Test Firing

Early the next morning, beneath the dawn light of the Morning Sun, Xolotl began agility training.

He nimbly dodged Bertad's unbroken barrage of swings, like a leaping ape. As his muscle reflexes took shape, he could already effectively evade attacks that were not swift enough. Once such reactions were trained to their limit, he might even make tiny responses beneath a rain of arrows in the future, avoiding vital points and greatly increasing his chances of survival.

The body was a warrior's capital, and martial skill was the foundation upon which the Mexica People stood. The eighteen weapons had not yet appeared; a warrior needed only train with the shield, war club, short spear, long dagger, and throwing spear. Yet Xolotl was now planning to add another foundation beneath his feet: the bow.

Before long, Cuauht hurried over with the artisans, carrying various bowstrings and clay jars filled with bone glue. The moment Xolotl got distracted and looked over, he took a club to the shoulder. Hiss, that hurt. He could only keep hopping.

The old carpenter bowed to Xolotl from afar, lowered his head with a smile, then went inside to string the longbow. Bowstrings were usually made from a tough single strand; here, deer sinew was used. Loops at both ends fitted into small grooves at the tips of the bow, then were secured with fine thread and glued in place with bone glue.

At the middle of the bowstring, the old carpenter deliberately wrapped a small ring of thin deerskin, then wound fine thread around the leather. This was the center serving, where the fingers that drew the string made contact, protecting them. Two semicircles of fine thread were then added atop the serving as a nocking point, where the arrow's tail met the string. This prevented the arrow tail from slipping and reducing shooting accuracy. These parts were once more secured with bone glue.

By morning, when Xolotl finished his endurance training, this English Longbow—no, Mexica Longbow—was finally complete. Carrying this "divine weapon," he rushed impatiently to the training ground. The bow was a full 2.2 meters long, two sizes larger than the youth himself. He could only tilt the longbow slightly to control its center while shooting.

Then Xolotl excitedly accepted a bone arrow over seventy centimeters long from Bertad, nocked it, and pulled hard. Then he discovered in astonishment that, with his current strength, he could not draw the longbow fully. Bertad's good-natured chuckle sounded beside him.

The youth's face flushed red as he strained to draw the string, aimed at the leather armor set up sixty paces away, and tried to fire level. With a sharp whoosh, the bone arrow flashed like invisible lightning, fiercely clearing the height of the leather armor. It traced a faint arc through the air and buried itself in the mud a hundred paces away with a pfft. When everyone went over to look, the shaft had sunk nearly a foot deep.

Clearly, at the final moment, the youth's hand had not been steady enough. It had lifted slightly as he released the arrow, turning a level shot into an arcing one. Yet when everyone saw the power of the shot at a hundred paces, warriors and artisans looked at one another in stunned silence. The youth merely smiled smugly. One pace here meant 1.3 meters, with the Mexica taking one step with each foot.

The next test was naturally much more serious. Bertad took the longbow and had everyone step back a little. The weathered warrior drew a deep breath, half-raised the longbow in his left hand, his arm steady as level ground, and pulled hard with his right. The bow curved into a full arc. He paused slightly to aim, then released a meteor-like arrow.

Everyone heard an explosive whoosh as the bone arrow carved an exceedingly swift, flat, shallow arc through the air. With a bang, it pierced through the leather armor sixty paces away, punching two round holes through the chest, front and back. It then slid forward another dozen paces before landing at an angle, its arrowhead still sunk into the earth.

The watching followers erupted in cheers, praising the "divine shot." The Captain of Warriors' face reddened slightly. What he had actually aimed at was the helmet stuck on the leather armor. Even elite veteran Mexica warriors rarely practiced archery; they were more skilled at precise close-range throwing spear attacks. Bertad's skill with the bow had been honed when he was young and poor, using a hunting bow to shoot birds in the mountains and forests.

When everyone inspected the shot's power again, every face turned grave. At sixty paces, leather armor was as thin as a leaf before the longbow. And this was only a bone arrow. If it were replaced with a sharp copper arrowhead...

"This will be an epoch-making weapon. Within sixty paces of a longbow's range, elite warriors in leather armor will be no different from ordinary militia in cloth. Once struck, it will mean either grievous injury or death." Bertad solemnly assessed the result.

Everyone exchanged glances and nodded in agreement. They all vaguely sensed that an age of change was approaching.

The Captain of Warriors tested the Mexica Longbow's maximum range again. He still drew the bow like a full moon, raised the arrowhead halfway toward the sky, and fired a forty-five-degree arc toward the distant white clouds.

Xolotl ran over to inspect the landing point. This bone arrow had flown a full one hundred forty to fifty paces, utterly crushing every simple self bow among the tribes of Mexico in an epoch-making fashion. It was enough to suppress defenders atop city walls from the plains.

By now, uncontrollable ecstasy filled everyone's faces, mixed with the gravity of earnest thought. Cuauht first smiled in satisfaction, proud of his craftsmanship. Then the old carpenter glanced at the hole in the leather armor target and suddenly sighed softly.

Bertad, meanwhile, was like an untiring iron man, repeatedly testing the longbow's power at different ranges until his arms ached and he could no longer shoot.

Xolotl eventually obtained the Mexica Longbow's practical figures: a draw weight above ninety pounds, an initial arrow velocity of around fifty-five meters per second, a maximum arcing range of roughly one hundred thirty paces, a maximum level-shot range of eighty paces, the ability to pierce cloth armor within a hundred paces, and the ability to shoot through the front of leather armor with a level shot within sixty paces! Within a dozen or so paces, using metal arrowheads, it could even damage the chainmail of European cavalry.

Overall, the figures are about eighty percent of an English Longbow's! An English Longbow's extreme arcing range is one hundred seventy paces, and its extreme level-shot range is one hundred paces. Xolotl thought excitedly. Though the bow material is better, our crafting techniques still fall short. Reaching this level is thanks to Master Artisan Cuauht working on it himself.

"Once longbows are truly manufactured on a large scale, their overall power will probably be slightly below eighty percent of an English Longbow's. With armor-piercing arrows and close-range fire, they can break chainmail. This power is already entirely sufficient!" Joy flushed Xolotl's face, and the youth's smile nearly split his mouth.

As the artisans continued discussing the uses of different arrows, the youth seemed to have wind beneath his feet and flew off to find Avet. He could no longer wait to see his teacher's shocked expression.

Very soon, the smiling Avet was dragged over by the youth. Bertad had recovered some strength in his arms and once again displayed his extraordinary skill of shooting through leather armor within sixty paces. This time, the Captain of Warriors could steadily place his shots near the heart of the leather armor, though he still could not guarantee hitting the head.

Through the limit test, the Captain of Warriors determined that even an elite warrior like himself could only unleash the longbow at its limit for ten arrows per minute. After at most three or four minutes, his arm strength would be exhausted, meaning he could rapid-fire at most thirty or forty arrows. With steady shooting, his normal rate would be five or six shots per minute, sustained for at most around ten minutes, or fifty to sixty arrows.

As for the nonstop firing for several hours, arrows falling like rain, one man fighting a hundred, which Xolotl had read about in novels before—those should belong to super soldiers from fantasy planes, or else people using toy bows.

This time, Avet was clearly prepared. Shock flashed across his face and vanished in an instant.

Then he smiled, clapped his hands, and praised, "Xolotl, your grandfather truly gave you a fine name. You are indeed Xolotl, Death God. With this weapon, the lives of warriors will fall like autumn leaves, rustling down amid a rain of arrows!"

Xolotl was clearly in an unusually excited state. His face glowed red as he shouted, "Xolotl is the Death God, but also the Thunder God. This bow fires arrows like lightning and brings death to our enemies. Why not call it Xolotl's Bow? Sweep away every demon and monster, and flatten all the pale-skinned devils."

Avet rarely rolled his eyes. He reached out and touched the youth's forehead. It was somewhat hot; perhaps he was so excited that he had begun speaking nonsense.

"We can discuss that later. You are not suited to being so flamboyant right now." Avet smiled faintly, then his smile vanished as he asked seriously, "How long does it take to make one of these bows?"

Xolotl recovered some calm. He thought carefully before answering cautiously.

"Preparing the wood and making the bow can be separated. If there is enough timber and the techniques are mastered, one skilled bowyer can make one or two usable ordinary longbows a day. However, if time is plentiful, making a truly excellent longbow requires several months. Most of that time goes into better seasoning and training of the bow. Another restriction is processing tools. Only hard Bronze Tools can slowly cut sturdy sandalwood and ironwood. In comparison, cedar wood and oak wood cost far less to process. And compared with making bows, producing large numbers of quality arrow shafts takes even more time."

Avet paced back and forth a few times. He was clearly thinking, hesitating over something.

After a long while, he suddenly slapped his palm, made up his mind, and said with extraordinary seriousness, "Keep news of these bows sealed for now. Have your followers keep their mouths shut. Keep the artisans under control. I will have people harvest timber and procure metal tools for you. Within this month, make at least one hundred bows and over a thousand arrows. I will also secretly send you a hundred warriors and have them practice archery in shifts."

Xolotl realized that Avet had formed some major plan. After hesitating for a moment, the youth asked, "What do you want to do?"

Avet merely shook his head gravely. A hard edge appeared on his handsome face. "It cannot be said yet, and it may not be done at all. But preparations must be made now! We must seize that chance which may exist, then vanish in the turn of a hand. Rest assured, I will not act rashly, nor will I harm you. We are already bound together!"

Xolotl did not hesitate again. The youth stepped forward, pressed a hand to Avet's shoulder, and nodded firmly. "I believe you."

Avet smiled faintly upon hearing this and said meaningfully, "We will change everything!"

The two looked at each other for a moment, suddenly seized by an indescribable impulse. Then they burst into hearty laughter, their voices carrying into the sky. There, an eagle with spread wings soared freely above the nine heavens!

Next, Xolotl gathered his followers and strictly guarded the secret of the longbow. Bertad arranged for twenty warriors to closely protect Cuauht and the artisans, while also helping them with odd jobs.

Over the following days, Cuauht designed different kinds of arrows and handed them to Bertad for testing.

Naturally, a bow's arrows were not all the same. Different arrows had different functions. Common war arrows were around seventy-five centimeters long, similar to those of the English. Their shafts were made of tough oak wood, which was less likely to deform or be destroyed by the force of launch. Most arrowheads were cheap wood or bone, while a few were costly bronze, meant for different targets. Light arrows with stone or wooden heads were used against unarmored and lightly armored targets. In this age, bronze arrowheads counted as heavy arrows, used to break through warrior leather armor.

For a quality longbow with a high draw weight, the arrow shaft had to be strong, made from good wood, and heavy enough. An overly light shaft could not fully bear the bow's transferred kinetic energy and would cause irreversible damage to the bow. A poor shaft would be snapped by the tremendous force, perhaps even burst apart the instant it was fired and blind the archer. Likewise, after hitting a target, the shaft and fletching were often directly ruined, and shafts that developed cracks could no longer be used. In many cases, making arrow shafts consumed far more time and materials than making longbows.

"Longbows really are great devourers of timber. Fortunately, we can still afford the consumption." Xolotl sighed. No wonder the English not only planted trees themselves, but also imported timber in great quantities.

At current production levels, the standard arrowheads were bone and obsidian arrowheads, while sharp copper arrowheads would temporarily serve as armor-piercing arrowheads. Once they had iron in the future, they could make iron arrowheads with greater armor-piercing power, perhaps even steel arrowheads.

In terms of arrowhead shape, slender arrowheads had greater penetrating power against chainmail, while broad arrowheads had better stopping and killing effects against light armor. In terms of shaft dimensions, slender, long shafts were more suited to flying far, while thick, short shafts increased close-range lethality.

Thus, historically, the Jurchen favored heavy arrows with thick, short shafts and large arrowheads. Combined with their powerful war bows with great draw weights and long draw lengths, these were used to grievously wound Ming light-armored infantry and cavalry. The Ottomans, meanwhile, preferred conical arrows with slender shafts and pointed heads, retaining armor-piercing power at a certain range to kill European chainmail cavalry.

Of course, when the distance was close enough, everyone used heavy arrows to increase lethality.

As for special-purpose arrowheads such as blunt arrows, signal arrows, crescent arrows, and triangular arrows, Xolotl had no use for them for the time being. He merely gave the artisans a basic concept of them.

A month passed quickly, and more than a hundred longbows had been completed. Xolotl had his followers and Avet's trusted men practice archery together. He himself also added archery to his daily training.

"A ruler who shoots well is standard equipment." Xolotl laughed at himself.

In the blink of an eye, two weeks of May had passed, and the year's most important spring plowing was finally complete. The winds and thunder of the rainy season came with a deep, heavy sky, bringing unending rain, wind, and lightning.

And in a break between wind and rain, a scout covered in wounds hurried from the southern mountains and brought Totek an important message: "The Tarasco have mobilized across the Lerma River! Tens of thousands of troops have gathered at Acambaro on the southern bank of the Great River, only a week's march from our army!"

Group number: 790550010. Welcome to join. Also, one pace in this book follows the ancient measure of 1.3 meters.