Aztec Civilization: Destiny to Conquer America!

"Clang! Clang! Clang!..."

The sound of blacksmiths hammering emanated from the rows of blacksmith workshops, very audible even from the Pyramid Temple. More visible than the sound was the streaks of smoke rising from the blacksmiths. The denser smoke came from the beehive furnaces used for smelting iron ore, while the lighter smoke came from the low furnaces where iron was forged. Even the air carried a faint aroma of charcoal, evoking memories of the volcanoes on the Mexican Plateau.

"Chief Divine! After a year away, the blacksmith area has expanded again... Tomate Chief Priest, how many blacksmiths are there now in Iron Bay Town?"

"About four to five hundred, with apprentices comprising eighty percent and ordinary blacksmiths twenty percent. We still have only two Ironsmith Masters brought in as captives, one from the Castle Tribe and another from the Porto Tribe."

Tomate Chief Priest wore a Feather Crown and a simple Senior Priest Robe, standing on the more than ten meters high Pyramid Temple. Beside him stood Cat Owl Chief Priest, both watching towards the south side of Iron Bay Town.

The south side of Iron Bay Town housed the town’s workshop area. On the red hills, various newly built or expanded workshops were situated. Blacksmith shops emitted smoke, bronze workshops emitted smoke, pottery kilns emitted smoke, and brick kilns emitted smoke too. This rare industrial town in Cuba and even Central America resembled a mythical giant beast exhaling smoke, sprawling across the north mining belt of the Mayari Iron Mine.

The ironware and bronze artifacts produced here supplied the entire Caribbean East Sea, serving the more than a million Taino tribes. Even the Kingdom Expedition Army in the Eastern Maya would replenish their metal weapons from here to sustain their squadron’s consumption.

"Bang! Bang!..."

Beyond the workshop area, one could see the actively mined iron ore belt. Now in the agricultural idle season, thousands of Taino strong men were digging at the astonishingly reservious open-pit mine. They came from different surrounding tribes, conscripted by the kingdom locally, laboring for the Chief Divine while being compensated with ironware and glass beads.

As for food, the tropical Cuba Island never lacked it. Cassava was challenging to store, but its yield was incredibly high, especially after using compost as fertilizer. On the east and west sides, the kingdom also cultivated large cornfields, harvesting corn as a storable military ration. Well, the Samurai’s nostalgia for corn tortillas was too strong; they couldn’t manage without corn.

"Crack! Crack!"

From the southern iron ore area expanding to the hills on both sides, there were likewise thousands of Taino strong men felling trees. Iron Bay Town did not lack food, but timber was never enough. Shipyards needed lumber, blacksmith shops and iron smelting workshops needed charcoal, and pottery and brick kilns needed fuel. Visibly, over a thousand acres of woodland on both east and west sides had been logged. After clearing and digging, strong men would farm corn, beans, and cassava, transforming it into Iron Bay Town’s dry and wet fields. The entire town kept expanding day by day.

"Chief Divine be merciful! Tomate Chief Priest, does Iron Bay Town currently have over ten thousand people?"

"Yes, about that. Counting the warriors and craftsmen supported by the Alliance twice, the Canine Warriors supported by Black Wolf Marshal, plus the Taino farmers settled here for cultivation, we surely have ten thousand people!"

"I heard the Alliance supported a lot of warriors and craftsmen?"

"Yes! This year... oh, it’s already the new year. Last year, the Alliance sent another batch of support, and in two batches, they sent a total of one thousand one hundred warriors, three hundred sixty craftsmen, and one hundred two priests. I arranged three hundred Alliance Warriors to protect most of the Alliance Priests, supplementing troops at various Cuban tribes. As for the craftsmen, they all stayed! The Alliance’s weavers, potters, stoneworkers, woodworkers, and bronze craftsmen are all urgently needed at Iron Bay Town!"

Upon saying that, Tomate was quite emotional. The kingdom was distant, making troop transport difficult, leaving craftsmen and priests even more scarce. Conversely, the Alliance’s headquarters could effortlessly provide ample warriors, craftsmen, and priests, directly assigning them to the Guba Diocese. These people migrated and settled here, effectively "given" to the Guba Diocese. From some perspectives, as long as it doesn’t threaten his supreme royal power, Divine King Avit is indeed extremely generous...

"Look, see those large camps near the river bend, housing some two to three thousand stationed troops. I originally intended to spread them further to West Haiti and Jamaica Island. But you brought news of the Evil Demon brigade appearing, so we can’t just disperse them; instead, we need to further seek aid from the Maya!"

Tomate pointed towards the large camps by the sea. As Cat Owl Chief Priest was not an outsider, he did not conceal it, laying out the kingdom’s strength in the Eastern Sea entirely.

"The kingdom has about four to five thousand National Warriors in the Eastern Sea. Among them, two thousand are dispersed among the Fifty-Two Tribes for stationing. The remaining two to three thousand are concentrated in this core town of Guba Diocese at Iron Bay Tribe!"

"Included are eight hundred Alliance Warriors, eight hundred Kingdom Warriors, eight hundred Canine Warriors, and one hundred Taino Musketeers! With thirty lateen rigged oar-sailed longships, fully loaded, they can transport as many as one thousand eight hundred warriors! Plus, three nimble ships of Evil Demon, each can probably transport about a hundred people, sailors aside..."

Hearing this, Cat Owl’s eyes sparkled, contemplatively opening his mouth.

"Witness the Chief Divine! In other words, if Iron Bay Town’s fleet fully deploys, it can launch an expedition of two thousand people to Brave Island? And such an expedition requires at least a month’s voyage?"