Inca Elegy (Novel) "The Fall of the Inca Empire" (Volume 2) by Zhang Baotong
Seeing that the cavalry team was scattered to pieces, Juan was a little scared, because he knew that once the cavalry team was scattered and everyone fought, it would be difficult to form an impact force again until the Indians killed them one by one. Annihilation. So, he shouted loudly, "Trumpeter, blow the rallying horn, blow the rallying horn quickly."
The trumpeter, under the cover of his two accomplices, quickly blew the assembly horn. The majestic and loud bugle sound resounded throughout the river valley, with a long and powerful sound echoing in the river valley. The moment the trumpet sounded, the entire Indians were shocked by the sound of the trumpet, as if they suddenly stopped fighting, thinking that Spanish reinforcements had arrived.
In just a few seconds, Juan shouted loudly, "May God be with us and destroy these inferior Indians!" Following Juan's shouts and orders, the Spaniards went through a period of fighting. , quickly gathered together and began to conduct an orderly tactical attack on the Indian soldiers. This impact was extremely effective and soon caused great casualties and intimidation to the Indians, causing the Indians to begin to retreat.
The Spanish continued to use the tactic of charging on horseback to attack the opponent, while the Indians retreated while suddenly turning around and shooting rows of short arrows at the chasing Spanish, preventing the Spanish from getting closer. Until the Indians withdrew from the narrow flat area and entered dense forests on the hillside. The battle is finally over.
At this time, it was already dusk, and the sun had already set. After the fierce battle, what was left on the grassland in the river valley except for the boundless silence were scattered corpses and patches of blood, as well as spears, battle axes, and sticks everywhere. and various weapons such as knives and arrows. The Spaniards also suffered eight deaths and twenty or thirty others injured, and the losses were relatively heavy.
Juan led his soldiers back to an open area by the river to set up camp. This place is nearly a thousand meters away from the edge of the valley, so we can prepare for the battle in a relatively short period of time. They built a bonfire on the grass, then took out some dried meat and dry biscuits from their military leather bags, and ate their dinner by the river. Then some sentries were set up to monitor the movements of the Indians, and the others sat back to back by the campfire and began to rest.
Near noon the next day, the Indians rushed out of the woods on the edge of the valley again, numbering about three to four thousand people. Juan led the cavalry and fought with the Indian soldiers for about ten or twenty minutes, but the two sides only made contact and the Indian soldiers retreated. Moreover, while retreating, they fired arrows at the chasing Spanish cavalry, making it impossible for the cavalry to get close. After the Indians left, peace returned to the valley. The Spaniards remained thus in the valley for two or three days.
At noon on the third day, two cavalrymen came from the city of Cusco to deliver a message, saying that the city of Cusco was surrounded by Indians, and Hernando asked them to rush back to Cusco as quickly as possible. Juan immediately asked the soldiers to mount their horses, swim across the Yukai River, and rush back along the way they came. When the Indians saw them leaving the camp and crossing the Yukai River, they sang an ancient Indian song in unison to celebrate their victory; then, they chased them from behind. But the soldiers of the Spanish cavalry squad only wanted to go back and ignored the pursuit and harassment of the Indians. They ran wildly and non-stop, leaving the pursuers far behind.
It was dusk when they arrived at the outskirts of Cusco. In the empty fields outside Cusco at dusk, the besieging Indian army stretched from the edge of the city to the edge of the mountain. They were like nesting ants, gathering in dense numbers on the grass of the field and on the slopes of the mountain. There are as many as two hundred thousand. The flags fluttering in the wind and the generals' headdresses decorated with gorgeous feathers can be seen everywhere. Especially the bursts of siege cries were like mountains roaring and tsunami, and the spears raised high were like dense and boundless bamboo forests.
The siege of Cuzco, begun in early February 1536, was an unforgettable siege, displaying the greatest courage of both the Indians and the Spaniards, and placing both races at the heights they had fought since the conquest of the Inca Empire. An unprecedented battle to the death.
The Spaniards had never seen such a formidable and massive formation, but they had no choice but to fight their way into the city and meet up with their main army. At this time, they had already left the chasing Indian troops behind, but facing such a besieging army of hundreds of thousands of people, they didn't know what they would do.
Juan said to the soldiers, "Soldiers, we must rush into the city, otherwise, we will be wiped out by these Indians." Then he said to the soldiers, "May God be with us, soldiers." , Charge!" "Charge!" The soldiers shouted, waving their swords and spears, and rushed towards the Indian army.
However, the strange thing is that the Indians did not fight with them, but quickly made way for the Spanish cavalry to pass smoothly. Perhaps they deliberately let these Spaniards into the city so that they could besieged in the city and then create a food shortage to trap them to death.
At this time, the situation of the Spanish soldiers in the city was also very dangerous. They numbered less than 200 people, and there were about a thousand Indian auxiliary troops. Facing the swarming Indian troops, it was almost impossible for them to hold on to the city of Cusco. Therefore, during the days and nights when the Indians besieged the city of Cusco, the Spaniards spent every moment in extreme panic and tension.
Manco expected that the Spaniards would come for him, so he laid an ambush in the Yucai Valley. Originally, he could use his absolute superior force to surround Juan's team and annihilate it. However, he still somewhat ignored the fighting power of the Spaniards. Therefore, he only left five thousand soldiers led by himself and Catriti to fight with them. Juan's cavalry team circled and eliminated them in the Yukai Valley, but ordered Uramaha to lead an army of 100,000 to besiege the city of Cusco, and ordered Kunzu to lead an army of 80,000 to pass through Cusco and go north to Haoha, and then transfer from Haoha to Lima, ordered Prince Mantaraka to lead an army of 40,000 troops from the outskirts of Cusco south to capture Arequipa. At the same time, he also asked the commanders to capture the city as soon as possible in order to send troops to reinforce other cities. Try to completely eliminate the Spanish army in one to two months.
His plans are careful, but the implementation of the plans is often unexpected. First of all, in the battle that besieged Juan's cavalry squad, not only did the Spanish fail to be surrounded and annihilated, but the Spanish cavalry was given multiple opportunities to attack, causing heavy casualties to his soldiers. Originally, he wanted to drag this cavalry here and fight a protracted and attrition war with them, so as to completely defeat this Spanish cavalry. However, he did not expect that these Spaniards got the information and withdrew to Cusco. This made his plan to annihilate the enemy come to nothing again.
In order to personally command the battle to capture Cusco, Manco came to the northern suburbs of Cusco the day after Juan's team evacuated, and set up his camp in a village on the mountain side of the northern suburbs of Cusco. The village is located on a mountainside in Beishan. From here, you can see the suburbs and the empty fields. Thousands of besieging soldiers were stationed there.
It was another sunny day. Yesterday, he saw off Kunzu and his concubine Moteli. At noon, he saw off Mantalaka and his concubine Surakma. He hoped that they could embark on the journey early and receive good news and good news early. However, when they really left, he always felt waves of inexplicable panic and uneasiness in his heart.
Right now, he was sitting alone on his big wooden chair, closing his eyes and concentrating. In fact, his mind couldn't calm down at all, and he was still thinking about how to attack the city of Cusco. Because the city of Cusco is the capital of the Incas, it is a sacred place in the hearts of the Incas. Capturing the city of Cusco will be a great encouragement to the people of the entire empire and will make them feel that the Inca Empire is still there and has not been destroyed. However, the city of Cusco has been besieged for several days, but it still cannot be conquered for a long time. Every time they attack the city, they will be stubbornly resisted and counterattacked by the Spaniards, and they will pay a heavy price. So, this question has been bothering him for days.
Okoro came from the room next to him, walked to him, gently touched his cheek with his hand, and said softly, "My beloved king, you haven't eaten since morning, should you?" It’s time to eat something.” Manco held Okoro in his arms, kissed her on the face, and said, “My beloved concubine, my biological sister, do you think we can defeat the Spaniards?” Ou Koro said, "Of course. Do you still have doubts about this?"
Manco shook his head and said, "That's not true. I just remembered some of the words my father said before he died." Okoro asked, "What words?" Manco didn't want to say it at first, but he hesitated. , he still said it, "Before his death, my father, Wayna Kabak, told several of our brothers that after his death, there will be a kind of white alien race that will invade our empire. He also said that these white alien races are better than us. They are smarter and stronger than us, and they want us not to resist them, but to submit to them. I wonder if the white alien race he is talking about is the Spaniards?"
Okoro was shocked by what Manco said. She said, "How come I haven't heard of this?" Manco said, "Only Huascar, Atahualpa, Princess Anna and me know this. ." At this point, Manco added, "Atahuallpa led 80,000 soldiers, and barely made any resistance, and was defeated by the 200 people led by Pizarro. I wonder if this is one of the reasons. Could it be that you were affected by your father’s words?”
Okoro replied in a very firm tone, "That was because Atahualpa underestimated the enemy, not because he was affected by his father's words. Because at that time, although Atahualpa brought an army of 80,000 people, he only wanted to attack the enemy. The Spaniards showed their power and were not prepared to fight or go to war with the Spaniards. Many soldiers did not even carry weapons. Therefore, his soldiers barely made any resistance to the Spaniards and were defeated by the Spaniards."
Seeing Manco nodding his head, Okoro said in a serious tone, "My father's words are just nonsense, or a concern for the future of the empire. The king now has hundreds of thousands of troops, and there are so many princes and generals. With the assistance and coordination, it should be easy to defeat the Spaniards. Please don’t worry too much, Your Majesty.” Manco felt that Okoro’s words were very reasonable and deeply encouraged, so he nodded approvingly, and then hugged his beloved concubine. Kissed in the arms for a while longer.
After a while, the palace steward came to report, "Your distinguished king, the sacrificial items have been prepared. Please come and offer sacrifices." Manco said, "Okay." With that, he took Okoro out of the door. At this time, Princess Sankara, Assistant Minister Ondegado, Palace Priest Umu, Prince Paul Parker, Palace Guard Chief Tumi Pampa and a large group of people were already waiting in front of the door. Seeing King Manke go out and follow the housekeeper towards the entrance of the village, everyone followed behind.
The place of worship was in a simple farmhouse on the edge of the village. The farmhouse was small, and the soil around the walls had been weathered and eroded, making it seem like a strong wind would blow it down. Because the hut was too small to accommodate so many people, the Inca King Manco and the two princesses could only enter the house together. Although there was an oil lamp burning in the room, it still seemed a little dark. There was a small table in the empty room, and a large gold plate on the table. On the golden plate lay a freshly killed baby alpaca. The alpaca was stained with blood and exuded a strong smell of blood.
After the Inca king entered the hut, the palace priest Umu began to preside over the sacrifice. He first chanted a series of vague sacrificial words for a while, and then said to Manco, "Please tell the supreme king of the Inca his wishes." Manco put his hands together and said in a pious and respectful tone, "I , Inca King Manco, now offer sacrifices and pray. May my commander, Prince Kunzu, and my beloved concubine, Motelli, defeat the Spaniards and return in triumph at an early date. May my commander, Mantalaka, and his beloved concubine, Suracma We can recapture Arequipa as soon as possible and return in triumph. We also hope that we can capture the capital city of Cusco as soon as possible and restore our great Inca Empire dynasty." Next, Okoro and Princess Sankara may wish to say, "May we Our King’s wish can come true as soon as possible.”
After Manco took the two princesses out of the hut, other princes and generals entered the hut in batches and began to offer sacrifices and make wishes. After everyone had made sacrifices, Wumu asked his priests to burn the sacrificial objects with fire. Seeing the sacrificial objects reduced to ashes in the fire, the people who made the sacrifices felt as if they had completed a major task, because they felt that their wishes had been blessed by God.
