The past January was calm and stable on the surface, but it was actually turbulent. Under the suppression of tens of thousands of royal troops, the southern nobles finally had no choice but to obey the changes after a painful struggle. They handed over their land and Dingkou, and took their direct line with them.
Hundreds of tribesmen went to the north of the Leman River to guard the border. With the arrival of the priests from the capital, the population of more than 200,000 in Zicao County is being organized into households in an orderly manner, establishing villages, and gradually being included directly under the kingdom. And the southwest
The Tekos tribe will also be solved together in the southern expedition.
At the beginning of January, the 7,000 Imperial Guard Corps spent a peaceful New Year in Purple Grass City, also known as Kuramo City. The king personally held a New Year's ceremony, summoned the priests from the capital who were sent to their posts, and also appeased the purged Gyeonggi Corps.
Then, the fourth batch of 5,000 rebels set off immediately. So far, 20,000 rebels have embarked on the road of serfdom to the north. The Crow family was the first to go north to change, and more than a dozen hereditary nobles from the south followed suit.
At the same time, Black Wolf went deep into the southwestern mountains and lost contact with the Kingdom's army. After Ezpan left 3,000 people in Apa City, he continued to follow the king's order and headed west. He took over the 5,000 melons left by Black Wolf.
The Li army, commanding nearly 10,000 soldiers, pursued the retreating Tekos coalition day and night.
In early January, Shulot set out from Zicao City, escorted by 7,000 Imperial Guards and carrying forty bronze cannons, two hundred miles westward. All the southern nobles along the way complied with the move north, and those who dared to disobey
Two noble families were blasted through the wooden castle by the Condor Cannon in one day, and all the men of the clan were killed!
In late January, the Black Wolf King's banner arrived at the foot of Apa City, and the Guards Corps settled in the newly built siege camp. In the following days, the Guards Corps was fully deployed and blocked all the passages outside Apa City. Then, ten condor cannons were fired at
They set up in the south of the city and bombarded the south city for several days. Today is the second day of February and the fifth day of artillery bombardment.
Three days ago, the Wang Army organized a tentative attack to test the siege effect of the Rain God Tiger Crouching Cannon. The hundreds of corpses of both sides under the city were left behind from that siege.
Under the cover of the shields of the heavily armored warriors, the gunners pushed dozens of squatting tiger cannons within fifty steps of the city wall. Then, the royal archers suppressed the bows and arrows at the top of the city, while the squatting tiger cannons bombarded the top of Apa's city and fired.
Three rounds.
After all, the Tiger Crouching Cannon is an extremely light scattering artillery. It shoots upwards at a six-meter-high stone city wall, and its power is greatly attenuated. The scattered stone pellets can only barely damage some civilian militiamen, but cannot break through the shields at the top of the city. Instead, dozens of cannons
The huge roar of the bombardment at the same time caused a huge shock to the hearts of the defenders. The militiamen in the southern city were panicked, shouting the names of the gods, and broke into the city twice. They were driven back to the city by the palm warriors who supervised the battle.
The defenders were still fighting. A strong attack would not only destroy the warriors in vain, but also reduce the number of soldiers gained after the victory. Shulot looked at it for a moment and then stopped the attack. Then, the ten condor cannons were fired without any delay, just like that.
Slowly bombarding, while creating psychological pressure on the defenders, while studying artillery tactics, until today.
"Boom!...Boom!...Boom!..."
Amidst the thunder of the condor cannon, Shulot returned to the siege camp. He sat cross-legged in the royal tent of the camp and said to Bertard with a smile.
"God bless you! According to the Alliance's 260-day sacred calendar, today is the last day of Ehecatl, the Day of the Jaguar (Ocelotl)."
"The sacred wind rotates in the sky, creating disorder and chaos. The old order disintegrates in the divine wind, and new rules will be conceived in chaos. And in the storm of death, unpredictable changes are coming, and in
Life flows in the wind of death! The heroic jaguar symbolizes outstanding battles. Warriors are willing to sacrifice their lives to let the sun's flames burn forever!..."
"The Lord God bless you! Praise Him for giving divinity to the storm and courage to the jaguar!"
Upon hearing the sacred calendar, Bertard bowed respectfully. Then, he asked cautiously.
"Then, Your Highness, what does it portend in the eyes of the holy priest?"
"Well, it foreshadows..."
Shulot pondered for a moment, thinking of the black wolf somewhere, and smiled confidently.
"It indicates that good news will come soon!"
The Black Wolf will never let me down. The king thought so, but he never said it.
"Praise the Lord God, God bless Your Highness! The Southern Expedition will be a great victory!"
Hearing this, Bertard responded with a smile. He had never doubted the complete victory of the Southern Expedition.
Xiuluo nodded and said no more. He unfolded the map of the south, read the reports from various places, and planned the arrangements after the southern expedition.
Time passed silently, and the sun set slightly in the west. Several red-haired hunters, carrying red-dyed bamboo baskets on their backs and holding red flags, appeared from the western plain. Within two or three quarters of an hour, the red-haired hunters rushed closer. They
He looked in awe at the roaring and roaring copper beast that shot out stone bullets. Under the guidance of the imperial guards, he went through several inspections and came to wait outside the king's tent in the military camp.
"Your Highness, Miwa, the deputy general of the Red Frog Chapter, came from the southwest mountainous area with news of victory!"
Shieldguard Terkos entered the account and reported back, with a happy face. Bertard looked surprised and looked at His Highness who had foreseen the situation with reverence.
"Ah? Good news? Good, very good! Let Miwa come in."
Shulot raised his head, was startled for a moment, and laughed happily. He remembered that the red-haired personal guard who was good at fighting and stubborn, once risked his own life in order to attack the enemy at night, and even got involved himself.
The red-haired bodyguard Miwa immediately entered the tent, carrying a few bamboo baskets, and knelt down ten steps away. All weapons on his body were removed, and even his fingernails were checked. On both sides of him, there was an armed guard.
Ax's personal supervisor.
After the assassination of Medina, the level of vigilance in the king's tent was greatly increased. Ordinary envoys were not only subject to repeated inspections, but were also required to report back ten steps away from the king under the personal supervision of personal guards.
"Supreme Death Chief! Four days ago, under the command of Chief Ezpan, Chief Red Frog defeated the Tecos coalition army, captured Hand Snake City, and destroyed the Shield Tribe! The army killed all the Tecos noble chiefs
, priests and chieftains, captured nearly 4,000 tribal warriors, and captured more than 10,000 women and children from nearby tribes!"
The red-haired bodyguard Miwa knelt down and kowtowed, and then handed over several bamboo baskets. The bodyguards made a brief inspection, and a strong smell of blood spread in the tent.
When asked about the smell of blood, Xiulote raised his eyebrows and understood. He looked at the bamboo basket and spoke with a smile.
"Praise the Lord God! Praise Him for giving us victory! Miwa, you fought well. To make a long story short. What heads are in here?"
"Ah! Great Chief, all the heads of the Tekos noble chiefs are inside, there are twenty or thirty of them."
The red-haired bodyguard Miwa walked to the largest bamboo basket with a simple smile on his face. He stretched out his hand to fumble for a moment, suddenly lifted his hair and took out a middle-aged head with closed eyes.
"This is Shield Chief Chimali!"
"Oh? Chimali is dead? Not bad! Very good! Ezpan and Coca are very good!"
Xiulote glanced at the head, smiled and praised. He had been worried that the prestigious chief Chimali fled into the mountains with his people. With the support of the Colima tribe in the west, he relied on hundreds of miles of mountains and kingdoms.
The legion fought guerrillas. Unexpectedly, the opponent died so easily!
"Praise the Lord God! Praise the Great Chief!"
Hearing the great chief's praise, the red-haired guard Miwa smiled brightly. He stretched out his hand, grabbed his hair, and took out a middle-aged head with closed eyes. Looking carefully, the face of the head was quite similar to the previous one.
.
"Great Chief, this is Malina, the herbal elder. He is Chimali's younger brother. He also killed Chimali with his own hands."
"very good!"
Xiulote looked twice and nodded. It sounded like a civil strife broke out within the Tekos tribe. In fact, he had no knowledge of the negotiations in the southwest mountainous area. Ezpan negotiated privately and promised to enfeoff the hereditary nobles.
Nature is never ready to fulfill.
"God bless you!"
The red-haired bodyguard Miwa smiled and prayed, and then took out the last middle-aged head with open eyes. The man had short hair and had tattoos symbolizing bravery on his face.
"Great chief, this is the hunting elder Toppan. He killed Malina, and there was chaos in the city. Chief Ezpan seized the opportunity, defeated the enemy in one fell swoop, and killed him as well. As for the other Tecos noble chiefs, they all were killed, and their heads were
It’s all here!”
"Oh? So, Shield Chief Chimali, Herb Elder Malina, Hunting Elder Toppan... the three of them attacked each other, and in the end they all turned into heads and were sent here?"
"Yes, it is. Chief, the Southwest Tecos people are eating each other, their morale is low, and they are completely discouraged. After the first battle, no one in the southwest dares to resist. When I set out, Chief Ezpan had already ordered that everyone
Sweep three hundred miles southwest to trap the Tecos who are short of food, until you reach the endless lake!"
Hearing this, Shulot was silent and frowned slightly. In the face of a powerful enemy, the Tekos people would not have unprovoked civil strife... He could vaguely guess the hidden meaning, and Ezpan should have done something. As for killing them all.
The Noble Chief of Tekos was probably just trying to silence him and let everything that had happened be buried in the dust. At this point, he was sure that Ezpan would not leave any omissions.
Ezpin was born as a general. In order to win the trust of the king, he even cut off his little finger despite the pain. His fighting style is both flexible and ruthless. He was once the deputy general of Monkey, and his flexible tactics came from Monkey's professor.
His ruthless style was innate in his bones. After the victory of the Western Expedition, he purged the old nobles of Tarasco in his jurisdiction even more thoroughly than the Mexica generals.
Miwa the Red Frog is from a wilderness tribe and will not show mercy. You can imagine what the two of them can do when they work together.
"Forget it...if the water is clear, there will be no fish. Wait until he comes back and then tap again."
Shulot thought for a moment and nodded. He smiled lightly and looked at Miwa who lowered his head and waited.
"Miwa, Ezpin asked you to come, what else can you say?"
"Great Chief, Chief Ezpan asks you to send as much food as possible to the south!"
The red-haired bodyguard Miwa raised his head and answered respectfully.
"Great Chief, Chief Black Wolf raided the mountains and burned all the Tekos people's food with a fire! According to the news from the Tekos prisoners, Chief Black Wolf has arrived at the seaside. Thousands of legions plundered all the way to the southeast, completely sweeping through all parts of the southwest.
, creating nearly 100,000 Tekos refugees!”
"Chief Ezpan is sure that the Tecos refugees are about to fall into famine and will not be able to stay in the mountains for long. As long as there is sufficient food in the future, the Legion can surrender or trap most of the Tecos refugees and bring them back to the Northern Kingdom as slaves!"
"The black wolf continues to invade? One hundred thousand Tekos refugees?"
Hearing this, Shulot opened his eyes wide in surprise and stood up suddenly. He paced repeatedly, thought for a moment, and made a promise loudly.
"Yes! Very good, tell Ezpin and let him do what he wants! I will recruit the food of the southern nobles and supply it to him with all my strength!"
"The southwest mountainous area is too far away and the environment is complex to be under direct control. Tell him, I only want the population! As long as he robs enough people, no matter what methods he has used before, I will let it go! And if he can get 100,000 people,
He is the number one hero of the Southern Expedition! Then I will reward him generously and give his legion a thousand bronze armors! And Coca's Red Frog Legion will also be generously rewarded!"
"Ah! I obey! Praise you, great chief!"
The red-haired bodyguard Miwa fell to the ground, his face full of joy.
"Tell him again to guard his retreat and beware of the tribes of Colima! The southwest mountainous area cannot support ten thousand legions. Let some of the legions come back with the plundered population and station in Zicao County. In addition, tell Ezpan and
Coca, be nice to the ordinary Tekos refugees! Only the tribes that resist the royal army will be demoted to serfs, and the others will be incorporated into the flag corps to reclaim wasteland in Zicao County."
"I obey you, Warchief!"
Miwa kowtowed again. He was smiling brightly and full of fighting spirit, like a hound waiting for prey.
Shulot gave a few instructions and waved Miwa to retreat. Then, the king looked at the three heads side by side and felt an arrangement of fate. However, there seemed to be some subtle incongruities.
"Bertard!"
Shulot looked at it for a moment and then suddenly spoke.
"Your Highness?"
"Close the eyes of the last head."
"As commanded."
The warrior commander immediately obeyed the order and closed Toppan's eyes. At this moment, the three heads stood side by side, eyes closed together, and came to the northern kingdom to meet the king of the north.
"Yes, that's it."
Xiuluo nodded, looked at it for a while, and felt much more comfortable. He clapped his hands and ordered calmly,
"Send these three heads, together with these bamboo baskets, to Apa City! Let the Palm Family take a good look at the fate of their allies!"
"Do your will!"
Bertard saluted and stood up, smiling and looking to the north. When the head was sent into the desperate city of Apa, there was no longer any hope. And the divine omen would come true again.
