Inca Elegy (Novel) "The Fall of the Inca Empire" (Volume 2) by Zhang Baotong
Cusco has been burning for several days, with huge tongues of flames shooting into the sky with thick smoke, covering every building with a terrible firelight. The fire quickly spread from one house to another, and the flames were blown by the strong wind, making a huge roar, like a volcanic eruption. The hot flames were billowing, the smoke was billowing, and it was so choking that people couldn't breathe. The fire burned from the city to the various grand building complexes around the Palace Square, including the Huayna Kabak Palace and the Viracocha Palace, the most famous and grand buildings in the Inca Kingdom, all of which were reduced to ashes in the fire. If it were not for the protection of the huge and open Palace Square, the Spaniards would probably have been swallowed up by the fire.
After the fire burned the Spanish homes and barracks, they set up tents in the Palace Square and used the Palace Square as their refuge. The soldiers of Juan's team also withdrew from those buildings and came to the square. Because except for the square, the entire city was a sea of fire.
While Juan reported to Hernando the situation of the fall of various places, he asked to lead troops to rush out. Hernando said nothing, but paced back and forth in the tent. He hadn't slept for two days and two nights, his eyes were red and his face looked tired. He didn't know whether Juan's proposal was feasible, but he also felt that he couldn't just wait to die here.
Seeing that Hernando didn't reply for a long time, Juan became anxious and said, "Even if we die in battle, we can't hide in a hole and let hunters smoke to death like foxes." Hernando finally nodded and said , "If you want to attack, you must wait until the fire is extinguished. First, send people with the Indian auxiliary troops to clear a passage from the fire scene, and then you can lead the cavalry to attack according to the situation." Juan saw that his brother agreed to his suggestion, He said, "Yes, sir." Then he left the tent of the general command post.
As soon as Juan returned to his barracks, he gathered the soldiers in his tent to convey Hernando's instructions, and selected more than 60 elite soldiers and generals, preparing to follow them to attack and harass the Indians. sneak attack. After everything was ready, Juan and the soldiers began to wait for the opportunity.
The fire burned in the city for a full week before it was slowly extinguished. But the whole city was still filled with thick smoke and scorching heat. At this time, Juan ordered hundreds of Indian auxiliary soldiers to begin clearing a passage out of the city from the burning and collapsed ruins. This kind of work is very hard and extremely dangerous, and progress is slow. As the work progressed closer to the suburbs, it came into contact with the Indians entering the city.
The Indians fired their short arrows accurately, and many auxiliary soldiers were killed immediately. Juan had no choice but to bring his cavalry for reinforcements. However, because there are scattered ruins and hot wood and stones everywhere, it is almost difficult for the cavalry to pass. However, Juan led the cavalry forward around the road. When they reached a relatively flat area, they saw some Indian soldiers burying wooden stakes and setting up obstacles on some cleared sections of the road, and then commanded the cavalry to rush over. However, just as they were about to rush over, the horses running at the front suddenly stumbled and fell in the air. The man was also thrown heavily against a stone wall, and he could not get up from the ground for a long time.
Seeing this scene, the other cavalrymen immediately realized that the Indians had used a horse rope and hurriedly stopped their horses. However, just as the cavalry stopped their horses and watched, several nooses suddenly flew over from behind the stone wall in front, and they caught the necks of two soldiers. The two lassoed soldiers were immediately pulled from their horses to the ground, and then dragged over by the Indian soldiers. The other cavalrymen wanted to rush to the rescue, but a dense burst of short arrows immediately shot towards them. They had to use shields to protect their faces and upper bodies. When they retreated a certain distance to avoid the short arrows and looked over there again, the two cavalrymen had been tied up and taken away by the Indians.
They helped up the soldiers who had fallen off their horses, and wanted to chase the Indians so that they could rescue their comrades. However, the road in front of them was already covered with large stones and stones by the Indian soldiers. Timber, difficult to pass. There was no other way, so Juan had to take the soldiers back to the camp temporarily.
The attack was unsuccessful, and two of the cavalrymen were captured and three wounded, which made Juan feel very frustrated. He came to Hernando's command post and gave a brief report on the results of the attack. Hernando still didn't speak for a long time, and only said in a hoarse voice, "The Indians are really cunning than before. If you want to attack, you must be cautious. We only have a few people, and we can't go head-to-head with them. ." Juan replied shamefully, "Yes, sir. I will find a way to make up for today's mistakes." Hernando nodded.
At this time, a cavalryman who was sent to Lima for advice ran back. He was seriously injured and his face was covered with blood. As soon as he entered the tent, he fell to the ground. Juan immediately helped him sit up and brought him a glass of water for him to drink. Hernando squatted in front of him and asked eagerly, "Why did you come back so soon?" The soldier took a sip of water, took a breath, and then said slowly, "Reporting to the commander, I did not reach Lima, only Lima. Haha. Because the entire Inca Kingdom is full of revolting Incas, except for the cities of Cusco and Lima, other places have been captured by Indians. I heard that Lima has also been besieged by Indians for several days. , the situation is very serious, so after hearing the news, I felt that it was useless to go to Lima, because Lima may also be waiting for reinforcements."
Hernando nodded and called the guards to take the injured soldier to the health center. Hernando said to Juan, "It seems that we have no hope and we can only rely on ourselves." Juan also said, "Without reinforcements, how can we deal with this Indian army of more than 100,000 people?"
Hernando sighed and said, "May God bless us."
At this time, another soldier came over and reported, "Sir, a small group of Indian soldiers rushed over just now, dropped a few heads and ran away. These heads belong to us Spaniards. The team leader wants you to go and take a look. ." As soon as Hernando and Juan heard this, they followed the soldier who reported the report to the edge of the square.
I saw seven or eight bloody heads on the edge of the square. The heads had been placed neatly by the soldiers beside them, and the blood and mud on their faces were wiped away with towels. From their faces, you can recognize that they are all soldiers who lived alone in private estates and failed to return to the barracks in time. The other two were cavalrymen from Juan's team. Hernando led the soldiers to mourn the dead for a long time, then asked the soldiers to wrap the heads in clothes and temporarily bury them in an open space next to the square.
Besieged by an army of more than 100,000 Indians, but with no reinforcements, and news that Lima was trapped and that various places were occupied by revolting Indians kept coming. In addition, the city of Cusco was burned and there was no food in the city. These things quickly This caused chaos in the Spanish barracks. The mood of the soldiers was extremely pessimistic. Many soldiers were even prepared to flee to the coast and return home.
Hernando was troubled by the chaos of the soldiers, who all demanded an urgent breakout and fled to the seaside so that the remaining ships could return home. He had no good solution. Therefore, he had no choice but to summon the officers above second lieutenant in the army to the command post for discussion. It was just after noon, and everyone gathered in the command post after eating something casually. There were more than twenty lieutenant-level officers sitting in the small tent. Because everyone was in a very low mood, they were all smoking cigarettes in silence, and no one spoke a word.
Hernando stood up from his chair and said, "Everyone is very clear about what is happening now, and I don't need to say anything more. We are now facing a siege of more than 100,000 Indians, and the city has been burned. There was not much food, and Lima was already besieged, so it was impossible to send reinforcements. Therefore, the soldiers were panicked and asked to break out of the city, escape to the seaside, and return to their country by boat. Regarding this issue, please All officers have stated their opinions."
Immediately a lieutenant stood up and said, "I think the soldiers' request is very reasonable and sensible. Judging from the current situation, there are more than 100,000 of them, and we only have less than 200. It is impossible for us to compete with them." They fought to the end. Moreover, the grain depot was burned and there was no food in the city. If the Indians cut off the water source again, we would have no tears even if we cried. It would be better to take the opportunity to break out, go straight to the seaside, and return to the country by boat. We can be at ease. Live out your life in wealth and wealth, or regroup and make a comeback.”
As soon as the lieutenant finished speaking, many lieutenants immediately agreed. They all rose up to express their opinions to support the lieutenant's opinion. Another second lieutenant also said, "Instead of staying here like foxes waiting to die in the cave, we should rush out and fight to the death, break out, return to San Miguel, take a boat back to the country, and wait for the opportunity to make a comeback. Comeback.”
Originally, Hernando wanted to use this meeting to boost his spirits and morale. He did not expect that everyone was talking about breaking out and escaping, so he winked at Juan and Gonzalo. Juan and Gonzalo certainly understand what their brothers mean.
So, Juan first stood up and warned in a stern tone, "We can abandon the city of Cusco, and then we can escape to the seaside port. However, have you ever thought about it, once we escape the city of Cusco, then the Indian army will This will free up our hands to reinforce Lima, and then Lima may be captured by the Indians. If both Cusco and Lima are captured by the Indians, then do we still have a place in this country?"
A second lieutenant named Hernando Ponce de Leon said, "If we can hold on here for a month or two, maybe the situation will change. The Marquis will definitely send someone to ask for reinforcements from Panama. As long as Lima As soon as the siege is lifted, reinforcements will be sent over, and by then the Indians will voluntarily withdraw.”
But the lieutenant shook his head and said, "What if Lima is captured? Besides, can we hold on for a month or two? Maybe by then, it will be too late for us to leave."
At this time, a lieutenant named De Rojas stood up and said, "I do not agree to evacuate Cusco. Cusco is a great achievement of our expedition and the capital of the Indians. If we abandon Cusco, It is tantamount to showing our weakness and cowardice to the Indians and emboldening the Indians. As soldiers, how can we enhance the majesty of the enemy and destroy the courage of our army. How can we escape from danger and retreat without fighting? This is not the style of our soldiers. ? If any of you want to leave, you can leave, my team and I will not leave here even if we die here."
His impassioned speech immediately silenced the officers and men who were arguing with the two views, and also greatly encouraged Hernando. He took advantage of the situation and said, "The words of Lieutenant De Rojas show and reiterate the fearless spirit of our Spanish soldiers. This spirit is the spirit of Columbus, the national spirit of our Spaniards, and the spirit of our soldiers engaged in expeditions and adventures. I want to Think about how we came to this land? Think about how many people have been buried in unfinished business. Think about the merits and great achievements we will create in history. As long as we think of these, we can boost our fighting spirit. Overcome the odds.”
"The situation at hand is indeed very dangerous and difficult, but we cannot give up, we cannot escape, and all the mountain passes and roads have been occupied and guarded by Indians. If I abandon Cusco and retreat to the coast, We can only throw ourselves into a trap and seek death. Therefore, in my opinion, Cusco is the safest place for us. We must not abandon Cusco and go to death." At this time, as a representative of the Spanish royal family, Treasurer Riquelme also said to everyone in an encouraging tone, "As long as we can persist here for one to two months, our compatriots will not let us sit back and wait for death, and there will definitely be a large number of expeditionary troops. Come to the rescue.”
Before Treasurer Riquelme finished speaking, someone came to report from outside, saying, "Report to Captain Hernando that the Saxahuaman Castle in the north of the city was occupied by Indian soldiers. When a cavalry team going out to grab food passed by the castle, , was attacked by Indian soldiers, who threw javelins and arrows from the fort, causing several cavalry casualties."
