"WHY don't these natives just give up?????"
The Great Conquistador General Galaviam was frustrated, and for good reason. He and his army of 11,000+ infantry and nearly 3,000 cavalry had been sent to explore and claim the Belearic Islands for Catalonia. The general order was that if the indigenous natives showed little or no aggression, they were to be welcomed into the new city when it was large enough. If, however, the natives were aggressive, the threat to a potential colony was to be eliminated. These natives were showing more hositility than acceptable, and all but 400 had been dealt with, but those 400 were hiding in the islands central mountains.
"Cowards..." the General grumbled. Peace overtures had been rejected; despite representatives from other Iberian native tribes that had happily joined Greater Catalon telling of their prosperity, these "locals" would hear nothing of it. It took three months of fighting to clear the islands, and only Galaviam's skill reduced what would have normally been high attrition to almost nothing. The new colony had been established, although without the additional native population that had made such provinces as Valencia, Castilla, Aragon and Bearn so prosperous.
Catalon had been fortunate in that most of the native tribes in Iberia had shown very little aggression, but now the army was moving past the Pyrenees, and encountering more aggressive tribes. The fact that the provinces were mountainous (what in the local language was referred to as the "Massif Central") caused more "guerrilla" warfare (again, a term of local origination.) It was with God's blessing of two skilled generals that what might have been costly attrition was reduced to only a few hundred.
The Great Conquistador General Galaviam was frustrated, and for good reason. He and his army of 11,000+ infantry and nearly 3,000 cavalry had been sent to explore and claim the Belearic Islands for Catalonia. The general order was that if the indigenous natives showed little or no aggression, they were to be welcomed into the new city when it was large enough. If, however, the natives were aggressive, the threat to a potential colony was to be eliminated. These natives were showing more hositility than acceptable, and all but 400 had been dealt with, but those 400 were hiding in the islands central mountains.
"Cowards..." the General grumbled. Peace overtures had been rejected; despite representatives from other Iberian native tribes that had happily joined Greater Catalon telling of their prosperity, these "locals" would hear nothing of it. It took three months of fighting to clear the islands, and only Galaviam's skill reduced what would have normally been high attrition to almost nothing. The new colony had been established, although without the additional native population that had made such provinces as Valencia, Castilla, Aragon and Bearn so prosperous.
Catalon had been fortunate in that most of the native tribes in Iberia had shown very little aggression, but now the army was moving past the Pyrenees, and encountering more aggressive tribes. The fact that the provinces were mountainous (what in the local language was referred to as the "Massif Central") caused more "guerrilla" warfare (again, a term of local origination.) It was with God's blessing of two skilled generals that what might have been costly attrition was reduced to only a few hundred.
