated.
Shulot shook his head and stopped thinking about it. Silently he estimated the number of Tarascan ships.
Avitt told him that this time the Mexican navy mobilized on a large scale, and a total of 200 large boats and 600 small boats came from Lake Texcoco. However, the boat did not carry all the naval forces. Instead, half of the space was used to load grain and grass, so the total number of the boat division was about 8,000.
On the opposite side, the Tarascans had about a hundred large boats and eight hundred small boats, all fully loaded. The total number was about 11,000, of which 5,000 were militiamen with spears on board. Although the Tarascos were lake people, Lake Patzcuaro in the core area was not connected to the Leman River, and they could not muster enough large ships.
In river warfare, big ships are better than small ships, and more ships are better than fewer ships, especially when there are no crossbows, slings, or artillery. The boy considered the classic fire attack tactic, and Avitt was also tempted. After searching around, the two of them regretfully discovered that they couldn't find much oil at the moment. Because animal fats were scarce and vegetable oils were expensive, high-yielding oil crops had not yet been introduced to the Americas.
"When can we go to Texas or Venezuela to dig for oil? Greek fire is a powerful weapon in water warfare, although the specific formula is not yet clear." Shulot was a little yearning, but also a little self-deprecating.
"It seems that California has a lot of oil, and the climate is warm and suitable. It is better than the cold wave-ridden north and the rainforest miasma in the south. As long as the shipbuilding technology allows, colonizing California is a good choice."
In addition to fire attack and long-range, the galley era can also install a ramming horn on the bow. The ferocious impact of the large boat can easily tear apart the small boat. However, the Mexicans did not have enough metal, which probably did not occur to the Tarascans.
As a result, the water battle on the river at this time became a cruel hand-to-hand battle. Soldiers from both sides were fighting desperately. From time to time, militiamen screamed and fell into the water. A layer of spreading light red quickly appeared on the river.
In just two quarters of an hour, both sides suffered thousands of casualties. If they were on land, I'm afraid the militias would have collapsed long ago. But the chaotic and brutal water battle increased the tolerance of both parties. Either everyone on the ship dies, or everyone on the ship survives, and the surviving captain still retains enough morale.
"The situation seems not good." The young man quickly calculated the casualties of both sides. The numbers did not lie.
Avitt frowned. Relying on the advantage of the large ship, the Mexican navy made a lot of money in the initial collision. But once it enters a large-scale boarding battle, the numerical disadvantage becomes apparent.
"The Tarascan spearmen have killed and wounded many of our militiamen. If they continue to consume us, we will be defeated first." The commander quickly confirmed the battle situation.
"Should we let the samurai or militiamen board the boat?" the young man suggested.
"There is no need to fight them on the water. The casualty ratio is too uneconomical. Send their spearmen up first, and then eat them in one bite."
As he spoke, Avitt clenched his fist confidently, as if he had grasped the enemy on the river in his palm.
He immediately ordered, and the sharp conch horn sounded across both sides of the river. Mexica's boat began to retreat and slowly broke away from contact. The 10,000 direct samurai behind the commander also prepared their weapons and were ready to fight at any time.
The Tarascan fleet did not pursue, and crossing the river was always the first priority. The oarsmen accelerated forward, quickly unloading large groups of spear militiamen on the river bank's tidal flats, and then quickly returned to the south bank to transport the next unit.
Nearly five thousand pikemen immediately gathered in small groups to form more than a dozen circular formations. They will trade their lives for time, waiting for the arrival of the next batch of reinforcements.
On the hills not far away, the Mexican warriors were already excitedly holding shields and sticks, ready for a hearty fight.
