Battle of Otumba

The battles of Otumba which opposed, the July 7th 1520, the troops of Hernán the Cortes with the warriors Aztèque S, showed the victory of the Conquistador in spite of his numerical inferiority.

After having fled the capital Tenochtitlan besieged by the Aztec ones, at the time of the Sad Noche (June 30th 1520), Hernan the Cortes account to carry out its troop, of which it lost half of manpower, to take refuge in the territory of its allies with Tlaxcala. The new Aztec emperor Cuitlahuac then decides to continue it to destroy it.

Impressive armed with approximately 40.000 Aztec warriors joined the Spanish troop in the plains of Otompan (Otumba). Knowing that the Aztec ones always sacrificed their prisoners, the soldiers Spanish and tlaxcaltèques prepared to fight until death, and this in spite of the loss of their Artillerie and a good part of their horses and firearms during their Aztec capital flight.

The Aztec army immediately encircled the Spaniards, who resisted during several hours while exchanging shootings of Arquebuse S and Arbalète S against the arrows. In spite of the technical superiority of the Spaniards, crushing it numerical superiority tipped the scales of the combat in favor of the Aztec ones, whose victims of the steel firearms and swords were immediately replaced by troops fraiches. Hernán the Cortes then decided to play its last chart, and on the councils of Malinche, the native who accompanied the Spaniards, it attacked the tepuchtlato Cihuacoatl Matlatzincatzin, largest and more decorated with the Aztec warriors, who seemed to be the supreme leader of the army. For the first time in the history of the Conquest of Mexico, the Spaniards carried out a modest load of Cavalerie with 13 riders which were ruèrent on the Cihuacóatl with the cry of “Santiago!”.

The Aztec chief, who had hitherto seen the horses being used only like means of transport and not as arms, was taken by surprised and killed of a blow of sword by the soldier Juan de Salamanca, who seized sound standard. Having observed this scene, the Aztec army, catch of panic, broke the rows and flees, continued by the Spanish cavalry. After this unhoped-for victory, the Spaniards withdrew themselves in the allied city of Tlaxcala without being worried. The troop gathered nothing any more but 440 colonists, 20 horses, 12 principal rafters and 7 arquebusiers.

A few days later, the Aztec emperor sent emissary to Tlaxcaltèques to propose to them peace in exchange of the Spaniards. Tlaxcaltèques refused and concluded a new alliance with the Spaniards to reconquer Tenochtitlan.

Sources

Translation of Spanish coming from the similar article on wikipedia in Spanish
'' Enciclopedia of los Municipios of Mexico City ''

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