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Fig. 18.
Huitzilihhuitl ("Hummingbird-feather"). (Tovar 95; courtesy of the John
Carter Brown Library, Brown University) |
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tain general and supreme head of the army) and gave it to his brother Cuauhtlecoatl (also known as Itzcoatl), who was to become the fourth Aztec king.
18 The Aztecs also expanded their tactical skills by practicing naval warfare from canoes.19 Whether the boats played an active combat role at this point is uncertain, although armored canoes (chimalacalli) were used in battle as a source of projectile fire in the Spanish conquest. But the use of canoes sharply altered the local military situation, because until this time campaigns in the basin had relied largely on land travel around the lakeshore and the inadequate logistical support of tlamemehqueh (porters). Canoe transport could dispatch and resupply troops, greatly reducing the logistical problems within the basin of Mexico and opening both lakeshore and island cities to easier attack. Military operations were henceforth limited only by the supplies available rather than the limited amounts that could be carried on foot. Even more important, |
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