Chapter 404: Divine Omen

The past month seemed calm and stable, but in fact, it was full of turbulence. Under the suppression of tens of thousands of royal troops, the southern nobles had to choose to obey the change after a painful struggle. They handed over their land and population, and took hundreds of direct clansmen to guard the border north of Leman River. With the arrival of the capital priest group, the more than 200,000 people in Zicao County are being orderly registered, and civilian settlements are being established, gradually incorporated into the direct jurisdiction of the kingdom. The southwestern Tekos tribe will also be solved in the southern expedition.

In early January, the 7,000 guards spent a peaceful New Year in Zicao City, also known as Kuramo City. The king personally held a New Year sacrifice, summoned the capital priests who were on duty, and appeased the purged Jingji Corps. Then, the fourth batch of 5,000 rebels set off. So far, 20,000 rebels have embarked on the road of serfdom to the north. The Crow family took the lead in going north to change, and more than a dozen hereditary nobles in the south followed.

At the same time, the black wolf went deep into the southwestern mountainous area and lost contact with the kingdom's army. After leaving 3,000 men in Apa City, Ezepan continued to follow the king's order to move westward. He took over the 5,000 Guakili Legion left by Black Wolf, commanded nearly 10,000 soldiers, and chased the retreating Tekos coalition day and night.

In early January, Shulot set out from Zicao City, escorted by 7,000 Royal Guards, and took 40 bronze cannons all the way west for 200 miles. The southern nobles along the way all obeyed the northward migration. The two nobles who dared to disobey were blasted into the wooden fort by the Eagle Cannon in one day, and all the male members of the family were killed!

In late January, the Black Wolf King's flag arrived at the foot of Apa City, and the Royal Guards moved into the newly built siege camp. In the following days, the Royal Guards were fully deployed and blocked all passages outside Apa City. Then, ten Eagle Cannons were set up in the south of the city and bombarded the south city for days. Today is the second day of February and the fifth day of artillery bombardment.

Three days ago, the king's army organized a tentative attack to test the siege effect of the Rain God Tiger Crouching Cannon. The hundreds of corpses of both sides under the city were left over from that siege.

Under the protection of the shields of the heavily armored warriors, the gunners pushed dozens of tiger squat cannons within fifty steps of the city wall. Afterwards, the archers of the Wang army suppressed the arrows on the top of the city wall, and the tiger squat cannons bombarded the top of the Apa city wall, and fired three rounds.

After all, the tiger squat cannon is an extremely light scattering cannon. When it shoots upward at the six-meter-high stone city wall, its power is greatly attenuated. The scattered stone balls can only barely injure some civilian militiamen, and cannot break the shields on the top of the city wall. Instead, the huge roar of dozens of cannons bombarding at the same time caused a huge shock to the hearts of the defenders. The militia in the south city panicked, shouting the names of the gods, and fled to the city twice, and were driven back to the top of the city by the palm warriors who supervised the battle.

The defenders still had a fighting spirit. A strong attack would not only lose warriors in vain, but also reduce the number of people gained after the victory. Xiuluot watched for a moment and stopped the attack. Afterwards, the ten Condor cannons fired slowly and steadily, creating psychological pressure on the defenders while studying the artillery tactics until today.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Amid the thunder of the Condor cannons, Shulot returned to the siege camp. He sat cross-legged in the king's tent in the camp and said to Bertard with a smile.

"Bless the Lord! According to the 260-day sacred calendar of the Alliance, today is the last day of Ehecatl, the Day of the Jaguar."

"The sacred wind swirls in the sky, creating disorder and chaos. The old order disintegrates in the divine wind, and new rules will be nurtured in chaos. In the storm of death, unpredictable changes are about to come, and vitality flows in the wind of death! The brave jaguar symbolizes outstanding battles. Warriors are willing to sacrifice their lives to keep the flames of the sun burning forever!"

"Bless the Lord! Praise Him, give divinity to the storm and courage to the jaguar!"

Hearing the sacred calendar, Bertard saluted respectfully. Then he asked cautiously.

"Then, Your Highness, in the eyes of the sacred priests, what does it foreshadow?"

"Well, it foreshadows..."

Xuluot pondered for a moment, thinking of the black wolf somewhere, and smiled confidently.

"It foreshadows that there will be good news soon!"

The black wolf will not let me down. The king thought so, but never said it.

"Praise the Lord God, God bless your highness! The southern expedition will surely win!"

Hearing this, Bertard smiled and responded. He never doubted the complete victory of the southern expedition.

Xuluote nodded and said no more. He unfolded the map of the south, looked through the reports from various places, and planned the arrangements after the southern expedition.

Time passed silently, and the sun was slightly setting in the west. Several red-haired hunters appeared from the plains in the west, carrying red bamboo baskets and red flags. In just two or three quarters of an hour, the red-haired hunters ran to the front. They looked at the roaring and roaring bronze beasts that fired stone bullets in awe, and then, under the guidance of the royal guards, they went through several tests and came to wait outside the king's tent in the military camp.

"Your Highness, Miwa, the deputy general of the Red Frog Regiment, came from the southwestern mountains with the news of victory!"

Shield Guard Tekos entered the tent and reported back with a happy face. Bertard was surprised and looked at the foresighted highness with reverence.

"Ah? Good news? Good, very good! Let Miwa in."

Xuluot raised his head, was stunned for a moment, and laughed happily. He remembered that the red-haired guard who was good at fighting and stubborn had once risked his life to attack the enemy at night, even sacrificing himself.

The red-haired guard Miwa immediately entered the tent, carrying a few bamboo baskets, and knelt ten steps away. All the weapons on his body were removed, and even his nails were checked. On both sides of him, there was a guard holding an axe to supervise.

After the assassination of Medina, the alert level of the king's tent was greatly increased. Ordinary messengers not only had to be repeatedly checked, but also had to report back to the king ten steps away under the close supervision of the guards.

"The Supreme Chief of Death! Four days ago, under the command of Chief Ezepan, Chief Red Frog defeated the Tekos coalition, broke through the Hand Snake City, and destroyed the Shield Tribe! The army killed all the Tekos noble chiefs, priests and heads, captured nearly 4,000 tribal warriors, and captured more than 10,000 women and children from nearby tribes!"

The red-haired guard Miwa knelt down and kowtowed, and then handed over several bamboo baskets. The guards checked briefly, and a strong smell of blood spread in the tent.

When asked about the smell of blood, Xiu Luote raised his eyebrows and understood. He glanced at the bamboo basket and smiled.

"Praise the Lord! Praise Him for giving us victory! Miwa, you fought well. To make a long story short. Which heads are in here?"

"Ah! Great Chief, the heads of the Tekos noble chiefs are all in there, there are twenty or thirty."

The red-haired personal guard Miwa walked to the largest bamboo basket with a simple smile on his face. He reached out and fumbled for a moment, then suddenly pulled up his hair and took out a middle-aged head with closed eyes.

"This is the shield chief Chimali!"

"Oh? Chimali is dead? Not bad! Very good! Ezpan and Coca are very good!"

Xuluot looked at the head and smiled and praised. He had been worried that the prestigious chief Chimali would take his people to escape into the mountains, and with the support of the Kolyma tribe in the west, he would rely on the hundreds of miles of mountains and the kingdom army to fight guerrilla warfare. Unexpectedly, the other party died so easily!

"Praise the Lord! Praise the Great Chief!"

Hearing the praise from the Great Chief, the red-haired personal guard Miwa smiled brightly. He reached out, grabbed the hair again, and took out a middle-aged head with closed eyes. Looking closely, the face of the head is quite similar to the previous one.

"Great Chief, this is the herbal elder Malina, he is Chimali's younger brother, and he killed Chimali himself."

"Very good!"

Xiu Luote looked at it and nodded. It sounds like civil strife broke out in the Tekos tribe. In fact, he was unaware of the negotiations in the southwestern mountains. Ezepan negotiated privately and promised the hereditary nobles a fiefdom, but he was naturally never prepared to fulfill it.

"Lord God bless you!"

The red-haired guard Miwa smiled and prayed, and took out the last middle-aged head with eyes open. The man had short hair and a tattoo on his face that symbolized bravery.

"Great Chief, this is the hunting elder Toppan. He killed Malina, and the city was in chaos. Chief Ezepan seized the opportunity, defeated the enemy in one fell swoop, and killed him as well. As for the other Tekos noble chiefs, they were all killed at once, and their heads are all here!"

"Oh? So, the shield chief Chimali, the herbal elder Malina, and the hunting elder Toppan attacked and killed each other, and finally they all became heads and sent here?"

"Yes, that's right. Great Chief, the Tekos people in the southwest ate each other, their morale was low, and they were completely discouraged. After this battle, no one in the southwest dared to resist. When I set out, Chief Ezepan had already ordered a large plunder of 300 miles in the southwest to trap the food-deficient Tekos people until the endless lake!"

Hearing this, Xiuluot pondered and frowned. With a powerful enemy at hand, the Tekos people would not have civil strife for no reason. He could vaguely guess the hidden truth, and Ezepan should have done something. As for killing all the Tekos noble chiefs, it was probably to silence them and let everything that had happened be buried in the dust. On this point, he was sure that Ezepan would not leave any omissions.

Ezepan was a surrendered general. In order to gain the trust of the king, he could even bear the pain of cutting off his little finger. His fighting style is both flexible and ruthless. He used to be the deputy general of the monkey, and his flexible tactics came from the monkey's teaching. And the ruthless style is innate in his bones. After the victory of the Western Expedition, his cleansing of the old nobles in Tarasco in his jurisdiction was even more thorough than that of the Mexica generals.

And the red frog Miwa was born in the wilderness tribe, and he would not show mercy. It is conceivable what the two can do together.

"Well. If the water is too clear, there will be no fish. Wait until he comes back and knock him again."

Xiuluot thought for a moment and nodded. He smiled indifferently and looked at Miwa who bowed his head and waited.

"Miwa, Ezpan asked you to come, what else do you have to say?"

"Great Chief, Chief Ezpan asks you to send as much food as possible to the south!"

The red-haired guard Miwa raised his head and answered respectfully.

"Great Chief, Chief Black Wolf raided the mountains and burned all the food of the Tekos people! According to the news from the Tekos captives, Chief Black Wolf has reached the coast. Thousands of troops plundered all the way to the southeast, completely swept the southwest, and created nearly 100,000 Tekos refugees!"

"Chief Ezpan is sure that the Tekos refugees are about to fall into famine and cannot stay in the mountains for long. As long as there is enough food in the future, the army can surrender or trap most of the Tekos refugees and bring them back to the Northern Kingdom as slaves!"

"Black Wolf continues to attack? 100,000 Tekos refugees?"

Hearing this, Xiu Luote opened his eyes wide in surprise and stood up suddenly. He paced back and forth, thought for a moment, and promised loudly.

"Yes! Very good, tell Ezepan to let him do what he wants! I will requisition the food of the southern nobles and supply him with all my strength!"

"The southwestern mountainous area is too far away and the environment is too complex to be governed directly. Tell him that I only want the population! As long as he plunders enough people, no matter what means he used before, I will forgive him! And if he can get 100,000 people, he will be the first hero of the southern expedition! At that time, I will reward him generously and give his legion another 1,000 bronze armors! And Coca's Red Frog Regiment will also be rewarded generously!"

"Ah! I obey! Praise you, great chief!"

The red-haired bodyguard Miwa fell to the ground, his face full of joy.

"Tell him again to guard the retreat and beware of the Colima tribes! The southwest mountainous area cannot support ten thousand legions. Let some of the legions come back with the plundered population and station in Zicao County. In addition, tell Ezpan and "Coca, be nice to the ordinary Tekos refugees! Only the tribes that resist the royal army will be demoted to serfs, and the others will be incorporated into the flag team to reclaim the wasteland in Zicao County."

"I obey you, Warchief!"

Miwa kowtowed again. He was smiling brightly and with a fighting spirit on his face, like a hound waiting for prey.

Shulot gave a few instructions and waved Miwa to retreat. Then, the king looked at the three heads side by side and felt an arrangement of fate. However, there seem to be some subtle inconsistencies.

"Bertard!"

Shulot looked at it for a moment and suddenly spoke.

"Your Highness?"

"Close the eyes of the last head."

"As commanded."

The warrior commander immediately obeyed and closed Toppan's eyes. This time, the three heads stood side by side, closing their eyes together, and came to the northern kingdom to meet the king of the north.

"Yes, that's it."

Xiuluo nodded and looked at it for a while, feeling much more comfortable. He clapped his hands and ordered calmly,

"Send these three heads, together with these bamboo baskets, to Apa City! Let the Palm Family take a good look at the fate of their allies!"

"Do your will!"

Bertard saluted and stood up, smiling and looking to the north. When the head was sent into the desperate city of Apa, there was no longer any hope. And the divine omen will be fulfilled again.

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