If no agreement was reached after this second offering, a third and final warning was given with harsher terms. If no agreement was reached after the final warning, the Aztec army would attack within twenty days. Enemy kings suffered personal punishment by the Aztecs if they waited until the third warning to accept the Aztec empire's terms. During combat, captured warriors were enslaved and sacrificed. Captives had the option of fighting Aztec warriors in order to obtain their freedom and would be forced to fight with a handicap such as with one hand tied behind their backs.
If the captured warrior won the fight, he would be set free. The Aztecs also engaged in what were known as "flower wars. The military intelligence conveyed by these merchants could enable successful campaigns, especially in lands distant from Tenochtitlan, the capital. The next step was to send a formal ambassador to the area or city state. If, after 20 days the city declined, the ambassadors returned with threats of what would happen if they continued to refuse.
After a second refusal to become a tributary, the Aztec army marched. Every boy received military training at their schools, both telpochcalli and calmecac.
The boys endured hard exercise to build up muscles and received military training as they grew. At the end of school, boys wanting to be warriors received further training in the army on the battlefield as weapon carriers and messengers. The Aztec system of communication required regular messengers. The emperor established a group of well-trained runners every 2. When a message went out from Tenochtitlan, runners could convey the information to the farthest flung outpost.
Military commanders conveyed messages to allied cities regarding troops and provisions needed for the upcoming war.
A macuauitzoctli was a long club made of hardwood with a knob on each side. A huitzauhqui was a baseball bat type club, although some of these were studded with obsidian or flint. A cuahuitl was a club shaped like a baton, made of oak.
A cuauololli was basically a mace, a club topped with a rock or copper sphere. Itztopilli were axes shaped like a tomahawk with a head of either copper or stone. One edge was sharpened, the other blunt. Tecaptl were daggers with handles seven to nine inches long.
They had a double sided blade made of flint. Aztec warriors drew their tecaptl for hand-to-hand combat. Aztec warriors carried round shield made of wood that was either plain or decorated with their military insignia called a chimalli. The higher rank warriors had special chimalli with a mosaic of feathers denoting their society or rank. Basic Aztec armor was quilted cotton of two to three thicknesses.
The cotton was soaked in salt brine then hung to dry. The salt crystallized in the material, which gave it the ability to resist obsidian blades and spears.
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