The force given to Akon for his final opportunity numbered just over eighty thousand.

“Huu~.”

Seeing the Mexica warriors lined up before him, Akon sighed and shook his head.

“Are these all there are… How many in total?”

A subordinate beside Akon answered his question.

“All together, just over eighty thousand.”

“Huu~.”

At his subordinate’s answer, Akon sighed once more.

The condition of the Mexica warriors gathered before him was pitiful.

The numbers of jaguar warriors, eagle warriors, and the truly elite soldiers called cuachic had drastically diminished.

The low-ranking warriors were in the same state.

To fill these insufficient numbers, even slaves weren’t enough—they had to drag in boys from Calmecac, the priest training school, and Telpochcalli, the warrior training school.

The problem was the morale of these assembled warriors.

The boys who had remained only in schools without experiencing proper combat and without witnessing the terror of the expedition force firsthand were anticipating battle with faces mixed with excitement and expectation.

However, the morale of the slaves and other warriors had hit rock bottom.

Not only the warriors who had barely survived recent battles, but also the boys and slaves who had handled supply duties at the front lines were gripped with fear.

It wasn’t only those who had survived combat. Those already familiar with war were seeing their morale drop as they observed the reactions of the survivors.

As Lee Jing-ok had aimed, fear was beginning to spread through those who had fled in defeat.

“Can I deploy proper tactics with these people?”

Akon, asking himself this question, shook his head.

“Impossible.”

Witnessing the dire situation of the force he was to command, Akon began considering what tactics might have any chance of success.

“Dividing the forces is absolutely out of the question. The moment we split up, countless people will try to flee. We must move as one mass.”

Through their conquest wars against neighboring countries, Mexica warriors had learned to use various tactics.

Night raids, ambush attacks, flanking maneuvers, and so on…

While they knew and could use these diverse tactics, certain prerequisites were needed to employ them properly.

—High morale and well-trained, experienced warriors

Among those lined up before him, the experienced warriors had rock-bottom morale, while the high-spirited boys lacked experience.

If he separated those with low morale and left them out of sight, most would flee. If he deployed inexperienced boys for night raids or ambush attacks, they would get overexcited and miss the timing.

“In the end, we must stick together as one mass, and then it’s about where to fight… No, I should think about where the enemy will come from first.”

After much deliberation, the place Akon chose was the southeastern region of Lake Texcoco.

This area was land that protruded toward Tenochtitlan.

Akon raised his hand to point at the problematic area and explained to his subordinates.

“Those foreigners move on vehicles pulled by strange beasts. The eastern and western sides of Lake Texcoco have many rivers, making it difficult for their vehicles to move. But this place is dry land without such rivers. Those who have joined the foreigners will guide them that way too.”

“That’s true, but… considering the direction they came from, they might come further east.”

“As I said, that side has many rivers making movement difficult for them. But this place is not only dry land but also closest to Tenochtitlan. There’s also a causeway connecting to Tenochtitlan here.”

“Ah…”

As his subordinates nodded, Akon continued.

“We fight there with our backs to Tenochtitlan. And cut the causeway.”

“What?”

Seeing his subordinates unable to hide their surprise at this unexpectedly extreme decision, Akon pointed to the lined-up warriors.

“Do you think those slovenly men there can fight properly?”

“…”

“I can’t use proper tactics with such disorganized men. Disorganized would be fortunate. Most of them will just look for chances to flee. That area is surrounded by lake on three sides, with nowhere else to run. If we cut the causeway just before battle begins, the only way they can survive is by fighting and winning.”

“…”

His subordinates answered with silence. They too understood the current dire situation well.

Those with high morale didn’t know how to fight properly, while those who knew how to fight had morale at rock bottom.

In this situation, to make them fight properly, extreme methods had to be employed.

“Then go back and prepare to move with those fools.”

“Yes.”

Akon’s subordinates walked in groups of three or five toward the units they would command.

As they walked away, someone muttered quietly.

“We’ve become like prisoners in gladiatorial matches…”

When the dry season ended, festivals were held in front of the great temple. The most popular event was gladiatorial combat.

It pitted captured enemy officers against Mexica warriors. The enemy officers were given macuahuitls without blades, while Mexica warriors received properly bladed macuahuitls.

The armament was already different, and it was a one-against-many match—formally one-on-one, but the prisoner had to face Mexica warriors until death—so it usually ended with the enemy officer’s death.

If the prisoner survived, if he survived as a victor, he could become an officer in the Mexica army.

Therefore, Akon’s subordinates mentioned gladiatorial matches.

The foreigners’ weapons were powerful and merciless. Before their weapons, their own weapons were nothing more than bladeless macuahuitls.

In other words, they were like prisoners in gladiatorial matches, hoping for a thread of hope in desperate circumstances.

***

With such circumstances, after crossing the lake and setting up camp, preventing desertion was their greatest concern.

Several people attempting desertion were caught and executed daily.

As this continued for days, the Mexica became mentally exhausted.

“When on earth will those foreigners come?”

“It would be better to just fight.”

When the weary Mexica warriors were half-resigned, the expedition force and tribal allied army revealed themselves.

The allied army that arrived in the afternoon positioned themselves at a considerable distance from where the Mexica warriors had camped.

“I don’t know who the enemy commander is, but what a cunning fellow. Indeed…”

Akon looked at where the allied army had camped and smiled bitterly with admiration.

They could see them with their eyes, but it was quite far to run and engage in battle. They had stopped at an exquisite position where even if the Mexica warriors charged out right now, the enemy would have enough time to prepare defenses.

“I don’t know who the enemy commander is, but he’s skilled in warfare.”

However, some knew only theory. Especially those who hadn’t experienced the last battle at Tenochtitlan. One such person submitted an opinion to Akon.

“Wouldn’t it be good to attack immediately? They’ve come far and must be tired.”

“Do they look tired to your eyes?”

At Akon’s question, pointing to the allied army actively moving to build their camp, the problematic officer subtly changed his words.

“But generally…”

“These aren’t opponents to think about generally.”

“Then at least a night raid…”

“I refuse. For a night raid, both the number and quality of warriors are insufficient. We must settle it with one battle, just one battle.”

At Akon’s firm answer, the Mexica warriors had to remain sitting, guarding their positions.

***

At the same time, Lee Jing-ok, standing on a cart and surveying the Mexica positions with a monocular, let out a small exclamation.

“Ho~. A water’s edge formation… The enemy commander is resolved to fight to the death.”

A staff officer beside Lee Jing-ok, also observing the enemy positions, spoke to him.

“If they’re resolved to die, shouldn’t we be cautious?”

At the staff officer’s words, Lee Jing-ok answered with a sardonic smile.

“If they’re charging desperately, we’ll have to smash them desperately. Don’t we have that capability?”

“We do.”

“But as you say, we need to be careful. Let’s revise our strategy.”

“Yes.”

***

The next day, early in the morning, the allied army began preparing for battle.

The first thing the expedition force did was to fill their stomachs well, and the next thing they did was launch observation balloons.

“Oh~ Oh~.”

As the balloons carrying soldiers drifted up into the sky, the natives belonging to the allied army looked at the balloons with wonder and amazement.

Like the soldiers, the native leaders watching the balloons with admiration simultaneously had the same thoughts.

‘People with such miraculous objects! We did well to join hands with them!’

‘They possess god-like abilities!’

‘If we harbor different thoughts, we might face disaster!’

The leaders who saw the balloons began waving white flags in their hearts.

Once the balloons were fully positioned, the allied army soldiers left their camp and began advancing.

Boom boom ba-boom boom.

To the drumbeat played by the allied army’s drummers, the allied army soldiers slowly took steps forward.

“They’re coming…”

Seeing the allied army’s advance, the Mexica warriors swallowed dry saliva and gripped their macuahuitls tighter.

But their eyes were full of despair.

It was because of the balloons floating in the sky.

‘People floating in the sky? Isn’t that only possible for gods?’

‘Do they possess divine power?’

‘Are we fighting against those with divine power?’

“Huu~. Breathe.”

Watching the advancing allied army warriors, Akon took deep breaths and analyzed the situation.

“Shall we wait? Shall we charge? Looking at their situation, they don’t seem to plan on moving first?”

As Akon said, the vanguard of the advancing allied army was natives, while the expedition force remained unmoved behind them.

At Akon’s question, his nearby subordinates offered opinions.

“Wouldn’t it be better to wait?”

“How about having the warriors spread left and right and advance? Even those young brats can do that much.”

“Hmm…”

“We must charge no matter what. Considering the weapons they have, just staying gathered like this is dangerous. We must get as close to them as possible. Especially thinking of that magical device floating in the sky. We might lose before we even fight.”

At the last comment, Akon made up his mind.

“That was the problem. Good! Charge! Break through those in front and push in!”

“Yes!”

Shortly after, loud conch shell horn and drum sounds flowed from the Mexica positions. Simultaneously, Mexica warriors began moving forward with battle cries.

It was a desperate effort to forcibly raise morale that had fallen to the bottom just from seeing the balloons.

Lee Jing-ok, seeing the signal from the balloon, surveyed the enemy positions with his monocular and smiled.

“That’s right. You should move like that.”

***