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In retrospect, it seems almost miraculous that any of the Spaniards with Cortez in Mexico managed to escape being slaughtered by the Aztecs on La Noche Triste. What if they had, in fact, all been killed, drowned, or captured and sacrificed?
Would the complete destruction of Cortez's band have allowed the Aztec Empire to survive, even if only for a few more decades? It certainly would have massively reduced the available manpower in the Sapnish settlements of the Caribbean (which, it should be recalled, were less than thirty years old). It would also have made potential conquistadors much more cautious about trying to take on advanced Mesoamerican empires. Might this have butterflied away the conquest of the Incas?