By his discreet and moderate policy, he insensibly
acquired an ascendency over their counsels, which had been denied to
the ferocious Aztec. His authority extended wider and wider every day;
and a new empire grew up in the very heart of the land, forming a
counterpoise to the colossal power which had so long overshadowed it.
Cortes now felt himself strong enough to put in execution the
plans for recovering the capital, over which he had been brooding ever
since the hour of his expulsion. He had greatly undervalued the
resources of the Aztec monarchy. He was now aware, from bitter
experience, that, to vanquish it, his own forces, and all he could
hope to muster, would be incompetent, without a very extensive support
from the Indians themselves. A large army, would, moreover, require
large supplies for its maintenance, and these could not be regularly
obtained, during a protracted siege, without the friendly co-operation
of the natives. On such support he might now safely calculate from
Tlascala, and the other Indian territories, whose warriors were so
eager to serve under his banners. His past acquaintance with them
had instructed him in their national character and system of war;
while the natives who had fought under his command, if they had caught
little of the Spanish tactics, had learned to act in concert with
the white men, and to obey him implicitly as their commander.
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