Aztec Civilization: Destiny to Conquer America!-Chapter 1661 - 1185: The Waves of the Caribbean Sea, the Springtime of the Red Crow Tribe
The Grande River flows from northwest to southeast, tumultuous for three thousand kilometers, crisscrossing nearly half of Central Northwest North America. The numerous water systems extending from this fifth-longest river in North America nourish hundreds of thousands of square kilometers of grasslands, millions of wild buffalo and deer, and hundreds to thousands of large and small hunting tribes.
To the various tribes of Coa Wei Ke in the lowest reaches, it is the motherly "Bravo River." In the mouths of the Concho tribes slightly downstream, it is the "Concho River" that birthed tribes. This long river pathway for two thousand kilometers downstream is precisely the natural border dividing the United States and Mexico in later generations.
On this later "borderline," the most famous thing is the infinite black gold, the awe-inspiring industrial lifeblood, shallow oil and natural gas reserves! Of course, in this era, the so-called "shallow" oil still reaches hundreds of meters deep, which the world before the industrial revolution was difficult to reach. Naturally, areas with rich oil geological deposits also aren't lacking in coal. In fact, colossal coal mines of tens of billions of tons, either open-pit or shallow, accumulate on both sides of the lower reaches of the Grande River system, waiting for the day they are uncovered and excavated...
When the Red Crow Tribe swept across the two sides of the great river, gathering an unprecedented scale of hunting tribal alliance, the two most serious issues on the Northern Continent were presented to the tribal alliance's chieftain: fuel and food!
Without fuel, the tens of thousands of gathered tribes couldn't survive the terrible cold waves, possibly halving their population in a single winter. And without food, the eighty, ninety thousand hunting tribes would not only greatly reduce in members, but also would be unable to congregate on a small piece of land, needing to disperse into thousands, hundreds, or even hundreds-person small tribes, once again spreading across both sides of the great river!
"In the heavens, Ancestors! Without fuel, without food, even if Alan conquered and amassed more tribal populations, they would scatter during a terrible cold wave... On this vast boundless Northern Continent, there's never a lack of hunting tribes unafraid of fighting to the death... What is truly lacking is the chance to survive the cold waves, things to fill the stomach and warm the body!... As long as there is something to eat, something to burn, the tribe's reputation spreads, and people would come continuously..." 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺
At Red Crow City by Warrior Lake, the scale became more grand, and wooden structures increased, gradually showing signs of a city-state. And at the center of the entire great tribe-like settlement, there was a not-so-tall chieftain's wooden house, with a row of trusted aides, holding spears and wearing leather armor, solemnly guarding at the door. Among these trusted aides, half looked like Canine Descendants of the wilderness, and the other half had faces from various grassland tribes. Four or five appeared to be Purpecha people, or even Vastek people...
Inside the chieftain's wooden house, the old chieftain Amoxtli, along with several confidants, was sitting cross-legged by the hearth, holding clay pots, eating something together. Upon closer inspection, everyone wore wild buffalo leather armor, carrying bronze axes on their waists and seating on black bear or coyote skins. As for the wooden house's four walls, there hung everyone's bows and arrows and copper spears, along with bear, wolf, and human skulls as spoils of war.
"Ancestor! Alan is so aggressive, and too impatient! Even though she gathered so many suffering Northern Tribes, she also extracted warriors to form elite hundred-man teams... How can she support herself then? Ai!..."
Upon hearing the messenger from eight hundred miles north bring back information, Amoxtli sighed heavily. Under the reflection of the bonfire, more wrinkles appeared on his face, though he was just about forty, he looked as if he was fifty or sixty years old.
"Hmm... cassava fish bean porridge, A-Caotip, you should drink it at the doorway! I will call you when needed."
"Yes! Old Chieftain!..."
A-Caotip respectfully lay on the ground, kowtowed, and carefully carried the precious cassava porridge to the wooden house door. He was a warrior from the Bosalos Tribe, captured by Alan years ago and became a trusted aide, his name changed from "Caotip" to "A-Caotip," representing a change in clan affiliation. Along with him, there were about forty or fifty of Alan's trusted aide warriors from various conquered tribes. And after this complete conquest over the Coa Wei Ke tribes, the number of trusted aides is expected to double...
"Hmm... Coa Wei Ke tribes, Bravo River, vast grasslands, countless buffalo herds... It sounds like a land blessed with abundance! But I wonder if the surroundings of that great river can support the tribe with cassava cultivation?..."
Amoxtli mused, drinking a mouthful of hot cassava porridge, glanced enquiringly at his aide, Ashu. Cassava porridge was very filling, could be mixed with various random wild vegetables, meat, and insects, a meal could suffice for half a day. Upon the first harvest, the peculiar crop's yield astounded the poverty-stricken Amoxtli of the wilderness, with disbelief that made his jaw drop!
In good lands around Warrior Lake, the yield of cassava per mu nearly equaled four mu of maize fields planted by Vastec agricultural slaves! Amoxtli even had a strong impulse to change the tribe's Red Crow Banner to a red cassava banner but was stopped by the angry old Priest Zuma...
"Leader, on Cuba Main Island, cassava's yield can reach five to six hundred pounds per mu... And right now at Warrior Lake, the yield is under five hundred pounds. As for Flint Lake, further north by four hundred miles, the yield is a few dozen pounds less..."
