Portugal- an Empire Under the Sun

First, it's not nice at all when an update ends as the last posts in the previous page. Well, here is a link, so you, my dear readers, can click on in conveniently!
http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum...er-the-Sun&p=16017270&viewfull=1#post16017270

Chief Ragusa- Don't worry, Ceylon still owns only Ceylor. It's a trade map and showing trade nodes, not political borders. Rebels were already taken care of (on a side note- Kongo didn't manage as big an army as they had rebels- not nice) and poor Texeira already died. Overextension? Not really, i try to keep it down and at the moment, i have admin power to share. Overextension hurts trade, so i'll try to avoid it and core as soon as possible. And no worries, no sharing intended!

Stabbing Spain in the Back

Preparations for War

The claim on Andalucia was received in September 1495. But the war could not start that easily and so soon. Main reason- Portugal had no troops in Portugal. 7000 Portuguese were on the other end of the world. One army had been sent to Inhambane in order to prepare for the attack on Zanzibar and now had to be shipped back. That alone is time-consuming. To make matters worse, André de Guimarães, a military genius that had helped Portugal throughout all the recent wars and who was revered all over Europe, died in October 1495, just a month after the preparations begun.

Also in October 1495, Filipe I broke the alliance with Spain, claiming that recent conflicts over the Andalusia had made it impossible for two nations to remain on such friendly terms. But now, Portugal had another problem- they were friends with Spanish and English. Meaning that the list of potential allies was zero. You cannot ally with Spain if you plan to declare war on Spain. And you cannot ally with England who already is at war with Spain.

Even if it was an option, England is doing really badly. Spain controls Gascoigne and Spanish forces are swarming over the British Isles, looting and pillaging with no Englishman left to stop them. Spanish fleet controls the coast of England and basically, England is in ruins. But it also means that Spanish fleet is away and so is most of their armies.


Spanish forces in England in 1495. By the time the Portuguese-Spanish war begin, the situation was even worse

Filipe I was a pragmatic man. He understood that Portugal was not as loved in Europe as she could be and there wasn't a force nearby that would care enough to send their soldiers to die for Portugal. But, there was another thing- he understood that Spain was even less popular and there would be rulers who really really disliked the Iberian giant. So, he looked around and found that a military coalition against Spain was already there. Even better, the French were the ones responsible for it. Portugal happily joined and with the pact formed between Filipe I and Louis XII de Valois, the good relations between two nations begun.

The War Begins

In December 1496, Portugal was finally ready. Filipe had 19 000 troops ready in mainland, 3000 ready in Caribbean and 2000 still recruiting. The coalition with the French was firm. So, to celebrate the passing of the new year, the Portuguese declared war on Spain, claiming the province of Andalusia. Portuguese troops marched to Andalusia and started siege of the province there. Not a Spaniard in sight.

The first battle of the war was actually fought in Bearn. 16 000 French attacked 11 000 Spanish. It was a tough fight, but in the end, French superiority in numbers and in leadership won. Their army, lead by Louis XII himself, managed to break the Spanish lines and forced the enemy to flee for their lives.


Long live the Coalition!

Meanwhile, Felipe sent a small army, with cannons and infantry, to siege Cadiz and Portuguese fleet took up blockading positions near the southern part of Spain. Since Filipe knew there was a powerful Spanish fleet lurking around somewhere, he decided not to move too aggressively and try to blockade most of Spain. In sheer numbers, the Spanish fleet was superior to Portuguese one, after all.

Battle of Jaen

Spanish fled for their lives and they kept on fleeing until they had arrived in Southern Spain. Filipe ordered Portuguese to leave a siege force behind in Andalusia and marched to meet them. Outside of Jaen, the three armies met.

The Spanish were tired and demoralized, but so were the French. Portuguese were the only fresh troops left. The battle was still commanded by the French King though. Spaniards had put their troops in highly defensive location- troops of the coalition had to cross the river and fight in the mountains. The bridges were defended by Spanish and there was no large ford nearby, so the coalition was in trouble.

It was 15th April in 1497 when the coalition attacked. Portuguese troops were leading the way, their longbowman showering the Spanish with arrows. That weakened the poor Spanish enough and then, the French man-at-arms charged the bridges. With pure elan, they pushed through and defeated the Spanish defenders. The Coalition was on the other side of the river, but Spanish had defended a good defending position up the hills nearby. There was only one problem- the Spanish had nowhere to run. Still, the fighting was over for the day- both sides needed to gather their strength and the night was already coming.


Spanish defending the bridge

In 16th April, the Portuguese once again started with hail of arrows against the Spaniards. With some arquebusiers adding to the fray, the Spaniards were demoralized, surrounded and outnumbered. They dropped their weapons and tried to flee- but there was nowhere to flee. The whole Spanish army was slaughtered that day and in Battle of Jaen, Portugal and France had won the war.


The battle

The Sieges

After Jaen, Iberia was quiet, with only Portuguese cannons slowly chipping away the defences of the city. Andalusia, Cadiz and Cordoba were under siege in mainland and 2000 soldiers were sieging Canary Islands. Andalucia herself fell in November 1497. By January 1498, Portugal had taken control of both Spanish colonies in the New World. Trinidad and Grao Para. Felipe decided to expand the sieges a bit more- Badajoz and Granada were also sieged now. Cadiz fell in May 1498, after 511 days of siege. In July, Canaries fell, but Portugal was not doing good. Filipe had to take a loan of 107 ducats to finance the war.


War in South America

Battle of Gibraltar

In June, there was news that Spanish fleet had was spotted near Portuguese coast and that they were sailing towards Gibraltar. Portuguese ships scuttled to ports, for the Spanish Armada was overwhelming. It also meant that sieges would become slower and that Portuguese could not effectively blockade the Spanish coast.


Portuguese fleet in harbour, preparing for the battle

In desperation, Portugal attempted to stop the Spanish fleet. In September, Portugal attacked Spanish in Gibraltar. Seven early carracks, fourteen Barques and one Galley (captured from Aragon) against full might of Spanish fleet. Though the Portuguese were outnumbered, they managed to inflict heavy damage to Spanish fleet before retreating. Sure, Portuguese lost the battle, but they did not lose any ships and forced the Spanish fleet to retreat to port for repairs.


That did not go that well...

End of War

When Granada fell in January 1499, the war was over. Spain was forced to give up the jewel of their crown, province of Andalucia and the rich city of Seville to Portugal. In addition, Grao Para from Brazil was asked and Spanish had to pay whopping 23 ducats. The Spanish had gained Gascoigne from English, but had lost one of the richest provinces they ever had.


Yay! We have won

Portugal now had really firm grasp of the Sevillan trade node. When the Portuguese fleet had recovered from battle of Gibraltar and started the patrols of the node again, their share in Seville was higher then ever before. Money was slowly flowing into Portuguese coffers. Owning a rich province like Andalusia of course helped as well.


The trade in Seville

Oh, and during the war, Portuguese did not forget their colonization efforts. They moved deeper into the Caribbean, colonizing the province of Jamaica in February 1497. Also, a new explorer was recruited. Andre de Oliveira was tasked with exploration of the Caribbean, though he also was a leader in the Battle of Gibraltar. He explored the western part of the sea, discovered a nation called Aztecs and also explored North American coastline.

Reformation

While Portugal and Spain were busy at each others throats, somewhere in Germany, some kind of monk god fed up with good like and declared that the Pope is evil and all that. Somehow, this started the Protestant movement. That was not concern of Portugal at the moment though- sure some strange German monks with weird ideas do not affect the Kingdom of Portugal, so far away from Iberia?


The Catholic Faith is not that unified anymore

First, this will be my last episode for quite some time. I'm finally going to vacation and though i've taken needed materials with me, i think i'll be too busy with wine and sun and more wine to actually write anything. So, i'm not gone, i'm just resting

Now, yay! That was surprisingly easy war, and there is main lesson you need: to fight a stronger enemy, wait for good opportunity and stab them in the back! And i have a confession to make. I r stoopid! You know, both Trinidad and Garo Para were colonies and i failed to notice the nice little Claim Colony and Burn Colony buttons the army had. So, instead of just taking the colonies, i have failed to acquire Trinidad at all. Still, i've won the war and gained Andalucia!

Chief Ragusa - Well, i have another explorer, quite a good chap. Fighting in Battle of Gibraltar and all. And yes, i have plans to establish hold in India. Lack of diplomatic power: i need them for my most important ideas (exploration, trade, expansion, naval and perhaps diplomacy), i need diplomatic tech for colonizing, better ships and better trade and i need diplo power for building trade buildings. So, to put it simply, i'm just short, cause the demand is much higher then supply.

BogMod - French assistance was still half-hearted. They helped me to defeat Spanish armies, but they did not siege a single province. I was kinda hoping to give them one of the provinces in South France back, but they did not take any, so
... Still, the French are always good to have as allies.

Filling Portuguese Coffers

Malinese Coalition

In October 1499, Portugal had recovered from war with Spain, but despite the additional province and hefty trade income, the budget was negative. Sustaining the fleet, the colonies and the army, increased to the limit of what Portugal could have, did their best to suck the treasury dry. Overall, Portugal was losing over 5 ducats per month and already had to take one loan. Filipe did not want to hear a word about cutting expenses as well, for Portugal needed to expand, to hold a strong army and all that. So, there was only one option left: war. Or rather, a raid.


Portuguese economy after the war

Mali was picked as a target once again. Simple- they had the gold, Portuguese had Casus Belli and the war should be over quick. The only problem- Mali was in coalition against Portugal. With them were Algiers, Morocco and Kongo. It is a miracle of logistics, for Morocco and Algiers had a small clue about Mali and no-one but Kongo knew of Kongo, but… the distances don’t matter when you have common enemy you all hate. Filipe thought about his chances and decided to go to war anyway.

War Begins

War started in October 1499. Portuguese troops from Gold Coast crossed the Malinese borders. Total 7000 in strength, but that was not the main battlefield. Portuguese marched to Kumasi and started siege there. Meanwhile, Portuguese navy sailed from their ports and sunk the Moroccan navy. As for Algiers, their troops were nowhere to be seen- they had retreated to their ports for safety.

The main threat to Portuguese was of course Algiers and Morocco. Filipe left bulk of his army in North Africa, but even then, when the Moroccans and Algiers would combine their forces, Berbers would outnumber Portuguese. In December 1499, Moroccan troops crossed the province of Fez and conveniently crushed the rebels there. In January, Moroccans were sieging their rebel-controlled and landlocked province of Melilla while 7000 Algiers soldiers had crossed the borders and sieged Ceuta.


Situation in January 1500

Defeating Berbers

Luckily for Portugal, the tensions between Algiers and Morocco were high. Algiers had taken Fez from Morocco and even though the Portuguese had stepped in a bit later and took the province their own, the nations were not on agreeing terms. Meaning that the two nations could not agree to shared leadership. One meeting was held to negotiate that, but it ended bloodily. After that, Algiers and Morocco waged their own wars against Portugal. A stupid thing to do.

Meanwhile, Portuguese forces were finally ready and in February 1500, they attacked Algiers troops, managed to break the siege of Ceuta and in March 1500, completely annihilated the Algiers force in Casablanca. Then, it was time for Morocco. Portuguese attacked Moroccans in Melilla, forced them to retreat and in May 1500, completely destroyed the enemy in Safi. North Africa was secure, so the Portuguese army was split and 7000 sailed further south. Rest of the remaining troops, also about 7000, were to siege the enemy and try to keep both Moroccans and Algiers in bay. They succeeded- for the rest of the war, Portugal had no trouble from the Berbers in Africa.


Defeating Berbers

Problems with Kongo

Meanwhile, 3000 Kongoese soldiers had crossed the borders in far south and sieged Kongo, their former capital. Since Portuguese were busy in either North Africa or Mali, no relief forces were available. In October 1500, after nearly a year of siege, Kongo fell. Nearly all Portuguese in the province were slaughtered and army of Kongo marched on, confident of their victory. They sieged Luanda, the original Portuguese colony. But in December, the Kongoese were in for a surprise. 7000 Portuguese sailed to Luanda, marched out of the city gates and forced Kongoese to flee. In Anziku, one of the two provinces Kongo still owns, the enemy was surrounded and killed to the last man.


Kongo gaining control of Kongo. Notice the relief force sailing, hidden behind the siege message icon

Portuguese proceeded with a siege of the province and in March 1501, the province fell. Liberation of Kongo took about a month and Portuguese marched on to Ndongo. By June 1501, South African territories were safe and under complete Portuguese control. The armies there were sent to help forces sieging Mali.

End of War

Mali was all that was left and one Portuguese army that started the war there was slowly taking the enemy provinces. Malinese themselves avoided direct contact, so the sieges went on undisturbed. When the second army reached Mali from Kongo, the war was decided. Portugal had clearly won and in May 1502, Filipe forced another peace treaty on Mali. Kongo was forced to give up the province of Anziku and Mali was forced to once again empty their treasury- over 900 gold. Filipe now had enough money to pay back the loan (and additional one taken during the war) and still have healthy surplus to be spent on buildings and overall expansion of Portugal.


Another successful visit to the Bank of Mali

Other Matters

Of course, the war with Mali did not mean that Portugal stopped their colonization efforts or exploration. In November 1501, Andre de Oliviera crossed the Magellan straight and was the first European to sail to Pacific Ocean. From there, he found a rich nation calling themselves the Incas. Before that, he had completely mapped the Caribbean Sea and also found another nation, called the Aztecs, who were the only nation in Mesoamerica. In July 1501, Portugal had found a colony next to their border, in Karankawa. Also, Jamaica had become a Portuguese territory and slowly, the Portuguese were filling Caribbean islands with their colonies.


Andre de Oliviera reaching the Pacific Ocean

As for technologies- Portugal discovered the Scythe (administrative technology 9, +10% production) in January 1500 and soon after that, adapted “The Societas Jesu” in September 1500- meaning better conversion chance.

In April 1501, Portugal adapted the Viceroy system, giving colonies more independence and also gaining a bit more from the tariffs brought home. The main income from colonies would still be trade, but every little bit helps. Finally in 1503, Portuguese military technology improved as well, allowing Portuguese to build better forts, have a bit better cavalry and adapt Galloglaigh infantry.


Improving tech and ideas

I AAR back! Or well, at least managed to sneak in an episode. Nothing special this time, but let's just say great things are ahead! And oh, renewed our alliance with English and the idiots managed to DoW France, so no good relations with France yet.

Chief Ragusa - Heh, true, the English support was invaluable. Unfortunately, i just scratched Spanish fleet, not sink it. Bermuda is a good idea, but too late- i've played too much ahead. And French arrived through the mainland, i think- got enough covered to get the North America and then ahead, i think. And Trinidad now has natives, yes. Later, it's full grown city. But i'll get it sooner or later anyways!

grumphie - welcome aboard! And thanks!
Now- as for Morocco- it is a mixed blessing, yes. But with missions, i can reduce the coring costs (well, get part of the admin power back as a reward), plus Morocco and Algiers are important to Portugal. The only reason i'm going after them is the power of trade in Seville. It would be useless if manage to get trade from India and Spice Islands flowing to Seville and i don't control most of the node- ie someone else collects my hard earned money. That's why i'm fighting Morocco and Algiers and that's why i'm fighting Spain. So the berber malus is just something i have to live with, unfortunately. But i need them provinces.

As for offensive- yes and no. Defensive would have suited me perhaps a bit better, with all overstretched holdings. Looking at the last war, Kongo would have not fallen if i'd had a 33% defence to forts. But- the offensive idea gives me yes, forced march, a little discipline and better leaders, but also something i really need. +25% manpower is always nice to have, especially when you're such a small nation as Portugal. But even more importantly, +50% land army limit increase. As Portugal, i'm streched out. I'll have to keep armies of some size in several different points of the world and also in homeland. Meaning i need armies, i need big armies and i need them now. With that, Offensive helps quite a deal. In fact, with Offensive, i can outnumber Spain and that is a good thing. Then again, defensive is good too, so... bugger me silly, it was not a bad choice, it was just different from yours. Both work PS! And i am fighting Spain!

Plans- well, i'm planning both Caribbean/Brazil and i'm actually capable of outdoing Spain there. Also, Indies- the province itself and the oh so important Gulf of Aden. Basically,. the plan is to stream as much trade as possible to Seville and then reap the benefits.

First, i think i'll manage to get an update tomorrow. Half-written already. Let's just say Portugal takes healthy interest in East African trade

Nikolai - unfortunately, i cannot annex all of them with one war- think of the overextension. Let's just say incas will live a long.. hmm, though perhaps not so heatly life.

grumphie - quantity proves just that- more manpower and forcelimits and less maintenance. Offensive is better in that way- it's more varied, gives different bonuses and also provides manpower and forcelimits. Reduced costs don't mean that much for Portugal too- you can live quite a wealthy life living off the banks of primitive nations. And forced march is useful even when fighting underpowered nations- the boost of speed means you'll be fighting defensive and thus losing less men. And well, i plan to make defensive my second military idea. By the time i've gotten this far, the defensive bonus for forts and siege bonus for leaders will come more handy. Well, even though- trade and missionaries first, then i think long and hard if i should adapt expansion or defensive.

DensleyBlair - well, most of the provinces of Morocco and Algiers are useful. At least the ones i'm after. Tangiers, my first conquest, especially so- it has a built-in important CoT modifier. So does Oran. But so far, i've conquered only provinces belonging to Seville node and with each conquest, gained a bit more trade power and thus, more income, in the node. Also reducing the power of Algiers and Morocco- that is also a good thing. But overall, considering the importance of North African provinces- they are not to be underestimated- but for trade, not for much income.

As for expansion to the Iberian- i have no plans to leave Spain alone. Even more- what's there not to like? Again, trade is my main motive- with expansion into Iberia, i reduce Spanish influence while raising mine. Andalucia was especially important in that regard, but all the provinces in Southern Iberia are good to have. And i plan to have them- and perhaps some more of Genoa CoT too. Hmm- come to think of it, the new trade system had changed the way i look and feel about conquests- most of them are based solely on trade. To gain access/more influence to some of the nodes... About Mali though- no worder they have to settle to these antics- after all, Portuguese had bled them dry many times (and will do more of that in the future)

And no worries- thanks for the compliment

The Conquest of Zanzibar

Of History of Zanzibar

Zanzibar is actually not an island, but an archipelago. It consists of numerous small islands and two large ones: Pemba, the smaller and Unguja, the bigger and more important one. To add to confusion, Unguja is often referred as Zanzibar as well. And the Capital of Unguja is also Zanzibar. So, we basically have city of Zanzibar, located in the isle of Zanzibar, located in the archipelago of Zanzibar. The name itself means “Coast of Blacks” in Persian.

The islands themselves were poor of resources, but they more than made up for it in their geographic location and well-protected harbor. Though Zanzibar had been center of trade perhaps even in the times of the Sumer and Assyrians, it’s true importance begun in around the year 1000, when Arabic traders begun to arrive. Zanzibar offered good location for the traders to trade with African coast. Slowly, the traders settled in, begun intermarriages with locals and by the time Portuguese discovered the city, Zanzibar was controlling most of the East African trade. Ivory and slaves were collected and sent back to Arabic peninsula.


The Portuguese reaching Zanzibar for the first time

For Portugal, the island was of course twice as important. Not only controlling the trade of Africa, Zanzibar was a waypoint to the lands of India. If one wanted trade to flow from India, one had to control Zanzibar. Unfortunately, most of the East African coast was firmly under control of Swahili, one of the biggest nations in the world. Then again, Swahili soldiers were nothing compared to Portuguese…

War Begins

In June 1503, Portugal declared war on Swahili, demanding the province of Sofala, bordering the Portuguese colony on Inhambane. 7000 Portuguese soldiers were already in the province and 7 Portuguese early carracks had been sailed all the way from home Lisboa to help to secure the coast of Africa.

Portuguese marched to Sofala, only to discover that the Swahili had sneaked behind their backs and taken the colony of Inhambane. It was an army of 10 000 soldiers, so Portuguese split their troops and attacked with 3000. One regiment of cavalry, two regiments of infantry against 10 000 Swahili spearman. This showed why the Portuguese were so confident: their superior weapons and good armor meant that Swahili were not able to penetrate the Portuguese ranks. Even better, the shots from harquebusiers were enough to scare the enemy witless. In November 1503, Inhambane was secure once again.


3000 Portuguese against this amount of Swahili and i forgot to take sceenshot of victory? Typical!

Deep into Lands of Africa

In February 1504, Inhambane had grown enough to be considered city. Meaning that amongst other things, hasty fortifications were built, so the enemy could not take the city without warning again. Also, another 7000 troops arrived from Portugan and sent out to Barwe, from where the enemy raid to Inhambane started from.

They met the enemy troops there, bloodied them and then continued the siege of the city. In July 1504, Sofala fell and Portuguese marched on to siege the next province. It was only in December 1506, when Mozambique, the capital of Swahili, fell. It also meant that Swahili fleet was forced out of the port, straight into the hands of 7 Portuguese early carracks waiting for them. In the following battle, Portuguese forced the enemy to flee and captured one of the Swahili barque.

The enemy fleet fled to Zanzibar and stayed there, even when Portuguese approached. Really slowly, for Swahili were a big nation to overcome. It took a sweet time when Portuguese troops sieged the coast, reached Zanzibar and bombarded her walls with cannons. Only in December 1509 did the fabled city fall. The Swahili fleet was forced out, and in yet another battle, Portuguese proved superior, capturing yet another barque and a cog as well.


The capture of Zanzibar and the naval battle against the Swahili

Meanwhile, another army had taken all the Swahili provinces in the south and was now sieging Mombasa, a province where Swahili fleet fled to. Right to the hands of Portuguese when in February 1510, the fleet was forced out to the open again and this time, Zanzibar lost another 2 barques. The war was over by then, with Portugal gaining Zanzibar, Sofala and over 600 gold. Incidentally, Sofala was the first gold-producing province Portugal owns.



With that, the trade of Eastern Africa was firmly under Portuguese command. The barques captured from Swahili were put to good use and ordered to protect Zanzibar trade. Meaning that most of the trade from the provinces now steadily sailed down to Cape and from there, to Portugal. Of course, this was only Africa. The Indies were still beyond Portuguese reach- but not for long.


The trade in Zanzibar- as you can see, most of it transfers to Cape

Other Matters

The war with Swahili raged on for perhaps too long. Portugal continued her expansion in both West and East. Cuba, the biggest island of Caribbean, was slowly colonized by Portugal. First Havana, the richest and westernmost, with others soon to follow. Also, the island of Bourbon in the South Indian Ocean was colonized during the war with Swahili and Portuguese started their colonization of Mahe, island strategically placed in the trade routes of the Indian Ocean.


Portuguese Cuba does have a nice ring to it...

In 1506, Portugal advanced their exploration ideas once more, gaining additional colonist and thus really speeding up the colonization progress. In addition, it added to the trade power and made Portugal to finally go positive on their budget. Andalucía was also cored and marketplaces and docks were built there to further help the trade power of Portugal- now making the nation well over 10 gold per month. Also, in September 1507, Portugal pushed the offensive idea further, not gaining more prestige from the land battles.


Second colonist and more trade power- always good

In October 1507, England lost their war with France. They lost Picardie and their ally Burgundy was forced to give up Caux. Meaning that the Portuguese war with France was over- and the relations between two nations warmed even more when Portugal signed League of Schmalkalden in April 1510. Soon, royal marriage was formed between the two nations, with one of the sons of Filipe marrying daughter of the French King. It was hoped that in future wars with Spain, France would prove to be an invaluable ally.


That really made the French to like us

Now, if you plan to make use of trade from India, Zanzibar is the vital step. Once you control the province and add some light ships to patrol the coasts, then most of the value flowing from Aden moves onwards. Even better, i had Swahili themselves sent a merchant and sizable trade fleet to direct trade from Aden to Zanzibar, from where on Portuguese packed the stuff in and sent it down the Cape-Kongo-Ivory Coast-Mauretania-Seville route. Easy profit!

As for the next time- it is time for Spain to become weaker again....

A Story of Second Portuguese-Spanish War, part I- If You Lose a Battle, You Can Still Win the War

The War Begins

The Spain was at war with France. Had been for about two years. Or to be more precise: France was at war with Austria over some or other province in the French mainland and Spain as Austria’s good ally, joined the war. As a result, the great empire of Spain had a bit over 20 000 soldiers left and their manpower pool depleting very soon- only few thousand able men left to fight for the Empire. Meaning- it would be a fine time for a small country like Portugal (though I mean small in a weird way, for Portugal by 1512 was one of the biggest nations in the world and with highest trade income) to attack the big evil Spanish empire. Spain was allied with Austria and Milano, meaning that there would be France, hopefully filled with angry Frenchman armed to their teeth, between these nations and Portugal. There was also Aragon, the puppet of Spain, but they were had no meaningful recourses- not enough men and not enough ships to fight Portugal. So Filipe was confident that he will win the war easily. Of course, he was wrong…

It was in April 1512, when Filipe declared war on Spain. Target this time- province of Cadiz, right next to the freshly conquered Andalusia. Portugal had a total of 23 000 soldiers ready on the Spanish border and when the war broke out, they marched to Spain. Smaller detachment, with 2000 soldiers and pieces of artillery, were sent to siege Cadiz. Another army of that size was sent to siege Granada. The main army, led by Sebastiao Nunes Barreto, a general well versed in fighting hand-to-hand and marching units quickly to where they were required, marched to Cordoba. There, the Portuguese initiated siege and kept the large army at the ready to meet any resistance from the Spanish.

Battle of Cordoba

The Spain was quick to react. By July 1512, an army of 23 000 soldiers had been marched home from France and Miguel de Jovellanos, the Spanish general, attacked the Portuguese forces in Cordoba. It turned out that the Portuguese had started the war in unfavorable times. Spain had just adapted their army with new kind of fighting unit, the condotta infantry. Pikeman in the middle, forming an almost impenetrable square and musketmen on sides, giving the square firepower and long range. Something Portuguese cavalry or infantry could not penetrate. The first encounter with the new infantry at Cordoba turned to be catastrophic.


Spanish soliders stopping Portuguese cavalry charge in Cordoba

The Spanish forces attacked and managed to sneak themselves so the Portuguese had no good defensive location. No rivers, no hills- just plain lands around the city of Cordoba. Portuguese cavalry tried first- they took on the gallop speed and charged, but their horses plain refused to ride into the dense forest of pikes. The cavalry was picked off one by one by Spanish musketmen and then chased away by the Spanish cavalry. The Spanish squares marched on, forcing the Portuguese infantry to retreat. The pure bravado of Portuguese managed to break one Spanish square, and once inside, the killing was easier- pikes are not that effective in close quarters. In the end though, when the day ended, the Portuguese were forced to retreat. The Spanish had won the Battle of Cordoba.


The Battle of Cordoba

Road to Second Battle of Lisboa

The army sieging Granada was recalled from the siege to join the main army for the Battle of Cordoba. Little good did it do, for now the army was fleeing with the big army. The second army, sieging Cadiz, was still in their place and the city was slowly being breached. Luckily, the Spanish decided to deal with them later and chased after the fleeing Portuguese troops, resolved to end this war once and for all.

In September 1512, the exhausted Portuguese troops reached Porto, followed by Spanish who were also almost as much exhausted. In the following battle, the Portuguese inflicted causalities to Spanish, but were forced to flee once again- this time to Lisboa. In the beginning of November, the Portuguese tried to take up the defensive line in Lisboa, but failed again, though they managed to kill off fourth of Spanish artillery and the Spanish cavalry reached less than 1000 horses. In December, the Spanish once again attacked the Portuguese in Porto, forcing them to flee once again. By this time, the Spanish were becoming exhausted from the war and their numbers begun to seriously dwindle. Still hoping to destroy the Portuguese main army though, the Spanish General Miguel de Jovellanos ordered the Spanish to chase the Portuguese once again.

In February 1513, Sebastiao Nunes Barreto, as exhausted from running as the Spanish were from chasing, ordered his army to stand in ground next to Lisboa, the Portuguese capital. By this time, the Portuguese actually outnumbered and outgunned the Spanish, especially in the cavalry part- Portugal had over 4000 riders while the Spanish numbers were down to 369. The Spanish attacked again, but this time, the Portuguese held their ground. Squares were unable to proceed, under the rapid fire of Portuguese musketmen and after the Portuguese cavalry managed to kill off Spanish and then proceeded to take out the artillery, the Spanish knew they were defeated. They fled, though they fled only to Alentejo, the neighboring province. It was Sebastiao Nunes Barreto’s turn to be a chaser now and in March 1513, he and his exhausted Portuguese attacked as exhausted Spanish in the province and winning the battle. The Spanish army, once 23 000 strong, was no down to only 6000 and fled from Portuguese lands, back to Spain. The tides of war were turning.


The Spanish incursion to Portugal... well, let's just say started well

The Battle of Girona

Cadiz, the main target of the war, fell in February 1513. The Spanish resistance had been tough, but in the end, the maritime blockade of Portuguese fleet and the Portuguese cannons crumbling the city walls, the siege lasted only 225 days. The Portuguese marched on to Gibraltar. Meanwhile, Portuguese Caribbean troops had been busy- the fortress of Trinidad fell in May 1513.

The main Portuguese army also marched on, through Spain, chasing the fleeing enemy army. Miguel de Jovellaons fled through the entire nation, until he was met with something totally unexpected- the combined force of French and Portuguese. Two armies, combined a little over 40 000 soldiers, attacked the fleeing Spanish in Girona. Though the Spanish had good defensive positions, they were unable to hold- the sight of combined French and Portuguese troops was too much for them. The Spanish fled their positions and finally in August 1513, the Portuguese destroyed the Spanish in the battle of Barcelona. 4350 infantrymen that were all left from the grand army Spanish had once sent against Portugal. Exhausted, they surrendered without a fight, so the Portuguese won that battle without a shot and without losing a single soldier. The Spain was now free of Spanish soldiers.


This is the end of Spanish forces

Will the Spain be able to recover? Will the Portuguese keep up their nefarious conquest? Will the author stop making cliffhangers? Stay tuned for the next episode.

And you know, you should not attack the enemy if you have just half a year to go to the next unit level- especially when the enemy already rushed it. Gave me much trouble, fighting Spanish condotta with my longbowmen.

Anyways, next episode tomorrow (barring the appearance of comets or something similar)

alhoward - Thank you for your praise. I'll promise i'll keep the current style, so more of the same guaranteed!