Chapter 44

< 44. The Result of War. >

The imperial army never moved hastily.

This region was very different from the mainland of the Wakan Tanka Empire Empire.

There were many rugged terrains.

In other words, there were many places for ambushes.

Thanks to these terrains, the allied forces were able to stall the Aztec warriors.

But now, all these things were obstacles.

‘There’s no need to rush forward.’

If they advanced recklessly, they could be hit by the Aztec warriors who were hiding everywhere.

Therefore, they avoided the less treacherous terrains even if it took more time.

They only went through the inevitable areas after the allied forces cleared the way.

The ones who knew the terrain of this region best and could deal with it were the allied forces who had lived here.

As a result, most of the damage was suffered by the allied forces.

But the allied forces did not make a big fuss about it.

‘The imperial army is the main force in frontal battles.’

The warriors of the allied forces had witnessed the overwhelming power of the imperial army in the last frontal battle.

And they promised to take charge of the frontal battles that would follow.

There was no reason to dislike these conditions.

Thus, the main force of the imperial army was able to march in a safe formation.

“This expedition seems much easier than I expected. Most importantly, there is almost no damage to the imperial army.”

“That’s true. It’s really fortunate.”

The powerful archer nodded his head slightly at the lieutenant’s words.

As he said, the damage to the imperial army was really minimal so far.

Even a few casualties were only warriors who were unlucky enough to be hit by blind arrows in the previous frontal battle with the Aztecs.

The spear and shield soldiers at the front also had dangerous moments, but there was no actual damage.

The Aztec warriors sacrificed their lives and tried to make a hole in the dense formation, but their efforts turned out to be futile because of the bombs that started to fly at the right time.

After that, the Aztecs did not initiate a frontal battle, and all areas where ambushes were possible were occupied by allied forces.

There was no situation where the imperial army could be harmed.

“I hope our warriors don’t get hurt much until the war is over.”

“It will surely be as you wish, sir.”

The warriors who were conscripted this time were workers who built up the current Wakan Tanka Empire Empire, and through them, the empire would continue to develop.

Therefore, what the powerful archer wanted as his final goal was to destroy Aztec with minimal sacrifice.

And that goal was currently being carried out very well.

***

The headquarters of the Aztec Empire.

Information poured into this place like water.

But most of those news were very bad stories like where they were broken through and where they retreated.

‘How did we end up in this situation?’

They were being pushed back too powerlessly.

Was there ever such a desperate situation before?

There were several times when Aztec was on the verge of extinction.

It was like when they were driven out of Tenochtitlan for the first time.

But after gaining such a large power, they always overwhelmed their neighboring forces.

Their empire had excellent military power, enough for most of their subjects to receive military training.

Through this, they always won wars.

But this war was…

‘I can’t see any way to win.’

The difference in weapons and tactics was overwhelming.

In the end, there was only one way to overcome this situation.

‘A victory in a frontal battle. That’s all.’

The problem was that the previous tactic of using numbers did not work anymore.

The number of Wakan Tanka Empire imperial soldiers had increased a lot compared to before.

Even if they challenged them with a chariot battle, it seemed that it would not work anymore.

But there was no choice.

Soon, enemies would set foot in their territory.

If they kept being pushed back like this, they could lose everything around Tenochtitlan.

By then, it would be no different from losing the war.

In the end, there was only one command that Tlacuellerel could give.

“Prepare for a frontal battle.”

A frontal battle that looked very unlikely to win.

‘O gods… Please look upon Aztec with mercy…’

Tlacuellerel prayed earnestly in his mind.

A slim chance of winning.

All he could hope for now was a miracle like a natural disaster.

***

“They are finally moving.”

“Those Aztecs seem to have prepared well.”

“They must know that if they keep retreating, they will be doomed.”

Aztec warriors blocked a wide hill terrain.

They looked like an enormous number of people.

Even though many warriors had died already, they seemed to have more than before.

Maybe they mobilized all their available troops.

They seemed to stake everything on this battle.

“Will you fight them?”

The lieutenant’s question.

There was a way to bypass that area, or they could just wait.

It would be very hard to maintain such a large force.

As the power of Aztec weakened, the surrounding tribes began to rebel.

The situation would become more favorable as time passed.

The supply of the enemies would collapse quickly.

There was no need to move first into a disadvantageous terrain.

But the powerful archer shook his head.

“There’s no need to be so passive. We can win easily.”

Of course, bombing from the low ground was not efficient. It could even harm their allies.

So they could not use bombs.

But unlike before, the imperial army had enough reinforcements.

They could now fight continuously and replace the exhausted soldiers at the front.

That meant that the enemies’ extreme tactics of ‘you die and I die’ would not work anymore.

Except for the physical factor, they could not break through the steel weapons and dense formation.

And the most important reason was…

‘We have to settle in this area.’

They did not intend to destroy Aztec and withdraw from this area.

Wakan Tanka Empire Empire wanted to slowly establish itself here.

To do that, they needed to show their overwhelming power to the allied forces.

If they mercilessly crushed the Aztec army that attacked with all their strength, the allied forces would not dare to oppose Wakan Tanka Empire Empire.

“Tell the army to prepare for battle.”

“Yes!”

That’s how the largest battle in the history of America began.

“Army, advance forward!”

“Advance forward!”

Whoo, whoo, whoo!

A long horn sound was heard.

In sync with that.

Clack, clack, clack!

The shield and spear soldiers began to advance forward.

How far did they advance?

Shoo, shoo, shoo!

Whiing!

As expected, the Aztec warriors launched countless javelins, stones, and arrows.

“Block them!”

“Everyone, raise your shields!”

But these attacks were mostly blocked by the imperial army’s shields.

Most of the attacks that luckily got past the shields were also stopped by the armor.

Of course, there were some that occasionally inflicted direct damage, but it was very minimal compared to the scale of the flying projectiles.

“Keep advancing!”

“Don’t stop!”

The Aztec warriors continued to pour out long-range attacks to stop the imperial army’s advance, but the imperial army did not stop.

They kept marching up the hill in sync.

“Damn it!”

“Everyone, charge!”

When they got close enough, the Aztec warriors ran down the hill with their macuahuitls and shields.

Their speed was incomparable to the last time.

“Raise your spears!”

“Charge!”

As they got closer, the spear soldiers stretched out their long spears.

Soon, the two armies collided violently.

But…

“Ack!”

“Aaargh!”

The collision that was much stronger than before dragged the Aztec warriors to hell.

As the impact became stronger, their wooden shields were easily pierced by the long spears.

“Ugh…”

The shock was also transmitted to the spear soldiers, but it was nothing compared to the Aztec warriors whose bodies were pierced through.

Thanks to that, some spears were damaged or stuck in the enemies’ bodies too hard to use…

But even that didn’t matter much because they were constantly supplied with new spears from the rear.

Unlike before, they had enough spears now.

The melee continued like that.

But this melee was literally one-sided.

The Aztec warriors couldn’t even break through the range of the spears.

The imperial army also periodically replaced the front-line soldiers and gave them a rest, but the biggest reason was that the morale of the Aztec warriors was much lower than before.

“We can’t win…”

“How are we supposed to break through that formation? This is suicide!”

The Aztec warriors were already afraid of the Wakan Tanka Empire imperial army.

They felt a sense of despair that they could never win no matter what they did.

So they couldn’t fight bravely by burning their lives like before.

As the battle continued, the enemies suffered little damage while they kept dying.

It was only natural.

As time passed like that,

“What are you doing? Charge!”

The words of the Aztec commanders no longer worked.

“Uh…”

“Please, spare me!”

The Aztec warriors began to retreat hesitantly.

When the situation became like this,

“Crossbowmen, forward!”

“Open your shields!”

“Fire!”

Shoo, shoo, shoo!

“Aaargh!”

“Ack!”

Once again, the crossbowmen had a chance to shoot their bolts.

“Run away!”

“I want to live!”

The enemies’ formation began to collapse gradually.

***

The second frontal battle ended.

Of course, the result was an overwhelming victory for the imperial army.

When the imperial army crossed over the hill, there were no Aztec warriors blocking their way.

They were all dead or running away.

“Chase them and kill them!”

“Stop there!”

Waaah!

Then, the allied forces began to rampage.

Slash!

“Aaargh!”

“Cough…”

They chased after and killed the Aztec warriors who were running away with their backs exposed.

“I surrender! I surrender! Please spare me!”

Many Aztec warriors knelt down in front of the sharp blades of the allied forces.

At that moment, the outcome of this war was practically decided.

They had already suffered fatal damage that could not be reversed.

And then,

“Waaah! Aztec has fallen!”

“Let’s kill all the demons of Aztec!”

“Let’s take revenge for what they’ve done to us with our own hands!”

Many tribes who had been groaning under Aztec’s oppression rose up.

They heard the news of Aztec’s miserable defeat.

“Please, spare me!”

“Shut up! Think about what you’ve done!”

“Die!”

Stab!

“Ack…!”

The warriors of the allied forces and many tribes who hated Aztec quickly spread throughout Aztec’s territory.

And they literally committed a massacre.

First of all, they killed all the priests, nobles, high-ranking warriors and their families of Aztec on sight.

They were the ones who had carried out horrible human sacrifices and cannibalism all this time.

While Aztec’s land was stained with blood,

Finally, the imperial army reached Tenochtitlan.

“Ho ho. It’s more beautiful than I heard. A city in the middle of a lake.”

“I can’t believe that those demons of Aztec live in that beautiful area.”

“That’s right.”

The powerful archer admired the scenery of Tenochtitlan.

The city on the lake had an exotic charm.

“Did they demolish all the dikes?”

“Yes. It seems very hard to cross that lake.”

“Heh. Don’t worry. They’ll have to crawl out on their own. There’s no need to hurt the imperial army by landing on the shore.”

The powerful archer had no intention of attacking Tenochtitlan right away.

He just cut off all the connections between Tenochtitlan and the outside world, and knew that they would not be able to endure for a long time.

According to what he learned, Tenochtitlan’s drinking water was all supplied from outside.

The water of the lake was not suitable for drinking.

So, if they surrounded them and waited, they would writhe in pain and react in some way.

By then, he would have completely eliminated the Aztec forces in the surrounding areas.

With this, Aztec’s destruction was virtually confirmed.

< The Result of War. > The End