Inca Elegy (Novel) "The Fall of the Inca Empire" (Volume 2) by Zhang Baotong
Over the next two to three months, troops and supplies continued to arrive to reinforce Lima. After Panama sent one hundred cavalry and two hundred infantry, Nicaragua quickly sent a ship full of grain, ammunition and horses. Then, the Governor of Honduras sent a hundred cavalry, Guatemala led a hundred cavalry by Alvarado, and the Governor of Mexico also sent a hundred cavalry. Even King Charles IV of Spain also sent one of his cavalry. Hundreds of cavalry guards were sent over. As a result, Lima had more than 600 cavalry and 400 infantry, plus more than 3,000 Indian auxiliary troops.
This is a day in early August, and it is winter in Lima at this time. The temperature here is not very low, but the fog is thick and the air is humid. When the bright sun rose from the mountains in the east, it was already past eight o'clock in the morning. The sun shines through the fog, illuminating the Rimac plain brightly, even a little dazzlingly.
On the plains, 70,000 to 80,000 Indian siege troops have concentrated on the spacious and flat grassland in the northern suburbs of Lima. They still used the same tactics as before, forming an army of 30,000 to 40,000 people as the central army, and then divided the other 30,000 to 40,000 troops into the left army and the right army, forming an encirclement situation of blocking on one side and enveloping on both sides.
The Spaniards, under the leadership of Pizarro, had a shock force of six hundred cavalry ready, majestically arrayed on a flat slope three to four hundred meters away from the Indian army. The other infantry and artillery have also been divided into two parts and lined up on both sides of the cavalry.
Perhaps feeling that the Spanish troops had suddenly increased a lot, Kunzu, the commander of the Indian Lima army, seemed a little worried, so he immediately asked the trumpeter to blow the trumpet, asking the troops on the east and west sides to quickly move towards the central army.
At this time, Pizarro, who was standing on the high slope, saw that the Indians began to mobilize their troops, and the troops on the left and right sides were approaching the Chinese army, and he felt that the situation had changed. So, he said to Chavez next to him, "The Kunzu elephant is bringing the troops on both sides closer to the Chinese army." Chavez also realized that the change in the situation might affect the battle situation. So, he said to Pizarro, "We must launch an attack immediately, otherwise it will be more difficult to wait for the Indian troops on both sides to merge into one." Because according to the Spanish's prior arrangement, they would first use cavalry to attack the central army, As long as the Chinese army is in chaos, the Indian army will be defeated.
Pizarro nodded and said to Chavez, "You lead the cavalry troops directly towards the central army. After entering the central army, first deal with Kunzu and those princes. As long as you deal with their commander and princes, This 70,000 to 80,000-strong army is leaderless and completely defeated." Chavez said, "Yes, Marquis."
When Chavez just ran down the hillside, Pizarro said to Pedro Diego beside him, "When Chavez leads the cavalry to start the attack, you immediately command the infantry and artillery on both sides to attack the Indian troops on the left and right sides." Shoot to stop their rapid approach." Pedro Diego led the troops and ran down the hill.
Soon, a loud Spanish charge sounded over the troops, and Chavez waved his long sword. The cavalry force of more than 600 people suddenly rushed toward the Indian army like a roaring mountain and a tsunami. The Rimac Plain is spacious and flat, which is very favorable for cavalry attacks. Therefore, the cavalry wielded their long swords and rushed into the Indians' center with an unstoppable momentum. They fought hand-to-hand with the Indians' short axes and daggers. Although the Indians had javelins and short arrows, their weapons seemed so insignificant in front of the powerful cavalry. Under the impact and collision of hundreds of sharp cavalry, the Indians seemed to be slaughtered and slaughtered. Like alpacas, they fell piece by piece.
At the same time, the two Indian troops on the left and right, which were approaching the Chinese army, were also shot and bombarded by Spanish infantry and artillery. The Spanish's arquebuses and cannons were divided into two parts and fired continuously at the Indians. Especially the small Spanish cannons kept exploding among the Indians, causing their blood and flesh to fly and their souls to be shattered.
Soon, the Chinese army was broken through by the cavalry, and the Indians fell in large pieces. Seeing the fierce and unstoppable Spanish cavalry offensive, the Indian soldiers began to retreat and flee one after another. Seeing that the Chinese army could no longer stop it, Kunzu commanded the guards to supervise the battle and asked the trumpeter to notify the left and right armies to move closer quickly. However, although the horn horn kept sounding, it was already covered by the sound of gunfire. Living. Moreover, the left and right armies were strongly blocked by Spanish infantry and artillery. They suffered serious casualties and were too distracted to move quickly towards the Chinese army.
Seeing that the Chinese army could no longer stop it, Kunzu asked the deputy commander Xin Tu to take command and supervise the battle, preparing to lead Princess Mo Taili and other princes to retreat. However, at this time, the Chinese army was in chaos, with tens of thousands of troops huddled together. Blocked their retreat. Kunzu asked the guards to squeeze out a way of escape while retreating. However, when the Indian soldiers saw that their leader had retreated, they were even more defeated and in chaos. When the Spanish cavalry saw the princes in brocade uniforms beginning to retreat, under the command of Captain Chavez, all the troops moved towards this side to outflank and kill them.
The fleeing Indian soldiers saw that the Spanish cavalry were outflanking and killing their princes, so they avoided the princes and guards and fled in other directions. In this way, the prince and the guards were directly exposed to the Spanish cavalry. The entire central army of tens of thousands of people was killed by the Spanish cavalry and scattered in all directions, not to mention the guard of nearly a thousand people. Therefore, the Spanish cavalry encountered little resistance and charged forward, killing all the guardsmen. Without their guards, the princes had to fight the Spanish cavalry with spears and daggers. As a result, they were all attacked by Spanish cavalry and fell to the ground. After killing the Indian generals and princes, the Spanish cavalry continued their pursuit and drove all the Indian soldiers to the other side of the Rimac River before stopping.
After the war, when the Spaniards were cleaning up the battlefield, they found the bodies of Indian commander Kunzu and Princess Motelli among the killed Indian generals and princes, as well as more than 40 people including deputy commander Xintu and general Wamankai. The corpse of the prince. The general Mokwa who led the left army and the general Chukwuka who led the right army fled to the other side of the Rima River with the remaining troops.
The Indians who fled to the other side of the Rimac River used the river as a natural barrier and stayed on the other side of the river. However, most of the soldiers had fled during the battle, greatly reducing their combat effectiveness. Therefore, the combined troops of Mokwa and Chukwuka were only ten or twenty thousand people, and they could only rely on the river banks to confront the Spanish. But the Indians who fled across the river no longer posed any threat to the Spaniards. However, the river was wide and it was inconvenient for the Spaniards to cross the river to fight them.
After defeating the Indian army led by Kunzu, Pizarro withdrew his troops and returned to the camp to comfort the soldiers. While the soldiers were celebrating their victory with a banquet, Pizarro summoned Chávez, Pedro Diego, Royal Cavalry Lieutenants Madrid and Alcantara to his office in the administrative building. Alcantara rushed to Lima not long ago with the cavalry squad of the Spanish King's Guard.
Pizarro took a sip of tea from the cup and said to the officers present, "Today's battle can be said to have achieved an unexpectedly great victory. It not only wiped out most of the troops of the Inca King Manco's expedition to Lima, but also killed many people. They lost their commander Kunzu, Princess Moteli and more than 40 princes and generals. Although some Indians fled to the other side of the Rima River, they have become frightened birds or defeated soldiers, and can only wait for us to fight them , they will no longer have the strength and courage to attack us. Therefore, I decided to send reinforcements to quickly reinforce Cusco."
Having said this, he lit a cigarette, took a puff, and said, "Cusco has been besieged for more than five months. There has been no news from there for two or three months, and I don't know where it is." What is the situation like. So, I have been very worried. Now that the siege of Lima has been lifted, I want to send reinforcements there immediately. What do you think?"
Alcantara knew Pizarro's thoughts best. When Pizarro said this, he immediately echoed, "I think it's time to send a cavalry team to reinforce. This will give Hernando They gave great encouragement and support." Antonio also said, "It is not easy for Hernando and the others to persist for such a long time. They should send cavalry reinforcements quickly. Otherwise, if the city of Cusco lets the Indians If the people capture it, it will be a huge spiritual inspiration to the entire Indian uprising and riots, and it will call on more Indians to rise up against us. This will be very detrimental to us Spaniards. "
Panamanian Cavalry Captain Pedro Diego and Royal Cavalry Lieutenant Madrid also agreed. So Pizarro turned his attention to Captain Chavez. Chavez mused, "Just sending one cavalry squad will not help change the situation in Cusco. I think three or four cavalry squads must be sent in succession to reinforce, in order to truly Change the situation there as soon as possible. Therefore, I think that every three to five days, a cavalry squad is sent. By sending three to four cavalry squads in a row, the cavalry troops in Cusco can reach Four or five hundred people. In this way, a cavalry team of four or five hundred people can launch a fierce attack on more than 100,000 Indians. As long as we go through several large-scale assault battles, I think we can quickly defeat or eliminate them. The Inca siege troops.”
Pizarro nodded to Chavez convinced, and then asked everyone, "I think Captain Chavez's opinion is feasible, what do you think?" Seeing that everyone had no objections, Pizarro said in a commanding tone, " Then send Lieutenant Pietro to lead a cavalry squad of 100 people first. Lieutenant Madrid will lead another 100 Royal Cavalry squad to follow, and then, depending on the situation, send Captain Pedro Diego to lead a Panamanian cavalry squad to catch up. Toward Cusco.”
