The Mexica warriors charged with battle cries.

Lee Jing-ok, standing atop a cart, checked signals from the observation balloon and surveyed the battlefield through his monocular.

“What a mess…”

Watching the disorderly charge of the Mexica warriors running toward them with shouts, Lee Jing-ok’s sardonic smile grew.

“That makes it all the better for us. Send the signal! Proceed as planned!”

“Yes!”

At Lee Jing-ok’s command, staff officers relayed orders to messengers.

Shortly after, the native allied forces advancing at the front began splitting left and right, clearing the center.

“They’re running away!”

“Split them completely!”

As the native allied forces began clearing the center, the Mexica warriors’ spirits rose even higher.

The inexperienced boys got excited and began charging forward recklessly.

The problem was the experienced warriors and slave warriors who were former prisoners. Normally, these warriors would have immediately recognized that such splitting was a lure.

But having lost their reason to fear of the expedition force and desperation, they followed behind the boys, shouting and charging forward unconditionally.

At some point, the native allied forces completely split in two, becoming walls that blocked the Mexica warriors’ left and right flanks.

No, not walls—they became a funnel pushing the Mexica warriors into the expedition force’s entrance.

And in the eyes of the Mexica warriors charging madly forward, the expedition force’s defensive wall appeared.

Behind the low defensive wall built with sandbags filled with local dirt and sand, the muzzles of artillery carts and muskets awaited them.

And behind those muzzles were the eyes of expedition force soldiers aiming at the Mexica warriors.

“Fire!”

Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-BANG!

***

The defensive wall built by the expedition force was concave inward.

Following this shape, the Mexica warriors had no choice but to push deep inside, and they could only be caught in the waiting expedition force’s crossfire and be mowed down.

But the Mexica warriors continued their reckless charge toward the low barrier before them.

Their reckless charge had reasons beyond desperation.

Just before the Mexica warriors charged, Akon cut the causeway leading to Tenochtitlan before their eyes.

“Until we drive off all the enemies! We cannot return! We cannot flee! The only thing you can do is kill all those foreigners!”

Seeing the severed causeway before them and hearing Akon’s words, the Mexica warriors had only one option.

To kill all those foreign groups.

***

Despite fighting with desperate resolve in a water’s edge formation and charging with disregard for death, the difference in firepower could not be overcome.

The Mexica warriors crumbled futilely under the rain of bullets poured by the expedition force.

The boys who charged most passionately and most recklessly died first.

During the brief moment when the artillery carts were reloading after killing the boys and consuming ammunition, experienced warriors rushed in.

It was tactics based on experience from previous battles.

However, the expedition force facing them had also transformed through previous battles from inexperienced volunteers to seasoned soldiers.

While the artillery carts were reloading, soldiers beside them pulled triggers of muskets in unison and threw grenades.

***

Though the Mexica warriors had been making reckless charges in a ‘kill or be killed’ desperate situation, at some point they began falling back.

To be precise, they didn’t fall back but began continuously collapsing under the expedition force’s fire.

Confirming that the Mexica warriors’ morale was broken and they had suffered tremendous manpower losses, Lee Jing-ok ordered his staff officer.

“Now we need to blast their main force. Tell those idle guys to earn their keep.”

“Yes, General!”

Following Lee Jing-ok’s orders, the expedition force’s artillery, which had been silent until now, began firing in unison.

BOOM! KA-BOOM! BOOM!

The target of the expedition force’s artillery was the Mexica main camp in the rear.

The expedition force’s artillery once again displayed ‘artistic bombardment.’

The expedition force’s artillery chopped up the Mexica warriors’ camp into tiny pieces.

—Split logs into firewood, split firewood into kindling. That’s what Imperial artillery does.

Like the joke circulating among Imperial Army artillerymen, they chopped the Mexica warriors’ camp into small pieces.

***

As the expedition force artillerymen properly earned their keep, the native allied forces began moving slowly.

The native allied forces that had split left and right to form defensive lines began pushing upward as they were.

The native allied forces never hurried.

—Never hurry until there’s a charge order! Repeat! Never hurry!

This was the warning the expedition force had delivered before battle.

And as battle was waged, they keenly felt why the expedition force had given such a strong warning.

The Mexica warriors, who had been objects of fear, died helplessly.

The Mexica main camp they were now heading toward was the same.

Every time the ground shook with terrible noise and columns of dirt shot skyward, limbs apparently belonging to Mexica warriors flew in all directions.

‘If we had charged thoughtlessly…’

The natives who imagined briefly shuddered. They too would have suffered such a fate.

But at the same time, they felt satisfaction.

Because the Mexica warriors who had reigned as objects of fear and threatened their lives until just recently were dying powerlessly.

As the native allied forces approached close to the Mexica main camp, the expedition force’s bombardment stopped.

On the suddenly quiet battlefield, drum and horn sounds began ringing loudly.

At horn sounds different from the familiar conch shells, the warriors commanding the native allied forces shouted.

“Charge!”

“Kill the Mexica bastards!”

“Revenge!”

***

The ensuing battle was one-sided slaughter.

The Mexica warriors, whose command including Akon had been blown away by the expedition force’s relentless bombardment, received no proper command.

With their chain of command destroyed and in panic from Imperial artillery bombardment, the Mexica warriors futilely lost their lives to the surging native allied forces.

Surviving Mexica army officers gathered Mexica warriors here and there to resist. However, in the situation fragmented by the expedition force’s bombardment, gathering sufficient numbers of warriors was impossible, and they were defeated in detail by native allied forces attacking in several times their numbers.

The native allied forces, confident of their victory, mercilessly slaughtered the Mexica warriors.

Occasionally, Mexica warriors begging for mercy and surrendering appeared, but the native warriors mercilessly beheaded such people.

The accumulated resentment over time was too deep to show mercy to Mexica warriors.

When the sun set that day, the Mexica warriors who had come out for defensive battle were defeated.

No Mexica warriors survived.

***

The expedition force and native allied forces that won the battle busily made their next moves.

Lee Jing-ok deployed the expedition force and native allied forces that had been waiting as reserves around Tenochtitlan.

Their mission was to cut the causeways connecting Tenochtitlan to the outside and sever the waterways supplying fresh water to Tenochtitlan.

The units that received Lee Jing-ok’s orders moved quickly.

Among these detachments, the unit with the most troops deployed was the one going to Chapultepec.

This was because Chapultepec housed the waterway supplying fresh water to Tenochtitlan and the best-built transportation route.

Thanks to this background, Chapultepec was Mexica’s most reliable ally and protectorate.

However, rumors spread faster than the expedition force expected, and Chapultepec’s leaders immediately surrendered to the detachment.

Having secured Chapultepec faster than expected, the allied forces cut off the waterways and transportation routes entering Tenochtitlan as planned.

And before long, the transportation routes built to the west and north of Tenochtitlan were severed.

While the expedition force diligently cut transportation routes on one side, on the other side they reconnected the transportation routes the Mexica had cut while simultaneously beginning to build ships and rafts in large quantities.

This was preparation for a full-scale assault on Tenochtitlan.

***

Meanwhile, news of the defeat also reached Tenochtitlan.

Tenochtitlan’s leaders gathered with Montezuma to discuss future responses.

—Surrender or resistance.

While debates raged over these opposite methods, new reports continued to reach them.

—Chapultepec has joined the foreigners.

—The transportation routes and waterways toward Chapultepec have been cut.

—The causeway north of Tenochtitlan has been severed.

With continuously arriving grim news, Montezuma and the leaders wore grim expressions.

“Surrender seems to be the only answer.”

“Only surrender?”

As Montezuma and the leaders were settling on surrender, other news arrived.

—Those who joined the foreigners killed all our warriors!

—Forces still remaining in the north have begun marching south!

With newly arrived information, Montezuma and the leaders huddled together again.

“If we’ll die even if we surrender…”

“An army is coming down from the north again, and the foreigners’ main force is in the south…”

The countermeasure Montezuma and the leaders chose was ‘resistance.’

“We hold out until the northern army arrives!”

“If we hold out, we win!”

***

‘The southern advance of Mexica army remnants’ also reached the allied forces’ ears.

“That’s the last card those bastards have to make them hold out.”

Receiving the report, Lee Jing-ok chuckled and assessed the situation.

After the last battle’s victory, the native allied forces’ scale easily exceeded one hundred thousand.

This was thanks to surrounding native tribes and cities that had been watching the situation quickly joining the allied forces.

They too had now clearly learned who the new ruler of this region was.

“If so…”

“Now is the chance for revenge!”

They joined the allied forces to make a good impression on the new ruler and to avenge the damage they had suffered from the Mexica over time.

Analyzing the situation, Lee Jing-ok chuckled and ordered his staff officer.

“Tell all the native chiefs to gather.”

“Yes, General!”

***

Having gathered all native leaders starting with the Tlaxcaltec leaders, Lee Jing-ok explained the situation and concluded as follows:

“…Therefore, if we just deal with these Mexica advancing south, our victory is certain. So we will send forces to intercept them. First, we will select ten thousand from our expedition force. What will you do?”

The native leaders who heard the story through interpreters from the surrendered eagerly raised their hands.

“We’ll join our warriors!”

“Us too!”

“Give our warriors a chance! Our warriors are excellent warriors no less than Mexica warriors!”

The native leaders desperately tried to join their warriors.

This was the result of political calculations.

The first-joining tribes starting with Tlaxcaltec wanted to protect their political interests as early participants, while latecomers wanted to appeal themselves through this battle.

Eventually, about fifty thousand allied forces including ten thousand expedition force members set out to intercept the last Mexica forces advancing south.