章 29: Chapter 28: Guerilla

The rainy season departed on an inconspicuous night. The next morning, as sunlight pierced the darkness and the sky cleared, people erupted in warm cheers.

The besieged camp quickly buzzed with activity; the samurai could finally air out their moldy garments. Also laid out to dry were heaps of slightly moldy corn cakes at the storage room entrance.

Meanwhile, on a nearby hill, the imposing samurai were sitting cross-legged among lush grass, enjoying the comfort of the sun's rays while they gazed at wooden boards in their hands with furrowed brows, struggling to learn the fearsome "script" with Xiulote.

Glancing at the number of people on the grass, Xiulote sighed softly.

He said to Bertade, who was beside him, "Lately, the camp's food supply has been insufficient, and due to the rain soaking everything, it seems many warriors are sick in bed."

Bertade nodded, "In the royal camp alone, two to three hundred warriors have fallen ill due to acclimation issues. The other two camps are likely in worse shape. Luckily, only two of the warriors following us have upset stomachs, probably from eating the moldy corn cakes."

Xiulote nodded and then looked worriedly towards the distance, where the camp of the city-state warriors was located. His father was leading Teotihuacan's legion there; he did not know how they were faring.

"The priest truly had a divine revelation. The ritual of boiling water before drinking is indeed effective," said Bertade, admiringly to Xiulote.

Xiulote could only give a wry smile. Initially, he had told the warriors following him that they should boil their drinking water to reduce illnesses during the rainy season.

In that era, without metal tools, gathering wood and making fire was a very arduous task. The warriors were unwilling to spend hours just to have some hot water to drink.

In the end, he had to use mythology, telling his followers, "The God of Death Xiulotel has a duty to protect the sun and will turn a blind eye to those who pray with fire." Only then could he barely instill the habit of drinking boiled water.

"The rainy season has finally ended. Now, the transport and loss of grain will improve a lot, and everyone can eat their fill of corn cakes," Xiulote said with a smile, encouraging the followers beside him who were looking pale but still persisting in their studies. "Come on, continue learning, you all are the pillars of the nation!"

However, the arrival of the dry season did not make things better. Normal grain transport only lasted less than two weeks, and by late November, there were repeated reports of grain transport teams being ambushed.

Aweit and Xiulote sat cross-legged opposite each other in a hut, with Bertade sitting behind Xiulote.

"Two days ago, a hundred-man grain transport team was attacked. One hundred militiamen, not a single one escaped," Aweit said somberly. "The militiamen's clothes were all stripped off, it must have been the Otomi highlanders."

"This is the second time this week. Last time, the militiamen's heads were chopped off and piled into a pyramid as a display of defiance. Their clothes were left intact, indicating it was likely an Otomi warrior squad," Bertade added calmly.

"It seems a large number of Otomi have infiltrated the forests behind us," nodded Xiulote. "Are there enough food reserves in the camp?"

"The camp's food can last three months at the normal rate of consumption," Aweit replied with a slight smile, "The situation with the food is not urgent for now. It's impossible to maintain a large force in the forests for an extended period. The small groups of Otomi can only disrupt our grain transport; with their current capability, they are temporarily unable to cut off our food supply lines."

Xiulote nodded again; the rear guard of over one hundred thousand had effectively maintained the logistics supply line for seventy thousand elite troops.

"But this is a very bad omen. Where are these attackers coming from?" Xiulote asked seriously.

"Most of the warriors and nearly all of the militia seem to come from Guamare and Pamus. Scouts discovered recent conscriptions in the villages of that region," Aweit, who had recently taken charge of the army's intelligence work explained, while the security work was still jointly carried out by Totec.

"A small number of warriors might come from the far west of Tlacaelel and the mountainous regions near Coahuila to the north. Although the Otomi city-states there are weak and remote, they can still dispatch squads of warriors a hundred strong."

Xiulote nodded. Tlacaelel was to the west of Otapan, more than a month's journey away. Further west lay the territory of the Tescos, where the Tarascans were currently on a campaign.

Coahuila was almost two months' journey north of Otapan, a place full of desolate Gobi and barren highlands, home to a semi-nomadic people known as the Chichimecs, practically the edge of the Central American world. Beyond Coahuila to the north lay the Texas plains, where wild bison could be caught.

"After more than two months of siege, the Otomi from various places have finally reacted." Then Xiulote asked, "Does the Supreme Commander have any plans to respond?"

"It's over two weeks' march from Xilotepec City to Otapan. The forty thousand militia encamped in between are fine for maintaining logistics, but they're not strong enough for combat. Totec is preparing to draw two thousand warriors from both ends, divided into forty squads of one hundred men each, to search for and attack the assailants."

After pondering for a moment, Xiulote looked up at Bertade beside him and said, "Bertade, can you lead a squad of twenty to join the battle against the Otomi squads? We need to grasp the specifics of Otomi mountain warfare. Be careful in battle and gather more information."

Bertade then bowed his head quietly in salute: "I am honored to fight for you. Leave it to me!"

So, the cruel forest melee began quickly. Most of the warrior squads returned from their search empty-handed, while a few that did encounter the enemy were locked in do-or-die brawls in the woods. Beneath the towering pine trees' shadow, the bodies of warriors and militia lay fallen, indistinguishable from one another. Blood nourished the soft earth and fostered lush plant growth.

In a month of mountain forest raids and hunts, more than ten Jaguar warriors were lost, over four hundred warriors died, and another five or six hundred were wounded, while the Otomi's casualties were only twice this number, most of whom were militia.

This kind of mountain forest attack suffered losses comparable to a large-scale battle, making King Tizoc both furious and uneasy. The rage of the Mexica warriors was burning fiercely, most directed at the enemy, with a small portion reserved for the King.

When Xiulote saw Bertade again, the Jaguar-strength warrior still had a serene expression, but now there was a bandaged mark on his shoulder.

Xiulote was quite surprised; apart from Totec, Bertade and Olosh were almost the strongest warriors he had ever seen. He was nervously concerned about his top warrior.

"It's nothing serious, just caught an arrow in a sneak attack from an Otomi Hunter's bow. I've already applied healing powder," Bertade shook his head, "The situation is not optimistic; the mountains give the Otomi too great an advantage."

"The Otomi militia and hunters set different traps, such as a prepared pitfall with sharpened stakes at the bottom, covered with a frame of branches and a thin layer of soil and turf. Once stepped on, if the weight exceeds the limit, the branches will snap and the Mexica warriors will fall, injuring their legs and feet, or even dying on the spot."

"Another trap is a fork made of wooden spikes hidden in the leaves and grass, one end tied to a bent large branch or small tree, then the Otomi lure the warriors into a chase. Once the warriors touch the rope laid on the ground, the mechanism is triggered, then the branch snaps back with the fork, like a strike with the full force of a Jaguar, powerful enough to pierce through the body and Leather Armor."

"Comparatively speaking, I'd rather face the Otomi warriors," said Bertade frankly, "The Otomi militia can be considered half a warrior in the mountains, while the few hunters are as dreadful as Jaguar warriors."

"The mountains dispersed our strong formations. The heavy Obsidian Clubs drained too much energy while the militia's Stone Spears turned out to be more agile. Various traps could circumvent the protection of Leather Armor and narrow the martial arts gap. Terrain familiarity also allowed the Otomi to conserve more energy and find more suitable opportunities."

In conclusion, Bertade said: "We can't keep depleting against the Otomi in the mountains, the sacrifice of warriors is too cheap. Once we fought on flat ground in a large-scale head-on battle, a Mexica warrior group could easily defeat five times the Otomi militia, with the casualties being ten times fewer than in the forest."

Xiulote nodded, realizing that the army had effectively fallen into the most primitive form of guerrilla warfare.

This kind of mountain guerrilla warfare would wear down elite enemy forces while providing a significant combat power boost to the terrain-familiar highlanders, much like the historically formidable Swiss highlanders and South African Boers. Guerrilla warfare allowed the weaker side to inflict disproportionate casualties against a vastly superior opponent.

"The location of the war must change," agreed Xiulote.

As the two were seriously analyzing tactics, they saw Aweit hurriedly approach.

He reached out and naturally took hold of Xiulote. Then, smiling, he said, "The King has convened a council; let's hurry over."

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