Inca Elegy (Novel) "The Fall of the Inca Empire" (Volume 2) by Zhang Baotong
It was not until it was getting dark that the Indians blew the horn, and the soldiers began to retreat as if they were running for their lives. Seeing the Indians begin to retreat, Chavez also asked the cavalry to withdraw their troops.
After a whole day of fighting, the Spanish suffered more than sixty casualties, while the Indians left nearly three thousand corpses. All the Indians on the four streets withdrew to camp in the suburbs. The Spaniards were on alert and guarded the intersections of the four streets all night.
The Spanish victory on the four streets greatly inspired the fighting spirit and morale of the officers and soldiers. Therefore, after discussion and research, Pizarro and Chavez decided to use the cavalry to have a life-or-death contest with the Indians on the plains in the suburbs. So, at noon the next day. Pizarro took all more than 200 cavalry to the plains on the outskirts of the Rimac River to find a decisive battle with the Indians.
At this time, the Indians had arranged their 80,000 troops into three formations: left, center and right. Indian commander Kunzu, Princess Motelli and more than 40 princes and generals stood on a high slope in the middle of the army, commanding the troops. Seeing the Spanish cavalry coming to the front of the formation, Kunzu asked the trumpeter to blow the horn. With the sound of horns, the left and right armies began to attack the Spanish cavalry troops. This creates a situation of attack from three sides: left, center and right.
Before the Indians could attack, Pizarro asked the trumpeter to blow the charge horn. As a result, the cavalry rushed straight towards the center of the army and towards the high ground where the Indian generals and princes gathered. However, if they want to rush to the high slope, they must break through the encirclement of nearly 30,000 to 40,000 soldiers.
The cavalry rushed to the center of the Indians and fought with the soldiers of the center. At this time, the Indian flanking troops from the left and right armies also rushed over and surrounded the Spanish cavalry.
Although the Spanish cavalry has a strong impact, and although this map is very unfavorable to the Indians, there are too many people in the Indian troops, and the Indians are too tenacious. Under the personal supervision and command of the commander, they used the short swords, hatchets, javelins and short arrows in their hands to engage in life-and-death struggles with the long swords and spears in the hands of the Spanish cavalry.
After the Indian left and right armies formed a pincer attack, the Spanish cavalry was actually deeply encircled and was surrounded by three troops among a heavy crowd, fighting hard. Seeing this situation, Pizarro was a little scared, and he hurriedly asked the trumpeter to blow the trumpet to retreat. However, the cavalry was heavily surrounded and could not withdraw at that time. So, Pizarro asked the trumpeter to blow the assembly trumpet. After a hard fight, the cavalry finally gathered together. The assembled cavalry began to use an impact posture to break out of the encirclement, and finally broke out from the heavy encirclement. However, both sides suffered heavy losses in this battle. The Indians suffered at least 3,000 casualties, while the Spanish had more than 60 cavalry killed and many more wounded.
Pizarro saw that the Indian soldiers continued to chase, so he hurriedly led the cavalry to retreat into the city. This engagement was indeed a serious mistake for the Spaniards, as it happened to play into the Indians' intention of having a decisive battle in Pingchuan, and the casualties were very heavy. Therefore, when Pizarro returned to the city, he ordered all the troops to defend tenaciously and not to leave the city.
At the same time, tens of thousands of urgent relief letters were delivered to his desk one after another from many cities and regions, including Cusco and Arequipa. He was already angry because of this failure, and when he saw this rescue letter, he became even more furious. After listening to his secretary Antonio read the letters one after another, he slapped the table and shouted hysterically, "They all want people from me, who do I want people from?"
Antonio said in a calm tone, "Marquis, you can ask for help from the king, the governor of Mexico, the governor of Nicaragua, and the governor of Guatemala." This sentence suddenly reminded Pizarro, and he blinked and said, " Yes, it's time to ask them for reinforcements, otherwise, we will really die without a burial place." So he rolled up a cigarette and said while smoking, "You start the draft right away. I will send someone to deliver these letters tonight. .”
Antonio prepared the letter and sat at the large table, waiting for Pizarro to speak. Pizarro was smoking and thinking. He felt that not only did Mexico have more troops, but it was also closer to Peru. Reinforcements could arrive as soon as two months, so he said, "Dear The Governor of Mexico, Mr. Hernando Curdiz, said that due to a nationwide riot among Peruvian Indians, hundreds of thousands of troops had surrounded the cities of Cusco and Lima, and the cities of Cusco and Lima The number of defenders is only about 200, there is not much ammunition and food left, and the Indians are attacking the city day and night. It can be said that the lives of Lima and Cusco are hanging by a thread. For this reason, your brother Francisco, the Governor of Peru, Pizarro asks you for an emergency rescue of one hundred thousand. Please send two hundred cavalry to reinforce the city quickly to relieve the siege of Lima and Cusco. Afterwards, brother, I will double the compensation and express my gratitude."
Then, he began to dictate a letter to the Governor of Nicaragua, asking the Governor of Nicaragua to send 200 cavalry to Lima quickly. However, asking for help from the Governor of Guatemala made him feel a little embarrassed. Because asking for the Governor is equivalent to asking Alvarado, and Alvarado controls the Guatemalan army. But Alvarado had brought 500 Spanish cavalry infantry to Peru. After being absorbed by Almagro, Pizarro used disguised methods to drive Alvarado out of Peru, and this time he asked him for help. , which really made it difficult for him to speak.
However, he decided to ask Alvarado for help. So, he said, "Dear Governor of Guatemala and Mr. Alvarado: Francisco Pizarro, Governor of Peru, requests you for urgent reinforcements of 100,000 yuan. Because a nationwide Indian uprising broke out in Peru, hundreds of thousands of Indians have already The cities of Lima, Cusco and Arequipa were surrounded, and the number of soldiers defending the city was only about two hundred at most, which was unable to compete with the hundreds of thousands of Indians. Moreover, the defenders did not have much ammunition and food. , without the rapid reinforcements of the governor and general, all the cities will soon be captured by the Indians. All Spaniards will die without a burial place, and the entire expedition will be in vain. This will be the entire Spanish expedition and rule. An immeasurable loss to the hegemony of the New World. For this reason, I request the governor and the general to consider the overall situation of the entire Spanish expedition and immediately send two hundred cavalry reinforcements. For this, I and my officers and soldiers will be grateful. , and I am also willing to express my gratitude and gratitude to you with half of all our wealth in Peru."
After dictating the letter to the Governor of Guatemala and Alvarado, he breathed a long sigh of relief, feeling that the past conflicts and discord with Alvarado had disappeared. Although he had promised to give him half of his wealth in Peru, he felt that as long as he could be freed from the current crisis, he could consider other things later.
Finally, he began to dictate a letter to King Charles IV of Spain, "His Majesty King Charles IV of Spain: Francisco Pizarro, Governor of Peru, reports to you: Due to the great uprisings and riots carried out by the Indians throughout the country, the extermination of Killed many Spanish immigrants, and besieged the cities of Lima, Cusco and Arequipa for many days with hundreds of thousands of troops. And you also know that there were only about 200 mounted infantry guards in Lima and Cusco. , and Arequipa only has a few dozen people guarding it. These troops are simply unable to fight against the hundreds of thousands of Indian troops, and there is not much food, grass and ammunition left in the city. If they do not receive timely reinforcements, the Spaniards in Peru will They will be killed by the Indians. The Spanish expedition in Peru will also be destroyed, and the Spanish hegemony and interests in the entire New World will also suffer great challenges and huge losses. For this reason, I plead with you. With the authority of the king, he ordered the governors of Mexico, Guatemala, Panama and Nicaragua to quickly send troops to reinforce Lima. He also implored His Majesty the King to send elite troops from the country to rush to Lima for reinforcements. To this end, Francisco Pizarro and all The officers and soldiers will be extremely grateful to His Majesty the King and will be willing to serve His Majesty the King throughout their lives."
After the letter was written, Antonio read it again to him. He thought it was good and asked Antonio to call his brother Alcantara. Alcantara lived upstairs in the administrative building, so he quickly arrived at Pizarro's Lima municipal office. Pizarro put several letters in front of him and said to him in a serious tone, "Lima is in crisis now, Cusco is in crisis, Arequipa is in crisis, all parts of the country are in crisis. If we don't get other With the rapid reinforcements from the colonial governor, we can be said to be doomed. Therefore, I am now entrusting you with a very important task to save the current very dangerous situation."
Alcantara looked at Pizarro with a very stern look and said, "Please give the order, Mr. Marquis. No matter what the task is, I will go through fire and water without hesitation." Pizarro nodded and said, " Very good." Then, he placed the letter on the table in front of Alcantara and said, "I want you to deliver a few letters. You have to go to Panama first, and then to Nicaragua and Guatemala, which are farther away. Finally, go to Mexico and Spain. Be sure to deliver these letters to the governor and the king in person. You have to travel day and night without rest. The sooner you deliver the letters to the governor and the king, the greater our hope of survival and salvation will be."
Alcantara said, "Don't worry, Marquis, I know the crisis in Lima and Cusco. I also know how important these letters are. I will definitely travel day and night, even if I don't eat, drink or rest, I will do it as quickly as possible." Deliver the letter quickly."
Pizarro nodded very moved and said, "Very good, I'll leave everything to you, my brother." Alcantara also looked a little excited and said, "Don't worry, Mr. Marquis." Pizarro said, "Everything is ready. I will send Chavez with a hundred cavalry to take you to the port. There is a large ship there with ten Spanish soldiers and twenty Indian boatmen on board. Drinking water and food are also available. Ready."
Alcantara said, "Thank you." Pizarro shook Alcantara's hand and said, "Okay, I'm waiting for your good news. Goodbye." With that, Pizarro took Alcantara's hand. La was sent to the door, where Chavez was waiting with a hundred cavalry. So, Alcantara mounted his horse, and in the darkness of the night, he followed the cavalry and ran quickly towards the west street.
