Inca Elegy (Novel) "The Fall of the Inca Empire" (Volume 2) by Zhang Baotong
Late at night and at dawn are the darkest and coldest times in the mountains. At this time, a force of nearly a thousand people, led by General Ibaku, quietly descended from the front yard of the palace to the foot of the mountain, and then walked eastward from a path in front of the palace. They headed east from this path, bypassing the Yukai River Valley, and then walked south for more than ten kilometers. At dawn, they came to a narrow valley more than ten kilometers away from the Yukai River Valley and stopped. Then, an ambush circle began to be laid out around the valley.
By the time everything was set up, the sun had already risen high, and the entire mountainous area was ablaze with golden light. At this time, Ibaku asked the soldiers to lurk in a mountain col not far from the valley, but he and a few soldiers went up to a mountain ridge. Standing on the mountain ridge, you can see the endless rolling mountains, and you can also see the path on the opposite hillside a few kilometers away.
However, on that path illuminated by the sun, it was quiet for several hours, and not even a single person could be seen. This made Ibaku a little confused, wondering if Pizarro would not come today, or would come only tomorrow?
However, he still waited patiently. Because he calculated, it usually takes seven or eight hours for the cavalry to travel from Cusco to the Yucai Valley, and they usually don't arrive until three or four o'clock in the afternoon. So, they waited until the sun came up and waited until it reached the top of their head, and then waited until the sun turned west, but they still didn't see Pizarro and his companions.
Just as they were getting impatient, they suddenly saw a large cloud of dust rising from the hillside path in the distance. Ibaku saw Spanish cavalry lining up on the hillside path opposite. Moreover, I don’t know how many people there were in this team. I just saw that the team was getting longer and longer. After a long time, the cavalry was finished. However, there are infantry behind, and there are many infantry. After walking for about ten or twenty minutes, we finally saw the rear of the infantry team. It is estimated that there should be at least four to five hundred cavalry and infantry.
Of course Ibaku knew that facing such a large number of Spaniards, even tens of thousands of soldiers would be defeated. Therefore, he immediately ordered the soldiers to retreat quickly. As a result, the soldiers quickly withdrew before the Spaniards discovered it.
Back at the palace, it was completely dark. But there were still some lights on in the palace hall. The meeting hall was even more brightly lit. The Inca King, Prince Huajical and Chief Mokwa were waiting in the house for news from Ibaku.
Ibaku reported to Manco that Pizarro had led nearly 500 cavalry and infantry to the Yucai Valley, and asked Manco to prepare for evacuation in time. Manco was shocked when he heard this, because Gonzalo had two to three hundred cavalry, plus Pizarro brought nearly 500 cavalry and infantry, so the Spaniards had seven to eight hundred soldiers. . If they use seven or eight hundred people to attack the palace, the palace will definitely be lost, and all the people in the palace will be almost unable to fly.
So, he asked Prince Wakikar and Commander Mokwa, "What do you think we should do?" Mokwa said, "Either fight to the end, or evacuate early." Wakikar also said, "I It seems we should evacuate early. Wait until the Spaniards really attack. By then, we won’t be able to evacuate even if we want to."
Manco nodded and said, "Then be ready to evacuate, but you can only evacuate secretly. Otherwise, if the Spaniards find out, they will pursue us. You also know that we can't outrun their cavalry." "Prince Wakikar and Commander Mokwa said, "Yes, my king." So Manco said to Ibaku, "Tomorrow I will take the prince and commander to evacuate, and you will continue to guard the palace with the soldiers. As long as you wait After we evacuate for a long time, you can think of a way to evacuate." Ibaku said, "Yes, my king."
Early the next morning, Ibaku led the soldiers to the woods beside the Yukai River Valley to observe the enemy's situation. I saw that the entire bend of the Youkai River Valley was densely covered with white tents. On the grass surrounding the tent, hundreds of war horses were wandering on the grass eating green grass. Perhaps because of the cool breeze in the morning, most of the Spanish soldiers were hiding in the tents. Only some soldiers with guns and spears were walking around the tents to stand guard.
At about noon, two people were seen walking out of a large tent and came to the small river. A soldier rowed a log made of several tree trunks to send the two people across the river. Then, the two people Carrying a large cloth bag, he walked towards the path leading to the palace. Ibaku quickly led his soldiers on horseback from the woods to the path, suddenly rushed out of the woods, stopped the two men at the mountain pass, and tied them with ropes.
But neither of them were Spanish, one was an Indian, and the other was a black man that no one had ever seen before. This black man has dark skin and is short in stature, but he is still very well-dressed. The two people saw a group of people suddenly rushing out of the woods. They raised their hands and looked at them with horrified eyes.
Ibaku asked the Indian, "What are you going to do?" As an Indian, if you work for the Spanish, it is tantamount to betraying the Inca Empire, and of course you will be executed. Therefore, seeing Ibaku staring at him with a ferocious look, the man trembled with fear, pointed at the black man next to him and said, "I was sent by Commander Pizarro to accompany him."
Ibaku asked again, "Who is this black man?" The Indian replied, "He is a loyal servant of Commander Pizarro, and was sent specially to deliver gifts to the King of Inca." As he said that, he picked up the black man. A large cloth bag was handed to the soldier.
Ibaku asked the soldier to open the leather bag and see that there were several items in total. One is a fine Chinese porcelain pot. This porcelain pot is not only very exquisite, but also very smooth. The other item is four tall wine glasses. There were also two bottles of whiskey and two boxes of canned oranges. These are specially brought from Spain.
Ibaku asked Pizarro why he didn't come? The Indian replied, "Commander Pizarro first asked us to give us a gift and said that as long as the king agrees, he will meet and negotiate with the king at any time." Ibaku listened to this, thought for a moment, and then ordered the soldiers , "I will put this betrayer of the Inca Empire to death, and then chop off the hands of this black slave."
The soldiers immediately pressed the Indian soldier onto a stone surface. One soldier raised a hatchet and chopped off the Indian soldier's head with just one blow. Blood spattered and sprayed out, covering the body and face of the soldier next to him. . Other soldiers pressed the black man's hands on the rocks, but the black man screamed and struggled. However, the soldier pushed him to the ground and chopped off the black man's hands with a hatchet. The black man screamed and rolled on the ground.
Seeing the black man crying and fainting, Ibaku waved his hand, said "go" to the soldiers, and led the soldiers back to the palace.
Returning to the palace, Ibaku reported to the Inca King what had just happened and handed the bag containing the items to the Inca King. Manco asked Ibaku to open the cloth bag, put a few items on the table, looked at them for a while, and then said to Ibaku, "Since you have killed the envoy sent by Pizarro, take the gift-giver The slave's hands were chopped off. Pizarro will be very angry and will take revenge on us fiercely."
Prince Wakikar said, "They are afraid they will take crazy revenge on us tonight." Mokwa also said, "So, the king must evacuate as soon as it gets dark." Manco said, "That's it, We must leave the palace as soon as it gets dark. I am sure the Spaniards will attack us late at night."
Just as he was talking, the prince outside the door came to report, "Your Majesty, the soldiers said that the Spaniards brought Princess Okoro down the mountain. Go and have a look." Upon hearing this, Manco immediately ran outside. When I ran to the wall of the palace and looked down the mountain, I saw hundreds of Spanish cavalry and infantry standing in line on both sides of a grassy field at the foot of the mountain, with a pillar standing in the middle. In front of the pillar is Princess Okoro, who is being escorted by several Spaniards.
With a burst of bugles, Pizarro appeared at the front of the team. He danced in front of the soldiers. Several soldiers began to take off Okoro's clothes, and then took the naked Princess Okoro. Tied to that pillar. At this time, Pizarro took a wooden stick from a soldier's hand and hit Okoro hard on his body. Seeing this made Manco almost crazy and almost fainted.
Seeing such atrocities and humiliation against the princess, Mokwa shouted loudly, "Your Majesty, this is an insult to your Majesty and an insult to the Inca Empire. Let me lead my soldiers and rush down to fight with them." Manco was streaming While crying, she waved her hand towards him. Because he knew that the Spaniards were too powerful and he could not act rashly. However, he was too painful to speak.
Arm-thick wooden sticks kept falling on the princess's body. Except for her head and face, Okoro's upper and lower body were soon beaten into blood-red marks, and some places were already bleeding. However, the poor princess never let out a painful moan or plea.
After beating for a while, perhaps tired, Pizarro handed the stick to another soldier and asked the soldier to continue hitting Okoro. The soldier walked up to the princess with a wooden stick. He didn't know whether it was because of the princess's beautiful body that he couldn't bear to do it, or because he felt that he couldn't be violent towards a weak woman. He tried to lift the wooden stick several times, but failed. Have the heart to fight.
Seeing that the soldier was soft-hearted, Pizarro cursed the soldier and asked another soldier to beat him. Another soldier swung a stick and hit the princess, but before the stick could fall on the princess, he fell to the ground and started crying.
Seeing that the soldiers could not take action, Pizarro angrily issued an order to the soldiers, saying, "This hateful Indian woman conspired with his men to deceive us and brutally kill us Spaniards. Just now his husband Send someone to kill the messenger I sent, and chop off the hands of my servant. Let us respond to their barbaric crimes with the cruelty and ruthlessness we show to the Indians."
As he spoke, he asked more than a dozen soldiers to line up in a row, stand more than ten meters away, and shoot the short arrows used by the Indians at Okoro's naked upper body, and shouted loudly, "Shoot this woman in the chest." People will be rewarded heavily." Then, he gave instructions to the soldiers, "shoot arrows, shoot quickly."
With the sound of "whooshing", short arrows were seen inserted into the princess's chest, abdomen and neck. But the princess still didn't utter a whimper. Until later, even the soldiers who were shooting arrows and the soldiers watching were moved by this woman's tenacity. The soldiers who were shooting arrows began to throw their bows and arrows angrily on the ground. The onlookers began to boo, and some even began to loudly ask their commander, "Isn't it too much to kill a noble princess in this way?" Pizarro also felt that if he continued like this, he would anger more soldiers. , and, at this time, the princess's head had fallen down, as if she was about to die. Only then did the soldiers abandon the princess and begin to withdraw their troops back to the camp.
As soon as the Spanish left, the Indian soldiers immediately ran down the mountain, untied the rope from the princess, and freed her from the pillar. Then start giving her water. However, the princess only moved her mouth, and her body suddenly collapsed softly in the arms of the soldiers, and she made no sound anymore. The soldiers mourned loudly and began to carry the princess's naked body towards the palace.
When they reached the middle of the steps of the palace, Manco also ran over in a hurry. When he saw the soldiers bursting into tears, he knew that the princess had expired. He rushed over, hugged the princess's body and cried loudly. Prince Wakikal and Mokwa, who followed behind, were crying and advising Manco, and forcefully separated Manco from the princess, and carried Manco back to the palace.
When Okoro's body was carried to the palace wall, onlookers crowded the entire courtyard. All of them clenched their fists and were filled with righteous indignation. Princess Tapalaka hurried over and wrapped Okoro's body in a piece of red felt. Then she knelt beside the body and cried loudly. However, Maharaja Wakikal asked the soldiers to pull up the princess and carry Okoro’s body to a room. Tapakala took out a beautiful dress and asked several maids to put it on Okoro.
Because it was approaching dusk, Manco had to evacuate the palace with some soldiers after dark, so burying the princess's body became a very urgent matter. Manco came to the room silently while wiping away tears, and gently touched Okoro's face. But her face was stiff and she looked like she was crying.
Manco slowly knelt on the ground, pressed his cheek against the princess's face, and called softly, "My little dove, my biological sister. You left like this, how can I miss you." Saying this, he began to cry loudly again. Wakikar and Mokwa pulled him up again and persuaded him, "Your Majesty, please forgive me. The princess will be resurrected."
Manco was crying while being carried out of the room by two close ministers. However, as soon as he left the room, he saw Ibaku kneeling outside the door, holding a short ax in both hands. Manco couldn't help but be startled. At this time, Ibaku begged and said, "Please, the king, chop off my head to sacrifice for the princess." Manco was very unhappy after hearing this, and said, "Why should I chop off your head?" Ibaku said. , "If I hadn't chopped off the hands of Pizarro's slave, he wouldn't have taken revenge on the princess like this." Manco shook his head and said in a fierce tone, "You just chopped off the hands of Pizarro's slave." With both hands, I would chop off his head." With that said, he strode past Ibaku and returned to the meeting hall.
When dusk quietly enveloped the mountains of the Eastern Cordillera, the atmosphere in the palace began to slowly become tense. Prince Wakikar said to Manco, "Your Majesty, I will arrange for the burial of the princess. You are ready to evacuate as soon as possible." However, Manco seemed a little hesitant and said, "But where can the princess be buried?" Prince Wakikar said, "In my opinion, let's bury her at the foot of the palace. One day we can return to the palace and ceremoniously bury the princess again." Manco said, "This is the only way."
After Prince Wakikar left the meeting hall, he took more than 20 guards and carried out a large wooden box containing grain from a warehouse. He decorated the box with brocade felt and then placed the princess's body in the box. inside. Let the soldiers carry him to the garden at the foot of the palace mountain. Wakikar chose a place on a high slope near the hot spring, asked the soldiers to dig a hole, and buried the large wooden box containing the body of Princess Okoro.
After the princess was buried, the sky had completely darkened. At this time, Manco had led Mokwa and nearly a thousand soldiers down the mountain. He came to the princess's tomb and was silent for a while. Then, he mounted his horse and led the soldiers away quickly towards the north path. .
