How did Spain win the Battle of Cajamarca?

In 1492 AD, Columbus arrived at the Caribbean islands. From then on, the advanced "Old World" and the American "New World" began to collide. Accompanied by religious fanaticism and the dream of treasure hunting, groups of European colonists set foot on American soil. Among them, the most dramatic one was when Spanish colonist Pizarro led 169 soldiers to conquer the huge Inca Empire.

The rich gold and silver in the Americas attracted greedy European colonists. With the arrival of Europeans, smallpox, which had not been present on the American continent, became widespread. In 1526, smallpox killed the Inca emperor Huayna Capac, and then many of his ministers and the intended heir to the throne, Ninan Cuyuch.

Due to the civil war, the Inca army had been fragmented and lost one-tenth of its troops in the civil war. This chaotic situation played into the hands of the colonists. In 1531, with permission from the King of Spain, Francisco Pizarro set sail from a Spanish port with less than 200 men and began a journey to conquer an empire of six million people. In fact, Francisco had already obtained the secret of the ongoing civil war in Inca through the Aztecs, so he realized that this was the best time to conquer the Inca Empire. In 1531, 169 Spanish colonists under his leadership launched an attack on the Inca Empire.

Although the Inca Empire was still expanding when the Spanish arrived, theoretically speaking, the Inca Empire had approached a series of geopolitical limits, and the approach to these limits excluded expansion. Inca rulers always believed that a relatively stable indigenous way of life not only provided a system of political rule, but also became the basis for the production of products needed to maintain the organization of the empire. Attempts by the Incas to invade the eastern jungle and other immigrant areas were never successful. The effort required to rule those immigrants was enormous and was not conducive to the full concentration and mobilization of resources.

One of Pizarro’s subordinates once wrote in his memoirs: “Pizarro wanted to get information from the Incas from Cajamarca, so he ordered people to torture them. The Inca confessed, and they It was said that Atahualpa was awaiting the arrival of Pizarro in Cajamarca. The Indian camp looked like a beautiful city, and their tents were so numerous that we were filled with fear as we entered the walled area. Before the Plaza de Cajamarca, the Spaniards carefully discussed countermeasures. After all, their number was too small, with only 169 people including Pizarro, and it was impossible to get support. The Inca Empire's elite troops numbered as many as 80,000. That night, everyone in the Spanish colonial army, regardless of their position, infantry or cavalry, took up arms and stood guard; even Pizarro himself kept running around to cheer up his men. In order to reassure the soldiers, Pizarro's brother Hernando deceived them that there were only 40,000 Inca soldiers - a number that was enough to make his soldiers shudder.

On November 16, 1532, the day after the Spanish arrived in Cajamarca, a messenger from Atahualpa came to the Spanish. Pizarro said to the messenger: "Please tell the monarch of your country that he is welcome to come. As for when and how to come, you can do it according to his wishes. No matter how he comes, I will treat him as a friend and brother." Reception. I begged him to come quickly, for I longed to see him. No harm or insult would come to him." After the messenger left, Pizarro quickly fortified himself around the Plaza de Cajamarca. He divided the 106 infantry into two parts, led by himself and his brother Juan respectively; the 62 cavalry were also divided into two parts, commanded by his other brother Hernando and de Soto. The Spanish benefited greatly from the use of cavalry. Because although the Inca Empire was powerful at this time, the Indians in South America did not know how to domesticate horses.

In their eyes, the Spanish colonial troops wearing armor and riding horses were simply gods. At the same time, Pizarro ordered Candia and three infantrymen to ambush at a small fortress on the edge of Cajamarca Square with a trumpet and a small cannon. Their plan was: when the Inca army surrounded Atahualpa and entered the Plaza of Cajamarca, Pizarro gave Candia a secret signal. After getting the signal, Candia and his men blew the trumpets, and the Spanish cavalry ambushing on both sides rushed out to surround the Inca army. At noon that day, Atahualpa concentrated his troops and marched towards the square where the Spaniards were stationed.

At the front were 2,000 road-cleaning Indians. They wore colorful checkerboard-patterned clothes and picked up stones and grass on the roadside as they marched. Behind them were three groups of Indians dressed in different colors, singing and dancing. Behind them are a large number of Inca warriors. They carried huge metal plates and gold and silver crowns and many gold and silver items. Surrounded by everyone, the Inca emperor Atahualpa appeared sitting on a shoulder cart. The wooden frame of the shoulder carriage was wrapped in silver leather, surrounded by colorful parrot feathers, and decorated with gold and silver ornaments. It was carried on the shoulders of 80 Inca lords.

Atahuallpa himself was dressed in embroidered clothes, wearing a crown on his head, and a huge necklace made of emeralds around his neck. He was sitting on an ornate saddle-shaped stool in the shoulder carriage. On the sedan chairs and hammocks on both sides of the shoulder carriage, sat senior lords decorated with a large number of gold and silver ornaments, followed by Inca warriors carrying gold and silver products.

The Indians entered the Cajamarca Square singing loud songs and filled every corner of the square. The Spaniards who were ambushing around the square were filled with fear, and many actually peed their pants.

In the center of the square, Atahualpa was talking to Vincent de Valverde, a mendicant monk sent by Pizarro. Holding a Bible in hand, de Valverde declared that "in the name of God and the King of Spain" he asked Atahualpa to convert to Christianity. Atahualpa took the Bible from Brother de Valverde's hand, wanting to see what mysterious power this booklet contained. The Incas didn't know how to make paper, let alone print books, so the emperor didn't know how to open a book. Brother de Valverde reached out to help, and Atahualpa, feeling slighted, punched the monk in the arm. Later, Atahualpa opened the book and found that there was nothing magical in it. He threw the book several meters away in anger and said: "We only believe in the sun, not God and Christ."

< p>Atahuallpa's move gave the Spaniards a reason to take action. De Valverde returned to Pizarro and shouted: "Come out! Come out! Christians! Rush against these enemies who reject the gospel of God! How dare that tyrant throw the Bible on the ground!? At them!" Rush forward and I will forgive your sins!" Meanwhile, Pizarro signaled to Candia. Suddenly, trumpets and cannons blared, and the heavily armed Spanish colonial troops shouted and charged out from both wings.

The Spaniards had attached many loud sounding devices to their horses in advance. Pizarro's troops were equipped with only a dozen muzzle-loading guns. These guns were difficult to load and fire, but they had a huge deterrent effect on the Incas. Although the Inca Empire had a vast territory, its productivity was backward. The Inca warriors were equipped only with stone, bronze or wooden clubs, hatchets, slingshots and protective pads. The Inca warriors were chopped into several pieces by the Spaniards. Although the Inca sticks could injure the Spanish colonists' men or horses, they could not kill them directly. Under the impact of the Spanish cavalry, the Inca army fell into chaos, trampled on each other, and many people suffocated to death.

Pizarro himself rushed into the group of Indians with a sword in one hand and a dagger in the other. He wanted to capture the Inca Emperor Atahualpa himself. Pizarro rushed to Atahualpa's shoulder cart and killed several Inca lords carrying the shoulder cart with his sword, but immediately several more people ran over to carry the shoulder cart. Seeing that Pizarro was unable to succeed, seven or eight Spanish cavalry rushed over on horseback and knocked over the emperor's carriage.

The emperor of the Inca Empire was captured alive in this way. The Incas, who had lost their emperor, managed to knock down a section of the wall of the square and escaped. Dozens of Spanish cavalry continued to pursue them, and the valley was filled with the wails of the Incas. If the Spanish had not withdrawn their troops as night fell, I am afraid that the 80,000 Inca army would have been wiped out. According to statistics, about 7,000 Incas were killed in the Battle of Cajamarca, but the Spanish suffered very little losses. More importantly, they captured the Inca Emperor Atahualpa. The high-ranking lords and ministers around the emperor were all killed in this massacre.