The Fall of the Golden Empire (Novel) (Volume 1) "Bloody Sunset" by Zhang Baotong
In the afternoon of the same day, King Atahualpa, accompanied by Ubato and Kuta Chica, took a large group of followers to visit the military supplies and grain storage warehouse in the north of the city. The two warehouses are side by side and built with large rocks of the same size. Each warehouse is about fifty meters long and twenty meters wide. There are soldiers guarding the gates.
The king first visited the grain warehouse. The entire warehouse was filled with golden corn. There was so much corn that it even occupied the aisles, making it impossible for people to enter. The king stood in front of the huge piles of corn and asked the official in charge of the warehouse, "How many people can this grain feed?"
The official in charge of the warehouse said, "It can probably feed 10,000 people for three to five years." The king nodded with satisfaction and said, "Very good." However, the official in charge of the warehouse complained worriedly, "The farmers will soon have to pay the grain again." , and there is no room in the warehouse, I really don’t know where to store the food that is delivered again.”
As soon as the king heard this, he said to the administrator Utopa, "There must be a place to store the food. Otherwise, if there is a war, the army will not be able to eat without food. I will send people to you and build another warehouse as soon as possible." .”
Utopa quickly replied, "Yes, Your Majesty."
Then, King Atahualpa led people to the military supplies warehouse. There is a narrow aisle in the middle of the munitions warehouse. Various military supplies and daily items were piled on both sides of the aisle. There were piles of military uniforms and shoes, piles of shovels and picks, piles of spears, axes, bows and arrows, and piles of furs, cottons, dinner plates, etc. There are so many things here that they can provide necessary protection for at least 30,000 to 40,000 troops.
King Atahualpa looked at the warehouse with a satisfied smile on his face, and then said to the local military school Kuta Chica, "How about it, are the things here enough for you?"
Kutachka hurriedly said, "Yes, Your Majesty, it is absolutely no problem to support 30,000 people."
The king said, "Since there is no shortage of military supplies, let's recruit and train soldiers quickly."
Kutachka said, "Your Majesty, please rest assured."
After leaving the grain warehouse and munitions warehouse, there are castles surrounding it. The castle was built around the former king's palace and two warehouses, mainly to protect and guard the palace and warehouses. The castle is small in size and consists of four towers connected by four tall walls hundreds of meters long. The city wall is about thirteen or four meters high, and there is a passage on it that can pass four people at a time. The tower is more than 20 meters high and divided into three floors. There is a large space inside, which can accommodate more than 200 people, and stores a large amount of food and fresh water. If a war breaks out, the officers and soldiers guarding the castle can mobilize troops from the four towers through the city wall.
The king went up to the top of the tower through the stairs of the northeast corner tower. He looked at the terrain around Tumebamba City for a while, and then led his followers through the passage on the city wall to the tower in the northwest corner of the castle. , took a breath on the tower in the northwest corner, then came to the tower in the southwest corner, and finally came to the tower in the southeast corner. The king and his followers took a breath and climbed to the top of the tower again. This is the highest point of the entire castle, four stories high, and is also the place for observation and command. From here you can have an unobstructed view of the city and the plain wilderness that extends to the foot of the mountain. And in that plain wilderness, there was a spacious royal marching road, which was the only way for the Inca Empire to go north and south.
The cool breeze blew from the tower, giving people a very cool and refreshing feeling. The king stood on the top of the tower and looked at the open fields to the south for a long time, and then said to Utopa and Kutachka, "This castle has a good terrain, is strong and easy to defend, is easy to attack, and can contain the enemy. Not only is it important to protect the palace and warehouse of the late king, but it is also very important to protect the Kingdom of Quito." Then he asked, "How many soldiers can this castle accommodate?"
General Utopa said, "This castle has only four towers and can accommodate approximately two to three thousand soldiers."
King Atahualpa said, "No, this castle is too small and must be expanded and rebuilt. If the castle can accommodate two to thirty thousand soldiers instead of two to three thousand soldiers, we can block the enemy coming from the south here. So. , we must build ten or twenty towers next to the castle, and then lead the stream into the castle. In this way, we have food and water, and with so many soldiers guarding it, the city of Tumebamba will be unbreakable."
The two local governors quickly agreed, so the king said, "I will mobilize 20,000 troops for you. You will use half a year to expand the castle three to four times, and then mobilize the troops to garrison in the castle." Say, "Yes, my great king."
After walking along the walls and towers of the castle for a long time, the king felt a little tired, so he got down from the tower and walked back along the city wall. When he reached a corner of the city wall, he saw a building built along the corner of the city wall. There is a small stone house. In front of the door stood a soldier holding a hatchet. The king walked up to the soldier intentionally or unintentionally and asked, "What is this hut used for?"
The young soldier immediately knelt down and replied, "This is a cell for prisoners."
The king said to the guard curiously, "Open it and take a look."
The soldier stood up and opened the door of the hut and let the king enter. There were no windows or ventilation holes in the hut, the light was very dim and it exuded a pungent musty smell. After a while, the king finally saw the whole room clearly. The room was not big, and the ground was empty. There was a small bed in the corner of the room. On the bed was a pile of hay.
The king then asked, "Why is there no one locked up in the hut?"
The guarding soldier said, "This cell is for important prisoners. Because there has been no war for many years, this cell has been idle." He pointed to the lock on the door and said, "Look, The locks are all broken."
When the king heard this, his face looked a little gloomy and said, "Why don't you change the lock? If you lock the prisoner, can you prevent the prisoner from escaping?"
The guarding soldier immediately realized that what he said was wrong and did not dare to say a word. The two officers beside the king hurriedly replied, "Your Majesty, this is a dereliction of duty." Then, the fierce Baba said to the guard, "Stop immediately. The locks were changed.”
The guarding soldier replied anxiously, "Yes, sir."
The king left the corner cell and left the castle. At this time, a mighty army of guards and a sedan chair of eighty people were waiting in front of the castle gate. King Atahualpa got into the sedan and said to Haya, "Go back to the palace." Then, the large group of people lined up towards the palace not far away.
After two or three days of inspection in Tumebamba, King Quito wanted to go to Guayaquil to continue his inspection, because Guayaquil is also a strategic town and is close to the sea, separated from Puna Island and Tumbes. Facing the sea.
However, unfortunately, when he was about to set off, it suddenly rained heavily, floods broke out along the way, and the road was blocked. The king suspected that this was what the gods were predicting for him, so he called the fortune teller accompanying the palace to make a calculation. The diviner told him that the gods were trying to dissuade him from going east. These words reminded him of the legendary white man Kontich who lived in seclusion in the East China Sea. Moreover, this white man was extremely powerful, intelligent and supernatural, and could punish humans with thunder and lightning, floods, earthquakes and volcanoes. The Inca oracle once warned the king that Contic should never be offended. The oracle is a sacred and supreme warning for all Inca people, including the Inca king, and it must not be ignored or violated in the slightest.
After the diviner's test, King Atahualpa understood that the sudden heavy rain and flood in front of him were the hints and warnings given to him by the white man Contic, and they were intended to prevent him from patrolling and inspecting the East China Sea. Now that the omnipotent Contic had given him a clear warning, he had to change his plan and order the cancellation of the cruise to the East China Sea.
Contic's actions indeed made the King of Quito feel angry, but there was nothing he could do about it. King Atahualpa looked at the endless torrential rain through the window, frowning and looking heavy. His wife, Queen Anna, put a glass of chicha wine on the table next to him and said softly, "Your Majesty, please have a glass of wine to relieve your worries."
Atahualpa continued to stare out the window, showing no reaction. Anna saw that the king was still immersed in his thoughts, so she walked up to him and asked with concern, "Rain, snow, wind and frost are natural. Why should the king worry about this?"
King Atahualpa shook his head gently and said, "Rain, snow, wind, and frost are natural, but this is the season when autumn is crisp and sunny with little rain. Why is there such a sudden and endless rainstorm? After all, it is a white man who lives in seclusion in the East China Sea. Kontic is causing trouble and doesn't want me to cruise the East China Sea."
But the young and beautiful queen said, "I heard that Guayaquil is just a small seaside town. The sky is high and the road is far away, so it's okay for the king not to go. Besides, the Kingdom of Quito has a vast territory and countless famous cities. Why does the king have to go to that small town on the East China Sea?" "
Although Atahualpa wanted to cruise the East China Sea and witness the majestic wonders of the sea with his own eyes. But the words of his wife, Queen Anna, made his wish suddenly become so irrelevant, so he asked Queen Anna, "Since you don't go to the seaside of Guayaquil, in your opinion, where else can you go?" Parade?”
Queen Anna said, "Tumebamba is a good place here. It not only has mountains and rivers, beautiful scenery, but also has simple folk customs and hospitable people. The south is popular and the north is vegetarian, and the flavor is unique. It can escape the heat in summer and the cold in winter. The late king There is a palace here, why doesn’t the king want to stay here peacefully for a few more days?”
Then, she added, "Your Majesty's tour is mainly to inspect armaments and deploy troops, and Tumebamba is an important military location in the north and south, so Your Majesty can make key deployments here."
King Atahualpa nodded repeatedly and said, "What my beloved wife said is very reasonable, so let's stay here for a few more days."
