A Prince of Anahuac: A Histori-traditional Story Antedating the Aztec EmpirePorter, James A.
History
A Prince of Anahuac: A Histori-traditional Story Antedating the Aztec Empire
Porter, James A.
Mexico -- History -- To 1519 -- Fiction
At the dawn of morning, the day following the one on which the great
battle was fought, the allied armies, after being addressed by their
respective caciques, began to advance, with a view to another
engagement with Maxtla, for the purpose, chiefly, of securing, if
possible, the liberation of the prisoners in his hands. The chiefs, in
addressing their warriors, dwelt especially on the capture of tzin
Euet, the man--as they expressed it--who had done so grand a work for
Tezcuco and the cause of liberty, who, above all others, they felt,
should enjoy the fruits of that work, and whose release it was hoped
might be brought about by the further discomfiture of the enemy.
Flushed with the stimulus of a great victory, and anxious to again
measure strength with the Tepanec hosts, the warriors of the coalited
army marched away from their bivouac with a zeal which augured well for
them and the confusion of their adversaries, should they meet again in
deadly conflict.
The camp of the enemy was known to have been pitched on a plain
situated on the further side of a piece of woodland which lay just
north of the field of the recent battle. Ixtlilchoatl moved his forces
cautiously through this piece of woods, expecting to find Maxtla
encamped beyond, in blissful ignorance of their approach. Great was the
surprise, then, of the eager and expectant allies, when they came out
onto the plain, to find the enemy gone--the bird had flown, though,
evidently, only a short time before. A rapid pursuit was immediately
ordered, and ere long the retreating foe was overtaken and another
great battle fought.
The advantages, in point of numbers and excellence of organization,
together with the prestige of former successes, which were on the side
of the Tepanec army when it entered the field against the allies, had
been swept away by a disastrous defeat, and its warriors, further
disheartened and demoralized by a humiliating retreat, which left them
wholly unfitted to cope with an equally numerous army, whose members
were energized by a consciousness of right, the invigoration of
victory, and a determination to overthrow the power which had long been
a menace to tribal independence.
The second battle was fought by the Tepanec leaders more on the line
of self-preservation and the hope of getting off with a whole skin
than with the expectation of doing their opponents material damage.
A desperate conflict ensued, however, in which every inch of ground
was stubbornly contested by them, but which, as might have been
expected, ended in that wicked and tyrannical son of a barbarian
despot--Maxtla--being again discomfited and forced to yield to his
hated foe. A disastrous retreat followed, and, had not darkness come
on to check the avenging hosts of Tezcucans, who pursued with deadly
havoc the vanquished horde, the routed army would have been
effectually disintegrated, if not wholly annihilated.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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