Aztec Eternals

Avit stands on a hill on the north shore. He was condescending, staring intently at the enemies in front of him. Beside him, dozens of drummers, trumpeters, and flag bearers passing orders, waiting for the commander's order.

This is the narrow crossing of the Leman River. Even in the rainy season when the river rises, the widest part is no more than five or six hundred meters, and the narrowest part is less than three hundred meters.

The Tarascos started to cross the river at the same time within a range of tens of miles. Hundreds of canoes are loaded with warriors with long spears in both hands, sailing like arrows, heading northward almost instantly.

As soon as the commander gave an order, there was a muffled sound of drums on the river. The Mexica canoes also surged out. The oarsmen increased their speed to the maximum, and after a few breaths of calm, the fleets of both sides collided fiercely.

Shulot felt that the world paused for a moment, followed by thunder.

He saw two large boats, their bows facing each other collided, and they stopped moving with a bang. Then the hull shook violently, rotated on the spot, and joined together suddenly. The sailors and militiamen on both sides did not have time to wait for the ship to calm down, so they roared and waved their weapons, jumped on the enemy ship, entangled and fought together.

A Mexica militiaman tilted his small shield with his left hand to block the stabbing stone spear, and then handed out a short obsidian blade with his right hand, inserted it into the waist and abdomen of the enemy in front, and then vigorously stirred it clockwise. The Tarasco sailor let out a scream, fell backwards and fell into the water, and the place where he fell into the water quickly turned red. As soon as the militiaman smiled, his chest suddenly felt cold, followed by a sharp pain, and he lost strength instantly. When he finally lowered his head, he could only see the long spear that was submerged to the limit.

The Tarasco pikemen on the opposite side cheered ferociously, which attracted attention not far away. He tried to pull out the spear, but couldn't pull it out all at once. The stabbing just now was too hard and too deep, and it got stuck on the ribs. Just as he was about to try again, a stone ax had struck from the side and rear, hitting the vital point of the side neck fiercely.

The spearman's miserable howl was only halfway through, and the stone ax fell again. Then a thick bare foot kicked his chest, kicking his head-turned corpse into the rushing river, erasing all traces of existence in a blink of an eye.

The big boats are connected to each other. And the big boat against the small boat is another kind of crushing.

When the young man saw more than a dozen oarsmen working hard at the same time, the big boat of Mexica jumped up suddenly, like a preying cheetah, and rushed straight towards the several small boats on the opposite side. A small boat had no time to dodge, and was hit straight on the side string by the big boat. The small boat was pushed up obliquely, lifted violently, and finally turned over, completely overturned. Several people on the small boat fell into the water screaming, and before they had time to stretch and swim, several stone spears pierced their heads, piercing their brains like melons.

The other small boat deflected quickly, barely avoiding it by spinning, and then spun again to connect with the big boat. Immediately on the big boat, more than a dozen soldiers roared and rushed forward, more than a dozen weapons hit more and less, stabbing several people on the small boat into blood gourds.

The continuous impact finally caused the big boat to lose speed, and it floated on the water for a short time. Seeing an opportunity, dozens of small boats around rushed forward like a pack of wolves and surrounded the big boat. The militiamen surged up from all directions, stabbing with long spears, puffing deep into the flesh, blood soaked the deck immediately.

Battles on the water are particularly brutal. Warriors tangled with each other, weapons struck from all sides, and feet were always wobbly and slippery. Once in the water, it often means death.

While distracted by the fierce water battle, Shulot quickly ended the sacrificial ceremony blessed by the God of War. After praying to the patron saint, Vitzilopochtli, the Mexica warriors finally had the confidence to fight against the "evil spirit believers" of Ability God.

Only then can the young man take a closer look at the boats on the big river. Whether it is the Mexica or the Tarasco, there are only sailless canoes powered by oars.

The so-called canoe is to use the trunk of a tree as a complete keel, and then excavate the trunk to dig out the hull, and modify the bow and tail, corners and sides of the ship. In this era, the shipbuilding technology in Central America was limited, and there was no method of nail reinforcement or keel splicing. Only with a big tree as a boat, will it not leak or fall apart.

Therefore, as long and thick as the trunk is, the boat body will be as long and wide as possible. Tall and broad birch and fir trees are often the first choice for canoes. Fortunately, Central America at this time is densely forested, and hundreds of thousands of years old logs can be seen everywhere, and there is no shortage of materials for canoes.

Canoes on the battlefield can be divided into two categories: large and small. The big canoe is the core of water warfare, and its manufacture requires a complete log and complicated processes. It is at least fifteen meters long and three or four meters wide, allowing four people to stand side by side. With the big wood as the keel, the hull is stable, and can be extra widened on both sides, such as adding a wide raft to obtain higher transportation capacity. Of course, there is no height to speak of when a canoe is attached to the water, so a high platform is often added to the flagship for the commander to observe the situation. On both sides of the ship, many round shields were fixed with ropes to protect oarsmen and warriors, and also to protect against stones and bows.

To effectively propel a large canoe requires at least ten oarsmen. Apart from the oarsmen, a large boat can usually carry thirty warriors, while maintaining enough space for the warriors to wield their weapons. Large canoes are also a tool for transporting large items. The sacrificial plates from the city of Xilotepec were transported back to the capital of Mexico by the large canoes.

Small canoes are the most numerous ant colony, and they are much simpler and easier to manufacture. It is generally no more than eight meters long and one meter five wide, with two people side by side. It takes only two oarsmen to effectively propel a small boat, and sometimes a single oarsman is fine. It can accommodate six fighters, or supplies of equal volume. It is also the most commonly used transport boat by fishermen and merchants.

Shulot knew that the Nahua people and Mayans in the east also had a kind of "giant boat" that traveled along the coast. Juzhou requires certain skills and rare giant wood. It is thirty meters long and three to four meters wide. No way, the width of the canoe is strictly limited by the width of the tree.

This giant boat capable of navigating the sea is a paddle boat with a mast and a large rectangular sail installed in the center. The sails are made of animal skins, cotton cloth and even linen mats. With the sails as power, at least sixteen oarsmen are needed on board.

The Nahuas and Mayans drove huge boats across the boundless lake, trading precious spices, gems, feathers and smoke. The Mayans even sailed to the remote Big Island to trade tobacco and cotton with Taino tribes. There are primitive but already densely populated Caribbean islands.

Shulot shook his head and stopped thinking about it. He silently estimated the number of Tarasco ships.

Avet told him that this time the Mexica boat division mobilized on a large scale, and a total of 200 large boats and 600 small boats came from Lake Texcoco to help. However, the boat did not carry all the sailors, but half of the space was used to load food and grass, so the total number of boat divisions was about 8,000.

On the opposite side, the Tarascos had about one hundred large boats and eight hundred small boats, all fully loaded. The total number was about 11,000 people, including 5,000 spear militiamen who were on board. Although the Tarascos are the people of the lake, the Patzcuaro Lake in the core area is not connected to the Leman River, and they cannot gather enough large ships.

In inland river warfare, a large ship is better than a small ship, and more ships are better than a few ships, especially when there are no bows, crossbows, stones, or artillery. The teenager considered the classic fire attack tactics, and Avitt was also tempted for a while. After searching around, the two found out regrettably that they couldn't gather too much fuel temporarily. Because animal fats are scarce and vegetable oils are expensive, high-yield oil crops have not yet been introduced to the Americas.

"When can we go to Texas or Venezuela to dig for oil? Greek fire is a weapon for water warfare, although the specific formula is not yet clear." Xiulot was a little yearning, but also a little self-deprecating.

"It seems that California has a lot of oil, and the climate is warm and suitable, which is better than the north where the cold wave is raging and the south where the rainforest is miasma. As long as the shipbuilding technology allows, colonizing California is a good choice."

In addition to fire attack and long-range, the era of galleys can also install a ram on the bow. The fierce impact of the big boat can easily tear the small boat apart. However, the Mexica didn't have enough metal, and the Tarascos probably didn't expect it.

Therefore, at this time, the water battle on the big river became a cruel hand-to-hand fight. The soldiers on both sides were fighting bloody battles. From time to time, militiamen screamed and fell into the water, and a layer of light red spread rapidly on the surface of the river.

In just two quarters of an hour, thousands of people were killed or injured on both sides. If it was on land, I am afraid that the militia would have already collapsed. But the chaotic and brutal water battle increased the tolerance of both sides. Either all the boats will die, or all the boats will survive, and the surviving boat masters still have enough morale.

"The situation doesn't seem to be good." The young man quickly calculated the casualties on both sides, the numbers will not lie.

Arvit frowned. Relying on the advantage of the big ship, the Mexica boat division made a lot of money in the initial collision. But once it enters a large-scale boarding battle, the disadvantage of numbers is reflected.

"The pikemen of the Tarascos killed and wounded many of our militiamen. If we continue to consume them, we will be defeated first." The commander quickly confirmed the battle situation.

"Should we let the samurai or the militiamen go on board?" the boy suggested.

"There is no need to fight them on the water. The casualty ratio is not worth it. Let their pikemen come up first, and then eat them in one bite."

As he said that, Avitt clenched his fist confidently, as if he had grasped the enemy on the river into his palm.

He immediately gave the order, and the sharp conch horn sounded all over the banks of the river. The Mexica boat began to retreat, slowly breaking away from contact. The 10,000 directly subordinate warriors behind the commander also sorted out their weapons and were ready to fight at any time.

The Tarasco fleet did not pursue, and crossing the river was always the first priority. The oarsmen speeded forward, quickly unloaded a large group of spear militiamen on the mudflats on the river bank, and then flew back to the south bank to transport the next troop.

Nearly 5,000 spearmen immediately assembled in small groups to form a dozen round formations. They will trade their lives for time, waiting for the arrival of the next batch of reinforcements.

On the hills not far away, the Mexica warriors were already excitedly holding their shields and sticks, ready for a hearty fight.