Chapter 587: Upstream of the Long River, the Encounter of the People in the Rain

Sparse raindrops fell from the deep sky, slowly and silently. The gentle long wind blows along the long river, neither cold nor hot, just right. It is the harvest season of late summer and autumn. In the deep mountain forests, there is no fragrance of ripe grains. Only the flower trees that are always in bloom attract swarms of hummingbirds and butterflies.

The exploration fleet stayed in Babai Town for two days before setting sail again. Captain Pimon personally led two hundred warriors and eight hundred captives along the Tarsus River. The expedition fleet was loaded with food for the team and sailed upstream. After traveling for forty miles, they encountered the first obstacle, the first Sancha River mouth.

"This is the mouth of the river to the east."

Pimen, holding a spear, stood on the rugged river beach. He pointed to the upper reaches of the northern part of the river mouth, and then pointed to the southern branch of the river mouth.

"The north of the river mouth is the upper reaches of the mountain. Next, we have to turn north and continue upstream. The mountains in the north are very steep, and the river is also steep. From here, the young men will start to stretch."

Chihuaco stood on tiptoe, looking at the mountains in the north and the falcons circling on the top of the mountain, with a look of wonder on his face.

"What a huge mountain! One after another, twists and turns, no end!"

Then, he looked south again, looking at the same vast mountains and narrow tributaries, and asked aloud.

"Where does this branched tributary flow to?"

"I haven't walked it myself. The local guide said that the Atoyac River has many branches, all flowing southward into the territory of the Mixtec people in the lowlands, and some flowing southwestward into the territory of the Tepanik people. In fact, The south is a large area of ​​mountains and forests where various savages and villages live together.”

"Huh? Atoyak River? Big Water River?"

Hearing this, Puap was a little surprised. The name Atoyak coincides with Lake Atoyak in the south of the kingdom. In fact, its meaning is a very large water, "big water river".

"Yes! In the upper reaches of the Tarsus River, the water is very strong and powerful. Therefore, it is called the Atoyak River by the locals."

Pimon smiled and explained.

"The further northeast you go from here, the deeper you will go into the hinterland of the Mixtecs. Sometimes, you can even encounter their tribal scouts. The warriors have fought with them, captured Dingkou, and suffered losses. But this kind of In mountainous areas, it is impossible to deploy troops and it is difficult to pass large groups of warriors, so there is no need to worry. "

"I see."

Chihuaco squinted his eyes, looked at the mountains and birds, and nodded.

"God bless you! Let the men and women prepare for fiber-stretching. Let's get on our way as soon as possible!"

Soon, the sound of fiber-stretching slogans rang out from the river and echoed in the mountains on both sides. Most of the expedition team got off the ship and moved forward with the spear warriors. During the day, the young men were shirtless, pulling on thick sisal ropes, and towing the long boat slowly northward. In the dark night, the warriors gathered in a circle and divided into patrol teams to guard the entire team.

The curling smoke rises in the quiet and desolate valley, bringing the aroma of food and even attracting wolves in the jungle. The Prepecha warriors in custody immediately brightened their eyes, carrying spears and big bows, and all pursued him. After a short fight, there were a few pieces of fragrant and chewy wolf meat in Chihuaco's pottery bowl that night.

The food for the team was in the hands of the warriors, most of which was stored in the holds of the longships. The warriors paid close attention to the food, but they were not afraid of the peasants fleeing. Everyone walked along the stream and trekked through the deep mountains and forests. After traveling eighty miles to the northeast, they came to the second mouth of the Sancha River.

"Here, the Dashui River branches into two more branches. The northeast is the upstream, and the southeast is the downstream tributary. We want to continue to the upper reaches of the northeast."

Having said this, Piedmont paused, looked serious, and tightened his grip on the spear in his hand.

"This is already the territory of the Mixtecs. If you go further forward, you will encounter the other mountain tribe. And if you follow the downstream tributary and go southeast for 150 miles, it will be the territory of the Mixtecs. Yeguo City. Another hundred miles along the river is Oak Valley City. There are two lush valleys where tens of thousands of tribes gather. "

"Yeguo City, Oak Canyon City?"

"Yes! This is the hinterland where many Mixtec tribes gather! Sooner or later, His Majesty, His Majesty, will lead us to conquer all these rats nesting in the mountains one by one!"

Pimen straightened his body, looked at the mountains in the south, and subconsciously held the amulet on his chest.

"With the blessing of the Lord God, the kingdom will be invincible!"

"Conquer all tribes in the mountains."

Chihuaco narrowed his eyes again and looked southeast. The mountains there seem to be slightly gentler, but still undulating. And the current big river, although it needs to be stretched when going upstream, is the only smooth road to connect.

"It's not easy to march through these hundreds of thousands of mountains. If you want to travel smoothly, you still have to rely on these rivers!"

Chihuaco narrowed his eyes, his thoughts drifting away. He knew how serious the mountain roads in the south were, and couldn't help but feel a little worried. However, at this moment, he looked at Pimen's enthusiastic and pious expression and said nothing.

"Hey, yo! Keep walking!"

The mountain road is difficult and fiber drawing is not easy. The team of thousands of people meandered forward, covering more than twenty miles in one day. It wasn't until dusk when the crowd of crows swarmed that everyone stopped by the river.

"This is the third Sancha River mouth, divided into the due east and the northwest. The due east is the main stream upstream, with sufficient water. The northwest is another upstream tributary that joins, with not much water, and can barely be used for boating."

At this point, Pimen's vigilant expression relaxed slightly. He took a long breath, took out a deer stomach water bag, and took a few sips.

"We are right here, turning northwest and not going east again. If we go further east, although we can pass through, we will run into a large tribe of Mixtecs. A hundred miles northeast is the mire village in the mountains. , stationed with thousands of Mestec militiamen, and an unknown number of warriors.”

"Silly Village?"

Chihuaco scratched his head, chewing on the name.

"It sounds like there should be water, and the terrain is low to form a swamp. Mountains, forests, swamps, undulating terrain, this land in the south is really a big piece of bad land!"

"I don't know why Your Majesty, who deserves to be struck by lightning, has brought us here from thousands of miles away to wander in this valley and stream? Further ahead, we can reach the source of the river in the mountains. It's dangerous and desolate. What's the point of going there? Oh, God of destiny, I always have an ominous feeling! It’s definitely not a good thing!”

The premonitions of the old militiamen always come true. But this time, it was even more effective. But a moment later, a naked and tattooed Mixtec scout appeared on the high mountain on the east bank of the river. He stared at the large group of small dots along the river, staring at the large ship he had never seen before, and his mouth opened in surprise. Then he raised the conch horn around his neck, puffed out his cheeks, and blew it with all his strength.

"Dee, beep! beep!"

The sharp and piercing sound of the conch horn sounded in the high mountains, flew across the boundless sky, crossed the mountains and forests in the south, and spread all the way to the distance!

"Quick! Quick! Put on your armor and take out your shield! Get the archers on board and prepare to shoot! Then distribute stone spears to the captives and line up on both sides of the warriors! Tell them that if they run away in the mountains and forests without food, they will definitely die. And if it falls into the hands of the Mixtecs, their hearts will be ripped out and sacrificed!"

Hearing the Mixtec's warning conch horn, Captain Pimon suddenly became alert. He immediately threw away the water bag in his hand, summoned the surrounding warriors, and then put on the bronze medium armor rewarded by His Majesty.

Soon, with the help of teammates, more than 40 elites also put on bronze armor, held large axes, and stood in front of the formation, ready to fight. In order to save energy when marching, armor is usually not worn. Wearing heavy and hard armor changes the morale of the warriors. This is a real and powerful divine blessing!

Unfortunately, there were only fifty pairs of bronze armor in the entire spear camp of a thousand people, and almost all of them were brought out.

As for the remaining one hundred and sixty warriors, after distributing simple stone spears, they drove the unarmored prisoners to the left and right wings. They put on their spears and long bows, and while supervising the men on the two wings, they protected the commander in the center.

With a stern look on his face, Puap took a hundred warriors from the fleet and boarded the longship that docked. They stood between the shields on both sides of the longship and also set up their large bows. The team wading through the water moves very slowly and is the best target.

Confused shouts rang out by the river. The captive Ding Zhuang who was accompanying the army was a little flustered and made some strange movements, but was suppressed by the fierce team leaders. The fear of the execution more than ten days ago was still vivid in my mind. As long as the warriors' team did not collapse, the prisoners would not flee for a while.

"Didi!"

The piercing sound of the conch horn became more and more urgent. After another two-quarters of an hour, the Mixtec group finally walked out of the mountain forest on the other side of the long river. Thousands of tribal warriors holding stone spears, carrying throwing spears and hunting bows gathered on the open river bank. Thirty or forty canoes, also carrying one or two hundred tribal elites, poured out of the tributaries in the forest.

Such a light boat weighs only a few hundred kilograms, and can only carry five or six people. It is similar to a raft. But they have a very shallow draft and can be easily towed ashore. When going with the current, they travel quickly through the mountains, but when going against the current, they have to rely on human power to carry them.

"The rain god Zhawi protects the people in the rain and drives away the tiger people in the north!"

Hundreds of tribal warriors shouted from the other side of the river, waving their weapons to intimidate the enemies hundreds of steps away. Amid the boiling shouts, a Mixtec god wearing a feather crown and a feather bundle appeared on the bank of the Great Water River, carrying a sharp copper spear.

There is a map in the Easter egg chapter. The thousands-mile waterway of the Talsas River is not only the waterway for the transportation of captives, but also the waterway for the expedition fleet to come east.