Sparse raindrops fell from the deep sky, neither fast nor slow, falling to the ground silently. The long and clear wind blew along the long river, neither cold nor hot, just right. It was the harvest season in late summer and autumn, and there were no raindrops in the deep mountains and forests.
The fragrance of ripe grains and only the ever-blooming flower trees attract flocks of hummingbirds and butterflies.
The exploration fleet stayed in the town of 800 for two days before setting sail again. Commander Pimon personally took two hundred warriors and 800 captives, Ding Zhuang, to follow along the Talsas River. The expedition fleet was fully loaded with teams.
After traveling upstream for forty miles, they encountered the first obstacle, the first Sancha River mouth.
"This is the mouth of the river to the east."
Pimen was holding a spear and standing on the rocky tidal flats of the river. He pointed to the upper reaches of the north of the river mouth, and then pointed to the bifurcation of the south of the river mouth.
"The north of the river mouth is the upper reaches of the mountain. Next, we have to turn north and continue upstream. The mountains in the north are very steep, and the river is also steep. From here, the young men will have to stretch."
Chihuaco stood on tiptoe, looking at the stacked mountains in the north and the falcons circling on the top of the mountain, with a look of wonder on his face.
"What a huge mountain! One after another, twists and turns, no end in sight!"
Then, he looked south again, looking at the same vast mountains and narrow tributaries, and asked aloud.
"Where does this branched tributary flow to?"
"I have not walked there myself. The local guide said that the Atoyac River has many branches, all flowing southward into the territory of the Mixtec people in the lowlands, and some flowing southwest into the territory of the Tepanik people...
In fact, the south is a large area of mountains and forests where various savages and villages live together."
"Hmm? Atoyak River? Big Water River?"
Hearing this, Puap was a little surprised. The name Atoyak coincides with Lake Atoyak in the south of the kingdom. In fact, its meaning is a very big water, "big water river".
"Yes! The upper reaches of the Tarsus River are very strong and powerful. So it is called the Atoyak River by the locals."
Pimen smiled and explained.
"The further northeast you go from here, the deeper you will go into the hinterland of the Mixtecs. Sometimes, you can even encounter their tribal scouts. The warriors have fought with them, captured Dingkou, and suffered losses. But this kind of
In mountainous areas, it is impossible to deploy troops and it is difficult to pass large groups of warriors, so there is no need to worry."
"I see."
Chihuaco squinted his eyes, looked at the mountains and birds, and nodded.
"God bless you! Let the men and women prepare for fiber-stretching. Let's get on our way as soon as possible!"
Soon, the sound of fiber-drawing slogans sounded from the river and echoed in the mountains on both sides. Most of the expedition team got off the boat and moved forward with the spear warriors. During the day, Ding Zhuang
They were shirtless, pulling thick sisal ropes, and slowly towed the long boat northward. In the dark night, the warriors gathered in a circle and divided into patrol teams to guard the entire team.
The smoke of birds rising in the silent and desolate valley brought the aroma of food and even attracted the wolves of the jungle. The eyes of the Prepecha warriors in custody immediately shone, holding spears and big bows,
They all pursued him. After a short fight, there were a few pieces of fragrant wolf meat in Chihuaco's pottery bowl at night.
The food for the team was in the hands of the warriors, and most of it was stored in the hold of the longboat. The warriors paid close attention to the food, but they were not afraid of the peasants fleeing. They walked on the stream and trudged through the deep mountains and forests, heading northeast
After traveling eighty miles, we came to the second mouth of the Sancha River.
"Here, the Dashui River branches into two branches. The northeast is the upstream, and the southeast is the downstream tributary. We will continue to go to the upper reaches of the northeast."
Having said this, Piedmont paused, looked serious, and tightened his grip on the spear in his hand.
"This is already the territory of the Mixtecs. If you go further, you will encounter the other mountain tribe. And if you follow the downstream tributary and go southeast for 150 miles, you will be the territory of the Mixtecs.
Yeguo City. Another hundred miles along the river is Oak Valley City. There are two lush valleys there, and tens of thousands of tribes gather there."
"Yeguo City, Oak Valley City?"
"Yes! This is the hinterland where many Mixtec tribes gather! Sooner or later, Your Majesty will lead us to conquer all these rats nesting in the mountains one by one!"
Pimen straightened his body, looked at the mountains in the south, and subconsciously held the amulet on his chest.
"With the blessing of the Lord God, the kingdom will be invincible!"
"Conquer all tribes in the mountains..."
Chihuaco squinted his eyes again and looked to the southeast. The mountains there seemed to be a little gentler, but they were still undulating. And the big river in front of him, although it needed to be stretched when going upstream, was the only smooth road connecting it.
"It's not easy to march through these hundreds of thousands of mountains. If you want to travel smoothly, you still have to rely on these rivers!"
Chihuaco narrowed his eyes and his thoughts drifted away. He knew how serious the mountain road in the south was and couldn't help but feel a little worried. However, at this moment, he looked at Pimon's enthusiastic and pious expression and said nothing.
"Hey, yo! Keep walking!"
The mountain road was difficult, and it was not easy to pull fiber. The team of thousands of people meandered forward, covering only more than twenty miles a day. It was not until dusk that the crowd of crows swarmed and stopped by the river.
"This is the third Sancha River mouth, divided into the due east and the northwest. The due east is the main stream upstream, with sufficient water. The northwest is another upstream tributary that merges into it, with not much water, so it can barely be used for boating."
When he arrived here, Pi Meng's vigilant expression relaxed slightly. He took a long breath, took out a deer stomach water bag, and took a few sips.
"We are right here, turning northwest and not going east again. If we go further east, although we can pass through, we will run into a large Mixtec tribe. A hundred miles northeast is the swamp village in the mountains.
, there are thousands of Styrk militia stationed there, as well as an unknown number of warriors.”
"Silly Village?"
Chihuaco scratched his head and chewed on the name.
"It sounds like there should be water, and the terrain is low, so that a swamp can be formed. Mountains, forests, swamps, and uneven terrain. This land in the south is really a big piece of bad land!"
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! "...I don’t know why Your Majesty, who deserves to be struck by thunder, has summoned us from thousands of miles away to toss us in this mountain ravine and stream? Keep going.
, but the source of the river in the mountains is dangerous and desolate, so what’s the point of going there?... Well, God of fate, I always have an ominous premonition! It’s definitely not a good thing!..."
The old militiamen's premonitions were always effective. But this time, they were even too effective. But a moment later, a naked and tattooed Mixtec scout appeared on the high mountain on the east bank of the river. He stared at the large group of people beside the river.
The little dot stared at the big ship that he had never seen before, and his mouth opened in surprise. Then he raised the conch horn around his neck, puffed up his cheeks, and blew it loudly with all his strength.
"Dee, beep! beep!"
The sharp and piercing sound of the conch horn sounded in the high mountains, flew across the boundless sky, crossed the mountains and forests in the south, and spread all the way to the distance!
"Quick! Quick! Put on your armor and take out your shield! Get the archers on board and prepare to shoot! Then distribute stone spears to the captives and line up on both sides of the warriors! Tell them that if they run away in the mountains and forests without food, they will definitely die.
.And if it falls into the hands of the Mixtecs, their hearts will be ripped out and sacrificed!"
Hearing the Mixtec's warning conch horn, Captain Pimon suddenly became alert. He immediately threw away the water bag in his hand, summoned the surrounding warriors, and put on the bronze armor gifted by His Majesty.
Soon, with the help of teammates, more than 40 elites also put on bronze armor, holding big axes, and stood in front of the formation, ready to fight. In order to save energy when marching, they usually did not wear armor. It was heavy and heavy.
When the hard armor and stomach are worn on the body, the warrior's morale changes. This is a real and powerful divine blessing!
Unfortunately, there were only fifty pairs of bronze armor in the entire spear battalion of a thousand people, and almost all of them were brought out.
As for the remaining one hundred and sixty warriors, after distributing simple stone spears, they drove the unarmored prisoners to the left and right wings. They put on their spears and long bows, supervising the men on the two wings while guarding the ones in the middle.
commander in chief.
Puap looked stern, and led a hundred warriors from the fleet to board the long boat that docked. They stood between the shields on both sides of the long boat, and also set up their big bows. The team wading in the water marched very quickly.
Slowness is the best target.
Chaotic shouts rang out by the river. The captives accompanying the army, Ding Zhuang, were a little flustered and made some strange movements, but they were suppressed by the fierce team leaders. The fear of the execution more than ten days ago was still vivid in his mind, as long as the warriors' team did not collapse.
, the prisoners will not flee for a while.
"Didi!"
The piercing sound of the conch horn became more and more urgent. After another two quarters of an hour, the Mixtec people finally walked out of the mountain forest on the other side of the long river. Thousands of tribal warriors held stone spears and carried throwing spears and hunting bows on their backs, gathering in the open
On the bank of the river, thirty or forty canoes, carrying one or two hundred tribal elites, emerged from the tributaries in the forest.
Such light boats weigh only a few hundred kilograms and can only carry five or six people each. They are similar to rafts. However, they have a very shallow draft and can be easily towed ashore. When going downstream, they can travel quickly through the mountains, while when going upstream,
It must be transported manually.
"The rain god Zhawi protects the people in the rain and drives away the tiger people in the north!"
Hundreds of tribal warriors were shouting on the other side of the river, waving their weapons, intimidating the enemies hundreds of steps away. Amidst the boiling shouts, a Mixtec god wearing a feather crown on his head and carrying a feather bundle on his back
Yi, also carrying a sharp bronze spear, appeared on the bank of Dashui River.
This chapter has been completed!