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These fortified hilltop sites did not protect their cities, but they did serve two purposes. First, they could be used as places of refuge in the event of attack. When the Spaniards and their allies attacked the Matlatzincas, their warriors fought the Spanish party while the women and children, with their belongings, fled to the nearby fortress. When the battle grew even fiercer, the warriors also retreated to the stronghold.
93 Second, they could house additional warriors. When Cortés attacked Cuauhquechollan (Huaquechula), warriors emerged from the adjacent hilltop fort to fight the Spaniards.94 |
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The mere existence of fortifications was not always a guarantee of safety in war. One of the Aztecs'main considerations in battle and in siege operations was to prevent outside help from reaching the defenders. Accordingly, army units were dispatched against neighboring towns in the region to ensure that they did not aid the enemy.95 |
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If the war was not won on the open battlefield, the enemy could retreat behind fortificationsif, indeed, it had emerged in the first place. Under those conditions, unless the attackers gained entry through deceit or treason, they might simply withdraw in resignation. Barring this, three options faced the attacking army: breaching the fortifications, scaling them, or laying siege to the target. |
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Fortifications were frequently breached. In the war to conquer Oztoman, King Ahuitzotl's forces attacked the city, broke the wall and its fortress, and burned the temple.96 Moteuczomah Xocoyotl's forces did the same in the war with Teuctepec.97 Most such examples of breaching fortifications offer only scant details. But when the Aztecs attacked Xochimilco, the people reportedly retreated behind a defensive wall and wounded the attackers through holes constructed in it. (Whether these were loops through which arrows could be shot or merely holes to accommodate thrusting lances is unclear.) This strategy was overcome by the Aztecs, however, when they used sticks and digging implements to tear down the wall, precipitating a Xochimilca surrender.98 |
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Unbreached fortifications could still be scaled, but this was uncommon. When the Aztecs tried to conquer the six-walled fortress of Quetzaltepec, scouts were sent at night to find a way to enter, as was standard practice, but they found none. As a result the Aztecs |
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