Aztec Civilization: Destiny to Conquer America!-Chapter 1728 - 1235: Assault on the Stockade! When Feathers Meet the Crow

"Ah? Clan Leader, what are you doing? Why are you taking out a dagger?... Ah! Why did you cut down the guide?... What? He was trying to harm you? It's an ambush, we need to flee quickly?... Ah this! But no one's even coming out to chase us?... The clan struggled so much to get here, isn't it just to seize this village? Even if it's the Mexica's flag, you said before, we fight the Mexica!..."

"Ah! Clan Leader, slow down, slow down!... Three Gods! You said before to be brave, brave!... Ah! Clan Leader, look back, take a good look at that wooden fortress! There's hardly anyone on it, it can't hide a large army!... The chieftain also said, this wooden fortress has been flying the Hummingbird flag for years! When they trade goods daily, some of us have been inside... altogether, it's just a few hundred warriors and tribespeople!"

"Ancestor! Clan Leader, Uncle! Stop, stop! We're running out of food, we can't last a few more days, we can only attack this village!... Even if we can't break through immediately, we should at least try, at least to wear down these thousand mixed units! Even if it's a death mission, at least make less mouths to feed... Quick! Quick, hold the Clan Leader, hold him!!..."

The Xi River rolls past the Feather Clan's resting camp, past the kingdom's Xi River Village Port, flowing westward into the endless Western Sea. Feather Prince Pengguari, with dust-laden head and bare feet, drops the long spear in his hand, losing the straw sandals on his neck, tightly restrained by two clan trusted aides. He glares angrily at the aides blocking him, then turns to his nephew Brother Peng, who is panting heavily and pursuing him tightly, and angrily curses.

"Rebellion! Rebellion! You block me, do you want to betray the ancestors!... Oh, you Brother Peng, do you want to tie up your uncle and sell him to the Mexica?!"

"Clan Leader! Uncle! Calm down, take a clear look! It's just a small village of the Kingdom of the Lake, can't hide many people in there. Look, there are only a circle of warriors on top of the village, no more than two hundred in total!... Look at the small boats docked by the village, only thirty canoes, at most holding a hundred people!"

Brother Peng looks helpless, while comforting his uncle, the Feathered Uncle, who was mentally scarred by the Mexica, he pulls over the terrified Huichol chieftain who was almost slashed to death, and continues.

"Ancestor bless! This chieftain has been inside that village, traded for some shiny gray stones! This was a village set up by a longship fleet a few years back, specifically for collecting stones. There aren't many people in the village, nor much farmland around... Annually, a couple of ship fleets come to carry off all the stone goods, bringing in lots of food and materials, presumably merchant fleets of the Kingdom of the Lake!"

"Clan Leader, we're running so fast, and only decided to raid because of some news en route... The Mexica couldn't have predicted us and ambushed us ahead of time here!... Sand Eye City valley has no ships, and isn't connected to the sea. Even if the evil monkey Great Chief wants to chase us, it would only be from the land, he can't come so quickly!"

"..."

Hearing that there aren't many people in the village and it's impossible for an ambush, Feather Pengguari finally calms down slightly. He suspiciously looks toward the northwestern rivermouth, having fled nearly a mile in one breath, making the village at the rivermouth appear ever smaller.

Vaguely, small ant-sized dots appear on the village, making a chaotic shout that strangely seems familiar, somewhat resembling the Prepetcha dialect. The defending army in the village was obviously startled by the sudden appearance of the migrating Great Tribe. Even after a long while, the wooden village's gate didn't open, and the number of "ants" on the village wall, numbering just about two hundred, couldn't possibly compare with the several thousand members of the Feather Clan...

"Clan Leader, Uncle! Let's try attacking! Our clan is truly out of food... If we just leave this desolate northwest coast like this... we can't possibly last until the next well-off village or tribe!"

"Hmm... indeed, there's no food left... then, should we, attack?"

Feather Pengguari squints his eyes, hesitating and observing for a moment before finally giving the command. However, when his nephew Brother Peng, looking enthusiastic and preparing to mobilize the warriors, Feather suddenly changes his mind. His eyes glisten with a cunning expression, suddenly commanding.

"Wait! Brother Peng, don't rush to act!... Take down our clan's flag and replace it with the Tekos' flag from before! Then, send two Huichol tribesmen to the village to say we want to enter and trade with them!"

"... Uncle, with such a large group of us, which village would dare let us in? We'd have to fight anyway..."

"If they refuse, then indeed there aren't many warriors in the village... Then tell them we're a migrating Great Tribe from the Wilderness, out of food now, looking to borrow grain from the village!"

"Ha? Borrow grain?..."

"Yes, do as I say! Go, probe them a couple more times!... Meanwhile, I will organize the vanguard and rear guards over here. The vanguard warriors must be ready for battle at any time, and the rear guard family members must be prepared to flee!"

Nephew Brother Peng is a bit speechless. Clearly just an ordinary village, yet Uncle insists on being so cautious, probing repeatedly... However, if it weren't for such carefulness, cunning, and suspicion, Feather Pengguari wouldn't have been able to lead the clan to escape from the Mexica's hands time and again...

"Understood! As you command, Clan Leader!..."

Soon, the Feather Clan changes flags, mobilizing the entire group. Over two thousand Feathered Warriors, dragging along nearly a thousand mixed units, gather not far from Xi River Village in a crude semi-circular formation. Two Huichol tribespeople head towards the village to shout about trading goods, unsurprisingly getting refused by the warriors on the village wall. When they shouted about borrowing grain, the Xi River Village leader, First Level Preaching Priest, Little Crow Xite Weivei, hesitated uncharacteristically.

"Chief Divine! Damn it! Where did this migrating Great Tribe come from? Such comprehensive weapons and equipment, such a formed warrior formation, could not possibly be the impoverished Canine Descendants Tribes from the Wilderness who can't even afford undergarments? Could it be... a raiding corps from a Tekos City-State?"

Little Crow Xite Weivei looks stern, standing on the three to four meters high wooden wall, staring intently at the "army" ahead. Yes, this is clearly an organized army, not the loose tribal warriors typical of a common hunting tribe. Carefully estimating, there are at least two thousand Leather Armor warriors on the opposite side, with high proportions of bronze spears and greatbows. Upon observing the composed expressions of those warriors, it's clear they are battle-hardened, and somehow giving him a sense of familiarity...

"Strange! Where did this tribal army come from?... Damn! At least two thousand seasoned warriors, plus a thousand tribal cannon fodders... While presently defending the village are only two hundred Kingdom's Warriors and two hundred tribespeople, nearly a tenfold difference!... As for the Tolpan tribe we've allied with, they are currently upstream of Xi River hunting and mining, and it's unknown how far they've gone... Hmm... Borrow grain? Borrow grain!"

Little Crow Xite Weivei presses his lips, pondering repeatedly for about a quarter of an hour before finally speaking with difficulty.

"Ask them, how much food do they want to borrow before they leave?... "

"Clan Leader, the village is asking us how much food we want to borrow before we leave?... "

Upon hearing the Huichol chieftain's reply, Brother Peng slightly frowned, feeling a bit suspicious. He seemed to vaguely hear the samurai on the city wall shouting, which sounded like Prepetcha language with a southern accent. Then, the Huichol tribespeople on the city wall shouted a few words in northwest Huichol-Nava language to the Huichol below the wall. The chieftain came over to repeat, and then after translation by the Tekos, it was again converted to Prepetcha language...

If he didn't hear it wrong, the answer given after such a convoluted translation process was almost no different in meaning from what he initially heard from the warrior's shout. If this were the case, then the origins of the defending warriors...

"Haha! Willing to lend food? Asking how much we want to borrow?..."

Two steps away, Feathered Pengguari revitalized with excitement. At this moment, his suspicious and uneasy expression completely disappeared, instantly turning into proud and confident laughter.

"Ancestor's protection! Now I'm relieved! The leader of this village is feeling guilty, which means there's really no ambush around!... Brave, brave! My Feathered Warrior, my clan brothers, attack the city with all your might! Only by breaking the village, only by seizing the food, will our Feather Clan have a way to survive!... "

"Listen to my orders! Drive the mixed unit to lead the charge, climb the low village walls! Longbow Warriors approach within eighty steps, shoot arrows at the village walls! The remaining Copper Spear Warriors flank on both sides, ready to attack at any moment!... "

"Blessings of the Three Gods! This kind of shabby little village, I've seen many! What kind of large city haven't I seen? This level is barely enough to defend against a few hundred from the Hunting Tribe, but hoping to stop my ten-year hardened Feather Warriors... ah haha! Before the last mixed unit able-bodied men fall in battle, my Feather Clan will never stop!... "

"Toot! Beep beep!... "

"Sun Supreme God, Earth Mother Goddess, and Moon Goddess protect us! Charge!... "

"What? Tarasco's Three Gods? Ah! It's the belief of the old gods? They are? They are!... "

The sharp horn blew, the leather-armored Feather Warriors shouted loudly, praying to the traditional Three Gods in their native Prepetcha language. Then, under the astonished and puzzled gaze of Little Crow Xite Weivei, hundreds of driven mixed units screamed and roared towards the prosperous village, towards the not-so-high walls.

"Chief Divine protection! Shoot!... "

"Whoosh! Whoosh whoosh!"

The sharp copper arrows shot down from the city wall, taking dozens of able-bodied men's lives in one round. But soon, fierce bone arrows were also shot from the hands of hundreds of Feather Warriors in the city below, killing or injuring more than twenty. Both sides' archers aimed their arrows at each other, screaming death and agony! Meanwhile, hundreds of mixed unit warriors already wielded crude stone spears and stone hammers, scaling the village walls wave by wave, falling and tumbling, splashing red all over the walls!

"Guidance of the Three Gods!"

"Chief Divine protection!"

Similar Prepetcha language shouted simultaneously from the city wall and below, shaking the hearts of warriors on both sides, slowing the fingers pulling the arrows. But the siege assault grew increasingly fierce. In just a quarter, two to three hundred lives piled up below the village wall!

"Whoosh! Whoosh!"

"Ah! Ancestor..."

"Divine Earth, save me..."

The screams echoed in front of the village wall, as dyed corpses piled up, making the subsequent climbing easier. Although most of the fallen bodies were unarmored mixed unit cannon fodder, the Kingdom's Warriors vanquished from the wall numbered three or four dozen! And the greater danger came from the more than a thousand Feather Clan Warriors maneuvering to the village's flanks. They planned to bypass to the side with fewer defenders, climbing the wall there to break the village in one swift strike!...

"Damn it! Damn it!... Stop! Stop!... "

"Feather Prince? Feathered Pengguari! It must be you!... Stop the assault! Stop!... "

"Chief Divine witness! Ancestor witness!... If you continue to let your warriors attack the city, I will set the village's food ablaze in a single fire! Dead or alive, not a grain left for you!... "

This roar-like shout was heard, causing Feathered Pengguari, overseeing the battle in front of the village, to suddenly pause. He widened his eyes, looking at the unyielding battle on the village wall, indeed seeing a young leader proudly holding a torch, clad in typical Prepetcha priest attire with a resolute and grieving expression as if ready to face death.