Aztec Civilization: Destiny to Conquer America!-Chapter 607 - 303: The First Battle in the Valley (Part 2)

The arrows whistled back and forth, and intense shouting reverberated through the valley. The sun was slightly slanted to the west, casting thick shadows over the mountain range, and a faint smell of blood wafted through the breeze.

Black Wolf Torc, carrying the battle flag, stood at the mouth of the valley several miles away. He watched the exchange of fire, his expression growing colder by the moment. The Canine Descendants in the valley were skilled in archery and held both the camp and the terrain. The advantage of the legion archers’ longbows was negated, and they were slowly losing ground in the exchange of fire. After observing for a while, Black Wolf’s brows arched, and he once again waved the command flag.

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"Boom, boom, boom!"

The drumbeats suddenly quickened, accompanied by the shrill sound of flutes. Five hundred vanguard barbarians clad in cotton armor had been awaiting their turn. They let out a collective roar, praising the name of the Chief Divine. Then, with rattan shields in one hand and copper spears in the other, they charged toward the camp at the valley entrance from nearly a hundred paces away.

Although the campsite at the valley entrance was elevated, it was not particularly steep, in fact, it was just a slope. The vanguard barbarians strode quickly, soon breaking through the lax archer line and drawing within fifty paces before rapidly surging up the slope.

"Toot, toot! Fire at will!"

Watching the barbarians rush by, Yolike blew the bone whistle urgently once again.

Feathered arrows "whizzed" and instantly soared like birds, raining down in swathes upon the stronghold. The legion archers were accelerating their shooting, suppressing the Canine Descendants on the ramparts. The Canine Warriors howled, but the storm of arrows significantly lessened.

Yolike moved his shield aside and glanced carefully at the opposition, his pupils suddenly constricting. He saw many conspicuous red-haired warriors, bows drawn but not releasing, silently staring at the charging barbarians as though patiently waiting for prey.

Outside the valley, Torc wore a smile on his face. He watched as the vanguard barbarians almost entirely unscathed, successfully reached within twenty paces of the camp, close to scaling the ramparts.

"Drip, drip, swish!"

Black Wolf’s smile instantly stiffened. A harsh bone whistle blew in a flash, followed by the mournful sound of arrows slicing through the air. Then, a mass of charging barbarians fell hard, their death cries peaking in an instant. From merely twenty paces away, the red-haired warriors accurately avoided the cotton armor, striking the barbarians in the head, face, and neck, and more than thirty brave vanguards fell to the ground.

After that, hundreds of Canine Warriors roared fiercely, gripping stone spears and hammers, and they stormed out of the rudimentary gates to clash with the vanguard barbarians. A Canine Warrior swung his stone hammers with both hands, all his might aimed at a young barbarian’s shield, hardly defending at all. The barbarian smirked, blocking with his shield, then thrust his copper spear deeply into the Canine Warrior’s abdomen.

Yet, the dying Canine Warrior, like a wild beast, lunged forward instead of retreating, bellowing as he grabbed onto the long spear that pierced his abdomen, seizing the arms behind it. Another Canine Warrior immediately closed in, swinging his stone hammer and smashing it down onto the barbarian’s shoulder. The barbarian screamed, curling up like a shrimp, only to be met with another hammer blow to the head, silencing his cry on the spot.

Seeing this brutal scene, the middle-aged barbarian beside him, eyes reddened, lunged with his copper spear, stabbing the exhausted Canine Warrior wielding the stone hammer to death. Another Canine Warrior charged, holding up his stone spear. The middle-aged barbarian agilely stepped back, lifted his shield to block, and counter-thrust with his long spear, killing the Canine Warrior!

The vanguard barbarians were after all picked elites. Skilled in martial arts, they were swift and fierce. Coupled with superior equipment, they quickly gained the absolute upper hand in close combat.

However, the red-haired warriors atop the ramparts showed no mercy, disregarding the possibility of friendly fire, shooting arrows ruthlessly down the slope. These lethal hunters narrowed their eyes and continuously released piercing bone arrows. At such close range, they struck the barbarians’ vital spots. The barbarians growled and fell unexpectedly, dying together with the Canine Descendants, their bodies piling on top of each other.

The urgent drumbeat incessantly urged the offensive, and the slaughter in front of the valley encampment grew increasingly cruel. Yolike, with his archers, continued advancing, drawing closer for a direct shoot-out with the hunters on the ramparts, and casualties on both sides rapidly escalated. Arrows ceaselessly reaped lives and also drained the morale and strength of both sides.

Toltec frowned silently, observing two quarters of fighting. The assault in front of the stronghold showed no signs of breakthrough, the opponents pressing against each other, gradually devolving into a drawn-out war of attrition. Although the Canine Descendants suffered nearly six hundred deaths, most were Tribal Warriors and ordinary able-bodied men, with few casualties among the red-haired elites.

Yet, of the thousand-strong troops deployed, a full three hundred had fallen. Half were militia archers caught in the exchange of fire, the other half vanguard samurai. The light-armored archers were easy to replenish, with their simple equipment, their losses were of little weight. But the vanguard barbarians were selections from the Royal Family’s Imperial Guards, his own direct troops—who could afford such wastage!

Thinking of this, Black Wolf clenched his fists and slowly shook his head.

The unique valley terrain limited the deployment of forces on both sides and confined the scale of the frontline battle. Although the Central Legion had eight thousand men, only about a thousand could be committed to the frontline. It was the same for the Canine Descendants; a great number of warriors gathered behind the camp, awaiting orders. Once the fighting began on a tribal basis, it concealed the Canines’ weakness of lacking coordination and instead played to their advantage in small-scale combat.

"We can’t keep fighting like this. Crossbowmen, advance to cover! Sound the conch, a thousand vanguard retreat!"

Toltec took a deep breath and waved the command flag. Five hundred Temple crossbowmen stepped forward briskly, reaching about a hundred steps from the valley entrance, they spread their legs apart, steadied their stance, and lifted the Stirrup Heavy Crossbows with both hands. Under the puzzled gaze of the Canines, they suddenly all tilted back in unison and fired a fierce volley of crossbow bolts.

"Whizz whizz whizz!"

The sharp crossbow bolts rained down from the sky, shooting at the camp’s battlements, and then "thudded" into the wooden stockade. Over a dozen Canine Hunters died on the spot, including a few red-haired warriors. The Canine Descendants on the camp were instantly suppressed, and the retreat conch was immediately sounded. The vanguard barbarians fought as they retreated, calling out to one another, withdrawing beyond the range of the camp’s archers.

The attacking Canine Warriors still wanted to pursue. However, once they left the narrow valley entrance, and lost the cover of the camp’s Hunters, their exchange ratio with the barbarians greatly increased, and their morale quickly declined. The vanguard barbarians retreated while swinging their weapons, killing another hundred Canines. A retreat horn then sounded from the camp as well.

The Temple crossbowmen fired ten rounds in a row, then ceased firing. They retreated alongside the archers, with heavy crossbows and longbows mingling together, occasionally clashing and making noise. The crossbow bolts used by the Stirrup Heavy Crossbow needed to withstand several times the pressure and required the use of sturdy hardwood. Compared to the wooden and Luwei reeds used in ordinary bows and arrows, the crossbow bolts were more expensive to make and required more effort.

In this northern expedition, facing Canine Descendants who were either in light armor or unarmored, the power of the longbow was sufficient. For these reasons, the allied forces carried a very limited supply of crossbow bolts and couldn’t shoot indiscriminately.

"Red Fox Valley, Red Cat Tribe..."

Toltec watched the feline flag on the camp, deep in thought. There were tens of thousands of Canine Descendants in the valley, now occupying the terrain and holding out, which was somewhat difficult to deal with. Black Wolf frowned in thought for a moment and looked again at Mespa by his side.

"Mespa, call over the nobility you mentioned before, I want to enquire in detail!"

Mespa then summoned a few nobles who had fled from the valley, who thoroughly recounted the events of that day, the skirmish among the Canines, and the surrounding terrain.

After listening for a moment, a light sparked in Black Wolf’s eyes. He grabbed the middle-aged Otomi noble in front of him.

"Ico, you just said, the mountain ranges to the south and north of the valley have narrow paths that can accommodate hundreds of warriors?"

"Yes, Commander Black Wolf. Although the southern and northern mountain ranges are steep, pathways through them have been explored. However, the northern range is relatively gentle and easier to traverse than the south. Pamus scouts often use the mountain paths to scout the valley. On the day of the incident, hundreds of red-haired warriors from the Guajili infiltrated through the northern mountain path and caused chaos in the valley. For the past half month, scouts from both sides have frequently skirmished in the mountains. To accomplish your reconnaissance mission, I have lost several elite family warriors!"

The middle-aged noble Ico looked somewhat distressed. Toltec pondered for a moment, then grabbed Ico’s arm and asked a question that alarmed him even more.

"Ico, you were born an Otomi noble of the valley, more familiar with this place than anyone. The Guajili Canine Descendants have occupied your fief, slaughtered your people – you have a score to settle with them! Do you not wish for revenge?..."

Black Wolf paused, peering intently into Ico’s eyes, and spoke in a deep voice.

"I will give you five hundred Pamus warriors familiar with the terrain! If you infiltrate through the mountain trails and coordinate with the main force, you can attack the camp at the valley mouth from behind under the cover of night. Though dangerous, if successful, it will be a great accomplishment! I will personally report your name to His Highness! What do you say, do you dare to do it?!"