Chapter 195 Battle of Takuro Plains (Part 2)

The bright sun fell from the middle of the sky, illuminating the ant colonies not far apart on the ground. They were two small and huge legions. The refreshing long wind blew between heaven and earth, blowing away the smoke and dust, bringing the roar and shouts of the legion.

The Mexica warriors wore bright cotton and leather armor, holding shining war sticks and bronze spears, and tied the indispensable wooden shields and rattan shields on their left arms. They lined up in a compact formation, roaring loudly, imitating the cry of eagles and tigers. From time to time, the warrior captain with a small flag on his back would lead the team members, knocking on the wooden shields in unison, shouting in unison, and intimidating the enemies in front.

The captains of the temple legion were even more eye-catching. These fanatical tattooed warriors stood in front of the formation, raised skull-shaped instruments, and blew creepy death whistles. The low whistle sounded like a howling ghost wind passing through, and the Chapala militia on the opposite side suddenly became much quieter, and their morale was obviously reduced.

In the center surrounded by warriors, there is a quickly built wooden platform. At the four corners of the wooden platform are guards holding large shields, firmly protecting the commander in the center. In the center, Xiuluot is dressed in the commander's gorgeous clothes, wearing a heavy feather crown, carrying a four-meter-high black wolf flag on his back, and holding an exquisite spear flag, standing solemnly on the platform. He is in the most conspicuous height, carrying the tallest umbrella, so that all warriors can clearly see that this is where the army's heart is!

Next to him, there are several heralds on standby at any time, holding various small flags. And behind him is a military band with war drums and wooden gongs, holding horns and conchs, and holding bone whistles and copper whistles in their mouths. They are on standby at any time to turn military orders into music of different types and rhythms. Military orders do not need to be pleasant to the ears, they just need to be heard in all directions!

Xiuluot stood solemnly at a height of several meters, with a firm and solemn expression. He looked at the Chapala Legion several miles away, quickly estimated the military situation, and imprinted the situation in his mind.

The enemy army was fully deployed, with square and circular formations stationed in place, arranged in a rough linear shape. The size of the Chapala Legion was about 30,000, with about 10,000 warriors. The most obvious thing in the enemy's army was the four warrior square formations. There was one on each wing, the left wing warriors wore sky blue uniforms, with a slightly larger number, and the right wing warriors wore silver-white uniforms, with a slightly smaller number.

Xiu Luote observed carefully that the left wing warriors had more bronze spears and a more orderly formation, and were shouting loudly at this time.

"The left wing is more elite. It seems that the enemy army is biased towards the left side!"

The young commander nodded slightly and took note in his mind. Then, he looked at the enemy's warrior center.

Chapala's warrior center was divided into two formations, front and back, with almost the same number of people. They wore patterned uniforms, like feathers, gathered together in a strict manner. Xuluot looked from afar and saw that there were more warriors in the front of the central army and fewer guards in the back, like a bird with a big head and a big belly. At the head of the bird was a tall commander's battle flag!

The battle flag was located on the top of the hill, and its position was very eye-catching. On the flying flag, the gorgeous long feathers of the Quetzal bird were embroidered. The guards who were familiar with Tarasco immediately stepped forward and whispered in his ear. The young commander nodded calmly and smiled slightly.

"The prince's commander's flag! Chapala's feathers, we meet again! Congratulations on your promotion, I have prepared a new gift for you!"

Thinking of this, Xuluot smiled and turned his head to look at the two pine cannons in the back. The barrels had been filled, the muzzles were sealed with cotton, and the fuse was long. The gunners around carried fire and were also ready.

The young commander estimated in his heart. There were about 10,000 enemy warriors, and the number of people in the four phalanxes was around 2,000 to 3,000, which was just enough for flexible command. Then, his eyes shifted left and right, and his pupils shrank slightly.

Around the hillock where the enemy commander was standing, there were two groups of bow-wielding militiamen occupying the terrain, each numbering about 2,000. The militiamen gathered in a rough square formation, nervously checking the bows and arrows in their hands, and they must have been effectively trained.

Xiuluot carefully looked at the tiny figures and the wooden bows that were more than half a person tall, and then he felt relieved. Most of these Chapala militia archers used Tlaxcala wooden bows, and a few used simple hunting bows, which usually posed a threat to the warriors' cotton armor within thirty steps. Even if they occupied the terrain, the effective killing range was only more than forty steps, unless the archery skills were extraordinary.

The Chapala Legion was centered on the warrior square formation, surrounded by a large group of militiamen and a group of supervisors. Led by the village leaders, the Chapala militiamen gathered in villages. They wore cloth clothes, held high stone spears and stone hammers, mixed with ropes for throwing stones, and their formation was loose. At this moment, the militiamen were screaming loudly and chaotically, fighting against the terrifying howl of the death whistle. It seemed that their morale was good, but the specific number was difficult to identify.

Xiu Luote made a rough estimate, and with the report from the scout, he had a rough idea. There were about 4,000 close combat militiamen on the left and right of the Chapala warrior phalanx. There were 4,000 slingers and 4,000 close combat militiamen in front of the warriors. Adding the 4,000 archers in the back formation, it was just around 20,000. As for the rear of the army, those figures who were far away and flickering vaguely should be unarmed logistics civilians.

Seeing the enemy's arrangement clearly, the young commander no longer hesitated, waved the flag quickly, and issued an order. The Mexica Legion also adjusted slightly and fully deployed.

Under the flag of the black wolf, there was a 3,000 shooting corps composed of longbow guards, archers, and temple crossbowmen, plus 400 jaguar warriors guarding the left and right, as the commander's personal army. The main warrior militia was lined up in front, forming five square formations side by side.

The central army was composed of 3,500 highly motivated and well-organized warriors of the Holy City. The leader was Olosh, who was roaring and giving a speech. The left and right wings were composed of 4,000 spearmen. The spearmen were silent, forming a strict and dense spear formation, with their spears pointed obliquely forward. The left wing was given to "Monkey" Kuluka, and the right wing was given to the temporarily recalled Ezpan. Further out, the outer periphery of the two wings was given to the warriors of the Western City-State, with 2,000 men on each side. They held shields and sticks, shouted loudly, and looked quite elite.

For this battle, Shulot gathered the largest force and recruited warriors from all over as much as possible. The 4,000 Western City-State Legion was drawn from the estuary fortress and urgently transported by the navy. He did not dare to give the task of fighting the enemy warriors to these noble private soldiers, so he asked them to deal with the militia of Chapala. Facing a weak enemy, these city-state warriors can always give full play to their combat power.

A little behind the main phalanx was the 3,000 religious legion on standby. The blessed warriors stood opposite the temple guards, praying in a low voice. The praises of the Lord God echoed in the army, calming the warriors and raising their fighting spirit. These three thousand fanatical religious warriors were sharp daggers. Once they were thrust out with great force, they would sink into the enemy's body and could never be retracted.

Xiuluot personally told the two commanders to put the three thousand religious legions in the rear for the assault at the critical moment. Next to the religious legion, there were two "God-given" weapons that could produce wooden cannons with thunderous sounds. The pottery thorns could not be used stably and were not suitable for the ever-changing field battles, so the boy brought these two "big firecrackers".

They were called wooden cannons, but in fact they looked like oversized shotguns. They could kill cloth within eighty steps, cotton armor within forty steps, and elite warriors with wooden shields and leather armor within twenty steps. They could only fire one or two rounds in a quarter of an hour. However, the shotgun shooting range of the wooden cannon was large, covering a distance of several steps to the left and right. At the same time, for the enemy encountered for the first time, the huge roar was an absolute blow to morale, like a myth coming!

In order to prepare the warriors of each state, before the army set out, Xiuluot held a grand sacrificial ceremony. The wooden cannon, as a weapon bestowed by the main god, was engraved with abstract patterns of the gods and made a brilliant appearance under the attention of everyone. Then, in the majestic roar, the warriors were shocked and bowed down to the weapon of the Thunder God together. Under the guidance of the priests, they used the fastest speed to transform the fear of the unknown into piety to the gods and accept the existence of new weapons.

At this moment, the religious legion guarded the two weapons bestowed by the gods, just like guarding a fanatical belief!

Xiuluot looked around, more than 13,000 warriors, 8,000 spear legions, plus two wooden cannons, this is the Mexica army in his hands! He nodded with satisfaction, waved the gorgeous battle flag, and the thunderous war drums sounded. The Mexica warriors lowered their war clubs, and the spear corps raised their spears high, marching slowly together, approaching the enemy army in an orderly manner.

On the hill opposite, the prince's flag was flying high. "Feather" Penguari stared at the black wolf flag opposite, and made up his mind. He wanted to wash away the shame of fleeing without fighting, seize the enemy marshal's flag, and prove to all the Chapala nobles:

"I, 'Feather' Penguari, am a true warrior! A commander who can win! And the well-deserved king of the Tarasco people!"

Penguari held the magic staff tightly in his hand, and then swung it forward with force. His eyes showed a cold light. The enemy had a longbow with a range advantage, so let the militia consume all the arrows!

The attacking flag pointed forward, and the gongs and drums of the attack sounded. Four thousand Tarasco stone-throwing militias, lined up in a loose queue, quickly approached the Mexica army. Then, they stood still fifty steps away, twirled the ropes in their hands, burst into chaotic shouts, and threw whistling stones into the dense army formation.

Facing the attacking lightly armed slingers, Xiuluot frowned. He ordered the army to pause, suppressed the warriors who wanted to charge, and maintained a neat formation. Then, he shouted loudly, "Raise shields to defend", and the herald quickly raised the flag and ran and shouted.

In the hearts of the people, the prestige of the marshal is supreme, and the order cannot be disobeyed. The warriors erected their wooden shields, lowered their heads wearing rattan helmets, and silently endured the rain of stones. Occasionally, there would be stones that passed through the gaps and hit the warriors' cotton armor, or even hit their uncovered faces. After two rounds of slinging, dozens of warriors were slightly injured, more than a dozen had bleeding mouths and noses, and several were seriously injured and died.

Xiuluot waved the flag again. The three thousand soldiers drew their bows and strings, raised their crossbows, and shot arrows at the slingers at a distance of one hundred steps. In just a few breaths, thousands of arrows rained down with sharp cries, blocking the sky and falling into the militia on the opposite side in an instant.

More than two hundred Tarasco militiamen screamed at the same time, pierced by powerful long arrows, and nailed to the ground in various strange postures. They only had thin single clothes and had no resistance under the longbows and crossbows. Once they were hit by arrows, they would be seriously injured, and serious injuries at this time meant death! Driven by fear, the slinging militia became more loose, and there were signs of disintegration.

The young commander kept the flag still. The three thousand soldiers fired in succession and fired three more rounds. The expensive arrows drew a beautiful and ruthless curve and fell into the enemy formation with a "swoosh", piercing the bodies of the Chapala militiamen, and blooming more than four hundred blood-red flowers. The four thousand slingers quickly disintegrated and turned their heads to flee to the back.

Xuluot silently counted the enemies left in front of the formation, and frowned again. After the first round of shooting, the formation of these militias was extremely loose, and four rounds of arrow rain killed only more than 600 people. And the three thousand archers consumed a full twelve thousand expensive arrows, twenty arrows for one militia, no matter how you count it, it is a loss-making business!

The young commander's face was as gloomy as water. He commanded the army to continue to advance, and the warriors moved slowly. The enemy's supervising warriors were merciless, killing the stone-throwing militia who fled first, forcing the militia to move forward again, and driving them to continue to harass the Mexica army.

Xuluot waved the flag. Two thousand five hundred longbow warriors stepped out of the army directly, and shot arrows accurately at a distance of forty or fifty steps. The longbow shot horizontally was powerful, like a deadly thunder! However, after four rounds, thousands of civilian militias died in the front, and fell into the dust together with dozens of Chapala warriors who supervised the battle. The vigorous vitality flowed, soaking the blowing clothes, and the wind was full of blood.

Then, the loud sound of gongs and drums sounded, and 400 elite Jaguar regiments rushed out of the army formation and attacked the stone-throwing militia whose morale collapsed. When the war sticks swept across, the militia twisted and fell to the ground, and the survivors fled backwards in fear. The Jaguar warriors skillfully waved their war sticks and drove the remaining more than 2,000 fleeing soldiers towards the enemy's warrior army formation and the enemy's central army flag. Until within 40 or 50 steps of the army formation, the enemy archers on the hill fired arrows at the same time, and the fleeing soldiers fell down in an instant, and then, driven by the warriors in the front formation, scattered to the marching passages on both sides.

In this rapid and ruthless rain of arrows, several Jaguar warriors were also shot and fell to the ground, and their lives and deaths were unknown. Seeing the enemy warriors in the front formation coming to meet the attack, the elite Jaguar regiment no longer tried and turned back directly. The enemy warriors only chased forty or fifty steps, and then returned to the stable army formation at the bottom of the hill under the protection of the archers.

Xiuluot nodded with satisfaction. In the fierce battlefield, only the elite jaguar warriors can be free to control and keep calm at all times, but other warriors can't do this.

Then, he saw the flags on the opposite side waving again, and thousands of militiamen lined up in loose formations, approaching the Mexica army. He carefully observed that the front rows of militiamen were holding extremely threatening wooden and stone javelins in their hands, which were enough to kill the warriors.

The young commander had to wave his hand again, and the longbow warriors continued to fire a rain of arrows, shooting the enemy militia into different shapes. From time to time, militiamen rushed to the front of the formation, threw powerful javelins, and knocked down the warriors in the front row. The bright red spread from the front of the army of both sides until the earth was dyed blood red, and the howling before death resounded through the world, and then it was silent again.

On the hill opposite, the "feather" flag fluttered like a long feather, and the warriors' formation was as solid as a mountain. Among the Chapala Legion, dozens of priests raised the blue holy fire, ignited the lingering sacred smoke, and danced enthusiastically. They maintained the morale of the army, sang praises to the moon goddess Haratana, sacrificed batches of militiamen to her kingdom, and prayed for the victory granted by the goddess!

The arrow rain of the archer brought dripping blood, and the thrown spears pierced the warriors' bodies. In the dazzling blood, the commanders of both sides were as hard as stone. It was not until the long trial ended that the feather arrows gradually became sparse, and the real fierce battle began at this moment!