Xiulote silently counted the enemies left in front of their formation, frowning once again. After the first volley, the formation of the militia was extremely loose, and four volleys of arrow rain killed just over six hundred people. And the three thousand crossbowmen had used up a staggering twelve thousand expensive arrows—twenty arrows for one militia, no matter how you look at it, it was a losing deal!
The young commander’s face was as still as water. He commanded the advancing army, with the samurai moving slowly. However, the enemy’s taskmasters showed no mercy, killing the leading stone-throwing militiamen who tried to flee and once again compelling the militia to move forward, driving them to continue harassing the Mexica battle lines.
Xiulote waved the command flag. Two thousand five hundred longbow warriors stepped directly out of the formation, and at a distance of forty to fifty steps, they fired precisely at the enemy. The flat trajectory of the longbows packed a huge punch, akin to deadly thunderbolts! But after four volleys, the foremost rank of the clad militiamen lay dead, over a thousand in number, along with several dozen taskmaster Chapala warriors, all tumbling into the dust. The vigorous life force flowed, soaking through the flapping clothes, filling the air with the stench of blood.
Then, the loud sound of gongs and drums rang out as four hundred elite Jaguar Warrior Brigade charged from the formation, pouncing on the demoralized stone-throwing militia. With sweeps of their war clubs, the militia twisted and fell to the ground, and the survivors, terrified, ran back. The Jaguar warriors skillfully wielded their clubs, driving the remaining two thousand routed troops towards the enemy’s samurai formation, towards the central commander’s flag. Just when they came within forty to fifty steps of the formation, the enemy archers on the small hill released their arrows simultaneously, and the routed troops instantly fell in droves, then scattered to the paths on either side, driven by the front-line samurai.
In this rapid and merciless hail of arrows, a few Jaguar warriors also fell, shot through, their fate unknown. Seeing the enemy samurai coming to meet them, the elite Jaguar Warrior Brigade no longer tested the waters and turned around to retreat. The enemy samurai gave chase for only forty to fifty steps before returning to the security of their solid formation at the foot of the hill, as bows from archers protected them.
Xiulote nodded in approval. In the fierce battlefield, only the elite Jaguar warriors could remain calm and composed, mastering their retreat, something other warriors could not achieve.
He then saw the flags on the opposite side wave again; thousands of militiamen in loose formation approached the Mexica battle lines. He watched carefully, noticing that the few front ranks of militia were wielding stone-throwing spears, posing a significant threat to the samurai.
The young commander had no choice but to wave his hand again, and the longbow warriors continued to fire an incessant rain of arrows, slaughtering the enemy’s militia into various shapes. Every so often, militiamen charged to the front line, hurling powerful javelins that forcefully knocked down the front-rank samurai. Blood red spread from both sides of the battle lines until the ground became a sea of red, and the screams before death echoed between heaven and earth, followed by silence.
On the opposite hill, the "Feathers" flag waved like long feathers, and the formation of samurai stood as solid as mountains. Among the Chapala Legion, dozens of priests kindled the blue Sacred Fire, igniting the twining divine smoke, and danced feverishly. They sustained the morale of the army, extolling the Moon Goddess Halatana, offering batch after batch of militia to Her Divine Kingdom in prayers for the victory bestowed by the Goddess!
Arrows from the archers brought forth copious blood, while hurled javelins pierced the bodies of the samurai. Amid the blinding red, the hearts of the commanders on both sides were as hard as stone. The long period of probing finally came to an end as the feathered arrows gradually thinned, and the true fierce battle commenced at this moment!