Aztec Civilization: Destiny to Conquer America!

The northern campaign came to a close; all was settled. The Red Dog, Red Stork, and Red Salamander tribes were completely erased—the chieftains of the Red Dog and Red Stork died in battle, while the chieftain of the Red Salamander vanished without a trace. The Red Deer and Red Monkey tribes suffered heavy losses and surrendered to the Alliance. Only the Red Crow Tribe rose unexpectedly, taking thousands of their tribe members in a hurried escape eastward, their destination unknown.

Before the northern campaign, there were roughly sixty to seventy thousand individuals in the several Canine Descendant tribes to the east. Throughout months of campaigning, ten thousand able-bodied Canine Descendants died or went missing, over ten thousand migrated eastwards, and three to four thousand of the elderly and weak fled into the northwestern wilderness. The remaining forty thousand Canine Descendants all surrendered to the Allied Forces. At this moment, they knelt at the feet of the King, converted to the worship of the Chief Divine, and underwent baptism by the priests.

After capturing the valley, Xiulote now had forty thousand more mouths to feed. The food seized in Pamus City was limited and could not sustain the army's prolonged encampment. After today's completion of the sacrificial rites, within three days, the first batch of over ten thousand Canine Descendants would start their migration southward, embarking on a journey of over seven hundred miles.

With this, the northern campaign could be declared over. The three legions mobilized between June and July, set out in early August, captured the valley in early November, and offered the Red Dog leader as a sacrifice. Thousands from the Red Fox Tribe fled westward, tens of thousands from the Red Crow Tribe fled eastward, with the Red Dog, Red Stork, Red Salamander tribes all annihilated, the Red Frog, Red Cat, Red Monkey, Red Deer tribes surrendered... Each tribe's chieftains took the stage in turn, but their countless schemes and ambitions vanished in the wind, leaving a clean, vast expanse of white!

Of the more than one hundred thousand Canine Descendants who migrated southward, over twenty thousand died or were wounded, another twenty thousand scattered. The remaining over sixty thousand were captured and subdued by the Alliance, soon to become citizens of the Kingdom.

"Over sixty thousand, most of them strong men and women, brave and adept in battle—a fine addition to our forces!"

Thinking of this, Xiulote's face lit up with a smile. After several battles with the Canine Descendants, he revised his original plan. Using these fierce Guajili Tribe members merely as agricultural slaves would have been a waste. He planned to disband and reorganize the various tribes into fifteen or sixteen battle groups, each with four thousand people, and settle them in Rivermouth County, the least populated area. Subsequently, from the sixty thousand tribal members, a Guajili Legion would be formed, comprising two battle groups of three thousand each, according to the King's promise, to be overseen by the Red Frog and Red Monkey Chieftains. Of course, this legion must first faithfully convert to the worship of the Chief Divine, accept the management of the War Priests, and integrate a sufficient number of Kingdom officers.

Xiulote glanced at the chieftains prostrated on the ground, then shifted his gaze to the Otomi Nobility from the three states standing guard.

At the start of the northern campaign, the three Otomi states had mobilized a total of sixteen thousand Samurai, plus ten to twenty thousand Militia maintaining the supply lines. The Mexica legion had deployed eight thousand elite soldiers, six thousand of which were Imperial Guard Warriors, and two thousand Longbow Militia. At the end of the campaign, the Pamus legion had dissolved, with the remaining thousand joining the Mexica legion. The other two states had slightly over ten thousand Samurai left.

Altogether, the three Otomi states suffered casualties of five thousand Samurai, plus several thousand Militia responsible for transportation. After replenishing the Otomi Warriors and Canine Descendant prisoners, the Mexica legion was back to its full strength of eight thousand. However, such a prolonged campaign lasted only three months and had exhausted the granaries of both the three Otomi states and the Rivermouth County of the Kingdom. Given the logistical reality, the southern Allied Forces could no longer advance further.

First came the Canine Descendants' invasion from the south, followed by the Allied Forces' campaign to the north. The losses for the Otomi Nobility were devastating, and those remaining were deliberately integrated. Through careful planning along the way, the Kingdom was at last able to exert influence, tentatively transforming the priests of the Primordial God and gaining preliminary control over the three Otomi states.

To put it in one sentence, the Otomi states had finally transitioned from an unfaithful vassal of the Alliance to a loyal lineage under the Kingdom's dominion.

After getting a tentative hold on the three states, the population of each state was recorded. Between the start and the end of the northern campaign, the population of Otapan State in the south remained around two hundred thousand, mostly unchanged. The Guajili State to the west dropped from nearly two hundred thousand to about one hundred and fifty thousand. The Pamus State to the north suffered the most, plummeting from one hundred fifty to one hundred sixty thousand to only sixty thousand, a mere fraction of its original number. In total, the Otomi population across the three states dwindled to just over four hundred thousand. Barely years ago, including Xilotepec State, the Otomi people numbered a million!

"Cruel war cleanses everything, destroys old modes of production, and gives birth to new classes of productive forces... I will foster them with my own hands!"

Xiulote opened his eyes, and a flash of fire sparked within them. Looking back, the main achievements of the northern campaign were threefold. First was the capture of tens of thousands of Canine Descendant members, second was the subjugation of the three Otomi states, and third was securing a stable outpost in the wilderness, Pamus City.

Amid the priests' chanting songs, he pondered the follow-up arrangements for the three states.

"Pamus State will continue to be autonomously governed by the local Nnobility, but Pamus City will be directly controlled by the Alliance, with Balamo serving as City Lord. Six thousand Agricultural Slaves and prisoners of war regaining their freedom will become the most valuable Wealth of Pamus City. Hmm, leave Balamo five hundred Mexica warriors, a thousand Pamus warriors, and also recruit five hundred from among the prisoners. That makes two thousand warriors, sufficient to defend Pamus City."

Following the campaign, the once-populous one hundred thousand Guajili Canine Descendants were swept away. In two generations, none of the Guajili Tribes would be capable of invading from the south. However, as different Tribes migrated across the Wilderness, chasing game and water sources, the vast void left by the Guajili people would likely be discovered soon by the people further north—the Toboso, the Jumano, or even the Concho—and they would gradually migrate southward.