Aztec Civilization: Destiny to Conquer America!

Priest Martin’s gaze flickered for a long time, staring straight at the mercenary Fritz until the man’s scalp prickled. Then, on the face marked with a hummingbird motif, Martin showed a kindly smile. Of course he wouldn’t, at this moment, start talking about converting after surrender, throwing oneself into the embrace of Demon worship. He simply used a warm look, gazing at his fellow-countryman mercenary, patting the man on the shoulder, leaving Fritz flattered and overwhelmed.

"Ah? Sir?"

"Fritz, what kind of wages is the Kingdom of Castile paying you?"

"Ah? Our wages?"

Hearing this question, the mercenary Fritz was stunned for a moment, at a loss. After quite a while, he finally answered hesitantly.

"Sir, it’s the same old rules! Ordinary soldiers get 4 florin gold coins per month, veteran old hands double pay at 8 florins, deputy captains 24 florins, captains 48 florins. They pay three months’ wages at a time, and then the spoils of war seized by the mercenary group are divided according to wage ratio..."

A Florentine-minted florin gold coin weighs roughly 3.5 grams, its value comparable to the Venetians’ ducat. And a common soldier’s monthly pay of 4 gold coins is far, far better than farming! Yet this is truly money paid for one’s life! On the Europe battlefields, princes and nobility spend huge sums to hire mercenary groups precisely to use them to death! In a campaign that lasts several months, the mercenaries who manage to endure and survive to the end are probably not even half!

For example, the Kingdom of Castile, hiring this elite Shenluo Mercenary band of 180 men, pays around 1,100 gold coins per month. Three months, 3,300 gold coins, together 28 pounds of gold—this is the money buying the lives of this elite mercenary group who bring their own armor!

"Damn it! The Castilians only advanced us three months’ wages! As soon as we entrusted the pay to the Dutch Duchy merchant convoy to send back home, they drove us onto the ships and carried us over here to die! It’s been almost five months now, but the Castilians still haven’t paid the remaining two months!..."

At this point, the mercenary Fritz grew indignant, cursing the Castilians’ vicious hearts! This damned deep-sea island terrain, thousands of miles from home, with the Castilians gripping the ships in a death hold—there’s no way to escape even if you want to! They’re definitely planning to default on the remaining wages, with no intention of letting them go back alive!...

"Hm? The Castilians haven’t paid? Then your contract is essentially terminated! Let me calculate: on average 6 gold coins per person per month. How many of you are left? Over 60? Let’s count it as 70—one month, 420 gold coins; three months’ deposit, 1,240 gold coins, that’s 10 pounds of gold..."

Priest Martin picked up a charcoal stick and did some calculations on the ground. Then he revealed a meaningful smile, left the bewildered mercenary Fritz behind, and went to find the Shoumaoying Chief Priest. The two spoke softly in Nava for a long time, writing and sketching as they discussed the matter at length. Fritz could only wait, heart pounding, anxiety mounting to the extreme.

"Adin, are you sure that as long as we put out 10 jin of gold, we can get these sixty or seventy Shenluo Mercenaries to turn their blades and strike at the Evil Demons of the Castle Tribe?"

"Great Demon Huitzilopo bear witness! Honorable Shoumaoying Chief Priest, I’m confident I can talk them into surrender! I’m very sure that these Shenluo Mercenaries, now trapped in this dead end, will never choose to die along with the Castilians! And as long as they have the option, they won’t follow the Castilians in retreat, pull back to some far southeastern little island, and go on serving as cannon fodder for Castile. Cannon fodder without even wages!..."

Priest Martin, fully confident, pointed at the kneeling mercenary Fritz, then smiled and spoke to the stern Cat Owl Chief Priest.

"These Shenluo Mercenaries have no faith in any Almighty—cough, Cross Evil God. The only thing they believe in is gold coins! They’re my fellow-countrymen; I know their character best, and I’m confident I can persuade them to turn their coats! I beg you, High Priest Sir, lend me 10 jin of gold, and dispatch a hundred of the Kingdom’s Warriors and Archers to send me to Brave Island. Let me personally negotiate with the mercenary captain, that Knight Reinhardt or whatever his name is!..."

"Chief Divine bless! You’ve heard the situation of the Castilian Expeditionary Army as well, High Priest! These people are cunning to the core; they will never sit tight in camp waiting to die, until they’re wiped out by our repeated assaults. Among their leaders, withdrawal has already been thought of, and that thought will grow with our attacks, eventually becoming consensus, becoming an actual retreat!"

"Right at this moment, the second wave of surprise Vanguard Warriors should already have succeeded! And Columbus has taken the fleet to look for some new little island to relocate and escape to... Once Columbus’s fleet returns, the expeditionary army in this Castilian stronghold will definitely begin to evacuate! Once they board the large ships, we’ll have no way to get at them! You should know, in the expeditionary army there are no fewer than five Clark Galleons, all warships mounted with 8‑pound and 10‑pound firearms!"

"Honorable High Priest Sir! Do you not wish to capture such a Clark Galleon warship? As long as I go to Brave Island and negotiate terms with these Shenluo Mercenaries, working inside and outside in concert... we might well seize a galleon! And the cost of such a galleon is several thousand gold coins! The firearms are even more outrageously expensive..."

Having listened to Priest Martin’s scheme, Shoumaoying narrowed his eyes and pondered in silence. He carefully studied the expression of this converted priest, and more or less guessed the man’s intention to gather a band of followers, convert them, and use them as his base. In the end, this was a man of ambition; after adapting to the Kingdom’s political environment, he had shown a highly enterprising side, far too eager to advance!

"Chief Divine bear witness! Priest Martin, I approve your plan to accept their surrender! And since we aim to seize the Castle Tribe’s firearm galleon, we must not be stingy with the initial investment! I’ll quadruple it for you! I’ll immediately dispatch a light sailing ship to Cuba Iron Bay Town; from the Temple in Iron Bay Town, they’ll take 40 jin of gold for you! You must buy off this group of Shenluo tribal Evil Demons!"

At this, Shoumaoying’s expression hardened as he made a decisive judgment! Then he glanced around, looking at the loyal Warriors around him, calculating the maximum strength the Kingdom could deploy at once! After capturing those three Castile medium Caravels and staffing them with the Kingdom’s sailors, the Kingdom Navy’s capacity for rapid sailing and deployment on this vast Eastern Sea now amounted to over 200 Warriors!

"Chief Divine bless! Priest Martin, make your preparations! I’m going to Cuba myself, to meet Tomate Chief Priest and explain the latest plan. Once the fast ship transporting gold to Cuba returns, all six Caravels of the Kingdom will set out! They will spare no effort to land two hundred Warriors and Archers on the island together with you!..."

Shoumaoying’s gaze blazed, his burning eyes seeming to hold flames of advance. The Evil Demons’ first expeditionary offensive was on the verge of being beaten back—a hard-won victory. And this was the last chance to maul them as much as possible before they relocated!

To strike across a thousand to two thousand li to Puerto Rico Island and attack the Evil Demons had already stretched the Kingdom to its limits. If these Castilians truly fled to even more distant, smaller unknown islands a thousand li further out, then for the Kingdom to gather enough manpower and strength to launch another offensive would become exceedingly difficult!

"Priest Martin, it’s settled then! Calm this mercenary fellow down and coax more intelligence out of him... I’m going aboard and setting sail at once!"

With that, Shoumaoying acted with absolute decisiveness, boarding the fast ship moored at the harbor along with a few trusted men. Seeing this thunderous efficiency and unified religious fanaticism, Priest Martin’s expression grew complicated; after a long moment, he finally sighed softly.

"A living Devil’s Apostle, ruling the hearts of the Cuba Natives Kingdom’s people... a living Prophet Demon, Morning Star Lucifer!"

His complicated lament drifted into the Caribbean Sea. And four thousand li to the southeast, Columbus’s exploration fleet finally stopped and drew alongside an island clear as water!

"Almighty bless! What a fine little island! What a fine little island deep in the sea!"