Tom Holland

So it's this great sort of Tolkien-esque clash.

And Rumiñahui's men were in danger of breaking, but then they rallied.

They killed some of the horses.

Maybe they did manage to club them to death or hit them with a drum or whatever.

And they forced the Spanish to fall back.

And night falls and the two sides are deadlocked.

And you would think this might be a disaster for the Spanish since they're outnumbered.

But overnight, the Spanish tricked the Khitans.

They left their campfires burning, but they slipped away in the darkness.

And Ruminyawa's men didn't realize until it was too late.

Did they just leave their porters behind?

I think they must have left some of them, I guess.

But what this means is that basically they were able to get into Quito.

So Ben Alcázar and his men were able to basically skirt Ruminyawa's army and get into Quito.

But when they get there, they're gutted to find that Rumiñahui has already taken sort of Russia 1812 style action.

Rumiñahui has gutted Quito.

He'd taken all the treasure.

He's taken Atahualpa's family.

He's taken 4,000 women.

And he's set fire to the palaces and the storehouses.