There is a great account of the conquest of Mexico in "Historia verdadera de la conquista de la Nueva España" by one Bernal Díaz del Castillo, who was a member

There is a great account of the conquest of Mexico in "Historia verdadera de la conquista de la Nueva España" by one Bernal Díaz del Castillo, who was a member of Cortés' troop of conquistadores: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historia_verdadera_de_la_conquista_de_la_Nueva_Espa%C3%B1a https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historia_verdadera_de_la_conqu... I think this is probably recounted by other sources but he talks also about the "noche triste", the night that the conquistadores had to run for their lives from Tenochtitlan, pursued by a mob driven to rage after the murder of the emperor Moctezuma: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Noche_Triste https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Noche_Triste Although on that night the conquistadores were probably at a disadvantage, for being weighed down with all the gold they tried to take with them as they ran. Encumberance is a bitch. In general, it seems true that the Spanish survived by the skin of their teeth, driven by their lust for richess and mainly thanks to the support of the local vassal states like the Tlaxcalans. Military superiority is not just who has the best weapons and even in the Old World battles are not always won by the most technologically advanced society. For example, see the Battle of Isandlwana: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Isandlwana https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Isandlwana