Inca Elegy (Novel) "The Fall of the Inca Empire" (Volume 2) by Zhang Baotong
The troops began to climb the mountain at noon, and it was already dusk when they reached the top. At this time, the cold wind suddenly rose, the temperature dropped sharply, and in the gray sky, strong winds carried large snowflakes and began to hit the soldiers. However, just before crossing this mountain, in order to travel lightly, the soldiers had already abandoned all their extra luggage and tents on the way. Because they never expected that this sunny September would also have cold wind and heavy snow.
The cold and biting mountain wind came quickly and quickly penetrated the clothes of the Spanish soldiers. Although these soldiers had put on thick clothes before going up the mountain, these clothes could not stop the strong wind and cold snow in the high mountains. After a while, his whole body was shaking with cold, and the hand holding the horse was so cold that he lost consciousness. Especially those Indian soldiers, who live in a dry and hot climate very close to the equator all year round and have never been to these high-altitude mountains. Therefore, they all wear very few clothes and are affected by the sudden cold wind and snow. Immediately the cold became unbearable. Some Indian soldiers' hands and feet soon became frozen and swollen. In order not to be frozen by the cold, they kept running and jumping, fighting desperately against the wind and snow with extremely tenacious will. However, no matter how strong the will was, it was still so weak and helpless in the cold wind and snow. Before long, two or three weaker Indians fell on the hard stone steps.
It soon became dark, and in the dark night, there was a cold wind and heavy snow, making the way down the mountain particularly difficult. For safety, Soto asked several soldiers to hold torches to light the way, but strong winds blew out the torches time and time again. The soldiers led the horses and moved hard and slowly down the mountain step by step through the white snow. They couldn't even see how far the road down the mountain was or how long the cold night would last. Soon the iron soles of many horses' hooves were worn through by the rough and hard stone steps. But the horse's hoofs cannot be worn out, otherwise the horse will not be able to walk. The soldiers took off their clothes and wrapped the horses' hooves. Because it was not easy to transport these war horses from Spain, they can be said to be the magic weapon for the Spanish to defeat the Inca army. Therefore, every Spanish cavalry regards their horses as second only to their lives.
Finally, they arrived at the foot of the mountain before the wind and snow stopped. Otherwise, we don’t know how long the soldiers’ disaster will last. At this time, the hands, feet and limbs of most of the Spanish soldiers had been stiffened by the cold and could not move, while the hundreds of Indian soldiers were almost dying. If they stayed in the wind and snow for another hour or two, none of them would be able to move. Most people are likely to fall on the road.
Fortunately, there is a larger inn at the foot of the mountain. There are two large houses made of stone in the inn. This kind of post station was a place where the Inca people delivered messages and valuables to the Inca king. At the same time, it was also a camping ground for the Inca nobles and troops to rest along the way. Soto led two soldiers into the house near the roadside, and saw two Indian postmen sleeping on the bed in the dark house. Soto knocked hard on the door, and the two postmen suddenly woke up from their dreams. At this time, a soldier had lit a torch, lighting up the whole room.
Seeing that the two postmen were trembling with fear, Soto ordered them to get up and open all the rooms. The two postmen were so frightened that they hurriedly put on their clothes, took the keys and went out to open the door for the soldiers. However, the soldiers were too cold to go into the house to sleep. Instead, they hurriedly lit a lot of firewood in the open space in front of the house to keep warm. But one fire was not enough, so the soldiers lit four or five bonfires and gathered around to warm their frozen hands, feet and body.
Soto asked two postmen to make a fire for the soldiers to cook. Two postmen opened a large warehouse filled with corn, potatoes, dried venison, and many tableware. The postman filled a large basket full of corn and went to a large kitchen to start cooking.
The polenta was ready, and the postmen poured the polenta into pots. The soldiers had not eaten hot food for two days in a row. They picked up the pottery basin and ate the dried venison deliciously. Indian corn is produced in almost every season, and corn produced in different seasons has different sweetness and hardness. The corn produced in the main season is softer and has more water, so the polenta tastes sweet and fragrant.
The soldiers carried clay pots and ate the polenta in big mouthfuls. If they didn't feel full after finishing one pot, they asked for a second pot. However, the big pot of porridge has been finished. So Soto asked the postmen to make another pot. It wasn't until three large pots of porridge were cooked that the soldiers were full, patted their bellies and went inside to sleep. The soldiers spread the furs and felts from the warehouse on the ground, lit a fire in the open space between the warehouse and the room, and then slept around the fire.
The soldiers stayed in this post station between the two peaks for two days, but still no troops followed up. So Soto left a few soldiers here, waiting to meet Almagro's troops behind. Because Soto knew that going further south would be closer to the troop camp where Chalkuchma was stationed, and he might encounter the Inca army at any time. In order to prevent unexpected events, he felt that he had to keep a close distance from the troops behind him so that he could receive reinforcements in times of crisis.
After climbing over another high mountain, we reached the bottom of the mountain and found a river that was not very wide. The river is deep and fast-flowing, and there is a rope bridge woven with willow sticks over the river. This rope bridge is not wide and can only be passed by a single person. It is about fifty meters long. It was constantly swaying and swaying under the blowing of the mountain wind. Obviously, this rope bridge can only be crossed by people, but not by horses. Because horseshoes will not only trample the bridge deck of the cable bridge, but also easily cause the entire cable bridge to collapse.
However, the Indians in the army immediately gave Captain Soto an idea. They asked the soldiers to cut down the woods by the river, cut off the branches, and then use willow branches to make ropes and tie the trunks together. raft. In this way, the soldiers could ride on rafts and lead their horses across the river. Soto thought this method was good, so he followed this method and asked the soldiers to start cutting down trees, weaving ropes, and then tying the tree trunks tightly with wicker ropes. As a result, a raft that could carry more than ten people at the same time was created. it is done. Soto first asked seven or eight soldiers to get on the raft. The Indian soldiers inserted a long pole into the water and supported the raft while paddling toward the other side without letting the raft be washed away by the rapids. Soldiers stood on rafts leading war horses while the horses swam hard in the river. Although the current carried the war horse further and further away, the soldiers held the reins tightly, so the war horse swam to the other side of the river quickly.
The first group of soldiers and horses crossed the river, and the second group of soldiers and horses had a smoother life. Within an hour, all the soldiers and horses successfully crossed the river. Finally, the Indian soldiers rowed the raft across the river bank again, tied it to a big tree on the bank for the troops behind, and crossed the river by themselves on the willow rope bridge.
After crossing the river, we went up to a mountain peak. However, the mountain is not very high and the summit is not very cold. When the soldiers stood on the top of the peak and looked down, they saw that under the golden sunshine, the canyon was lush and beautiful, and a river flowed gently from the canyon. Next to the river is a very flat and open valley, covered with large tracts of houses, much like a large village, or even a town.
Since leaving Cajamarca, the Spanish troops have been trudging through the mountains of the sparsely populated Cordillera Mountains and have never seen such a large village or town. Therefore, when they saw the canyon green land covered with houses at the bottom of the mountain, it was like finally seeing the light in the long night. Many people even regarded the place in front of them as the golden city of Cusco. Therefore, the soldiers cheered, feeling that their journey had finally come to an end and their dreams were about to come true, so they jumped, sang and laughed all the way and hurried down the mountain.
When they were about to descend to the bottom of the mountain, they suddenly saw pieces of black smoke rising from the village at the foot of the mountain. Then, the pieces of black smoke turned into raging fires and billowing smoke. Although the soldiers also saw this kind of scene from time to time along the way, it was the work of a few robbers and thieves. However, the fires were starting from many different places at the same time, and the fire was very strong. The scope is very wide. At first glance, it doesn't appear to be the kind of thief who steals chickens and dogs.
Although the soldiers were exhausted after marching all day, they still mustered up their strength and ran towards the fire.
When they ran to the village, the fire had turned many houses into rubble and ruins, but the soldiers still saw the group of arsonists. The group of arsonists wore Quito Inca military uniforms and were armed with javelins and hatchets. When they saw Spanish soldiers chasing after them on horseback, they whistled and quickly disappeared into the smoke-filled village streets.
The Spanish soldiers chased them through the sea of fire and thick smoke to the streets and villages, but they saw no one everywhere. They could only see a group of scattered people running towards the mountain pass calmly, like a group of people. Like a ghost floating in the sky. This was the first time they had seen Indian soldiers since their departure. Obviously, these Indian soldiers were aware of their arrival and were deliberately harassing and sabotaging them to prevent them from marching into the capital city of Cusco.
Cavalry Second Lieutenant Santos and more than a dozen cavalrymen quickly chased after him, causing a cloud of flying dust on the Royal Avenue. The Indian soldiers soon discovered the pursuers behind them, but they did not appear to be panicked, but continued to run slowly towards the mountain pass calmly. But just when the cavalry was about to catch up to the mountain pass, the soldiers suddenly disappeared as if by magic. Santos led the cavalry into the mountain from the mountain pass, and saw that the royal road was blocked by a large river. There is a rope bridge on the river. The Indian soldiers have already reached the rope bridge and are walking in the middle of the rope bridge. Although the rope bridge swayed greatly, the Indian soldiers walked on it with unusual ease and ease.
So Santos and the others came to the bridge, mounted their horses and fired with guns. However, perhaps because the distance was too far, the target was unstable, so they fired several shots, but did not hurt the Indians at all. The Indians quickly walked to the other side of the river and stood on the bank, dancing and laughing mockingly at the Spanish soldiers, making weird statues, as if they were deliberately irritating them.
After a while, thick smoke billowed out from the other side of the bridge, a fire was lit, and the wicker rope bridge was also burned. Santos and the others had no way to get on the bridge, so they could only watch as the rope bridge connecting the north-south road was burned by the fire, broken into the river, and washed far away by the river.
