Inca Elegy (Novel) "The Fall of the Inca Empire" (Volume 2) by Zhang Baotong
The victory in the attack on Bilkas greatly encouraged the Inca king and soldiers. For several days, the small town of Guamanga was filled with a joyful and festive atmosphere, making the cold winter in this remote mountain town somewhat warm.
At noon that day, Prince Wakikar came from Tambo Palace. Not only did he deliver a large amount of food, but he also brought Princess Tapalaka. The Inca king was very satisfied with the former village chief of the small town of Urubamba. Not only did he make him a prince, but he also made him responsible for the construction and defense of the Tambo Palace.
The young Inca king warmly entertained the prince with a luncheon. After the banquet, the two of them sat by the fire and drank. Princess Okoro and Tapalaka kept pouring wine for them. The two of them drank wine and chatted. The Inca king asked the prince, "How is the Tambo Palace repaired now?" Because after the Spaniards captured the Tambo Palace, although they did not burn or destroy the palace, the palace was damaged to varying degrees inside and outside. Therefore, King Inca wanted to make the palace better repaired during his absence.
Prince Wakikar said, "Please rest assured, Your Majesty. I have recruited craftsmen to repair the doors and windows of the main hall and rooms, replaced the roof of the entire palace with new grass, and painted and whitewashed the entire inner and outer walls of the Tambo Palace." After hearing this, Manco said happily, "Prince Wakikar has worked hard and made great achievements. When I return to the palace after the battle, I must reward the prince well."
Then, Prince Huajical said in a worried tone, "According to the news from Cusco, Marquis Pizarro has ordered Hernando to send Gonzalo to organize a powerful cavalry force to attack Gua. Manga is going on a crusade. You have to be careful." Manco said disapprovingly, "Let him come, we are just waiting for him." But he added, "You have to send someone to pay close attention to Cusco. If you have any news, report it to me immediately." The prince replied, "Yes, my great king."
While the two were talking, a spy came in and reported, "Report to your Majesty, thirty Spanish cavalry have set off from the small town of Vilkas this morning and are heading towards Guamanga. It is expected that they will arrive here in the evening." ." Upon hearing this, Manco said to himself, "If you want to attack me at night, it's a good idea." So, he said to the attendant prince in front of the door, "Send someone to call Mokwa immediately. Come." The attendant prince said, "Yes, my great king."
When Prince Wakikar saw that the king was preparing to fight, he stood up and said goodbye, saying, "The king is busy, so I can't disturb you, so I'm leaving." Manco didn't hold back, so he said, "Your Majesty, you have worked hard all the way, please go slowly." Then he asked the bodyguard to escort Prince Wakikar out.
But after a while, Mokwa came, and Manco said, "There are more than thirty cavalry who want to attack us. They may be able to get here after dark. What do you think we should do?" Mokwa said, "The best The solution is of course to ambush halfway." Manco said, "Very good, but where do you think the ambush should be best?" Mokwa said, "It can be at the dangerous pass on the top of the mountain, or in the deep channel."
Manco thought for a while and said, "Just at the dangerous pass on the top of the mountain." Mokwa said, "Yes, my king." Manco added, "You lead 200 people to set up an ambush at the top of the mountain pass, and I will lead 800 They cut off their retreat." Mokwa said, "The king is wise." At this point, Manco said, "Well, let's take action immediately and reach the predetermined location before the Spaniards as soon as possible." Mokwa He said, "Yes, my king." At this time, the troops had formed their formation on the road to the entrance of the town. The Inca King Manco rode up to the army with Mokwa and several followers. With a wave of his hand, the army began to take action.
There are several dangerous passes between Guamanga and Bilkas, and this ambush can only be set up on the mountain closest to Guamanga. On both sides of the mountain peak is a not-wide stone path, which is very steep and has rope barriers on both sides. There is a relatively flat road on the top of the mountain. On both sides of the road are cliffs on one side and deep valleys on the other, which is very dangerous.
Manco led a large group of people to the top of the mountain immediately, and then headed down the mountain road on the opposite side to the bottom of the mountain. At the bottom of the mountain is a deep valley and stream, and a small river flows rapidly beside the royal road. There are several deep canyons on both sides of the road. So Manco divided the large army into two groups, hid them in two valleys not far apart, and quietly waited for the arrival of the Spanish cavalry.
On the top of the mountain, Mokwa was already ready. He hid more than two hundred soldiers beside the cliffs on the top of the mountain and on the path behind the top of the mountain, and prepared large piles of boulders and tree trunks at the top of the mountain to deal a fatal blow to the Spanish cavalry.
About dusk and noon, a long line of Spanish cavalry appeared calmly on the royal road. Under the leadership of Lieutenant Carlos, they slowly entered the river valley. At this time, they suddenly stopped and looked around the valley for a long time. Then, they sent three cavalrymen to explore the way forward. After the three cavalrymen reached the intersection on the mountainside, the other cavalrymen began to follow quickly.
Then, they all got off their horses, led their horses and started to go up the mountain. They kept walking towards the road up the mountain. When they reached the top of the mountain, they heard a horn blowing suddenly, and then huge rocks and tree trunks fell down from the top of the mountain along the steep slope. Immediately, the Spaniards and horses walking in the front were knocked to the ground or fell into the deep ravine on the roadside. Seeing this scene, the Spaniards retreated in panic and fled for their lives. However, the Indian soldiers on the top of the mountain continued to throw boulders and tree trunks at them while chasing them.
The Spaniards suffered many casualties immediately, and the others did not care about resistance and retreated backwards as if lifeless. Soon they retreated to a relatively flat road. At this time, they were far away from the dangerous area on the top of the mountain, and under the command of Lieutenant Carlos, they stopped retreating and prepared to resist and counterattack. The Indians' boulders and tree trunks were no longer effective, so Mokwa organized his soldiers to rush down the road while shooting at the Spaniards with short arrows and javelins. Because the Indians were condescending and kept firing dense short arrows and javelins, the Spaniards had no way to effectively resist and counterattack. They used their horses to cover and continue to retreat down the mountain. In order to block the Indians' onslaught, some even stabbed their horses in the buttocks with long swords, causing the horses to run madly toward the road up the mountain.
Under the fierce attack of the Indians on the mountain, the Spanish, who were more than half dead and wounded, finally retreated to the bottom of the mountain. Just as they were about to mount their horses and flee, they saw two groups of people charging towards them. Some of the Spanish cavalry had already mounted their horses, but most of them had not yet come down from the mountain road, so they were caught in the middle by the Indians who were chasing them from both sides.
Seeing that they were surrounded by enemy soldiers and had no way to escape, the Spanish soldiers who had already mounted their horses held long swords in their hands and rushed towards the team led by the Inca King with desperate determination. They were soon surrounded by Indian soldiers. The Indian soldiers kept firing arrows and javelins at them. Short arrows and javelins shot at their bodies and legs, but they were seriously wounded, but they fought tenaciously and cut down a large section of the Indian soldiers. However, another large group of Indian soldiers quickly rushed over and tightly surrounded the Spanish cavalry. However, a Spanish soldier who was seriously injured broke out of the encirclement, escaped from the Indian soldiers, and escaped on horseback.
After this battle, no Spaniard dared to pass through the royal road to Lima and Cusco. As a result, the Inca King Manco decided to eradicate all Spanish colonial settlements from Lima to Cusco. So he led his soldiers to attack a Spanish plantation not far from the town of Guamanga. He surrounded the plantation, burned the houses, drove away the livestock, and captured more than ten soldiers and more than twenty soldiers. All Spanish immigrants were hanged at the street corner of the town so that people passing by on the Royal Road could see it, thus creating a kind of terror to warn the Spaniards.
Afterwards, Manco sent General Mokwa to lead the main force to Haoha. Haoha is the largest transit point from Lima to Cusco. Before the Inca riots and uprisings, it had developed into a large Spanish settlement, except for the Marquis of Pizarro who deployed a cavalry squad there. A garrison of 60 people and an infantry squad, as well as more than 200 immigrants from Spain settled here. However, during the Inca riots and uprisings, Haoha's garrison and residents were all wiped out and killed by the 80,000-strong army led by the Inca commander Kunzu. But after the 80,000-strong army led by Kunzu was defeated by the Spanish, Pizarro sent a cavalry squad and an infantry squad to station in Haoha, and continued to expand the original settlement to more than 300 people. Therefore, Manco sent Mokwa to lead more than 2,000 soldiers to attack Haoha and wipe out all the Spaniards living in Haoha, in order to create fear and panic among the Spaniards.
Because of the recent series of victories, the small town of Guamanga presents a peaceful and lively scene. Groups of Indian soldiers can always be seen walking back and forth on the streets of the town, especially around the barracks at the end of the town. You can often see Indian soldiers singing, laughing and dancing to celebrate their victory. It was the arrival of these soldiers that suddenly gave the peaceful and peaceful town a cheerful atmosphere.
