Aztec Civilization: Destiny to Conquer America!-Chapter 1475 - 1027: Four-Legged Riding Beasts—Reindeer and Horses!

Amidst the snowy journey and the white mountains stands a patch of gray-yellow felt tents, suddenly appearing in the sheltered Valley.

"Friends from the Sea Tribe! Here is our Mountain Part’s Winter Camp!..."

"Yes, praise the Chief Divine!"

Exploration Captain Zuwaro stood on the hill, gazing into the distance where hundreds of tribespeople were busy in the winter camp in the Valley, though unclear what they were doing. Meanwhile, herds of gray reindeer gathered on the outskirts of the Valley, occasionally scattering aimlessly for food or looking around for the lead reindeer of the herd.

The Mountain Part’s children, under the guidance of the Hunters, were playfully riding the more docile reindeer, becoming familiar with these strong and powerful creatures and mastering the skills of reindeer husbandry from an early age. In fact, every child of the tribes must ride reindeer at five, herd at seven, and begin learning rope harnessing, reindeer taming, and simple "Reindeer Wrestling Technique" by ten... Only when they master this complete set of survival skills by fifteen, can they be considered adults in the tribe with the eligibility to marry independently.

"Chief Divine! Your Majesty’s Divine Revelation!... the four-legged Riding Beasts in the Divine Revelation, could they be these long-horned giant reindeer?!"

Exploration Captain Zuwaro widened his eyes, approaching the strong reindeer that weren’t afraid of humans and could be ridden. These adult male reindeer, about 1.1 to 1.2 meters tall, were actually taller than the horses of Japan in this era. They had robust physiques, excelled at running, and could endure extreme cold. The male reindeer weighed about 300 pounds and had very sturdy long antlers on their heads.

Zuwaro observed carefully for a while and noticed that these "giant reindeer" had a lot of fur, even on their hooves. Their ears were particularly small, and their eyes were spirited, seemingly observing the people in front of them.

In this era, the tribes across the Eurasiatic polar region, from the westernmost Scandinavia to the easternmost Kamchatka Peninsula, were extensively raising reindeer. However, in the polar regions of the North American continent, the scale of reindeer domestication was much smaller, with only the far north native tribes having them.

The exploration crew sailed west along the warm Alaska Bay, encountering the coastal mountains for the first time, learning that these reindeer, ruling over the Arctic, could also be domesticated and ridden!

"Chief Divine blesses! Friends from the Mountain Part, can these giant reindeer be ridden for warfare?..."

"Haha! Friends from the Sea Tribe, do you want to ride reindeer into battle?... Reindeer are not for riding! Their backs are fragile, easily injured while carrying able-bodied men running! And they are slow when carrying things, far slower than pulling them..."

Hunting Team Leader Mukun blinked, shaking his head with a smile. The Chieftain of the Sea Tribe seemed particularly fascinated with riding beasts, constantly mentioning it. Could it be they had lived on the islands, never seen reindeer and horses?...

"Ancestral Guidance! True war-riding beasts come from far west, those ’Muri’ (’muri’) horses of the Horse Division!"

"Chief Divine bears witness! What did you say? ’Muri’, ’horse’?... What does a horse look like?"

"Oh! Horses have long bodies, shoulders taller than reindeer, are smart and obedient, and can carry riders migrating and galloping... According to the tribe’s ancient tradition, southwest of the distant Horse Division are countless horse herding tribes, living in lush and warm lands!"

"Ah! Countless horse herding tribes, countless horses!"

Upon hearing this, Exploration Captain Zuwaro’s eyes widened instantly, a surge of excitement welling up inside that was hard to express in words!

"Muri, Muri, horse!"

He repeated this Tungusic word from the Evon Horse Division, "muri". Should they continue west, reaching the edge of the Mongolian cultural sphere’s Evon tribes, the horses in their language are "mori" in Mongolian! Further south, in the Jurchen tribes of the Tungusic language family, horses are similarly referred to as "morin"!

"Praise the Chief Divine! Praise Your Majesty! Four-legged, ridable, and warring Riding Beasts really do exist, far in the West... And they are called ’Muri’, called ’horse’!"

Exploration Captain Zuwaro’s eyes shone, mumbling for quite a while. It must be noted that finding and bringing back four-legged Riding Beasts, four-legged Plowing Beast, were among the most important tasks of Your Majesty’s Divinely Revealed exploration! And now, hearing this definite rumor, the hope of finding these four-legged Riding Beasts was indeed close at hand!

"Chief Divine protect us! Your Majesty’s Divine Revelation has never erred! Ah, friends from the Mountain Part, do your tribes have the ’Muri’? Do you have horses?... We can trade with you, using precious salt and weapons for exchange!"

"Uh? You want to ride horses?... Chieftain of the Sea Tribe, our Mountain Part doesn’t raise horses. That kind of riding beast is troublesome and not suited for the Snow Plains... The elder grandmother also said they are hard to raise and easily die. It’s not worthwhile to raise them; they eat too much and are too picky!... On the Snow Plains, reindeer and dogs, which are not afraid of the cold, are best! They are easy to raise, not picky eaters, and when they die, it’s easy to eat their meat!"

Hunting Team Leader Mukun rambled on about the benefits of raising reindeer and Huskies. In reality, before the Russians arrived, the Kamchatka Peninsula on the Far North Snow Plains indeed had no horses. In the harsh polar environment, wild horse herds did not exist, and the cost of tribes raising horses was too high and their diet too specific. Reindeer in winter could eat various lichens, mosses, and grass roots, but delicate horses could not be fed so simply; they always needed beans or grass supplements.

Moreover, in the Snow Plains, running horses had no mobility or weight-carrying advantage compared to reindeer and dog sleds. Actually, it was only after cold-resistant rye was introduced to the various tribes in Kamchatka from Europe that the tribes gradually established an agricultural basis for feeding horses...

"Friends from the Sea Tribe! Our Mountain Part’s reindeer are also very good! They can carry our tents tirelessly during migration, walking as far daily as it takes a person five full days to complete. And to gallop from the southernmost Island Part of the Peninsula to the northernmost Reindeer Part takes less than half a month!"

Hunting Team Leader Mukun patiently spoke for a long time, praising Mountain Part’s reindeer, finally concluding with an ancient tribe proverb.

"Ancestral Witness! The oldest benevolent reindeer nurture the tribes of the Snow Plains! They are the real owners of the Snow Plains. Whoever befriends them is a friend of the Snow Plains and can continue to endure here!"

"Chief Divine! The true owner of the Snow Plains is these gray giant reindeer?... Mountain Part has no horses, only deer and dogs. Horse Division has horses, but they are far to the west!"

Exploration Captain Zuwaro pressed his lips together, striving to remember these crucial pieces of information. Shortly after, an excited clamor of dog barks rang out beside him.

"Howl! Howl! Awo!..."

"Phew! Finally home! Time to have a hot stew of reindeer meat...! Haha! Blessed by the Divine Mountain! This trip went so smoothly, I thought we might have to fight... Huh! You all? Mufu, why are the able-bodied men in the tribe coming out with weapons?"

"Ancestral Witness! This is the instruction from the Mulu Mountain Mother Grandmother! She told the children to be spirited, wear Armor and carry bows, not to let the Sea Tribe ’guests’ belittle us!"

"Oh! The wise Grandmother, blessed by the Divine Mountain, can never be wrong!... Those Hunters of the Sea Tribe are indeed very elite! They have a lot of good Armor!"

The elite Hunters of the Mountain Part arrived at the camp, with plump smiles on their faces, greeting the surrounding tribespeople. And at the entrance of the camp, nearly two hundred able-bodied tribesmen wore thick deer leather coats like Leather Armor, carried recurve bow and arrow, and wielded several Stone Axes, eagerly "welcoming" the distant "guests" from the Sea Tribe.

"Haha! Ancestral Blessing! Chieftain of the Sea Tribe, our Hot Spring Mountain Part is the most powerful tribe on the Peninsula!... Look, these are our outstanding warriors, capable of shooting reindeer running at a distance of tens of paces! They can also raid for ten days, traversing the entire Peninsula to fight with the Reindeer Part in the north!"