Commending themselves to the virgin, and invoking the aid of Santiago, the troops advanced and entered the plain, skirted on the east by the lower ranges of the Tlaloc, which inclosed in the distance the town of Otumba.
The sight was as grand as it was terrifying. In every direction were seemingly endless columns, with flowing plumage, brilliant shields of varied designs, and above and beyond these a forest of glittering iztli points.
“It was the finest army Spaniards ever encountered in the Indies,” exclaims Bernal Diaz.
Their number was legion, and the richness of their attire signified the presence of the strength and nobility of the empire. The original estimate was doubled, and that was increased fourfold, until, like Don Quixote’s sheep, two hundred thousand seemed small.
Aware of the route taken and the destination of the Spaniards, Cuitlahuatzin had sent orders to the caciques of Otumba, Teotihuacan, Calpulalpan, and adjoining region, to mass their forces here and exterminate the intruders. This order came most opportune, for at the time a fair was held at Otumba, which attracted a large concourse, from which volunteers were readily obtained for so laudable an object, represented not only as easy of achievement, but as profitable from the spoils that were to follow.
A strong force from the lake region had come to form the nucleus of the army, the command of which was assumed by Cihuacatzin, lord of Teotihuacan.36
The sight of the sorry remnant of the Spanish army was greeted by the native host with triumphant shouts, trumpet blasts, and the clashing of weapons.