The Fall of the Golden Empire (Novel) (Volume 1) "Bloody Sunset" by Zhang Baotong
After inspecting the grain depot, King Atahualpa was going to inspect the northern army station four kilometers west of the grain depot in the west of the city. The king was carried in a sedan chair by eighty people, escorted by more than two hundred palace guards, and headed west along the marching road in the suburbs. Along the roadside, in addition to a few farmers, you can see groups of soldiers coming from other places dragging extremely tired steps from time to time. When the farmers and soldiers saw the king's sedan chair, they all knelt down and worshiped. But the king was sitting in the sedan and could not see outside, so the sedan walked quickly forward.
Crossing a small river from the marching road, we entered the northern army's station. When the soldiers guarding the bridge saw that it was the king's sedan, they quickly saluted, and an officer on duty came over to lead the king's sedan team diligently.
After walking through a rugged road made of cobblestones, we arrived in front of a large military camp. In a large open space in front of the military camp, many young people who had just grown up gathered. From their brand new clothes and childish faces, it can be seen that they are recruits who have just been recruited from various provinces in the Kingdom of Quito. These recruits lined up in several long lines to receive various weapons and items.
Inca law stipulates that a man must obey his parents and be taken care of by his parents before he is twenty-five years old. And once you reach the age of twenty-five, you have to join the army and perform military service. However, judging from their age, many of these Quito recruits are only eighteen or nineteen years old. Because of the years of war, all men over twenty-five have gone to the army, while almost all the people in the village are old people, women and children. Therefore, when recruiting soldiers, we can only recruit men who are less than twenty-five years old. Especially when the country is in crisis, all men between the ages of 15 and 50 will be asked to serve as soldiers.
The Inca Empire stipulated that all young people must be drafted into the army when they reached a certain age. In addition, the Inca Empire also stipulated that all villagers in each village must undergo two to three days of formal military training every month, and the village would use public food to entertain those who participated in the training. Therefore, if necessary, the king can throw one or two hundred thousand troops into the battlefield at a time.
Among the dozens of rows of military camps, there is a gorgeous and tall house. This is the residence of the high priest of Chalkuchma.
Before they arrived at the military camp, someone came to report that the commander of the northern army was watching military training at the training ground. So Atahualpa asked the guards to go directly to the training ground.
The training ground of the Northern Army is located behind a mountain, separated from the royal hunting ground by a mountain. It only needs to be climbed over a mountain to reach it. Behind the mountain is a large flat mountain col. There are several rows of barracks built in the mountain col. In front of the barracks is a large flat and open grassland. There are many soldiers on the grass undergoing various military training. Seeing the sudden arrival of the king, Chalkuchma hurried over to bow and salute, and then took the king to the viewing platform to watch the military training.
At this time, nearly 10,000 troops were scattered around the grass pastures conducting intense training. The Inca army was generally divided into squads of about a hundred people, squadrons of about three hundred people, and large groups of about a thousand people. The officers of the brigade are called school officers, and the officers of the squadron and squad are called lieutenants. An officer in charge of more than 3,000 people is called a general, and an officer in charge of an army of more than 10,000 people is called a commander.
Each team in the pastures and jungles has a military flag, and the most eye-catching and dazzling flag is the royal flag. The flag shines with the pattern of the sun and the rainbow. This is the national flag emblem of the Incas, indicating that they are the sons of God.
Where the military flag was flying, the sounds of soldiers fighting and shouting were everywhere. These soldiers were wearing the red uniforms of the Quito army, with turbans on their heads. They were armed with spears, tomahawks and daggers. They were either engaged in one-on-one fighting, or shooting bows and arrows and projecting javelins. Spears, javelins, and arrowheads had bronze points, but many more had bone points. For defense, they either wore armor or a thick cotton doublet and carried a shield. But what they trained most was throwing stones.
Throwing stones was the most effective method used by the Incas in defense. They placed many large and small stones in city walls or bunkers built with stones, and then lifted or lifted the stones to throw them towards the target. They even invented the sling. This trebuchet is very simple and can throw many stones dozens of meters at the same time. The lethality is also very strong.
It can be seen from the training of these soldiers that most of these soldiers are recruited from some provinces with particularly strong and warlike characters. They are not only hard-working and discipline-abiding, but also brave and good at fighting, and don't care about death. Many of the lower commanders in this army were promoted from among them, and some have even been promoted to noble Inca officers responsible for overall command. The junior officers who commanded the training wore helmets made of wood or animal skins on their heads, held a sword in one hand and a shield in the other, and kept shouting and commanding the soldiers. Under the royal flag, there were gathered some high-ranking officers. They wore helmets made of metal and decorated with gems. The helmets were decorated with bright feathers of tropical birds. They waved the small flags in their hands and directed each squadron and squadron to conduct various trainings.
Seeing the king and his people coming for inspection, the officers quickly knelt down and shouted in unison, "Long live the king!"
The Great Dynasty waved their hands, indicating that they should continue training. As a result, the officers waved the small flags in their hands and directed the troops everywhere to continue training. The king came to a small team practicing archery and watched the soldiers practicing archery. Perhaps because these soldiers were newly recruited, or perhaps because the king stood watching and felt nervous, those soldiers missed their targets one after another.
The king couldn't stand it anymore, so he stepped forward and asked for a soldier's bow and arrow. While explaining and demonstrating, he then aimed at the target hanging on the tree opposite and shot several arrows. You can see that every arrow goes straight through the bullseye. The soldiers and officers on the side were so shocked that they kept applauding vigorously.
Then, the king came to a squadron practicing hand-to-hand combat and watched the soldiers holding a spear in one hand and a shield in the other as they practiced one-on-one assassination. Seeing that some soldiers were unable to attack in hand-to-hand combat, the king immediately asked them to stop, took the spear and shield from one soldier, and demonstrated how to stab the other soldier. The king was seen fighting the soldier three times. Because the two were entangled, the spear could not be used for a moment, and the king suddenly hit the soldier on the head with his shield, knocking the soldier to the ground. Then, he said to the instructors and soldiers standing aside, "Training should be just like actual combat. Fight with real guns and swords, don't play tricks."
After that, he said to the instructor, "Come here and show yourself to the soldiers."
Of course the instructor didn't want to compete with the king, but he didn't dare to disobey the order, so he had to get a spear and shield from a soldier and compete with the king. Every move the king tried was cruel and full of murderous intent, but the instructor just dodged left and blocked right, blocking forward and responding. He was afraid that he would be stabbed by the king accidentally with one move, and he did not dare to boldly attack and fight. For fear of hurting the king. As a result, the two fought for dozens of rounds in total, until the king felt that his physical strength was insufficient, and he dropped his spear and shield on the ground while gasping for air. When the instructor saw that the king had dropped his spear and shield on the ground, he took a long breath and threw the spear and shield in his hand on the ground. He touched his forehead and was already dripping with sweat.
The king took a breath, and then said to the soldiers watching, "You all saw it, right? Training must be like this."
The soldiers shouted in unison, "Yes, Your Majesty."
Then, the king walked up to the young instructor, patted the instructor on the shoulder, and said, "Who did you learn this martial arts from?"
The instructor said, "I learned it from the original school officer."
The king asked again, "How many people can you treat at one time?"
The instructor said, "I once fought against four rebels and finally killed them all."
The king said with satisfaction, "Not bad, not bad." He immediately turned to the accompanying general and said, "Transfer this young instructor to the palace to be my guard."
The general nodded quickly and said, "Yes, my king."
The last thing the king watched was the training of Liwa soldiers. The Lihua tribe is a remote northern tribe conquered by the Incas. Although this tribe is not big, it is very barbaric and cruel. It is said that the tribe also has the custom of eating human flesh raw. Killing people is like trampling to death an ant. Therefore, the Quito army recruits soldiers from the Liwa tribe every year and stipulates that all adult and prime-age Liwa men must join the army and form them into the same army as the army's trump card.
These soldiers wore the emblem of Liwa military uniforms, with thick cotton tights on the upper body and wide cotton trousers on the lower body. Wearing a helmet made of wood or beast skin, they are armed with bows, arrows, spears, javelins, daggers, battle axes, and a large number of slings. What is different from other soldiers is that their spears and arrowheads are not equipped with ordinary bone points, but copper points. They are divided into companies and battalions, one company is a small team, and one battalion is a large team. Each company has a flag with a national micro pattern. The officer standing in front of the brigade was obviously a nobleman. His spear was made of pure gold. The top was not only dotted with gorgeous gems, but also decorated with the colorful feathers of tropical birds. Obviously, his spear is not only used to kill enemies, but also used to command.
These soldiers carried clubs, bows and arrows, slings, and javelin spears, with which they fired raindrops of stones. It is intended to weaken and prevent the enemy's attack. Then, shoot bows and arrows and throw spears to effectively kill and weaken the enemy's spirit. In this way, the assault troops can rush over.
After watching the soldiers' drill, the king said to the accompanying and surrounding officers, "Today's training is just a drill, the real battle is yet to come. Therefore, I declare that as long as those who have achieved meritorious service through life and death in battle, no matter who they are, Whether it is an officer or a soldier, I will personally reward them. I will reward them with the most beautiful women and the most precious items. At the same time, I will also reward them with large tracts of land and give them exceptional promotions. I want all officers to Remember my words, and convey my orders and rewards to every soldier, and let them know the military orders and military regulations that reward bravery and kill defectors, so that the soldiers can use their lives, fight hard, make achievements, and return in triumph. Everyone Is it possible for officers and soldiers to do it?”
All the officers stood upright and replied in unison, "Keep this in mind."
