The blue clouds are drifting far in the sky, and the yellow leaves are withering in the mountains. The autumn in the Northland is full of deepness, and the mountains stretch to the sky. The brown ridge extends all the way east, where it suddenly rises into a steep slope, and then turns north.
Shulot stood on the hill, his eyes fixed on the battle situation in front of him.
At this moment, thousands of canine warriors were entrenched in the mountain camp, relying on the steep slopes tens of meters high for defense. Two thousand Ottopan warriors, wearing gray-blue uniforms, fought hard along the steep slope, like rising waves!
The canine warriors howled and threw stones, and the red-haired hunters fired arrows ferociously. Arrows and stones rained down from high places, killing the climbing warriors and shooting down the approaching crossbowmen. The crossbowmen looked fanatical and stood at the back of the steep slope to fight back. The crossbow bolts roared fiercely and shot into the heads and faces emerging from the stronghold wall, mercilessly piercing the nearest enemy.
The drums of attack became more and more urgent, and the fierce shouts of killing drowned out the whistle of arrows. From time to time, there are long and shrill howls, echoing in the mountains, like the music of death!
Under the banner of the red dog, the canine descendants defended themselves against danger and resisted extremely resolutely and powerfully. Three times the Otopan warriors rushed to the camp and were defeated three times. Giovanni personally supervised the battle on the front lines. He gritted his teeth fiercely, raised his war stick angrily, and was about to send out the fourth team of warriors.
Looking from the hill, the blood dyed the brown rocks red, and the corpses rolled down the slope, like falling maple leaves, and like scrolls offered to the gods.
Shulot lowered his eyes and shook his head.
"Bertard, how much did the warrior Otopan lose?"
The warrior commander looked at the battlefield calmly. He is extremely experienced in battle formations, and after a little counting, he answered in the affirmative.
"Your Highness, at least five hundred."
"Where are the canines?"
"At most...four hundred."
"Raise the flag, blow the conch horn, and retreat."
"As you command!"
Bertard nodded. He picked up a huge conch and blew it himself.
"Drip!...Drip!..."
The fourth team of warriors was about to charge when the retreating conch horn suddenly sounded, breaking their desperate momentum. Giowa turned around and roared with red eyes.
"Damn it! Who is blowing the trumpet randomly? I'm going to take his..."
Prince Coyote shuddered. Then, he was stunned, lowered his head, and roared unwillingly.
"Order to the nobles and leaders to retreat!"
Soon, the dark green crossbowmen fired arrows to cover, and the gray-blue figures retreated down the steep slope like a tide. The canine descendants at the top of the city roared with joy and howled like wolves.
The big leader Chichika stood in the center of the chiefs, raising his hands vigorously and grinning wildly.
During the tribal meeting, although he was confident on the outside and repeatedly stressed his persistence, he was uneasy in his heart and even secretly planned a retreat. After all, the opposite is the famous Death Chief! It was only at this moment that Chief Red Dog felt reassured after seeing the enemy warriors' extremely difficult climb and heavy-casualty attack.
"Chiefs, warriors!"
Chichika shouted passionately.
"Chief Death is nothing more than that! We can hold on to this stronghold until the tenth harvest and the warehouse is full of corn!"
"Ouch! The big leader is mighty!"
Chief Red Salamander Ashulote echoed with a smile, and other chiefs nodded and shouted. The canine chiefs finally felt at ease and no longer secretly thought about escaping.
In the corner of the camp, the girl Alan breathed a sigh of relief. After going through the battle, she finally became a true red-haired hunter. She looked at the enemies receding like a tide, shook her short red hair, and excitedly waved the hunting bow in her hand. Then, her eyes followed the Otomi generals until they came to the black wolf flag.
"Your Highness!"
Giowa's face was full of shame and he knelt down in front of His Highness.
"I am ashamed of your high expectations, please punish me..."
"It doesn't matter."
Shulot smiled gently. He signaled Prince Coyote to get up.
"Prince Giowa, the terrain here is too dangerous. The Ottopan Army has attacked three times and has done a good job. The lives of the warriors are the most precious wealth and should not be wasted like this!"
Giowa stood up gratefully. He hesitated for a while, clenched his fists, and gritted his teeth to ask for orders.
"Your Highness, please give me three hundred pairs of armor! I will personally lead the guards and climb the wall for you!"
"oh?"
Shulot looked at him. He looked at Giovanni's expression and laughed heartily.
"That's right! Giowa, my warrior, you are determined!"
Hearing His Highness's address, Giowa secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He was anxious and waiting for His Highness's arrangements.
"The morale of the dog descendants is high, and they hold on to the danger. In the face of heavy stone throws, even the armor cannot defend themselves. The casualties of a strong attack will be too great!"
Shulot pondered for a moment and then spoke slowly.
"Giowa, I just watched it for a while. I have a rough plan on how to conquer this stronghold."
"Ah, His Highness the Divine Enlightenment of Wisdom! The Ottopan Army is willing to die for you!"
Giovanni immediately bowed his head with a generous look on his face.
"Okay. Giowa, I'll give you a new mission!"
Shulot suddenly smiled.
"I'll give you a thousand copper axes, take the Ottopan army with you, and cut down all the sparse trees around you."
"Ah, cut down a tree?...Follow your will!"
Giowa was stunned and nodded blankly.
The Mexica and Otomi coalition forces immediately set up camp in front of the camp. The terrain in the mountains is narrow, and the Guamare Corps, the Parmes Corps, and the Longbow Militia were all sent to the rear to station more than ten miles away. Thousands of Ottopan troops immediately cut down the surrounding trees. Then, under the command of the craftsmen who accompanied the army, they worked hard and quickly built more than a dozen trebuchets.
The canine descendants on the stronghold came out to harass many times, but were all killed and driven back by the heavily guarded imperial guards. The coalition's trebuchet soon began to take shape.
Chichika looked solemn, extremely concerned about the movements at the foot of the mountain. He first asked Amosi from the Red Fox Valley.
"What are these wood beasts?"
Amosi shook his head and did not know, but recommended a person, Zukata of the Red Monkey Tribe. In the past few days, he and the other party had been in the back camp, had a lot of contact, and had quite a rapport with each other. He knew that this was a "red-haired warrior" who came from a large tribe in the south. He was well-informed and knew the details of the Mexica people.
The warchief then summoned Zukata. Although Ozoma was reluctant to give up, he had to let him go.
"A warrior from the Condor Tribe!"
Chichica laughed boldly and opened her arms in welcome.
Zukata lowered his head, clenched his fists on his chest, and performed the courtesy of the Kingdom of Tarasco.
"Big Chief, greetings to you!"
Chief Red Dog nodded and looked at the visitor. The opponent was tall and dressed in the attire of a canine warrior, except for a split-feathered helmet that covered his hair. The sacred red hair has always been a symbol of canine warriors. The redheads of the tribe don't like to wear helmets if it's not necessary.
Then, Chichika stood on a high place, pointed at the giant wooden beast at the bottom of the mountain, and asked seriously.
"Zukata, tell me, what is the Cactus Tribe doing?"
Zukata watched for a moment and listened to the scout's detailed reply before answering firmly.
"This is a Mexica trebuchet!"
"Trebuchet?"
"Big Chief, I have been fighting fiercely with the Mexica people in the Kingdom's Southern Route Army for nearly a year. They have many new weapons that can control stones, thunder and fire. The trebuchet is a weapon that controls stones and can move dozens of kilograms. The stones were thrown two hundred paces away!"
"What? Two hundred steps away?"
Chichica looked shocked.
"Are you talking about this wooden beast at the bottom of the mountain? It can throw rocks weighing dozens of kilograms up the mountain?!"
"Uh, this height..."
Zukata looked at the trebuchet at the foot of the mountain, then at the height of the camp, and shook his head.
"The camp is located high up, and the steep slope is extremely difficult to climb. The Mexica's trebuchets cannot be transported up the steep slope, nor can they throw big rocks here. At most, they can only throw small rocks weighing several kilograms up. And when thrown upward from the bottom of the mountain, it is easy to use up all its strength. , soft stones are not harmful."
"Indeed. Throwing can only be condescending, but the reverse is much harder."
Chichika nodded, but her expression did not relax at all. He looked closely at Zukata.
"Zuccata, if it can't cause any damage, why would the Mexicans spend so much effort to do this?"
"Well...this kind of weapon can also throw burning and smoking fireballs."
Zukata thought hard for a long time before replying cautiously.
"Burning, smoking fireball? What kind of spell is this?"
Chichica tensed up again.
"I encountered it in the mountain fortress of Sitacuaro. The fireball would burn and emit thick smoke, clinging to the wall and burning. This kind of burning is difficult to extinguish. Water is not easy to use. It must be Use sand and soil. It’s just that fireballs seem to be very rare and there are not many of them. And while the fireballs are burning, the Mexicans can’t attack.”
"Fireball...Mountain fire..."
Chichika pondered for a while, pacing back and forth. The shadow of the recent forest fires still lingered in his mind. After a while, Chief Red Dog ordered Uman next to him.
"Uman, order all the warriors to be careful. Have them dig out more sand from behind the camp and store it in the camp! Well, by the way, although the surrounding forests are sparse, we still have to cut them down and pile them far away!"
"Uh... It's up to you, Chief!"
Wuman nodded vigorously and took his guards to do it immediately. Although his speech is unclear, his mobility is extremely strong. In just two days, the camp was filled with soil, and the shallow trees on the mountains on both sides were cleared.
After a few days, the Mexican Legion finally attacked again. The crossbowmen put on the bronze armor of their personal guards and fired at close range. The sharp crossbow bolts shot upwards, suppressing the hunters on the wall.
The dozens of newly built trebuchets were also squeaking, throwing out several kilograms of stones. The rocks came whistling, exhausted their strength in mid-air, and fell "gently" into the camp. A large number of the canine descendants who threw stones fell to the ground, but they did not cause any casualties, and they were unable to destroy the solid wall. Soon, the Ottopan warrior held up his big shield and charged twice tentatively. They shouted loudly and hurriedly retreated without even touching the wall.
"Haha, the wood beasts have nothing to be afraid of! The Cactus tribe was worried that we lacked defensive stones, so they specially sent them to us from the bottom of the mountain! When the enemy comes to attack, we will throw them down ferociously and return them to their warriors!"
Chichika looked around. Many tribal warriors looked horrified when they saw the huge stone-throwing wood beast for the first time. The big leader then laughed heroically, inspiring the fighting spirit of the warriors.
"Warriors, I have good news for you! All the ministries have finished harvesting the corn and are sending it in a steady stream! The fields in the valley are extremely fertile. This year is a good year!"
A good year means that everyone has enough to eat. Next year, there will be no need to fight to the death with other tribes for food, and no need to hunt the old and weak of each other.
"Oooh! The corn harvest is good, and the big leader is the son of the earth!"
Chief Red Salamander shouted again at the right time, and the camp was suddenly filled with cheers. The great leader's prestige was once again strengthened, and he gradually merged with divinity. If there is no interference from outside forces, a new powerful leader will be born within a few years and completely integrate all Guakili ministries.
Hundreds of steps away, Shulot did not erect the royal flag, but just stood on the hill watching the test firing. He listened to the enthusiastic cheers of the canine descendants, but a smile appeared on his face.
"Well done, Giowa."
The Coyote guards bowed respectfully, even if they harbored doubts.
"Let the canine descendants celebrate for a day and relax their guard. The trebuchet has been built, and the moment of the general attack is just around the corner!"
Xiulote pondered for a while and then decisively gave the order.
"Bertard!"
"Yes, Your Highness."
"Take out the rockets and give them to the longbow guards who are good at shooting! Re-dispense the gunpowder and create burning paper fireballs! Then prepare the artillery battalion and transport all eight wooden cannons to the battalion!"
"Yes! Your Highness, I will do it myself!"
Bertard responded calmly, with a bit of excitement in his voice.
"Okay! Send out the personal guards again and recruit the Red Frog Chief Coca and the personal guards Miwa!"
Shulot smiled, confident and calm.
"Tell them it's time to serve the Alliance!"
The words dispersed into the wind, blowing all over the brown hills and turning over the withered leaves. Amidst the canine's boiling cheers, there was a strong murderous intention hidden and flowing silently.
