Aztec Eternals

The mighty mountain wind blew, the forest trees in the mountains swayed slightly, and the fragrance of palms wafted in the air.

"Berthard, thank you for your hard work."

After a few breaths of silence, Shulot looked apologetically at the warrior commander. Then, he resolutely returned the multigrain dumpling with rich taste to Pimeng.

"Pimeng, how many dumplings like this do the captives eat a day?"

"Your Majesty, it depends on how fast the captives can go."

Pimon carefully glanced at the quiet Sacred Eagle Warrior Commander, and replied respectfully.

"The commander of the Ezpan Legion stipulated that the captives were not allowed to carry food with them, and they were not allowed to leave the team for food halfway. Violators were whipped for the first two times, and executed for the third violation. Every thirty miles, there was only one warrior camp where food was supplied. And in each camp, the escorted warriors can eat enough, and the prisoners can only receive food once."

"Well, a camp in Thirty Miles is reasonable."

Hearing this, Xiuluo nodded. Because of the lack of load-carrying vehicles, the stable marching speed of the brigade infantry is between 30 miles and 60 miles per day, depending on the load and terrain.

"However, the captives are mountain people who are good at walking. They don't need to carry equipment and food, and they don't need to carry heavy loads to go into battle. They can walk at least fifty miles a day."

"Exactly, Your Highness is wise!"

Pimon nodded in agreement and continued.

"The commander of the Ezpan army ordered that the food is limited, and only one grain dumpling will be provided for each meal. If the prisoners can travel ninety miles a day, they can eat three dumplings; if they can travel sixty miles a day, they can eat Eat two dumplings. Those who are less than sixty miles away have only one dumpling, and they still have to be reprimanded and whipped by the warriors!"

"Huh? There is only one dumpling for a meal? At least sixty miles a day?"

Hearing this, Xiulot was startled. Eating a whole grain dumpling and walking thirty miles is as difficult as the Chinese saying goes, "One grain of rice can pass three passes, and three grains of rice can climb mountains." Forcibly walking sixty miles a day, the calories supplied minus the calories consumed must be an absolute negative number. And when the captives walked three or four hundred miles from the depths of the southwestern mountainous area to the city of Apa, they all had to lose weight, and losing two catties a day would be easy.

Thinking of this, Shulot frowned slightly. He looked at Battalion Commander Pimon.

"Pimon, the food supply for the captives is a little low. I'm afraid some people will not be able to make it through the city of Apa when they march on such a hungry stomach."

"Ah! Your Majesty, the commander of the Ezpan army said that the mountain people are rebellious and fierce. Only when they are hungry and exhaust their strength every day, will they not worry about it. As for the old and weak who starved to death, I couldn’t survive in the mountains.”

Pimon scratched his head, looked carefully at the king, and tried to defend himself.

"Furthermore, Your Majesty, there is not enough food in the camp! Now there are seven thousand royal troops going deep into the southwestern mountainous area. The leader of Koka has brought two thousand Guajili fighters, and they have already arrived at Palm Bay, where they are arresting everywhere. Gather up the refugees. Head Ezpan personally led two thousand warriors to guard against the Kolima tribes in the west in Yeshan Village. Then another thousand warriors were stationed in the Hand Snake Basin. As for the remaining two thousand dog-born warriors, we must maintain On the long grain road, groups of refugees have to be escorted out of the mountains.”

"And Hand Snake City was burned to the ground by the leader of the Black Wolf, and all the food along the way was burned. There is a serious shortage of food in the mountains, and there is no time to transfer it!"

Hearing this, Xiulot groaned and nodded silently.

Now the starting point of grain transshipment is Apa City, and the grain team traveled 150 miles on flat land to arrive at Kanhe Village here. Then enter the mountain from Kanhe Village, travel 120 miles on a flat mountain road, and arrive at Hand Snake City. Go another sixty miles to Yeshan Village where Ezpan is stationed. Then, starting from Yeshan Village, we traveled 120 to 30 miles on a rugged mountain road to Palm Bay where Coca is located.

Wang Jun wants to transport food from Apa City to Palm Bay, the front line, and it will take a full four hundred and fifty miles! And the further you go, the more difficult the mountain road will be, and the greater the transportation loss will be. The most important thing is that all the villages along the way were burned by the black wolf. There was no food in the local area, so it had to be transported from the rear, and it had to feed the gathered Terkos mountain people.

"Hei Lang, my Hei Lang, you are too ruthless"

Xiulot thought for a moment, then sighed helplessly. Ezpan's approach was correct. The mountain people's physical strength must be squeezed to the limit, so that they can walk out from the depths of the forest at the fastest speed and with the least consumption. Otherwise, once the famine spreads, more people will die.

"Your Highness, it is difficult to transport grain on the mountain road for the first three hundred miles, and we can follow General Ezpan's settings. The Apa Plain is flat and the grain transport is relatively easy. When we get to Kanhe Village, the last hundred and fifty miles, we can do it." Give enough food, let the mountain people take a good rest, and then continue marching."

Bertard speculated on His Highness's thoughts, and proposed with a smile.

"Yes, I will do as you say!"

Shulot nodded seriously and looked at Pimon.

"Pimeng, the Imperial Guard Corps has escorted a batch of food over with the army. The food will be allocated to you, and more food will be delivered later. Starting from Kanhe Village, the food supply of all the mountain people will be doubled! People and children were screened out to form a separate battalion, marching according to the standard of thirty miles a day! Well, this is Wang Ling!"

"Ah?! Follow your will, Your Majesty!"

Pimon scratched his head, bowing respectfully to the ground. He thought about it, and tried to compliment him.

"Your Majesty, you are as powerful as a brown bear, and you also have the benevolence of a brown bear. You will not advocate killing like a jaguar. You are a sacred giant bear!"

"I am the sacred giant bear?."

Hearing this, Xiulot was expressionless. He had never heard such a compliment, and for a moment he didn't know whether it was ironic or not. The king stared at the other party's sincere eyes for a while, then nodded slowly.

"Okay, let's go down! Pimon, settle the prisoners. I remember you!"

"Ah! Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Pimon was overjoyed and fell to his knees. He kowtowed a few times, and went busy excitedly.

"Food. Food in the mountains."

Xiulot stood still and continued to think. He looked towards the Colima Mountains in the west and asked in a deep voice.

"Botard, what are the ministries of Colima doing? Have you sent an envoy?"

The samurai leader thought about it and shook his head.

"Your Highness, the ministries of Colima should have completed the mobilization of the militia and are defending themselves. The last time they sent envoys was four months ago, and they expressed nominal obedience."

"Choose two Terkos personal guards who are proficient in languages, and send them to Fire River City!"

Shulot pondered for a while and made a decision.

"The army is going south to attack the palm family and destroy all the tribes in the Alkeman Mountains. Fire River City must be terrified at this moment! The yearly food for 10,000 people will be transported to Yeshan Village where Ezpan is located, as a tribute for the army going south! Tell them, if they don’t pay, the tens of thousands of royal troops will continue to march west and burn Huohe City!”

"Follow your will, Your Highness!"

Hearing this, Bertard's eyes lit up. Huohe City is only two hundred miles away from Yeshan Village. If enough food can be provided from there, Keka's red frog fighters can continue to arrest or gather refugees along the seashore. The food supply on the front line will be much easier.

The samurai commander immediately arranged for an envoy to go to Fire River City with a picture letter bearing the seal of the kingdom. After everything was arranged properly, he returned to the king and asked softly.

"Your Highness, if Huohe City refuses the tribute, or even sends troops to attack, what will the king's army do?"

"If they refuse the tribute, or dare to send troops."

Shulot looked towards the towering mountains to the west. The rumored Fire River City stands on the rich volcanic ash plain. In the north is the Colima Volcano, which is 4,000 meters high, and there are huge iron-rich veins buried 100 meters deep underground. There are red volcanic rock walls and countless tribal villages. It is also the ancestral land of the 200,000 Western Tekos tribe.

The king's gaze gradually became deeper, and a strong desire to conquer rose in his chest.

"If they don't hand over the grain, we'll get it ourselves! Even if we can't take down the strong Fire River City, we still have to fill the rich Fire River Plain with flames!"

The long wind swept across the sky, and the mountains and forests swayed silently. The warrior commander looked at the side face of the king and sniffed the breath in the wind. The fragrance of palm fell into the nose, but it was the smell of gunpowder smoke.