The setting sun painted the sky red, warmth perating the earth. Between heaven and earth stood tall wooden poles, tied with hair, and countless heads. Over eight hundred pairs of wide-open eyes gazed intently in midair, clustered together. From afar, they resembled ’dandelions’ fluttering in the breeze.
The dandelions cast the gaze of the deceased, unwillingly looking upon the heavens and earth. These gazes fell upon the sky, transforming into a deep crimson glow all over the sky, and fell upon the ground, manifesting as tens of thousands of prostrate figures. Those figures cowered, trembled, hunched, sobbed, and had once desperately exposed each other.
Now, the hierarchy, order, and traditions of all the tribes had been shattered by the Prepecha Warriors’ bronze axes, leaving only terror etched into their bones and utter compliance.
The brutal denunciation lasted for half a day, followed by extrely swift executions. Over twenty noble warriors who had been in hiding were finally exposed by the desperate Moth People, along with over a hundred able-bodied n who participated in the uprising. Then, under the witness of the sunset, the remaining over eight hundred prisoners, whether Telascallan nobility, warriors, or Moth People, were all pinned to the ground by Pike Warriors and executed one by one!
The bronze axes swung, heads hung aloft, vivid red flowed freely, and the wails pierced the air only to vanish. When the sun set in the west, the center square of Eight Hundred Town fell into a dead silence, with no more potential resistance remaining.
Camp Commander Ping lifted his chipped axe, slightly panting. His nose was thick with the sll of blood, his eyes bloodshot, like a wolfhound of the God of Death, scanning across hundreds of headless corpses and lingering at the fearfully whimpering captives. After a long mont, Ping exhaled, turning toward the Divine Emblem of the Chief Divine, and bowed his head.
"Praise the Chief Divine! He casts his dark eyes from the blood-red sky! He takes the sacrificial souls, conducts the final judgnt, and blesses the devout!"
The loud chant resounded before the altar of the Chief Divine. The Pike Warriors, with blood-stained war clothes, full of murderous intent, prayed toward the Divine Emblem of the Chief Divine. They had just carried out judgnts and executions, with eyes tinged with blood and filled with firm devotion, as if ready to sacrifice themselves for the Divine at any mont.
Monts later, the warriors completed their sacrificial prayer and the solace of the soul. Ping straightened his back once more. He looked at the shivering, fearful tens of thousands of captives and ordered sharply.
"Disband them, abolish all original group leaders! Reorganize into teams of twenty people. Conduct contests within the teams, selecting a team leader and deputy based on valor!"
After the prisoner uprising, Ping pondered for a long ti. He resolved to thoroughly break apart the captives, dismantling the tribal structure and all traditional hierarchies.
And a team of twenty is precisely the capacity of a new-style twin-hulled canoe. The two leaders, primary and deputy, correspond to the two boats of the twin hull. More importantly, "twenty" is the total number of digits on hands and feet, the largest number ordinary tribespeople can comprehend!
Not long after, under the orders of the Pike Warriors, the fearful, compliant captives were divided into teams of twenty. Then, within each team, simple wrestling contests began to select the two strongest individuals.
"The team leader and deputy leader are responsible for managing their contingent. Regardless of origin, they are the leaders of the twenty! They are also recognized leaders of small teams by the Kingdom, able to speak directly with the Kingdom’s warriors!"
Ping watched for a mont, nodding in satisfaction. Once the team leaders were chosen, the captives had new teams. The Kingdom’s Warriors no longer needed to handle individual tribespeople, only needing to interact with the team leaders. In fact, during the prior escorting, the warriors’ internal managent of the captives was virtually nonexistent.
"Very good! Tattoo the Divine Emblem of the Chief Divine on the foreheads of the team leaders!"
Hearing this, the accompanying War Priests stepped out of the ranks. They took out sharp obsidian daggers, deeply etching the Sun Hummingbird motif on the chosen captives’ foreheads, then applying a blue dye capable of killing bacteria. Tattooing is a treatnt usually reserved for veteran warriors within tribes, and not just anyone is qualified to bear the sacred Divine Emblem of the Chief Divine.
In the northern highlands’ tribes, this kind of tattooing ceremony has no insulting aning, and instead is a rare honor. This ritual of tattooing cannot be compared to the tattoo branding of the Celestial Empire.
The red sun slowly set, and the mountain wind blew powerfully. Under the supervision of the Pike Warriors, the selection of team leaders and the Priests’ tattooing both advanced continuously. Ping stood before the altar of the Chief Divine, looking at the sacred symbol, lost in thought. After thinking for a mont, he turned around, walked to the two captains of the expedition team, and bowed slightly.
"Honorable hereditary noble Puap, expedition captain Chiwaco, may the Chief Divine bless you!"
"May the Chief Divine bless you! Honorable military noble Ping!"
The two respectfully returned the salute in unison. Having witnessed the execution scene earlier, the attitude of the Huitu Puap, that’s an unprecedented improvent.
"Captains, you saw just now... I executed those rebels, and cut off all the hidden venomous snakes cleanly. Now, the captives have been disbanded, and new small team leaders have been selected. These thods, I learned from following Legion Commander Ezpan all these years."
At this point, Ping paused. There was still so concern within his steadfast expression.
"However, breaking up the captives and dismantling the tribes might reduce resistance. But the road ahead is long, so how can we reduce the escape of captives?..."
"Hmm..."
Puapu touched his chin, pondering silently. He instinctively looked towards Chiwaco, who had his eyes lowered and said nothing... Puapu shook his head inwardly.
"Hey! This old guy is too soft-hearted! It’s clear he can’t be counted on for this kind of issue. However, after all that I’ve experienced on this journey, I’ve got so ideas myself..."
With this thought, Puapu grinned and confidently responded.
"With the Chief Divine’s blessing, Captain Ping, this is easy to handle!"
"Oh? Honored Gray Soil Noble, please enlighten us!"
"On the way here, I heard that the supre Majesty set a limit on prisoners’ deaths, no more than twenty percent?"
"Yes! His Majesty, enlightened by the Divine Revelation, is always rciful... but these rebels initiated the uprising and must be strictly punished! The Chief Divine bears witness! The warriors have been very restrained..."
"The Chief Divine bears witness! Camp Commander Ping, the journey is long and there are limited warriors to guard the captives. To reduce escapes, you need to have the prisoners turning against each other, like training dogs! Choosing a leader for each group of twenty, that’s a good start. Next, it’s best to also impose the power and threat of execution on them!"
"Hmm? What do you an?..."
"There are four inauspicious days in a month. A group of twenty prisoners is allowed to have four die! The two strongest chosen as leaders are the alpha wolves among the twenty. The alpha wolf manages everything of the pack, and so should these two team leaders!"
"Give the two fiercest leaders each a Stone Spear and a Dagger so they can easily suppress their subordinates! From now on, they not only control their subordinates’ food and wealth but also their life and death! And no matter how they exploit, bully, beat, or even execute their tribespeople, the warriors will turn a blind eye and tacitly allow their actions!"
Saying this, a wolf-like fierce glint flashed in Puapu’s eyes. This is the most naked jungle law, letting the two chosen Telascalan leaders hold power over life and death over their subordinates, from now on becoming the warriors’ lapdogs in managent.
"Ah?! The chosen leaders beco the alpha wolves controlling the life and death of their subordinates?"
Ping froze for a mont, asking in surprise.
"But His Majesty said, at most only twenty percent casualties are allowed..."
"Then tell them! No matter how they deal with it, at most only four can die! Each ti resting at a village or town, the warriors will count last. For every team that loses more than four on the road, both leaders will be executed by beheading!..."
"Tell the leaders, if the numbers don’t suffice, they should capture escaped prisoners, capture encountered wild people, or find a way to borrow from other surplus teams!... No matter what, the Kingdom’s Warriors only count heads! As long as they bring back the number of prisoners... all the leaders can beco Militia in the prisoner settlents first, or even beco tent leaders of banner teams, standing high above others!"
Puapu’s words, like a low wolf howl, echoed in Camp Commander Ping’s heart. And around them were the cries and sobs of the prisoners, like the low murmurs of deer.
"Wolves and deer, warriors and captives... A wolf among deer, capturing the fleeing deer..."
Ping frowned and pondered for a long ti, then nodded in admiration.
"Honored Gray Soil Noble, your suggestion makes a lot of sense! By creating new hierarchies among the captives and making the leaders the alpha wolves, we let them watch over the prisoners for the warriors. However, for the final part about preferential resettlent, I don’t have the authority and must let the Legion Commander decide. As for the previous points about the power and threat of execution..."
Camp Commander Ping gripped his Bronze Axe firmly and grinned, sincerely thanking him.
"I’ll go handle it right away. Once the matter of the captives is settled, I’ll host a banquet tonight to welco you!... Not to ntion, the Serpent Descendant noble lady among the captives, as slippery as a snake, will surely satisfy you!"
"Haha! Thank the Chief Divine, thank you!"
Saying this, both warriors from Patzcuaro grinned widely, filled with joy. On this blood-red evening, they were deciding the life and death of tens of thousands of Telascalans, and determining the fate of over a hundred thousand prisoners. In their hands, they held blood-stained Bronze Axes and tightly clutched the Chief Divine’s Amulet, standing above others.
On this fertile land, the loyal warriors of the Prepetcha, following His Majesty’s footsteps, have finally beco the new conquerors. Continuous streams of wealth, land, and population brought through conquest provide abundant fuel for the Kingdom’s military machine. And as long as the war continues with victory, the loyalty of the various warriors will remain unwavering!
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