Chapter 35
Anahuac, 16 K
(Valley of Mexico, 1384)
It was early fall when we left our camp near Cholula. Because of the relative narrowness of our trail, I had the tumen leave one at a time a day apart. I went with the first one, the Oxen. I had scouts out in every direction, but so far nothing untoward had been reported back to me. Not far west of Cholula, we entered a mostly oak forest. The hardwoods soon gave way to pines as we ascended the slopes between the two volcanoes. It was growing quite cold as we climbed, so I thought it best we camp among the trees, for some protection from the wind. The next morning, we left the trees behind us, and before long clouds were also below us. Above was only the cold, open, sparsely grassy pass and the two snow-covered volcanoes. Eerily, a localized storm dropped fresh snow on the southern peak, but the pass remained clear. As we neared the crest of the pass, the wind began to probe us with icy fingers. The cold made breathing difficult for many of our auxiliaries and some of the Oxen as well, but I had been through far worse and found it rather invigorating. Smoking Mirror did not enjoy the passage at all and looked on my cheerful demeanor as quite inexcusable. We regained the tree line on the other side in time to camp that night. The following day, we descended the western slopes of the volcanoes and turned northwest reaching the city of Amecameca by dusk.
This city had been a tributary of Huexotzinco and had already agreed to join us. The leaders came out to greet us and invite us into the city. I went in with a few of my staff and some guards but had the rest of the Ordu camp outside the city. I informed my hosts that we would be expecting their army to join us on this campaign, and they quickly agreed, although they pointed out that it had been somewhat reduced by the unpleasantness outside of Huexotzinco. In truth, I was able to secure very few warriors from that plateau, since so many had fallen in battle. It presented no hardship, however, since I only had them along to prevent them from making any mischief in my rear. Well, to be fair, they were handy for doing the dirty work after battle. We waited for the other tumen to join us, and then I left behind a small contingent to “protect” the city before moving on.
Beyond Amecameca, the pine forest gave out, and we crossed an old barren volcanic flow eventually reaching another newly allied city, Tlalmanalco. The next day, we reached Chalco (which was actually a group of four cities very close together) near the eastern shore of the southern finger of the central lake. Oddly enough, even though the lake was continuous and pinched by the shoreline into three sections, the locals saw it as divided into five parts. This southern finger was called Lake Xochimilco in the western part and Lake Chalco in the eastern part. It was all fresh water, nourished by gushing mountain streams and natural springs, and was used extensively for what were called chinampa. These were a sort of artificial island used to cultivate food and flowers. The people made the rectangular islands by pounding stakes into the lakebed and lashing them together with vines. Then mud and reeds were dredged from the shallow lakebed onto the “island” until a planting surface was achieved above the water line. The chinampa were taking over much of the shoreline of the southern part of the lake and were very productive. The central and largest part of the lake was called Lake Texcoco. It was mostly clear, fresh water in the south, becoming increasingly muddy and brackish in the north. There were also chinampas in the southern part of this “lake.” The northern part of the lake was called Lake Xaltocan in the south and Lake Tzumpanco in the north. Its water was brackish and of a reddish hue. It could not support the chinampa, but teemed with waterfowl and rather small fish.
The leaders of Chalco made us welcome. The people also were glad to be finished with the long war with the Tepaneca and greeted us as deliverers. Their enthusiasm was enhanced when they realized we required no tribute of them, just the usual men in time of war and food in time of famine. And, of course, they would not be allowed to fight any wars on their own. They genuinely seemed war weary, and I could almost see why Tlacuectli went to such lengths to free them of war. I asked them only for a token force of their best warriors for auxiliaries and again posted a garrison with instructions to train the remaining Chalco warriors in our ways of battle. Smoking Mirror had not been to Chalco for some years, but he remembered his father’s house, and took me to meet his relatives. His father had three other children, all younger than Smoking Mirror, but all young adults. They were so different from Smoking Mirror in both appearance and demeanor as to seem not even vaguely related. Still, they were all cordial and expressed delight to see him again after such a long time. They were all merchants or married to merchants and were quite excited that the Mongols were making the One World safe for trade. We didn’t stay long.
The lake was dotted with islands that often had independent cities or towns on them. This complicated our task a bit, but I quickly got the Beaver Tumen to equip themselves with dugout boats while the rest of us marched west along the southern shore of the lake in a broad swath making sure we visited each city and town between the lake and the mountains to the south. The scouts were quite busy, and they reported that the Tepaneca army was withdrawing from the southern shore of the lake and moving northward along the western shore. In due time, we reached the Mexica tributary called Xochimilco (“Flower Garden”) the apparent inventors of the chinampa. They opened their city to us without a hint of resistance, but could say nothing of the intentions of the Mexica. By now the Beavers had their boats ready, and I ordered them to deal with the island cities in this southern part of the lake. The largest of these were Xico and Cuitlahuac. Neither resisted once we explained there would be no tribute. We sent their armies to assist the Beavers.
By mid fall, we had reached the southwestern edge of the lake and turned north. At this point, we were approached by another delegation from Tezozomoc. Cuacuauhtzin, his son and military leader, led this one. He came bearing more gifts and to welcome us into Tepaneca territory. The nearby towns had been abandoned for our army’s convenience. His father invited us to take them over. Then perhaps my staff and me would come to Azcapotzalco as his honored guests and take our pick of his daughters and those of his nobles to cement our very necessary alliance. He had gotten wind of an evil conspiracy involving several neighboring people and felt that if we worked in concert, all their plans could be thwarted. It had come to his attention that the perfidious Tarascans were marshalling their forces to invade from the west. They had enlisted the aid of the evil Mixteca from the southeast who had designs on the very plateau we had just taken. Moreover, they were bribing the wild Chichimeca to raid from the north to further destabilize the situation. All this was inspired by the diabolical ruler of the godforsaken Alcolhua, a vile, untrustworthy race that occupied the eastern shore of the lake. This demon, Quinatzin, was determined to rule all of Anahuac because he claimed some vague relationship with the great Xolotl, Tezozomoc’s own grandfather, who had once ruled the entire valley. His intention was to get us to weaken ourselves by destroying the Tepaneca, then stand back and watch while we were cut apart by the invaders. After that, he would first side with the victor, and then turn on him at the right moment.
He suggested that instead of playing into Quinatzin’s hands, we seize the initiative and first help him destroy the evil Alcolhua; then while he protected our rear from the Chichimeca, we could divide our forces and take the battle to the both the Tarascans and the Mixteca before they were ready to attack. A great victory was assured, but should we need any help, he would surely rush to our aid. We could trust him completely.
The man had to be a genius to come up with such an imaginative story. If, indeed, we were total strangers who knew nothing of the situation, we might be drawn into his plans. But Smoking Mirror quickly informed me that the Tarascans were rulers of a small basin far to the west, the Mixteca fought among each other as much as the Huaxteca did, the Chichimeca always raided into this valley, and, indeed, most of its inhabitants had some of their blood in their veins, and, finally, Quinatzin was the direct descendant of Xolotl (also a Chichimeca), while Tezozomoc was related through his mother. I really hoped I would get to meet Tezozomoc; he was truly unique in this land. I thanked Cuacuauhtzin for all his information as well as his kind offer, but said it did not coincide with our orders. Since his father was so determined to ally with us, he would no doubt be willing to swear his allegiance to our Khan and turn over his army to me. Any moves by neighboring tribes would have to be dealt with as they occurred, since we could only invade other lands when we were instructed to do so. If this resulted in greater casualties, it was out of my hands. There was, of course, no need for potential allies to desert towns in our path. After all, we might get the impression that we were looked upon as invaders. While he had been able to deliver his message with an appropriately grave air, he was unable to answer my points, and said he would have to report back to his father. I assured him that he would find us closer when he returned, since I planned to continue north. I kept the gifts this time, to send on to Kuyuk, but offered nothing in return.
As we moved on, the first of the Tepaneca towns we reached was called Tlapan. It was completely deserted, as were the next two, Huipulco and Coyoacan. These were all good-sized towns, and their complete abandonment seemed rather haunting. As we left the last town behind, we were approached by another embassy. This one came from the south. The Tlahuica, a people living just south of this valley beyond the bordering mountains, had heard about us and wanted to make peace while it was possible to get good terms. The chief of their principle city, Cuauhnahuac, offered me his daughter, as well as many gifts to form an alliance with them. I told the embassy the usual conditions for joining us and held their gifts pending their acceptance of our conditions. I promised to return them, should they reject our conditions and leave them in peace until instructed otherwise. I couldn’t wait to write Paula about all these marriage offers I was receiving. No doubt she would have something to say about them that would make Yesui proud. I could almost hear the latter’s cackle.
The scouts were spread far and wide and no reports of activity came in from the west, the far north, or the southeast. In time our scouts reported back that there was a large concentration of warriors in the forests to our immediate north, around a hill called Chapultepec (“Grasshopper”), and an even larger concentration trying to conceal themselves a little beyond them, farther north. Finally, I was going to encounter a trap. I immediately assumed the first group was supposed to resist us stubbornly, then fall back, first in order, then in apparent panic. We would then follow them in loose order, and suddenly the reserve force would spring up and the fleeing force would turn and join them to crush our now strung-out line. Unfortunately, they hadn’t taken the speed of the horses into account or our superior firepower. Still, it was nice to find a slight challenge. As it turned out, it was even a better trap than was apparent. The Mexica were supposed to cross the lake by boat at night and cut off our retreat or fall on our rear as events warranted. I received a message from Acamapichtli outlining his orders and suggesting that he instead come over and join us. I thanked him for the intelligence and congratulated him on a wise decision, but told him to stay at home and defend his island from any Tepaneca assault. It was then that his messenger told me that while the Tenocha, his Mexica, would join us, the other Mexica, the Tlatelolca, would remain true to their Tepaneca overlords. Indeed, he had not mentioned anything to them about our offer. I told him to feign a departure but return to his city, since we would consider any boat traffic on our front to be hostile.
Remarkably, Tezozomoc wasn’t content with setting his little trap; he had to make sure I went into it to his best advantage. Again Cuacuauhtzin came to see me. This time he came to announce that Tezozomoc had indeed decided to join us. He was sending a large gift to us by boat that very night. He regretted to report that a group of Chichimeca had infiltrated into the woods around Chapultepec spring, but he had sent his army south to crush them, and they should fall on them in the next few days. Of course, should we be impatient, perhaps we would want to drive them north into the Tepaneca army instead. We were closer after all. He also heard that the evil Alcolhua were marching on Chalco, and perhaps we should send some of our forces to meet that threat. Further, it had been reported that the vanguard of the Tarascan invasion was already at Tecaxic (a city to the west just over the surrounding mountains). We may want to send some troops there. In any case, his father was readying Azcapotzalco to receive me and promised an unforgettable reception.
I decided that it was best to respond in kind so Tezozomoc would treat us with a little more respect in the future. I told his son that I was glad his father had decided to join us, and I was looking forward to meeting him and enjoying the reception in Azcapotzalco. I thanked him for the gifts he was sending by boat and promised to have porters ready to meet the flotilla, perhaps at Huipulco, since it had the better port facilities. I appreciated the explanation for the strange activity near Chapultepec, and we would indeed flush the invaders out the next day. I also thanked him for warning me about the Alcolhua and the Tarascans. Since I had nothing more to fear from the Tepaneca, I would, indeed, send forces west and east to meet these threats and continue on with only one of my tumen. He seemed relieved at my words and left quite happy.
That evening I had rafts loaded with combustibles strung out across the “mouth” of the southern part of the lake and had the Beavers in their boats at the ready. Meanwhile, I had the Oxen, the Osprey, and the Otters march loudly and conspicuously west, then quietly drop the Otters off to cover the west flank while the others made a wide arc north and east around the two forces before us. I advised the Beavers to move north on the lake when they were finished with the Tlatelolca. Keeping only the Wildcats with me, I moved north into the “trap” while it was still dark. Near midnight, the lake was lit up by the flaming rafts as the Beavers made short work of the prospective infiltrators. As soon as we were near enough to the enemy, I had rockets shot off through the forest and over the hill. The result was complete panic as the Tepaneca streamed to the north. We followed cautiously, since I didn’t want a general engagement until first light. Very few of them remained in the woods to attack us as we moved through their position. We halted near their second position and waited for dawn.
As the rising sun lit up the scene, no sign of the enemy was apparent. The land was broken with ravines and lightly forested, but occasional vague movement would just catch one’s eye. We waited patiently and soon the Beavers formed their boats just offshore and began lobbing arrows into anyone visible to them. Next, the Otters came into view along the western flank, and finally with a lot of screams and shouts coming from the north, I assumed the Oxen and Osprey were in position. Unable to wait any longer, the Tepaneca rose out of their concealments and turned to fight their way north. It was the logical thing to do, but in battle one does not always use logic. It certainly made our work easy. My Wildcats attacked them in the rear, the Otters and the Beavers harried their flanks, and they rushed into the oncoming Oxen and Osprey. The slaughter of the enemy was staggering, but the close fighting cost us a fair number of casualties as well, very many wounded, and over a hundred dead.
We surrounded their next major town, Tlacopan, but they quickly surrendered. Once more we received a messenger from Tezozomoc in the person of one of his advisors. This was an old man dressed in silk and feathers but hard to understand since he had no teeth. Tezozomoc did not disappoint me, as he greatly lamented the terrible misunderstanding that led our great people into conflict. He swore allegiance to the Khan and offered to come at once and bow down before me, his representative. He would empty his treasury to send to the Khan and begged us to accept his abject surrender and if possible spare their great capital, Azcapotzalco, from the quite understandable but perhaps misguided wrath of my army. I explained to the old man that we never gave terms. All hostile cities were given the opportunity to surrender or be destroyed once we surrounded them. If they surrendered, they would lose their treasure, but otherwise be spared. The people of the cities had nothing to fear from us if they treated us honestly; otherwise their fate would be on their own heads.
Tezozomoc and his immediate family fled Azcapotzalco, and it surrendered immediately. The other Tepaneca towns and cites quickly sent their most distinguished representatives to pledge their allegiance to us and offer us whatever it would take to convince us to spare them. I had each Tepaneca town fill a few wagons with their treasures and sent them to Kuyuk. I felt that a general looting was not called for since they had surrendered. Among the surrendering cities was Tlatelolco, whose leader, Cuacuauhtzin had fallen with his troops. They, too, had to fill a few wagons for Kuyuk. Tenochtitlan was accepted into the fold, and Acamapichtli remained their leader. I put Tlatelolco under his governance and confirmed their other possessions, except Xochimilco, which had already been given its complete independence. I was sure we would hear from Tezozomoc again.
North of the Tepaneca lands, there was a scattered loosely organized confederation of towns centered on Xaltocan an island city in the southeast corner of the northern section of the lake. The people in these towns were Otomi speaking, and the towns were simpler or more primitive than their southern neighbors were. Still, the people were brave and did put up some resistance before bowing to the inevitable. They were heavily tattooed and had the disconcerting habit of dying their teeth red, black, or both. This part of the lake was full of inhabited islands, and the Beavers were quite busy paying each of them calls. Beyond the lake, we went as far north as the old city of Tollan, greatly revered as the capital of the Tolteca. The city was a ruin, inhabited by a sorry-looking band of ruffians. They scattered at our approach leaving us to examine the ruins alone. It was not a large city, and it really wasn’t that impressive, aside from some rather large carved stone figures of warriors, but Smoking Mirror went about in reverent awe. I didn’t feel it was worth a garrison, so we withdrew. By midwinter, we were at the end of the Otomi “territory” and about to enter that of the Alcolhua.
Word reached me that the Chichimeca Teuctli had presented himself to our leading elements, and he wished to speak with me. The title meant “Lord of the Chichimeca,” but Smoking Mirror told me that it was an old title of great prestige that was used by the descendants of Xolotl, who had once ruled over most of the Valley of Anahuac. Its current holder was the same Quinatzin, of whom Tezozomoc had warned us so often. He resided in the city of Texcoco on the eastern shore of the lake in the shadow of the great mountain named for the rain god (Tlaloc). He was a much-admired warrior and had been nicknamed, Tlaltecatzin (Earth Flattener), so we might find him ready to fight.
We caught up with Quinatzin at one of our camps on the shore off Xaltocan. He was waiting in the commander’s tent as we came up. He rose to meet us. He was a fine-looking man, about my height, but with a broader build and definitely older. He wore the hard look of an old soldier. I knew Kaidu and Donduk would have taken an instant liking to him. He was dressed in the quilted cotton armor with a few ornate touches of feathers and an oversized shield with an intricate pattern of feathers worked into it. He wore the plug in his lower lip but otherwise little jewelry. He had been attended by some of his warriors, but they had been detained outside of the camp under guard. He still carried his obsidian club, but held it like a cane. He studied me silently for a time, and then shifted his gaze to Smoking Mirror. We returned his look steadily and wordlessly.
“You are men, not gods.” His frown deepened. “One of you is a strange-looking man, but a man all the same. I fear no man. I stand before you ready to defend my people. We will not bow before any mere men.”
“Bowing is not necessary among the Mongols,” I replied stiffly, “integrity is. We never claimed to be gods. We serve the Khan of the Mongols. He has sent us to bring the people of this valley under his rule. You may either join us in peace and maintain your lives and positions of power, or you will all be killed and your cities destroyed. No one yet has proven our match on the battlefield. Do you wish to try?”
“You do not fight with honor,” he returned. “You use strange animals and weapons. You harness the thunder and hail of Tlaloc. You use sorcery and magic to strike terror into whole armies, who fall before your mercy only to be cut down like reeds. You take no prisoners to honor the gods, and you will bring their punishment down on us. You do not even spare the weak or the old. You have brought a great evil into the navel of the world.”
“You are a fool.” I remained indifferent. “What honor is there in using inferior weapons when you have superior. Would you hunt deer with a club instead of a bow or fish with a bow instead of a net? Do you face the cougar armed only with your teeth and fingernails? There is no honor in war. Such thoughts are unworthy of a warrior. Our weapons have nothing to do with gods or magic. They are simply weapons quite well known in other parts of the world. As to our practice of war, it is our custom to make war against us so horrible as to render it unthinkable among our opponents. In the long run, it saves lives and time. We do not sacrifice battle captives or anything else to our gods, and they are yet to betray any displeasure with us. We have only triumphed in all our battles.”
“Your words are hard,” he replied. “Time will tell whether you ignore the gods of this land to your peril. For my part, I would spare my people as much death as possible, but cannot deliver them to slavery. Therefore, I propose a contest of honor. You and I alone will fight to the death. If I win, your armies will leave this valley forever. If you win, my people will serve your Khan.”
“When I was a child my grandfather told me stories of such gestures. No doubt it would suit your needs to have me accept. Should you win, the valley is yours, should you lose, it no longer matters to you. Unfortunately, I cannot accept your proposal. I can meet you in single combat, if you wish, but it will mean only whatever its outcome, nothing more. I am not in a position to bargain with you. My orders are clear, and I must carry them out or die trying. If I should die, my second in command must take over and carry out the orders. If you wish to change my orders, you would have to appeal to the Khan himself, and we would not be able to wait for that appeal. You will have to choose war or peace on our terms, here and now.”
“What evil brought you here?”
“Orders.”
“If the cities surrender, you will not destroy them?”
“We will not.”
“You will not enslave the people?”
“We will not. Surely you have heard how those under us in the valley have fared. Why should we treat you differently?”
“Your treatment has not been consistent. You have done no ill to some cities and exacted tribute from others. Some towns were merely threatened, others were destroyed.”
“We have destroyed few towns in this valley. Only those that resist are destroyed. Those that send an army against us must pay plunder. Those that join us in good faith suffer only the temporary loss of their army. We have been most consistent, your information is flawed.”
“Will you spare the cities any tribute if they expel all who would resist you?”
“That would depend on how many that would be. We will not be toyed with. We have already played enough games with Tezozomoc. I was led to believe that you were cut of a different cloth.”
“Did not Tezozomoc agree to join you only to have you destroy his army and besiege his cities?”
“Tezozomoc is the most remarkable man I have yet to meet. He seems incapable of telling the truth about anything. Did no one tell you what really happened across the lake? How can you rule your people with such poor intelligence?”
“Tezozomoc owes me allegiance. He came to me and reported your not honoring his offer of peace. He asked me to release his cities of their allegiance to me so that you would not destroy them. It was he who suggested I offer you single combat.”
“I hope I get to meet this man; he really fascinates me. Since he’s wanted me to attack you from the time I first reached the shores of the lake, I’m not surprised to hear he wants you to die while leaving your army intact. Tell me, is he now on a recruiting expedition?”
“Why yes, he offered to rally the Otomi cities in the north and the Mixteca in the southeast to help drive you out of the valley.”
I told him then about all of Tezozomoc’s messages to me and suggested he confirm my story with Acamapichtli. He was at first stunned, then furious. He vowed to see to it that Tezozomoc died a horrible death. Meanwhile, he agreed to ally his cities with us while he went to see the Khan himself. He wanted to challenge him to single combat, or, failing that, cut a better deal for himself and his heirs. I agreed to send him to Kuyuk.
With Quinatzin neutralized, all resistance had ceased in the valley. So far, only the Chalca were being trained to form the nucleus of an Ordu. I decided to have the Beavers train the Mexica even though I wasn’t sure about them or anyone else in the valley. The northern people, except for the Hotcangara, seemed much less devious than these people, and one generally knew where one stood with them. Here, however, I always had the feeling that given the right set of circumstances, they would turn on me without the slightest compunction. To be fair, they had been given little choice in the matter, but I did feel we were an improvement over their several previous overlords, and in time, they should grow to appreciate that. I decided not to train or arm any others for now, except those on the coast.
For once, I had finished a campaign in less time than allotted, so I decided to act on my own and sent the Oxen and the Osprey to replace the Horses and the Owls among the Huaxteca. Quinatzin would thus be able to travel with a most formidable escort most of the way to Kuyuk, and I’d be giving a much-needed break to the Horses and Owls, both of whom were no doubt quite weary of garrison duty. I also told the commanders of the Oxen and Osprey to explore the possibility of raising a native tumen from among the Huaxteca. I sent the Otters to replace the Alligators and the Parrots among the Totonacs. The Totonacs were much less damaged than the Huaxteca, and tumen were well on the way to being developed. I asked the Parrots to leave a training cadre behind to continue training them in the jungle tactics. I would keep the Beavers and Wildcats with me for the present. I split the Wildcats into two groups to guard the north and west. The Beavers watched the south and patrolled the lake. We heard again from the chief of Cuauhnahuac to tell us that his and the other Tlahuica cities and towns would join us as allies and invited me to visit. He also advised me that Tezozomoc had been trying to recruit them in a grand alliance against us, but had not met any success. I sent them a messenger thanking them for the information and invitation and promising to visit them as soon as practical. Meanwhile, I dismissed the auxiliaries from outside the valley and ordered the valley auxiliaries back to their towns but to remain in a state of readiness should events warrant. I sent scouts out in all directions and recruited some spies among the Chalca merchants to find out what Tezozomoc was up to.
Smoking Mirror prevailed on me to see another old sacred site of great importance in the valley. It was a city that was once even greater than Tollan, although the Tolteca did eventually rule there for a time. This was now called Teotihuacán (Place of the Gods) since the “fifth” (current) sun had been created there. Although I was not at all interested, he regaled me with the legends about the several suns. I wasn’t listening. We followed a river upstream from the lake into a smaller valley. Here was a small Alcolhua town, and gradually appearing from among the overgrowth were the ruins of a great city. Aside from the great structures in the city’s center, there were clear signs that it had been a sprawling city with stone houses and laid out streets. Only the foundations remained, but they were so extensive that this city could have been large enough to accommodate many thousands of people. I had never seen a city to rival it anywhere before or since in the new land. The center of the city was remarkable for its scale alone. There was a central square of no great size, but it was surrounded by pyramidal platforms, including a large one, on the north side referred to locally as the Pyramid of the Moon. Opposite this was a long (almost six li) straight and wide (about fifty paces) paved street leading south to a very large ceremonial center. Along its way was an even larger pyramid (The Pyramid of the Sun). As one climbed its considerable height, one lost sight of the stairway below giving the sensation of climbing into the sky. The top was not very large, but likely at one time sported a temple of some sort. The ceremonial center included a temple dedicated to Quetzalcoatl including some interesting representations of him. One couldn’t help but wonder what sort of people these were, and how they happened to build such a large city and what happened to it. Smoking Mirror had no answer to these questions worth writing down.
Not long after my visit to Teotihuacán, a courier arrived from Kuyuk. More tumen were on the way and should be arriving by early spring. Meanwhile, I was to take the surrounding cities of note to the west, north, and south, especially Tecaxic in the west and Cuauhnahuac in the south. In the spring, I was to march west and take all the cities as far as the western sea. Juchi was being sent to take the Mixteca areas to the southeast under separate command. He would step off from Cholula also