Alvarado marched south to Soconusco, and here met his first opponents. Unlike the contemptible Cakchiquels, the brave Quichés would make no terms with the invaders of their country, and as the Spaniards approached they hastened to join the men of Soconusco, and near Tonalá fought their first battle with the white men. The Indios were utterly routed; but they fell back and made preparations for a greater struggle. Oxib-Queh was then Ahau-Ahpop of the Quichés, and his fellow-king or Ahpop-Camhá was Beleheb-Tzi; Tecum-Umam and Tepepul were the other principal chiefs. Tecum, as commander-in-chief of the army, designated Chuvi-Megena (Totonicapan) as the rendezvous of the Quiché forces. His army was immense (the annalists make it equal to the enrolled army of Germany!); but no one knows the exact number of naked soldiers he brought together. After the victory at Tonalá, Alvarado marched inland towards Zapotitlan, the capital of Suchitepequez; and as he approached the city, sent some spies he had captured in the mountains with friendly messages to their chiefs. No answer, either good or bad, was returned, but a battle was fought on the Rio Tilapa, and again the Spaniards were victorious. Some of the inhabitants of Zapotitlan called from a distance to the invaders and invited them to come into the city; but Alvarado preferred to choose his own time, and the Indios again attacked him. Desperately fighting, they were constantly driven back, and the invaders trampled over their bodies even through the streets of the city and for half a league beyond, where the battle ended; and Alvarado returned to the city and camped in the market-place. More like hungry locusts than human beings, these land-pirates went on destroying army after army in a way that is painful to read about. On the plains of the River Olintepec so great was the slaughter of the Indios that the stream was colored for days with their blood. The loss of the Spaniards was only a few men and horses wounded. Tzakahá was occupied without resistance, and the Mexican allies changed the name to Quezaltenango. Under a canopy of branches the ambassadors of the Prince of Peace offered sacrifice to the god of battles. Here at the first mass celebrated in Guatemala these blood-stained murderers knelt. No wonder that the priests have in their turn been driven from the country!