The strong wind blew the yellow flag. The great river surges, reflecting the beast-shaped helmet. Shulot wore brightly patterned leather armor and a terrifying-shaped animal helmet, and carried a three-meter-high command flag on his back. Thousands of dazzling feathers fluttered on the canopy of the flag, eye-catchingly announcing the position of supreme commander.
Surrounded by everyone, Shulot stood majestically on the bow of the ship, looking around like a tiger. The command flag was high and heavy, and he was trying hard to fight against the strong wind and maintain his stability. And when he carried the flag of the commander on his back, all the distracting thoughts were dispelled, leaving only the strong will and cold determination as the supreme commander.
On the south bank of the river, urgent black smoke rose continuously, accompanied by messengers running to deliver the news of the appearance of the Mexican army to all directions. The Mexican fleet had smooth sailing, but Tarasco's messenger was far unable to keep up with the speed of the army. As far as Xiulote could see, farmers in Akambalo State on the south coast were still farming in the hills. They lowered their heads to clean the fields and sow seeds. Then they raised their heads and looked at the vast fleet on the river in amazement and shock.
In the mountains and forests, green smoke from burning weeds and trees also rises, mixing with the tense black smoke, and together they create mysterious patterns in the sky. Further south under the pattern, there are several stone fortresses of Tarasco, as well as many wooden camps. The fortress and the camp echo each other and form a complete line of defense.
"The northern coast is far away from the Alliance, and the Tarascans are busy with spring plowing, so military preparations are not sufficient. There are about a few days for the advance army to establish a foothold."
Xiuluo nodded and thought to himself.
His initial plan was to go to Herotepec and meet with the northern commander Ocelor to discuss the loan of Otomi warriors and the recruitment of Chichimec dog descendants. But the messenger reported back that General Ocerol had just returned from Huastek to collect grain. After appointing the person in charge of spring plowing, he hurriedly led his army to the northernmost border. He had already sent troops to clear out the Chichimec dog descendants and had been gone for at least two months.
Since he couldn't see them for the time being, Shulot sent an envoy to discuss recruiting dog descendants, and then led his army directly to the west. Regardless of whether General Ocelot deliberately avoided it, as long as the Northern Route Army gained sufficient strategic advantage, the attitudes of the lords everywhere would change.
Shulot looked to the north, his eyes lingering on the long grass by the river, where there were vaguely raised mounds. This is the battlefield of the Battle of the Leman River. Going north through the mountains and forests for a hundred or two hundred miles, you will find the extremely solid mountain city of Otopan. A few dozen miles to the west is the estuary of Lake Quiceo and the estuary fortress that controls this important road.
Shulot looked around and saw the wooden castle clearly visible in the mountains. This wooden castle was built under the supervision of Avitt and him personally. The scale and layout of the building were all clear, and it was the first foothold chosen.
The flag of the Kingdom of Tarasco is flying on the wooden castle. The flag has the symbols of the sun, the earth and the moon at the same time. Outside the wooden fort, one could vaguely see craftsmen and civilians hurriedly retreating in, as well as mountains of bricks, stones and wood. Apparently the Tarascans were fortifying the place.
"Soldiers are expensive and quick. We must obtain a stable stronghold before the Tarasco navy gathers."
Shulot made a decision. He shouted an order, and the mighty fleet moved to the north bank. The canoe has a very shallow draft and can get close to the river beach. Thousands of warriors jumped directly from the river beach, carrying long bows and clubs on their backs, and rushed to the shore.
Soon, the wooden castle not far away opened its door again, and a small group of twenty Tarasco warriors rushed out. They came to a nearby hillock and were careful to stay fifty meters away from the landing army. Then, they waved the bronze spears and shields in their hands, facing the flag of the Mexica commander, and shouted something loudly.
Shulot on the boat listened intently. The language of the Tarascans is only partially similar to that of the Mexica. He vaguely heard "Leave!... God bless... Prepecha!... Mighty... War!"
The young commander smiled lightly. He whispered an order, and the commander's flag waved forward. Hundreds of landed Mexica warriors held war clubs and rushed towards the hill ferociously. The Tarasco warriors observed for a moment, then immediately turned around and ran towards the mountain camp.
Bertard asked in a low voice.
"Your Highness, do you want to shoot?"
Shulot shook his head.
"There's no rush yet."
As he spoke, a jaguar warrior ran at the forefront of the pursuit. As he leaned forward and ran, he took off the throwing spear from behind, and then raised it high. Then, he suddenly accelerated and approached, and then threw it hard. A sharp spear suddenly flew out, with a "buzzing" sound, and shot towards the Tarasco warriors more than ten meters away.
It was difficult to hit the fast-moving target. The spear grazed the leather cap of the young warrior at the end, and then plunged into the soil with a pop. The samurai at the end was stunned and subconsciously avoided the imaginary attack behind him. His steps faltered, and he fell to the ground with a thud. When he tried to get up, he felt a sharp pain on his back, and then he received a heavy blow on his head. While he was dizzy, a pair of thick hands strangled his neck.
The two sticks subdued the Tarasco warrior in front, and the Jaguar warrior laughed loudly. He put one knee on the prisoner's back and pinched his neck hard. The prisoner was like a dehydrated fish. After a few desperate attempts, he collapsed with his eyes turning white. Only then did the Jaguar warrior let go, took out the rope, tied the prisoner's hands tightly, and let the prisoner breathe heavily. Then, he took off the prisoner's weapons and cotton armor in twos and twos, and then slapped the prisoner awake twice with his backhand. He pointed his big finger at the river bank, and the prisoner nodded in fear.
The strong jaguar warrior smiled with satisfaction, then unchained and dragged the trophies towards the command flag.
The pursuing Mexica warriors came all the way to the foot of the wooden fort, and were faced with a rain of stones and arrows that had been prepared for them. The Tarascans stood on the three-meter-high wall and shot hard at the Mexican warriors. At a distance of a hundred steps, the Tlaxcala bows in their hands could not break the warriors' cotton armor. The Mexican warriors deliberately slowed down and waited for the gate to open, looking for opportunities to take advantage of the situation.
The fleeing Team Tarasco bypassed the main entrance. They stuck to the wall of the village, protected by archers and stone-throwing militiamen, and circled all the way to the rear until they came to the half-open side gate, where they quickly withdrew into the camp. The Mexican warriors were worried about the shooting from the wall and could not catch up, so they had to return in anger.
A few moments later, three warrior battalions landed one after another. Shulot waved the command flag again, and the three warrior battalions were neatly deployed on the river bank, ready for battle. The scouts spread out in all directions, exploring the nearby mountains and forests. The army's landing was in an orderly manner. It was not until six warrior battalions landed that Shulot moved the flag and led the guards to land on the north bank. Four thousand warriors and thousands of sailors were left in the navy to be on alert.
The first batch of scouts had returned and reported that no ambush had been found within more than ten miles. The Jaguar Warrior in the vanguard also reported the intelligence obtained from the interrogation just now.
"According to reports from the prisoners, spring plowing has arrived and there is a shortage of manpower. Each of the five nearby wooden fort camps has only two hundred Tarasco warriors, one thousand militiamen, and nearly a thousand construction workers."
Shulot nodded slightly. He waved the flag again, and the drums of attack sounded. The six warrior battalions gradually spread out according to the direction pointed by the order flag, surrounding the wooden fort on three sides. The central army consists of the personal guard longbow battalion and the temple guard, and there is a longbow warrior battalion and a stick and shield warrior battalion on the left and right wings.
Not long after, the battalions were deployed in place. Shulot observed the three-meter-high wall, the outer wooden fence, and some of the brick walls, and thought to himself. As he ordered the craftsmen to build wooden ladders, he summoned Bertard and whispered orders. The warrior chief bowed his head and saluted, then left with hundreds of longbow warriors.
Soon, the captured Tarascans were guarded by two Mexica warriors holding shields. They came to the camp tremblingly and shouted in Tarasco dialect to surrender.
"... Thirty thousand Mexica troops have arrived... The Legion of Tarasco can't save them... The villages on the south bank are burned... Return quickly... Save their lives... The militiamen are sent back to their hometown... .”
As the announcement of the persuasion to surrender came, people on the wall were shaking and there were many discussions. The Tarasco warriors and militiamen looked at the endless Mexica warriors under the wooden fort and the huge fleet on the Leman River, and no longer doubted the size of the invading army. It was difficult to mobilize during the spring plowing season, and in a war of this scale, the isolated camps in the north had no chance of surviving.
While the defenders were in turmoil, a warrior carrying the battalion commander's flag climbed onto the wall. He looked at the size of the enemy, and a will to die suddenly appeared on his face. Then, he yelled loudly, waved his bronze spear, and seemed to be promising something, and the wall gradually calmed down.
Bertard confirmed his identity and waved suddenly. One hundred and twenty steps away, hundreds of longbow warriors fired arrows at the same time, and then with a scream of "Boom, boom, boom...", the continuous arrows just broke through the air.
The rain of arrows struck within seconds, and the leader carrying the flag could not escape, with a look of extreme pain on his face. His movements froze for an instant, and then he staggered and fell, blood gushing out like a fountain, and his body was covered with arrows. The surrounding soldiers also fell suddenly, and the warriors and militiamen in the camp were panicked. They fell down one after another to avoid the sharp arrows shot from such a long distance.
Shulot continued to wave the flag, and his instructions were to shoot accurately and aim freely. The longbow warrior battalion on the right wing immediately moved forward and dispersed. These elite longbow warriors fired continuously, gradually approaching to stand within 60 steps, and then aimed at the archers and militiamen heading towards the city, shooting them at fixed points.
The militiamen at the top of the city tried throwing stones and arrows, but they were unable to break through the cotton armor and rattan helmets of the longbow warriors. Bertard took aim with the arrow himself, paused briefly, raised his hand and fired an arrow. A Tarasco warrior who was shooting at him covered his throat, dropped the single bow in his hand, and fell over from the wall of the village. The warrior commander shot at another warrior guarding the fort without stopping.
The shooting lasted for several quarters of an hour and turned into a one-sided massacre. Only a dozen of the Mexican warriors were injured, and hundreds of people in the camp were killed. With the long-bow warriors' superior long-range advantage, more than a thousand defenders lay crouched on and off the wall. They could no longer fight back, and their morale dropped rapidly.
Shulot watched the battle calmly. He continued to wait for three to four quarters of an hour, until more than a dozen simple three-meter wooden ladders were ready, and then waved the battle flag again and ordered the stick and shield warriors on the left wing to prepare. These wooden ladders were able to be built so quickly thanks to the wood piled outside the wooden castle.
Then, the longbow warriors came within forty meters, aiming and firing arrows from time to time to suppress the city. After a while, the low sound of war drums sounded, accompanied by the battle flag pointing forward. Five hundred Mexica warriors followed the order and advanced, trotting towards the outermost wooden fence of the wooden fort and began to chop and destroy it.
Seeing that the Mexica began to destroy the first barrier, the temporary wooden fort commander shouted loudly, and the archers and slinging militiamen on the wall began to shoot sporadically. At this distance of more than ten meters, the Tlaxcala bow was enough to pose a life threat to the warriors. More than a dozen Mexican warriors fell to the ground one after another, not knowing whether they were alive or dead.
A thousand longbow warriors once again fired at a fixed point at close range. The probing Tarascans drifted like fallen leaves and soon became silent. The temporary commander was so anxious that he personally leaned forward to shoot and shouted loudly. Then he got his wish and was shot into a hedgehog, giving his life for the moon goddess Haratana.
Seeing that the wooden fence was broken, Shulot waved the flag again. The sound of war drums suddenly became urgent and resounded throughout the world.
Barda personally led five hundred warriors to arrive first. Wearing double armor and an animal helmet, holding the bronze battle ax awarded by His Highness, he rushed to the forefront of the siege team. Half a quarter of an hour later, the first wooden ladder was set up on the wall of the village, and Barda was the first to climb up. In just a few breaths, he climbed onto the wall, roared, and swung his ax fiercely, killing the nearby Tarascans. Behind him are more and more Mexican warriors.
With the support of the longbowmen, more than a dozen wooden ladders were set up on the wall, and the Mexican warriors climbed up. When more than two hundred warriors came forward, the camp was declared to have changed hands. The Tarascans resisted feebly for a moment. Seeing that the situation was over, they had no choice but to drop their weapons and surrender one after another.
Seeing the fall of the wooden castle, Shulot looked calm. In just one day, the stronghold was captured as scheduled. This victory is just an insignificant first step. The young commander waited for a moment until the gate of the village opened and Barda returned to report. Only then did he smile and praise the brave eagle warrior.
Shulot moved the central army, and the commander's flag entered the wooden castle. The warriors took full control of the interior and exterior of the wooden fort, and the prisoners were escorted out. The young commander took a quick look and found that there were about 1,500 prisoners. Most of the two hundred Tarascan warriors were killed, mostly from accurate longbow shots at close range. Hundreds of militiamen on the top of the wall also died in the battle, while the civilians under the wall suffered only minor casualties.
Shulot ordered in a deep voice.
"Check the situation of the prisoners. Those who are seriously injured and cannot move will be sacrificed. Those who are slightly injured can be kept as laborers to repair the camps and strengthen the city defense. Torture the surrounding intelligence of the warriors. Those who are willing to surrender will be converted, and those who do not will be executed!"
The priests obeyed the order, built a shrine, burned the sacred fire, and performed sacrifices and conversions at the same time. Solemn and mysterious chants sounded, accompanied by the blue flames that the Tarascans awed. The priests wore feathered crowns and robes, waved sacrificial obsidian daggers mercilessly, and devoutly praised the name of Huitzilopochtli, introducing the faith of the main god to the Kingdom of Tarasco for the first time.
Shulot did not preside over this small sacrificial ceremony. He sat high in the largest wooden house, analyzing the intelligence obtained from the prisoners, listening to the replies from the scouts after their exploration, and deciding the next move of the advance army.
The next day, the Mexican army divided into two groups and besieged two nearby wooden forts. They marched for one day, besieged for another day, and broke into the stronghold in two days. They killed three hundred warriors of Tarasco and captured nearly three thousand militiamen and civilians.
The Leman River flows westward, naturally dividing the north and the south. Faced with the sudden arrival of the Mexican army, the Tarascans finally began to mobilize their troops. The remaining two wooden forts on the north shore were abandoned, and the Tarascan warriors were the first to evacuate, losing hundreds of dollars in the pursuit of the Mexican vanguard. The remaining militiamen and civilians fled, and at least two thousand surrendered.
There was a temporary lull in the fighting on the north shore. The Kingdom of Tarasco lost five wooden forts built by the Mexicans, 700 noble warriors, and nearly 10,000 weed-like militiamen. The Mexican advance army established a solid stronghold on the north coast. The alliance's army suffered only a hundred casualties and consumed tens of thousands of arrows, but it gained eight thousand prisoners.
As the situation became clear, the Tarascans began mobilizing on the south bank. They recruited warrior militias, filled fortresses and fortresses, assembled naval vessels, and sent scout boats north to engage in sporadic encounters with the Mexica fleet patrolling the Leman River. Farther north, Otomi scouts were looming in the mountains and forests, secretly watching the battle by the river.
The fighting in the hot field has come to an end, and the dark clouds from the east have arrived. Real war is brewing, just as the first rain of the rainy season approaches.
