The Battle of Cortez
The date is April 16th 1492 the place 5 Miles off of Florida South East Coast. Three battle armada ships in the middle of the crystal, emerald green tropic waters of the Caribbean, On board of these ships, are the three saviors of the Spanish royalty and of Spain herself. The ships are the finest the royal Spanish armada has in it’s now shambles of a navy. The ships are the Nina, The Pinta and the Santa Maria; all three are staffed with 1000 men each and a garrison of 24 long-range cannons. The commanders of these vessels are, on the Nina there is Captain Cortez, The Pinta has captain Pizzarro and on the Santa Maria there is Lieutenant Christopher Columbus. All three men are on a mission to save Spain and the royal empire; all three men were specially chosen by her majesty Queen Elizabeth the III. These are fragile times for Spain for the last 5 years Spain has been at war with France on its Western front. In the South Atlantic front Buccaneers have decimated Spain’s Navy. The buccaneers have been reaping, Spain’s gold from the navy Galion’s transporting it to back to Spain from it's Southern conquered colonies. Spain has not been able to gain a strong foothold on either front. Spain’s’ last hope for survival, lies on these three brave souls. If they succeed in invading this new continent known as North America she can gain access to the much-needed resources, which she needs is she is to survive.
The commanders of these vessels are well experienced in the art of war. Each one has undertaken many conquests, in the days when Spain was a super power in the old world, Commander Columbus had humble beginnings to his naval career his first conquest was in South China he commanded a small fleet of frigates. He conquered the southern provinces of Mailing, China from there he amazed great fortunes of silk and other valuable art artifacts for the royalty. Commander Pizzarrro was raised from a long line of naval family his grandfather was the royal navies founder. So it was only natural for young Pizzarrro to just follow in the footprints of greatness. Although Pizzarro did not become a conqueror, he did manage to gain the respect of the naval comuntity because of historical sea battles. He fought in such battles as The Falkland Islands war of 1445 and was instrumental in destroying Chile’s navy in the six-day war with Chile in 1452. Pizzarro was a brilliant commander; He knew how to win naval battles against over whelming odds. Pizzarro was most famous for two things his love to fight and win and his priceless art collection. Finally there is commander Cortez, he started his naval career as independent buccaneer, and he was responsible for attacking and sinking over 50 British royal navy vessels and commandeering their treasures for the Cortez retirement fund. Cortez was bright, tactful and articulate when it came to battle. Cortezes biggest problem was Cortez his insable taste for wealth always got the best of him. His days of buccaneering were short lived, this was due to the fact the Spain needed him and put a bigger bounty on his head then England did. Sure enough Spain finally was able to capture him, in the battle known as the battle of the River Plate. Cortez surrendered peacefully after his flagship was completely destroyed by the Spanish royal navy. He was immediately captured and was offered two choices, choice one a short drop and a sudden stop on a rope or a full pardon by his Majesty King Juan Carlos. The terms of the pardon were that he was to command the three battle ships and attack and conquer the new world known as North America. This to Cortez was nothing more than a suicide missin,but he was allways up to any challenge just as in the past. Cortez agreed to the pardon and was placed in full charge of this crucial operation.
In charge of navigating these ships through the straits of Key Largo was the famous explorer Galileo, few captains knew these treacherous waters like Galileo. Galileo led many explorations, through some of the most treacherous unforgiving lands and seas of the world. All three commanders depended heavily on Galileo’s knowledge of the ties and the currents in this area. One mistake sailing these waters could spell disaster for all three ships. The time to disembark and landing on shore was set for 0400; this was determined by Galileo to be the best time for highest ties and best currents. On board of these ships, was assembled the finest elite fighting forces ever assembled. All of the soldiers on these ships were Spain’s Royal Marines the fiercest fighters the royalty had. So crucial was this mission to Spain it sent it’s best elite fighting force, to assure nothing was left to chance. Galileo knew that that one of the key factors for this operation to go smoothly was the position of the moon. He knew that with the position of the moon in the right orbit it would give the advantage of high tied and better currents. Unfortunately with a full moon Galileo knew that the full moon would reflect off of the royal marines armor, possibly causing them to be spotted from land. This was a risk that would have to be taken for the success of this operation. The spirit of the men was high and they were ready to take on the world, as they had on all previous operations. To the men this was not just another operation this one was for the salvation of Spain. All royal Marines were ordered to report to the ships make shift church at 0200 for a special blessing. When 0200 came and everyone reported the men waited with great anticipation for the blessing to begin. On a Spanish battle ship, the commander has special religious powers given to him by his majesty and the church. So he is not just the commander in charge he is also the designated spiritual leader. His blessing was inspiring and very lifting, brought the fighting spirit out on the men unlike any other time before. The blessing inspired the men to go out reclaim that, which belong to the greatest empire of the world Spain. Should this fail we have failed our mother country Spain, if we are to return from this mission let us not return as failures but as the victors who saved the greatest empire on earth Spain. If I am to die on this front let the world know that I saved an empire and let my queen know that my blood was spilled for the noblest cause of them all to save Spain. These were just the words the younger marines needed to hear, coming from their spiritual leader and their commander.
A last check of all cannons and weapons proves to be an adrenaline rush for some of the younger none battle hardened Marines. To the veteran Marines this is just another territory that needs to be conquered and claimed for the queen and for Spain. The seasoned marines know there is something different about this invasion. To some they know this could very well be their last stand. They have made peace with themselves and with god, they realized that all will be lost if this invasion is a complete failure. The final hour is upon us; lets get ready to board the landing boats. The field commanders then give final instructions to all of the men under their command to mount up. Watching from their bridge of operations the three key figures watch and give one final salute, as the boats are lowered in to the water. As the boats begin to fight the strong currents of the Atlantic, the order is given to the cannons to unleash hellfire and begin firing a heavy barrage of cover fire on the beachhead.
Waiting for the seasoned invaders on land, was something very familiar to most of them from previous invasions. The wrath of savage native Indians, all trained in the modern ways of warfare. The tribes of North America always fought each other, for control of their prospective territories. The natives had a strange alliance treaty among themselves; they were separated by their tribal and spiritual loyalties so it was ok to fight amongst opposing tribes. How ever when if an outside threat came upon them they immediately would put all their differences aside and fight side by side to repel the invaders. The native elders knew the disastrous consequences of what invasion meant. Their tribal ancestors to the south in places like Mexico and Peru, faced extinction because of invasions. If they allow the conquistadors to invade they would face the same fate their ancestors did. So this was also their final stand for survival to their way of life. Failure to repel this invasion meant, the certain death of their existence. The tribal leaders were no strangers to conflict with the white man, for years they repelled attempted invasions from such countries such as France and England. All invasions met with the same fate death and failure. The one most important factor in victory for the natives was that they were strong believers in the spiritual world. Each tribe had their own god and spiritual leader that they worshiped. Oddly enough the conquistadors also were strong believers in a god. So this battle could be just, won or lost by religious believes alone
. The invaders got closer and closer to the shoreline the commanders aboard the ships, could see through the smoke that the shoreline was taking a heavy pounding. In the heavy brush, just past the white sandy beaches the natives just wait patiently for the invaders to set foot on shore. Once on shore and inland, only then will the slaughtering commence. This is a tactic that has proven to work for the natives on every single invasion, it was patience and perseverance and the survival instincts that always helped the natives win the battles. Some of the tribes involved in this fight today are the Cherokee, Samoan and Apache; the great chief Geranamo will lead them all. Geranamo led the biggest Indian battles along the southern border between Mexico and North America. His tribes to the south repelled and invading force of over 20,000 French conquerors led by General Napoleon in 1475. In 1465 Commander Winston Churchill attempted to conquer North America from the northern territories of Canada, but was met with a slaughter when Geranamo and 5,000 of his tribesmen slaughtered 15,000 of Winston Churchill’s forces. At that point it was useless for the British to press on and were forced to retreat back to England. This is what made Geranamo the most valuable asset the Indians had, in their arsenal.
The Spanish hit the sand hard and fast in the barrage of cannon fire and explosions the troops disembarked one boat at a time. By this time the sun was just peaking over the horizon the beach was Smokey and there were several brushfires from the cannon balls exploding. Once the cannon fire was halted, everything got earily quiet. Too quiet something just didn’t seem right. The battle-hardened veterans could feel that something was watching them, something was about to happen. The younger inexperienced marines were joyous and were celebrating the success of the operation. All of a sudden with one loud screech the natives begin the slaughter from the jungle canopy. There was poison darts flying like mosquitoes when the conquistadors tried to defend themselves it was useless. The reason for this was because the local natives knew it was better to respect mother nature, so she would provide a safe heaven in times of need, Well mother nature provided the foliage the natives needed to camouflage them selves. The conquistadors tried as best as they could to throw their lances in to the heavy brush hoping to defend themselves. It was useless because they realized they couldn’t hit what they could not see. It was like trying to fight a ghost; this went on for about 45 minutes. Some of the conquistadors actually tried to run away and made it back on to the boats, but the tide was against them. In all of the planning Galileo did not plan for a retreat he planned for a victory. So the tide coming back out to sea was not taken in to consideration this caused a lot of confusion on the shore. The conquistadors that were actually making it back on to a boat were either dead or dying. Poison darts and spears flying in thousands of them. From the ships the commanders began to pound the shoreline again with cannon fire, but it was useless the slaughter had already begun. By now Cortez orders all three ships closer to shore, to try to stop the slaughter of his men on the beach. It was too little too late boats were now being picked up by the surf off the shoreline and brought back to land. He could see in to some of the boats that did make it back to the ship as they came close dozens or rotting mutilated bodies. It seems that poison darts didn’t just kill the enemy, in a humane quick way. The poison in the darts mutilated the body and made the body organs turn inside out. At this point Cortez orders a more intense barrage of canon fire, he orders that the remaining royal marines go a shore and fight. Cortez figures that the natives, have lost the element of surprise and with the extra pounding they are getting from the cannons, they will loose their will to fight. Not realizing that he is down to a skeleton crew on his flagship, in the heat of battle, he doesn’t realize the Pinta and the Santa Maria have halted the firing of the shoreline. He can’t see because of the heavy smoke, but once the smoke clears he then sees the horrific sight. The natives have commandeered both ships and are slaughtering the crew and lighting the ships on fire. The natives managed to put the bodies of the dead soldiers in the boats on top of themselves, to be able to get close enough to the ships and board them. At which point they just climbed the ropes and commandeered the ships. Having abandoned all hopes for survival, Cortez realizes that the hang mans noose would have been a kinder gentler death, than what he is about to face. As he prepares to die once he realizes all is lost, Geranamo appears before him and orders his men to stop all hostilities. Geranamo through the uses of one of his men who knows and understand the white mans native tongue looks in to Cortezes eyes; he knows he is looking at a dead man. He orders Cortez, to go return to where you come from. Your kind stay far away your kind disrespects the land therefore the land will not save your kind. Your kind will vanish for sure, if you send more to this land the great gods will punish you as he did today for trying to violate his sacred land. In the end Cortez, returned to Spain only to see his beloved country decimated and conquered by France in 1497. Cortez lessons learned that what it all comes down to is be respectful of your neighbors and your planet for one day either one can turn against you.