Inca Elegy (Novel) "The Fall of the Inca Empire" (Volume 2) by Zhang Baotong
Soon, Ulamaha chased over on horseback with more than 400 soldiers. He said to Manco in a very remorseful tone, "My king, please forgive me, and I will forgive you for failing to protect several princesses. They have fallen into the Spanish encirclement." When Manco heard this, he felt that Ulla could not be blamed for this. Maha, because let alone the princess, even he was almost surrounded by the Spaniards. He was silent for a moment and said in a low tone, "It's not your fault. It's not easy to break out of the Spanish encirclement." Then he asked, "Didn't the Spaniards pursue us?" Uramaha said. , "They were chasing closely, but I asked the deputy commander to lead 400 people to stop them on a mountain ridge." Manco said, "Very good, but we have to leave quickly and wait until the Spaniards who captured the palace If we come here for reinforcements, we won't be able to run away even if we want to." Ulamaha said, "Yes, Your Majesty."
After retreating for about half an hour, someone chased us from behind and reported, "The deputy commander asked me to report that a large Spanish group was coming soon. They were attacking fiercely and the soldiers were unable to hold on. "Uramaha said to the messenger in a very firm tone, "Go tell the deputy commander and ask him to guard until dawn no matter what." The soldier replied, "Yes, my commander."
At this time, it was dawn, the sky was very dark, the sleepy moonlight shone on the ground in a blur, and the distant mountains and near ridges were confused. The Inca King and the Prince of Uramaha were walking quickly side by side, but neither of them spoke, just rushing on their way. The soldiers around him were almost always trotting forward. Because they knew the Spanish cavalry was chasing behind them.
After a while, Ulamaha suddenly asked, "Your Majesty, where should we retreat?" Manco said, "Machu Picchu." Ulamaha listened, hesitated, and said in a suggestive tone, "No. Go to Ayacucho? We can recruit a lot of soldiers there." Manco knew that Ayacucho was the hometown of Uramaha, but he still said firmly, "Machu Picchu is close to Cusco. We We retreat today and will fight back to Cusco in a while." Ulamaha said, "Your Majesty is wise."
Coming to a wooded area, Manco felt that he should ambush a team here and attack the Spanish cavalry, which could slow down the Spanish cavalry's pursuit. So, he stopped and said to Ulamaha, "My commander, you can arrange a force here to ambush the Spaniards, which can not only attack them, but also block their pursuit."
When Ulamaha heard this, he said, "Your Majesty is wise." Then he shouted to the back, "General Chichabuta." A middle-aged general ran over and said, "Here." Ulamaha ordered, "Lead a hundred soldiers to ambush here, bring more short arrows and javelins, and launch a surprise attack on the Spanish cavalry. Then go into the woods to deal with them and hold them back as much as possible." Manco also said to Chichabu General Ta said, "We need to put more trees on the path as roadblocks to make it difficult for the cavalry and horses to pass." General Chichabuta said, "Yes."
Commander Ulamaha led more than 300 Indian soldiers under his command to protect King Manco and quickly retreated to the depths of the mountains more than 20 miles away. The mountains here are high, the forests are dense, and there are no people in the wilderness. Only two paths can be seen branching off from a nearby mountain col. One leads to the northeast and the other leads to the north. The path goes up and down in the mountains, sometimes going up to the top of the mountain, sometimes going down to the bottom of the cliff. Manco called a soldier familiar with the local situation and asked where the two strips led. The soldier said that the path to the northeast leads to Ayacucho, and the path to the north leads to Urubamba.
Manco asked the soldiers to go due north. However, Ulamaha said to Manco, "Your noble king, after walking all night, the soldiers are too tired to walk. Can you let the soldiers rest here for a while before leaving?" Manco saw The soldiers were sitting or lying on the ground, panting. They felt that they had walked dozens of miles, and they might have lost the Spaniards, so they nodded.
At this time, the sky was already bright, and there was a moist and cool atmosphere everywhere in the mountain col. When Manco saw the soldiers lying on the grass to rest, he rode his horse along the path due north to the top of a mountain. He wanted to climb up to see if there were any Spaniards chasing after him. At the same time, he also checked the terrain in order to It's a good idea to set up an ambush here to block the enemy troops.
The mountainous area in the early morning is very peaceful, full of freshness and tranquility as the light shines through the mist. Standing high on the mountain ridge, you can see the path leading far down the mountain. On the winding mountain path they just walked along, some places were so quiet, and the sunlight shone on them like a dreamy golden ribbon.
He couldn't help but think that if the Spaniards could send forty or fifty cavalry to attack over a long distance, they would probably die without a burial place, because deep in the mountains, apart from the mountains and deep streams, there was almost no place to hide. . Moreover, he also saw that right in front of him was a good place to stop the enemy soldiers. As long as he sent dozens of soldiers to guard this narrow and dangerous mountain ridge, and prepared more stones and short arrows and javelins, he would not be able to do anything. Ten Spanish cavalry, even hundreds of cavalry, could not pass through. Thinking of this, he decided to ask Uramaha to send a hundred soldiers to guard here, and then led the remaining 200 or so soldiers to continue retreating along the path towards Urubamba.
Just as he was looking down from the mountain with joy, he saw Princess Okoro riding a horse and galloping towards him along the steep road on the hillside. He couldn't help but be startled, wondering if Spanish cavalry was chasing him. So, he stopped on the slope and waited for Okoro to ride up to the top of the slope.
Before he could ask, Okoro shouted breathlessly, "Your Majesty, Prince Ulamaha led his soldiers towards Ayacucho."
When the Inca king heard this, he got angry and said, "Why don't you stop him?" Then he wanted to ride his horse down the mountain to chase him back. However, Princess Okoro immediately stopped him and said, "Your Majesty, there is no need for this. Since he has changed his mind, even if you catch him, he will not follow you. If you push him, he may Harm you."
Manco felt that the princess was right, and there was really no reason for him to force others to follow him, because almost none of those who followed him had a good ending so far. He either died on the battlefield or was hunted by the Spaniards. Now even he himself has been driven out of the palace by the Spaniards, and his future is uncertain. How could he force others to continue to follow him?
At the moment, although he is still the King of the Incas, he is on the run and has become a lonely man except for his beloved princess. Ulamaha's betrayal and abandonment had never made him feel so depressed and sad. Even leaving and fleeing from the palace had never made him feel so chilled and pessimistic.
Ulamaha's betrayal and abandonment made him doubt the word loyalty. Normally, Ulamaha and his princes were always respectful and obedient to him, and his words could determine their fate of life and death. But now he realized that it was his words that could determine their fate of life and death, so they were so respectful and obedient to him. But now he can no longer play a controlling role in their fate of life and death. Therefore, they no longer regard him as their king.
He sat on the horse like a sculpture, with a solemn expression and frowning, looking forward motionless for a long time. However, the vision was dim and blurry, and there seemed to be no way in sight. He even had the urge to jump into a deep stream, where all his thoughts and worries would be gone and he would be so discouraged.
Seeing his extremely sad and painful look, the princess stretched out her arm and took his hand, comforting him with infinite attachment and said, "Your Majesty, let's leave quickly. Maybe the Spaniards will catch up after a while." Manco nodded silently. After a while, he breathed a long sigh of relief and said, "Let's go." Then he turned the horse's head and walked towards the path due north.
The path ahead is winding and winding, with no end in sight. The peaks are layer upon layer, boundless. The two of them were riding horses, walking forward one behind the other. The morning breeze blew gently from their ears, like Indian tragic songs. They were immersed in it, and they couldn't help but feel tragic and shed tears.
Unconsciously, there seemed to be the sound of a horse team galloping from far to near. Because this sound is very vague, it can only be felt vaguely, but cannot be heard with ears. Princess Okoro Ma immediately looked at the bottom of the mountain slope with alert eyes, and saw a horse team kicking up a cloud of dust, galloping towards this side from the path under the mountain ridge. The princess immediately screamed, "The Spaniards are coming." Looking down the mountain, the Inca Dynasty saw more than a hundred cavalry chasing towards the path on the mountain ridge.
Unexpectedly, the Spaniards would come so quickly, which made the Inca King and Princess break into cold sweat again. Manco said to Okoro, "Run." As he said that, he patted his horse and the two of them started running towards the path ahead. The horses of the two men had been running almost all night without rest or feeding. Therefore, the horses could no longer run at this time. However, not only could they not stop the horses, but they had to raise their whips to urge them on because the horses behind them were running. The pursuers will soon catch up. They kept running like this until they reached a forest. Manco felt that the horse couldn't run anymore. If it kept running like this, it would definitely be caught by the Spaniards. So, he tightened the reins and jumped off the horse. Then, he blocked the princess's horse, took Princess Okoro's hand, and said, "Quickly dismount." The princess saw that the king had dismounted, and helped her from the horse. When he got down, he said in confusion, "Why do you want to dismount?"
The Inca king did not explain, so he drew out a short sword and stabbed the two horses in the back. The two horses were frightened and ran towards the path in front of them like crazy. At this time, the Inca King took the princess's hand and entered the nearby woods. Just as they entered the grove, they heard the sound of galloping horse hooves coming from a distance as if trampling their hearts. They galloped next to the grove, then ran away, and finally gradually disappeared in the distance. In the mountain road.
