Special operations in the Mexica army: cuachic warriors and other units in the late Post-classic battles and the defense of Tenochtitlan

Abstract

The present work analyzes the proposal on the possible existence of special operations in the setting of ancient Mexico, especially in operations carried out by the Mexica army in the Late Postclassic during its imperial stage and the defense of Mexico Tenochtitlan in the great war of 1521. The hypothesis is initially supported under the conceptualization of what in Military History is conceived as a special operations unit. For such purposes special operations manuals were consulted, interviews with former members of special forces were conducted, and attempts were made at a methodological level to avoid, as much as possible, to fall into conceptual anachronisms. In addition to this, various research sources were analyzed, such as literary sources from the 16th century, and pictographic documents in order to find evidence of said special operating bodies. In this regard, it has been seen that the cuachic, otómitl, and especially the so-called pochtecas warriors, normally identified only as merchants, in this work are identified with a new, much more specialized vision: they fulfilled functions in the various military operations throughout of the history of Mexico Tenochtitlan.