Chapter 41

< 41. Arrival. >

A countless number of men gathered in the field.

Their number was estimated to be around 400,000.

It was the result of mobilizing all the resources that the Aztec Empire and its surroundings could muster.

The minister of the Aztec Empire, Tlacaellel, looked down at them from a high altar.

‘Can we really beat them?’

Even looking at the enormous army, Tlacaellel could not shake off his anxiety.

The Aztecs are powerful.

They have crushed the surrounding kingdoms and tribes and expanded their territory.

But.

‘The Wakan Tanka Empire…’

No one in the Aztec Empire knew their true nature as well as Tlacaellel.

The Wakan Tanka Empire is very powerful. 

So powerful that he wondered if these formidable warriors could surpass their glory.

Tlacaellel was the first contributor to building the current Aztec Empire.

And he also had confidence that he could conquer all the surroundings in the future.

But it was a different story if the Wakan Tanka Empire was the opponent.

‘Why did such monsters appear in the north?’

Tlacaellel recalled the past.

The Aztec Empire learned about the monsters of the northern continent by chance. 

It was during the time when the Creek tribe was expanding to the surroundings.

The Creek tribe subjugated many tribes around them.

In this situation, many tribes fled from the Creek tribe in all directions.

But most of the places where they could live already had owners. 

So most of the tribes had no choice but to leave far away.

One of the fleeing tribes ended up going to Mesoamerica.

As soon as they settled in Mesoamerica, they told other tribes about the Creek tribe.

This naturally reached the ears of the Aztecs.

The emperor of the Aztec Empire, Montezuma, was very interested in the story of the northern continent.

So he invited them to his tribe.

‘That’s when I found out.’

Tlacaellel was also there.

They introduced themselves as the Tepehuan tribe, and soon spilled out everything they knew about the Creek tribe.

From their weapons that cut through stone knives in an instant, to all the information they knew.

But at first, many nobles, including the emperor, did not believe the testimony of the Tepehuan tribe.

‘It was too absurd.’

It was unbelievable that such a great weapon came out, let alone that all their warriors had such weapons.

How could they believe that?

They thought they exaggerated a lot.

But Tlacaellel thought differently.

‘They didn’t seem to be lying at all.’

He did not feel any trace of falsehood from them.

Seeing them, Tlacaellel felt a strange sense of anxiety.

So he argued that they should not ignore their testimony.

And he insisted that they should investigate the current situation of the Creek tribe themselves.

Eventually, Tlacaellel’s words were accepted.

Since then, Tlacaellel trained spies.

He learned their language and customs from the Tepehuan tribe.

And he sent them to the north.

Fortunately, the Creek tribe absorbed the surrounding tribes without any suspicion.

Thanks to that, spies were able to blend in with them relatively easily.

That’s how he heard about the Creek tribe from spies who came back alive with information…

The problem was that those pieces of information felt much more absurd than what Tepehuan said.

But all spies said exactly same thing.

The military power of the Creek tribe was beyond imagination, and their weapons were much stronger than obsidian weapons.

He had no choice but to believe it since all spies said so.

Besides, as evidence, he obtained iron weapons that they used.

The spies were right.

The weapons of the Creek tribe were very strong. 

They were incomparable to their own weapons.

Tlacaellel saw the future of the Aztec Empire from their weapons.

If he could get such weapons, he thought he could conquer neighboring tribes faster than now.

In fact, based on those weapons, the Creek tribe continued to grow their power quickly.

So quickly that it was terrifying.

Tlacaellel tried his best to find out how to produce those weapons since then.

Many spies were exposed and killed, and as Creek tribe noticed their existence, it became harder to get information. But after all those sacrifices, he finally got iron smelting method.

When Wakan Tanka Empire intervened around then, Aztec Empire also started to make iron products.

‘But our ironware is much weaker than Wakan Tanka Empire’s ironware.’

The ironware they made bent easily and they couldn’t make as much as Wakan Tanka Empire did.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t get any more advanced technology.

Of course, he also imported livestock called chickens and various crops, and achieved the feat of improving food situation.

Thanks to that, he was able to overcome the recent big famine with relatively little damage.

Anyway, he continued to send spies and tried to find out a better iron smelting method.

But he could only find out very bad news instead of that.

It was the news that Wakan Tanka Empire was going to attack Aztec Empire.

He thought he heard it wrong at first. Because it was so unrealistic.

Why?

Why did Wakan Tanka Empire, who had no direct contact with them, come to attack them!

That question was soon answered by the spies.

It was because of their practice of offering sacrifices to the gods.

The emperor who built a great empire with his bare hands did not tolerate such a practice.

That was the reason.

‘This is how it turned out.’

He was the one who perfectly established all the practices of offering a large number of sacrifices, eating human flesh, skinning people and making them priests’ clothes, and building skull towers.

These customs were deeply rooted in the Aztec Empire. It meant that they couldn’t be reversed.

Even if he had a lot of power in the empire, he could get into big trouble if he argued that they shouldn’t offer sacrifices to the gods.

That was impossible.

In other words, it meant that he had to fight and win against Wakan Tanka Empire in order to survive himself and Aztec Empire.

But that was not the end. 

Soon, more bad news came.

‘Damn. A better weapon. Has God abandoned us?’

The news came from the Wakan Tanka Empire that they had made steel that was much stronger than anything they had seen before.

They already had a hard time dealing with their existing weapons, let alone weapons that could smash them in one blow.

He wished it was not true, but it did not seem like a lie.

And the bad news was not over.

The Wakan Tanka Empire formed an alliance with the likes of Uakstek and Tototlak, who were located on the eastern sea, and began to supply them with weapons.

‘But they are still sailing. We have a lot more warriors than them before they all land.’

If the war dragged on, it would surely be a huge burden.

But if they could conquer all the areas near the eastern sea in the beginning.

‘There is a possibility.’

Look at this enormous army.

Of course, even if they won this war, it would have a big aftermath after mobilizing all their forces.

But it would be better than the destruction of the Aztec Empire.

He would surely die if the empire fell.

‘Please let us win.’

Tlacaellel prayed and prayed to God until the moment the warriors set out.

***

“Damn. I hope our allies don’t get wiped out before we arrive.”

“Hmm… They should be able to hold on, right?”

“They better.”

The head of the military, Strong Archer, muttered as he looked at the endless line of ships.

Strong Archer volunteered as the commander-in-chief of this war.

He was over eighty years old. 

He did not have much time left.

This expedition might be his last mission as the head of the military. 

He planned to step down from his position after this war.

So Strong Archer wanted to win his last war at all costs.

But unexpected news came from the beginning of the expedition.

The Aztec Empire’s warriors were trying to occupy all the areas where the Wakan Tanka Empire’s warriors were going to land, and hundreds of thousands of warriors set out for that purpose.

‘How did they gather such a force in such a short time?’

How could they have pulled together such a force in an instant?

‘It seems like some information leaked out beforehand.’

He thought he had sifted out all the spies, but it seemed like he was not enough.

Otherwise, this could not have happened.

Anyway, it happened.

Then he had to think about what to do next.

There were two possibilities.

The first was that the allies held on.

‘There is a possibility.’

The allies had about 100,000 troops. And a considerable number of them received weapons from the empire.

If they could hold on until the Wakan Tanka Empire’s warriors landed, it would be the best start.

But he also had to think about what if they could not do that.

‘What if all the allies are pushed back?’

Then he would have to start a very disadvantageous fight.

This war was different from before.

It was a war where enormous armies clashed.

That meant it would be very hard to land on the coast that had already been occupied.

‘Then we have to land somewhere else.’

Although the supply line would be longer and it would be harder to penetrate into the Aztec Empire’s mainland.

***

When Strong Archer was thinking about that.

A large-scale war between the Aztec Empire and its allies had already begun.

“God wants their blood! Kill them all who brought foreign forces into this land!”

The Aztec Empire’s warriors attacked the allies aggressively.

On the other hand, the allies focused only on defense by taking advantage of their terrain.

“Prepare arrows!”

“Shoot!”

Shoo shoo shoo shoo shoo!

Many arrows filled the sky.

“Ack!”

“Aaah! My leg!”

“Gulp!”

The first skirmish was won by the allies.

They occupied a higher ground and could shoot arrows farther away.

Moreover, their arrows had iron tips.

The iron tips pierced through the Aztec warriors’ quilted armor.

But.

“Charge!”

“Attack!”

“Yuck! You filthy Aztec demons!”

“Hold your ground! Stop them!”

“Aaargh!”

As the frontal battle began, the Aztec Empire’s combat power started to show its true strength.

Although the weapons were more advantageous for the allied forces. However, as soon as the battle turned into a melee, the tide shifted to the Aztec warriors’ side.

Moreover, the sheer number of enemies that kept pushing forward instilled fear in the allied forces.

Thus, the first battle was dominated by the Aztecs.

“Aaah! Save me!”

“Push them back!”

The allied forces were pushed back every time they faced the Aztecs.

But this was expected.

“Retreat! Retreat!”

The allied forces only fought until they could gain some terrain advantage.

Then they ran away without hesitation, and again delayed time with the help of the terrain.

Of course, many allied soldiers died while retreating…

“Damn it!”

The ones who were anxious about this were none other than the Aztecs.

They knew why they were wasting time like that.

Time passed like that.

And finally.

The vanguard of the Wakan Tanka Empire reached the land.

< Arrival. > The end