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Aztecs reacted to their defeat in the Chalca area by dispatching a punitive expedition against towns that had befriended the Spaniards,
43 making the consequences of rebellion clear to the wavering. |
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Maintaining loyalty was a serious matter for the combatants. Both sides were relying on their perceived power to retain their allies; some defeats were accepted as expectable, but direct challenges to either side's ability to aid its allies were serious. Consequently, when Chalco and Tlalmanalco sought aid from Aztec attack, Cortés dispatched Gonzalo de Sandoval to help. The Spaniards and their allies routed the Aztecs and also conquered Huaxtepec and Yacapichtlan.44 |
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Not only must the enemy be defeated, but security must be maintained after the victorious army has withdrawn. Neither side had enough troops to permanently man all of the opponent's likely targets. But this was not a war in which towns were simply passive spoils; they took an active role in the formation of their own alliances. Without internal support the Spaniards could not have defeated the Aztecs in many towns, and once they had done so, the lack of troops meant that the Spaniards' new allies were largely dependent on their own resources to maintain their status. After the Spaniards won the battle at Chalco, for example, they returned to Tetzcoco. The Aztecs planned a counterattack by canoe, but word of the assault reached the Chalcas. Although the Spaniards were too far away to be summoned in time, the Chalcas asked for and received assistance from the Huexotzincas and repulsed the Aztecs.45 |
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After securing much of the eastern portion of the basin of Mexico, Cortés conquered and burned Tepoztlan on April 5, 1521. Thereafter, the lords of Yauhtepec and Cuauhnahuac pledged fealty to the Spanish king,46 severing the Aztecs' southern lines of support. The Spaniards then marched north, back into the basin of Mexico, and unsuccessfully attacked Xochimilco before returning to Tetzcoco.47 |
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On May 13, 1521, the Spaniards left Tetzcoco for the major assault on Tenochtitlan. They divided, marching north and south around the lakes to their positions at the three major causeways into Tenochtitlan.48 The battle did not go smoothly, and the Spaniards suffered major setbacks that led many of their allies to desert.49 Added to these reversals was a newfound appreciation of the Spaniards' mortality. |
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The heads of those sacrificed in Aztec ceremonies were skinned, the flesh dried, and the skulls placed on the skull rack (tzompantli).50 |
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