Inca Elegy (Novel) "The Fall of the Inca Empire" (Volume 2) by Zhang Baotong
After the Inca King Manco and Princess Okoro finished their meal, they sat beside a large fire to warm themselves. The fire was burning vigorously, making constant crackling and popping sounds, and exuding a rich and unique fragrance of tree oil. After eating and warming themselves by the fire, Princess Okoro began to yawn. After yawning, Okoro said to Manco, "We have been riding horses for most of the day and we are a little tired. It's time for us to take a rest." ." Manco also felt a little sleepy, but he shook his head and said, "Go to sleep. I want to take a look around the town." After that, he said to the prince standing by the door, " Tell Mokwa that I want to go out and check around." The prince said, "Yes, my great king."
After a while, the prince came to report and said, "Your distinguished king, Commander Mokwa has led a hundred guards to wait for the king in front of the door." Manco said, "I understand." He put on a bright red brocade velvet He put his big cloak over his body and walked out the door. Outside the door, the guard officer Tusak had brought the bay horse, and Commander Mokwa led a hundred soldiers to stand neatly in front of the door in two rows.
The Inca king mounted his horse in one step, and the soldiers began to walk toward the outside of the courtyard with him surrounded by soldiers. Just outside the hospital is the small town of Guamanga, which is located in a relatively flat canyon among the high mountains of the Cordillera Mountains. The town is surrounded by mountains on all sides and is home to nearly a hundred families. Next to the town is a thoroughfare that runs between Cusco and Lima. Because this is the only road between Lima and Cusco, Spaniards often pass here to go to Haoha, Lima and Cusco.
Walking in the town, the cold winter wind whistled through the streets, blowing the big trees on both sides until only their dry branches were left, shivering constantly. Most of the Indian soldiers were still wearing not thick clothes, so when they were blown by the cold wind, they all huddled up, inserted their sleeves, and walked out of the town with spears and daggers in their arms. There are very few pedestrians in the town and it is very deserted. But the mansions and courtyards on the streets are a reminder of the prosperity that once existed in the past. Because it was once the political, economic and transportation center of the nearby mountainous areas, farmers in the mountains would come to the town's market every once in a while to sell their own cloth, plush or hunted animal furs. Go to the town to exchange for some salt, farm tools and other items. But after the Indian uprising and riots, the town quickly became quiet. Because all the farmers and craftsmen in the town were recruited to join the army and fight, even the princes and nobles in the town followed Manco to Cusco. However, these people never came back since they went to Cusco. Therefore, the town became quiet and deserted from then on.
Pedestrians walked by from time to time on the deserted streets. When they saw the young Inca king riding on the horse, they no longer felt mysterious and curious. They no longer knelt down and worshiped like in the past, but stood there far away. Look around. At the end of the town was an Inca post full of soldiers and a granary. However, due to a long period of neglect after the fall of the Inca Empire, the post station and granary were almost abandoned.
Walking further forward, there are tall peaks. The wind blowing from between the peaks makes a tsunami-like sound, making it almost impossible to get close. However, Manco led his entourage and soldiers to the foot of the cliff against the wind. There was a shelter at the foot of the cliff, where three soldiers in thin clothing were sitting around a fire.
Seeing the Inca King coming, the three soldiers immediately stood up and saluted the King. Mokwa jumped off his horse and said to the three soldiers in a stern tone, "You must be more vigilant and pay close attention to pedestrians passing by. This is the only way from Cusco to Lima, especially the Inca and The princess lives in a small town, and if a large group of Spanish cavalry suddenly comes over and we are unprepared, the consequences will be very serious."
The three sentries responded quickly, "Yes, my commander." Mokwa still said uneasy, "I and other officers will keep coming to check the sentries. If I find that you are just warming up by the fire and relax your vigilance, then I will You will be punished severely." The three sentries replied respectfully again, "Yes, my commander."
The Inca king saw that they were wearing very thin clothes. He said to Mokwa, "Why don't you give them more clothes?" Mokwa said, "Honorable King, since the Spaniards came, the empire's granaries and warehouses have been robbed or destroyed by the Spaniards. , Where do the soldiers have any clothes now?" Manco frowned and said, "But without enough clothes, how can the soldiers survive the winter?" Mokwa thought for a while and said, "The only way is to rob, Spain robs us, and we also You can rob them."
The Inca King thought this was a good idea, so he said, "But the Spaniards are concentrated in Cusco and Lima. How can we fight and rob them?" Mokwa said, "We can't go to Cusco and Lima." Horses, but you can go to places like Haoha or Vilcas where there are not many Spanish people." The Inca king nodded and asked, "How far is it from Vilcas?" Mokwa said, "About five or six It takes more than half a day to walk ten kilometers." Manco nodded and added, "Send someone over immediately to find out, the sooner the better, to see how many Spaniards there are." Mokwa said, "Yes. , Your Majesty.”
When the Inca King was about to continue walking forward with his soldiers, he saw seven or eight soldiers escorting three Spaniards walking towards him. The strange thing is that these three Spaniards are neither wearing military uniforms nor carrying weapons. So Manco asked them in blunt Spanish, "What do you do?" As soon as the three Spaniards heard someone asking them questions in Spanish, one of them replied, "We are I just came from Vetemala and want to go to Cusco." After hearing this, Manco asked again, "Why are you going to Cusco?" The Spaniard said, "We want to go to Captain Alvarado. He was our commander in the past, and I heard that he had followed Hernando to Cusco." Manco listened, smiled gloomily, and said, "Very good, we can send you to Cusco. ." Upon hearing this, the three Spanish people quickly expressed their gratitude to Manco. But Manco said to the soldiers in Indian language, "Take them back to the barracks."
Back in the compound where he lived in the town, Manco pointed to the three Spaniards and said to Mokwa, "How are you going to treat these three white Spanish people who came from afar?" Mokwa said, "I will use The warmest way to entertain them." Manco smiled, "I really want to see how you entertain them, but I'm a little tired and want to go back and take a nap. Let's watch it tomorrow morning." Mo Kwa said, "Okay, my noble king." After the Inca king finished speaking, he dismounted and threw the rope to the guard Tusac. Then, he entered his room.
Early the next morning, after breakfast, Inca King Manco went out for a walk, accompanied by several princes and attendant guards. Because it snowed at night, a thin layer of snow has accumulated in the yard. Although the snow is not thick, the wind blowing in the mountains is like a biting knife cutting through people's exposed faces. Therefore, several princes and attendants wore thick brocade and cotton clothes. Because of the strong wind, Manco walked out the door instead of riding.
As soon as I left the compound, I saw some farmers surrounding the big tree in front of the compound. This made the Inca king feel a little strange, so he asked a prince next to him, "What's going on?" The prince immediately ran over and saw that there were three naked men tied to the big tree. His body looked particularly dazzling under the reflection of a sheet of white snow.
When the onlookers saw the Inca King coming, they quickly got out of the way. Almost everyone was stunned by the sight in front of them. However, they soon saw that they were the naked bodies of three white Spanish men. Therefore, the rationality of hatred immediately caused them to change their shocking and frightened mentality and feeling. They gathered around together, wanting to see more intuitively and clearly how these hateful Spaniards felt and reacted.
Each of the three Spaniards was tied to a big tree. Their hands and feet were tied tightly, and their heads were hung on the side. They looked as if they were frozen and motionless. , but when I walked up to them, I saw that their eyes were still open and there was still a slight warmth in their nostrils. When they saw the Inca King coming with his soldiers, they moved their mouths slightly, making expressions of extreme pain and pity, as if begging for mercy from them. However, they were met with merciless anger and abuse.
Manco said to the prince, "Very well, let these hateful Spaniards know that the Inca Empire is not their paradise. Only in this way will they understand that the Incas will not welcome them." The prince immediately agreed, " Yes, my lord."
Just then, Mokwa came running over on horseback. When he came to Manco, he quickly dismounted, saluted, and then reported, "Your Majesty, the spies sent to Bilkas have returned." The Inca King asked, "What's the situation?" Mokwa said, "The whole There are about five to six hundred people in the mining area, but there are only more than thirty Spaniards, and they are all infantry and supervisors." Manco thought for a while and said, "Very good, let us think about what to do." , and walked alone towards a deserted place. Mokwa followed, saying, "Yes."
The two walked together on a deserted street. Manco said, "We will lead people to attack tomorrow." Mokwa said, "Maybe the Spaniards don't know about our arrival. They will not have the slightest precaution. ." Manco added, "We need to bring all the troops over, first surround the mining area, and then defeat them one by one, so as to eliminate them all in one fell swoop."
But Mokwa said, "My noble king, in my opinion, there is no need to bring too many people, as long as a thousand people are enough. To deal with the Spaniards, we cannot fight them face to face or beat them hard, otherwise we will We should suffer a loss. We should adopt a surprise attack. I want to take people there tonight and start the attack at dawn tomorrow. They will be caught off guard. Moreover, we will not suffer too much loss. This is We should retaliate against the tactics often used by the Spaniards and make a surprise attack on them." Manco felt that Mokwa's strategy was feasible, so he said, "Very good, then go back and prepare well, and we will send troops at night." Mokwa. Kwa said, "Yes, my great king."
