Inca Elegy (Novel) "The Fall of the Inca Empire" (Volume 2) by Zhang Baotong
After the Spanish Army Captain Soto led the cavalry squad to successfully capture Haoha, they rested in Haoha for three days. It was not until the large group of troops led by Pizarro arrived that they continued to advance towards the royal road heading south. But the journey further south became increasingly difficult and dangerous. All villages and rope bridges were burned and destroyed, and felled trees or rocks were often placed on some roads to block the passage of Spanish cavalry. As the Spanish cavalry walked along, they could often see small groups of Indian soldiers confronting them not far from them, or blowing horns near them. Let them always be on high alert and ready for battle.
After several days of hard and dangerous marching, they finally saw a small town called Birkas. The town is located in a long and narrow valley. The valley is covered with houses and is home to thousands of families. In the middle of the house is a wide street, which is connected to the royal road on the north and south sides, leading to the mountain pass in the north and the mountain pass in the south. It is an important gateway to the Inca capital city of Cusco. There are usually many Inca soldiers stationed here, and everyone entering and leaving Cusco must pass through here. The defenders here are usually led by Inca noble clansmen, and they strictly inspect everyone who passes by. Generally, people entering and leaving the capital of Cusco will have a security pass from the Inca King or the royal palace, while people entering and leaving general areas must have a pass from the local chief or village chief. These passes are made from knotted ropes of various colors and sizes.
On the road to Birkas they seemed to have anticipated that a fierce battle was about to take place. Because on the road approaching the town, the narrow road was full of cut down trees and large rocks piled up, blocking the road to the point where it was almost impossible for the cavalry to pass. So the Spaniards had no choice but to lead their horses around on the road. However, suddenly, a group of Indians rushed out of the forest beside the road, throwing javelins and cold arrows at the Spaniards. These people seemed to fall from the sky and caught the Spaniards by surprise. The Spanish immediately raised their guns and fired back. However, although these Indian soldiers were not many, they were not as timid and afraid of death as they imagined. Moreover, they rushed out of the woods and fought with them face to face with daggers and tomahawks. However, their clumsy and inferior weapons made them suffer greatly. The Spanish long swords and matchlocks kept slashing and firing. The Indians could not get close and could only rely on javelins and cold arrows to confront the Spanish.
After a brief battle, the Indians dropped a large pile of corpses and quickly retreated into the woods to escape. The Spaniards also lost three people, injured more than ten people, and five horses were killed. It can be said that this was the heaviest loss suffered by the Spanish Expeditionary Force in several battles. However, what surprised them most was the tenacity and bravery of the Indians. This is completely different from their previous bluffing and vulnerable performance.
After this battle, the Spaniards became more cautious, so when they encountered dangerous passes again, they were extra cautious. Not only did they conduct reconnaissance, but they also sent out small teams to test. There is an open canyon not far south of the town of Bilkas, and the Royal Road passes through this long canyon. According to locals, the fleeing Indian soldiers gathered in the canyon.
At noon that day, after breakfast, Soto asked Santos to lead a cavalry detachment of twelve people as the vanguard to explore the way for the entire cavalry team. Santos led the cavalry detachment along the royal road, but even after noon, no Indians were seen. The Indian guide said that we can walk out of the canyon more than ten miles further. Therefore, Santos decided to continue marching, and once they got out of the canyon, he would let the soldiers eat and rest while waiting for Captain Soto to come with his large group of troops.
Just when they reached a mountain pass, they saw some scattered Indian soldiers walking blindly and aimlessly at the mountain pass. When he saw them, he ran away in panic towards the mountain pass. There were about thirty or fifty of these people. They were only three to five hundred meters away from them. Their uniforms were in disorder, their ranks were uneven, and they seemed to have no leader. So Lieutenant Santos drew his sword and shouted at the soldiers, "Soldiers, rush over and kill them." So the soldiers chased after them.
However, the Indian soldiers immediately left the royal road and fled towards a mountain path. Santos led the cavalry in pursuit along the mountain road. After chasing, they came to a corner, but suddenly the Indians disappeared. Santos felt puzzled, wondering why these people couldn't fly away because they didn't have wings. Just when he was puzzled, he saw a figure moving around the corner in front of him. He thought that the group of people were running very fast, and they were over there in a short time. So, he led his soldiers to continue the pursuit.
When we reached the corner ahead, we found that there was a valley and a flat river inside. There were fifty or sixty Indian soldiers waiting in formation in the middle of the plain. So they rode in pursuit. However, before they could catch up, they were already running towards the mountains. They kept chasing. When they reached the edge of the mountain, those people climbed onto the cliff. There was a cave on the cliff, and the Indians entered the cave. The Spaniards did not dare to dismount, so they did not dare to climb mountains, let alone enter caves. I could only breathe heavily and look at the cliff, but there was nothing I could do.
At this time, a horn sounded from the other side of the open field. The Spaniards looked back and saw that their way back was blocked by Indians. They couldn't help but feel a little scared, so they turned their horses and chased them the way they came. However, when they chased them, the Indians dispersed again, and more than sixty Indians came out from the side, shouting at them, chasing them and throwing javelins.
Because the distance was too far, the javelins actually had no effect, but they greatly angered the Spanish soldiers, so they turned their horses and chased the Indians. However, the Indian soldiers soon entered a forest, and on the other side, another group of Indians blew their horns to attract their attention. Over there, a group of Indians were swaying their buttocks and dancing a very wild dance in front of them, as if they were humiliating them. They were furious and chased after him again.
However, at this time, because the war horse had walked all morning and chased him for a long time, he could no longer run. The soldiers didn't eat either, and the Indians were asked to move them around. They felt something was not good, so Santos ordered the soldiers to evacuate quickly. However, their retreat has been blocked by thousands of Indians. The Indian soldiers held spears and javelins, gritted their teeth, and pressed towards them menacingly.
Santos knew that what the Indians really feared was not their soldiers, but their war horses. If the war horses were ineffective, they would lose their powerful deterrent to the Indians. Because in the minds of the Indians, horses, tall and galloping animals, are almost mythical creatures in their mythology. Seeing that the retreat was cut off, Santos asked the trumpeter to blow the charge horn, hoping that Captain Soto and the others would hear the horn sound and come to rescue them. At the same time, I also wanted to boost the morale of the soldiers, so that they could rush forward with all their strength and open a bloody path.
After the charge horn sounded, the soldiers rushed towards the approaching Indian soldiers. However, the horse could no longer run. It just kept panting and refused to run. Some soldiers even spurred the horses, but the horses still refused to run. Santos knew that he had fallen into the Indians' trap and called on the soldiers to fight to the death.
However, before the soldiers could rush forward, the Indians had already rushed in front of them. So, he led his soldiers and slashed with long swords. However, the Indians had surrounded them, and without much effort they used their spears to dismount them and fell heavily to the ground. Then, tie them securely with ropes. At this time, he saw that several soldiers had died in the battle, and several others were injured and fell to the ground. They were also tied up with ropes by the Indians.
After a while, he and several other injured soldiers were brought to an old man sitting on the hillside watching the battle. The old man was about fifty or sixty years old, thin and thin, wearing Indian casual clothes and sitting on a small wooden chair. Santos knew that if he fell into the hands of the Indians, there would be no hope of survival, so he held his head high.
This old man is Puma Tanka, the general of the Indian army. When he learned that the Spanish cavalry sent a cavalry squad of 12 people to conduct the first reconnaissance, he used a method to lure the enemy deep into the deep mountains and canyons, and then used an elusive war of attrition to make the Spanish war horses lose their powerful power. shock effect, and then laid siege to the Spaniards.
Now his tactics and stratagems succeeded, and the entire Spanish cavalry detachment fell into his trap. It can be said that this was the only battle he won against the Spanish, which made him feel somewhat proud. He looked at the captured Spaniards, smiled slightly while stroking his beard, and said to an adjutant next to him, "It can be seen that these Spaniards are no longer protected by gods without the power of horses." The adjutant next to him asked Pumatanka what to do with the Spaniards and horses. Pumatanka's face was serious and he said, "Kill them all to worship the gods." After that, Pumatanka added, "Hang their heads at the intersections and town entrances where the Spaniards passed by, and let them see them during the day. I was so scared that I had nightmares at night.”
The adjutant said, "Yes, general." Then, he shouted to the Inca soldiers who were escorting the Spanish soldiers, "The general has an order to behead all the horses and prisoners as a sacrifice to the gods, and hang them at the intersection of the town for public display." Indian The soldier responded loudly, "Yes, follow the order." Then, an Indian soldier stabbed a horse in the neck with a sharp knife, and saw that the horse fell to the ground motionless, but The horse is not quite dead yet. At this time, another soldier swung his hatchet and slashed hard at the horse's neck. A deep gash was immediately cut into the horse's neck, and blood splattered everywhere, staining a large area of the ground red. Soon, the horse closed its eyes as it lay dying. After killing one horse and preparing to kill the second horse, Pumatanka came over and waved to stop him, saying, "Leave the other horses, we can still use them." He asked the soldiers to take the other horses away.
Then the killing began. The Indian soldier first pushed a tied Spanish soldier to the ground, then swung his hatchet and chopped off the soldier's head like a bone.
The soldier's head rolled several times on the ground, and the blood spurted out splattered all over the man. This tragic scene was so cruel that it was unbearable to watch, so Santos simply turned his face to one side and did not look at the tragic scene of his soldiers being beheaded and killed. Finally, it was his turn. As soon as he closed his eyes, he was pushed to the ground by the Indian soldiers, waiting to be beheaded. With every move of the Indian hatchet, the Spanish ensign's head also fell to the ground.
