The Fall of the Golden Empire (Novel) (Volume 1) "Bloody Sunset" by Zhang Baotong
Early the next morning, Chief Chamul, the commander of the southern army, led a force of nearly 80,000 troops and marched north along the marching road in a mighty manner, preparing to fight to the death with the Quito army on the plains of the Chimborazo Pass. They pursued the victory in the direction of Quito, captured the city of Quito in one fell swoop, and captured King Atahualpa alive again.
The Inca Empire stretched along the Pacific Ocean from near 2 degrees north latitude to 37 degrees south latitude, a line that crossed many of the borders of modern-day Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and Chile. Seen from the sea in the distance, the peaks here are like waves, one mountain higher than the other. And Mount Chimborazo shines above the clouds with its radiant snow top, like a crown of the gods. This range is criss-crossed by steeply cascading porphyry and granite mountains, and the upper reaches are covered with snow. In addition to being melted by the destructive activities of volcanic eruptions in the mountains themselves, this snow remains unchanged all year round even under the blazing equatorial sunshine.
The surroundings of the mountain peak are desolate and precipitous, with a vast territory, presenting a complex terrain of hillside highlands, cliffs, plains, canyons and rapids. However, the most famous one is the desolate, silent, gentle and open slope below the mountain peak. It is about 30 kilometers away from the city of Riobamba. It is not only the gateway for the Inca Empire and the southern provinces to enter Quito, but also the battlefield where the Inca Empire in the south and the Kingdom of Quito in the north fought a life-and-death battle many years ago.
At that time, 50,000 troops from the Inca Empire and 40,000 defenders from the Kingdom of Quito fought a life-or-death battle here. The two armies fought hard and melee several times, but neither of them broke through the other side's position. Seeing that the advantage of the Inca army was gradually lost, the defenders of Quito became more and more courageous as they fought. The commander of the Inca army had no choice but to report to the capital of Cusco. As soon as Huayna Capac, the Inca king, received the news, he immediately led the 40,000 troops guarding the capital of Cusco day and night to rush north for reinforcements. Just as the Inca army and the Quito garrison were fighting dizzy and exhausted on the plains of the Chimborazo Pass, Huayna Capac led 40,000 Cuzco troops to rush in and quickly overwhelmed the Quito army. The position of many defenders caused the Quito defenders to flee to Quito overnight. Now, another life-and-death battle to determine the fate of the Inca Empire and the Kingdom of Quito is about to be staged again here.
When the Inca army followed the marching road and came to the gentle and open slope at the foot of Chimborazo Mountain, they saw that the Quito army had been waiting here for a long time. At this time, it was winter in the Andes Mountains. Under the clear sunshine, the peaks of the mountains were higher than the peaks. The peaks were rising and the clouds were rising continuously, and there was no end as far as the eye could see. The majestic Chimborazo Mountain is the crown of these mountains. Usually obscured by floating white clouds, the towering peaks are hidden from view. Only when the white clouds are blown away by the strong wind, the snow-covered peaks are reflected under the blue sky like sea water, holy, beautiful and pure white, just like immersed in the sea. Andean goddess of ancient dreams.
However, the goddess of the Andes could no longer remain peaceful at this time. Under her open and flat mountain, on one side were the tens of thousands of troops from the Inca Empire who had just arrived, and on the other side were the tens of thousands of troops from Quito who had been waiting here for a long time. Chamul saw that Quito's army had already opened up its formation and was preparing for a decisive battle, so he asked the trumpeter to blow the horn and command all the troops to enter a battle-ready state.
Opposite are the 50,000 troops of Quito's troops in Quiskis, 30,000 of whom have been arranged in a facing array on the north side of the plain; another 10,000 are lined up in front of the high slope, standing by as a reserve. ; There are another 10,000 people standing on the high slope, as the second batch of reserves rushing down from the high slope at any time for reinforcements. The high slope is about several kilometers long, in the form of a slope of twenty to thirty meters high, stretching towards the mountainside. There were densely packed white tents on the high slope, and in the middle of the slope, there stood a large tent made of red brocade felt, which was very dazzling and eye-catching. There were many military flags and pennants in front of the tent. Prince Quiskis, the commander of the Quito troops who was guarded by hundreds of guards, was directing the formation of troops through trumpeters and flag bearers.
The Inca troops who had just arrived here began to gather and arrange their formations on the south side of the plain. A high-ranking officer waved a flag and directed companies and battalions of troops to line up in an array as long as the Quito troops opposite. And there are still some troops on their way here.
Soon, the armies on both sides were lined up, ready to charge and fight. The trumpeters on both sides blew the horns louder and louder, as if to overwhelm the other party or to encourage their own soldiers. After the trumpet sounded for a long time, Chief Chamul commanded the army to attack with all his strength. As a result, on several kilometers of open slopes, tens of thousands of troops lined up, marching in neat steps toward the Quito army rushing towards the opposite side like a lake.
The Quito army on the opposite side also rushed towards the Cusco army amidst the sound of cattle horns. At this time, the war drums beat louder and louder, shocking the valley to the point where thrilling echoes continued to echo. The sun revealed its entire face in the mountains, watching the frightening scene under the Chimborazo Snow Mountains with horror, but he had no way to stop the war and massacre of the subjects of these Sons of the Sun.
When the two armies reached a distance of a hundred meters, the horn blew again. The sound was no longer a monotonous and orderly sound, but a very urgent and chaotic mixed sound. The soldiers on both sides immediately let out deafening shouts and roars, and rushed towards each other with weapons.
When the two armies rushed to a place twenty or thirty meters apart, the Quito soldiers suddenly stopped, stabilized their formation, and began to use stone throwers to violently throw stones at the rushing enemy soldiers. Although this caused some obstacles to the soldiers who were rushing over, they still rushed over quickly. The Quito soldiers hurriedly started shooting arrows and throwing javelins at the enemy soldiers who were about to rush in front of them. Immediately I saw enemy soldiers falling down screaming. But more and more enemy soldiers were coming, and it was too late to replace javelins and arrows. So the soldiers from both sides collided, mixed together, and began to fight with spears, battle axes, and daggers. In less than a moment, tens of thousands of troops from both sides were engaged in a life-and-death fight on this vast and empty slope.
The grassy slopes were green after the rain, and patches of white snow remained in some places. But the screams and wails of human beings fighting each other are thrilling and make people's emotions change. The tragic scene of soldiers from both sides slashing with swords was even more frightening and cruel to watch. It made the mountains faint and the sky turned dark.
When the sun had just risen from the top of the mountain to mid-air, most of the tens of thousands of people fighting on both sides had fallen. Cusco had the advantage in numbers, so he had a clear advantage. Seeing that there were not many remaining defeated troops in Quito, Kiskis asked the trumpeter to blow the call to arms so that the soldiers could retreat and rest. But the commander of Cusco wanted to fight quickly and decisively, so he reorganized and added more troops to continue the attack.
Prince Kiskis quickly mobilized his troops and organized his troops to counterattack and defend. However, he only has 50,000 troops at his disposal, 20,000 of which are soldiers temporarily transferred from the central Ruminavi army for reinforcements, and the 30,000 elite soldiers led by the high priest Chalkuchma have not yet arrived. reinforce. He still felt a little unsure about using these 50,000 troops to engage in a life-and-death battle with Chief Chamul's nearly 80,000 troops. He kept sending Chaschi to King Atahualpa for urgent help and asked the high priest of Chalkuchma for reinforcements. However, the king who was living in the northern army camp on the outskirts of Riobamba replied, "This battle Life and death are at stake, we must fight to the death, Chalkuchma's elite troops will arrive before the afternoon." After hearing this, Commander Kiskis was so anxious that he was sweating, but he was helpless and kept asking himself His subordinates lost their temper with Chaschi.
After another round of fighting and impact, soon the Cusco army had reached the high slope defended by the Quito army. When Prince Kiskis saw that Cusco's army was attacking across the board, nearly 30,000 soldiers were divided into large groups and rushed toward them, having already broken through the defense line down the slope. Only more than 10,000 of his 30,000 troops at the head of the battle were left, and the 10,000 soldiers serving as a reserve force had also entered the battle. He must make the troops down the slope hold their position, otherwise, Cusco's army will break through his position down the slope and rush directly to the slope to threaten his command post.
Therefore, when he saw Cusco's army charging forward again, he asked the trumpeters to blow the horns loudly and ordered the soldiers to resist desperately. However, due to insufficient personnel and outnumbered, the position down the slope was quickly lost. The Incas began to rush up the slope, approaching the central tent led by Quito's army. Quiskis had no choice but to devote his last 10,000 elite soldiers to the final fight, and once again sent Chaschi to urgently report to King Atahualpa, saying, "If reinforcements cannot arrive quickly, Quito's army will be completely destroyed." The army was destroyed.”
The remaining 10,000 elite soldiers of Prince Kiskis built a solid defense line on the high slope, blocking the 30,000 soldiers of Cusco who had been fighting for a long time. However, the high slopes were steep in places and gentle in others, and the gentle areas were quickly washed away by the incoming Incas. Prince Kiskis commanded the soldiers to rush over and block the gap. However, not long after the gap was blocked, it was washed away again. And it can’t be blocked no matter how hard it is blocked. More and more Inca soldiers rushed from the gap, rushing straight towards the camp tent of Prince Chiskis. The leader of Quito's army put on his helmet, picked up a golden spear with bright feathers, and commanded the soldiers to block the incoming Incas. Then he took the guards and officers around him to supervise the battle in person, asking the soldiers to fight bloody In order to withstand the Incas charging from the front.
When the Quito army commander came to the forward position with a spear in hand, he saw that the Cusco people had almost rushed to the top of the slope, only tens of meters away from the command tent of the Quito army. Relying on the strength of their numbers and their loyalty to the Inca emperor, they sang hymns of filial piety and loyalty to the emperor and rushed towards them as if they were dead.
When they were twenty or thirty meters away from the top of the slope, a leading Inca general waved his spear, and the soldiers rushed towards the slope with shouts and roars. Quito soldiers lined up in several rows to guard the slope and prevent the Incas from going up the slope, because once they rushed up the slope, the entire defense line would be breached. But the Incas were outnumbered, and after a hard fight, the Quitos were unable to resist. It seemed that several relatively flat places had been washed away by the Incas. Prince Kiskis yelled, "Hold it!" Then he rushed towards that direction with several officers and guards.
