The first clash between two state-level societies in the Americas occurred in the valley of Mexico between the Aztec empire and representatives of the Kingdom of Spain. An Aztec conquest of the Kingdom of Spain would have required a sequence of events that would discredit a writer of Sword and Sorcery fantasy; but the Aztec empire was at risk. However, the destruction of the Aztec state was not as inevitable as it appears from the advantage of five hundred years of hindsight. The Aztecs had strategic advantages that should have easily given them the victory. The Spaniards had tactical, technical, and political/religious advantages, cleverly exploited by Cortes, which, combined with their invisible ally smallpox, made the conquest possible. The Aztecs strategic advantages of overwhelming numbers, control of the food supply and shorter lines of supply should have been decisive. They greatly outnumbered the conquistadors during battle, as Bernal Diaz says, "We who were used to campaigning against the Indians knew very well what great hosts they collected. The Aztecs completely controlled the food supply during the first siege of the Spaniards in Tenochtitlan, and used this to good effect. Massacre at Tenochtitlan Square After Alvarado massacre in the temple patio, the Aztecs stopped all food deliveries to the besieged Spanish. When the conquistadors and their Indian allies returned to the attack in 1520, they gained the support of towns in the valley of Mexico who supplied their food. The Aztecs not only lost this advantage but Cortes turned control of the food and water supply to his advantage by breaking the aqueduct that supplied fresh water to Tenochtitlan and blockading the city's food supply with his fleet of sloops constructed on the lake. Cortes was on the extreme end of a long supply line. He occasionally ran out of gunpowder and other supplies. The arrival of reinforcements was happenstance and probably delayed his final conquest. His first major reinforcement, the suborned men of Navarez, may seem to have been an asset; but during his absence to acquire them Alvarado precipitated the massacre which led to the "night of sorrows," the Spaniards expulsion from Mexico -- in which the Spanish losses were almost as great as the accession of strength from Navarez, and turned the conquest of Mexico from a peaceful political coup into a desperate battle. After word spread of the gold in Mexico, volunteer reinforcements and supplies became more readily available. Spanish Advantages The strategic advantages were not all on the side of the Aztecs. The Aztecs had not cemented their new conquests to their side by good treatment of the con-quered. On the contrary, the rapacious treatment by the Aztecs of recently conquered people made them willing allies of the Spaniards. Cortes made the alliance of the Caciques of the Totonacs irrevocable by having them arrest the Aztec tax collectors -- after which they must defeat the Aztec or be killed by them, there was no turning back. His generosity and fair treatment of conquered Indians made them permanent allies. This strategic/political advantage proved crucial on the retreat from Mexico. The difference in religion would appear to be a decisive strategic advantage to the Spanish, enabling them to march into the heart of the Aztec empire without a fight, but this is deceptive. The religious fanaticism of Cortes prompted him to build a Catholic shrine on top of the great pyramid of Huichilobos and Tezcatlipoca, provoking the Aztec determination to exterminate the Spaniards and resulting in their loss of the initial strategic advantage of the peaceful political coup. The real religious advantages enjoyed by the Spanish were two, and they may have been decisive. The Aztec objective in battles was to capture enemies alive to sacrifice to their Gods. The Spanish objective was to inflict as many casualties as possible. The Aztec reluctance to kill in battle gave the conquistadors a tremendous tactical advantage. Bernal Diaz makes the point; ". . . in their endeavors to lay hands on us they impaled themselves on our swords and lances.". The other religious advantage that the conquistadors enjoyed was morale and it is morale, or the lack of it, which causes a superior force to surrender to an inferior one. The Spanish victories against overwhelming odds convinced them that "God gives us the strength of many." The impotence of the Aztec magicians to stop the Spanish at their initial encounter- or during the final siege convinced the Indians that their Gods were impotent and they were doomed. Like religion, the Spaniards technical advantage in weapons was not as great as a casual assessment implies. The Aztecs were initially terrified by the booming of the cannon and matchlock muskets, but quickly adjusted to these new weapons and learned to avoid casualties from these slow-firing weapons. The main advantage derived from the gunpowder weapons was the ability of the cannon to demolish barricades during the invasion of Mexico.- The rare horses used by the Spanish could clear a concentration of Indian warriors if they were on suitable ground, but the Aztecs soon learned to choose unsuitable ground to nullify this advantage.-Not emphasized in either account, the crossbows of the Spanish were quicker firing, more accurate, and more deadly at a distance than the gunpowder weapons. Bernal Diaz hints at their importance when he describes the tens of thousands of arrows that Cortes has the allies manufacture to Spanish specifications before the final invasion of Mexico. Iron armor and swords were a constant advantage to the conquistadors. The armor broke any stone weapon that struck it, including arrows. The iron swords were stabbing weapons as well as slashing weapons whereas the swords of the Aztecs' wooden "bats" with stone microlyths set in the edge were slashing weapons only. The slashing sword requires much more space for the warrior wielding it than does the stabbing sword. The iron swords gave the conquistadors the tactical advantage of fighting in a compact mass against a dispersed foe. This saved the Spaniards on several occasions. The thirteen sloops constructed by the conquistadors on lake Texcoco were a technical achievement beyond the Aztecs, who had only canoes. These sloops dominated the lake, cutting off the Aztec food supply which resulted in extensive starvation in Tenochtitlan. The sloops also carried cannon, crossbowmen, and arquebusers that blasted down barricades on the causeways and protected the flanks of the invading Spanish forces. After the conquistador survivors escaped from Mexico, their invisible advantage, smallpox, struck. Neither source gives an estimate of the number or percentage who died but, as one of the Aztec witnesses said, "A great many died from this plague . . ." Montezuma's replacement, as well as many of the Caciques of Cortes allies died. The plague would have been worse in a population center like Tenochtitlan than it was in areas of lesser population density. This massive plague seems to have been the turning point. When the conquistadors returned to the valley of Mexico after the onset of the plague, the equation had changed. More allied Indians accompanied them and cities in the valley of Mexico that had been under Aztec domination for a long time were willing to throw off their overlords and join the Spaniards. The plague may have sapped the morale of the Aztecs as well as their numbers. The contest from this time forward was an almost continuous push to victory. Using battle tactics that took advantage of the technical advantages of iron swords and armor the conquistadors fought in compact formations that prevented individuals being surrounded and thus neutralized the Aztec's strategic advantage of numbers. The political astuteness of Cortes attached the people recently conquered by the Aztecs, as well as their enemies, the Tlascalans, to his cause. The religion of the Aztecs caused them to despair of victory, alienate conquered peoples, and use battle tactics that put them at a disadvantage. The technically superior sloops of the Spanish enabled them to dominate Lake Texcoco, cut off the Aztec food supply, and protect their troops fighting on the cause-ways. With firm Indian allies, a stranglehold on the Aztec's food supply, high morale, and a technically superior fleet the Spaniards destroyed an Aztec empire weakened by disease, starvation, and the revolt of conquered peoples. Back to Cry Havoc #38 Table of Contents Back to Cry Havoc List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 2002 by David W. Tschanz. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com