The wind blows in the middle of summer, and a full two weeks have passed since that unforgettable mobilization. The army of the holy city of Teotihuacan has finally been formed. The dry season has passed, and the rainy season has not yet arrived, and the cool wind has become moist.
.And the warm sunshine is still so comfortable.
The southern part of the city-state had been converted into a large military camp. During these busy days, Shulot watched his father meet with the hereditary nobles participating in the war, salute, greet, have dinner, make promises, and then exchange gifts.
Gift. Then, the young man watched his father, boxing, hugging, bragging, praising, and sparring with the elite warriors, and finally drank tequila until he was drunk.
The burly Shusok was high-spirited and high-spirited. From time to time, he had to meet with militia representatives, mediate disputes, and show his majesty. Slowly, a military leadership group with Shusok as the core finally took shape. And this newly established Eight
A group of thousands of people can be commanded with difficulty!
The Aztec military system uses a 20-man squad as the basic unit, and the core of the squad is a captain. Then the units are stacked with 20, 200, 400, 800, until the last Chichipili, 8,000.
The regiment is the ultimate unit of force that measures all city-states.
Under the tireless advice of the young man Shulot, Shusok finally divided the legion into ten battalions, each with about 800 men. As for the specific number, no one here except Shulot could count it clearly.
Among the ten battalions, five elite warrior battalions come from urban communities and are basically composed of formally trained warriors. Among them, senior warriors above level four, including Eagle and Jaguar warriors, are grouped into a senior veteran camp. They
Having sufficient ability to use powerful throwing spears is also the core of the legion's combat effectiveness. The battalion commander of the old camp is naturally Shusok's most trusted number one warrior commander and Shulot's training teacher, Orosh.
The remaining five civilian battalions are composed of militiamen recruited from subordinate villages. Most of the militiamen have only received superficial training. Some of them have experience in using slings to hunt, so they are gathered in a remote slinging camp. Others
The four battalions are all close combat battalions of the militia.
On this day, the reorganized city-state legions finally gathered in the school grounds of the military camp. The priests held high the flag of the gods and maintained order on the scene together with the nobles at all levels. The warriors gathered at the head of the camp to form a group of various sizes.
Uniform circular array.
Shusok was dressed in a gorgeous battle uniform and stood in the most conspicuous position, surrounded by noble officers from each battalion. Everyone was very proud of themselves, looking at the "big army" under his command with great pride, while speaking enthusiastically
With a desire to fight.
The young Shulot took the deacon Akapu, the new assistant and bodyguard sent by his grandfather, to visit each camp in the name of the priest.
The first battalion is the old camp. The senior warriors wear yellow or green leather armor, red and yellow cloaks, and wooden animal-shaped helmets. They hold a shield in one hand and a dancing stick in the other.
The sharp pieces of obsidian shone with a sharp cold light in the sun. Behind their backs, most of them carried two throwing spears on their backs, with the spear throwing tool inserted at their waists.
The veterans stood naturally, and the team automatically formed an unfolding battle formation. Their faces were relaxed, with the indifference of having experienced life and death. Their calloused right hands were dancing their war sticks at will, bringing out the charm of hard work. Shuluo
I turned around twice and counted more than two hundred menacing eagle and tiger heads.
"It turns out we only have two hundred Jaguar and Eagle warriors."
After calculating everything, Shulot sighed in disappointment.
"This is a bit far from the legion I imagined... I thought there could be a legion of jaguars and eagles!"
"Ha! Eight thousand Jaguar warriors?!"
Hearing this, Acap chuckled.
"The entire city-states of Mexico combined would probably not be able to reach this number! The three capital cities are the center of the alliance, and they can probably bring out more than 2,000 jaguars and eagles, plus more than 500 'hair-breakers'.
And these elite military forces are enough for every king to suppress many city-states. You must know that both the Jaguars and the Eagles are the first-class military nobles of the alliance!"
"Okay! The eagle will have it, and the jaguar will have it too."
Shulot pursed his lips and began to take notes in his mind.
"Old camp, ace, sword/club and shield soldier, throwing a spear, medium leather armor, high morale, average discipline, intimidating ordinary troops. Excellent assault infantry."
Such a record, imitating a certain familiar evaluation method, would help him quickly understand the strength of the army. Of course, he would not need to do this after becoming truly familiar with the legion.
Next, the second to fifth battalions are elite battalions. Depending on the wealth of the family, warriors of all levels wear leather armor or cotton armor, and some also wear battle cloaks. Most warriors wear pointed hats and one hand.
He holds an obsidian war club and a leather buckler in one hand. The face of the newly promoted warrior among them shows all kinds of excitement and imagination about battle.
In this somewhat chaotic team, Shulot saw two familiar faces, one smiled warmly at him, and the other smiled stiffly at him.
"Elite battalion, elite, sword/stick and shield soldiers, semi-leather and light armor, average morale, poor discipline. The melee infantry that maintains the front line has a somewhat low armor coverage rate. Okay, it's acceptable."
Further back, the sixth to ninth civilian camps. The equipment of these village militiamen is much simpler. Most of the militiamen are bare-chested, and only a few of them are wearing combat uniforms. The militiamen have a variety of weapons, including stone spears, wooden
Spears, stone clubs, stone hammers... The popularity of their shields is also very low. Only a small number of militia leaders have standard war clubs and shields.
The village militiamen chatted excitedly with each other, and the camp was noisy. Maybe they had the same enthusiasm for fighting, but this untrained passion would soon dissipate like quicksand under the attack of the enemy or harsh environment.
"Civilian camp, ordinary, short spearmen, civilian clothes and no armor, low morale, no discipline."
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! After a moment of reckoning, Shulot sighed and put his hand on his forehead.
"What can such armed men be used for? To fill the battle line and consume the cannon fodder of the enemy's arrows? If they don't gather together, they can't maintain morale at all. Maybe after improving discipline, we can consider the spear militia, like this period
The shogunate Ashigaru?"
As for the Tenth Stone Throwing Battalion, it gave Shulot some fresh feelings.
These experienced hunters hold a long rope, hold both ends of the rope with two fingers, and put in the stones. Then, they turn the rope with all their strength, so that the stones continue to accelerate in the center of the rope, making a sizzling sound. Finally, they have to rely on
Based on the feeling and experience, at the appropriate angle, open one finger to let the rope unfold. And with a "swish" sound, the rounded stones were launched, hitting bursts of dust on the school field!
Although the accuracy of the stone throwing is impressive, the power of the cluster launch is indeed considerable. Such a weapon is especially suitable for dealing with unarmored or lightly armored opponents. Unfortunately, although this kind of throwing equipment is simple, if you really want to practice it well, it is not possible.
It doesn't take a year or two. Among the militia, there are only one or two out of ten hunters who can throw stones.
"Slingbats, ordinary, slingers, civilians without armor, low morale, no discipline. A long-range strike unit that requires terrain support to destroy the enemy's morale."
Shurot shook his head and said he could only accept the only long-range troops. As for the simple single bows used by some hunters, Shurot tried shooting a few wooden arrows, but expressed despair at the range and power.
"Why are our archers so weak?"
After thinking again and again, Shulot asked in confusion.
"Bows and arrows are inherently weak. Only weak tribesmen would use such weak weapons."
Akapu said it naturally. However, he soon remembered another tribe that was good at shooting.
"Well, that's not entirely true! The Tlaxcalans are good at hunting and worship the god of hunting. They have a single bow that is nearly 1 person tall. It uses a copper arrowhead and can shoot through a solid layer within 50 paces.
Cotton armor. Our warriors who are good at fighting have been attacked many times by the despicable Tlaxcalans!"
"Oh? 50-step cotton padded armor sounds great! We can also form such archers. In certain terrains, powerful long-range troops will be very important!"
"Haha! How can long-range sneak attacks be done by samurai? How can we capture prisoners by shooting the enemy like this? And without prisoners, there will be no promotion. Therefore, Mexica warriors all prefer brave melee combat, not
Likes to use mean bows and arrows."
Speaking of these traditional perceptions, Akapu chuckled and was noncommittal.
"Of course, another reason is that ordinary craftsmen do not have the skills to make bows. The wood for making bows needs a long time to prepare, and bow skills also require long-term practice. Some senior warriors have a decorative bow at home and can also shoot, but
It's not enough to form an army. What's more, the Tlaxcala bow has a very short range and is not as powerful as a spear. Their damage to the leather armor of the Alliance warriors is always limited."
"Traditions always have to change... Where did the people of Tlaxcala get their raw materials and technology?"
The young man Shulot looked thoughtful, concerned about the technology of making bows. In his opinion, archers and cavalry are essential components of the army. The tactical role of these two armies is irreplaceable for infantry. In the current situation, America
Without horses, the cavalry is temporarily helpless. But excellent archers must be formed!
"Who knows, what kind of craftsmanship do they have? They worship Miscuatl, the god of hunting, and they have always had many bow makers. As for the leather, silk thread, bone glue and wood used in making bows... they should be mostly homemade, or come from
Trade with the Totonac people on the seaside and the Mayan caravans. Those Mayan merchants always have a lot of sources of goods! But it doesn’t matter, without bows and arrows, our warriors who are good at fighting can still sweep the world!"
"...swept the world? That's true now. But in the future, the world will sweep us."
The young man Shulot touched his chin and smiled helplessly.
Spears, bows and arrows, leather armor... At this time, Shulot was seriously thinking about the legion's shortcomings and improvements.
According to his current understanding, the political structure of the Mexica city-states is similar to that of the early Greek city-states, or the fifty princes of the Western Zhou Dynasty, or even the earlier Shang Dynasty. The military equipment and organizational level can barely maintain the level of the Spring and Autumn Period when Wu and Yue were fighting for hegemony. Only
Trochtitlan, the capital of the lake, was able to mobilize according to the community, and the military mobilization capabilities barely reached the level of the Qin State in the Warring States Period.
"There are no cavalry, no archers, and no heavy infantry. This is still hundreds of years away from the Roman legion or the Qin army! And Europe of this era... is already the age of matchlocks and plate armor.
"
Shulot took a deep breath and looked up at the sky. Akapu looked at the sky, looking at the sun that symbolized the gods.
"Copper and iron metals... there are no iron ores, only copper mines. And the wars in the Bronze Age consisted of bronze spears, bronze armor, hoplites, and Macedonian phalanxes!"
As his thoughts drifted away, Xuelote's eyes lit up, then dimmed again. The only copper mine he knew was in the hands of the Tarascans.
"I came here and had a long way to go..."
Shulot whispered in a low voice, using a language that no one could understand.
"Fortunately, I still have time!"
Time passed slowly, and a running messenger came in a hurry from outside the south gate. He looked nervous and brought an important message.
"God bless you! The king's army has already set off from the capital!"