Invincible urban management

83. The collapse of Montezuma

On the Great Pyramid of Tenochtitlan, as usual, a bloody human sacrifice is being held

Amidst the curling smoke, the priests in fine costumes bulged their cheeks, blowing bone horns, sweating profusely beating human skin drums, and frantically shaking copper bells... All kinds of noisy music, singing, and chanting The sound, sometimes loud, sometimes thick, sometimes thin, is like the weeping of a crow, or like a mouse grinding its teeth. Together with the glaring blood splashed on the stone platform, the atmosphere of the festival becomes more tense and terrifying...

"...Ah! Invincible Vichilopochtli, invincible lord of hosts! Lord of all the kings of the earth! Please lower your boundless power, protect your loyal people, and burn all enemies into ashes..."

The Aztec priest wearing a red robe shouted the name of the patron saint of the Aztecs, the god of war Viclopochtli, and then cut open the chest of the living sacrifice to take out the still beating heart , and smeared blood on the ferocious idol to please the bloodthirsty god.

At the same time, dozens of witches who had eaten poisonous mushroom powder with psychedelic effects also gathered beside the altar filled with spices and blood. Along with the beat of the music, they danced naked and madly, Make all kinds of strange, exaggerated, crazy, and hysterical gestures and movements, just like the heavy metal rock musicians or mental patients of later generations... in order to obtain the metaphor of the gods.

However, Emperor Montezuma, who was sitting under the canopy of feathers, rolled his eyes in the face of the hard-working performances of these priests.

The priests in the city have been tossing about the sacrifice ceremony of cursing the enemy like this for more than ten days, but so far they have not seen any effect.

——Because the army in Tenochtitlan was still in a paralyzed state of strike, labor disputes intensified, and it was impossible to dispatch foreign enemies. Therefore, after learning the bad news that the Spaniards had formed an alliance with the old enemy Tlaxcala, Emperor Montezuma Have to place hope on supernatural powers.

He first sent several priests who claimed to be good at cursing, and followed a team of messengers to Tlaxcala to see if they could cast a curse secretly to kill the Spaniards.As a result, the bastards first set out from the city confidently, and then came back disheartened and told him that the white man's skin was too thick for evil spirits to get in, so they had to temporarily change the way of casting the spell, cursing the Spaniards on the way to Tetra Lost on a trip to Nochtitlan...

No matter how devout the Emperor Montezuma's belief in the gods was, he knew that the words of the priests were completely unreliable—from Tenochtitlan to the territory of the Tlaxcalans, the entire Az In the most densely populated place of the Turk Empire, there are villages where you can ask for directions. There are also various eye-catching road signs and caravans coming and going along the way, not to mention the native Tlaxcalans leading them... If the Spaniards could lose their way under these circumstances, it would be fair to say that they were all deaf and blind.

(Historically, the way these Aztec priests cursed was to pile up a lot of felled trees on the road leading to Tenochtitlan, and dig a few trenches to cut off the road, which looks a bit like a field battle Fortifications, or private checkpoints that collected tolls in the Chinese countryside, but there were no soldiers and horses to garrison them. As a result, before the arrival of the Spaniards, these obstacles had been cleared away by the locals who saw it inexplicably...)

The intelligence that the diplomatic envoys had scouted from the Spaniards was beyond Montezuma's ability to comprehend, making him feel at a loss.

——First of all, there were no horses in America at this time, so Indians of all ethnic groups were generally afraid of the Spanish war horses.Since they have never seen such animals as horses, their descriptions of war horses and cavalry are also very strange, similar to Godzilla in the eyes of modern people.

Thus, Montezuma II, who was waiting for news in the rear, got such a military report that he didn't know how to make complaints about:

"...these 'giant antlerless stags' have small bells around their necks that ring loudly when they run fast...they often snort and growl...they sweat easily... …his nose produces a lot of foam while running, which falls to the ground like agave soap (the Aztecs are recorded to have used this plant to make soap)…and as they gallop, It will make a sound like thunder, and it will sound like raindrops of stones falling on the ground... After they pass by the road, they will leave many small pits on the ground, and it seems that wherever their hoofs step, they will crack ..."

Next, the Spanish muskets and artillery brought even greater shock to the people of the Stone Age.

"...a cylinder-shaped metal tube containing the power of Thor and Vulcan...When the white man used this weapon, everyone was in a panic. People scattered in all directions, without any purpose, as if they had been poisoned Mushrooms or seeing ghosts. They can't overcome this fear. When night comes, the atmosphere of terror will spread throughout the village, and almost everyone can't sleep..."

Fortunately, the number of these white people is not large, and it is estimated that they can be dealt with under normal circumstances... It is a pity that the current Aztec Empire is not normal at all. Some of the powerful imperial army are rebelling, some are on strike, Some of them are watching from the sidelines, and they are generally paralyzed.The power of Emperor Montezuma has been greatly reduced, and it is impossible to gather a reliable and powerful army to stop the Spaniards on the eastern coast.

After the Spaniards landed, Emperor Montezuma also tried to persuade the warriors in Tenochtitlan to stop the strike, withdraw their demands for power, restore unity, and unite with the outside world on the grounds that the external threat was approaching, but the result was very effective. Micro—the priests and the warriors still refuse to give in to each other. The priests of Tenochtitlan are resolutely unwilling to give up any political power and economic interests, and the warriors of Tenochtitlan are also unwilling to toss around for nothing. one game.The emperor Montezuma's excessive favoritism towards the priests made the warriors feel even more disappointed and resentful.At least until the enemy hits outside Tenochtitlan, there is no need to expect them to have any enthusiasm for combat.

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In fact, long before the Spaniards landed, the Aztec Empire had already begun to show signs of collapse.

Although the Aztecs are a bloodthirsty and warlike nation, their conquests are more focused on political skills. If other tribes submit, the Aztecs generally only ask for suzerainty and tribute property, and will not send officials. Replacing the original chief, there is little garrison oversight.

This strategy allowed the Aztecs to concentrate their forces and expand rapidly, almost unifying Mexico within a century.However, because the original local ruling system was not broken, fu's control was extremely poor, and rebellions continued in the conquered areas.Any serious military failure may trigger a chain reaction within this "huge and fragile" empire, leading to flames of war throughout the empire.

In the first ten years of Emperor Montezuma II's accession to the throne, through a series of successful expeditions, he once doubled the territory of the Aztec Empire and reached its most powerful peak period.But four years ago, he suffered an unprecedented fiasco when attacking the Tlaxcalans, but he almost lost the territory he had developed by himself-the most elite Aztec warriors lost tens of thousands Many, the newly conquered vassal states no longer paid tribute, and the territory of the Aztec Empire suddenly shrank back to a range worse than that before Montezuma II took the throne, that is, the Texcoco Lake area in the Valley of Mexico. Plus a strip of land along the Gulf of Mexico.

The house leak happened to rain overnight, and when the army of Tenochtitlan mutinied and the rebellion and civil war broke out in Texcoco, even the Iron Triangle that formed the Aztec Empire collapsed in half. The Valley of Mexico is no longer safe either—many oppressed and cunning vassal states on the shores of Lake Texcoco are all overjoyed to see thousands of Aztec troops killing each other, sometimes sneaking underdogs The rebels provided some material support to keep this civil war going on endlessly and keep the Aztecs bleeding endlessly.

In this situation where the war machine is completely paralyzed, the Aztec Empire is almost relying on inertia to maintain its rule, and it cannot withstand any blows at all.

Therefore, when the Spaniards attacked the city of Cholula, Emperor Montezuma could not spare any troops to rescue him.

And with the fall of the second largest city on the Mexican Plateau, the weakness of the Aztec Empire was completely exposed to the world, which aroused the coveting of countless ambitious people and the vacillation of more dependent countries.

For the battered Emperor Montezuma, the previous hundreds of white men and thousands of Tlaxcala warriors were enough to cause him a headache, but Kuohtemok, who was ordered to go on an envoy before, still thought he was a bitch It was too easy, and he brought him another [-] Hongxiutizgan Kingdom Expeditionary Force!

Moreover, this is an army of Hongxiutizgan led by a foreign god and man who is also equipped with various magical weapons!

What's more terrible is that these three forces actually merged in the city of Cholula, and continued to advance towards the city of Tenochtitlan!

Gods of heaven!Are you trying to lump all your bad luck together and throw it all at the unfortunate Aztecs?

If the people of Tlaxcala mobilize all their forces to join the Expeditionary Force of the Hunxiutizgan Kingdom after getting the news, and then join forces with the imperial rebels in Texcoco, then Montezuma will be on the outskirts of the capital. , Facing the siege of about [-] enemy troops!

And his obedient private army is only 4000 people, and he has been exhausted after fighting the rebels in Texcoco City for many days.

Even if the warriors of Tenochtitlan were able to give up their disputes when the enemy was approaching the city, Montezuma could only muster 6 people at most. The strength of the army was only comparable to that of the opponent, and the combat effectiveness might not be as good... …After all, it has been a few years since I trained properly.

As for the other two core components of the empire, Texcoco has already rebelled, while Tlacopan will only watch from the sidelines until the situation is settled.And the rest of the dependent countries that were brutally exploited were loyal if they did not take the initiative to rebel and join the enemy.

As the ruler of a large empire, Montezuma II was quite mature politically. He knew that most of the city-state tribes in the Valley of Mexico dared not speak out against the oppressive rule of the Aztecs. They are all waiting for the opportunity, ready to move.

Now with the change of owner of the city of Cholula, the authority of the Aztec Empire has been greatly questioned.If the Aztecs suffered another serious military defeat, the crater, which had been suppressed by the Aztec army for a long time, would erupt in an instant, blowing the entire empire apart.

In addition, a protracted and severe drought has made this year's corn harvest extremely poor.And the cessation of tribute by many vassal states has left the granary in Tenochtitlan empty, and famine may break out at any time... which means that the Aztec Empire cannot fight a protracted war.

Thinking of this, Emperor Montezuma, who was about to collapse mentally, couldn't help pressing his temples a few times, and then made a difficult decision.

"...Kuohtmok, your self-assertion this time has plunged our country into unprecedented and terrible danger!"

He had someone summon Kuohtmok, who was waiting for the crime at home, and he scolded mercilessly, "...Because of your stupid invitation without thinking through it, the army of the Hongxiutizgan entered the army justifiably. After leaving the valley, they rushed to the city of Cholula to join up with another of our old enemies, the Tlaxcalans, and the white people who landed from the eastern coast... In a few days at most, they will appear in Tenochti Tran is outside!"

"...I'm really sorry, I should be blamed for not thinking carefully about all this." Kuohtmok was sweating profusely for a while, kowtowing like garlic, "...But, according to the news I heard, they are not Did you fight in Cholula? Why are you united now?"

"...The whites and the Tlaxcalans also fought a war before, and then they made a covenant and planned to deal with us together?"

Emperor Montezuma glanced at him, "... your news is outdated, Kuohtmok! After the initial conflict, they quickly reconciled! Now the coalition has left The city of Cholula is approaching the city of Tenochtitlan!"

Silently calculating the balance of power in the vicinity of Tenochtitlan, Kuohtmok quickly turned pale, "...So, we are about to encounter the alliance of several enemies. Siege?"

"... That's right! The Tlaxcalans, the Hunxiutizcans, the rebels from Texcoco, plus the white people from the eastern seaboard... The current city of Tenochtitlan is really We don’t have the confidence to fight against so many enemies at the same time! Alas, even if we can defeat them in the end, we will pay an unbearable heavy loss for it, and let our rule over the surrounding city-states completely disintegrate, and the hegemony of hundreds of years will collapse from now on!”

Emperor Montezuma pointed his fingers one by one, and then sighed helplessly, "...so, right now, I can only use diplomatic means to resolve this crisis! No matter how many concessions we make, we cannot make these enemies truly unite together!

Kuohtmok, since you invited these Hongxiutizgans, you will be responsible for receiving them and leading them into the city of Tenochtitlan!I order you to immediately put on the most splendid attire, bring the guard of honor specially for diplomatic envoys, go to the camp of the enemy coalition forces, invite them to enter the city for talks peacefully, and I will entertain them grandly with friendly gifts! "