The loud cry of the trumpet called the Spaniards to arms
with the first streak of dawn; and Pizarro, briefly acquainting
them with the plan of the assault, made the necessary
dispositions.
The plaza, as mentioned in the preceding chapter, was defended on
its three sides by low ranges of buildings, consisting of
spacious halls with wide doors or vomitories opening into the
square. In these halls he stationed his cavalry in two
divisions, one under his brother Hernando, the other under De
Soto. The infantry he placed in another of the buildings,
reserving twenty chosen men to act with himself as occasion might
require Pedro de Candia, with a few soldiers and the artillery, -
comprehending under this imposing name two small pieces of
ordnance, called falconets, - he established in the fortress. All
received orders to wait at their posts till the arrival of the
Inca. After his entrance into the great square, they were still
to remain under cover, withdrawn from observation, till the
signal was given by the discharge of a gun, when they were to cry
their war-cries, to rush out in a body from their covert, and,
putting the Peruvians to the sword, bear off the person of the
Inca. The arrangement of the immense halls, opening on a level
with the plaza, seemed to be contrived on purpose for a coup de
theatre. Pizarro particularly inculcated order and implicit
obedience, that in the hurry of the moment there should be no
confusion. Every thing depended on their acting with concert,
coolness, and celerity.
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