Inca Elegy (Novel) "The Fall of the Inca Empire" (Volume 2) by Zhang Baotong
It was around three o'clock in the afternoon on July 12, 1537. Almagro led the cavalry troops to the east bank of the Apurimac River east of Abancay. After the rain, the sky cleared, and the sun emerged from the clouds, illuminating the mountainous area in the afternoon. But because it was the rainy season, the river roared under the bridge, and the small bridge made of rattan swayed slightly in the wind. Don't underestimate this small bridge. If Huascar could have sent three to five hundred people or nearly a thousand people to guard this small bridge, then the history of the Inca Kingdom might not be what it is today.
Almagro stood on the east side of the bridge and looked around the bridge for a long time. Opposite him, about a hundred meters away on the west bank, was Lieutenant Torella's cavalry squadron. They learned that Almagro was leading a large group of troops on a rapid march from Cusco, and they had already prepared for battle. At this time, they were standing on the other side of the bridge with guns and swords in hand, waiting for Almagro's troops to rush over.
In fact, it was difficult for the opponent to rush over from the bridge because the Spaniards were not used to crossing such bridges. This kind of rattan bridge not only has many holes on the bridge, but also has only two ropes on both sides of the bridge as guardrails. Although the bridge deck is paved with many wooden boards, because the bridge body is very light, people will keep shaking when they walk on the bridge. , especially when you walk to the middle of the bridge, the bridge will shake violently, and timid people will be so frightened that their legs will weaken and they will not dare to move. Therefore, when people cross this kind of bridge, they always walk very slowly step by step. Moreover, a long section of the wooden planks near the bridge deck on the west bank was removed.
But Almagro still organized two attacks. For the first time, he asked the infantry squad to charge across the bridge. However, just after they reached the bridge and took a few steps forward, there was loud gunfire from the opposite side, and two soldiers immediately fell from the bridge into the deep valley under the bridge. So the soldiers immediately withdrew from the bridge. When Almagro saw this, he was very angry and furious at the soldiers who retreated. About half an hour later, he personally directed the soldiers to attack the other side of the bridge. However, this time, as soon as they heard gunfire from the opposite side, the soldiers hurriedly lay down on the bridge and refused to get up. Almagro had no choice but to order the soldiers to retreat.
Seeing that the sky was getting a little dark and still a little overcast, Almagro asked the soldiers to camp on the east bank of the bridge, preparing to cook and wait until tomorrow to make plans. In fact, of course he knew that even if he attacked the bridge for a month, there would be no results, but he wanted to attract the enemy's attention so that he could cover the large group of troops led by Orgones to cross the river from the ford.
At this time, the large group of troops led by Deputy Commander Orgonez had reached a ridge only two or three kilometers away from the shoal. He asked the troops to pause, and then led several officers to the edge of the forest on a hill to observe across the river valley. Under the afternoon sun, you can see that sentries have been set up on the other side of the river valley, and patrols are moving back and forth. There is a high slope not far from the shoal valley. The high slope is just condescending to the shoal of the valley. It is covered with dense white tents. At first glance, it is Alvarado's main force stationed there. Looking at the shoals between the river valleys, although the river is shallow, the river surface is wide and the water flow is still rapid. After crossing the river at the ford, they have to go up to a sloping river bank. If there is someone guarding the other side, it will be difficult for the troops crossing the river to get to the bank. Of course, Orgones knew that if he tried to forcefully cross the river at this time, he would definitely suffer heavy losses and failure. Therefore, after discussing with his men for a while, he asked the troops to go down to the valleys under the mountain ridges to hide, and wait until dark before crossing the river.
The afternoon passed very slowly, and finally the sun set. Orgones had his soldiers eat corn tortillas and llama jerky in preparation for crossing the river. It soon became dark, and when the sun's remaining light was completely blocked by the Andes Mountains, everything in the mountains could only be illuminated by the light of the moon and stars.
Orgones ordered his troops to keep quiet and move quickly. So, more than 200 cavalry and more than 200 infantry in the army walked out of the valley and onto a path that led directly to the ford. The path first went up to a ridge, and then went down from the ridge to the edge of the valley. The rushing waves suddenly filled the valley and drowned everything. The soldiers went down to the river valley in the dark and came to the river. They looked at the turbulent rapids under the moonlight and hesitated for a moment. However, Orgones shouted loudly from the shore, "Speed up and cross the river, quickly!"
So the cavalry and infantry swarmed into the river together. However, the river was very fast, and immediately some people screamed, fell down in the river, and were washed away by the river. In such rapids, as long as you are washed away by the river water, you will naturally die. However, the soldiers still rushed towards the river wave after wave, just like the wildebeest herds in the Serengeti savannah forcibly crossing the Mara River. Although this is a shoal, the river is not shallow and reaches the soldier's waist. But hundreds of soldiers descended into the river together and rushed towards the other bank.
Their crossing of the river was quickly discovered by the enemy troops guarding the other side. The enemy's bullets were fired in this direction intensively. Orgonez asked the trumpeter to blow the charge trumpet. Inspired by the Charge, he led the soldiers to take the lead and rushed towards the other side regardless of their own safety. However, when he just reached the shore, a stray bullet hit his mouth, causing blood to flow from his mouth and teeth. He was shot and fell from his horse. Instead of frightening him, this aroused his desire for revenge. When the soldiers came to help him up, he touched the wound on his mouth with his hand, mounted his horse again, and led the soldiers to rush toward the enemy. At this time, the second lieutenant officer named Lema also led the rebels to fire at Alvarado's defenders from the inside, making the defenders confused who was the enemy and who was the friendly force, and soon fell into a chaos. confusion. The army is most afraid of internal chaos. Once there is chaos, people will not be able to distinguish between friends and foes, and they will also be afraid of being shot in the dark by someone around them. In this case, who would have the heart to continue fighting?
The defenders on the shore were quickly repelled by the fierce offensive and fled in the darkness. Orgones commanded the soldiers to pursue them relentlessly, taking advantage of the victory to pursue them towards the small bridge. When they pursued them to the east bank of the bridge, the pursuers fought again with Lieutenant Torellia's cavalry. However, Lieutenant Torrelia's cavalry squadron was attacked by the opponent on one side and Second Lieutenant Lema's rebels on the other, and the troops were quickly dispersed.
The troops guarding the bridge were scattered, and Almagro seized the fighter plane and rushed across the bridge. After crossing the bridge, he asked an infantry squad to guard the small bridge, and then joined forces with Orgonez and fled together in the direction of Alvarado's retreat. Alvarado and his defeated army were retreating in the direction of Haoha. Because there were many people retreating, a flow of people quickly formed, at least three to four hundred people, retreating northward in shock.
When they entered the Uraqi Valley, suddenly, a loud bugle sounded from the hillside. After the bugle sounded, gunfire broke out and there were bursts of killing. In order to avoid bullets, the fleeing cavalry and infantry became a mess, crowded and colliding with each other, but they did not know where to hide. It was dark and the road was unfamiliar. Alvarado was riding on his horse, looking at the panicked and confused soldiers everywhere, but he couldn't find even a familiar officer. He didn't even know where his own guards were. As the loud bugles resounded everywhere, Alvarado felt that his end was coming. Therefore, he could only decide to surrender, otherwise, the entire army would be destroyed. He asked a soldier next to him to raise a white flag, ride a horse and run towards the pursuing army, shouting, "The commander has an order, the entire army surrenders."
After hearing the commander's order to surrender, the entire army stopped retreating and stayed where it was, waiting for the other party to deal with it. The pursuers came after them, and the surrendered officers and soldiers were lined up in a long line and escorted past their commander Almagro. When the soldiers came over with Alvarado in custody. Almagro sat on his horse and said to Alvarado, "General Alvarado, today we finally meet."
Alvarado said angrily, "You win again, so I'm unlucky." Then, he walked past the winner silently.
After a while, Secretary Huelva went over and said to Almagro, "Report to the commander, according to statistics, in this battle we killed 21 people, wounded 32 people, and captured 438 people in total. It can be regarded as a great victory. "
"We have to remember this day as the day of victory in the Battle of Abanquet," Almagro said.
Returning to Cusco with almost as many prisoners as his own troops, Almagro ordered all of Alvarado's lieutenant-level officers to be imprisoned, and then began to get the city council to declare the city of Cusco for his Alvarado. Agenda for Magro Territory. He asked Secretary Huelva to summon all the municipal councilors to the municipal council office for a meeting, at which he announced that one of Hernando's men named Gabriel Derojas would be brought in. among the municipal committees. This man named Gabriel Derojas turned out to be an outstanding official under the Marquis of Pizarro and had a high prestige. However, he had been drawn to this side by Almagro and expressed his willingness to support Cucurbita. Scotia was assigned to Almagro's claim.
Because Juan died and Gonzalo was imprisoned, the municipal council was left without a mayor, so the municipal council was chaired by Rojas, who had just been appointed. In addition to the seven municipal councilors who attended the meeting, Almagro and Secretary Huelva also attended the meeting. When Rojas raised the issue of Cusco's ownership again, everyone was silent. At this time, Huelva took out the measurement results of the continental bishop Fray Homas de Berlanga as evidence, and also mentioned that the man named Oviedo said in a letter to the king that "the library The words "Cuzco happens to be located within the jurisdiction of Almagro" were also brought out to prove that Cusco was none other than Almagro. But the fact is that Bishop Fray Homas de Berlanga was sent by the Marquis of Pizarro to conduct the survey, but the Marquis stopped him before he could complete the survey. Therefore, he was very angry with the Marquis for doing this. What Oviedo said in his letter to the king was just a tendentious guess.
However, with Almagro present and both Hernando and Gonzalo being imprisoned, no one would have any doubts about the statement that "Cusco happens to be located within Almagro's diocese" objection. Therefore, under the chairmanship of Rojas, the members of the Municipal Commission made a final judgment on the matter and determined that Cusco fell under the jurisdiction of Almagro.
