Inca Elegy (Novel) "The Fall of the Inca Empire" (Volume 2) by Zhang Baotong
Pizarro led the cavalry troops along West Street toward the suburbs. Lima is very quiet at night, and only a few patrols can be seen occasionally moving back and forth on the deserted streets. There were no lights on the street, only the light of the stars and the moon in the sky shone brightly on the street. Therefore, when Pizarro led the cavalry team through the streets, the messy and hard sound made by the horses' hooves on the stones seemed very clear.
When we arrived at the intersection of West Street, we came to the position of the Spanish garrison. The soldiers set up five or six tents at the intersection. Except for a dozen soldiers who sat in front of a fire with guns in their hands and watched what was happening on the other side of the road, the other soldiers were already sleeping in the tents. Seeing Pizarro coming with his soldiers, the lieutenant and the soldiers stood up and saluted.
Pizarro said to the lieutenant, "Assemble the cavalry squad and follow me outside the city to meet the reinforcements from Panama." The lieutenant said, "Yes." Pizarro added, "We will go first, and you will take it with you right away." The cavalry team is coming running." The lieutenant said, "Yes, commander." After saying that, he asked his assistant to assemble the team.
When I arrived at the outskirts of the city, I saw a bonfire in front of me that could not be seen. This is the camp where the Indians besieged the troops south of the city. Less than two or three hundred meters away from them, you can see Indians sitting around piles of bonfires and sleeping. Only a few soldiers and patrols stood guard and sentry. And on the wide road leading to the seaside port, there were many bonfires piled up and filled with sleeping soldiers.
In order not to be discovered by the Indians, Pizarro asked the cavalry to hide behind some buildings and wait for Chavez to appear with Panamanian reinforcements. After a while, the lieutenant guarding West Street came over with his cavalry squad. Pizarro sat with several officers and observed the movements of the Indians. The Indians had been quiet, so everyone was a little sleepy. So, Pizarro gave everyone some tobacco, and everyone started rolling cigarettes and smoking to drive away the drowsiness.
About midnight, someone reported that "they are coming." So Pizarro looked in the distance and saw many torches on the road coming from the harbor, heading towards the road occupied by the Indians. Running quickly. Apparently it was a large group of cavalry. Then, the Indian camp became panicked, got up from the ground one after another, retreated from the road to both sides of the road, and prepared to fight.
At this time, Pizarro said to Antonio, "Let the cavalry assemble and prepare to charge towards the Indian camp." So Antonio asked the trumpeter to blow the rally horn as a link with the cavalry charging over there. When the cavalry were ready, Pizarro asked the trumpeter to blow the charge horn. The cavalry divided into two long groups and charged towards the Indian camp.
At this time, the cavalry from the other side happened to rush over. This formed two cavalry attacking from the east and west at the same time. The Indians were so frightened that they retreated and quickly dispersed towards both sides of the road, leaving the road completely to the Spanish. People got out of the way. However, the cavalry did not rush into the camp to pursue the Indians. Instead, they guerrillaed back and forth along both sides of the road to protect the infantry and cavalry passing the road. In less than twenty minutes, all the infantry and cavalry passed safely through the section of road occupied by the Indians and entered the city.
After all the Spaniards returned to safety, Chavez introduced the commander of the supporting army, Captain Pedro Diego, to Pizarro. Pizarro held Captain Pedro Diego's hand tightly and said, "It's so great that we have finally waited for you." Pedro Diego said, "After the Governor learned about the news that you were under siege, , immediately asked me to organize and recruit 100 cavalry and 200 infantry, also prepared a lot of food and ammunition, and mobilized a fleet to transport us over as quickly as possible." With that, he handed a letter to Pizarro. Pizarro asked the soldiers to light torches and asked Antonio to repeat his belief, and then said happily, "With your reinforcements, we will have the strength to compete with the Indians. Once these Indians are eliminated, we will I will give you and the governor a great reward."
Originally, the barracks could only accommodate two to three hundred people. However, one hundred cavalry and two hundred infantry suddenly arrived, and the barracks immediately became overly supportive. So, in the past, a dormitory where two people lived suddenly became four or five people. For a time, there weren't that many beds, so two people slept on the same bed. But no matter what, the officers and soldiers from Panama were finally arranged.
With these reinforcements, the Spaniards immediately regained their confidence. Not only did they have reserves, but also dozens of garrison personnel and new firearms were added to each street. This new type of firearm has a larger caliber, a longer range, and greater lethality than the original matchlock gun.
This morning, Pizarro convened a meeting of officers above the captain level to discuss the military deployment for the next period of time. Chavez, Pedro Diego, Pereira, Antonio attended the meeting. Pizarro first said, "After the arrival of the three hundred Panamanian reinforcements, it can be said that the balance of our struggle against the Indians has begun to tilt towards our side. At present, we have more than five hundred soldiers, and we are fully capable of fighting against the seven or eight The siege and attack of thousands of Indians. So, I think now that we have the power to fight against the Indians, how should we fight against the Indians in the future? Because I am not only thinking about the problem of Lima City , and there is also the problem of the city of Cusco. It can be said that Lima and the city of Cusco are closely interdependent. No matter which city is once conquered by the Indians, the Indians will mobilize the army there. Reinforcements. But now there is no news from Cusco. I only know that there are nearly 100,000 Indians besieging it day and night, and the defenders there are only about 200 people, so I am very worried about them. I won’t be able to keep it.”
Chavez thought deeply for a while and said, "There has been no news from Cusco for two or three months. Maybe the Indians surrounded the city and the people inside couldn't get out at all, so there was no way to send the message." Send it out. However, I think the situation there must be very tense and severe, because Cusco is the capital of the Indians and a holy place in the hearts of the Indians. Therefore, the Indians used more than 100,000 troops to siege and attack the city. However, although the situation there is very serious, I think we must defend the city of Lima first, and we must first eliminate the siege army of Kunzu before we can consider the problem of Cusco. Otherwise, We will create a passive situation where we have to take care of both sides but cannot take care of both sides.”
Pizarro was silent for a while, thinking that Chavez's words were reasonable, but he still said, "I want to see if I can first send a cavalry force of one or two hundred people to strengthen the strength in Cusco, and then Lima already has enough troops to deal with Kunzu's army. Moreover, in a month or two, reinforcements will be sent from Guatemala and Mexico." At this point, Pizarro emphasized, "I am mainly worried , Cusco is in danger of losing at any time. Once Cusco is lost, it will be more difficult to recover. Besides, there are more than 200 of our officers and soldiers there. Their lives are always in danger. My heart is concerned.”
Captain Pereira was Pizarro's newly promoted young officer. He knew that Pizarro's three brothers were in Cusco, and that Pizarro had been very worried about their situation, so he said, "How about this?" , please ask the Marquis to send me to lead an army to Cusco for reinforcements. I will find ways to complete the mission of the commander-in-chief."
But Pedro Diego disagreed with this opinion. He said, "I think we can only send troops to relieve the siege of Cusco after we have completely defeated and completely destroyed Kunzu's siege army. Because I think we can send troops to relieve the siege of Cusco." How much effect will one or two hundred cavalry have on Cusco if they rush all the way to Cusco? Manco's army of more than 100,000 will not be greatly affected by the arrival of these two hundred cavalry. Therefore, I think we should tell the Cusco garrison and let them continue to hold on for one to two months. After all reinforcements arrive, we will concentrate our forces to wipe out Kunzu in one fell swoop, and then send several troops to Kuzco together. If we send reinforcements from Cusco, then the city of Cusco can be said to be self-defeating.”
Antonio also agreed with Chavez and Pedro Diego. He said, "For Manco's 100,000-strong siege army, the arrival of one or two hundred cavalry is not much of a threat. Therefore, I think The most important thing is to wait for several governors to send reinforcements, and then concentrate on wiping out all the Kunzu forces around Lima. As long as this force is wiped out, Manco will definitely suffer a big blow. This is better than sending Sending one or two hundred cavalry reinforcements would be much more effective, because sending troops to reinforce Cusco would weaken Lima's strength. It would not be conducive to the elimination of Kunzu's Indian army as soon as possible, nor would it be conducive to the early change of the situation in Lima. "
Pizarro listened to everyone's discussion and had to give up the idea of sending troops to reinforce Cusco. So, he said, "Then we won't send troops to reinforce Cusco for now, but can we concentrate our superior forces to engage in a large-scale positional battle with Kunzu outside the city? Please think about this issue again." Chavez flatly denied it and said, "I think it is absolutely not possible. We fought a battle with the Indians in the plains of the countryside last time, but not only did we not win, but we also suffered heavy losses. Therefore, I think that although our military strength There has been a very obvious increase, but it is not enough to fight a life-and-death battle with the Indian besieging army. If we cannot concentrate the absolute advantage of five hundred cavalry, it is better not to take this risk."
Pedro Diego said, "Captain Chavez's words are not unreasonable. To fight the Indians, I think it is better not to fight. We must win in a decisive battle. Now our troops only have about 500 people, among which the number of cavalry is only Three hundred people, these three hundred people rushed over and were surrounded by 70,000 or 80,000 Indians. They still couldn't form an absolute advantage. At most, they could only draw a tie. Therefore, I felt there was no need to fight with them prematurely. Fight."
Moreover, Pereira and Antonio also hold the same opinion. So, Pizarro had no choice but to say, "In this case, we have no choice but to continue waiting. However, you must continue to strengthen the defense of each street and continue to carry out irregular inspections and patrols every morning and evening. You must not take it lightly and ignore it." Chavez, Pedro Diego and Pereira said, "Yes."
Having said this, Pizarro said to Antonio, "You must organize reserve troops to be ready for reinforcements in each street at any time. On the other hand, you must arrange and prepare accommodation and prepare barracks for reinforcements that will arrive one after another." And the stables." Antonio said, "Yes, sir."
