Capítulo 18: Chapter 18: First Battle
The midday sun fell from the clear sky, sweeping over the land and the shadows of the forest, removing the dew in the woods and meadows. Today was a good day, suitable for battle and martial prowess.
Xiulote knew today was a good day too. In the Aztec calendar, today was the sixth day of the twenty days of the Sun Calendar month, symbolizing death, vitality, and vigor, represented by a skull. It was an auspicious day.
Therefore, the commanders chose to strike today.
At the auspicious moment, he stood with Aweit on top of a hill, accompanied by four thousand Samurais, quietly waiting for the enemy to appear.
Aweit occupied the highlands, the commander's battle flag planted at the highest point, surrounded by a thousand-Samurai battalion. The remaining three battalions were arrayed in a single line in front, positioned slightly lower. The Samurais sat on the hill, their shields and war clubs placed on the ground in front of them, conserving their energy to the greatest extent.
In Xiulote's view, the enemy's flags appeared first, scattered scouts, followed by draft soldiers from the scattered villages, and then Samurais with Armor, carrying shields and war clubs, and finally groups of Militias wearing only tunics, wielding Stone Spears.
The two sides discovered each other. The enemy commander was about four to five quarters away, deploying combat formations. The Samurais took up their shields and war clubs, five Otomi Warrior battalions gathered in the middle, three Militia battalions expanding on each flank, shielding the army's wings, five Militia battalions arrayed in front, and four Militia battalions scattered at the rear.
Xiulote observed the enemy's formation changes, their battle strategy was to prioritize the protection of the Warrior battalions. They scattered the Militia battalions in four directions to withstand potential assaults and ranged attacks. The Warrior battalions were not placed on the front line to avoid being entangled by the enemy forces, making it difficult to retreat.
In other words, the enemy's core force was always ready to bolt. Xiulote was somewhat speechless.
The two sides thus confronted each other from afar. The enemy's scouts continuously spread out to investigate both flanks, while both commanders continuously assessed the strength and number of each other's forces.
Aweit's four battalions occupied the hilltops, always maintaining a defensive posture.
Xiulote could clearly sense the enemy commander's hesitation. It must have been after assessing their opponent's strength that they developed some confidence within their means.
After a while, as the scouts from both flanks returned, confirming no enemy ambush within a certain distance, the enemy commander finally began the attack.
From his high position, Xiulote watched the battlefield unobstructed below.
The Otomi recalibrated their formation. Three Militia battalions on each flank began to advance and expand, two Warrior battalions respectively supplemented behind them, pressing the formation and acting as the backbone of the flanks. The central three Warrior battalions slightly expanded, following the five Militia battalions as they advanced together, the rear Militia battalions continued in a loose formation, shielding the army's rear.
The prelude to the war was slow, perhaps building up the energy for the impending burst.
Soon, the two armies were just several hundred meters apart, confronting each other from the hills above and below. The Otomi Militias yelled loudly, intimidating their opponents, boosting their own morale, and also releasing the fear before the battle.
This meaningless intimidation, the Samurais were used to seeing, and the four thousand Mexica Samurais on the hill still maintained their defensive posture, only rising with shields and clubs in hand, waiting for the coming assault.
Two battalions of Otomi stone throwers advanced to the foot of the hill, beginning to throw stones uphill. The stones fell like raindrops, as powerless as raindrops. Stone throwing from below up couldn't inflict significant harm on the Samurais in Leather Armor and Wooden Shields.
The Mexica Samurais grew restless, facing these stone throwers who were like gifts to them, they developed a desire to charge and engage in melee. Aweit still ordered them to hold shields for defense, maintaining the formation. The defensive bugle then continued to sound atop the hill, suppressing the beasts inside the warriors.
Seeing the stone throwers couldn't disrupt the enemy's formation, the Otomi commander ordered the stone throwers to retreat.
The Otomi's advantage lay in the massive numbers of Militias. To overcome the well-trained Mexica Samurais with Militias, they had to disrupt the Samurai formation, enveloping them in constant assault, continuously wearing down the Samurais' stamina until they lost the speed and strength to wield their weapons.
Only then could the Militias, with their rudimentary Stone Spears, fight a consumptive battle acceptable against the Samurais, akin to farmers besieging unmounted Light Armored Knights.
The three battalions of Otomi Militia then charged uphill, howling as they rushed towards the Mexica Samurais' shields and war clubs, only to be struck down before the war clubs, smashed, cut, broken, turning into warm corpses. This pressure was far from the limits of the Mexica Samurais, their casualties were minimal, only depleting their stamina, gradually pulling their formation towards both flanks.
Three Militia battalions on each flank began to accelerate forward, attempting to encircle the Samurais, this encirclement serving more as harassment.
Suddenly, the real force, two battalions of Otomi Warriors, pounced from the flanks, fiercely attacking the flank of two Mexica Samurai battalions.
Only then did Aweit issue the command to attack, the drums of the offensive quickly resounding through the hills. The three thousand Mexica Samurais at the front burst out with a shout, the Samurais began to disregard their stamina, unleashing their most ferocious attacks. They no longer swung their shields but accelerated as their war clubs traced arcs, slicing through soft torsos, striking hard skulls.
Their formation quickly pressed towards the enemy in front, the combat area rapidly expanding. The Samurais plunged into intense combat, which also meant the commander had already lost the ability to command them, at least until this battle was over.
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