While Lee Jing-ok was organizing reinforcements consisting primarily of Byeongshik fire carts, explosive shells, and fire cannon units to send to the vanguard, the Mexica commanders were listening to news brought by messengers.
“You’ve done well. Join the other warriors at the main camp.”
“Yes.”
Commander Ah Zepu Achatzuku Akon of the Mexica forces dismissed the messenger and looked around at his subordinate commanders. “It seems the Great Han warriors have arrived faster than we expected. What should we do?”
When Admiral Ahn Sang-su had met with Montezuma I, the former had introduced himself as the ‘Admiral of the Great Han Federal Empire.’
With neither side able to communicate properly, the Mexica began referring to the empire as ‘Great Han.’
Though it was coincidental, the Mexica had stumbled upon the closest approximation to the truth.
The subordinate commanders couldn’t immediately respond to Akon’s question.
Many of them were survivors of the bloody battle at Tenochtitlan and those who had lived through the curse.
Having personally experienced and survived the empire’s devastating firepower, they couldn’t easily answer.
Finally, one of those who hadn’t experienced that battle spoke up.
“According to the messenger’s report, the Great Han warriors number no more than 2,000. Since we have over 40,000 warriors now, wouldn’t it be good to engage them once?”
In response to the war-Eagle Warriors’ aggressive suggestion, the survivors raised objections.
“The problem is their weapons. Their weapons allow one warrior to do the work of ten or more.”
“I agree. Their weapons are the issue.”
Against the survivors’ opposition, the hawkish commanders pushed back.
“Then are we to flee with our backs turned? If we retreat here, Tenochtitlan is right behind us.”
“If we show weakness, the Tlaxcaltec dogs will pounce on us!”
“Exactly!”
As the Eagle Warriors raised their voices, the survivors also raised theirs.
“We know well that Tenochtitlan is right behind us! But fighting recklessly would be foolish!”
“Tlaxcaltec? Compared to these Great Han warriors, they’re nothing!”
While the Eagle Warriors and survivors were arguing loudly, the moderates who had been watching quietly made their move.
“We’ve heard tales of their weapons. Tenochtitlan and its surroundings are open terrain. Perhaps that’s why they displayed such power?”
“Hmm? What do you mean?”
“Based on what we heard at Tenochtitlan, I believe their weapons are similar to powerful bows or siege engines. Isn’t that so?”
“Hmm…”
At the moderates’ inquiry, Akon and the survivors pondered for a moment and nodded.
“That seems reasonable.”
“Indeed…”
Seeing Akon and the survivors’ reaction, the moderates strengthened their voices.
“In that jungle, bows can’t perform well. Well, they’re useful for hunting or small skirmishes, but when large battles occur, don’t they get pushed back?”
“That’s true…”
Akon nodded.
In pitched battles between large armies on both sides, bows served to inflict damage on the enemy through massed volleys at long range.
However, this wasn’t easy in the jungle.
Even with massed volleys, the jungle’s trees became natural barriers.
That wasn’t all. In jungles thick with vegetation, close combat naturally occurred, and bows were vulnerable in melee.
Seeing Akon’s positive reaction, the moderates gained momentum.
“If their weapons are like powerful bows, they won’t be able to exert their full strength in the jungle. So we should use that to our advantage.”
The survivors raised objections to the moderates’ words.
“Sure, that might be true. But their weapons are very powerful. If we’re not careful, we could suffer great losses.”
Though still opposed, the survivors’ momentum was somewhat deflated.
Against the survivors’ opposition, the moderates pointed out a problem.
“We understand that concern. We might indeed suffer great damage if things go wrong. But consider this: this is the first battle. If we avoid combat and turn our backs from the very first battle, the warriors’ morale will plummet. No, they’ll look down on us. We must remember that many of the Jaguar Warriors and lower-tier warriors are of slave origin.”
“…”
At the moderates’ observation, both Eagle Warriors and survivors fell silent with serious expressions.
***
The moderates’ point was reality.
The lower-tier warriors of the Mexica army were primarily commoners produced by Telpochcalli—the Mexica military academy. However, frequent wars of conquest led to soldier attrition, and the Mexica used slaves from captured prisoners as soldiers.
Of course, since rebellions could occur, officers among the prisoners were used as sacrifices.
Those who achieved military merit in battle were elevated from slave to commoner status, and those who achieved even more merit were promoted to Jaguar Warriors and given land and slaves.
Due to these Mexica rewards, slave-soldiers showed vigorous fighting spirit, and the Mexica pushed more slaves into their army.
The problem was that this policy was starting to show issues.
As more and more Jaguar Warriors emerged, they were beginning to unite as a force.
While Mexica commoners or nobles could rise to Eagle Warrior status, those of slave origin were limited to Jaguar Warrior rank.
The problem was their numbers.
The Jaguar Warriors had somehow become the core of the Mexica army.
Therefore, the moderates had raised this issue.
If they retreated without even fighting, the possibility of the Jaguar Warriors harboring different thoughts was not small.
***
“Of course, we might fight, be defeated, and retreat. But in that case, the number of Jaguar Warriors would be reduced, making them controllable.”
At the moderates’ explanation, Akon and the commanders across all factions nodded in agreement.
Finally, Akon made his decision.
“Let’s engage them once. But we shouldn’t deploy our full strength. Let’s push in about a third and observe their strengths and weaknesses. And even if we’re defeated, we won’t retreat immediately. We’ll use all our strength to tie their feet. Call the messengers.”
“Yes.”
When the messengers arrived, Akon gave them their mission.
“Go immediately to other units and tell them that Great Han warriors are coming here. And tell them to come here as quickly as possible.”
“Yes.”
After sending the messengers with their missions, Akon looked at his commanders.
“Now let’s think about how to fight them.”
***
About half a hour after the first battle ended, the native warriors who had entered the jungle returned once again to report enemy approach.
“How many enemies?”
At Admiral Ahn’s question, the native military instructor acting as interpreter and the native warriors engaged in lengthy conversation. After nodding repeatedly throughout the conversation, the native instructor reported to Admiral Ahn.
“At least several thousand.”
“At least several thousand…”
“The trees are too thick to see clearly, but it’s definitely over several thousand.”
“Understood. You’ve done well. Now prepare for battle.”
“Yes.”
After finishing the conversation, Admiral Ahn ordered his subordinate officers.
“Check preparations once more.”
“Yes, sir.”
As the subordinate officers scattered in all directions, Admiral Ahn called a messenger and commanded.
“Tell the artillery units that enemies are approaching again.”
“Yes, sir.”
After sending the messenger, Admiral Ahn let out a light sigh.
“Whew. At least the reinforcements arrived in time.”
The unit following Admiral Ahn had immediately sent reinforcements, and heavy weapons units ordered by Lee Jing-ok had additionally arrived.
With increased manpower, the vanguard’s defensive position became even more solid.
The arrow-shaped formation pointing toward the jungle could now reinforce the flanks that had been problematic in the first battle.
The arrow shaft-like advance route also had troops deployed left and right, ready to block enemy flanking attacks.
With defense thus strengthened, Admiral Ahn was able to breathe a sigh of relief.
Though his face was more relaxed than during the first battle, Admiral Ahn never let his guard down.
“Don’t forget to fire the rocket arrows as soon as I give the order.”
“Yes, sir.”
After giving another reminder to the soldier assigned to contact the artillery units in the rear, Admiral Ahn gripped his hand cannon and shouted loudly.
“Don’t pull the trigger first until the horn sounds!”
“Yes, sir!”
Hearing his subordinates’ response, Admiral Ahn put the horn to his lips. At that moment, soldiers’ shouts erupted from the front.
“Enemy!”
At the soldiers’ cry, Admiral Ahn climbed onto the wagon’s driver’s seat. Seeing Mexica warriors bursting from the jungle beyond the clearing ahead, Admiral Ahn blew the horn with all his might.
Piiiik!
Ratatatatat!
As soon as the horn sounded, soldiers pulled their triggers.
***
The battle that continued until the sun tilted westward was truly a bloody fight.
Unlike the first battle, the large-scale Mexica army used their numbers to continuously push forward.
Thanks to this, they reached right up to the expedition force’s trench line several times.
What saved the Mexica from breaking through the defensive line were the Byeongshik fire carts and the artillery positioned right behind the vanguard.
Each time the soldier ordered by Admiral Ahn fired rocket arrows, the artillery created walls of fire in the jungle before the defensive line.
While the artillery barrage blocked additional Mexica forces, the Byeongshik fire carts and Gapshik light fire carts positioned in the trench line dealt with Mexica warriors who had pressed close.
A small number of Mexica warriors broke through the wall of shells and bullets to leap into the expedition force’s trench line and engage in close combat, but they were handled by officers with hand cannons.
Eventually, having suffered enormous losses, the Mexica disappeared back into the jungle.
“We had some losses in this battle. Is there really nothing like pushing with sheer numbers in a confined space?”
Lee Jing-ok couldn’t hide his regret upon hearing reports that the vanguard had also suffered considerable casualties.
“Just like those Ming bastards before, those who push with numbers are really tiresome!”
Thinking of battles fought against the Ming in Liaodong, Lee Jing-ok shuddered and immediately began issuing the next orders.
“Since the vanguard unit suffered damage in this battle, rotate the troops! And in weather like this, epidemics can spread, so immediately cremate the corpses!”
“Yes!”
“Don’t forget the reports!”
“Yes!”
***
Meanwhile, Akon, who had been observing the battle from a short distance, gave orders to his subordinate commanders.
“Indeed, a frontal assault is unreasonable. Let’s do our best to slow their advance.”
“Yes.”
Thereafter, the Mexica adopted tactics similar to modern guerrilla warfare.
Broken into units of about ten, the Mexica scattered through the jungle and began harassing the expedition force.
Mexica forces ambushed in the jungle would kill native warriors from the expedition force serving as scouts, or ambush moving expedition soldiers before fleeing.
Each time the Mexica launched an ambush, the expedition force had to halt its advance, and their progress gradually slowed.
Finally, Lee Jing-ok made a decision.
“Prepare the Dark Strike Unit.”
“Yes, General!”
Soon after, a group of imperial special forces and native warriors broke away from the expedition camp and melted into the jungle.
The imperial soldiers who melted into the jungle carried compound bows, and their quivers were filled with arrow guides.