The History of the Aztecs

Pikemen fought in close formation. If you could protect the phalanx, and you could let them keep information on level ground, you couldn't stop them. And so again and again, when Cortez is trapped, what he does is he gets 30 or 40 catafracts or Spanish lancers on each wing. They march step by step against the Aztecs. The Calvary keeps keeps their flanks protected. Then behind, as Alexander the Great, behind the Tercel, there are missile troops. So what does that mean? It might have a hundred Spanish crossbows, crossbow men, or they would have another hundred arquibuses.