Inca Elegy (Novel) "The Fall of the Inca Empire" (Volume 2) by Zhang Baotong
Returning to his room, Manco sent for Uramaha, the commander of the Cusco army, and some other generals to report on the progress of the siege of Cusco. After a while, Ulamaha and some other generals were ordered to come. After they knelt down and saluted the Inca King, they stood respectfully in front of the Inca King one by one, waiting for the Inca King's inquiry.
Because there has been no progress in the siege of Cusco, far from going as smoothly as the Inca king had expected and planned in advance, Manco has always been dissatisfied with the progress of the situation. He first asked Commander Uramaha, "What new progress has been made in the siege of Cusco?" Uramaha hurriedly said, "Report to the noble Inca King that the Spaniards used cavalry and guns to block and counterattack. Our army The troops suffered heavy losses every time they stormed into the city, and were quickly pushed back by the Spaniards.”
Manco said, "I know everything about the situation in the northern suburbs, so how about the offensive of the troops in the southern suburbs?" Deputy Commander Tunubaya replied, "My noble Inca King, we have attacked several times from the southern suburbs, but when we attack It's easy in the city, but before we reach the Royal Palace Square, we are beaten back by the Spaniards. They have guns and cannons, but we only have short arrows. And the Spaniards wear thick protective cotton clothes, and our short arrows You can only shoot them, but you can't cause fatal damage to them. Because the area in the city is narrow, it is not conducive to the gathering of large troops, so only small groups can contact each other. In addition, they have cavalry, swords and spears, so every Every time we fought in close combat, we were always the ones who suffered the losses and were beaten, and every time we attacked with great effort, we came back with a disastrous defeat."
Then, the two generals responsible for attacking the city in the eastern and western suburbs also made the same report to the Inca King. Manco felt very annoyed when he heard this. Originally, he thought that if he had 100,000 troops, he could wipe out all the Spaniards. However, now he has more than 200,000 troops under his command, and he has 120,000 to 30,000 troops in Cusco, while the Spaniards only have nearly 200 soldiers and two to three thousand Indian auxiliary troops. Logically speaking, he All these Spaniards should have been wiped out cleanly long ago, but the siege has been going on for many days. The troops fought in and were driven out again. The Spaniards were not wiped out much, but his soldiers fell one by one. How could this not make him angry? After listening to the reports from the commanders and generals, he immediately asked, "Don't you even have any solution?"
At this time, General Cartiti, who was the commander of the Inca garrison, said in a suggestive tone, "Honorable King Inca, entering the city and engaging the Spaniards in close combat is very detrimental to us. In my opinion, we should kill them." Surround the city, cut off water and food, and cut them off from the outside world. In this way, they will be trapped and starved to death in a short time."
But Tunubaya said, "But there are many granaries and water sources in Cusco. If we can't die in three to five months and the Spaniards can't starve to death, then our own soldiers will have no food to eat." Ula Maha also said, "If we let our soldiers sleep in the open outside Cusco for several months, I'm afraid it will be difficult for the soldiers to persevere."
Manco nodded, thought for a while and said, "We need to capture the city of Cusco as soon as possible so that we can reinforce Kunzu, because it is very close to the seaside, and the Spanish will send ships to reinforce Lima at any time."
Carcetti added, "If we want to capture the city of Cusco as soon as possible and starve the Spaniards to death, I think we can burn the entire city. If we can burn the entire city, let's see if the Spaniards can stay." Where? If they can't stay in the city anymore, they will break out outside the city, and we can fight with them in the suburbs and surround them with large troops until they are all wiped out."
But Tunubaya still disagreed with Kasiti's approach. He said, "This method is good, but is it worthwhile to burn down the entire city of Cusco in order to eliminate those two to three hundred Spaniards? You must know that Cusco is the capital of our Inca Empire. It took generations of emperors and kings hundreds of years to build it. How can we let us burn it down with a fire?"
At this time, Umu, who was standing next to Manco, spoke. He said, "Although the city of Cusco was not easy to build, if we cannot destroy the Spaniards and are defeated by the Spaniards, then let alone the city of Cusco." Everything, that is, everything in the entire Inca Empire can only belong to the Spaniards. Therefore, I think we should attack with fire. If we can defeat and eliminate the Spaniards, we can rebuild the capital city of Cusco."
On the other side of Manco, the auxiliary minister Ondergado waved his hands and expressed disagreement. He said, "I don't agree to burn the capital. The Spaniards don't just have one or two hundred people. We have more than 100,000 troops. As long as we continue to attack, we can capture the city of Cusco in a few days or dozens of days." There is no need to burn the capital."
Just when everyone was arguing about burning the capital of Cusco, Manco said in a very firm tone, "Stop arguing. I order you to attack the city from the east, west, north, and south tomorrow. If you encounter obstacles and To resist, use fire attack. In short, as long as the Spanish can be driven out of the city, as long as the Spanish can be eliminated, we will not hesitate to burn the capital to the ground."
As soon as everyone heard the Inca King's order, they didn't dare to continue arguing, and they all responded in unison, "Yes, my noble King Inca." Then, Manco said, "I ordered Carciti to lead five thousand soldiers. As the main siege force, attack the key areas defended by the Spanish from the north of the city. Other troops should also send a certain number of soldiers to attack from other directions at the same time." The commander and generals replied at the same time, "The king is wise." Manco added , "The attack on the city will begin at noon tomorrow. I will watch the battle from the high hillside in front of the village, waiting for news of your victory." Everyone replied, "Yes, my king."
It was a morning in mid-April 1536. Although it was already dawn, the autumn morning was still cold, and the cool breeze blew from the distant mountains, which was very penetrating. At this time, in the open fields and mountainside areas outside Cusco, the campfires were still burning in the twilight sky. These bonfires spread from the edge of the city to the mountainside, and were as dense as the stars in the night sky.
Perhaps it was because the soldiers camped in the open air in the fields for many days in a row, and at night they often sang and danced until late at night. Therefore, although it was already dark, the soldiers were still in a deep sleep. Because there were no tents set up, these poor soldiers could only gather around piles of bonfires, sit on a piece of animal skin, sleep back to back together, or huddle alone on a camel skin. Although it was the cold autumn season, they were still wearing very thin clothes. The cold wind in the Eastern Andes Mountains blew past them in waves, and the grass in the suburban fields was very humid, and the grass was covered with moisture and dew, but this did not seem to affect their sleep at all. From their faces, which are tanned red and thin by the ultraviolet rays on the plateau, we can see the suffering and vicissitudes of their life cycles.
The sky is getting brighter and brighter, and the morning rooster's crow comes from time to time from the small village in the distance. In the clear morning light, the bonfire in the field barracks was still burning brightly. It wasn't until the rising sun was about to emerge from the east mountain that a long blast of a horn broke the tranquility of the morning. At this time, I saw the soldiers getting up from the grass one after another and starting to do various things after getting up.
Soon after, someone carrying a wicker basket began to distribute food to the soldiers. The food came on a plate with four palm-sized tortillas and a few potatoes. Indians do not use spoons and chopsticks to eat, but eat with their hands. They usually eat two meals, one in the morning and another at four or five in the afternoon.
After the meal, with the sound of a bull horn, battle flags were seen flying upright in some places. Generals or school officers wearing brocade robes and gorgeous feather helmets began to call for soldiers to assemble. The other soldiers remained where they were, resting and waiting.
The elite troops of the Inca garrison gathered this time. Because it was the garrison of the Inca king, its flag was not only more gorgeous and beautiful than the flags of other troops, but also much larger than the battle flags of other troops. After the horn sounded, the soldiers quickly gathered at the designated place. At this time, General Cartiti, who was the commander of the army, walked to the front of the army in a splendid uniform and said to the morale in an angry tone, "Soldiers, the Inca King ordered our troops to attack the city from the north. In order to eliminate the Spaniards, Your Majesty does not hesitate to burn the city of Cusco, which shows your determination. For this reason, I order you to attack the city with all your strength. Without my order, you cannot retreat even if you go through fire and water. If you encounter stubborn resistance from the Spaniards, attack with fire. "At this point, General Kaciti asked loudly, "Are your fire tools ready?" The soldiers replied in unison, "Ready." Kaciti waved his hand and said, "Let's go."
Commander Kaciti led a team of 5,000 people and began to march towards the outskirts of the city. Soon, they arrived at the edge of the city. At the intersection of the Royal Avenue leading to the city, many large trees and large stones were paved to prevent the Spanish cavalry from impacting and passing through. There are many Indian soldiers guarding the intersection.
The soldiers climbed over the trees, around the rocks, and entered the flat road. Then the team regrouped and headed towards the city. When we walked not far from the Palace Square, we saw Spanish sentries and horses. Lieutenant Mamakuka, who was walking at the forefront, asked the soldiers to stop and sent someone to report to General Kasiti. General Cartiti stood on a higher place and looked forward for a while. He saw that there were only about twenty Spaniards. They built a stone wall with stones in front of the door of a very strong building to gain a sense of security. Use this as a cover.
So, he said to a colonel named Maita, "Let the troops in front be ready to charge, and wait until they rush close before throwing javelins and shooting short arrows together." Colonel Maita said, "Yes, my Commander." After saying that, he ran to the front of the army and conveyed Kasiti's order to Lieutenant Mamakuka. Lieutenant Mamakuka said to the soldiers, "Get your javelins and short arrows ready and prepare to charge." The soldiers said in unison, "Yes."
At this time, Kaciti asked the trumpeter to blow the horn. As a result, more than two thousand soldiers swarmed along the spacious streets and rushed towards the Spaniards. When the Indians rushed to a distance of more than 60 meters from the stone wall, the Spanish matchlock guns suddenly fired, and a large number of Indian soldiers fell down immediately. However, the Indians were not intimidated by the Spanish matchlock guns. They rushed towards them with overwhelming shouts and crowds. Because the Huoqiang gun could only fire two bullets at a time and had to be ignited, the soldiers had no time to change the ammunition. The Indians were about to rush over. Captain Juan shouted loudly, "Soldiers, may God be with us, charge!" Then he waved his sword and led the soldiers to rush out of the stone wall and started hand-to-hand combat with the Indians.
However, the javelins, tomahawks and spears of the Indians were all relatively short, and they were at a disadvantage in close combat with the long swords of the Spaniards. Therefore, a large number of Indian soldiers were immediately cut down to the ground. But the Indians had a huge advantage in numbers. Those in front fell, and those behind rushed over. Moreover, the Indians began throwing javelins and firing short arrows at the Spaniards. The Spaniards immediately lost several lives and wounded others. Seeing this situation, Juan immediately asked the soldiers to retreat behind the stone wall to take shelter. However, when they were hiding behind the stone wall, the Indians had already attacked very close to them, and rained down javelins and short arrows on the Spaniards, so that the Spaniards did not dare to raise their heads. Soon two soldiers were stabbed through the head with javelins and died on the spot. Seeing that the situation was not good, Juan hurriedly asked the soldiers to hide in a strong stone house.
Because volcanoes and earthquakes occur frequently in the Andes, most of the buildings in Cusco are made of solid stones and are very solid. Just hiding in the house is like hiding in the castle. So Juan asked Letomundo to lead people to guard the gate and let other soldiers take the opportunity to take a rest.
The Indians attacked the outside of the stone house, but the door was closed. They did not dare to attack the door rashly, because as soon as the door was opened, the Spanish bullets would be fired intensively. Therefore, they did not attack the door, but sealed the door to prevent the Spaniards from rushing out.
At this time, Commander Kaciti asked another school officer to come with the troops behind him. They were holding fire starters filled with a kind of fire starter similar to asphalt, or stones that had just been burned red by fire and wrapped in cotton. Get up and shoot the roof with a short arrow.
Although the stone house is extremely sturdy, its roof is thatched. So when these rockets and flammable materials fell on the thatched roof, they immediately burst into flames. Seeing that the roof was on fire, Juan shouted to the soldiers, "Soldiers, rush out with me." After saying that, he asked Letomundo to suddenly open the door and fired a burst of shots at the Indians outside.
The Indians were frightened by the sudden shooting of the Spanish and retreated behind the stone wall. At this time, Juan and his soldiers rushed out of the house with long swords. Before the Indians woke up, Juan had already led his soldiers out of the Indian encirclement and retreated towards the palace square.
Seeing the Spaniards retreating toward the Palace Square, Colonel Meta wanted to lead his soldiers to chase them, but Cartiti ordered them to evacuate.
Before the Indians could evacuate, the fire on the roof of the stone house grew bigger and bigger, igniting the wooden structure of the building. The huge flames grew stronger and stronger, soaring into the sky. At this time, an inexplicable tornado suddenly blew over the city of Cusco, which further fueled the burning fire. The rotating wind turned the fire into huge fireballs, constantly rolling back and forth over the dense residential areas and building complexes, spreading, making explosive roars, like bursts of volcanoes erupting violently. Before long, the raging fire turned the entire city of Cusco red.
