“Madafok!” gasped Teul, picking himself up. “I didn’t sign up for this a madafok.”
Paxte was shaped like the outer rim of a segment of a circle, and the new larger ulew-q’a’m from northern K’aay went southeastward to northern Paxte. The ulew-q’a’m led straight to the island’s larger buildings that ran north to south and were located on the highest part of the small island, all the other surrounding buildings being low residential buildings. More buildings lay crumbled by the second k’o-chuq’ab kabraqan and there were many casualties.
Ahau Topoxte had concentrated one of the four companies of the militia, two hundred and fifty men and boys, in the south end of Paxte where they had been joined by the withdrawing militia from the south peninsula and K’aay. Out of the seven hundred and fifty militia stationed on the peninsulas and K’aay, only about two hundred made it to Paxte. The combined forces consolidated into four companies, just over one hundred militia troops in each, all jammed into the southern half of Paxte. Because of the new width of the ulew-q’a’m, Mahanamtz reinforced army would be able to march across with a wide and deep column formation. His army was two battalion strength having one thousand one hundred and fifty Warriors, having lost one hundred Warriors on the northern peninsula and two hundred and fifty at K’aay.
Mahanamtz marched his column, a rank of twenty-five and files of forty-six, towards Paxte. On arriving on the beaches of Paxte, he split his expeditionary force, deploying a battalion of over five hundred to attack the south while he and his other battalion halted at the western end of the ulew-q’a’m that stretched across to Topoxte. With that strategy, Mahanamtz planned that the battalion advancing south would go into a concave formation around Paxte’s Militia and begin pushing them to the southern beaches of the island. There would be nowhere else for Paxte’s troops to go as they were then cut off from moving north by Mahanamtz, and only the áayin infested waters of Ha’ Yaxha lay to the east, south, and west.
The trained Topoxte Nacons knew that their situation was desperate and tried their best to rally the remaining militia. They had sent Runners to Topoxte’s Nim-q’ij Commanders advising that it was best to evacuate Paxte. Instead, they were ordered to remain in southern Paxte and, as Mahanamtz moved across northern Paxte, they were to attack Mahanamtz’ southern flank. It was planned that Topoxte’s Warriors would then block Mahanamtz at the ulew-q’a’m, not allowing an advance into Topoxte City itself. But, as the battle continued, fear had grown and was rampart among the Paxte’s Militia. Many lay dead or wounded on the battlefield that Paxte had become and also under the rubble of crushed buildings brought down by the kabraqan. Above them was the continuous tortured cry of Skinny, skinny, yu no know me? followed by the scream of a wounded Warrior militia as Xwáay Chikoop swooped down and sank her fangs into him. There were the howls of the Batz, and the moaning and barks of the Hach-k’ek’ens as they attacked viciously. The Paxte Militia fought hard against the Kechelaj Jupuq, but were eventually pushed to the edge of the ha’. They stood and fought, dying on the land like Warriors, not allowing themselves to enter the water where the áayins awaited them. They all died, every Nacon, boy, koolnáal, fisherman, artisan, until the sands of Paxte were drowned in blood. Mahanamtz remaining Warriors of his two southern battalions then marched northward to join the battalion waiting to cross over to Topoxte. Once the two battalions had consolidated again, platoons of the Kechelaj Jupuq moved over Paxte, eating, killing any wounded, cleaning the city of the bodies, throwing them into the ha’ to the waiting áayins. They finished at nik’aj-q’ij, midday, rested, and reorganized.
Topoxte Island was crescent shaped, the outer rim on the east. The ulew-q’a’m had joined the northern part of Paxte to the northern and central part of Topoxte, where the highest slopes rose from Ha’ Yaxha, sloping slowly to the south. Ahau Topoxte had posted his battalion of trained Warriors in that area, anticipating that if Yaxha did attack Topoxte, Yaxha would try to establish a bridgehead there before marching on to the Nim-q’ij Palace in the center of the island. Blocking Yaxha’s advance was the best way to protect the Nim-q’ij Palace and the Nim-q’ij Family. Although they were not fully trained, the Ahau had anticipated that the one thousand militia troops would have stopped Mahanamtz and his Kechelaj Jupuq’s advance from the west. That there would be two unforeseen k’o-chuq’ab kabraqans with the resulting elevation of Ha’ Yaxha’s bed was, of course, never considered.
As the battle at Yaxha continued during the morning, Mahanamtz his Kechelaj Komon, and Kechelaj Jupuq rested on Paxte. Ahau Topoxte, under advisement from his Nim-q’ij Commanders, redeployed his Warriors. Scouts reported that the fighting in Yaxha persisted and was intense, so even if Yaxha defeated Yax Mutul, Yaxha wouldn’t be able to, wouldn’t want to, launch an attack on Topoxte; and, most likely, Yaxha would not assist Topoxte in the battle against Mahanamatz as the city would be reorganizing to defend itself should Mahanamatz decide to attack that city also. Ahau Topoxte did not concern himself with Ox Witz Ha as intelligence indicated that K’an II was preparing to defend his city against the besieging Naj Tunich army. He hoped and did expect that Yax Mutul would be victorious over Yaxha, but even if that happened, he was not sure if Yax Mutul would be in the position to send any reinforcements to fight Mahanamtz due to the fierce fighting and, most probably, large number of casualties at Yaxha.
Ahau Topoxte stood on the top tier of his Nim-q’ij Palace, the main temple in the central courtyard, with three of his Nim-q’ij Commanders and his Nim-q’ij Nabe Kaloonte’, Teoxihuitl.508 He looked at K’aay. There was no smoke rising. He gazed at Paxte where smoke still rose and Mahanamtz’ battalion waited, based at the edge of the ulew-q’a’m, just quarter k’ab from Topoxte and the center of his kingdom. He beheld Topoxte. One of the smaller temples at the northeast end of the platform had been badly damaged by the k’o-chuq’ab kabraqans, and two buildings to his right bore large cracks in them. The platform itself was undamaged, but the quay leading into the bay was fractured with large uneven cracks. Many war canoes lay crushed upon the beach, destroyed by the waves that pounded the island after the two k’o-chuq’ab kabraqans, and all residential homes on the beaches had been flooded and damaged. The wide and long Nim-q’ij Canoe sat smashed on top of the quay, its palm-leaf awning and rich adornments nowhere to be seen. All nine chultuns in the central courtyard were all intact, but many on the other parts of the island had been flooded. The flat stone ceiling of the Nim-q’ij Residence to his left was partially collapsed, but the Nim-q’ij Family was safe. How much longer they would be safe, he was afraid to wonder.
Ahau Topoxte had ordered all remaining citizens to the central eastern part of the island and the war canoes that were not destroyed were making trips, taking as many as they could to the southern banks of Ha’ Yaxha where they could escape what was to come by taking the sacbeob going east. Because of the ulew-q’a’m, Topoxte Bay on the west was landlocked so the war canoes from that side had to be lifted and carried across the island. Amidst all that was happening, the Ahau was also greatly concerned about his citizens who had fled earlier to Yaxha, only to be caught up in the middle of a war. He pushed all thoughts away, deciding he would concern himself only with Mahanamtz and Topoxte.
Teoxihuitl had stationed an extended column, a file of four Warriors and a rank of sixty-four, of his best close combatants on the western beach of the island. Those two hundred and forty Warriors covered about three hundred and fifty feet of the beach from the northern corner of the city’s major platform southward to beyond a wide flight of stairs that led from the beach to the courtyard in front of the Nim-q’ij Palace. They were armed with maquahuitls, long and short bate’s, ba’ats, ikajs, jos, and to’bal-ribs. The platform was sixteen feet in height, its length going southwest for almost six hundred feet. The Warriors stationed there were ordered not to withdraw. They had to stand and fight. No Warriors were placed on the beach in front of the remaining southern part of the platform as Teoxihuitl had decided it was strategic
ally best to defend the central area of Topoxte only, not spreading his Warriors too thinly. He deeply regretted the loss on Paxte, took full responsibility for it as Nim-q’ij Nabe Kaloonte’, even thought he had argued with the Nim-q’ij Commanders to do as the Nacons on Paxte advised. He was not going to make the same mistake again. He would allow the Kechelaj Jupuq to overrun the eastern and southern theaters if they wanted to. If Central Topoxte fell, the battle was lost.
On the floor of the main platform, Teoxihuitl stationed one hundred and forty Warriors armed with sk’ops, extra kus filled with ch’abs, pubs, jatz’oms, and wik’iaqs, weapons they would use to shoot down into the Kechelaj Jupuq. As the battle progressed, if needed to directly engage the enemy, those Warriors were also trained in hand to hand combat, the main battle technique his army used. If Mahanamtz ordered his Warriors to approach from the north, an appropriate number of Teoxihuitl’s Warriors would engage them. Teoxihuitl did not think there would be an approach from the north, however, as that’s where Topoxte’s highest elevation from the beach was and the area was dense with buildings. That combination made troop movements difficult. Also to their advantage, the main platform was at a higher elevation than the northern buildings and continued at that elevation as it extended east until it reached the eastern beaches when it then spread southward. Mahanamtz’ Warriors would have to scale it. That would be almost impossible without ladders and all ladders had been washed away during the kabraqan.
On the topmost tier of the Nim-q’ij Palace and three smaller temples to the north, Teoxihuitl stationed another twenty Warriors with sk’ops as snipers. They would target Mahanamtz’ Warriors should they reach the platform’s surface. On the courtyard in front of the Nim-q’ij Palace, he stationed one hundred Warriors to protect the Nim-q’ij Palace and the Nim-q’ij Residence where the Nim-q’ij Family were, should the Kechelaj Jupuq break through the defensive line and advance up the stairways. Those Topoxte Warriors had orders to engage any of Mahanamtz’ Warriors advancing from the south. Once he had implemented his strategy, Teoxihuitl waited. His Warriors waited. Topoxte waited.
Illustration 18: Ha’ Yaxha.
Illustration 19: The City of TOPOXTE: A Theatre of War.
Illustration 20: Battle Formations at Topoxte.
Kinich Ahau had just reached his zenith at nik’aj-q’ij when a Nim-q’ij Runner, sweating and almost out of breath, came up the temple steps onto the uppermost tier and approached Ahau Topoxte. He hit his chest. “Ahau!” The Ahau nodded. “I have just returned from Yaxha. The fighting is over. Yax Mutul was victorious, but at a great cost. Of the two battalions that engaged Yaxha, only three companies are left. One company will remain in Yaxha. Two are being made ready to come to Topoxte to engage Mahanamtz. War canoes are lining up and being manned and equipped with weapons and Warriors as we speak.”
“You have brought me great news, Runner. What is your name?”
The Nim-q’ij Runner put his fist to his chest and lowered his head. “Xipil,509 Ahau.”
“Do not lower you head, Xipil. Topoxte will not forget this message of hope you bring.” Xipil lifted his head, hit his chest, stepped back, then turned and began running down the narrow steps of the temple he had ascended.
Topoxte moved once again beneath their feet and, immediately, the raucous, savage, deep guttural growls, howls, and roars of the Batzs, and the gruesome moaning and barks of the Hach-k’ek’ens tore across Kaán and above Ha’ Yaxha and the islands of Topoxte. In response, roaring thunder and overwhelming green u-hatz’il-cháaks erupted in the northwest as Maria fought against the force withholding her from making her forward march. Ha’ Yaxha became more agitated and more eerie globules ruptured its surface, coalescing into the growing and mysterious green mist. The Hach-k’ek’ens stood, their tusks extended, but Mahanamtz Warriors did not advance. They waited, resting for their final advance.
The assault came two ka’bs later. Mahanamtz’ Kechelaj Jupuq charged into Topoxte, led by Hach-k’ek’en Ajchaq’e, not attacking with the same arrowhead formation as Mahanamtz had modified it. The Kechelaj Jupuq came in as a battering ram, the column’s rank a solid wall of forty-five Warriors, the file twenty deep. Behind the column was Mahanamtz, Molly, and most of the Kechelaj Komon, surrounded by fifty of their troops.
The resistance Mahanamtz met was fierce. The Topoxte Warriors were superior Warriors and used their weapons with the greatest of skills, killing and maiming. Because the Kechelaj Jupuq came in as a solid column, however, Topoxte’s Warriors that were extended along the platform wall on either side of the advancing column were not engaging the enemy. To remedy that, a platoon of Topoxte’s Warriors on either side of the column moved to flank the Kechelaj Jupuq on its right and left flanks, but Kechelaj Jupuq Warriors from the rear of the column advanced quickly, encircled them and divided them into small teams, slaughtering all of them. Other than the casualties, however, Topoxte’s maneuver was not a complete disaster as many of the Kechelaj Jupuq Warriors that had left the column were taken out. Meanwhile, Xwáay Chikoop flew above them and screamed her heinously gruesome cry of Skinny, skinny, yu no know me? In the ha’, along the eastern edge of the ulew-q’a’m were Xwáay Ok’ol, Xwáay Kumätz, and Q’eq Ha’ Wíinik, swimming and playing among the áayins. The archers initially took shots at Xwáay Chikoop, but Etzelal Iq’ had arrived and reinforced the Kechelaj Jupuq with short and sudden gusts of wind that blew the ch’abs away.
The Kechelaj Jupuq also fought strongly and began a short turn to the west, a southward advance as their objective, moving towards the wide stairs that led up to the top of the first platform, the Nim-q’ij Palace, and the Nim-q’ij Residence. Twenty archers moved from the platform, down the stairs, and unto the quay where they shot ch’abs into the advancing head of the column just below them on the beach and the ulew-q’a’m. It was not long, however, before the column reached the base of the quay and Batz and Hach-k’ek’en Warriors rushed onto it, overwhelming the archers, ripping into them with their tusks, cudgeling them with their q’osibals, pushing them over and down onto the ulew-q’a’m where they were quickly ripped apart by other Warriors of the Kechelaj Jupuq.
Etzelal Iq’ began to increase his fury and the archers began to have difficulty with hitting their targets. At first, each ch’ab hit its target, but then it was one in three or four. Even with the extra kus, they were beginning to run out of the ch’abs, short bate’s for the jatz’oms, and k’iáqbals510 for the pubs and wik’iaqs. As the lack of ammunition increased, about half of the archers drifted towards the one hundred Warriors in front of the Nim-q’ij Palace, preparing for hand-to-hand combat as the Kechelaj Jupuq moved closer. Suddenly, the Kechelaj Jupuq split into two ranks, one going south and one going north, fighting ferociously with the Warriors against the wall of the platform. Within the battalion going south was Mahanamtz, Molly, and some members of the Kechelaj Komon.
Teoxihuitl observed from the top of the Nim-q’ij Palace, the Ahau having left to return momentarily. He wanted to be down on the ground with his Warriors, but knew that he had to remain where he was, observing the theatre, sending orders with Runners to his Nacons as the battle developed. He saw the redeployment of Mahanamtz’ troops to the east and west along the northern beach and was not surprised at that strategy. He also knew that his Warriors, even though they were fighting bravely, were beginning to tire and die. The battle had been raging for two k’abs and it was going to remain in Mahanamtz’ favor unless reinforcements from Yax Mutul came. He looked towards Yaxha, as he had done several times before, hoping to see Warrior canoes approaching. All he saw was an agitated and frothing ha’ covered by a strange green mist, and greenish-black boiling clouds with continuous green u-hatz’il-chaaks thundering in the northwest.
“Nabe Kaloonte’!” Teoxihuitl turned and there was Xipil.
“Xipil! I hope you bring good news again.”
“Yes, Nabe Kaloonte’. I have been to Yaxha back. Yax Mutul is just minutes away from landing. It
is Nabe Kaloonte’ Yolotli511 himself that leads them. They will disembark on the ulew-q’a’m where the bay used to be.”
Teoxihuitl looked to the ha’, once again. “I do not see them.”
They come hidden in the green mists. They have lost at least a platoon in the crossing.”
Teoxihuitl frowned. “How?”
“They were attacked by Xwáay Ok’ol, Xwáay Kumätz, and Q’eq Ha’ Wíinik. They came out of the mist, pulled Warriors from their canoes and the Warriors fell to the waiting áayins. Sometimes, the áayins leapt into the war canoes and sunk them. The green mists echoed with their cries. I travelled beside them for a while, but thought it best to distance myself. I left and raced over the ha’ rushing to get this information to you.”
Sisimito III--Topoxte Page 55