In the tropical lowland rainforests, spring always comes earlier than expected. It's the beginning of April, and the spring scenery is deep. The season of multiplication of all things comes with the singing of birds.
The American cardinals chirp "angry" and sing loudly, spreading their red and black feathers to attract the fluttering female birds. They occupy their respective "treetops", drive away male birds that cross the border, and even regard their own shadows as rivals for mating, constantly "dueling" with the air.
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"Eckart, the chiefs of the seaside tribes are these noisy cardinals. They rack their brains and try their best to occupy their respective treetops, but they can only see a little bit in front of them."
Shulot stood on the hill and looked at the rain forest in the east. The bleak Jinwan City is on the northeast coast, and the mighty adobe river is at his feet. At this moment, he looked across the river and saw a large group of soldiers carrying food, struggling to walk into the green jungle, and then startled the red birds chasing them all over the sky.
Hundreds of dog-born warriors, armed with swords and swords, guarded the tribe's troops transporting baggage. Occasionally, a red-haired hunter would appear as a scout. He would gently twist a bone arrow and shoot it accurately into the sky, and a small bird that could be roasted would fall down.
"These chiefs of Totonac are always unwilling to obey and contribute to the kingdom's battles! Only when the army arrives and the hunters draw their bows and shoot, do they realize their insignificance and the approaching death!"
A scout came from the west, dripping with sweat, and delivered the latest news. Shulot raised his brows and unfolded the urgent message. After reading it for a moment, his expression turned cold. Then, he handed the letter with the picture to Eckart, the captain of the guard, and said calmly.
"In the Wushan City area behind, there are several Totonak chiefs who are enemies of the kingdom, have raised rebels, and are attacking the army's food routes."
"God bless you! Is there a chief rebelling behind the army?"
Hearing this, the captain of the guard, Ekart, looked stern. He took the letter and read it quickly, his expression relaxed.
"The head of the family, these rebellious Totonac chiefs should be from the territory of the Mixtec people. When the army came eastward, they hid in the Mixtec Valley and accepted the protection of the people in the clouds. Now the army has left Go before they dare to emerge from the mountains like hidden agouti!"
"According to the description in the letter, there are only a thousand tribal warriors among these rebellious chiefs. With their strength, they can harass at most a small group of militiamen transporting food, and it is impossible to capture the city along the way! As long as two warrior battalions are mobilized and arrested Stop them once and defeat them!"
"Yes. Send an order to the warrior commander Bertard and ask him to send more manpower and deploy two thousand Mexica city-state legions to maintain smooth food routes!"
Xiuluo nodded and gave instructions in a deep voice. Then, he pondered for a moment and gave a sharp order.
"Write a few more royal orders to reprimand the Totonak tribe who surrendered along the way! Let them send out troops to drive out the intruding tribes. Tell them that if they continue to shelter or do nothing... wait until the subsequent army from the alliance arrives, Everyone must ascend the high platform of sacrifice and accept the judgment of the Lord God!”
Hearing this, Eckart was slightly startled and showed hesitation. From Tree Snake City to Jinwan City, the army's 600-mile food route was maintained entirely by a city-state army and thousands of tribesmen's surrendered troops. The tens of thousands of Totonak tribesmen along the way were only forced to surrender under the purge pressure of the Eastern Expedition Corps. The so-called follow-up army of the alliance actually does not exist.
"Master of the family, when you led the army to pass by, you comforted the surrendered tribes and rewarded the chiefs. But now, the food roads behind are empty, but you severely reprimanded and threatened the army... In case these tribes, Also rebel together..."
Hearing this, Shulot smiled. He pointed to the cardinal in the sky and explained patiently.
"Ekart, I was very comforting when I came along. It was for long-term consideration and to gain the hearts and minds of all tribes. However, you have to understand that these surrendered Totonak tribes are like cardinals with narrow vision. There is only one thing in their hearts. My own interests and my current focus on the Kingdom are still very low!"
"If people's hearts are not attached, they can only fear the majesty, but cannot appreciate the kindness. Therefore, if you want to drive them at this time, you can only use the kingdom's force as a threat and the threat of sacrifice to instill fear! And if you can comfort them with kind words, On the contrary, it will make them mistakenly think that the kingdom is weak and give rise to thoughts they shouldn’t have!”
"Ah! That's it! The master of the family is wise!"
Hearing this, the captain of the guard, Eckart, thought for a moment, and then his face showed surprise. He looked sincerely convinced and bowed his head respectfully. Seeing the admiring look and gesture of the captain of the guard, the corners of Shulot's mouth raised. The unhappiness of receiving the bad news just now disappeared a lot.
"Master, count the time, the commander of the Black Wolf Army should have arrived in the Coyote City area!"
"Yes. The latest news from the East is that five days ago, the bronze cannons arrived outside Zhuowu City, demonstrating the divine punishment of thunder. Later, under the persuasion of Chief Yorjin, Zhuowu City finally opened the city and surrendered... .More than 30,000 coastal tribes have surrendered to the Alliance!"
Speaking of the good news coming from the east, Shulot smiled and finally felt better. He stared at the green woodland in the east and sighed.
"With the capture of Jinwan City, there were 20,000 more surrendered troops and 40,000 surrendered tribesmen. With the capture of Zhuowu City, there were more thousands of surrendered troops and 30,000 tribesmen... At the moment, on the front line of the Eastern Expedition, only the Guards Corps was added. The Wolf Legion, the headquarters of the Kingdom of more than 10,000 people, controls more than 30,000 Totonak surrender troops! And behind Snake Killer City, there are 8,000 Yuyan Legion, and almost the same number of surrender troops..."
"The troops are surrendering more and more, and the brutal sieges are getting less and less. They can't be used up at all! I have promoted four thousand Totonak tribe warriors, and divided them into fields together with the three thousand Mixtec pioneer battalion. . And the Guards Corps also selected and accepted 800 seaside warriors, plus thousands of people absorbed by the Black Wolf Corps..."
At this point, Shulot pondered for a moment, calculated silently in his mind for a moment, and shook his head helplessly.
"More than 30,000 Totonak surrendered, and the kingdom digested more than 6,000 people at most! Although the remaining 20,000 surrendered troops have converted to the Lord God, they are still a potential threat to instability and must be suppressed by a large army. ...And it’s not easy to get them to truly return home!”
Seeing His Highness frown again, the captain of the guard, Ekart, pursed his lips and lowered his head without saying a word. Even though he was as thoughtful as he was, he couldn't think of anything to say that could make the head of the family happy again. After all, he didn't know much about the tens of thousands of Totonac troops who had surrendered, and he couldn't come up with a truly feasible solution.
"The handling of the surrender of the army, the inside story of the Totonak people... Well, the priests also used the truth potion and checked it. If it can be of help to His Highness... maybe, we should give her a chance!" ..”
The captain of the guard, Eckart, thought about it again and again, hesitated for a long time, and finally cautiously said with a smile.
"Master, after Jinwan City surrendered, the city sent many trophies, as well as gifts from the Jinwan tribe. One of them came from the newly succeeded Chief Snake Mother... Well, this gift is very... interesting!"
"Oh? A gift? That charming snake priestess?"
Hearing this, Shulot's face showed memories, and his heart moved slightly. After the surrender of Jinwan City, he immediately held a bloody conversion ceremony and forced conversions to various tribes. Subsequently, the 40,000 surrendered tribes were split into four large tribes of 10,000 people, half of whom migrated and the other half reorganized.
According to the plan, one of the two migrating tribes with tens of thousands of people would be handed over to the charming snake priestess to fulfill the promise of Jinwan City's surrender. The other branch was given to the nephew of Chief Da Ri, Yin Erwei, who was well-known in the tribe. What followed was severe relocation and reorganization, which completely dismantled the powerful Jinwan Department...
Thinking of this, Shulot touched his chin and asked doubtfully.
"Ekart, that snake priestess, Miawa... what 'interesting' gift did she bring?"
"Master, she sent a long wooden box with a rolled cotton blanket inside..."
The captain of the guard, Eckart, lowered his head and described calmly in a tone without any emotion.
"And when the guards unfolded the cotton blanket, they saw a woman wrapped in gauze inside!..."
"Huh? A woman wrapped in a cotton blanket?!..."
Hearing this, Shulot raised his brows with surprise on his face. At this moment, he was a little confused, as if he saw Caesar.
"The Lord God witnesses! Could it be?...Ha! What a bold woman!"
"Yes, the master of the house is wise!"
The captain of the guard, Eckart, nodded and answered with a smile.
"The gift wrapped in the cotton blanket is none other than herself!"
