Chapter 379 Inca Treasure

In April of the 11th year of Shenmu, after the Chinese Empire sent an army from the Americas to occupy Guayaquil, the army was divided into two routes, one by 70,000 Korean servants, advancing north and invading New Granada (Colombia). The other route was the 20,000 Chinese troops and 60,000 Korean servants, and the South American Second Route Army invaded southern Peru, with the goal of capturing Lima, the capital of the Spaniards in South America.

However, before attacking Lima, the Second Route Army needed to attack a series of Spanish colonial cities along the Peruvian coast.

The main force of the Spanish army in Peru had been completely annihilated at the Battle of Guayaquil, and the remaining Spanish army was very scattered and insufficient to withstand the military invasion of the Imperial Chinese Army.

After the Spaniard Pizarro led an army of 180 people, defeated 40,000 Inca soldiers, and achieved a mythical battle of annihilating 5,000 enemies, the Spanish Empire's contempt for the Inca Emperor had reached a certain point, believing that the Inca soldiers were the worst army in the world and the easiest nation to conquer.

At this time, from New Granada to Argentina, more than 2.4 million square kilometers of the territory of the Inca Empire, the Inca Empire had a population of 11 million Indians, but it was ruled by less than 300,000 Spaniards.

However, when the colonial armies of the Chinese Empire set foot on the territory of South America, the myth of the invincibility of the Spaniards was shattered. The Spaniards were far inferior to the Imperial Chinese Army in terms of equipment and troops, and since the Battle of Guayaquil, the Spaniards have lost their ability to resist in Peru.

At this moment, the Spaniards could only huddle in the castle, gasping for a long time.

While the Chinese Imperial Fleet attacked cities and towns across Peru by land, the Pacific Fleet of the Imperial Chinese Navy sailed to the waters near Lima and shelled Lima.

Lima, as the seat of the Spanish governorate in South America, was the political, economic, military and cultural center of the Spanish rule in South America.

Lima is a desert oasis city, only thirteen kilometers from the coast, with a perennial drought and a city without rain. But the Spaniards still established a South American colonial center here, making Lima a more prosperous and wealthy city than Cairo in Egypt, mainly because Lima also had another nickname, the fog capital.

Twelve months a year, Lima is shrouded in fog for more than ten months. Locals call the fog in Lima drizzle, so although Lima is in an arid desert oasis, it is not hot and dry all year round, with annual highs of 18 degrees and lows of 8 degrees, making it cool all year round.

Lima was built by Pizarro, known as the executioner by the Indians, and was built in the traditional form of Spain, with a magnificent structure and elaborate carvings, and the streets where the Doge's Palace was located were paved with gold and silver, which was extremely extravagant. It was named Lima and was called "the city of kings".

On the western coast of Lima is the port city of Callao, and since the Chinese Empire declared war on the Spanish Empire, the Pacific Fleet of the Royal Navy of the Chinese Empire has blocked all the outlets to the sea along the Peruvian Pacific coast, making it impossible to transfer Peruvian wealth out of the country, and almost all of it is concentrated in the Peruvian capital Lima and Callao.

Lima is because Lima is the seat of the Spanish Viceroyalty of South America, with 40,000 Spanish troops to defend it, after all, it is safe. It was placed in Callao because Callao was the largest port city on the Peruvian coast, and the Spaniards kept the gold and silver in the port city of Callao so that it could be transported in time.

However, the Royal Navy of the Chinese Empire was very well patrolled, and the Spaniards tried to sneak away many times, but they were either sunk or captured, so the Spaniards only hoped that the Spanish army would defeat the Chinese Imperial ** team, otherwise all their wealth would be plundered.

Off Callao in the South Pacific, the Third Fleet of the Imperial Chinese Navy blocked the nearby seas.

Shi Jianfei sat on the flagship Dingyuan, commanding 50 capital ships, including the "Hai", "Feng", "Lu", "Fu", and "Chen" ships, and carried out rounds of shelling of Callao.

Suddenly, the port of Callao was in flames, and the smoke of gunpowder obscured the sky.

The shelling lasted three hours, sinking and burning all the ships near the port of Callao, and the thousands of Spanish soldiers stationed in the port withdrew from Callao and retreated to Lima.

On the deck of the battleship Dingyuan, Shi Jianfei carefully observed the situation in Callao from the telescope.

For the soldiers, Callao in the sea of fire is an extra nerve irritation.

"Report" The sergeant interrupted Shi Jianfei's thoughts.

The small port town of Callao has been destroyed, the coastal resistance has disappeared, and the fleet is approaching the port, ready for a landing operation soon.

Shi Jianfei nodded, turned to Liu Jian, and said with a smile: "The mission of our navy is completed, and it depends on you next, do you have any plans?" Do you want to wait until the army comes over before you do it?"

Liu Jian said: "If the army comes, the credit and oil and water will not be ours."

Shi Jianfei thought about it, the imperial army was like a tiger and a wolf, scraping the ground wherever it went, especially the Korean servant army, it was simply a bulldozer, and everywhere it went, there was nothing left.

Within the army, they can still maintain one mind in the colonial war, and take care of each other and support each other during the battle, but when dividing up the interests of the colony, any unit will try to choose to eat alone.

During the era of colonial wars, the Royal Navy of the Chinese Empire gained less and less benefits, and most of the huge colonial wealth was not related to the Royal Navy. As a result, the Royal Navy was already quite jealous of the plundering wealth of the Royal Army.

As the Royal Navy, the Marines were the only army that could land and plunder, so the Royal Navy Command had acquiesced in the Marines' landing operations to share the colonial wealth. Even the Imperial General Staff, in order to balance the vested interests of the Navy and Army, acquiesced in the conduct of separate military operations by the Marines.

At this time, the Imperial American Dispatch was attacking the Peruvian coastal towns south from Guayaquil. And the command of the Pacific Fleet, in order to get a piece of the pie, worked out a military operation to attack Lima. Because Lima was so close to the coastline and was the main base of the Spaniards, the occupation of Lima would not only control the entire South American war, but also gain great wealth.

Whether it is military or economic, or political, the Royal Marines need to take Lima before the Royal Army.

Shi Jianfei said: "It is said that this Lima City is paved with gold and silver."

Liu Jian nodded and said, "I have also heard some legends about Lima, but a friend of mine from the Military Intelligence Agency told me that although the legends of Lima cannot be fully believed, ninety percent of them are true."

Shi Jianfei suddenly asked curiously: "So there are hundreds of tons of gold in Lima City?" ”

Liu Jian smiled, waved his hand, and said, "The Inca Empire did have a very large amount of gold, but it did not fall into the hands of the Spaniards. By the time the Spaniards captured the capital of the Inca Empire, the Incas had already transferred this vast treasure. In order to promote the richness of South America and attract more Spaniards to immigrate here, the Spanish royal family fabricated the facts, saying that they had obtained this treasure in order to allow more Spaniards to immigrate here. ”

Shi Jianfei looked at Liu Jian in surprise and asked, "I didn't see that you actually had someone to help you in the Military Intelligence Bureau?"

Liu Jian smiled, and then talked to Shi Jianfei about the situation of the Inca Empire.

Pizarro, a Spanish exile, left Panama and marched to Peru with 180 brave soldiers with the most advanced cannons, arquebuses and swords in Europe at the time. Before leaving, he heard from two captured Indians that there was a golden city from here all the way south. This strengthened his determination to take risks. At this time, the Inca Empire was facing the Neijiang River. The greedy and ambitious Atahualpa provoked a "brotherly war" and seized the throne in order to monopolize the country. Became the 13th king of the Incas and captured his younger brother in a 3-day battle in the capital city of Cusco. For Pizarro and his party, this was a godsend, as the rivals' forces were weakened by killing each other, and he could take advantage of the situation and set a trap to trap the Inca king. The battle lasted for 2 days, and under Pizarro's adventurous attack, the army of more than 40,000 people was defeated by 180 Spaniards, who suffered almost no casualties, and the Indians were killed as many as 5,000 people, and King Atahualpa was also captured.

After the plundering battle, Pizarro sent men to the Inca camp to loot the riches, bringing back 80,000 pesos worth of gold. Fearing that the robbers would kill him, Atahualpa came up with a way to save his life when he saw that the Spaniards loved gold. He said to Pizarro: "If you let me go, I will fill this room with gold." to redeem oneself. Pizarro measured the room where he was being held, which was 7 meters long, 5.5 meters wide, 3 meters high, about 115 cubic meters, and required 400,000 kilograms of gold to fill it.

The Inca king's ransom was worth such a high price that even Pizarro never dreamed that he would certainly not let go of this opportunity to make a fortune. He said to Atahualpa: "If you keep your word and keep your word, I will restore your freedom" Atahualpa agreed, and he ordered the Inca army to refrain from action in order to survive, and tricked the Inca commander Chalkuchma into going to Cajamarca City. Pizarro tortured Char Kuchma to make him reveal the gold cache during the Emperor's detention. The Spaniards went out again and again in search of gold, but all of them were empty, and it is estimated that the Incas had hidden the gold. Chalkuchma was tortured, and said in great anguish: 'I didn't take the gold from Cusco, and the gold is still there.' Later, the servants of the Inca king soon handed over large sums of gold. One room in the Inca palace was filled with 6-foot-tall pure gold jewelry, and two rooms were stacked with silver. In this way, the Inca king fulfilled his promise and handed over a total of 1i tons of gold in the finest condition as his ransom. Pizarro built a melting furnace to melt all the Inca gold into ingots that could be easily carried around. Pizarro alone received 800 pounds of pure gold. However, the ruthless Pizarro was afraid that the release of the Inca king would undoubtedly be a return to the mountain, and he made up his mind to kill Atahualpa in order to eliminate his worries. As a result, Pizarro charged the Inca king with treason, and in 15 he had Atahualpa publicly executed.

However, when the well-meaning and honest Incas learned of their emperor's execution, they hid a large amount of gold and attacked the Spaniards. Later, the greedy Pizarro turned his attention to the capital of the Inca kingdom, Cusco, which was the grandest and most spectacular of all the Indian cities. It has majestic houses, palaces, shrines, and temples, all of which are decorated with incalculable gold and silver, and are resplendent and splendid everywhere. The exquisite brocades and blankets in the interior are full of feathers, gold, turquoise gemstones, pearls, and agate, which are colorful and even more magnificent.

In November 1533, Pizarro led his soldiers into the capital of the Inca Empire, and from then on, the Incas were incorporated into the sphere of influence of the Spanish Kingdom.

"I had already begun to study the Empire's war against Peru, so I asked my friend in the MIA to send me a piece of information about the Inca Empire, and there was a message that at that time, Pedro Pizarro left a record of their march into the city of Cusco," Liu said. ”

We were simply stunned to see so many vessels of gold and silver, even though the best vessels had been taken away by the Indians. We also found a golden statue that the Indians sadly told us was the ancestor of the Inca dynasty. We also found some golden crabs, as well as gold vessels decorated with birds, snakes, spiders, scorpions, and other insects. All these precious things were found in a cave on the outskirts of Ciudad Cusco. An Indian told us that in a cave near the town of Vilagunga, there were also hidden gold plates, which were cast in gold by the brother of the Inca emperor Atahualpa, Vasca, to decorate his palace. However, the Indian who told us the information disappeared a few days later?...... In short, all these treasures of gold and silver were hidden, and hidden so that they could never be found again. The priest Rangoon told his servants to bring the gold and silver treasures to the vicinity of the hiding place, and then had other Indians replace them. When the Indians had collected their treasures, they followed their master's orders and committed suicide by hanging themselves or jumping off cliffs without complaint. There are countless treasures hidden in this country, but only miracles can make us find them. ’

Shi Jianfei asked in surprise: "So, the treasure of the Incas was not obtained by the Spaniards, but hidden?" ”

"Yes"

Liu Jian nodded and said, "My friend from the Military Intelligence Agency told me that the emperor is particularly concerned about Peruvian affairs. The Military Intelligence Bureau was ordered by the emperor to set up a special department to collect all the information of the Inca Empire, and this department even went to Europe to buy intelligence from the Spanish royal family in Europe and the Spaniards who participated in the war against the Inca Empire. My friend said that the Holy One was very sure of the Inca treasure, and if we could help the Emperor find this treasure, then our merit and honor—"

Liu Jian smashed Shi Jianfei's chest with his fist, and the meaning was very obvious.

Shi Jianfei suddenly said happily: "The emperor's judgment has always been very correct, I believe that the Inca treasure is very huge, and it must be very huge, otherwise the emperor will not attach so much importance to it."

Liu Jian nodded and said, "Due to the Spanish plundering of gold, it is likely that the Incas hid the gold and silver treasures they had accumulated for generations. According to estimates by the Military Intelligence Agency, the gold hidden by the Incas in 1533 was the wealth amassed by 14 Inca emperors since the 11th century AD, and was worth as much gold as the gold mined in Peruvian gold mines from the 16th to the early 19th centuries. Hidden in the mysterious Golden City and Golden Lake. ”

When Pizarro and his gang entered Ciudad Cusco and found that a large amount of gold had been transferred, they wanted to know not only where the gold was hidden, but also where it came from. The Spaniards captured some Inca nobles and tortured them, and one of them confided the secret of gold: all of them were brought from Manoa, ruled by the Indian chieftain Patti, in the dense Amazon forest, where there were mountains of gold and silver treasures that could not be counted. The Amazon jungle hides an inexhaustible supply of gold. But this mysterious place, no one except the king and the wizard knows where it is.

The Spaniards were so happy that they immediately organized an expedition to that mysterious area with unknown directions and unclear roads. The dense and lush Yemasun primeval forest covers an area of 2.8 million square kilometers. In this vast primeval forest, every step forward means fear and death. It is cold and damp, infested with wild beasts, poisonous and deadly poisonous spiders, poisonous snakes, poisonous insects, poisonous ants, poisonous plants, savage cannibal tribes as powerful as cattle, and lakes and swamps scattered all over it. Expeditions or wolves fled back or lost their whereabouts, or suffered heavy losses. The Spaniards looked at the Amazon jungle and sighed, trying to find the dream of gold and silver.

Shi Jianfei said: "I have also heard of the culture of the Inca Empire, they Inca people worship the sun god and the moon god, they think that the yellow gold is just like the light of the sun, so whether it is to build temples and palaces, or to wear items on a daily basis, they use a lot of gold. It is said that the Incas have been collecting gold for generations since the 11th century, and if you add up all the gold of the Incas, it is worth as much as the rest of the world is today. ”

Liu Jian nodded and said, "Therefore, the purpose of my attack on Lima is to find out all the documentary records about the Inca Empire before the army arrives. You know, if the army is allowed to capture the city of Lima, then everything in the Inca Empire will disappear"

Shi Jianfei sighed, he naturally understood what Liu Jian meant. If the Royal Army had captured Lima, needless to say, after the sack, all the clues would have been destroyed

"In that case, then please"

Liu Jian nodded and said, "For the sake of Emperor Bo, for the honor of our navy, I will succeed."

Shi Jianfei patted Liu Jian's shoulder and said: "Anyway, our navy has no combat missions for the time being, if you need to, please don't be polite to me, there are 50,000 naval officers behind you, we support you."

Liu Jian nodded, and at this time, the fleet had already sailed into the port, and the marines began to land. X