"Aguda! What is he saying?"
"Haaha! I don't understand the second half of what he said. But the first half is a plea for help... He took our fleet for some commanding chieftain of Great Ming... Then he called himself the commanding chieftain of Great Ming's Harman Tribe, said he was our ally, and asked us for reinforcements!..."
"...?! How could he take us for Great Ming tribal chieftains? Is his eyesight better than the Dog-kin's, and he saw this official seal?..."
"Ha! Zuwaro, it should be because of our big ships! On this great river, even those large tribes of two or three thousand people can't build ships like these! They say only Great Ming in the south has ships this big!..."
Maha Aguda threw back his head and laughed, gripping the great hammer at his waist. With a hunter's gaze, he fixed on the six Tame Jurchen armored riders before the fleet, then lowered his voice like a tiger or wolf lying in ambush.
"Zuwaro! Send men ashore! The prey has delivered itself to our door—how can we let it go? That's six fine warhorses, and six sets of southern iron armor! Didn't you want a guide from the south? Catch this fellow, and he's bound to know plenty!..."
At that, Zuwaro's eyes flickered as he sized up the Harman Tribe chieftain holding the bronze seal high, and the five riders who came after him. All these riders wore peculiarly styled half-body Cloth-covered Iron Armor that opened down the front.
He looked again toward the camp several li away. The beastlike untamed Jurchen tribes had already smashed through the gate and were pouring inside in droves, while the shouts and sounds of resistance within the camp had begun to weaken. The three attacking tribes had all split off