Inca Elegy (Novel) "The Fall of the Inca Empire" (Volume 2) by Zhang Baotong
Soto sent Santos with a cavalry detachment of twelve people to explore the way for the entire cavalry detachment. At first, the cavalry detachment could maintain a certain distance from the cavalry detachment. This distance allowed for mutual communication and mutual support. However, soon, this distance was widened, and the cavalry detachment also lost contact.
After noon, Soto led the cavalry team to the canyon area. He asked the troops to stop to eat and rest. He led the people up to a nearby mountain and looked into the depths of the valley, only to see that there were about ten people in the depth. The long canyon area was completely silent, and not a single pedestrian was seen on the spacious royal road. However, he saw a small village next to the valley, so he took his troops to the village, but still no one was seen. Santos' cavalry detachment, which made Soto worried.
Seeing that it was getting dark, he had no choice but to order the soldiers to stop and rest, and then sent people disguised as locals to go out to search and inquire. It is very cold at night in the mountainous areas, and it has started to snow lightly outside. The entire mountainous area and the road seem to be covered with a layer of silver felt.
All the people in the village have fled, and almost all the usable things have been taken away, leaving only empty rooms. Furthermore, the Indians in the mountainous areas are very poor. They basically don’t have beds at home. When they sleep, they lay some hay on the ground. People with better conditions may have an animal skin in their home. Only those who live in the homes of village chiefs or heads of ten people have it. There may be possessions such as beds. But anyway, these houses haven't burned down yet.
The soldiers did not bring any bedding, so when they entered the house, it was still as if they had entered an ice kiln. Soto asked the soldiers to find some firewood for cooking, but there was nothing in the whole village. The soldiers could only go hungry and sleep in the house. The night was cold and the night was long. The soldiers sat in the cold and dark room with their guns in their arms and fell asleep.
Captain Soto asked an Indian to put his horse in a house, and asked some soldiers to cut some branches, put them in the middle of the house, and light a fire with matches. However, the branches were too wet, and the matches were struck one after another, but they could not be lit. There was no other way, so Soto had to ask the soldiers to pull out the cotton from the cotton-padded clothes and use it as a kind of fire. This is how a fire was lit.
Soto sat by the fire, smoking a cigarette, eagerly waiting for news from Santos and the others. However, around midnight, the two soldiers who had been sent out rode back and reported to Soto that they had not received any news about Santos' team. Soto sighed deeply and had no choice but to let the two soldiers go back to sleep. He also spread a coat next to the fire, fell on the ground and fell asleep.
After dawn the next day, the snow in the mountains fell even harder. Soto asked the soldiers to go to the cliffs and cut many branches, lit fires in each house, and dug some trees in the farmers' fields. Wash the potatoes and burn them in the fire. This freed the soldiers from the plight of starvation and cold. The potato is a native wild plant that grows everywhere in many wilderness areas and bushland.
Originally, this place was not a place to stay for a long time, but there was still no news about Santos and his team. Therefore, this made Soto very worried and uneasy. He wanted to stay here for an extra day or two to find out about Santos and his team. He believes that Santos and the others will not go too far, and they will definitely find a way to stay in touch with the main force. However, just when they were worried and uneasy about Santos, a cavalry detachment led by Almagro arrived and told Captain Soto that when they passed by the small town of Bilkas, they saw twelve The Spanish heads were hung on the trees at the entrance of the town.
Soto knew as soon as he heard that it was Santos and the others who were killed, and he immediately led the cavalry straight to the town of Vilkas. When we arrived at the entrance of Bilkas town, we saw exactly twelve heads hanging on the trees on both sides of the road. Soto asked the soldiers to take down the heads from the trees. At first glance, they found that the heads had been chopped off from the base of the neck, and the blood was blurred, which was horrible to look at. But everyone's eyes were wide open with anger, and they were still staring at death.
Soto held these heads one by one and took a closer look. Seeing that these soldiers who were alive and active two days ago were now sacrificed by the Indians, he couldn't help but feel extremely sad and angry. He asked the soldiers to dig twelve pits on the roadside at the entrance of the town, buried them one by one in them, cut down some trees, made wooden tablets, engraved their names and dates, and inserted them in front of the tombs. , let everyone line up and fire guns to express condolences.
Soto led the cavalry squad to continue marching towards Cusco in the south. After climbing over the Davilcaconga Mountain and then crossing the Apurimac River, they were very close to Cusco, the capital of the Inca Empire. Because twelve members of Santos' cavalry detachment were killed by the Incas, this made them more cautious and cautious on the way forward. They moved forward along the spacious Royal Avenue and kept a certain distance from Almagro's large army behind them.
However, when they arrived at the Vilcaconga Pass, they heard from the locals that there was a large group of Indians guarding the pass. Captain Soto should have stopped the troops and waited for Almagro's main force to arrive before crossing the pass. However, he saw that it was getting late and wanted the troops to cross the mountain pass before dark and find a place to camp. So he urged the troops to move forward faster.
However, because the journey was long and the weather was cold, the cavalry had been walking for a day, and the soldiers and horses were very tired and sleepy. Therefore, walking on the rugged and steep mountain road seemed very strenuous. When they reached the mountainside, they encountered another dangerous pass. The slope up the mountain is very steep and almost vertical. The soldiers had no choice but to dismount and pull the horses while climbing up with all their strength. When they were almost climbing to the top of the mountain, the silence was suddenly broken by the sound of horn horns, and many Indian soldiers seemed to fall from the sky, roaring loudly and emerging from the caves and dense forests on the nearby cliffs. rushed towards the Spaniards, hurling and firing javelins and short arrows at them.
The fierce Indians rushed like a torrent towards the Spanish cavalry who were struggling to climb the cliff, causing casualties and shocks to the Spaniards and horses. The men and horses marching in front suddenly began to roll down, hitting the men and horses behind, causing great casualties and panic to the entire army.
Captain Soto immediately ordered the soldiers to fight back against the attackers, so the cavalrymen drew their swords and either rode on horses or stood on the edge of the cliff to confront the Indians. However, the Indians kept throwing guns and arrows at them. Some of the horses were stabbed in the eyes by javelins and jumped furiously, throwing the soldiers under their horses. The Indian soldiers, regardless of life and death, hugged the horses' legs tightly to prevent the horses from ascending the rugged mountain road. It immediately caused great losses to the Spaniards.
Captain Soto saw this scene and knew that if the fighting continued like this, the cavalry team would definitely be wiped out. So, he asked the trumpeter to blow the bugle so that the cavalry could fight their way out of the encirclement. Because cavalry can only exert its power on flat areas. Amidst the exciting and constant sound of bugles, the Spanish soldiers wielded their long swords and slashed hard while using their spurs to urge their tired mounts. After rushing left and right and cooperating with each other, they finally broke out of the encirclement of the Indians. , retreated to a relatively flat open land.
At this point, the Spanish and Indians stopped attacking. The Spanish cavalry gathered in an open area under the cliff, while the Indians stood on the cliff, facing each other, but they did not dare to attack each other. It was as if a kind of truce had been reached with each other.
But the Spaniards were not willing to give in. They rested on the grass for a while, let the horses drink water by the stream, and then began to rush towards the Indian position, trying to rush over in one fell swoop and defeat the Indians guarding the pass. , seize this dangerous pass. However, the cavalry was not adapted to fighting in such dangerous terrain, and the Indians also put up a tenacious and desperate resistance to their charge, withstanding the impact of the Spanish cavalry. As a result, the Spaniards had no choice but to return in vain and returned to the flat open area beside the creek.
Just when the outcome of the two sides was uncertain, night had fallen and darkness enveloped the earth. Both sides had no choice but to withdraw from the battlefield and station themselves across a cliff. Because the two sides are very close to each other, almost a stone's throw away, they can clearly hear each other's words in the quiet night. But the Indians were encouraged by their temporary victory and confidently prepared to achieve complete victory early tomorrow morning. But the Spaniards were greatly frustrated. Several of their cavalry were killed, most were wounded, and several of their horses were killed. This loss is almost as significant as the death of the knight, because these horses were transported to these distant places at great cost and with great hardships. Of course, the Indian casualties were even worse. They had not expected that an enemy hitherto very tame could be so resistant. Judging from the ferocity and tactical signs of the battle, the Spaniards believed that these Indians may have been commanded by a leader with military experience; perhaps it was Quiskis, the commander of the Indian army, who was said to be leading an army. Large armies patrol around Cusco.
Captain Soto called the soldiers together and said to them in an uplifting and encouraging tone, "Don't be discouraged. Our defeat today is because we all marched for a day, and we are too tired, both men and horses. If we all and If the horses were not exhausted, they would have defeated the enemy long ago. Therefore, I would like to ask everyone to cheer up and have a good rest. As long as we all have a good sleep and regain our strength, by tomorrow morning, we will easily defeat the enemy Defeat. Trust in God Almighty, who will never abandon His faithful followers in their hour of crisis.”
After speaking, he arranged the night sentry and let the soldiers go to bed early. So the soldiers spread their coats on the grass and began to sleep. However, before the soldiers could sleep for a while, they heard a loud bugle sound from down the mountain. The trumpet sound was like the most beautiful music the soldiers had ever heard. They all sat up from the ground and said to their captain, "This is our reinforcement coming." Soto said, "Yes. Yes, our reinforcements have arrived." Then, the trumpeter also blew the bugle.
Not long after, General Almagro came quickly with 50 cavalry. It turned out that the Marquis of Pizarro learned that an Indian force was stationed at the Vilcaconga Pass. He was worried that Soto and the others might encounter strong resistance, so he immediately ordered Almagro to lead 50 of his cavalry for emergency reinforcements. Almagro also realized the seriousness of the situation, so he led the cavalry and rushed over as quickly as possible. The cavalrymen on both sides gathered together, cheering enthusiastically and hugging each other.
When the Indians discovered at dawn that Spanish reinforcements had arrived, nearly twice as many in number, they were greatly disturbed. They knew that if they continued to fight, they would be completely defeated, so they took advantage of the thick fog shrouding the hillside to quietly retreat.
