Otopan

Summer on the Mexican Plateau was warm. Though wind and rain went on without end, there was not the slightest chill.

Rainwater ran down their bodies in streams. Xolotl wore only a cloak and a pair of short trousers. Standing by the riverbank, he watched thousands of small boats row in through the downpour like a flock of migrating birds.

The boatmen bared their upper bodies as they shouted and unloaded the grain. The fleet first carried away the city-state sacrificial disks most valued by the king, followed by all manner of luxurious tribute goods. Next came the manpower Catapults dismantled into wooden components. Xolotl inspected the details of their waterproofing by the riverbank. Last were three thousand Otomi People escorted by warriors.

Whether divine stones, tribute, weapons, or Captives, they would all travel upriver along the Tampico River to the great Lake Capital.

The Tampico River was the lifeline of the great army. Across a distance of five or six hundred li, relying on the convenient riverway, merely twenty thousand Militia and boatmen were enough to sustain supplies for more than a hundred thousand men. The ratio of legions to logistics was eight to one.

Yet across the same distance, if they relied on the dirt roads of the plateau, with neither carts nor ox-carts and only human shoulders and hands to bear the loads, the necessary Laborers would have to increase fourfold. The ratio of legions to logistics would be a difficult two to one.

And if the dirt roads were replaced by mountain forests, the Laborers needed to maintain the logistics would double again. The ratio of legions to logistics would become a terrifying one to one.

As for tropical rainforests two or three hundred kilometers across, without hard-won roads built through them, at the technological level of any country in the world at this time, no number of Laborers could sustain the supply line of a hundred-thousand-strong army. The Laborers would consume all the food being transported while still on the road.

"River transport and sea transport are the lifelines of ancient empires."

Xolotl stroked his chin and pondered seriously.

"What a pity. The Alliance Army will soon leave this lifeline."

Xilotepec Suiqiu City showed submission to the greatest possible extent. The city-state's nobles had desperately stripped the city bare, carrying supplies outside to meet every demand of the Mexica army.

Yet the stubborn nobles and Priests had not surrendered the city. Warriors and Militia still guarded the walls. Everything they possessed lay within the city, and unless they had been driven into a corner with mountains exhausted and rivers spent, they would never willingly abandon it.

King Tizoc was satisfied with Xilotepec's submission. Nor was he interested in spending another ten months besieging this impoverished stronghold, drained of wealth and stripped of its inheritance.

The Alliance Army's next target was Otopan, the mountain city at the heart of the loose western Otomi alliance! This was said to be the northern ancestral homeland of the Otomi People. Once Otopan City fell, the Otomi People would lose their political, cultural, and military center and could only submit completely to the empire.

The forces of six legions remained in the camp on the western bank of the Tampico River. Two directly controlled legions were responsible for maintaining the great riverside camp. Here, the supply route would turn into a land route, winding westward through mountains and forests.

The remaining four City-State Legions monitored Xilotepec City-State while protecting the overland supply route.

Then, on the first day of September, the king led more than twenty thousand directly controlled warriors, twenty-five thousand directly controlled village warriors, twenty-five thousand City-State Warriors, and nearly forty thousand City-State Militia assigned to logistics and transport. Fourteen legions in all, an army of one hundred and ten thousand, marched toward Otopan five hundred li away like a vast, surging swarm of ants.

Rolling mountains, shadowy forests, endless wind and rain, deer and wolves startled into flight by the army, and deserted Otomi villages. This was the scenery along the way, repeated for hundreds of li.

Several days later, Xolotl passed the battlefield of his first battle again. Bertad guarded him as the two stood on the commander's hill, gazing together at the vast woodland beneath the fine rain. On the earth once nourished by blood, the grass had grown thick enough to cover every trace of what had been, except for the memories in people's hearts.

The Alliance Army was no more than a passing traveler in haste.

Along the marching route, Supreme Commander Totek established four camps on high ground. He converted forty thousand City-State Militia entirely to logistics, assigning them to transport supplies and guard the supply line, while also saving on food consumption.

At last, after more than half a month of arduous marching, nearly fifty thousand Mexica Warriors, along with twenty-five thousand directly controlled village warriors, nine legions in total, arrived beneath Otopan City.

Though their numbers had been greatly reduced, the core combat strength of the Mexica army remained. Among the fifty thousand Mexica Warriors were nearly three thousand Jaguar and Eagle Legion warriors, along with more than ten thousand Level 4 Senior Warriors, enough to smash through any enemy head-on.

King Tizoc had absolute confidence in victory. Even if all the Otomi city-states united, mobilized completely, and raised one or two hundred thousand Militia, he could still defeat them in a single battle!

The king yearned for a sweeping, exhilarating decisive battle, a glorious campaign worthy of being carved upon a sacrificial disk. He had already prepared to carve a sacrificial disk for his ascension as great as the Aztec Sun Stone! Upon it would be engraved the great deeds of fifteen former rulers, with himself as the sixteenth!

As for the sacrificial disk's name, it would be the "Stone of Tizoc"! Through it, he would establish his unquestionable divine authority and royal throne.

The king's confidence lasted until the moment he saw Otopan City. In that instant, his smile froze.

"Sky God above!"

Xolotl trudged out of the forest. The first thing he saw when he raised his head was the distant Mountain City.

"Ah! This is Otopan City?!"

Xolotl's eyes widened. He exchanged a glance with Avet beside him, and both smiled bitterly. He had long heard that Otopan was easy to defend and hard to attack, but he had never imagined terrain like this. No wonder that even a hundred years later, Spain could only maintain a semi-autonomous form of rule here.

Their bodies were covered in fallen leaves and dust from their trek through the forest, while the guards beside them helped arrange their gear. Behind them stood the army, which had endured the same arduous journey.

Otopan City's elevation should have lain somewhere between Japan's mountain castles and hilltop castles. Looking up, it sat upon a terrace amid the mountains, with a relative height of roughly forty to fifty meters.

Its northern side was the steepest, faintly connected to the nearby mountain range, with a small stream barely visible flowing down. The slopes on the other three sides were somewhat gentler, with rough paths formed by the passage of people.

The entire city-state covered an estimated area of more than five square kilometers. Its walls followed the mountain's terrain and were roughly four or five meters high, enclosing the entire terrace. Xolotl could vaguely see figures moving atop the walls on the mountaintop, banners fluttering in the wind. They must have discovered the army's traces.

"This city will not be easy to take. The terrain is perilous, and it does not lack water. It is also the rainy season."

"Very difficult indeed. No wonder the Otomi People, though weak, managed to put down roots for more than two hundred years amid the chaotic wars of the north."

The familiar exchange left the two looking at one another in silence.

After a while, Supreme Commander Totek hurried over. His expression was grave. The moment he arrived, he seized Xolotl by the arm and demanded sternly.

"Xolotl, can your Catapult bombard the city up on the mountain?"

Hearing this, Xolotl shook his head sincerely.

"Commander Totek, the entire terrace, from its edge to the foot of the slope, lies within the range of the enemy's walls. Stones rolled down from the mountaintop could completely destroy the Catapults. Even without considering the ranged attacks from the walls, the slope is so steep that Catapults would be difficult to set up. And even if we somehow succeeded in setting them up, firing upward at walls twenty or thirty meters high would have no power at all."

Hearing this answer, Totek furrowed his brow, dissatisfaction in his voice.

"Is there no other way? Wooden ladders, perhaps? Or those wheeled carts with sharp metal heads you mentioned last time?"

Xolotl and Avet shook their heads together and explained in turn.

"The elite warriors would have to carry wooden ladders and climb forty or fifty meters up the mountain. They would be subjected, one-sidedly, to stones, logs, javelins, arrows, and stone shot from the walls for nearly two ke. They would have to expend enormous strength, endure casualties, and then force their way onto the walls to fight. And it is still the rainy season, with unceasing rain making the climb even harder. If we storm the city, the warriors' losses would be far too terrible. That is impossible!"

As Avet spoke, the smile vanished from his face, leaving only sternness and gravity.

"Exactly! Never mind the difficulty of building a battering ram. With terrain like this, it would be hard to push one onto the terrace. And the enemy's rolling stones could utterly destroy it."

Xolotl looked helpless as he spoke the truth.

"Main God bear witness! Is there truly no way at all?"

Totek refused to give up and asked one final time.

The answer was the two men shaking their heads once more.

"Main God bear witness! Besiege the city!"

Otopan Mountain City was a fortress built amid the mountains. In truth, there were ways to attack it in this age. Xolotl lowered his head, thinking of siege methods from the Old Continent in this era.

First, use large numbers of cannon-fodder troops to exhaust the city's rolling stones and logs. Next, use the large-caliber, short-barreled stone-throwing cannons appearing on the European Continent to bombard the walls until they collapsed, or use superior Longbowmen to suppress the defenders' ranged attacks from the walls, then push battering rams forward to break open the gates. Finally, rely on elite assault troops to charge through the breach or gate and fight at close quarters.

No matter which method they chose, they required superior ranged suppression. Heavy casualties among the elite warriors would also be unavoidable.

And now, at the technological level of the Mexica Alliance—

"Better to besiege the city!"

Very soon, more than seventy thousand Mexica troops set up camp on three sides of Otopan. The warriors blocked the easily traveled roads and built simple fortifications. Large numbers of elite squads were sent out from the camp to patrol the perilous north.

Totek tried every method to provoke the defenders in the city. According to the latest intelligence, after gathering some reinforcements from Guamare and Pamus, the city now held more than ten thousand warriors, thirty thousand Militia, and another twenty or thirty thousand able-bodied civilians. The city's food could sustain them for a year at most.

Perhaps they had been frightened out of their wits by the previous battle, or perhaps they had set their hearts on becoming turtles withdrawn into their shells. No matter how the Mexica Warriors lured and provoked them, the Otomi People remained utterly unmoved, defending Otopan Mountain City to the death.

Thus began the long siege.