"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!..."
The dark men carrying bamboo baskets came to the burning south wall like moths to the flames. Soon, a large cloud of sand rushed in, and the hot flames were extinguished, but the pungent poisonous smoke was still spreading. From time to time, a "moth" fell to the ground, unable to die quickly, just fluttering on the ground in vain.
Seeing the death of the moth people, the Tlaxcala warriors who oversaw the battle turned a deaf ear. They just drove the moth people from a distance while nervously looking towards the city. Hundreds of corpses were lying on the entire city wall, with blood flowing and solidifying like a dark red swamp.
"Boom! Boom!"
The golden behemoth spit out thunder again, hitting the city where people's hearts were shaking, and hitting the wooden shields of the company. The solid wooden shield was like thin pottery, shattering in an instant! Countless sharp wood splinters flew and shot towards the warriors behind, causing a scream.
"Ah! It's the evil beast of the Mexica, the evil thunder!..."
"Quick! Quick! Let the priests and elders from the holy city of Cholula come over! Hold a sacrificial ceremony and ask for the power of the God of Hunting to suppress the enemy's evil beasts!"
Lord of Water Valley City, Tlaxcala Honorable Noble, "Black Snake" Turcotte roared angrily. Wearing gorgeous leather armor and a long feathered crown, he was standing on a high platform behind the city wall with hundreds of bodyguards. From this position, he could clearly see the situation outside the south city and was outside the enemy's shooting range. Of course, you still have to be careful of the terrifying Thunder Bronze Beast.
"Quick! The warriors fill up the vacancies! The militiamen bring in shields and arrows! Everyone grab the clay pots of lime! ... The Mexicans are forming their troops, they will attack soon!"
"Black Snake" Turcotte quickly ordered. He looked across the fields, estimating the tens of thousands of Mexican legions, and his heart was filled with regret. He pursed his lips, suppressing his strong uneasiness, always paying attention to the enemies outside the city, and thinking about the current situation.
"Too many! Too fast! How could the Mexicans come in so many and so fast!..."
The official Eastern Expedition of the Mexicans began in December last year. In fact, as early as July or August, the four states of Tlaxcala received information from the priests of the holy city of Cholula about the large-scale mobilization of their old enemies.
In order to prepare for war, all states harvested their grain in early October and immediately carried out thorough mobilization. All tribal warriors were recruited, and the border forts were filled with warriors and militiamen. The noble "Cloud Snake" descendants of Tlaxcala also sent four envoys to ask for help, respectively to the Huastec tribes in the north, the Totonac tribes in the east, the Mixtec alliance in the south and the Sabo in the southeast. Turk Alliance.
At the end of October, Mexican scout teams began operating on the border. At the beginning of December, King Avit of Tlatoani, Mexica, held a grand sacrificial ceremony in the royal capital, announcing that one hundred thousand warriors would go out to launch a divine war against the Tlaxcalans!
"Black Snake" Turcotte had not taken seriously the "one hundred thousand warriors" and "divine war" claimed by the King of Mexica before, and only regarded them as false threats.
The "Flower War" between the two sides continues every year and has been fighting for half a century. The Mexicans made several large-scale expeditions eastward, but they failed to defeat the four-state alliance. The Shuigu City he guards is an important town in the south. It is located deep in the narrow valley of Tepeyaka State. It is a strong city built with stone!
Shuigu City is more than a hundred miles away from the border fortresses, with towering city walls and dangerous terrain. It is surrounded by mountains to the east and west, and has the Tarsus River flowing through it to the north and south. It is not afraid of long-term siege and is extremely easy to defend and difficult to attack. In the past half century, the Mexicans have invaded the state of Tepeyacac several times, and Dudu's troops have been stationed under the city of Shuigu, unable to do anything to the fortified city.
At that time, when he first heard the news of the large-scale invasion of the Mexica, Hilo, the priest and elder in the city, laughed loudly and left a bold statement, asking "the Mexica to sacrifice 10,000 warriors to the God of Hunting under the city of Water Valley." heart!"
"Hey! Hiero priests and elders!..."
Thinking of this, "Black Snake" Turcotte sighed. He looked at the enemy camp in the south, and there was a white-haired feather-crested head just appearing on the several-meter-high spear. The body of Elder Shiloh fell outside the city. As a high-ranking priest who was shot, he would naturally receive the "honor" of hanging his head.
"God of Hunting! How can you bear to watch Yun Snake's people fall into despair!..."
Turcotte was despairing. He looked outside the city and saw the mysterious Black Wolf King flag flying high on the mountains in the distance. The unfamiliar hound flag was erected in the siege camp outside South City. As for the east and west sides of Water Valley City, different Mexican city-state flags were erected respectively, symbolizing familiar old rivals from various states. Only the north side leading to the hinterland has not yet been surrounded.
In early December, the Mexicans divided their armies from the north and the south to attack the Four-State Alliance. The Northern Route Army was personally led by King Avite, while the Marshal of the Southern Route Army was His Highness, the Mexica "God of Death", Xiulote.
"... He is the most noble descendant of the gods. He can listen to the enlightenment of the gods and use the divine power of the God of War! He summoned the divine power of thunder and fire and personally destroyed the powerful kingdom of Tarasco..."
"Black Snake" Turcotte recited in a low voice the Western Expedition poems from the Mexican Alliance. Soon, a new round of fireballs rose from the enemy's position again, carrying thick burning smoke and falling towards the city!
"Buzz!...Boom!..."
Turcotte lowered his eyes, unmoved. He firmly believed that he was blessed by the "Cloud Snake" and such fireballs would never be able to hit him. Sure enough, the fireball roared past him on both sides and hit the hut dozens of meters away, igniting a large cloud of poisonous smoke. The moth people in the city were once again driven by warriors to put out the burning poisonous fire.
"Ahem! The breath of the volcano demon... The priest of the holy city of Cholula is right... What a pity!..."
Turcotte coughed as he continued to remember.
From December last year to March this year, the enemy's situation was almost clear. The Mexica's southern army is estimated to number 50,000 people, including four formal legions, all composed of warriors who are good at fighting. Among these legions are Mexico's most elite royal warriors, city-state warriors recruited from the south, conquered Prepecha warriors, Chichimec descendants from the north, and even warriors from the far west. The Tekos warriors!
Thousands of warriors from different origins gathered together and served loyally under the Black Wolf's royal banner, pouring in towards the east like a tide!
At the end of December, the enemy's canine team on the south road was the first to cross the mountains in the west and broke into the valley where Shuigu City was located.
However, the Four-State Alliance of Tlaxcala is a true alliance of city-states, and the city lords of each city-state hold the actual power of the military in their respective states. "Black Snake" Turcotte, as the lord of Shuigu City, is the most powerful tribal leader in the southern Tepeyakake State. Together with the "Water Snake" honorable noble Akotel and the priest elder Hilo, he controls 70% of the military and manpower of Tepeyaka State, and rules nearly 300,000 moth people!
In order to resist the Mexica invasion, the entire Tepeyacac state was mobilized. By the end of December, a total of 12,000 Tlaxcala warriors, 3,000 Cholula warriors, and 30,000 tribal militiamen had gathered in the Water Valley City area!
Yes, after the Mexica Alliance announced its eastern expedition to the Tlaxcala Four-State Alliance, the Holy City of Cholula officially made the decision to join the Tlaxcala people.
At the end of December, messengers from the Holy City sent messages to all directions, requesting reinforcements from various Nahua ministries. At the same time, the priests of the Holy City also began to take action, preparing to join Tlaxcala's army and boost the morale of the soldiers.
Facing the cruel divine war of their old enemy, the Mexican Alliance, the Tlaxcala nobles everywhere had no possibility of surrender. There is a bloody feud between the nobles of both sides, and the loser will only be sacrificed... Their only choice is to gather all the warriors and militiamen to fight to the end with the sworn enemy who has been fighting for decades!
The entire Tlaxcala people mobilized and resisted tenaciously. The canine team that took the lead in breaking into the Shuigu City area did not achieve any results worth mentioning. Subsequently, thousands of canine warriors appeared in the western mountains and fought fiercely with the tribesmen guarding the mountains, staining the mountains with blood. The main force of the enemy on the south road, carrying the Black Wolf's royal flag, appeared in front of the mountain pass fortress group more than a hundred miles away in the south.
In early January, tens of thousands of Mexican troops built large camps and gathered outside the mountain pass fortress group on the border.
After "Black Snake" Turcotte, "Water Snake" Akotel, and Shiloh priests and elders discussed together, they asked "Water Snake" to personally lead the team and add a large number of reinforcements to the mountain pass fortress group. A total of 7,000 Tlaxcala warriors and 15,000 tribal militiamen were deployed along the entire southern border area, relying on the mountains and fortresses.
In the view of "Black Snake", the southern defense line occupies a favorable location and has the support of Shuigu City. The warriors are full of fighting spirit, have sufficient food, and are equipped with many of the latest longbows... Not to mention indestructible, they are as stable as a rock and can last at least more than half a year!
The initial situation was indeed similar to what "Black Snake" had expected. The Mexicans dispatched thousands of city-state warriors and tried to attack some mountain pass fortresses, but they only left hundreds of corpses in vain. However, by mid-January, as the Mexica built fireball-throwing wooden beasts, many lower-lying fortresses could no longer be defended. And at the end of January, when the heavy and large copper beast was transported from the Texcoco Lake area, it roared like thunder and broke through the wooden camp...
"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!"
The deafening thunder sounded from the south again, bringing an irresistible bombardment!
"Black Snake" Turcotte closed his eyes in pain and prayed devoutly to the God of Hunting.
"Supreme God of Hunting! Please send down your boundless divine power to shut up the opponent's copper beast and lose its roaring power! Your pious descendants will offer you a blood sacrifice..."
The first appearance of the Thunder Bronze Beast was shocking and even more sowing fear. The most critical mountain pass fortresses, even if they were built with solid stones on high mountains, all fell in one day!
Frightened by the roar of thunder, the Tlaxcala warriors fell to their knees before the power of the God of War, losing all will to resist. Thousands of warriors laid down their weapons and, with even greater numbers of militiamen, walked out of their mountain fortresses and surrendered to their old enemies, the Mexica.
By mid-February, most of the mountain pass fortresses that the Tlaxcalans had built for thirty or forty years and stretched for dozens of miles had been destroyed, leaving only the last few stone fortresses guarded by nobles. Of the 7,000 city-state warriors and 15,000 tribal militiamen guarding the defense line, at least 3,000 to 4,000 died in battle, and more than 10,000 surrendered.
Within a month, the solid mountain pass defenses were broken through, and tens of thousands of Mexican legions poured in. "Water Snake" Acotel had no choice but to retreat tenaciously along the Talsas River with seven to eight thousand remaining soldiers.
The Tlaxcala people have the "God of Hunting" as their main god, and the "Cloud Serpent" incarnation of the "God of Hunting" is the noble bloodline of the god's descendants. All honorable nobles are related to "snake".
"Water Snake" Akotel never thought of surrendering. With his divine bloodline status, surrendering to the Mexica people would definitely lead to death. Along the way, he summoned the tribesmen along the way, and as a noble god descendant, he ordered the mountain tribes to resist guerrillas and delay the Mexica's advance.
In February, the high-ranking priests from the holy city of Cholula rushed over to calm the turbulent warrior spirits in time.
"...the Mexica god of war has fallen and is colluding with the darkness underground! Those fire-breathing wooden beasts and thundering copper beasts are not the power of the god of war, but the evil power of the volcano monster! Look, Warriors of the God of Hunting, those evil beasts still exude the breath of the crater! They will spread disease and darkness, and make the people of the God of Hunting doomed forever!...Fight, warriors! You have to fight for the Cloud Snake. Fight, but also fight for the earth beneath your feet!”
The priests' words finally appeased the warriors' morale, but they could not change the balance of power between the two sides.
The "Black Snake" sent the main force of the warriors in the city to pick up the retreating "Water Snake". The eight thousand Tlaxcala warriors fought head-on with the seven thousand canine legions pursuing the enemy. As a result, they were defeated by a thousand hidden bronze-armored guards. More than half of them were lost, and even the "Water Snake" almost died in the battle. ..
By the beginning of March, the "Water Snake" was forced to retreat to Shuigu City to meet with the "Black Snake" who was in charge. Together, the two of them, including Cholula's remaining reinforcements, had only six to seven thousand warriors left in their hands, completely losing their ability to fight in the field. However, the militia guarding the city is still very sufficient, with 15,000 people.
Since then, everything south of Shuigu City has fallen. Large areas of towns and villages, numerous tribes and warriors were all wiped out by the Mexica army. Rolling black smoke rose from the south, and countless moth people were strung up by hemp ropes and escorted to the southern sky, to an unknown distance.
"...Where are the cruel Mexica people going to take them? Are the humble moth people worthy of being sacrificed to God?"
The roar of cannons drowned the desperate cries, and the warriors lined up to prepare for the charge to the city. While trapped in the city of sorrow, a strange question suddenly flashed in "Black Snake" Turcotte's mind. After a few breaths, he shook his head and didn't care about the fate of the moth people. Because now even the noble descendants of gods can no longer protect themselves!
"Supreme God of Hunting! Your descendant asks you again to shut up the opponent's copper beast and lose the power of roaring!..."
As if hearing Black Wolf's prayer, the gunners operating the cannon outside the southern city wall finally stopped moving. They carefully touched the hot copper cannon, pushed the hardwood cannon mount hard, and pulled the copper cannon to the rear of the military formation. And a moment later, fierce war drums sounded outside Nancheng, mixed with faintly audible pious shouts!
"Dong Dong Dong! Dong Dong Dong!..."
"Praise the Lord God!..."
"Dedicate yourself to God!..."
"Ho! Roar!"
