Inca Elegy (Novel) "The Fall of the Inca Empire" (Volume 2) by Zhang Baotong
Soon, they arrived in the city. However, the urban area was a mess after being burned, and was exposed to wind and rain for many days. It was a silent and dead silence in the dark night. Not only could there not be a light, but not even a human figure could be seen. arrive. They walked in the endless darkness for about half an hour, and finally arrived at the center of the city. They stopped a few hundred meters away from the Palace of Virgins and looked towards the Palace of Virgins. They saw that the Palace of Virgins was also completely silent, not even a sentry could be seen.
Saavedra commanded the infantry squadron into action. They quietly spread out and surrounded the Palace of Virgins, using the burned-out buildings one or two hundred meters away from the Palace of Virgins to hide, waiting for the commander's orders. Seeing that the Palace of the Virgin was quiet, Saavedra led the soldiers and rushed towards the Palace of the Virgin. The defenders here didn't even realize that there would be troops to attack the military camp. Not only were they unprepared, but even the sentries on guard fell asleep. Therefore, before the sentry guarding the main entrance of the Virgin Palace woke up, he had a long sword across his neck. They were so frightened that they quickly raised their hands. So Saavedra commanded the soldiers to light torches and enter the Palace of the Virgins. They surrounded the rooms where the soldiers lived and searched them one by one. Then, they tied the soldiers in their underwear with ropes and brought them to the square.
Orgonez led another squadron of infantry who also surrounded Hernando's residence. However, this house is very big and you have to enter through that door. The door was closed tightly and could not be pushed, so the soldiers used a large tree stump prepared in advance to hit the door. The door was knocked open dozens of times. However, as soon as the door opened, gunshots came out intensively. Because it was dark, both sides couldn't see each other clearly, but they were shooting fiercely at each other.
Orgonez saw that the opponent's firepower was very strong, and the door was not very wide. If he tried to attack by force, he would definitely suffer heavy casualties. Orgonez asked people to shout into the big house, "Mr. Hernando, you are surrounded. As long as you surrender, we will not harm you. Otherwise, we will set fire to the house and burn you all to death." "
However, some people inside said back, "What you are doing is betraying, betraying the king, betraying Spain, and being an enemy of the people."
Seeing both sides shooting at each other, no one dared to approach the other. Orgones became anxious and ordered, "Set it on fire."
So the soldiers threw their torches toward the roof of the house. Although the Incas often used large stones when building their houses, and the gaps between the stones were tightly sealed, the roofs of the houses were always covered with wormwood. Maybe this can withstand earthquakes, but not fire protection. So, soon there was a fire on the roof of the house. When the wind blew, the flames were blazing, even the wood edges burned, and some places began to collapse and fell into the house. At this time, people in the room began to shout, "Stop fighting, we surrender."
Orgonez told the soldiers to stop shooting. As soon as the gunfire stopped, some women and servants were seen coming out of the house, and behind them were Spaniards. Just when they came out of the big house, they heard a "boom" and the burning roof of the entire house collapsed. If they came out any later, they would be engulfed in flames.
Orgonez ordered the Spaniards to be tied up. So, the soldiers tied up the Spaniards with five-flowered ropes. When Orgonez walked up to Hernando, Hernando gritted his teeth and said, "You are rebelling and committing a crime." Orgonez ignored him and said to the soldiers , "Tie him up for me." So the soldiers rushed over and tied him up with ropes. Hernando still said in a very strong tone, "I want to see your commander Almagro." Orgonez said coldly, "But he doesn't want to see you."
By this time, the sky was getting a little brighter and the rain had almost stopped. The center of the square next to the Palace of the Virgins was filled with people. In addition to soldiers in military uniforms, there were also some soldiers wearing underwear and underwear. Each of these soldiers was tied up with big flowers. After a while, Secretary Huelva rode over from the side of the square and shouted to the officers and soldiers standing in the square, "The commander has an order to take all the captive officers to the cells and lock them up. "So the soldiers separated the captured officers from the soldiers. There were about forty soldiers and about twenty officers. They untied the ropes from the captured officers, replaced them with handcuffs and anklets, and escorted them into the Vestal Palace and locked them up. Then, untie the soldiers' ropes and let them fight back. The captured soldiers had no choice but to agree.
After capturing Cusco, Almagro became the master of the city. He immediately sent four cavalrymen to the small town of Haoha, 150 kilometers away from Cusco, to deliver a message to Alvarado.
Alvarado led more than 500 cavalry and infantry from Lima to Cusco day and night for reinforcements. He had rested in Haoha for two days and was preparing to rush to Cusco early tomorrow morning. He led troops from Guatemala to reinforce Lima a few months ago. After defeating the 80,000 Inca army led by Inca Commander Kunzu and Princess Moteri, he should have immediately gone to Cusco to reinforce. However, due to various reasons, Pisa However, the Marquis of Luo kept him in Lima. Only after receiving a letter asking for help from Hernando, Pizarro urgently sent him to Cusco for reinforcements. Apparently, their arrival was too late, as Almagro had already captured Cusco.
This afternoon, it rained continuously, and the small town of Haoha was shrouded in misty rain and fog. Alvarado, his adjutant, secretary and others were sitting in a large living room in the Inca palace, listening to a junior officer of the Marquis of Pizarro telling how they had been in Mantaro next to the town. The story of the attack on the Inca army by the river. At this time, someone reported that Almagro had sent someone to deliver a message. With that said, he handed a letter to Alvarado.
Alvarado was startled, wondering what Almagro wanted to do? He asked Secretary Peacefoot to read the letter to everyone. Peacefoot read: "My dear General Alonso de Alvarado, today, I sent someone to deliver this letter to you to explain to you that Cusco was captured by our army last night. , Hernando, Gonzalo and other garrison officers were all imprisoned by me. It can be said that I am now the only legal owner of the city of Cusco. The king's "Letter of Appointment" has also assigned Cusco to me. If you come to my territory, you must submit to my jurisdiction. If you don’t want to surrender and obey my orders, don’t get close to the city of Cusco. Since there is no enmity between you and me, I advise you to return with your troops. Lima. Your men and horses are almost the same as mine. Although your equipment is better, you are much worse than me in terms of actual combat. Moreover, Cusco's city defense is very strong. So, once If the two armies go to war, I am afraid that your entire army will be destroyed. Peru is so big, you can develop and gain wealth elsewhere. I will be very grateful if the general can listen to my advice and stay away from Cusco."
Adjutant Balai cursed, "Who is Almagro the only legal owner? The real legal owner should be the Marquis Pizarro."
Secretary Peacefoot also said, "Almagro overestimates his capabilities. He thinks that he has sneaked into Cusco and that he is the only legitimate owner of Cusco. The best he can do is He has been the legal master for two and a half days. When we capture Cusco in two days, not only will he no longer be the master, he will become our prisoner."
At this point, everyone burst out laughing.
Pizarro's junior officer said to Alvarado, "General, we need to report this matter to the Marquis immediately to see what instructions and ideas he has."
Alvarado was a very loyal officer who was trusted by Pizarro and received many benefits from Marquis Pizarro, so he wanted to repay his kindness. He thought for a moment and shouted, "Someone is here."
His captain of the guard entered the room and asked, "What are your orders, Commander?"
Alvarado said, "Put the soldiers who came to deliver the letters in handcuffs and shackles and lock them up." Then, he said to Secretary Peacefoot, "Write me two letters now. One letter is Report what is happening now to Mr. Marquis, and send a letter to Almagro, saying that I have imprisoned the messenger he sent."
Adjutant Bale whispered to Alvarado, "From now on, we will have to fight Almagro to the end in a bloody battle?"
Alvarado said, "I just want to fight him to the end."
After a while, Secretary Peacefoot wrote the letter to Marquis Pizarro and read it to everyone: "Mr. Marquis Francisco Pizarro, after we left Lima, we traveled day and night and arrived in Hao yesterday. He arrived in the small town of Kazakhstan and was preparing to leave for the city of Cusco early tomorrow morning. However, just now General Almagro sent someone to deliver a message, saying that he had captured the city of Cusco last night and captured Hernando and Gonza. All the officers including Luo were captured and imprisoned. He persuaded me not to attack Cusco and return to Lima immediately, otherwise, I would never come back. After reading the letter, I immediately imprisoned the courier and decided to Hurry to Cusco as quickly as possible. To this end, I report to Mr. Marquis."
Then, Peacefoot quickly wrote the letter to Almagro. He read it to everyone, "Mr. Almagro, I read your letter and I think you are rashly attacking Cus." Co's behavior is extremely reckless, and we do not recognize you as the master of Cusco City. This is not only illegal, but also a complete betrayal. Therefore, I will use military action to correct your behavior. Wrong, unless you can withdraw from the city of Cusco and release Hernando and all the officers. Well, I am waiting for your correction, otherwise, we will see you on the battlefield."
After listening, Alvarado nodded in agreement. Secretary Peacefoot immediately sent someone to deliver the two letters. Then, Alvarado summoned officers above the lieutenant level to come over for a meeting to discuss the march to Cusco tomorrow. Everyone looked at the map and discussed.
Adjutant Bale told everyone, "It is about 150 kilometers from Haoha to Cusco, and the Apurimac River is the key to this march. Knowing that we are going to attack the city of Cusco, Almagro will definitely send The troops occupy the south bank of the river to block our advance into Cusco. Therefore, we must move quickly to occupy the small bridge over the Apurimac River first. In this way, we can advance and attack, and retreat and defend."
A lieutenant named Torella immediately said, "That small bridge is in Abancay, which is almost 130 kilometers away from us, and only a few dozen kilometers away from Cusco. If we set off early tomorrow morning, the speed No matter how fast it is, it will not be faster than Almagro and the others. Therefore, I suggest that we immediately send a cavalry squadron to rush to Abancay overnight to seize and hold the small bridge, and then our large troops will arrive later. .”
After hearing this, Alvarado nodded in agreement and said to his adjutant Bale, "I think this is the only way."
Adjutant Balai also agreed and said, "Let Lieutenant Torella lead the cavalry squadron and set off after dinner?"
Alvarado said, "Good."
Lieutenant Torella led a group of cavalry to have dinner early and headed south along a marching road in the drizzle. During the night, it rained intermittently all night long. Fortunately, they were walking on the Royal Avenue, and the road surface was wide and hard, so their marching speed was not affected in any way. By daybreak they had covered half the journey. They continued marching non-stop until they reached the small bridge over the Apurimac River in the evening.
This is the season when the world is full of rain. It is raining non-stop, water is flowing on the mountains and down the mountains, and rain is also flowing in the valleys and ravines. People usually don't go out during this season because wherever you go there is mud and rain.
