Pizarro and his forces having quitted _Lima_, the gates of the city were forthwith opened to Aldana, as the forerunner of the President. Gasca himself, however, had sailed from _Panamá_ on April 10th, 1547. He encountered a stormy voyage, during which he displayed his habitual coolness and perseverance. In due time his storm-battered vessels arrived at _Tumbez_, where he was received with open arms; indeed thenceforth he was master of the situation, and had only to instruct his officers to execute his orders. He made his way towards _Xauxa_, where he was later joined by reinforcements from all quarters. On his arrival there the war was, in point of fact, to all appearance terminated, for he found advices to the effect that Gonzalo Pizarro was hemmed in on every side. In reply to the offers of service which he received, he had given a general rendezvous of _Caxamalca_, to which place he despatched Hinojosa with the soldiers at his disposal, with orders to take command of the levies and to join him at _Xauxa_. He then proceeded towards the same place by way of _Truxillo_. The President now found himself in sufficient strength to counter-order the force which he had summoned to his assistance from _Guatemala_ and _Mexico_.
Meanwhile Pizarro had come to the determination to evacuate _Peru_ and fall back upon _Chili_, which territory was beyond the jurisdiction of the President. But the passes lying on his route were held by Centeno with a force greater than his own, and who had declared for the President. Centeno had been his subordinate officer, and he tried, in the first place, the effect of negotiation. This, however, leading to no result, he marched against his force, which was encamped on Lake _Titicaca_. On October 26th the hostile forces met. Pizarro’s troops were about half as numerous as those of his opponent, his cavalry only numbering one-third of the horsemen opposed to him; but this inequality was compensated for in that of the opposing leaders. Whilst Centeno was so ill as to be compelled to delegate the command of his troops to others and to await the result off the field in a litter, his opponents were under the skilled leadership of Pizarro and Carbajal. Pizarro himself commanded the cavalry, placing himself at its head in a gorgeously-decorated suit of mail, which made him the most conspicuous object on the field.