Aztec Civilization: Destiny to Conquer America!
Chapter 734 - 397: The Advancing Black Wolf_2

Chapter 734: Chapter 397: The Advancing Black Wolf_2

"Mavik, have you ever been to Fire River City?"

"Ah! Boss, I haven’t been to Fire River City."

Mavik guessed the Legion Commander’s thoughts and was startled. He quickly cautioned him.

"Boss, the area around Fire River City is extremely fertile, with at least eighty or ninety thousand western Tecos Tribes gathered. Under the Great Chief of Colima, at any time, he can pull together ten to twenty thousand fighting men, thousands of elite fighters. Moreover, they have the terrain advantage on their side..."

Black Wolf pursed his lips and remained silent. He gazed at the northwestern mountain path, a place His Highness had always yearned for, and also a massive barbarian nest. This time, as the Royal Army headed south, the two hundred thousand western Tecos Tribes had always been on alert, yet they hadn’t come down from the mountains. If they attacked now, they might run headlong into twenty or thirty thousand tribal soldiers...

After a long while, Black Wolf suppressed the murderous intent in his chest and looked to the southwest.

"Hmm. Then we’ll continue heading south... Mavik, lead the way well!"

"At your command, boss."

Mavik relaxed his expression and nodded in agreement. Then, he looked at Black Wolf’s expression and cautiously suggested,

"Boss, the relationships between the coastal communities are complex, they are not united with the Shield Great Tribe of Kimari... Some villages could become allies of the army, such as..."

"Hmm, Mavik?"

Upon hearing this, Black Wolf’s lips curled into a smile. He looked at the old subordinate who had followed him for many years and asked with a grin.

"Like the village you were born in?"

"Ah! The Legion Commander is wise. We still have several dozen Tecos trusted aides from the coastal communities, from over a dozen villages..."

"Hmm, for your sake, I will show some mercy."

Black Wolf smiled slightly, his expression turning stern, he decisively declared.

"Since we have envoys to communicate, take away all the people and food from these villages!"

The Guajili Legion pursued the defeated army for half the day until nightfall, returning only with severed heads. Six hundred of the two thousand Tecos Militia were killed, the rest scattered everywhere. The army dispersed the thousands of mountain people from the wild mountain village and settled there for the night.

On the morning of the twenty-eighth, three thousand Canine Warriors continued south, as usual, setting the mountain village ablaze, leaving behind a somber post-battle scene. Then, the legion marched one hundred and twenty li to the southwest, burning every village along the way, leaving over twenty thousand Tecos Tribals without food, scattered in the mountains and woods.

Three days later, on the last day of the year, Black Wolf Torc finally reached the vast seaside, the eastern edge of the Pacific Ocean. It was the first time in his life that he had seen the sea. It was also the first time for the thousands of Canine Warriors from the wilderness to see the sea.

Black Wolf stood on the beach in shock, staring at the boundless blue sea. The midday sun shone down at the horizon, glittering with dazzling wave lights. Seabirds circled in the sky near the sea, calling out crisply from time to time. And the sea was so profound, only the sound of the surging waves left an imprint on people’s hearts.

"Is this the sea that His Highness spoke of? The endless Great Lake, the perilous route to distant lands?"

After a long while, Black Wolf managed to speak.

"No wonder His Highness always said, ’as vast as a sea of mist, as vast as a sea of mist...’ Did the Feathered Serpent Divine set forth here on a serpent raft?"

Red Monkey and Dazed Deer exchanged glances, equally speechless. Then, Dazed Deer sighed and said,

"Chief Divine! What we lack in the wilderness is water, yet there is too much of it here! If we could dig a channel to divert the water, I wonder how much grain we could grow..."

"General Masate, the vast Great Lake’s water is salty and can’t be used for growing grain."

Trusted aide Mavik looked at those who had never seen the sea before and smiled.

"But the fish in the lake aren’t salty."

"Ah! It really is salty!"

Red Monkey squatted down, scooped up some seawater with skepticism, and tasted it. Then, he looked at the vast water body in front of him with immense surprise, as if he had just discovered a massive salt mine.

"With so much water, how much salt must be added!"

On the wilderness, salt was also a scarce resource.

"Near the sea, there’s plenty of salt, just boil it and that’s it! Though it’s a bit bitter and not as good as the well salt and lake salt from the Kingdom."

Trusted aide Mavik shook his head. Coastal communities lacked the sophisticated skills for boiling salt, not to mention the techniques for solar salt production. Of course, with many salt lakes in Central America, there was no shortage of salt, and the price was also very low.

"Mavik, where are we?"

After a while, Black Wolf collected his thoughts and asked earnestly.

"Boss, this place has no name. It just has a lot of palm trees and is next to the Great Lake, so the locals call it Palm Bay. There are about a dozen coastal villages nearby, not heavily populated, but they have small canoes for fishing."

"Small canoes?"

At this, Black Wolf’s eyes lit up. Having campaigned with His Highness for many years, he was highly sensitive to water transportation.

"Mavik, among the Tecos trusted aides, is there anyone from here?"

"...There should be a few, from a fishing village not far to the northwest, probably with about three hundred people..."

"Good!"

Without hesitation, Black Wolf issued a decisive order.

"Ozoma, Masate!"

"At your service, Legion Commander!"

"Disperse the legion, form teams of three hundred men, and raid the surrounding villages! Take all their canoes and food, then burn down the villages and the food we can’t carry! Don’t linger on looting!"

"At your command!"

"Mavik, you take the Tecos trusted aides along with three hundred Guajili warriors, plus communicate with the village chieftain familiar with the fishing settlement. We can spare them, but all the people must be relocated to row boats for us!"

Black Wolf’s eyes shone. In this era, due to seawater erosion, coastal communities often lacked fertile land for cultivation, unlike the wealthier village by the lake or river. The density of villages was low, and the population was small, which would present a food supply problem for the large army. From here on out, they needed to conscript as much food as possible and leverage canoes to improve transportation capacity.