Aztec Civilization: Destiny to Conquer America!

The Egret Long River winds eastward, resembling a jade belt on the Northern Land, encircling the vibrant plains. A kingdom's longship is rowing against the river, moving upstream towards the vast west.

"River... Plain... Village... Camp..."

Old Militia Chiwaco stood on the bow, looking at the open scenery along the shore, quite different from the Totonac people's jungle. On both sides of the Egret River are plains with sparse tall grass, where herds of deer and wild rabbits can be seen running.

And in the greenish woods, every few dozen miles, one can see villages built with thatched cottages, or camps with dug-out pit houses. The former belong to the migrating Vastec Tribe, while the latter are semi-settled camps of the Jananbure Tribe. They all submit tribute to the Great Red Crow Tribe, providing manpower and food.

"What do these villages plant... What do they usually eat?"

"Uh..."

Upon hearing the farming query from his father, Wilderness Warrior Chipawa helplessly tugged at his hair. He thought for a while, then grabbed a rowing Tribal Warrior and asked a few questions in Guajili language, finally giving a confident answer.

"Dad, the Vastek people in the villages do farming, and they grow a variety of crops. Mainly, it's corn, squash, and beans, just like we used to have! They also plant peppers, tomatoes, as well as mango trees and papaya trees..."

"As for what they eat, ordinary villagers eat squash and beans! Corn is made into cakes to tribute to the Great Red Crow Tribe... Oh! They also fish, dig for wild vegetables, and dig for berries... However, the fertile woods and fish-filled lakes are mostly occupied by the tribal camps of the Jananbure people. They are more fierce, and the gentle Vastek villagers generally cannot compete with them."

"As for these Jananbure people's camps and the ones further north belonging to the Bosalos people, they're semi-settled, semi-hunting, a trait of the wilderness. Their archery is good, can shoot many birds; their fishing skills are good too, catching fish from the lake; sometimes, if luck favors, they can come across herds of deer and Northern Wild Bull, which is a lot of meat!..."

"These Wilderness Tribes do plant a bit of corn and beans, but their farming is very crude! They just scatter seeds during spring and don't care much, and after harvesting in autumn, they migrate around, like rabbits that don't settle into their burrows..."

Talking about this, Wilderness Warrior Chipawa glanced at the warrior beside him, with a smile asked.

"Isn't it, Jia Ka? Every autumn when you return, you can't find your tribe, like wolves unable to find their den..."

Jananbure Warrior Jia Ka had a blue tattooed face, not tall but very robust. Listening to the question, he widened his eyes, seriously rebutted something, and shouted. The Tribal Warriors rowing started laughing loudly, shouting excitedly.

"Haha!..."

"Uh... What did he just say?"

"Dad, Jia Ka just said, how can the wolves of the grassland not find their den? It's the foolish, smelly pigs that can't find a den! Haha! He's scolding himself..."

"Oh! This year their tribe won't migrate, they're building a village east of Warrior Lake. Last year they followed the Great Chief south for plundering, capturing hundreds of obedient Vastec agricultural slaves; this year they followed the Chieftain north for conquest, seizing a batch of strong Coahuiltecan women... Now with people to farm and women who can give birth, they're planning to settle down..."

Saying this, Wilderness Warrior Chipawa paused, somewhat uncertainly.

"Jia Ka also said Sister Alan is planning to establish a new Tribal Hundred-man Team in their tribe. In the future, there won't be a need to pay grain, just provide manpower to fight for the Great and Small Chiefs... Eh! How come I didn't hear about this news? We already have fifty Hundred-man Teams, are we still forming new ones? Could it be they're planning to continue fighting north?..."

On the longship, Priest Mekate was listening to the father and son's conversation, seemingly deep in thought.

The expansion of the Great Red Crow Tribe was very rapid, extremely rapid. In merely a few years, they had transformed from an exile tribe that had experienced northern expeditions and warfare into a tribal alliance in the Northern Land. The Great Red Crow Tribe was the leader of this tribal alliance. And other tribes, either forced to submit or willingly join, accepted the leadership of the Great Red Crow Tribe, even merging into it.

Under the governance of this Great Tribe, there were both tributary, farming-settled Vastec villages and manpower-providing, semi-hunting-settled wilderness tribe camps. And the latter were gradually transforming into settled villages, establishing a stable Tribal Army through prolonged warfare...

"The Red Crow Chief is quite methodical in his actions... Not like a typical Canine Descendant Leader!..."

Thinking of this, Priest Mekate felt somewhat worried. Such a belligerent tribal alliance rising in the northeastern corner of the world, it is hard to know what impacts it would have on the alliance's future. And at such a distant location, neither the Alliance nor the Kingdom could easily send troops to intervene or interrupt their rise.

"Chief Divine! The Great Red Crow Tribe is nominally submissive to the alliance. Are they truly a threat to the kingdom or a potential ally?..."

The longship continued westward, the long oars moving through the waves, taking five days to travel over two hundred miles, reaching the broad and expansive Warrior Great Lake. Here, large and small tribal camps and agrarian villages were spread across the plains surrounding the lake, like chili seeds scattered on corncakes.

Old Militia Chiwaco looked towards the shore of the Great Lake, spotting teams of tribal warriors, carrying long spears, moving from west to east. Confusion showing on his face, he asked puzzledly.

"Chipawa, why during such a busy farming season, are there so many tribespeople preparing to go to war?"

"Dad! They aren't preparing for war, they're just returning from battles in the north! They're members of a just-dissolved Tribal Hundred-man Team, heading back to their respective tribes. As for their tribe's fields, captured slaves and remaining women and elders are tending them. The wealth and captives seized from this war far outweigh the harvest of farming!..."

Wilderness Warrior Chipawa spoke with a smile, proudly.

"After last autumn's harvest, Sister Alan took forty Hundred-man Teams, departed from Red Crow City, headed north to conquer wilderness tribes that refused to submit! We swept through various tribes in the wilderness, until six hundred miles away at Flint Lake. There we fought a major battle, defeated several allied forces of large Coahuiltecan tribes! Haha! What a thrill!..."

"Then, we moved two hundred miles northeast, arrived at the Northern Great River, and seized a lot before gradually returning! Haha! It's exhilarating!"

"What? Northern Great River? Where's that? What's its name?"

"Yes! It's a very long river! It's about seven hundred miles north... It's very wide and difficult to cross without a boat. There are quite a few Coahuiltecan tribes around, and some scattered tribes from the more northern grasslands... Oh! I also encountered a group of prairie people chasing Northern Wild Bull there, they seemed to be called Lipan. The tribal warriors on both sides glared across the river for a long time, shouted a lot, then left..."

Wilderness Warrior Chipawa thought for a bit, somewhat uncertainly speaking.

"As for the river's name... it seems the Coahuiltecan people call it the Bravo River?"

"Northern Wild Bull... Lipan people... Bravo River..."

Hearing this, the old militia thought for a while without any memory. He guessed it's still the extending Northern Continent, with countless Northern Tribes, just like what he heard during his first exploratory voyage. Thinking this, he couldn't help bowing down, offering a sincere prayer.

"Ah! May the Chief Divine protect! I implore you..."

"Make sure not! Don't let the blind Your Majesty know about that place... Otherwise, he might send me there again!"