Manco Inca brought 100,000 warriors to reclaim Cuzco from roughly 200 Spanish defenders. The numbers weren't even close. But those 200 had horses, steel armor, and Incan allies who'd decided Spanish rule beat another civil war. For six months, stones heated in bonfires rained down on thatched roofs while the Spanish rationed horse meat and prayed their Tlaxcalan reinforcements would arrive. They did. Manco withdrew to the mountains, where his shadow government ruled for another thirty-six years. Sometimes winning the battle means nothing if you can't hold what you've taken.
May 6, 1536
490 years ago
What Else Happened on May 6
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