The muddy river water rushed into the not-so-broad Gibara Bay. A clamor of shouts shattered centuries of peace and quiet. And at this moment, the two sides locked in confrontation and slaughter were several hundred Taino Militia under the command of the Lake Kingdom, and eighty Sailors from the Castile exploration fleet!
"Board the small boats! Surround the devils! Fight for the gods! Roar!..."
The Sun climbed to the middle of the sky, and the Taino's Spider Cave Great Tribe was boiling with noise. Under the incitement of the Main God's Priests and Warriors, all the tribe's able-bodied men had been mobilized. They carried long spears, held slings, and bore flint javelins on their backs, gathering along the broad seashore as they hurled curses with all their might at the great ships!
In truth, the peaceful, good-natured Taino, even if they were tall and strong, even if they had trained on and off for two or three years, still were not a people skilled at war. The only sources of their courage lay in numbers far beyond those of the "devils," the "thunder" both sides unleashed at each other, the Main God's Priests' "blessings," and the Kingdom Warriors holding the line behind them!
"Blessings of the Main God! Devout warriors of the Main God, take up your slings and javelins, and fight for the god!..."
"Lord above! These ignorant natives actually dared attack the kingdom's fleet first! Have they gone mad? They dare use Canoes this small to attack our great ships?"
Under Expedition Commander Columbus's disbelieving gaze, the first wave of forty Canoes, packed with more than a hundred Taino Fishermen with bare bodies and only Loincloths tied around their waists, came screaming wildly toward the fleet!
"Don't be afraid! Hurry! Paddle up there and surround their ships!..."
"Blessings