Black Corporation: Joseon

Chapter 764

Episode 764: Encounter (9)

Funny enough, it was his father Itzcoatl and Montezuma I himself who made the Aztec authorities enthusiastic about human sacrifice.

It is not that human sacrifice had never occurred before then.

Only the royal family or warriors of the losing side in the war were sacrificed, or the royal family harmed themselves and became sacrifices.

However, during the reign of Itzcoatl and Montezuma I, the scale of human sacrifices increased.

In order to justify large-scale human sacrifice, they even condemned the previously believed doctrines as heretics and established new doctrines.

And in order to obtain this sacrifice, they attacked the colonial tribes and pressured the vassal states.

Through this process, it was intended to weaken the forces that could rebel against Aztec rule.

It was because of the sword of the stranger that Montezuma I set out to meet the stranger in person.

-They are armed with much more powerful weapons than our warriors. It would be dangerous if you rashly touch them and a war breaks out!

The danger that Montezuma I thought was not defeat or the destruction of the country.

-This is the area we govern. There can be no defeat.

-But you can incur big losses.

-If the empire loses a lot of its warriors, surrounding vassal states, colonial tribes, or commoners may take action.

What Montezuma I was worried about was that he would be overthrown by an internal enemy while he had exhausted his strength in dealing with external enemies.

-If the Tlatoani themselves take the initiative and create a conciliatory atmosphere, the nobles will have no choice. Then you can avoid unnecessary power consumption.

This was the reason why Montezuma I decided to meet the stranger in person.

* * *

Imperial army landing site.

“I’m tired of waiting aimlessly.”

Admiral Ahn Sang-soo, who was observing the situation while sitting in the commander’s tent, muttered with a face full of embarrassment.

Almost fifteen days had passed since the beachhead was established on the coast in question.

There was no contact during that time, and the soldiers grew tired of boredom.

For the first few days after landing, the soldiers were on high alert and looking around in all directions, but as each day passed without anything happening, the tension became dull.

Therefore, Admiral Ahn Sang-soo replaced the sailors who had been selected as riflemen with the sailors who remained on the ship.

The idea was to maintain morale and maintain a certain level of tension by alternating between those who had to live on a stuffy ship with all sides tightly packed and those who spent time on land on a vacation rather than a vacation.

To prevent the soldiers from relaxing, Admiral Ahn Sang-soo used another method.

“As it is, there is a shortage of drinking water. Find a source of drinking water nearby. However, it is limited to a half-day distance from the beachhead.”

“How many people would you like to allocate?”

“The minimum unit is a group (25 people). Dividing it below that is strictly prohibited.”

“yes!”

According to Admiral Ahn Sang-soo’s orders, a group of 125 people left the beachhead every day and searched the surrounding area.

As they searched the surrounding area every day, the detection range of the imperial army increased from half a day’s distance to half a day’s distance.

In the meantime, solving the drinking water problem by finding good spring water was a bonus. In addition, we were able to carry out the surveying work in detail, which we had not been able to do properly last time.

The imperial officers, who had gained some confidence as they searched around the beachhead, reported to Admiral Ahn Sang-soo.

“Wouldn’t it be better if we went inside first?”

Admiral Ahn Sang-soo shook his head at the officers’ suggestion.

“Not possible. We currently have no information about this area. “It would be self-destructive to move in such a situation.”

“I think it is possible because we have enough equipment.”

“Enough equipment? The weapons out there are for war, not exploration. “The logging island is the only one equipped for exploration.”

“Don’t you have a compass? “If you have a compass, you won’t have to worry about losing your direction, so wouldn’t it be okay?”

When the young officer mentioned the compass, Admiral Ahn Sang-soo glared at the officer in question.

“Have you ever been in the jungle?”

“doesn’t exist.”

“If you get lost in the jungle, a compass is no use. “It’s my experience.”

* * *

When he was young, the admiral had joined an expedition party that explored the islands near Luzon.

What Admiral Ahn Sang-soo learned during the expedition at the time was that ‘the jungle is a living hell.’

If there was a rock mixed with iron nearby, the compass immediately became stupid. Measuring the direction by looking at the sun was also impossible due to the dense jungle.

The jungle was a place where, without a trustworthy guide, everyone could end up dead.

* * *

Admiral Ahn Sang-soo, who spoke about his experience, concluded as follows.

“It is best if you have a trustworthy guide, and you should never enter the jungle unless you have a map at least.”

“…All right.”

Reckless challenges from young officers were prevented, but as time passed, Admiral Ahn Sang-soo’s worries grew.

“There are limits to just sitting there like this. Soldiers are a problem, but gunpowder is also a problem.”

The bullets used in fire wagons and rifles had some degree of resistance to moisture. This was because the shell made of copper contained gunpowder and the entrance was blocked by the bullet. Additionally, the box containing the bullets and cartridges contained charcoal to absorb moisture.

The problem was the gunpowder contained in the toys and Bigyeokjincheonroe. Like the ammunition box, charcoal acts as a dehumidifier, but it has limitations in absorbing moisture from the beach.

It was a new gunpowder that was more resistant to moisture than black gunpowder, but it was like black gunpowder in that it consumed a lot of moisture and was not good for it.

“There are other problems as well. “Words don’t make sense.”

Admiral Ahn Sang-soo was also concerned about this issue.

In the past, in the case of the Luzon region, the Malay Peninsula, and the Indonesian Islands, there were different answers.

They were Chinese and Islamic believers who had been in the area since the Song Dynasty.

If you put Chinese people and Muslims in the middle, it was possible to communicate at least through writing.

But when I arrived here, there was no information. The existence of an interpreter was unthinkable.

“It’s impossible to bring in Captain Shin Sook-ju…”

Shin Sook-ju was evaluated as a ‘genius of language’ and an ‘incomprehensibility of language.’

But Admiral Ahn Sang-soo soon shook his head.

“Didn’t the world’s Shin Suk-ju, Dae-gam-do, go through a lot of trouble when he first arrived at Shinji?”

Admiral Ahn Sang-soo, who was contemplating an answer to a situation where no matter how much he thought about it, could not come up with an answer, made up his mind.

“Five days! “Just wait five more days and if there is no contact, we will withdraw immediately!”

Admiral Ahn Sang-soo’s decision was conveyed to officers and soldiers. The officers and soldiers who heard the story looked sad.

“Should I say it was a wasted effort or should I think I had a good rest?”

“Still, I’m glad the survey work was done properly. “There’s no need to work twice.”

“Still, I wanted to see what kind of people live here.”

Every day passed like that with all kinds of emotions mixed together.

* * *

While the imperial army was living like this, the Aztec warriors hiding in the jungle were equally uncomfortable.

Upon receiving intelligence that a significant number of strangers had landed on the beach, nearby Aztec warriors gathered in the jungle. However, they never appeared before the imperial army.

-Never encounter them!

Because of the strict orders of Montezuma I, the Aztec warriors had to just watch the imperial army.

Even as the imperial army began its exploration activities, the Aztec warriors had to retreat out of the imperial army’s exploration range and just watch the imperial army wander through the jungle.

As this situation continued, the dissatisfaction of the lower-ranking warriors was considerable.

This was because I had to just watch the imperial soldiers moving as a single unit.

“I think I can just attack them at that level…”

Most of the lower-level warriors were slaves or commoners. If you gain expertise or capture prisoners, in return you can escape from the status of commoner slaves and become a jaguar warrior.

It was very unbearable for those who were obsessed with such desires to just leave the imperial soldiers standing in front of them without knowing anything.

However, it was certain that if they disobeyed Montezuma I’s orders, they would immediately be sacrificed, so the lower-ranking warriors gritted their teeth and just watched the imperial soldiers.

“It’s really hard.”

“Should I just hit it?”

“And then you want to become a sacrifice?”

“Can’t we just say they attacked first?”

When impure words began to spread among the low-level warriors who became unbearable, a messenger brought news.

-Tlatoani himself is coming!

Upon hearing the news that Montezuma I himself was coming, the eagle warriors and jaguar warriors began to strictly manage the lower-level warriors, and the lower-level warriors had to hide their impure intentions.

* * *

When there was only one day left until withdrawal.

Soldiers who had gone on an expedition into the jungle rushed out of the jungle and rushed to the beachhead.

“emergency! emergency!”

“The natives are coming!”

Returning to the beachhead, the imperial soldiers shouted at the top of their lungs to announce the approach of the Aztec warriors.

Ding ding ding!

In response to the soldiers’ cries, bells signaling an emergency rang here and there on the bridgehead, and the soldiers who were taking a break hurriedly grabbed their weapons and ran to their area of responsibility.

Admiral Ahn Sang-soo, who was resting in the tent, rushed out to check the situation.

“Report!”

The commander of Yeo, who went on an expedition under the admiral’s orders, reported to the admiral.

“A large number of natives are approaching this place!”

“What is the scale?”

“At least a thousand units!”

Admiral Ahn Sang-soo, who received the report, gave an order to his adjutant.

“Shoot the new weapon!”

“yes!”

A moment later, a single Shingijeon rose into the sky and exploded.

pop!

When the signal signal, which meant ‘enemy approaching’, exploded, the signals rose into the sky from ships anchored at sea. This meant that the shooting mechanism at the bridgehead had been confirmed, and busy movements began to be seen even on the anchored ships.

* * *

Meanwhile, Montezuma I and the Aztec warriors, who had almost arrived at the beach, stopped when they saw the new war.

“what?”

“How do we do it?”

The Aztecs, who had no means of producing similar effects, all came up with similar ideas.

‘They have a very good shaman!’

The Aztecs thought so and took a more cautious approach.

It would have been a big deal if an outstanding shaman who could create flames and smoke in the sky like that had placed a curse.

The curse itself was a problem, but it was also because they might have to go to war or become sacrifices to get a sacrifice to break the curse.

Moving cautiously, the Aztec warriors escaped the jungle and headed toward the beachhead.

At the forefront was the palanquin carrying Montezuma I.

Montezuma I, sitting in the palanquin, looked at the camp of strangers in front of him.

Just as the jaguar warrior who first reported contact said, stranger warriors holding long wooden sticks were glaring at them.

‘Who is the commander? ‘Is he their king?’

While Montezuma I was looking for the leader of the foreigners, Ahn Sang-su was also looking for the head of the natives.

Ahn Sang-su, who was examining the camp of Aztec warriors through a telescope, soon found Montezuma I riding in a palanquin.

‘Could it be that the king himself came?’