Chapter 42

< 42. Bomb. >

Boom! Boom!

Two loud noises are heard.

“It looks like there are two columns of smoke.”

“Phew. That’s a relief.”

The sound from the vanguard meant that there were two columns of smoke rising from the land.

Two columns of smoke meant that they had not yet broken through the line of defense.

In other words, they had avoided the worst-case scenario that the powerful archer had anticipated.

“Still, we can’t relax until the vanguard returns. Tell everyone not to let their guard down.”

That smoke could be a trick by the enemy.

At the powerful archer’s order, the fleet kept a safe distance from the land and waited.

Meanwhile, the vanguard set foot on the land.

“Welcome! We’ve been waiting for you!”

“What’s the situation?”

“…Not very good.”

“Can you explain briefly?”

The man’s briefing followed.

The warrior of the tree learned the general state of the battlefield through this.

‘That’s a relief.’

The warrior of the tree nodded his head.

He could hear the details later.

The important thing was whether he could send his warriors to this place.

It seemed like he could, according to the man’s words.

The warrior of the tree immediately relayed this news to the powerful archer on the flagship.

The powerful archer also grasped the rough situation.

“It seems like we can proceed as planned.”

“Then I’ll order them to disembark.”

“Do that.”

The commander’s decision was made.

Soon, the situation became busy.

They didn’t have much time left for the imperial army.

The current battlefield was clearly far from the line of defense they had aimed for.

But to get there, board the ships, release their poison, and set up their camp, they had to move quickly.

They had no time to rest. They could rest enough after they reached the line of defense.

“Move quickly!”

Soon, the warriors and supplies were unloaded one by one.

That’s how 30,000 warriors of the Wakan Tanka Empire finally reached the land.

***

“They’ve arrived?”

“Yes. All 30,000 warriors of Wakan Tanka have arrived!”

This news was quickly reported to the allies by a messenger.

“30,000. I wonder if they can stop the demons of Aztec with that many warriors… Tsk!”

“We have to believe. We can’t stay like this, can we?”

After the first few large-scale battles,

the allies were pushed back quickly.

The Aztec warriors always widened their front lines, surrounded the allies, blocked their retreat, and tried to end the war in one go with a wheel battle.

If they were caught in this situation even once, many allies would die without being able to use their full strength.

This tactic was one of the main tactics that made Aztec what it is today.

The allies knew this well. So they never let themselves be caught behind and retreated quickly.

They only focused on hiding in the rugged terrain and slowing down Aztec’s march.

They didn’t even use the fortresses in between. 

There was a risk of being trapped and annihilated if they engaged in a siege battle.

As a result, they lost more than half of their territory.

Most of the residents had already evacuated to the coast, but there must have been some people who were dragged away by Aztec warriors.

They valued capturing prisoners very highly.

Aztec warriors’ status rose depending on how many prisoners they captured so far.

They suffered so much damage while buying time, and the result was 30,000 warriors from Wakan Tanka Empire as reinforcements.

But many of the allies’ officials doubted that number.

Of course, more reinforcements would come from the empire, but they wondered if they could stop Aztec’s warriors at the planned line of defense.

But there was no way to turn back now.

Once they joined forces with them, they had to go all the way.

If they lost to them, what awaited them would be Aztec’s fierce retaliation.

“Then let’s proceed as planned.”

That night, the allies carried out a large-scale retreat.

They didn’t ambush as usual. 

They just retreated desperately.

To their target line of defense

“The enemies are running away!”

“…Damn it.”

Tlacuellerel, Aztec’s nobleman and commander-in-chief of this war, frowned at that sight.

He was getting annoyed by them not fighting properly except for the first few battles.

If he believed that sight and attacked, he might suffer a lot of damage from their hidden ambushes.

“Send out a scout first.”

So Tlacuellerel had no choice but to advance carefully while checking for ambushes.

But…

“Nothing?”

“Yes. There were no ambushes.”

No matter how much they searched the places where they could ambush, the allies were nowhere to be seen.

“Damn.”

Tlacuellerel had a bad feeling in his head for a moment.

***

“Can we really stop Aztec’s army with this force? It’s quite different from what we expected!”

“Calm down. Time is on our side. If we wait, more reinforcements will come.”

The line of defense where the imperial army settled.

All the warriors of the allies joined them there.

The meeting hall of the allies was quite noisy.

The allies had already retreated and suffered a lot of damage.

The imperial army joined them, but the sum of the two forces was not much different from the original number of the allies.

Most of the warriors who joined the allies did not expect Aztec to come out with such an all-in strategy.

They just followed the plan because the war had already broken out.

The powerful archer tried to reassure them as much as possible.

If they had internal strife now, it would be worse than death.

“Phew. I feel like I’m alive now.”

“Ugh, I don’t want to go back to the sea.”

“Haha. Who would say you’re not from the capital?”

Whether the meeting hall was noisy or not, the warriors of both the empire and the allies took a sweet rest.

They hadn’t rested for a long time because of the war and sailing.

That’s how a few days passed by quickly.

“They’re moving.”

As expected, it was Aztec’s warriors who started the attack.

“Prepare for battle! Form up!”

“Prepare for battle!”

Boom!

A loud noise echoed.

At that sound, 30,000 imperial troops took their place at the front.

The rest of the allies followed behind them.

The allies had not received tactical training from the empire.

I didn’t want to get stuck in the middle of the front line. That could create a gap in our formation and ruin our chances of winning.

This area was quite narrow.

The surrounding mountains were steep and rugged.

With 30,000 troops, we could easily block the high ground.

“Everyone, line up properly! Remember your training! The moment one of you gets scared, your comrades will die!”

“Don’t be afraid! We are the greatest warriors of the Wakan Tanka Empire Empire! With the blessing of the Emperor and the great spirits, we will surely win this battle!”

“Ooh! Ooh! Ooh!”

Thud! Thud! Thud!

When the Aztec army was getting closer, the imperial army had already formed a perfect line.

These 30,000 troops were the elite of the Wakan Tanka Empire Empire. Most of them were veterans who had served in the military for a long time.

Their formation was flawless.

There were warriors with long spears and warriors with large shields.

And behind them were crossbowmen.

This was the basic formation of the imperial army.

The distance between the two sides was getting shorter by the second.

Soon, they could see each other’s eyes.

“What are those?”

“Ugh. They look like beasts.”

The imperial warriors frowned as they looked at the Aztec army.

The Aztecs looked very bizarre.

Many of them wore animal skins over their heads. Some even had fur and teeth.

Their faces peeked out from between the animal teeth.

‘They are as I heard.’

The powerful archer nodded as he saw them.

Those who wore such conspicuous outfits were the elite soldiers of the Aztecs.

He already knew that fact.

‘This will be a tough fight.’

The powerful archer had a feeling.

This moment was the biggest challenge of this war.

If we lost here, the war would last much longer than expected.

‘I will defend this place.’

He looked at the enormous number of enemies and made a vow.

And then.

The first clash between the two empires began.

“Fire!”

Shoo shoo shoo shoo!

The signal for the start of the battle was the arrows of the empire.

They had an advantage because they occupied higher ground.

The arrows filled the sky with darkness.

“Block them!”

“Aaargh!”

The Aztec warriors raised their shields to block the arrows.

The arrows pierced their shields endlessly. But their shields couldn’t cover everything.

Many warriors were hit by arrows.

Of course, the Aztecs also threw stones and shot arrows, but they were at a lower position, so their range was shorter than that of the Wakan Tanka Empire Empire.

And since the imperial army’s formation was covered by shields that hid their bodies completely, their damage was minimal.

The long-range combat was a victory for the Wakan Tanka Empire Empire.

If they stayed like this, their losses would accumulate.

“Charge!”

“Waaaaah!”

In the end, the Aztecs chose to use their numbers for close combat.

They had weapons called macuahuitl, which were wooden clubs with many obsidian blades attached to them, and round shields. They ran up the hill quickly.

The Aztec spear warriors followed them.

But they had to witness this.

“Everyone, spears!”

“Spears!”

Clack, clack, clack!

They saw long spears sticking out from between large shields.

It looked like a porcupine.

“Show them our fury!”

“Ooh! Ooh! Ooh!”

Thud, thud, thud!

The warriors at the front line of Wakan Tanka Empire shouted as they held their spears and shields.

Then,

They moved forward in unison, keeping their lines straight.

“Huh?”

“Gasp!”

The Aztec warriors were shocked by this long spear and huge iron shield tactic. They had never seen it before.

Of course, they had no choice but to be surprised by the imperial army’s formation.

But they couldn’t run away now. There were too many warriors behind them charging forward.

“Stab them!”

Puff puff puff!

“Aaargh!”

“Cough!”

The first clash was utterly one-sided.

Their macuahuitl and shields, and even their spears were too short compared to the imperial army’s spears.

Thump thump thump!

And most of the stones they threw were blocked by large shields.

The war in Mesoamerica was like this:

They would charge forward strongly and then engage in melee combat with their weapons.

This tactic difference resulted in a huge exchange rate. It was an overwhelming advantage for the imperial army.

But,

“Don’t retreat! Show them our courage! Dying is only living in eternal glory and honor!”

“Surround them! We have far more numbers!”

The Aztec warriors didn’t seem to fear death. They surrounded them from all sides and kept charging.

They deliberately stuck the imperial army’s spears into their shields, and then smashed the spear shafts with their macuahuitl.

Then the spear shafts would break, or the imperial soldiers would lose their grip on their spears.

Of course, the imperial warriors were also veterans. They quickly withdrew their spears before the enemies could smash them.

But as time passed, the frequency of successful spear attacks increased.

There were many sacrifices to get to this point, but gradually, the Wakan Tanka Empire Empire’s line began to waver.

“There are too many enemies!”

“They don’t seem to be afraid. Are they suicide squads?”

“Hmm…”

The difference in numbers was too overwhelming.

And the enemies didn’t hesitate to throw their bodies at them.

They were like demons.

If they had similar numbers, this tactic would be the worst.

But the overwhelming number difference made it possible.

If time went on like this, they might win the battle, but lose the war.

‘I have no choice but to use that from the first clash.’

The powerful archer decided.

He wanted to save it for later, but seeing the enemies’ momentum, he thought he might regret it if he held back.

“Prepare the bombs!”

“Already?”

“Yes. We have to break their spirit. Right now, we have no choice but to use the bombs.”

“Understood!”

And so, the imperial army’s secret weapon,

The bombs showed their appearance on the battlefield.

< Bombs. > The end