Aztec Civilization: Destiny to Conquer America!-Chapter 1838 - 1325: If You’re a Warrior, Come Down and Fight!

"Boat-Using leader! Round the bend ahead by the river and you'll find that abandoned settlement. The altar you're looking for is inside the settlement!"

"That settlement is a prime spot, flat and open, with water nearby and barnyard grass for harvesting. I just heard from the Fish-Skin users that the tribe has changed over there... Be cautious! Any tribe that can hold this place is not easy to deal with..."

The Nivkh Chief from the Dog-Using tribe squatted at the bow of the ship, mumbling while chewing on some dried matsutake mushrooms, a local specialty from the forest; tasty and plentiful, they can fool the stomach once consumed. But one needs experience not to gather the poisonous ones. With the physique of the Forest tribes, normal poisonous mushrooms have little effect; typically, they just vomit, sleep it off and are fine.

"Chief Divine protect us! There is indeed an abandoned settlement! We've traveled upstream from the rivermouth for three to four hundred li to reach here. I wonder what the temple of that Southern Great Tribe looks like?..."

"Hm! There seem to be quite a few Fish-Skin tribes inside! Let me take a good look!..."

The longship quietly halted, hidden behind the river bend. Zuwaro took out his Divine Eye Glasses and gazed into the settlement from hundreds of meters away. The first thing he saw was a soil wall encircling the settlement by the river, riddled with gaps. Behind the soil walls were several rundown earth houses, square and formal in style, many of which were half-collapsed. At the center of the earth houses stood a peculiar "temple," also heavily collapsed and indistinct at a distance.

Some pointed tribal shelters were erected within the settlement, distinctly different from the original houses, resembling the winter conical tents of the Far North Coast. Several hundreds of Fish-Skin tribes were seen bustling in the camp, likely around two to three hundred people. The camp seemed to be processing some prey, a faint smell of blood drifting through the air. Occasionally there were urgent barks from dogs and scolding from hunters training them.

"Chief Divine! Two to three hundred Fish-Skin tribes? In these dense forest swamps, this is quite a sizable tribe! Hmm, approximately sixty to seventy warriors, similar in number to the warriors and sailors on the longship? But the warriors of the Kingdom all wear heavy armor and wield metal weapons..."

"Chief Divine protect us! We have the advantage, we can make contact with them!"

Zuwaro watched for a while, then confidently ordered the longship to set sail directly towards the riverside settlement.

"Woof! Woof woof! Woof woof woof!"

Soon, the sound of rowing from the approaching longship alarmed the dogs in the camp. Ferocious barking of all sizes erupted, and the Fish-Skin hunters spotted the "large ship" on the Great River, causing an uproar among the Fish-Skin tribes!

"On the Great River, a tribe using boats, a tribe using large ships is coming to attack!"

These fierce Fish-Skin tribes were distinctly different from the gentle Ainu clans. They would immediately regard any suddenly appearing tribe as an enemy, ready for battle and combat preparations, even proactively attacking!

Soon, as the longship drew closer, the Fish-Skin tribes in the settlement were fully mobilized for combat. Over sixty hunters wielding giant bows, carrying "short spear"-like heavy arrows, gathered outside the gaps in the soil walls. The most elite dozen warriors mounted Jurchen stallions, riding out from the settlement to gather on a small slope an arrow's distance from the riverbank, preemptively taking the high ground. Other townsfolk, including sturdy women, were all equipped with hunting bows, climbing the elevated houses and soil walls.

"Chief Divine! This Fish-Skin tribe, all the townsfolk, regardless of age or gender, are warriors?"

Zuwaro widened his eyes in astonishment. In just half an hour, this tribe of over two hundred Fish-Skin tribespeople completed their full mobilization. Even the half-grown kids held small bows, their faces striving to appear fierce.

The tribal elites on horses were notably strong, their faces tattooed, with long braids. With one hand, they wielded heavy bone-handled stone hammers and with the other, gripped the reins, ready to charge at any moment!

"These are? Direct charging cavalry?"

Zuwaro's eyelids twitched as he observed. Those cavalrymen's stone hammers seemed extremely heavy, comparable to the Kingdom's obsidian clubs. But they were fitted with familiar-looking leg bones instead of wooden long handles. The archers' giant bows appeared equally cumbersome, resembling small tree branches. Their movements seemed sluggish, slowly loading large arrows, aiming at the longship on the riverbank, then creaking halfway open...

"..."

At this moment, Zuwaro suddenly felt some regret. Despite having fifty or sixty kingdom warriors, he wasn't confident enough to defeat this Fish-Skin tribe. He doubted whether the kingdom's cloth heavy armor could withstand the "short spears" shot from the other side and wondered how much sacrifice the warriors would have to make to counter this cavalry's frontal assault, so different from the Japanese. Luckily, he was still on the ship and hadn't rashly led the team ashore...

"Fish-Skin users!"

"No one fights by the riverbank in summer and autumn!"

The Nivkh chief shouted from the bow, but the Fish-Skin tribes on the shore remained hostile and unmoved.

"Charge!" 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

The Fish-Skin chieftain Maha Agudah coldly watched for a moment, then suddenly raised his bow, spurred his horse, and charged straight towards the river! Accelerating his horse, he drew the heavy horse bow, and as the horse hooves splashed into the water, he fired an arrow at the longship a hundred or so meters away!

"Whiz!... Thump!"

The heavy arrow struck the shield on the ship's rail hard, like a stone hammer in close combat, jarring the warrior behind the shield. Maha Agudah quickly turned his horse around and rushed back to the slope where the riders were stationed, taking a deep breath, his fierce tattoos trembling as he threateningly raised his bow, shouting at the longship.

"Leave this place! Boat-Using tribe! This is Maha tribe's territory!"

"Fish-Skin users! We mean no harm! We just want to worship at the altar in the settlement and pray for a warm winter!..."

"Leave this place!..."

"We've brought gifts! We've brought trade salt!..."

"Either leave, or die!..."

"..."

Zuwaro fell silent for a moment, looking at the fierce Fish-Skin chieftain on the shore, along with the Fish-Skin cavalry and archers, feeling a kind of unspeakable danger. It was as if he'd encountered in the jungle a pack of Jaguars that should be solitary but cooperated like wolves. Faced with such a situation, the opponents were clearly not ordinary tribespeople, and thus... Zuwaro looked at Warrior Chief Tamikusa and solemnly ordered.

"Tamikusa, fire the cannons!"

"Yes! Chief Priest!... Fire the cannons!"

"Boom!..."

Soon after, a deafening thunder exploded from the longship, throwing the cavalry on the shore into chaos. Over a dozen Jurchen stallions panicked, fiercely neighing, overturning the fish-skin cavalry, even crashing together.

"Loosen up! Loose reins!"

"Damn it! What's happening, why suddenly thunder?!"

"Agudah! The horses are startled! Quick! Quick, restrain them! Don't let the horses run off!..."

"Roar! Archers over here! Hold the horses down!!..."

The chaos of the startled horses was intense, yet not a single horse escaped into the forest. The Fish-Skin warriors roared, grabbing the running Jurchen stallions with seeming desperation! Two warriors together exerting force could yank a horse down, holding it firmly in place! Even the fiercest Fish-Skin chieftain managed to single-handedly wrestle his horse to the ground, preventing it from rising!

"Whew!... These robust Fish-Skin barbarians!..."

Zuwaro stared, dumbfounded, at the rough and brave scene on the shore, reminiscent of the Giants of the First Era. The Kingdom warriors on the longship also watched, amazed, devoid of any expectation of such a development. Naturally, without the captain's orders, the warriors didn't seize the chance to shoot arrows or provoke the tribes further.

Two quarters later, the chaos on the shore finally settled down. Exhausted Fish-Skin warriors and horses lay together in the mud, panting.

The Fish-Skin chieftain rose, muddy-faced, barefoot, tossing aside the giant bow. Then he picked up the twenty-pound stone hammer, glaring fiercely at the longship chieftain adorned with feathers, and the most stylish Kingdom Exploration Captain, the calm and composed Zuwaro.

"Boat-Using tribe! Was it you who summoned the thunder?!"

"Did you summon the sudden thunder that frightened our horses?!"

"Damn it! If you're a warrior, come down from the ship! Face-to-face, fight me head-on!"

"Roar! Come and fight!!..."