On the way to the king's tent, Shulot looked at the sky. The sky was deep, the clouds were high, the sun was no longer warm, and there was a cold wind.
"It is already the end of December, and it will soon be the end of the year."
Shulot thought and lowered his eyes. He silently walked into the deep and dark royal tent, like walking into a beast's lair.
In the big tent, King Tisok is still high on the throne, his face is like a god, his eyes are slightly closed, and he looks calm. At today's meeting, the war priests were not present. The right side of the big tent is still covered with sun stone pairs.
On the left side of the tent are the army commanders wearing feather crowns and different capes.
Xiulote saw his father, also standing at the front of the left side of the tent, his face full of determination and worry. It wasn't until he saw the two people who came in that the Holy City Legion Commander Xiu Suoke smiled with joy. He and Xiu Luot
Lot exchanged a look, and then nodded politely to Avitt, the prince's brother next to him.
The brief greeting was fleeting and did not attract the attention of others. Soon, Shulot followed Avitt to the right and stood there. He looked around. Most of the generals in the tent were worried, and the familiar leaders could not help but
There were whispers, and the atmosphere seemed a little restless for a while.
A bonfire was lit in the big tent, and the light became slightly brighter. After a while, when the commander and the heads of each legion had arrived, Tisok opened his eyes. He glanced around with sharp eyes.
The sound gradually became quieter until it was completely quiet.
Shulot thought in his mind, recalling the scenes of the king's previous discussions, observing everyone's demeanor, and the quiet time spent silently calculating accounts... It seemed that the king's prestige had indeed declined.
"I have called you here for two things. One is to understand the casualties of each legion, and the other is to discuss the next plan."
King Tisoke looked at the city-state army commanders and asked in a deep voice.
"The Lord God witnesses! What are your casualties?"
The generals came forward one after another to report the losses of the legionary warriors. They cursed the cunningness of the Otomi people, complained about the lack of food and grass, and hoped that the king could distribute another batch.
Shulot watched carefully and saw Tisok's brows gradually frowning.
The siege has been going on for more than three months, and the casualties during this period are indeed much greater than everyone expected. In the rainy season, due to the unsuitable climate and guerrilla warfare in the mountains and forests, more than 600 of the 50,000 Mexica warriors have died from illness and more than 400 have been killed in battle.
The total number of people who were sick and injured was nearly 2,000, and even 20 Jaguar warriors, who were distinguished military figures, died.
In more than three months, the elite warriors have suffered casualties of 3,000 people. Shulot was a little surprised by this number. It was also the first time he witnessed the guerrilla warfare in the mountains and the power of the rainy season disease. You know, 50,000 Otomi warriors
Pulling it out and fighting with the 50,000 Mexican Legion may not cause this kind of casualties to the army.
It can be seen that the damage caused by logistics and environment to the army is sometimes far greater than that of large-scale battles.
The commanders present did not care about the militia, so they did not have very specific numbers of militia casualties. Xiulote only knew that the militiamen in the main camp and the rear were estimated to have lost three to four thousand people, most of which were concentrated on the troops maintaining transportation in the mountains and forests.
.Half of them died in the difficult mountain forests during the rainy season, and half were injured or killed in the guerrilla action of the Otomi team.
King Tisoke's brows frowned even more tightly, forming obvious vertical lines between his brows, like a jaguar trapped in the middle of the mountain.
"Totec, what are the Otomi casualties?"
The king pondered for a moment and looked at the commander-in-chief of the army. Totec hesitated for a rare moment, then took a step forward and answered truthfully.
"We found the bodies of more than 2,500 Otomi militiamen. As for the remains of warriors... less than a hundred."
Hearing such numbers, there was an uproar in the big tent. The Otomi militia actually fought a casualty ratio of 2 to 1 to 3 to 1 with the Mexica warriors in the mountains and forests. This was a completely unacceptable situation.
Numbers accepted!
"It seems that the Otomi people have finally found a way to deal with the Mexica warriors... How should the army deal with the cunning enemies in the mountains and forests?"
Shulot lowered his head and looked thoughtfully, but did not say a word.
"The Lord God bless us! We will definitely win and capture the mountain city of Otopan!"
King Tisoke prayed aloud, tried to calm down, and asked the generals in the tent to be quiet. Then, he looked at Avit seriously and asked sharply.
"Avit, where did these Otomi come from? How many more are there?"
"Dear King, the hostile militias come from the two states of Guamare in the west and Pamus in the north. In addition to these two places, a small number of Otomi warriors come from the more distant west or northern city-states."
Avitt looked solemn and replied seriously.
"The number of hostile warriors who came to support is estimated to be one or two thousand, while the militiamen are countless. This is because tens of thousands more strong men can be mobilized from the villages in these two places."
Hearing the number of tens of thousands, the generals started making noise again. Everyone was clamoring to make the Otomi people look good. Shulot listened attentively for a while and found that no one had mentioned withdrawing the troops yet. Otomi mountain people
The inability to fight head-on gave everyone a sense of weakness and an illusion of victory in sight.
This time, even King Tisoke could not calm down the noise in the big tent, and he had no intention of calming it down. With a stern look on his face, he asked the commander-in-chief Totec to come forward, and the two discussed a few words in a low voice. Then, Shulot
Seeing Totec's cold face and heavy nodding, his eyes showed a cold light. Then, the king ordered something again, and the cold-hearted commander knelt down on one knee and slapped his chest heavily with his left arm, indicating that
A solemn promise.
After a long time, the big tent became quiet. King Tisoke nodded, and the commander-in-chief Totec strode to the center of the tent. He stood behind a chest-high stone platform and announced the king to the generals.
decision.
"Witness the Lord God! The king has decided to separate two armies to attack the city-states of Guamare and Parmus! One is directly under the royal family, and the other is handed over to the city-state coalition. Each arm will send out eight thousand warriors, and there must be at least one thousand jaguars or
The Eagle Chapter, all put on the attire of ordinary warriors."
"Each road is accompanied by two thousand directly affiliated village militia, used to carry grain and transport trophies, with food being given priority."
Totec's eyes were focused on the faces of the city-state leaders. He stared fiercely until all the state leaders nodded in agreement before giving another order.
"The goal of this expedition is threefold! First, to attack the cities of Guamare and Parmus, demanding that the city-states surrender and pay tribute, sever the alliance with the Otopans, and withdraw the harassing militia. The main requirement is to withdraw the troops, and the tribute is optional.
.”
"Secondly, if the states of Guamare and Parmus are unwilling to withdraw their reinforcements and sever their alliances, they will show weakness to the city-states and induce them to leave the city to fight."
"Again, if the Otomi people are still like grass rats, huddled in deep holes..."
The commander-in-chief Totec paused and glanced at the generals again. Then he took off the long obsidian stick, "Maquavitel", which weighed more than 20 kilograms from his back. He raised his hands high, his muscles swelled, and swung it down with all his strength.
.
"boom!"
Xiulote was shocked and heard a loud noise. The stone platform in front of Toct exploded with a bang, dust rose up, and it was broken by a stick!
Seeing this scene, the generals were horrified. Their eyes immediately filled with fear and obedience when they looked at Totec.
The dust rose up, blurring the figure of the commander-in-chief. Shulot could not see clearly his red eyes, and only heard a cold voice, spitting out each word, like a glacier coming from a sacred mountain.
"Then let our warriors destroy all the Otomi villages and burn everything! No prisoners will be taken in this battle, no matter men, women, old or young, no one will be left alive!"
Upon hearing the commander-in-chief's announcement, everyone in the tent turned pale as they looked at each other and were speechless for a moment. Then, the generals suddenly agreed, and murderous intent arose.
Behind the queue, Shulot was horrified, as if he saw boundless blood rushing toward his face.
"No prisoners, no one alive?!..."
Since coming to this world, Shulot has discovered that although there are bloody human sacrifice rituals, in fact, the Aztec Alliance's army never engages in meaningless killings. The Mexica warriors will only capture those who can bring them with them.
Then let go of the old, weak, sick, and non-threatening young people, so that the village can continue to thrive.
This is like a jaguar hunting, which only catches food that is enough to survive. It is not like a cat, which carries out meaningless killing for entertainment, which is a waste of sacrifices.
The promotion of alliance warriors also proves this point. The promotion of warriors only counts the number of captured soldiers, and is opposed to pure killing.
Theologically speaking, sacrifices belong to gods. Only the lives sacrificed in sacrifices can satisfy the requirements of gods. The world needs a steady stream of sacrifices as fuel to maintain the operation of the sun.
Therefore, Mexica warriors need to continue their villages and need a steady stream of sacrifices. This is a realistic law of the jungle, and sacrifices are food for survival. They usually do not slaughter for wealth like the army of the Ming Dynasty.
Villages, in order to avoid pressure from civil servants, left no one alive.
On the other hand, the sacrifices also have different levels. The sacrifices of the gods are the most pleasing to the gods, the blood of the nobles is second, the ordinary warriors are qualified, and the inferior militia is just a dispensable addition.
This is also the reason why Hilotepec Hotoka City would rather sacrifice all its wealth than open the city gate: sacrificing three hundred noble divine nobles is far better than three thousand civilians.
So far, the wars Shulot has experienced have been low-intensity tribute wars and prisoner-capture wars, unlike the cruel wars of conquest of foreign cultures during the rise of the Yuan and Qing Dynasties. Now he is able to face the battlefield
They are fighting in the mountains, but they are not yet ready to face the real cruelty!
However, at this moment, due to the threat of the food road, the alliance's army is in crisis of survival. The warriors of Mexica are like wasps that have been stabbed in the nest, scattering with murderous intent. This time, they will give up their capture.
The principle of sacrifice responds to rat attacks with the absolute cruelty of a cat.
The generals then dispersed out of their tents, igniting elite warriors, carrying cold war sticks, and obsidian sharp pieces that were enough to consume and kill people.
Shulot lowered his head and was in a trance. He was pulled forward by Avitt, and his steps were unsteady. But in his trance, he saw his father striding towards him.
Then, the strong Shusok stretched out his arms and hugged Shulot hard. He lowered his head to his son's ear and whispered.
"Xulot, I know you have always been soft-hearted, but being soft-hearted is meaningless. My son, you must be as strong as a warrior!"
"Life is nothing more than flowers blooming, everything will die silently, and you will always see blood everywhere... The blood of common people, the blood of warriors, the blood of nobles, the blood of priests, and even my blood will flow on the earth,
And yourself!"
"Remember! The so-called warriors are those who are calm and regard death as their way home."
After saying this, Shusok lowered his head and kissed his son's forehead. Then, he hugged his son hard and turned away. Two steps away, Jaguar Orosh looked at Shuluo with some worry.
After a quick glance, he turned around and left.
In the end, only Avitt was left. He turned sideways, glanced at the student Shulot, smiled slightly, and continued to half-drag the boy, striding forward.
