Aztec Civilization: Destiny to Conquer America!-Chapter 1810 - 1299: Facing the Wa People, the Advantage Is Ours! (Part 2)
"Um... Zuu! I already have many wives..."
"Zu?! This is a tribal alliance! I'm offering my sister to marry you, to become one of your wives... Are you going to refuse?..."
Bei Yu Nizhao frowned, looking somewhat displeased. Even Bei Yu Baishan couldn't help but look up, feeling aggrieved and on the verge of tears. In such an alliance ceremony, in front of so many Ainu people, how could one refuse?...
"Ah! Another political marriage..."
Zuwaro sighed helplessly, and could only take the grass chain of wild millet to place it around the neck of the graceful and elegant maiden. In that moment, in his already crowded mind, another image of an Ainu girl was added. It felt as if another rope had been tied around him, binding him even tighter to this Northern Continent, making it impossible to return to the highlands...
"Divine Might of protection! Wild millet and barnyard grass, man and woman! Divine Might has strung them and us together!..."
"Blessings of Divine Might! When new children are born, the ancestors' bloodlines will combine once again!..."
Witnessing this scene, the surrounding Ainu tribes burst into joyous cheers once again. The Kingdom's warriors and soldiers, too, excitedly broke into a war dance. Amid the jubilant cheers, there was only one heartbroken girl, silently bowing her head, retreating into the shadows of the crowd...
"Divine Might's protection! Zu! Today is the seventh day since you came to the tribe, it's an auspicious day for engagement, but not yet the time for marriage!... The real wedding will have to wait until we return from the southern Hanbin faction, after repelling the threat of the Wa people and the Ishikari faction... and perhaps, the Great Chief of the Hanbin faction, Bei Yu Hebin, might also offer his sister or daughter to you... Then, the two sacred weddings could be held together!"
Bei Yu Nizhao, with a smile, took his sister and pulled her away from Zuwaro's side. After the alliance and engagement witnessed by Divine Might, the two Great Chiefs of the "Bei Yu division" finally had a foundation of trust. They could finally sit down and discuss the plans that had been decided earlier, and talk about the big matters of the tribes and the men.
"Zuu! How many warriors are there in the contribution team of the Wa people from the South? How many should our two tribes send together to drive them away? And what is the current situation of the Hanbin faction?"
Zuwaro's expression turned serious as he inquired about specific intelligence, preparing for the upcoming southern campaign. Last night, in the end, he chose to first make contact with the Bei Yu various factions, choosing to become a member of the Bei Yu Tribal Alliance!
The reasons were, firstly, from a geographical standpoint, both Bei Yu divisions were located by the seaside, making them excellent trade points and supply ports for navigation, facilitating communication and exchange. Secondly, from a diplomatic perspective, both Bei Yu divisions were in a weak position, facing threats from the southern Wa people and the eastern Ishikari faction, making them a clan on the Ainu Peninsula urgently needing ally support! Their sincerity in forming an alliance was great, even willing to acknowledge that the Kingdom was a "brother of the Bei Yu same clan." From a military strength perspective, after formalizing the alliance, even if the Kingdom revealed a great amount of gold, due to their need for military support from the Kingdom and their relatively weaker strength, they would not easily betray us.
"Chief Divine witness! Forming an alliance with the coastal Bei Yu division is reliable and necessary! Even if we want to continue southward to trade with the Wa people... we must unite an Ainu clan, gather greater strength. The price of trading always depends on the balance of power between the two sides! After all, if you can seize it directly, why bother to exchange? Trading is never fair! The greater the power one possesses, the more advantageous they are, the more benefits they can reap from the trade!"
Zuwaro sailed tens of thousands of miles and only after arriving in Northeast Asia did he realize that every Great Tribal Chief here was a pragmatic strategist driven by strength. He listened to Bei Yu Hanbin narrate the brutal conflicts on the Western Sea Continent and the Wa people's invasion from the southern part of the Great Island, and his mind was already filled with vigilance against the Chief's prophecy of the "Three Islands Wa Tribe Alliance" from the South, a formidable force capable of mobilizing tens of thousands of warriors!
The "Twelve Wa Tribes" at the southernmost part of Maoxili Island is not like the straightforward and loosely organized tribes on the Northern Continent, but rather a truly powerful tribal alliance, a branch on the Northern Great Island. Therefore, they could always pull reinforcements from the further southern Wa tribal alliance anytime!
If he directly took his fleet to trade with the Wa tribes at the southernmost point of the peninsula, revealing astonishing wealth in gold... then the other party might very well gather their forces and take action directly. Even if they don't act during the first trade, or the second trade, they surely won't be able to resist by the third!
"I cannot trade within the Wa people's territory, that is just too dangerous! Only by gaining the support of these local clans, choosing a further north and safer trading point, far from the Wa people's territory where we could be ambushed, and gathering a large batch of tribal reinforcements... can we lessen the number of troops the Wa can field, balance the strength between the two sides, and curb the Wa people's greed... That is the only way to conduct proper trade!"
To put it bluntly, Zuwaro needs the goods of the southern Wa people, needs their craftsmen, but can't trust them not to act!
He knows little about the internal affairs of the Wa Country, only knowing from the Chief's prophecy that this "Wa Tribe Alliance" is more aggressive and practical than the "Korean tribal alliance" or the "Great Ming Han tribe coalition." As long as the immediate benefits are sufficient, the other party will never be bound by oaths and marriage... 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞
As for the Ishikari faction far inland, contacting them would be very difficult. They are currently in a strong and prosperous phase, and if seven or eight large tribes could unite completely, they have more than thirty thousand people and could muster several thousand warriors. They may not be willing to ally with the Kingdom. Even if the alliance was formed, if wealth was revealed in trade, it would be hard to predict changes in their attitude! After all, they have direct contact with the Wa people, and since they can go to war together for contributions, they can naturally go to war together for plunder...
Such a disproportionate alliance, with lack of sincerity, is one Zuwaro cannot gamble on, and losing is not an option. The military force in his hands seems substantial but is one-time use. The cost to support it is too high, and once exhausted, it's over...
"Moreover, the Great Chief of the Hanbin faction, promised me another condition... to help the Kingdom establish a camp on the northern shore of the strait, on the nearby Birch Tai Island! And he, as the Great Chief of the Bei Yu Hanbin Faction, will call upon the Ainu tribes on Birch Tai Island who have had trade and marriage relations, to join the Kingdom... oh no, join the 'Bei Yu Thousand Islands Faction!'... In this way, the two tribes can support each other across the straits, and reinforcements will only take two to three days, benefiting both sides..."
Thinking of this, Zuwaro looked towards the North, towards the end of the strait, imagining the Birch Tai Island (Sakhalin Island), only about a hundred or two hundred miles apart. Although that place is colder than Maoxili Island, it's better than the Kamchatka Peninsula! There, the Kingdom will have its third port established on the Western Sea Continent, which might also be the most important base within decades!
"It is said that on Birch Tai Island, there are no major tribes, only numerous scattered small tribes... Thus, on the southern tip of Birch Tai Island, where the Ainu tribes hunt, find a suitable spot to establish a large port! ... Hence, not only can we connect with the Ainu tribes on the Great Island, but we can also avoid further southern Wa people's threats and facilitate trade with the further western Shandan tribes!... Moreover, with the Kingdom now claiming the identity of the Bei Yu clans, it will easily assimilate the scattered Ainu people on the Great Island..."
"The Kingdom has cold-resistant potatoes, has large ships for fishing, they will surely be able to open up that Huatai Great Island! As for the main island of Ainu Maoxili, with so many large tribe alliances and the dangerous Wa people... if we truly try to establish our footing with the power we currently have, we might end up like a black bear hugging a hornet's nest! Not only exposing the rear to the Hunter but also getting stung all over..."
The complex thoughts flashed through Zuwaro's mind, eventually turning into a confident smile, hanging on his handsome face. The Great Chief Bei Yu Marsh also laughed heartily, intimately putting his arm around Zuwaro's shoulder, speaking with a confident and bold tone.
"Zu! Our Hanbin faction will field three hundred warriors, at least one hundred of which will be archers. And your Thousand Islands tribe has three large ships, a hundred and fifty warriors, all equipped with armor... when we reach the southern Hanbin faction and join their fully mobilized six hundred warriors, it will be a total of a thousand warriors!"
"And according to the news sent from the Hanbin faction the day before... the contribution team of Wa people on the other side has only two hundred Wa warriors, a hundred able-bodied men from the Neipu clan, plus three hundred warriors from the Ishikari clan! ... A thousand against six hundred, the advantage is on our side!"
