Invincible Armada
Filipe II had been busy building ships. It was frigates at first- 10 frigates at time, then sent off to protect Portuguese trade somewhere. During the last year though, Portuguese had been building galleons. And a lot of them. By the end of the French war, Portugal had total 100 galleons in Europe (and 15 in Asia). Divided into two navies- Armada Real and Armada Unreal, these galleons meant that Portuguese would be invincible in the seas. Add to that 80 transport ships and around 60 frigates and you truly get an Invincible Armada.
Armada sailing off
The time to test that invincibility came in August 1657, when Filipe II declared war on Great Britain, demanding Labourd from them. With them came Netherlands, Carib, Hainaut and Castile. Saxony too, but they were too far away to do anything meaningful.
The war started with Portuguese fleets attacking Netherlands outside Straits of Dover. As a result, the Dutch lost most of their fleet and retreating back to Netherlands. During this war, they were too scared to sail into open sea again.
Off with the Dutch in the beginning
Next was Castile- Portuguese defeated their nonexistent army in Burgos in late August and put their only province under siege. Same time, two Portuguese armies started the siege of Labourd.
Then, it was the Castilians
In September, news came- the English main army had been spotted. 40 000 strong. In Louisiana. Marching towards Adai, sole British colony in the area.Destroying the 8000 strong Portuguese American Army in the way.
Oops.. but seriously, Brits, what the hell are you doing there?
They marched to Adai, the sole English province in Louisiana and stayed there, until in December 1657, the Royal Navy- apparently also in America- grabbed half of them on board and sailed back to homeland. That was a mistake though- it meant that you transport more then half of soldiers away- what about the other 14 000 soldiers? When Mexico alone has over 40 000 troops? You can guess their fate...
Brits boarding ships in Adai
Meanwhile, the Portuguese made two landings to British Isles. 40 000 landed in England proper, took Kent and started the siege of London. Another 40 000 landed in Ireland, took Ulster and started siege of Meath. Since most of the British troops were in America, they met with no opposition. London fell in February 1658 and Portuguese moved onwards, starting the siege of next fortresses. There was still no British opposition around to stop them...
Fall of Lodon
Labourd fell in March and Portuguese troops there marched on to Gascoigne, currently occupied by Hainaut. The enemy was given a good thrashing and sent to run back home across France. They came back later, and again later, and were always driven back. Nothing much to mention here.
Hainaut driven back.
In April 1658, Armada Real caught up with Royal Navy in Celtic Sea, just outside Ireland. Armada Unreal raced to aid them, but arrived when the battle was almost over. The result was obvious though. Brits lost a few ships (including two transport ships, meaning 2000 soldiers less) and retreated back to Munster. In Ireland. Where there were currently 40 000 Portuguese soldiers and no forts to retreat back to...
Well, it did not went as great as i hoped it to go, but still, got British army into Ireland!
Meanwhile, another Portuguese army of 20 000 soldiers had reach Colombia and marched to Netherlands area. In May 1658, they took over Llanos and moved to grab the rest of Dutch Colombia.
Taking over Llanos from the Dutch
Meath in Ireland fell in July 1658. Meanwhile in England, Lincolnshire fortress had also fallen and Portuguese moved on to Marches. As in Ireland- the two armies combined, but before they could attack, the English themselves launched an attack on Meath. Poor stupid buggers, though generally speaking, this did not change much. They were beaten back and month later, the English Army was annihilated in Munster. As for the 14 000 left back to Americas, they fell prey to the Portuguese colonial forces. In Ireland, the Portuguese marched to take over the island- this time, without any opposition.
Ending the British Army
Munster fell in September 1658. That also meant that the Royal Navy was forced into the sea. Few days later, there was no more Royal Navy.
Good-bye again, Royal Navy
By November 1658, Portugal had taken all of Ireland. Armies were sent back to England, to help with the sieges. It was all quiet in England though, the sheer number of Portuguese forces seems to have incapacitated the enemy. There were small skirmishes between English units of few thousand and Portuguese armies.
Situation when Ireland fell
Only in January 1659, Portuguese caught up with the something resembling the English army in Lothian and annihilated them.
Last meaningful resistance of the Brits
Burgos had fallen quite some time ago, but the Castilians refused to give up. Hoping for the knight in shining armour or just English or some other allies. The Portuguese advancement in England showed them only one thing- there is no help coming. Finally, in January 1659, the Castilians understood there was no hope and accepted the peace with the Portuguese- resulting in their full annexation. After over 200 years since 1444, the Portuguese were finally sole masters of Iberian peninsula.
The end of Castile
Meanwhile, in America, Portugal had already around 60 000 soldiers in three armies. One of them was busy in Columbia, while the other one was sieging British colonies in the Caribbean. Third one attacked invasion force of Thirteen Colonies that landed in Yucatan Peninsula. Just two battles later, there was no more invasion force.
I cannot say why Thirteen Colonies thought this would be a good idea
In September 1659, disaster happened. British frigates caught Portuguese transports in attempting to make a landing in Bahamas. Total 34 frigates and 10 transport ships was enough for Brits to claim their first victory over Portugal. And a terrible victory it was- 15 ships, full of soldiers, sunk. One Portuguese army was reduced to five artillery regiments and that was that.
By the time i discovered it, it was too late
In October, the things got better. Portuguese signed peace with Carib, now totally controlled and occupied by the Portuguese, Colombian and Brazilian forces. Two-province native nation was annexed to Colombia, and also, all of Dutch Colombia was under Portuguese control.
Another native nation ended
In November, Portuguese got their revenge. Armada Real was recalled from the shores of British Isles and sent to Caribbean. Meeting the English fleet in Bahama Banks, the Portuguese showed no mercy- all of the enemy ships were sunk that day.
You dare to sink our ships? Here is our revenge!
It was in February 1660 when Portuguese forces entered Thirteen Colonies. To be fair though, colonial forces of Mexico, Louisiana and New Portugal had not been lazy, occupying southern part of Colonies themselves. Portugal proper attacked the colonists in Roanoke, and in April, wiped out British army, already weakened by the Mexican soldiers, in Blue Ridge.
Fighting in the Colonies
As for British isles- in July 1660, Aberdeenshire fell. It was the last province in mainland Britain not still controlled by the Portuguese. Actually, Brits had only one province left in Europe not under control by the Portuguese- Picardie in France. The Portuguese had been unwilling to enter the mainland for the simple reason- somewhere, there were Dutch fighting against France and Filipe II didn’t want to do something like wiping out Dutch armies by accident. So, while Portugal had been destroying England, Filipe settled with keeping the Dutch safely in their ports and fighting France.
With the fall of Aberdeen, all of the British Islands were under Portuguese control. With the exception of Scotland, of course
There were still some more minor battles in the New World, but the Portuguese victory was supreme. Finally in October 1660, Filipe II agreed to sign the peace and his terms were not light. In Europe, Portugal gained four provinces. Not only Labourd, target of this war, oh no. In addition, Brits were forced to give up control of Ireland. Yea, they still had two provinces there, but Portuguese had three. And the only fortified province in Ireland as well.
This is it. The war is over. Finally.
It was in the New World where the peace hit English hardest. Great Britain lost two colonial nations, Caribbean and New Mexico. Plus, their single province in Louisiana. Also, six provinces from Thirteen Colonies were given to New Portugal. That is still not all though- Dutch Colombia also ceased to exist. All of their provinces were given to Portuguese Colombia. Most of the Caribbean area was now Portuguese- with an exeption of Norwegian colony that was just founded in Honduras.
After this war, America looks definately green...
Meanwhile in China
Seeing that war in Europe was going successfully, Filipe II risked another war, this time, in China. Against Wu, once proud holders of Hangzhou, now just two-province nation. War was declared in November 1658. Allied with Shu, in Western China. Nothing much to talk about, enemy was wiped, provinces were sieged, Portuguese marched across China to siege the capital of Shu before the enemy gave up. War ended in December 1659, with Jinhua and Ningbo becoming Portuguese- and first Ming successor state being annexed by the Portuguese.
Wu down, five left
Other Matters
There was a lot of colonial growth at that time. Mostly because Filipe II was putting a pressure on Portuguese treasury and went happily over the limit of four colonists. Mocama in Florida, January 1658. Chinook in California, March 1658. Guale in Florida, July 1658. Pensacola in Florida, November 1658. Sakam in Island of Taiwan, February 1660. Finally, Llanos, just taken from the Dutch, became self-sufficient in October 1660. It was still enough time to populate it with the Portuguese colonists.