Continued from Part I - Senor Cortes on Recruiting and Retention
Cortes may not have been the most qualified to lead the expedition. Though he was experienced and renowned for his courage, another reason for his appointment was his promise to help finance the expedition. Cortes emptied his personal wealth and poured it into the trip. He mortgaged his lands. He called on friends to both help prepare for the trip and to join his small army.
The first land Cortes and his crew of 508 men spotted was the coast of Yucatan, at one time the central nervous system of the Mayan empire. Cortes had ordered his scouts to the coast a month ahead of time to travel to the borders of the Aztec Empire to see what sort of trouble they might face when they approached to pillage the Aztec gold. They set up camp on the beach and prepared for the perilous journey ahead into the heart of the Aztec's and waited for the scouts to return to the coast with their report.
As Cortes' men waited for the scouts and prepared horses, guns and provisions for the nearly 200 mile inland journey, some curious local tribesmen had visited the encampment. The subject of Montezuma, gold and armies were the main topic of discussion. The locals told them of Montezuma's city of gold, the homes were decorated with and the streets were paved with gold. They were amazed with the white, bearded man's peculiar interest in gold. They also told them of Montezuma's fearless army, some 10,000-20,000 men strong by the locals count.
Within a few days the scouts returned, and they met with Cortes in the conquistadors large tent. Some of the Cortes' men, eager to learn what they were facing, hid behind the tent and listened carefully to the discussion. The scouting report was worse than any had imagined, Montezuma's army numbered well over 100,000 men, armed with spears, bows and arrows. Although the expedition was well armed with guns and a large cannon, victory with 500 men vs. 100,000 well trained warriors, seemed an impossible feat. Cortes took all of this in, swore his scouts to secrecy, and retired to his tent for the evening.
Cortes, meanwhile, weighed his options. He faced imprisonment or death for defying the governor, Velasquez, if he returned to Cuba. Cortes knew the want of gold and riches was not a big enough motivator for his men to face such a daunting task. They were Soldiers of Fortune, not the soldiers one needed in such a battle. All the gold in the world is worth nothing to a dead man. The best soldiers are the soldiers who are fighting for God, Country and for the safety of their homes and family.
Cortes decided to take a walk on the outskirts of the encampment and try and get a feel on his men and their morale. The men who had been eavesdropping on the scouts and Cortes, had of course spread the word quickly about the 100,000 plus warriors. Panic ensued within the men and everyone felt Cortes had surely lost his mind if he wanted to proceed, and there was no amount of gold worth marching into a certain slaughter. They knew his situation at home in Cuba, but they were merely following Cortes' orders when they set sail from Cuba, and felt any of the consequences of joining Cortes would be dismissed. The majority of them came to the conclusion, that life was good enough in Cuba, and it was time to return to their families and plantations.
Cortes knew his only option was to move forward with the expedition, he knew Velasquez's anger at his disobedience would be cooled off by returning with ship loads of gold, of which the Cuban Governor would get his fair share, of course.
Hernando Cortes had heard all of this mutinous planning discussed at length by his men well into the late evening. They had finally decided to seize all the ships at first light and sail back to Cuba, with or without Cortes. Cortes, in a bold stroke of genius, sent his personal entourage of 50 loyal soldiers to the ships in the darkness.
He ordered his men to set all 11 ships on fire and send them out to sea.
They followed Cortes' orders, set the ships on fire, pushed them out to sea, and watched them burn and eventually sink, in a glorious sight in the darkness.
The next morning, Cortes and his army of 508 men marched toward Montezuma.
How does this relate to the trucking industry's seemingly never ending battle with recruiting and retention? Join us here on Monday, September 24th to explore more on this fascinating subject.
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