3. The Age of Enlightenment

THEY WERE the best of the best. They had seen more training than anyone else in the Russian Empire, and had served in some of the battles against the English earning veteran status. they had always had the best of the Russian military technology, and surprised all by their quick learning and fierce determination. but in all of their years, and all the tales they had heard they had never encountered a unit as fierce as this.
the Aztec first legion had been hit by the Russian elite first archers early in the morning after being softened up by the fourth Russian horsemen. the arrows had little effect as the Aztec adopted their defensive formation, shields over heads, and to the front, making a tortoise. The Russian archers had, to all intents and purposes unlimited ammo. They had expected the stifling heat of the afternoon to cause the Aztecs to retreat from the far side of the valley, during which time they would be vulnerable, but the legion had held its position through the hottest part of the day. Frustrated the Russian commanders ordered the second and third horsemen to attack.  The Aztecs had held them off with consummate ease. Then the fourth chariot had charged against the depleted Aztec numbers. The Aztecs had pursued the chariot unit back towards the elite archer unit, as the chariot units slipped through the lines the archers had suddenly realized they would have to fight the Aztec legion. The Aztec legionnaires did not give the Russians time to use their bows, shields deflecting any fired arrows they waited until they were at point blank range before simultaneously drawing their short swords in a dark warning of what was to come. If they were surprised that the archers were going to fight they did not show it, with short effective strokes the elite archers line had been forced towards the head of the hill, but the archers did not break leaving a trail of blood they stepped back, swords in hand. The Aztecs held back for a second, drawing itself as if to throw a punch, they then threw themselves with renewed ferocity at the Russians. The Russians desperately wanted to channel their fury at the destruction of their horsemen into an attack but the Aztecs gave them no time, no time to think, sensing their opponents fear they changed from their effective strokes to wild slashes, mutilating their enemies, opening them up, and bringing horrible screams from them before they fell. Honor and pride lost the elite archers unit ran, leaving the Aztecs silhouetted against the sun they had fought under all day, victors, enemies, conquistadors.
Lenin had made a mistake and he knew it. He had not known enough about the capabilities of the Aztec legions and assumed that his elite archers and horsemen would be more than a match for them, but this was not the case. the Aztec legion was a fighting unit with no equal in his army, and many of his best units had been destroyed in proving that. None of his cities were at threat, the legion would have to cross a mountain range which he had well defended, phalanx units fortified on mountainous terrain had been proven virtually unbeatable, but the Aztecs would know this. They would not waste their legions, they would move round the mountain range giving him plenty of time to prepare a defense. damn it, but this was supposed to be a lightning strike, and now at best it would be a long drawn out campaign. Another fear plagued him. the English had all but disappeared. He did not know where any of their cities were and their scout units kept blocking any attempt to find out. Meanwhile many of his horsemen were on the other side of the world, exploring. He had the mightiest army in the known universe but his plans were being thwarted by a bunch of savages and the pathetic English civilization. He would recall his armies and then his enemies would pay.
'The great wall is finished'. Pride shone from the mans face as he presented his findings to Mao. 'about time' thought Mao, but his face showed none of his skepticism as he went to survey the wall. 'maybe this was not such a good idea??', but all doubts were soon banished from his mind as he saw the wall in the distance. Here was something that man had never achieved before. more than that he was worried about the Indians. They had become very powerful recently as their population grew, and their knowledge grew accordingly. This was partly a result of the development of monarchy. Mao was not yet convinced it was right for his civilization but there were doubts about his philosophy as he saw the Indian maps. He could barely contain his skepticism when he saw cities so far from the capital, but his explorations had later showed that the Indians were telling the truth. What if the Indians suddenly decided they wanted a piece of the Chinese civilization? Well this would certainly stop them, as well as being a formidable barrier to any army it would place doubt in the mind of the opposition. No this great wall would certainly stop unfriendly peoples.

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