Chapter 209 Map, Story and Decision

The curtained door was tightly closed, and there was a skylight on the top of the big tent. It was noon, and the golden sunlight fell from the ceiling, shining on the yellowed paper map, like an ancient secret scroll that had been passed down for hundreds of years.

In fact, this map was just drawn not long ago, and the material was the latest bark paper produced in the lake capital. Bark paper is strong and durable, but the lignin content is high, and it always appears yellow after oxidation. Even after bleaching, the whiteness of the paper cannot last long under the sunlight.

Hearing the words of His Highness, the three confidants gathered together, looked at the slightly yellow map together, and fell into deep thought.

The map was spread out, covering a large area. The map is centered on two rivers, outlining the lake land of Mikancho. On the map, densely packed graphic symbols are depicted and carefully marked with different colors. Brown is the stacked mountains, representing the landform; blue is the long river, representing the water system; cyan is the dense forest, representing the vegetation. And black is the town of Tarasco, representing the settlement.

Around the settlement, there are four colors of symbols and numbers, marking different political and military forces. The east and north are blue, symbolizing the friendly Mexica Alliance and Otopan City-State. The southeast is green, symbolizing the neutral Mixtec and Zapotec. The northwest and extreme west are yellow, symbolizing the unknown attitude of the Guamal Dogs and the Northern Tecos Tribe. The center, extreme east and southwest of the map are glaring red, symbolizing the hostile Tarasco Kingdom, Tlaxcala Alliance, and the Nan Tecos Tribe.

At this time, His Highness's palm was firmly pressed on the southwest corner of the map. That is the red Nan Tes tribe, the mountainous and forested Colima State! Next to the conspicuous blood-red mark, there is also a black triangle that is emphasized, but no one knows what it means.

Xiu Luote smiled and looked around the tent. He remembered the expressions of the generals in his heart, and then waited patiently.

This is the Mikanque military map that he specially made for several months based on the format of the military map in his memory. Since obtaining the surrendered Tarasco troops from various places, he has selected special personnel to collect a large amount of scout intelligence and set up a working group to compile maps. In addition to geographical information and military intelligence, population estimates, agricultural production, and mineral development in various places will be recorded one by one in the map.

In Xiuluote's plan, this map will expand from Mikanque to the whole world, from a single map to a detailed atlas. Later, it will be further expanded to the entire Americas and even the entire world, becoming a military weapon for successive Mexica kings to govern the country, expand territory, form alliances, and conquer the rebels!

Toltec looked at the map carefully for a while, and felt that the dense annotations were like jumping tadpoles, which made him dizzy. So he was the first to ask.

"Your Highness, is this the southwestern mountainous area, Colima?"

Xiuluote nodded slightly.

"That's right! The only thing I'm worried about is that Suanggua will flee to the southwest mountains. The rest of the directions are fine."

"Your Highness, why is that? I heard from merchants that the southwest mountains are sparsely populated, remote and desolate, with thousands of mountains stacked one after another, and everywhere are the mouths of smoking demons. Hundreds of Tekos tribes have built villages and hunted in the mountains, and they are poor and destitute. They fight each other for a few mountain fields and a few water sources. And going further west, there are only endless vast lakes."

Speaking of this, Toltec scratched his head and continued to ask in confusion.

"If Suanga leads his army to escape to such a barren and desolate place, he will have no cotton cloth, no food, no weapons, no soldiers, and will have to fight with local tribes. After staying there for a few months, he will probably starve to death or die of poverty! If he goes to the powerful Tlaxcala in the east, or the wealthy Mixtec in the south, wouldn't it be a greater threat to the alliance?"

Xuluot looked at his beloved general with appreciation and said with a smile.

"Toltec, I haven't seen you for two months, but I have to open my eyes to see you again. Yes, you can talk very well, and it seems that you have been working hard recently! Suanga leads an unknown number of royal legions, with thousands of people, and there are not many places he can go. The most likely thing is of course to return to the capital to help us, avoid us from entering the city, or take the initiative to fight us!"

"In all other directions, Tlaxcala in the east is too far away and does not border Tarasco. Mixtec in the south is nominally a vassal of the alliance. The Mixtec leader may contact Tarasco secretly, but will never directly accept the other king or even let the other legion enter the country. What's more, The important thing is that these areas are under the attack of the alliance and may face the attack of the army at any time! "

"Only Colima State in the southwestern mountains! It is the southwestern border of the Kingdom of Tarasco, more than 1,300 miles away from the capital of the lake, and 500 to 600 miles away from the city of Qincongcan. The complex mountains are difficult to conquer, and the guerrilla enemies are difficult to find, and the advantages of the defenders will be doubled. The alliance is out of reach there, and it is impossible to maintain such a long food route. If Suanga can be ruthless and resolutely abandon the capital and go straight here, it will be like a wolf entering the mountains and forests, and it will really become a big problem for the alliance! "

Bertard pondered for a moment and spoke slowly.

"The Colima Mountains are rugged and easy to defend but difficult to attack. Going north through the Leman River, you can connect to the Chapala Lake area. Going east along the tributaries of the Tarsus River, you can connect to various parts of the southern part of the kingdom. The Tarasco royal family has been passed down for two hundred years, with branches in various states and great influence. If Suanggua goes into exile here and reorganizes the Tarasco Kingdom, rebellions in the land of the lake will continue to occur, and it will not be quelled in a few years!"

The surrendered general Ezpan had been silent until he spoke in a cold voice.

"Your Highness, the lower-class people believe in the Three Gods and obey the guidance of the priests. The influence of the royal family is mainly among the nobles in various places. If the Three Gods can be absorbed as the subordinate gods of the main god, and then the low-level priests in various places can be recruited, the situation in the countryside can be stabilized. Next..."

At this point, Ezpan's eyes flashed with cold light, with a fierce killing intent, and slowly made a gesture of cutting his neck.

"Cut off all the descendants of the gods! Kill all the nobles completely, and the land in the lake will be completely owned by Your Highness!"

Hearing Ezpan's words, Bertard was surprised, but Toltec laughed heartily.

"Good, very good! The wolf pack needs skills to hunt. First, exile all the nobles and migrate to other places. If anyone dares to disobey, then execute them. And when they leave the base, life and death are just a matter of your Highness's thoughts!"

Bertard shook his head gently. He looked at the young king and returned to the topic.

"The nobles control the warriors, militias and manors, and need to be cautious when dealing with them. Your Highness, if Suanga abandons his foundation and goes to the southwest, can he gain a foothold in the Colima Mountains?"

Xuluot pondered for a while and nodded affirmatively.

"The Kingdom of Tarasco has been operating in the southern Tecos tribes for a long time. During this westward expedition, a large number of Tecos warriors were encountered in both the north and south. The captured tribal leaders also explained clearly that the tribes outside Colima have been conquered by the kingdom. The Tarasco royal family also intermarried with local leaders, made kinship agreements, and signed covenants, which has great potential influence."

"If Suanga can lead the army to the southwest, he can completely inherit the management of the kingdom. Most tribes will not resist, and it is difficult to compete with him. Although the population of the Colima Mountains is not large, it can provide 10,000 warriors and 20,000 militias. As for the food for the army, he can get supplies from the rich Chapala Lake area in the north, or secretly connect with the Tarasco nobles in the south. Coarse grains can also be grown in the mountain fields. As for weapons."

Xuluot paused and smiled meaningfully.

"As long as there is a will, Colima can produce the best weapons."

After listening to the analysis of His Highness, the three generals were silent for a while. After a while, Toltec spoke first again.

"Your Highness, will Suangu really choose to give up the capital? The ancestral tombs of Tarasco, the royal palace, and the inheritance of the descendants of the gods are all here!"

"It depends on what kind of person Suangu is and how far-sighted he is."

Xuluot smiled and suddenly became interested. He patted the shoulders of the three civilian generals intimately, and then talked about the secret past of the alliance.

"Bertard, Toltec, Ezpan, you are all my right-hand men. I want to share with you some of the hidden history of the alliance, hoping that you will think about it. You must know that one of the three heroes of the early Three Cities Alliance was the ancestor of Texcoco, the great poet king Coyot Nezabal. The poet king had an outstanding reputation throughout his life, was brave and good at fighting, and was recognized by the alliance as a 'poet', 'wise man' and 'believer'."

"In fact, in the secret inheritance of the royal family, the poet king experienced Iscoatl, Montezuma I, and Axayacatl, and was the most feared ally, important minister and prince of three generations of Mexica kings. He was restrained and tolerant, and was always able to patiently wait for the times; he was flexible in his means, but could make ruthless decisions at critical moments; he had a long-term vision and never cared about short-term gains and losses."

Xuluot's eyes were a little sad. Under the ruthless purge of the elders, the successor Prince Texcoco had been executed, and the Nezabal family had been extinct since then. In the near future, Coyote will also completely disappear from the epic, and all traces will be wiped out.

"In the secret biography of the royal family, the early history of the Three Cities Alliance is recorded. More than sixty years ago, the Tepanec people firmly ruled the Mexica Valley. They controlled many city-states and reached their peak military strength. Then they sent tens of thousands of warriors to capture the prosperous city of Texcoco. Coyote, who was only fifteen years old, escaped and went into exile in Huesochinco in the southeast. He lived in exile for four years and reorganized his army. Then, at the age of nineteen, the poet king went to the lake capital alone and secretly met with the previous king Iscoatl to organize an alliance against the Tepanec people. At that time, the other two of the three heroes, the great King Montezuma and the Immortal Elder, were both nephews of the previous king and young generals of the city-states."

"Then, Coyote endured and wandered outside for another five years. While he was on diplomatic missions to many city-states to expand the anti-Tepanec alliance, he returned to Texcoco several times to expand Five years later, the former king Iscoatl took the lead in raising an army, and the poet king joined in accordance with the covenant, and together they conquered the capital of the Tepanec people, Azcapotzalco on the west bank of Lake Texcoco. "

"In the following months, more than a dozen surrounding city-states responded to the alliance and organized three armies of 100,000 soldiers to fight against the unjust Tepanec people. Many of Tepanec's subjects remained neutral. In less than a year, the Tepanec Alliance, once the overlord of the world, perished. The Three Cities Alliance was established, inherited the rule of the Valley of Mexico, and embarked on the road of rise promised by the Lord God. And the exiled poet king Coyote finally returned home ten years later. He recovered the city-state of Texcoco, restored the glory of his ancestors, and even became one of the three kings who co-ruled in the early days of the Three Cities Alliance. "

After telling the story, Xiuluot showed a gentle smile. He looked at the shocked people and said word by word.

"Although the alliance has great military prowess, it has only been established for more than fifty years. The foundation of the country is not yet solid, and hidden worries are everywhere. Before this Western Expedition, the elder met with Avitt and me, and left his only intention: in order to avoid future troubles, The royal family of Tarasco must be extinct and all male heirs must be executed!”

The generals looked at each other for a moment and nodded in understanding. The royal family of Tarasco is mainly concentrated in the capital, so Qin Congcan must conquer it. Honorable nobles have always been married to the royal family, and the estates of great nobles in various states also need to be cleaned up. Next, there is the king, Suangua, who leads the legion.

Shulot closed his eyes, thought for a few breaths, and then opened them suddenly. He stretched out his finger again and poked hard at the deep south of Tarasco, the southernmost Ivacchio in the Patzcuaro Lake District. This is a prosperous copper mining city and a trade capital without walls.

"I decided to let go of the royal capital for the time being, and the legion moved further south! Gather warriors from all armies and prepare a month's worth of food and grass. The main force of the army immediately moved south, bypassing the fortified Patzcuaro, and attacking the wealthy Ivacchio! This is located in Fifty miles south of Qincongcan, the transportation is extremely convenient. The army wants to control this place and then continue to move forward to block the main route of Suangua's retreat to the southwest! "

Shulot made a decision. His eyes were bright, he looked at the generals in the tent, and gave orders loudly.

"Bertard, you go summon the commanders of the ministries and convey the order to march south. Toltec, give you three thousand warriors to serve as the vanguard of the army! Remember, march quickly, be on guard, and do not allow plunder to stop! Ezpan, dispatch a group The descendants who are familiar with the terrain will give you two hundred Jaguars and five hundred of the most elite scouts to form a reconnaissance battalion. Dozens of reconnaissance teams will spread out for hundreds of miles in all directions to search for traces of the royal regiment!"

The young commander looked serious and determined the movement of the army. All the generals bowed at the same time and bowed their heads to receive orders. Finally, Shulot stretched out his palm, slashed forward with all his strength, and shouted in a deep voice.

"When the southern legion arrives and the two armies attack, the Kingdom of Tarasco will come to an end! If Suangua dares to fight head-on, we will establish the world in one battle!"

The generals looked at each other for a few seconds and then agreed with a loud voice. On the second day, 16,000 Mexican troops quickly set off, turning into a majestic torrent and rushing southwest. The expanded scouts spread like a skynet, searching for Tarasco's eagle. And the reborn sun is high in the sky, waiting for the noble sacrifice to fly!