The Fall of the Golden Empire (Novel) (Volume 1) "Bloody Sunset" by Zhang Baotong
When the Inca troops returned to their camp and lit bonfires in the camp to celebrate their victory, the Quito people who had been chased by the Incas and fled in all directions finally had a chance to breathe. The Quito army commanders, Chalcuchima and Quiskis, were escorted by the guards and fled to the edge of the plain. Seeing that the Incas had stopped pursuing, they had already withdrawn their troops and returned to camp, so they stopped on a hillside. Let the soldiers light the torches and let the bugler blow the rallying horn. Hearing the rally call, the fleeing Quito soldiers found their generals and began to slowly converge and assemble in this direction.
The soldiers seemed to have escaped from the clutches of death one by one. They sat on the ground in despair, pitiful and frightened, like a frightened bird. While they were panting or eating, they looked at the endless bonfire of the Inca camp several miles away, thinking that although they had escaped a disaster, they still didn't know whether they would encounter another disaster tomorrow. .
The night slowly darkened, and nearly 30,000 soldiers quickly gathered on this not-so-open slope. Although they gathered in formation, they appeared exhausted, demoralized, and miserable and pessimistic.
Seeing this situation, Charkuchma and Kiskis began to reorganize the teams and regiments with more than half of the dead and wounded, and re-appointed school officers and lieutenants. Afterwards, assault training was conducted for the soldiers. After training, regroup. At this time, this team composed of defeated soldiers became a new team.
Charkuchma asked a few soldiers holding torches to illuminate him and walked to the front of the team. He held a big knife in his hand, with murderous intent on his face. He looked at the soldiers in the dark night for a while, and then said, "Our kingdom is at a critical juncture of life and death. If the kingdom dies, I will die. And we are the kingdom." protectors. If the kingdom falls, we will be killed by the Incas, our homes will be occupied by the Incas, and our wives and children will be slaves to the Incas. Therefore, we must use our blood and lives to protect Our kingdom.”
Then, Chalkuchma added, "Today's decisive battle is not because our soldiers are not brave or our formation is not strong, but because the Incas used fire attacks to disrupt our formation and defeat them. Our defense line. But we have not completely failed. I ask every soldier to cheer up and be strong, to sacrifice their lives and fight tenaciously for the kingdom and our king, as well as for our wives, daughters and home. When we celebrate our victory, I will reward each of your soldiers heavily."
It was already late at night when Chalkuchma finished speaking. The two commanders Charkuchma and Kiskis ignored the hunger and exhaustion of the soldiers, and each led a group of troops to a canyon area in the Kipaipan plain.
The terrain here is narrow, with mountains on both sides. The mountains and hills are covered with shrubs, making it easy to hide. Because they knew that the Incas would definitely come to them for a final decisive battle after dawn. Therefore, the two Quito commanders personally led their troops and lurked in the bushes on both sides of the canyon under the cover of night.
The night is very quiet and the moon is very round. The grassland under the starry sky is night. The night wind in the Andes Mountains blows from a distance, making people feel cold. The Quito soldiers hiding in the bushes had been fighting for a day and had fled for a long time without rest. Therefore, many of them sat on the grass in the forest and leaned against the tree trunks and fell asleep. Because it is not very far from the Inca military camp, you can see the torches and lights in the Inca military camp as dense as stars. But after midnight, even the lights in the Inca military camp slowly became sparse.
After late at night, it was dawn. The sky became darker and the night wind became cooler. After a while, the sky started to get brighter. At this time, a troop began to walk toward the canyon from the Inca barracks in the distance, with about two to three thousand people. As they walked, they looked around, like the vanguard of reconnaissance and inquiry.
When they entered the canyon area, Chalkuchma asked the flag bearer to signal the attack. As a result, more than 30,000 soldiers suddenly rushed out of the bushes. They first cut off the retreat from the front and rear, and then rushed into the enemy's position like hungry wolves attacking prey. Kill all soldiers.
Afterwards, Chalkuchma and Kiskis asked the soldiers to carry all the bodies of the Inca soldiers to the forest, cleared the battlefield, and asked the soldiers to go into the bushes and hide again. Because they knew that this was just the vanguard of the Inca army, and the large army behind would come soon.
Chalkuchma asked the soldiers to tie the Inca general with a rope and take him to a dense forest, and then asked, "What kind of army is yours?"
However, that general was a prince and aristocrat, extremely loyal to the Inca King, so he refused to answer no matter how he asked. So Charkuchma asked the soldiers to scratch his cheek bit by bit with a sharp knife. The knife made two deep cuts on the general's cheek, and blood flowed freely. The general howled in pain like a slaughtered pig. Chalkuchma asked the general again, "What is your army and what is its mission?"
The general immediately replied, "We are the vanguard of the Inca King."
Chalkuchma asked again, "What is your mission?"
The Inca general hesitated, not wanting to answer. However, Chalkuchma said to the soldier, "Slash me again." So the soldier slashed his cheek with the sharp knife. The general screamed and said, "Don't row, I say."
Chalkuch immediately waved his hand and let the general speak. The Inca general said, "We are the vanguard of the Inca King. Let's come here to reconnoiter the terrain. If nothing unusual is found, we will send a signal to the King's troops. The King's troops will come out of the barracks and clear you along the plains and grasslands. The remaining soldiers were defeated."
As soon as Chalkuchma heard this, he immediately ordered the Quito soldiers to put on the yellow uniforms of the Inca soldiers and assemble. As a result, a team of three thousand people wearing Inca military uniforms quickly gathered on the grass beside the forest. Chalkuchma asked the Inca general to send a signal to the Inca king's military camp to report to him that everything was safe here. But the general still refused, so Chalkuchma asked the soldiers to continue slashing his face with the knife. Blood flowed all over his face and body, and the extreme pain made him feel heartbroken and his liver and gallbladder were torn apart. He finally failed to maintain his loyalty to the Inca king and surrendered to the Quitos. He was escorted by several Quito soldiers and stood on a high slope. He used flags to signal peace to the Inca camp.
At this time, the sky was already bright, and the sun rose from Dongshan, illuminating the Jipaipan plain. At the Inca army's barracks in the distance, one could soon see an army of about 10,000 people walking towards the canyon along the edge of the plain. A large golden sedan was exposed high in the middle of the team, shining with dazzling light under the rising sun.
Seeing that the Inca King was coming here with only about 10,000 troops, instead of all the tens of thousands of troops, Chalkuchma asked the Inca general why the Inca King only brought 10,000 troops. Soldiers and horses. The general said that King Huascar believed that after yesterday's battle, almost all of Quito's people had been killed, and the remaining soldiers were either routed or scattered, and no longer had much fighting power. I never expected that the Quito army was a well-trained and battlefield-hardened army that could quickly organize itself and regain its combat effectiveness after suffering heavy losses. Therefore, only 10,000 soldiers were taken out of the camp, while tens of thousands of troops were left in the camp on standby.
Because there was a safety signal from the vanguard, the Inca King swaggered along with more than 10,000 guards and soldiers, and walked calmly in the direction where the Quito people retreated yesterday. I wonder if the Quito soldiers might have fled to Quito after their defeat. If so, who should he send to lead the army in pursuit and crusade? With this thought in mind, he came to the canyon area unknowingly. However, what he never imagined in his dreams was that the Quito army had already laid a dragnet for him here.
When the Inca army entered the canyon, suddenly, horn horns sounded all around, and tens of thousands of Quito people who were ambushing on both sides of the valley came out of the bushes and surrounded the Incas. Commander Chalkuchma stood on a high slope, shouting, "Capture the Inca King alive", waving his sword, and led his soldiers to charge towards the golden sedan.
In order to protect their king, the Inca soldiers also surrounded the Inca king and fought to the death with the Quitos who rushed over. However, they were too few in number and were outnumbered, and were quickly dispersed by the Quito soldiers led by Chalkuchma. Seeing that the Inca soldiers were scattered, Chalcuchi rushed to the sedan and pulled Huascar out of the sedan. The Inca King fell heavily from the sedan chair to the grass, and was in a very embarrassed state. However, before he could stand up from the ground, the Quitos swarmed over him and caught him firmly. Chalkuchma ordered other soldiers to provide cover and asked the soldiers to take Huascar to a safe area by the forest.
Seeing that their king was captured by the Quidos, the Inca soldiers immediately dispersed and began to flee in all directions. However, the Quidos had surrounded them tightly, making it impossible for them to escape from the encirclement. They had to fight to the death with the Quidos. Fight. However, they were no match for the Quitos, and not long after, they were all killed by the Quitos.
Chalkuchma immediately asked a few of his cronies to guard Huascar, asked the soldiers to change into the yellow uniforms of the Inca soldiers, and asked the soldiers wearing Inca military uniforms to walk in the middle of the team, and he sat on Huascar's golden sedan , leading the soldiers towards the Inca barracks.
The soldiers in the Inca barracks watched the golden sedan being carried back, thinking that the battle was over, so they took no precautions. When the team reached a place very close to the enemy camp, Chalkuchma got off the sedan and ordered the soldiers to attack. Tens of thousands of troops who were waiting in the camp were suddenly attacked and immediately fell into chaos. They fled in the direction of Cusco like a swarm of swarms. Chalkuchma commanded the soldiers to pursue the victory all the way to the city of Cusco.
