Before the Battle

Mexico's rainy season began gently, like an unripe young maiden. The Sun hid behind thin clouds, dyeing the sky a faint golden yellow. Unbroken drizzle fell through the hazy sunlight, soaking the trees and grass until they looked lush enough to drip.

Mist curled over the riverbank like a blurred haze, and several small boats emerged from the smoky rain, sending soft ripples across the water. Whenever he saw such a sight, Xolotl could not help recalling and longing for the distant Jiangnan Water Towns.

Two weeks had passed since the meeting with Xilotepec Suiqiu City's envoy. Although the Chief Minister had made harsh threats, it would still be a year before those threats came true. Xilotepec's nobles still had time to hesitate and quarrel, hoping for reinforcements from their western allies—reinforcements that no one knew when they would arrive.

At this moment, Xolotl was in the riverside forest, directing several carpenters and laborers as they struggled to fell hard rosewood with crude stone axes and rope saws.

This slightly concave rosewood was an exceptionally fine mahogany. It could grow twenty to twenty-five meters tall, with hard timber, beautiful grain, a clear tone, and a faint fragrance.

In later generations, it would generally be used to make high-end guitars and luxury furniture, every inch of wood worth an inch of gold. But now, Xolotl intended to use it to build catapults.

With the help of veteran carpenters, he had completed the design for a manpower catapult: a fixed trapezoidal frame, four or five meters tall, nearly as high as a city wall. A long throwing arm used as a lever would be set at eight meters for now, with a sling at its tip and ropes pulled by men at its base. There would also be a horizontal axle laid across the frame, bound with sisal rope at its midpoint and at a point two meters from the base of the throwing arm.

Thus, when the catapult crew pulled the ropes, the two-meter short arm would drive the six-meter long arm. The axle would keep its rotation stable atop the frame, and the stone at the tip would be launched outward, battering distant city-states along a parabolic arc.

Yet reality was never smooth sailing. When the design was turned into an actual object, Xolotl encountered the first problem: the axle and throwing arm bore too much force and could easily snap.

Xolotl knew nothing of reinforcement joints for timber, nor did he know methods of hardening wood. He could only come up with a simple, brutal idea: use the best and strongest wood! Upon hearing this, the carpenters recommended rosewood.

Felling such hard wood with stone axes was like sawing through a tree with a little knife. So an hour later, when Avet found Xolotl, he was still sitting on a rock by the river, boredly watching the laborers work.

"Say, could you get me a few copper axes?"

"Copper axes? For equipment that good, you'll have to borrow them from the Shorn Guard. They're the only ones in the camp who have them at present. Of course, that is assuming they're willing to lend them to you."

"Ha! I might as well ask the king for them."

Thinking of Totek, with his shorn hair, tattooed face, and expression like a boulder, Xolotl felt tremendous pressure.

"At least the king looks much easier to talk to!"

Avet gave a "heh-heh" laugh without commenting.

"Xolotl, I came to find you today for serious business. Put aside your big toy for now. There will be a battle in the next few days. I've already applied to the king, and when the time comes, I'll take you to observe it. We have to set out tonight!"

"What battle? Wait, what toy? I'm building a catapult, an epoch-making siege weapon!"

"A battle to ambush the Otomi People. Otopan's first twenty-thousand-man relief force set out a week ago. They will soon enter the elite legion's ambush range. Hmm, ahead of its time? Wait until your big toy becomes a usable weapon before saying that!"

"When did the legion go set up the ambush?"

Xolotl thought for a moment, his expression thoughtful.

"Was it that batch of Samurai who disappeared some days ago?"

"Correct! Eh, when did you notice them? It seems this legion's movements were still not cautious enough."

"Fine, I'll go! But why did you suddenly think of taking me to watch a battle? Avet, you want to join the fighting yourself, don't you?"

At that, Avet smiled without speaking and simply dragged Xolotl away. Before leaving, Xolotl called out loudly.

"Don't stop working! You must fell the rosewood tree within these two days! If you really can't manage it, burn through it with fire!"

Back at camp, Xolotl took off his priest's robes and put on green leather armor and a battle robe, looking full of vigor. The clean-cut lines of his face had gradually begun to reveal a firmness, making him look more and more like a warrior.

The two rested and made brief preparations within the camp. Then, accompanied by over a hundred personal guard warriors, they bypassed the city and headed west through the northern forest.

Marching through mountain forests during the rainy season was difficult. Xolotl struggled onward across soft humus soil. The sky was hidden above his head, tangled roots crisscrossed beneath his feet, and rain had soaked him through.

But such hardship was not even in the same league as the tropical rainforests of the Northeast Lowlands or the Southeastern Plains. Tropical rainforests in the rainy season were the nightmare of large-scale marches. Their swamps, poisons, miasma, and water sources—every single one meant unavoidable death.

After marching like this for two days, the pair finally reached the ambushing legion's camp on the morning of the third day. It was a small terrace behind a hill, hidden from enemy scouts.

The warriors' camp maintained an orderly silence. Xolotl's expression grew solemn as he occasionally spotted Jaguar Warriors wearing tiger-head feathered helmets, yellow-patterned leather armor, and shields and war clubs on their backs. They were clearly the elite of the army, yet all lay in ambush here.

Avet led Xolotl into the central great tent. Xolotl had seen the commander inside before; he was one of the commanders wearing a Sun Stone cloak. The emblem on his back was the image of a warrior's war club.

"Praise the Main God! Kasal."

Avet greeted the commander with a warm smile.

"How are things with the Otomi enemy?"

Hearing this, Kasal merely nodded and smiled faintly.

"They have twenty thousand men from Otopan State. I estimate that five thousand are City-State Warriors, and fifteen thousand are village levies."

"Only five thousand warriors? What use is such a small force as reinforcements?"

"This relief force is merely for show. They march very slowly, only a dozen or so li per day, and their scouts range far ahead. Most of the time, they are waiting for reports from those scouts. Their resolve to fight is highly questionable. I estimate that once they see things going badly, they will withdraw."

"On ground they know well, even fully armed warriors cannot catch those mountain folk skilled at fleeing."

Avet nodded in agreement.

"Then what do you intend to do?"

"We have eight thousand warriors. I intend to divide our forces into three routes and take the initiative! Since you are here, I will give you four thousand warriors to draw their attention from the front. Once battle begins, Balda will lead two thousand warriors in an attack from the left flank. I will lead five hundred Jaguar elites and fifteen hundred warriors around to their rear flank and deliver the final blow!"

After Kasal spoke, he swung his fist forcefully, killing intent appearing on his face.

Upon hearing the orders, a strong warrior beside them grinned at Avet. He was Balda. Judging by the patterns on his helmet and leather armor, he was likely a hereditary noble of the Eagle Warrior Order.

Eight thousand against twenty thousand, and they were even dividing into three forces to attack at different times? Xolotl's head was full of question marks. Seeing the confident expressions on all the commanders' faces, he temporarily suppressed his doubts.

Soon, the war council dispersed, and everyone returned to their tents. The warriors needed to rest in advance and build up their strength early for the battle the next day.

Xolotl lay on an officer's straw bed. The tips of the straw carried the scent of nature and pricked him slightly. Still, this soft straw bed was already far more comfortable than the warriors' sleeping places on the ground. Xolotl relaxed all over and brought up his doubts to Avet.

"Haaha! Xolotl, an army's fighting strength has no absolute relationship with its numbers."

Avet replied with a light laugh, explaining the common knowledge of warfare.

"An army's fighting strength depends on the exact terrain and circumstances of battle, on its morale and courage, and on the exhaustion of its physical strength!"

"For example, before a Jaguar Warrior's strength is spent, he can easily contend with three ordinary warriors or ten village warriors. In narrow terrain, this is even more so! But in a siege, he can only count as one ordinary village warrior. Because a stone thrown down from the city wall by a village warrior can easily smash him to death."

"And a village stone thrower, in close combat, can only count as half a village warrior. If given enough time to fire and allowed to shoot in an orderly fashion, he can count as one ordinary warrior. But once he occupies advantageous terrain, throwing stones from above in mountain fighting or city defense, his killing power can even surpass that of a Jaguar Warrior!"

"In this field battle, the only enemy worth watching is their five thousand City-State Warriors. On a large frontal battlefield, Village Militia are mostly only used to hold the line or exhaust the enemy's javelins and stones. Their crude stone spears and wooden spears, along with their rough skills, inflict limited harm upon armored warriors. Their few shields and suits of armor also make them easier to injure. As for the Militia's low morale, it is even more likely to collapse in field battle."

"In truth, warriors—only warriors—are the core of every city-state under heaven! The Main God bears witness! Tomorrow's battle holds no difficulty. It is just the chance to let you broaden your horizons and learn how to be a commander. Xolotl, sleep without worry!~~"