Inca Elegy (Novel) "The Fall of the Inca Empire" (Volume 2) by Zhang Baotong
The small town of Guamanga was originally an important town and post station on the way from Quito, the northern capital, to Cusco, the capital city of the Inca Empire. After the Spanish occupied the city of Cusco, it became the only way from Haoha to Cusco. Today it is still an important transportation hub from the new capital Lima to the ancient capital Cusco.
Starting in 1535, the Marquis of Pizarro began to garrison and immigrate troops in Guamanga. Although the number of troops and immigrants was small, after being attacked by the Inca King Manco and occupying the town of Guamanga, Hernando Gonzalo was sent to lead 200 cavalry to attack Guamanga, defeating the Inca King's army, and chasing the Inca King all the way to the mountains of Vilcabamba. After that, he adopted the suggestion of his secretary Picardo and began to build settlements in Guamanga on a large scale, in order to trap the Inca king in the mountains.
Six or seven years later, Guamanga has developed into a town with more than 300 Spaniards, including more than 60 armed personnel and more than 20 cavalry. Therefore, over the years, the Inca King Manco never came out of the mountains to harass and attack the Spanish in Guamanga. Without the life-and-death battle on September 17, 1542, people would have almost forgotten the Inca King Manco.
It was a bloody battle between Pizarro's army led by Baca de Castro, the governor sent by the king, and the Chilean gang army led by Almagro Jr. The battle lasted from two hours before sunset to nine o'clock in the evening. In the end, the governor's troops won, while Almagro's troops were defeated and routed. Because the Chupas Plain is surrounded by mountains and slopes and is deserted, the fleeing soldiers ran to the small town of Guamanga to take shelter.
However, it was already late at night when the defeated soldiers fled to the small town of Guamanga. The residents had closed their doors and would not accept outsiders. Therefore, these deserters could only seek refuge in churches and temples. In a short time, more than a hundred people ran into the church. However, the church was not big and could not accommodate so many people, so the priest only allowed fifty people to stay here and asked the rest to take refuge in an Indian temple not far away. However, the Indian temple was too small and could only accommodate about twenty people. Therefore, there are still about thirty people who cannot be accommodated.
These thirty people included Paul, the younger brother of the Inca King Manco, some Indian soldiers, and seven Spanish soldiers. Seeing this situation, Paul said to everyone, "How about I take you to a place that is spacious and warm."
The remaining men said, "General, we listen to you." Because Paul was the general of the Indian auxiliary army in Almagro's army.
Paul takes everyone to a grain warehouse where Manco's troops used to live. Because the warehouse has been abandoned for many years, it is dirty, messy, dark, and filled with feces and garbage. Because there is a lot of space inside and some places are drafty, it is still very cold inside. But everyone quickly found some branches from outside and lit two bonfires in the warehouse. Everyone warmed up by the campfire and then it was time to go to sleep.
However, everyone couldn't sleep because they were very hungry. They just had something to eat at noon and then marched until they reached the plains of Chupas. However, as soon as they stopped at the Chupas Plains and before the camp was set up, the governor's army came over. Especially after an all-out life and death battle and escaping from the battlefield, they were very tired and hungry.
A Spanish soldier named Flores stood up from the fire and ordered Paul, "You should also find a way to find us something to eat."
Young Paul shook his head helplessly and said, "Where can I find something to eat for everyone at this time?"
"You can take someone to a farmer's house and grab something," Flores said.
Paul shook his head and said, "But this is something that the Incas cannot do." Because the laws of the Inca Empire were very strict, stealing and robbery would be punished by beheading, so the Incas were taught from an early age not to commit crimes. Although the Inca Empire had fallen, there would no longer be an Inca king to control them. However, this self-restraint formed since childhood is still affecting them. Therefore, they will not steal or rob even if they are hungry.
Flores glared at Paul with contempt and said, "If you don't go, you will starve." Then he waved his hand to the Spanish soldiers and said, "Brothers, follow me. Go out and find something to eat.”
Martinez immediately got up from the fire and said to the soldiers beside him, "There will be no pie in the sky. If you don't want to go hungry, you have to find a way on your own."
The Spanish soldiers, armed with spears and swords, swarmed out of the warehouse.
There were only about twenty Indian soldiers left in the warehouse, some holding javelins and some holding spears, sitting around the fire. Paul said to a lieutenant named Wanuku next to him, "What are you going to do?"
Wanuku said, "I want to go home. What about you, General Paul?"
Paul let out a long sigh and said, "You can still go home, but where can I have a home?" Since the failure of the Inca uprising, the princes and nobles of the entire Inca Empire have almost disappeared, even though There were still a few princes and nobles who did not lose their lives in the war, but their homes, land, wives, concubines and property were also robbed. Many people can only become beggars and homeless people, wandering around.
Huanuku said, "You can still go to your brother. He is our Inca King."
Paul nodded and said, "This is the only way we can go." In fact, he didn't want to go this way, because the Inca King Manco had been hiding in the boundless forest of Vilcabamba for these years, living a peaceful life. A very hard and poor life. The Spaniards have established Spanish residential areas in Haoha, Vilkas, Guamanga and Cusco, blocking the way out of the mountain for Inca King Manco. Moreover, there are a considerable number of armed personnel in each residential area, and their strong buildings can be used to resist the attacks of the Inca King. This has made the Inca King Manco hardly dare to go out to carry out sneak attacks and attacks on the Spaniards in recent years. In addition, due to the blockade of these Spanish residential areas, the scope of Manco's activities was trapped in the forest of Vilcabamba, and there was no replenishment of materials and personnel. Therefore, life was very difficult, and the troops have been maintaining of very limited scale.
Seeing Paul's pessimism and frustration, Huanuku shouted to the Indian soldiers beside the fire, "Which of you is willing to follow General Paul to Vilcabamba to defend our Inca King?" If this is the case on July 7, Eight years ago, it was said that everyone would come forward without hesitation, but now, after Wanuku's words lasted for a long time, everyone lowered their heads and refused to answer, pretending not to hear.
Seeing this scene, Paul knew that the people had lost confidence in the fight against the Spanish. But no, there were 200,000 people who participated in that uprising and riot, and 112,000 people besieged the city of Cusco alone. However, these more than 100,000 people failed to capture the capital city of Cusco, which was defended by only more than 200 Spaniards. Today, the Spaniards have grown to thousands of people and have established residential areas in seven or eight towns, and can gather one to two thousand cavalry and infantry within a few days. This is a huge force that no number of Indians can defeat. Therefore, the failure of that riot and uprising made the Inca almost lose the courage and confidence to fight against the Spanish. Paul sighed silently and said, "It seems that the Inca Empire is completely hopeless."
After a while, Flores and Martinez came back with two sheep. They let the Indian soldiers hold torches to provide them with light. They took daggers and started killing the sheep.
After killing the sheep, the Spanish soldiers roasted and ate the meat on the fire. The Indian soldiers sat aside and watched them eat. Flores brought a large piece of lamb bone to Paul and asked him to grill it and eat it. Paul was a little flattered and thanked Flores quickly.
Flores said to Paul, "Just now, I saw our leader Almagro. He was riding towards Cusco with a few followers."
Paul immediately said, "However, the governor's army will quickly rush to Cusco and occupy Cusco. Therefore, it will be very dangerous for the leader to go to Cusco."
Flores said, "If he doesn't go to Cusco, where else can he go? He can't go back to Lima. Besides, he personally appointed the mayor of Cusco."
Paul said, "The army is everything. As long as you have the army, you can occupy any place; without the army, all places will be lost."
Flores said to Paul, "I just passed by the church and saw Torres and the others. They all live in the church. I told him that the Governor and the others will return to Guamanga tomorrow and will liquidate us. , because we all participated in the assassination of Pizarro. I asked him where he planned to hide. He said that he was injured and planned to stay in the church. He also said that as long as he stayed in the church, he had the right to asylum. So. , I think we might as well go into the church. That way, we can also have the right of asylum.”
Paul was startled and said, "How is this possible? There is nothing in this world that the Spaniards dare not do. Not to mention the church, even the palace cannot stop the Spaniards. They can only wait to be captured." We can only stay in this warehouse for one night, and we have to leave early tomorrow morning. Otherwise, when the governor's army comes, we won't be able to escape even if we want to."
Martinez also told Flores, "Yes, even if the church has the right of asylum, the governor has the full power to change this right of asylum."
Flores said worriedly, "What should we do? I participated in the assassination of Marquis Pizarro. If I am caught by them, I will definitely be sent to the gallows. I don't want to die."
Martinez said, "Otherwise, we will hide in a deserted place. After this period of time, we will find a way to take a boat back to Trujillo."
Flores shook his head and said, "But how can we live in a deserted place without even food or shelter?"
At this time, Paul said to Flores and Martinez, "How about you follow me to my brother's place. My brother is the Inca king, and they are staying among the mountains and forests of Vilcabamba." .”
When Flores heard this, he said, "I once chased the Inca King there. It was almost all deep mountains and canyons. I couldn't see anyone for a long time. It was so desolate."
Paul said, "It's very desolate there, but it's very safe. If you don't want the governor and the others to catch you, you should go there."
Martinez said, "I think we should go there. Otherwise, where else can we go?"
Flores threw away the bones in his hands, wiped his hands on his clothes, and said to several Spanish soldiers who were sitting by the fire eating meat, "Guys, you all saw just now, our leader Alma Gro has fled to Cusco. However, we are defeated. Cusco, Lima, Hoha, Guamanga, Vilkas, and even Arequipa and Trujillo will be destroyed by the governor's army. Occupation. It can be said that we have no way out. If we are caught by them, we will be sent to the gallows. In order to survive, Martinez and I discussed it and decided to follow Paul to Vilcabamba, where This is where Paul’s brother Manco, the Inca king, lived, and it will be very safe.”
One soldier immediately said, "Why don't we go to the church? There will be asylum there and it will be safe."
Martinez said, "Don't you know that the governor has full authority to deprive the church of its patronage? He represents the king."
Hearing this, another soldier said, "I will follow you to Vilcabamba."
"I would like that too."
Seeing that three soldiers have expressed their opinions, several other soldiers also said, "I will also go to Vilcabamba."
Seeing that everyone agreed, Flores said happily, "Very good, we will rush there early tomorrow morning."
