Dominic Sandbrook

And everywhere the Spanish have been, so in the Caribbean, in Ivory Island, in Mesoamerica, in Central America, everywhere they have been, theatrical terror has been an important part of their armory.

Yeah, it is.

I mean, some people might say, you might say bonkers if it were not for the fact that we all know that they do it.

I know.

He's thinking he's going to get reinforcements, that they're going to arrive at any moment.

No, I don't think so straight away.

But I think the further they get, the more they realize the divisions of the civil wars were a wonderful, wonderful opportunity for them.

Initially, they think of Atahualpa as a potential collaborator.

Yeah, that's what they want, really.

That's what all empires want.

They don't want to fight unnecessarily.

They may have to, but ideally, everyone will collaborate with them.

And in fact, the Spanish will find plenty of people who collaborate with them in the Inca Empire, as they did with the Aztecs.

It's kind of opportunistic militarism, then.

It's basically their mood.

Yeah, I think that's the right way of putting it.

So Pizarro moves out on the 24th of September.

with his men, he's left some men behind to found this new town, San Miguel de Tangarada.

And what that means is that he now has, what is it, 167 men plus him.

So 61 horsemen, 106 infantry.