"Your Highness, the Canine Descendants in the forest have been completely routed! Together with those in the camp, we have decapitated over seven hundred, about sixty of whom were red-haired. The Guamare warriors suffered nearly five hundred casualties. The Jaguar Warrior Brigade had over ten lightly wounded, with no fatalities..."
A Jaguar warrior knelt under the Royal Banner, loudly reporting back to the King.
"The majority of the enemy fled to their rear camp, should we pursue?"
"No need to chase! Order the Jaguar Warrior Brigade to return to the Royal Banner and continue to guard the central forces! Command the Guamare warriors to return to the main encampment. Tonight, everyone will be rewarded with wine and meat! Order the Jiowar Battle Group to advance, and station two thousand Ottopan Warriors at the Red Deer camp!"
Xiulote raised his head, glanced at the setting sun in the west, and continued to issue orders.
"Deploy two more scout teams to keep watch on the edges of the mountains and forests, and at the same time, be vigilant against night raids!"
"At your command, Your Highness!"
Although they had successfully taken the Red Deer camp, the Guamare warriors had encountered an ambush in the forest and suffered too many casualties. These City-State warriors, with both the strengths and weaknesses of the Wilderness Tribes, were agile, brave, and fierce, yet impulsive, irritable, and lacking discipline. They belonged to vassal battle groups and were actually led by various tribal chiefs or Otomi nobility with their private armies, making direct control difficult.
Thinking of this, Xiulote looked towards the nominal leader of the Guamare, the middle-aged Chieftain Chalki.
Chalki’s face was ashen. He hesitated for a moment, clenched his teeth, and began to speak with a tremor.
"What are the casualties of the Vanguard warriors? Where is Quino?"
The Jaguar warrior gave Chalki a sympathetic glance, then looked towards His Highness. With a slight nod from Xiulote, the Jaguar warrior replied loudly.
"All the Guamare warriors in the forest have fought to their deaths! We found over two hundred bodies, but have not yet identified General Quino."
"Ah! My eldest son! My family warriors!"
Tears welled up in Chalki’s eyes, his hands and feet trembling. Xiulote looked down in silence. After a long moment, the middle-aged Chieftain, with eyes red, made a request to His Highness.
"Your Highness, please let me lead the forces to attack the next camp and avenge the fallen Guamare warriors!"
"Granted! But the day has grown late today. Let us fight again at dawn tomorrow. I will send Temple Crossbowmen to bolster your ranks!"
Xiulote nodded, patted Chalki on the shoulder, and comforted him.
"The Chief Divine protects the warriors! General Quino’s fate is unknown; there is still hope."
Chalki bowed his head in silence. The King pondered for a moment and then promised.
"Chalki, I have seen your courageous fight for the Alliance. No matter how much your family warriors have fallen, you will still be the leader among the Guamare factions! When the northern campaign is victorious, I will petition King Aweit, to confer on you hereditary nobility of the Alliance and command the Guamare City-State."
Upon hearing this, Chalki raised his head, his face brightening, and tears instantly disappearing. He knelt on the ground and bowed deeply to His Highness.
"Your Highness, you are the sacred wind, I am willing to serve you unto death!"
A gust of wind passed by, stirring the clothes of both men. Xiulote nodded with a smile, looking towards the distant woods where dry leaves fluttered, much like lives about to perish.
The next day, the fierce drumming of "dong dong" sounded, and the brutal slaughter began once more. Chalki personally led the elite two thousand Guamare warriors through the rugged mountain path to launch an attack on the Red Monkey camp. The Eagle Warrior Balda, leading one thousand Temple Crossbowmen, followed closely behind, providing long-range support.
The Red Monkey camp, similar to the Red Deer camp, was located on a higher hillock, surrounded by a thick wooden fence for defense. On either side of the camp rose the undulating mountains to the north and south, and the deep, dense forests. At this moment, the camp was bustling with movement and cries. Over a thousand Canine Warriors were relying on the camp, waving their bows and Stone Spears, taunting the opposing Allied Forces.
"Praise the Chief Divine!"
Under Balda’s leadership, the Temple Crossbowmen grasped their Amulets and prayed to the rising sun. Their faces alight with fervor, they chanted in unison, then lifted their crossbows.
"Whiz whiz whiz!"
Crossbow bolts shot forward, covering the eighty paces in an instant, savagely penetrating the encampment and instantly resulting in wails of agony. Dozens of Canine Warriors were struck down, bolts piercing through them and nailing into the earth, with blood spurting red.
"Quick! Hide behind the wood, shoot arrows only when the enemy closes in!"
Ozoma cautiously raised his shield, shouting loudly in the camp. Then, he tugged at the bolt stuck in the wood, struggling momentarily to pull it out.
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"Tsk, the crossbows of the Mexica pack such great power!"
The Red Monkey Chieftain’s face showed surprise. He once again tugged hard and finally pulled the arrowhead out, his eyes suddenly lighting up.
"To penetrate so deep into the wood, it must be the sharp metal arrowheads! Ha-ha, Red Deer hiding in the woods still doesn’t know the situation here. Once this battle is over, all these arrows will be mine!"
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!"
Another volley of arrows whistled through the air! Over a dozen Canine Descendants Hunters tumbled down from the rampart, while the rest laid low, hiding behind the sheltering fences and wood.
Chalki nodded his head and swung his war club, pointing towards the encampment.
"Brave Guamare warriors, charge, kill these cunning dogs!"
"Aoow!"
One thousand five hundred Guamare warriors howled and then rushed up the hill like beasts, arriving at the encampment in a moment. Some vanguard warriors hacked fiercely at the gates, while more climbed over the fences, engaging the Canine Warriors in close combat.
"Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!"
More than six hundred Tribal Huntsmen popped their heads out and fired arrows in unison from a distance of just over a dozen steps, felling a swath of warriors. There were as many as three hundred red-haired hunters in the camp. Their archery was especially ruthless, each targeting the vital points of their enemies’ heads and faces, regardless of those tangled up in the fray. The skirmish barely lasted a moment before hundreds of warriors fell.
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!"
The Temple Crossbowmen advanced twenty steps, reaching the edge of the hill to support the warriors in close combat. Slightly tilting their crossbows upwards, they fired at the enemy’s rear ranks! The fierce rain of arrows was like the fingers of the God of Death, piercing through the cotton armor of the elite hunters with ease, turning the Red Monkey’s banner into a sieve.
"Damn Mexica archers!"
Ozoma held his shield, cursing under his breath. He quickly took off the chieftain’s wolf robe and stuffed it under the wooden cover, then continued to command his tribe to resist.
"Red-haired hunters, cover each other carefully and return fire against their archers!"
"Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!"
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Soon, a volley of precise bone arrows rained down from the hill, landing among the loosely formed crossbowmen and causing over a dozen casualties. Under pressure from the Temple Crossbowmen, the red-haired hunters stopped hunting enemy warriors and instead tried to suppress the firing of the crossbowmen.
"Half the crossbowmen take up shields, the other half continue firing... ugh, despicable Canine Descendants!"
Balda swung his war club, shouting orders, then was hit by two arrows. Fortunately, his copper armor took the brunt of the impact, and he merely staggered without injury. The people of Guajili were skilled in archery, especially proud of sniping officers and commanders.
"Boom..."
A great roar echoed through the front camp, followed by murderous cheers.
"The gate is broken!"
A large group of Guamare warriors poured through the shattered gate. They wore cotton armor and likewise wielded obsidian short spears and war clubs, engaging in a fierce struggle with the Canine Warriors. Both sides had tattoos on their bodies and shouted in nearly the same language, ruthlessly stabbing their weapons into each others’ chests. The brutal close combat only lasted a moment before two or three hundred lay on the ground, their blood mingling on the soil.
"Who else is there!... Ugh! Heh..."
A Guamare brave roared loudly in the heat of battle, having just killed three enemies when a cold arrow struck him, hitting his throat precisely. The brave let out two hoarse cries and then fell backward, trampled underfoot by both sides. More Guamare warriors streamed in, the Canine warriors’ line slowly retreating. Facing the fierce onslaught, the Canine Warriors resisted desperately, suffering heavy casualties. Behind them, occasional cold arrows from the red-haired hunters struck conspicuous warriors and nobility. The situation in the encampment was at an impasse for a moment, with life being rapidly extinguished and bodies piling up to form the fallen.
"Damn it! With the Mexica warriors as their backbone, even the Otomi dogs have become so fierce!"
Ozoma’s expression was grim as he cursed bitterly. As he watched the dire battle unfold, he hesitated for a while and then clenched his fists tightly.
"The arrows of the Mexica are too sharp. If we keep on fighting, the loss of our warriors will be too great!... Forget it, we don’t need this camp anymore, not these copper arrows either!"
The Red Monkey Chieftain finally made his decision. He turned his head and ordered his trusted aides.
"The Otomi dogs have surged in! Stick to the plan, ignite the dry wood and grass. Cover with archery fire from the red-haired hunters, and have the warriors who haven’t engaged yet retreat to the back camp gate! Once the fire picks up, we’ll abandon the camp and retreat into the woods. Let’s see the dogs howl in the flames!"
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