Aztec Civilization: Destiny to Conquer America!-Chapter 1726 - 1233: Appeasing Feathers, the Skill of Ten Years on the Run!
The grand conversion ceremony lasted two days, the smoke from the flames still lingering. Forty thousand newly converted members of the Tecos Tribe were dazed and followed the orders of the Kingdom Priest and samurai, gathering at various camps. Their old beliefs were completely shattered, and only a spark of newborn light in their hearts, like the emblem of the Chief Divine on their foreheads, constantly reminded them of the destination of their soul's vows.
"Under the Chief Divine's protection! It's almost done! The backbone capable of organizing a rebellion has been cleared out during this conversion. The tribe's morale is shocked, and few would dare to escape in the short term... The conquest on the north coast of the Great River ends here, and I can take these tribes southward to Lake Stone City for garrison..."
The first light of dawn lit up the sky as cooking smoke rose in the camp. Divine Monkey Great Chief Kuluka observed the tribe's camp, assessing the prisoners' level of compliance. Only after seeing many of the newly converted tribe members fearfully praying to the Chief Divine several times before breakfast did he nod in satisfaction and turn to look at his trusted Warrior Camp Chief Guzman.
"Guzman, before the army moves south, I'll leave you five hundred Gold Guns samurai, five hundred Tlaxcala samurai, one thousand Guamal warriors, and one thousand earliest defectors from the Tecos Tribe. With these three thousand soldiers in hand, you'll have enough to guard Sand Eye City! Right now, of the forty thousand converted Tecos Tribe, I'll lead thirty thousand south, leaving ten thousand here for garrison..."
"Witnessed by the Chief Divine! Remember, your task is to guard Sand Eye City Military Town well, seal this northern valley properly! Do not let Canine Descendant tribes or Feather remnants move southward to affect spring plowing in the deeper south... If you encounter enemies, do not be impulsive or adventurous, and do not pursue too far... As His Highness said, 'First ensure you are not defeated, then seek to defeat the enemy!'"
"Yes! Legion Commander!..."
Upon hearing, Guzman stood upright and saluted seriously. Then, he pursed his lips and hesitantly asked.
"Legion Commander, if the dispatched scouts and envoys encounter Feather remnants and pin down their exact location... Should we take the opportunity to charge and crush them?..."
"Guzman, do not leave the range of this valley, and certainly do not risk venturing deep into the northern seaside marshlands or mountainous wilderness, marching hundreds of miles on an expedition. Because the risk of failure is too great, it's not just a military risk, it will also affect morale!"
Monkey Kuluka shook his head. He patiently explained to Guzman.
"Think about it carefully! How could the Kingdom have devoured such a vast area of the Northern Tecos domain, even swallowing the entire northwest Great River... What was it relying on?..."
"Look at this conversion to the Chief Divine, the smoke rising, and look at the warriors from various tribes in this camp! Forced faith vows and strong military intimidation are the two crucial prerequisites for us pressing together different tribes and intimidating warriors from various departments! Only with these two prerequisites can we, with a small core unit, rule over so many diverse tribes. We have enough time to expand the ruling foundation with merits, stabilize the hearts of the bottom layer with increased food production..."
"The faith in the Chief Divine's blood oath concerns the soul, and is the only bond consolidating the tribes. The Kingdom's powerful and undefeated military force is the greatest consensus intimidating all tribes... You must maintain this consensus, maintain our myth of invincibility! Before the foundation is solidly established, we cannot easily embark on an expedition, fight a nonsensical losing battle, and shake the morale of those already intimidated!"
"Moreover, the two or three thousand soldiers held by Feather Prince are all his Feather Clan's trusted samurai, the core of his lineage, each connected by blood and kinship! If these soldiers really lack combat effectiveness, so be it. Even if a raid fails, at most, it will end in a draw... But these Feather Clan soldiers have been our old rivals, fighting wars for ten years, and their combat effectiveness is by no means lacking! If you take the risk of expedition and force them into a corner, I'm afraid..."
"These clan soldiers have followed Feather Prince since the alliance's first westward expedition and have fought with us! Each time, no matter who they betrayed on the battlefield, they managed to retreat safely... They have numerous scouts, the best runners second only to Canine Descendants, and their discipline is learned from us, even more rigorous than that of Canine Descendants!... To be honest, Feather's core old forces in his hands, apart from not being able to beat us head-on, have consistently won against Tecos Tribe and Guamal Tribe interruptions! If not for this army in his hands, he would've been eliminated by Tecos city-states along his path long ago..."
"So given the current situation, for this elusive Feather, we can only treat him like a wandering great tribe on the wilderness and find another way to address it!"
At this point, Monkey Kuluka and his trusted Guzman exchanged glances, both feeling speechless. Feather Prince, with his core clan headquarters, has guarded River Mouth Fortress, escaped from Lake Yuriria battle, escaped from Takuro Plains battle, won the first southward invasion of Guamal Canine Descendants, won against Tecos Tribe harassment, defended three River Mouth County expedition punitive wars, and escaped again during Divine Monkey's Great Lake expedition... Then fled from one Tecos city-state to another, until fleeing to the Northern Continent, truly off the charts!
For a full ten years, Feather Pengguari went from commanding three to four thousand samurai militia and controlling forty thousand Chapala Tribe as Tarasco Prince, to losing the main city-state, even losing his ancestor's pyramid crypts, finally left with only two to three thousand clan warriors, fleeing with a comparable number of clan family members... Now, this Feather remnant army has completely transformed into a migrating Feather Clan.
As a result, after Feather completely abandoned the city-state nests, Monkey Kuluka, who relentlessly beat him for ten years, for the first time felt the challenge!
Monkey didn't know that Feather had mastered the tactics of mobilizing wandering armies without a teacher through ten years of fleeing. But Monkey, through all these battles, has clearly sensed that although Feather kept losing battles, the fewer soldiers he fought with, the slyer and more adept he became, even more difficult than when he had more soldiers!
This guy, relying on his mother's status as a Tecos noble lady, claims that he's not just the last of the Tarasco royal lineage, but simultaneously carries the bloodline of Divine Eagle and Craftsman as Tecos Divine Descendant! He, relying on clan forces in his hand, forces alliances with encountered Tecos tribes, compellingly crowded around each Tecos city-state. He shamelessly connects with Tecos Divine Descendants, stating the need to resist sacrificial Divine Descendants Mexica. And when alliance armies blanket him, carrying fortress cannons in their invasion, he throws out a bunch of diverted tribes as a decoy, only to take his clan headquarters and run faster than anyone else!...
But Monkey's hand lacks cavalry; before, there was one Tecos city-state after another as obstacles, repeatedly allowing the naturally talented Feather to accumulate fleeing experience... Now, the opponent, relying on ten years of fleeing prowess, escapes to the vast Northern Continent and even threatens the Kingdom's coastal expansion in the north... Helplessly, Monkey could only adjust the strategy and try to negotiate with Feather!
"Guzman, I dispatched four routes of scouts and envoys... One route is Guamal Canine Descendants, heading northeast to scout the Sakascat Wilderness, and also check if any new Canine Descendants are moving south. Another route is Northern Tecos Hunters, heading directly north to the mountain range, incidentally probing the situation upstream of the Great Sand River..."
"The other two routes are one land and one water, heading to Xihe Village on the northwest coast, which is Feather's most likely escape direction. Both these routes have Prepetcha nobilities from the Great Lake, with family ties to Feather's clan. Either way, whichever route encounters Feather's scouts, they'll become Kingdom's envoys for negotiation... And if Feather sends someone to respond, then you say... um..."
Monkey Kuluka pondered for a while, offering an extremely generous condition. At least, the Northern Tecos Tribes had never received such treatment, usually beaten directly by Monkey brother, indicating that the ability to run indeed preserved life.
"Witnessed by the Chief Divine! You can negotiate the surrender conditions first, as long as Feather is willing to convert to the Chief Divine, turning from a fleeing clan to an agricultural vassal, everything is negotiable... After all, spring plowing is coming, always fleeing around and pillaging, clan warriors may bear it, but how could family members endure it?... The Kingdom is willing to send Chief Divine Priests to guide and help him farm, even providing crop seeds... Well, whether it's the Great Sand River basin or further north to Xihe Village, or even four hundred miles further north to Fish Mountain Village... This six to seven hundred miles of territory, let him choose a place to settle, and I'm okay with a larger territory, I will petition His Highness for the enfeoffment... Just stop fleeing!"
