Aztec Civilization: Destiny to Conquer America!
Chapter 971 - 574: Southward, Divine Water Tribe!

Chapter 971: Chapter 574: Southward, Divine Water Tribe!

"Boom boom boom!"

The deafening sound of war drums echoed through the wide northern mountain pass, startling the birds into flight. Large groups of rushing warriors, like a pack of wolves across the wilderness, passed through the undulating forest and appeared at the foot of the pass. Their wolf-like howls had already preceded them, echoing across the fields of the Divine Water Valley.

"Awooo!..."

It was September, harvest time approaching, the beans just ripening, corn already forming ears. A year’s worth of food was right before everyone’s eyes, awaiting alongside the birds in the mountains and crowds of people. Yet now, the footsteps of war suddenly arrived, stepping with the blood-red sunset, bringing the firelight at dusk!

"Ah! Almighty Rain Divine!..."

Behind the mountain pass village, over ten thousand Mistec Tribespeople were panicked and fearful. They had long heard of the northern slaughter, heard of the Mexica’s might, yet never imagined that war would descend upon them so swiftly.

"滴!...滴!..."

The warning conch echoed through the narrow valley, signaling urgency and assembly. Three thousand able-bodied tribesmen, each holding short bows and stone spears, rushed from all over the Divine Water Valley.

The Divine Water Valley is located fifty miles south of Divine Stone City, less than two hundred miles from Cloud Mountain City further south. The valley itself is not large, only seven to eight miles east to west, and about ten miles north to south, surrounded by mountains, with only two passageways to the northeast and southeast. At the center of the valley lies a natural spring, irrigating the fertile soil, hence the name "Atzingo," meaning "Divine Water," "Revered Water." Naturally, the tribe settled within this valley was called the Divine Water Tribe.

Soon, the Divine Water Tribe leader, "Yun Shui" Aquingo, hurried up the fence and gazed north.

A strange black wolf banner first caught his eye. The black coyote, with its blood-red tongue, red eyes, crouched beneath the crimson rays of the sun, was particularly captivating. At this moment, this towering wolf banner was steadily carried on the back of an exceptionally strong young warrior leader.

Surrounding the wolf banner were three advancing warrior formations. The central formation had the fewest numbers, with a dense arrangement and the finest equipment. Each warrior wielded copper weapons, wearing green war clothes, and even some had platinum war armor. The other two formations were slightly larger, aligned on the left and right flanks. The left wing wore neat white war clothes, wielding war clubs of obsidian. The right wing was the largest, with a looser formation and disordered weapons.

"This... is the Mexica legion! It’s... it’s the brutal Black Wolf chieftain!..."

Seeing the black wolf banner, Aquingo’s heart trembled, his voice quivering. He watched the fast-advancing enemy, counting silently as he moved his fingers.

"One spring, two springs, three... five... ten! Ten springs of warriors! There are even more behind..."

Counting up to here, Aquingo’s pupils contracted, his body weakened, barely gripping the expensive copper spear in his hand. A "spring"> is roughly three to four hundred people. The Divine Water Tribe’s three to four thousand men stood together, just covering the area of nine to ten springs. Yet the Mexica legion in front of him had at least four to five thousand, already surpassing the number of able-bodied tribesmen!

"Revered Rain Divine! Please send down rain and save your divine descendants!..."

Aquingo looked up to pray, feeling a sense of despair. The Divine Water Tribe occupied this enclosed and fertile valley, the tribe’s generations proliferating, its leaders claiming to be divine descendants, continuing for over ten generations.

Today, the entire Divine Water Tribe had more than ten thousand people, making it the most prominent tribe in the Teotihuacan Valley! Yet at this moment, facing the Mexica legion’s offensive, the so-called strength within the valley seemed like the croaks of a frog in the rainforest, exposed to the jaws of the Mexican-furred snake.

"Quick... too quick! The Mexica moved southward in July, and now early September, they have already attacked here! Damn! Those cowardly warriors in Divine Stone City are really... really rain deities made from women’s urine!"

Aquingo was both shocked and furious, muttering curses under his breath, his anger mixed with regret. The fierce Mexica invaded south, defeated the warriors of Divine Stone City, captured the Cloud Temple...he had heard this news days ago and had been worried all along.

However, with the autumn harvest imminent, the tribe was unwilling to abandon the soon-to-be-harvested corn, nor this lush valley. Plus, with fifty miles of rugged mountain roads between here and Divine Stone City, its location is hidden—easy to defend, hard to attack. The tribe has three thousand able-bodied men, not afraid of small groups of enemy harassment...thus he harbored a sliver of luck, unlike many other tribes that had hastily abandoned substantial resources, migrating south.

"Andiwei, is this the divine great tribe, the Teotihuacan Divine Water Tribe?"

"Yes, esteemed Black Wolf General. This is the strongest great tribe in the south of the Teotihuacan Valley, the Divine Water Tribe. The Divine Water Tribe has more than ten thousand tribespeople, nearly four thousand able-bodied men, firmly holding this fertile valley. According to legend, at the valley’s center lies a Divine Spring, the tear of the Rain Divine, held by underground serpents, constantly bubbling to the surface...."

"Mountain Divine Spring? The Rain Divine’s tear?"

The Black Wolf Torc had a contemplative glint in his eyes. Once they capture the valley, he can take a portion of the spring water to present to His Highness and the Princess. Carrying the banner, he climbed the hill of the mountain pass, and saw several simple wooden villages, and a fence barely enclosing the mountain pass, chuckling silently to himself.

"Red Monkey, look at this fence, it’s not even as good as the ones in your Wilderness tribes!"

Red Monkey Ozoma squinted his eyes, carefully observing for a moment. He looked at the rough fence, then at the guarding tribal warriors, and let out a snort.

"Black Wolf Leader, these southern forest tribes, though many in number and rich, simply don’t know how to fight!"

"Look, their warriors are all bunched up, with no distinct squads, no allocated bows and javelins, and certainly no coordinated order like a wolf pack. Their expressions are either panicked or angry, lacking the brutality and indifference of those who’ve seen bloodshed. They grip their weapons too tight, shouting and cursing, wasting their energy, clearly inexperienced in large-scale battles... A tribe like this, if placed in the Wilderness, wouldn’t survive two autumns, and would feed five tribes!"

At this, Red Monkey Ozoma grinned. Here, ’feeding well’ meant truly being well-fed. In the barren and hungry northern Wilderness, only tribes as ferocious as wild beasts can survive.

"Haha! Red Monkey, you’re right, you’ve learned well!"

Hearing this, Black Wolf agreed wholeheartedly. After years of warfare, he could tell if an army was capable just by observing for a while. However, this was a kind of long-practiced experience and intuition, hard to articulate in words if you asked him to explain it.

"Torc, you have a wolf’s combat instinct. If one day, you can organize this instinct into a coherent form, writing it down as a legacy, you’d be the true talent of the kingdom! And this is why I urge you to study!"

Recalling the prince’s reminder, Black Wolf’s eyes flashed. He longed for it for a moment and then sighed; learning to read was truly difficult, leading troops to battle was easier.

"Leader, I, Red Frog, am not good with these things, just leading the charge! Let me take five hundred tribal warriors as the vanguard to attack the camp for you!"

Red Frog Kaka widened his eyes and glared at the eloquent Red Monkey. Then, he forcefully patted his chest, producing a "clang" sound, and drew his hand axe from his waist.

"In two quarters, if I can’t breach this camp, I’ll present my head to you!"

"Haha! Red Frog, I like your character, it suits my taste!"

Black Wolf laughed heartily, seeing the thousands of enemies before him as nothing. Then, he shook his head, refusing Red Frog’s request. At this moment, in the broad Teotihuacan Valley, the Guajili Legion was setting fires everywhere, spreading out to plunder and gather food and population. The troop strength of each camp was very limited.

This time, venturing south into deeper territories, he only had over six thousand troops. Among them, two thousand were elite Legion Warriors, more than a thousand were Tlaxcala defectors, and there were three thousand Mistec able-bodied men conscripted along the way. And two days ago, from the two thousand Legion Warriors, another thousand were split off to guard the army’s retreat, preventing a sudden attack from Divine Stone City.

"The southern terrain is undulating, the mountain roads are difficult, unlike the unobstructed northern highlands, suitable for raids. If our retreat is cut off... the risk is somewhat big, it’s better to divide some troops to stay as rear guards. Now, the entire army relies on the thousand elite legionnaires for suppression, can’t be lightly sacrificed!"

Thinking of this, Black Wolf raised his hand, pointing at the fortified walls in the advantageous terrain.

"Assaulting the camp uphill, under the threat of arrows, javelins, and stones, casualties are inevitable. This kind of unnecessary loss shouldn’t be borne by the legion warriors... Andywei, you mentioned, this southern Divine Water Tribe and the northern valley tribes aren’t closely allied?"

"Yes, honorable General. The Divine Water Tribe occupies the Divine Water Valley, separated from other parts. Generations of leaders control the Divine Spring, calling themselves Divine Descendants, relying on tribal strength to frequently demand tributes from nearby smaller tribes..."

Priest Andywei respectfully bowed, elaborating on the relations among the Teotihuacan tribes.

The Mistec Alliance is decentralized, divided to this day. Not only are the highlands, lowlands, and coast split into three branches, but each branch is also subdivided into City-States. Within each City-State, there are also many independent Great Tribes, often not subordinate to each other. In short, although the Mistecs are called an alliance, it’s actually a disorganized mess. They cling together through a shared belief in the Rain Divine, a similar Cloud culture, and generations of intermarriage among the Divine Descendants as connections among tribes.

"...Therefore, letting the eight hundred defector warriors from Divine Stone City, along with the two thousand captured able-bodied men from various tribes, attack the Divine Water Tribe will meet no resistance in morale! And once their hands are stained with blood, their faith will gradually erode, freeing the Black Serpent bound by the Rain Divine... From then on, they will have no turning back, just like me."

Andywei kept his head down, respectfully, with the mild tone unique to Mistec priests. Yet, his words were like the pit viper of the rainforest, causing Red Monkey Ozoma’s eyelids to twitch, a chill in his heart.

"Haha, very good! Andywei, under the guidance of His Highness’s Divine Revelation, the Chief Divine’s glory will ultimately blanket the Xavi land! And your choice today will make you proud in the future!"

Black Wolf nodded in satisfaction. He gave a deep look at the noble priest who defected, much like a Coyote eyeing a Black Serpent. Then, with a sharp look, the Black Wolf General drew his Bronze Greatsword and pointed towards the camp,

"Sound the drums of war, raise the banners, convey the military order! Dispatch the Mistec camp on the left to battle!... Tell Woodpecker Lichi, if he captures the Divine Water Tribe, all wealth, able-bodied men, and women are his camp’s reward! But if he fails to take it, I want his bird head!"