The early morning light rises from the hills in the east, and seems to emerge from the distant river. The calls of various birds are heard in the surrounding mountains and forests, looking for early-rising bugs.
At this time, the tribal station was quiet and full of life. There was a fire burning in the open-air kitchen, and dozens of tribesmen from the flag team were carrying baskets of food and preparing breakfast for more than a thousand people. The food they make is the simplest and most filling, such as corn tortillas, pumpkin pancakes and refried beans.
Among the moving and busy tribesmen, a group of red-haired hunters and a few warriors from Gyeonggi also quietly moved things back and forth in the secret cellar. And when all the secret deals were completed, the two leaders of both parties, the woodpecker Apei and the red-haired leader Mikui, also bumped shoulders cordially. At this time, they looked at each other like real brothers.
"Brother Woodpecker! This Western Expedition is to completely devour the Feather Chief! And this Chief has fought with the flag team several times... He is the descendant of that bird god, and he can run faster than anyone else. !…”
The red-haired leader Mikui smiled and reminded his new friend.
"So, I guess there won't be any big battles that are too difficult for you this time, but you should have to travel a long way! It will take a long time to come back after the battle!..."
"Ha! No matter what kind of divine eagle descendant Prince Feather is, if the kingdom's two armies press forward, he will only end up obediently offering sacrifices!..."
Hearing the reminder from the red-haired leader, the woodpecker Ape was a little unimpressed. He knew how powerful the Kingdom's Thunder God mortars were, and this time he went north, there were eight mortars! Come to think of it, in the Lake Chapala region in the northwest, there is no city-state that can resist!
"That's right! That... um... mesquite tree brother of the tribe! Remember to send someone, together with my personal guards, to see my manor in Gyeonggi and the clan brother in charge! God bless us! Our future business, then But it’s long and big!…”
"Okay! Don't worry, I understand! God bless you! Just go on your way with peace of mind!..."
The morning sun gradually rose, and Tlaxcala's archer camp set off again. When everyone was marching on the hills, they could already see Hekou County on the horizon in the distance, but after descending from the hills, they could no longer see it.
"Quick! Quick! Hurry up! Today at noon, it's time for the big festival to begin!"
The woodpecker Aipei urged hard and walked in front personally carrying the flag. Fortunately, after descending from the first-level dirt road in the hills to the plains, we reached the second-level county road paved with triple soil, where we could trot and march. After running like this for a quarter of an hour, the red-haired scout sent by Hekou County encountered the marching battalion. Then, under the guidance of the scouts, the Archer Battalion finally arrived at the wilderness outside the county where the grand festival was held before noon!
In the wilderness on the outskirts, a wooden altar seven or eight meters high has been erected, and a blazing holy fire has been raised. A legion of eight thousand spears, four thousand canine tribal soldiers recruited, three thousand village militiamen transporting food, and a thousand Tlaxcala tribal archers...are exactly the size of two legions, sixteen thousand Army!
"Hey! In this western expedition, the main force of the North Route only recruited 3,000 village militiamen to transport food? It seems that transporting food down the Leman River makes the maintenance of logistics much more convenient..."
Woodpecker Aipai was thinking about it when he saw two other thousand-man battalions from the alliance around the altar.
The first battalion all wore leather armor, were lean and not very tall. There are many strong female warriors in the camp, and even the leader is a female warrior holding a spear. Woodpecker Aipei thought for a moment and guessed that this should be the alliance's naval fleet. And with the addition of the Alliance Navy, it will have an almost crushing advantage over the Navy in the Chapala Lake area!
"The alliance's navy controls convenient waterways and maintains the logistics of the army..."
The woodpecker Apei pondered and looked at another battalion that was in solemn killing. The warriors in this battalion are all dressed in the attire of alliance warriors, with majestic animal helmets on their heads and black cloaks on their bodies. And if you look closely, you will see that under the dark cloaks of the warriors, there are actually white-gold bronze cloth face armors!
"Ah? Elites with a thousand heavy armors?...This outfit, this is...this is the temple guard of the high priests?!"
Seeing this group of elite heavy-armored warriors, Woodpecker Aipei felt a shiver in his heart. The temple guards are all elite warriors who believe in the Lord God. They have extremely high morale and excellent combat effectiveness. After putting on heavy armor, such elites may become the most terrifying opponents on the battlefield!
"Hmm... So many heavily armored temple guards!... Then the one who comes today should be the priest elder who is in charge of the military force of the high priest group, the God of War Elder Yazar, right?"
Thinking of this, the woodpecker stood on tiptoes and looked at the high altar.
At this moment, an elder priest wearing an obsidian feather crown and complicated sacrificial robes was standing at the highest point of the altar, majestically looking down at the gathered Hekou Legion. The sacrificial robes on his body have the pattern of thunder, and there is no doubt that he is the elder of the God of War.
On the left side of the elder God of War is a high-ranking priest who is also wearing dark sacrificial robes. He must be the fourth-level chief priest of the kingdom's priesthood, Marvelo. On his right side is Kuruka, holding a marshal's scepter and wearing a marshal's robe. The three of them stood straight, their expressions unclear, but there seemed to be no conversation.
"Ah! Are the priests and elders from the alliance standing at the head of the ceremony? That's right! His Highness Shulot is not here, so according to the clerical position, the priests and elders with the highest status should indeed preside over this grand ceremony!"
Woodpecker Ai Pei touched his chin and thought about the three people's positions. As a Holy City warrior from Mexico, he vaguely felt that something was wrong, but he couldn't tell...
"The sun has risen to its highest point and cast down the fierce flames! The Lord God's eyes are watching, and the sacred ceremony has begun!..."
At noon, the sacred smoke rises. The priests blew the simple and desolate pottery xun and beat the shocking drums. The grand sacrificial ceremony has also begun! Such war festivals are usually divided into two parts. One is to offer sacrifices to the main god and ask for the divine decree to go to war; the other is to divination the war and announce the good omen of victory! In short, such a grand ceremony must achieve the effect of boosting morale and inspiring people. After the festival is completed and morale is high, the army will set off and officially set foot on the battlefield!
"Praise be to my god Huitzilopochtli! Her power is infinite and supreme. She is the divine sun and the thunder of war! She controls everything, from the past to the future, from life to death!…"
The God of War elder Yazar looked solemn and his voice was loud and passionate. He chanted high, praising the majesty of the Lord God under the devout attention of tens of thousands of people! And when the opening ritual chanting was completed, the God of War Elder Yazar raised his hands high, faced the sun, and shouted sharply!
"The sun is shining high, and the gods have arrived! She is watching us, waiting for the sacrifices!...She longs for the red blood, and also longs for the blood of the gods! Come!...Offer the most sacred sacrifices, which come from the sun Descendants of the bloodline!"
"Ho! Roar!... Present the divine sacrifice! Blood sacrifice to the Supreme God!..."
Hearing this, the tens of thousands of warriors and militiamen present showed excitement and excitement. Among the fanatical legions, Woodpecker Aipei was stunned for a moment and then looked confused.
"Huh?!...His Highness has promulgated the teaching...Using the three animals of wolf, deer, and fish to replace the human blood sacrifice? Why is the big sacrifice this time still a blood sacrifice?..."
Afterwards, Woodpecker Aipei thought about it again, and when he recalled the words of Elder God of War, he felt a chill all over his body!
"I just said... a descendant of the sun from the bloodline of the sun? Ah! Ah this?!...Which alliance's great noble is this sacrificed person?!"
