Although it has been going downhill, the Spaniards never expected that the end would come so quickly.
Forget it, the colonies in the New World were in dire straits, and even the mainland was facing disaster.
Lisbon.
King Joao IV and Queen Louisa stood at the port full of excitement, watching the ocean fleet slowly enter the port.
When Afonso volunteered to go to sea to find help, they had little hope and were even worried about their son's safety.
But Portugal can no longer withstand Spain's attacks and harassment, and its economy is facing collapse. It can only treat a dead horse as a living horse.
Who would have thought that just three days ago, a clipper ship came back and informed them of the victory in the naval battle of Gibraltar.
If the person who sent the message was not Afonso's secretary, João IV and his wife would even suspect that this was a Spanish conspiracy.
After some discussions, Lisbon sent a large fleet to explore the sea, and finally convinced that the news was true.
This was so sudden that the whole of Portugal was boiling.
Everyone finally understood that the Spaniards had completely failed and Portugal's predicament was lifted.
The Empire is indeed the best ally, saving Portugal at the most critical moment.
When seeing the huge scale of the ocean-going fleet, all the Portuguese were impressed.
Fortunately, such a powerful fleet is a friend, otherwise...
"Dear General Shang, you are the savior of Portugal. You are the messenger sent by God. I am very grateful to the heroic efforts of the imperial soldiers. I want to praise you well."
João IV was a little out of sorts, and even took the initiative to hug Shang Kexi. While nagging, he burst into tears.
Also, the country that was attacked by the Spaniards was about to perish, and suddenly it was saved. How could it not be exciting?
Leave him alone, and so does Queen Louisa.
She rushed up after Joao IV and kissed Shang Kexi and others hard on the cheek.
"General Shang, if you are not married yet, I will introduce the best Portuguese girl to you."
Fortunately, he received corresponding training before coming here. Even so, Shang Kexi also made a big blush.
"Thank you for your love, Your Highness the Queen. I have been married for many years and my children are almost grown."
Louisa could only feel extremely sorry for this.
But her eyes quickly focused on the other generals.
No matter what, she decided to establish a deeper relationship with the empire through marriage.
It is obvious that the empire is too powerful. It can not only influence the situation in Europe, but also protect the safety of Portugal.
Portugal is located in a corner of the Iberian Peninsula with a small population. Without foreign aid, it is impossible to block Spain's prying eyes.
It's a pity that they don't know yet that Spain will no longer be able to invade Portugal in the future, and peace has been maintained between the two sides for hundreds of years.
In short, find a bodyguard for Portugal so that people here can feel at ease.
John IV held a grand welcome ceremony for the ocean-going fleet, and even the entire Portuguese in Lisbon came out to cover the road with flowers.
The Portuguese are sincerely grateful to the ocean-going fleet. After all, it is the ocean-going fleet that has preserved Portugal's hope.
Many restaurants and pubs in Lisbon have decided to provide free service to officers and soldiers of the Ocean Fleet.
As for the Portuguese beauties who showed love to the imperial soldiers, there are even more countless.
Yes, relations between the Empire and Portugal reached a whole new level.
On the second day after the banquet, John IV and others began to discuss more practical issues with Shang Kexi and Xu Erjue.
John IV invited the Empire to garrison troops in Portugal.
Because the ocean-going fleet was a navy and would not be of much help in land warfare, the Portuguese did not expect much.
As long as the empire has troops stationed in Portugal, it will have an additional anchor, which can stabilize the morale of the military and be beneficial to Portugal's follow-up operations against Spain.
Both Xu Erjue and Shang Kexi understood this relationship very clearly, and there was no reason not to agree.
Finally, after negotiation, John IV assigned the ocean-going fleet as a base in the Barreiro area on the southern coast of the Bay of Lisbon.
The ocean-going fleet will station a fleet here and help Portugal train sailors.
Portugal provides all living supplies for this detachment and pays military expenses.
As soon as the news was released, housing prices near Barreiro skyrocketed.
Through a period of contact, the Portuguese had long discovered that the imperial soldiers were very wealthy and had amazing spending power.
The most important thing is that as an army, the National Defense Forces have extremely good military discipline and never disturb the people.
It is obviously safer and more prosperous to live near such an army.
No one expected that through the garrison, the Barrelu area would actually become prosperous.
In addition to garrisoning troops, Shang Kexi also reached another agreement with John IV.
The ocean-going fleet began to divide into two groups.
Go all the way north along the coast and begin to attack Gijon, Santander, Bilbao and other places in Spain;
The other route passed through the Strait of Gibraltar and captured Tarifa, completely controlling the entire strait. Zheng
Immediately, Algeciras, Malaga, Almeria, Murcia, Valencia, the Balearic Islands, and the Two Sicilies were all attacked by the ocean fleet.
Especially in the Two Sicilies, the indigenous people here are not Spanish in the first place and have always been bullied.
When the National Defense Forces began to attack, the local people quickly launched a resistance. As a result, they cooperated internally and externally and wiped out all the Spanish rulers on the island.
Shang Kexi acted as ambassador and solemnly declared that we respect the autonomy rights of the people of Two Sicilies.
This time he won the gratitude and recognition of Liandi Rao.
The local autonomous groups were also afraid of being annexed again and warmly invited the ocean fleet to garrison and protect them.
So the ocean-going fleet established bases in Cagliari, Sardinia, and Malta, completely controlling the lifeline of the entire Mediterranean.
In distant Central Asia, the Battle of Samarkand finally came to a conclusion.
All outer positions were uprooted, and the Bukhara people, who suffered heavy losses, could only desperately defend the isolated city.
They looked westward, but could not hope for any reinforcements.
Without the protection of the trenches, the seemingly solid city walls were as fragile as paper in front of the heavy artillery of the Wehrmacht.
On October 1, after all deployments were completed, Zuo Xuanyan issued the order for a general offensive under the witness of Huang Sanhu and others.
In addition to the cavalry units wandering outside, the Fourth Cavalry Division and the Seventh Cavalry Division were all dispatched, rushing towards the city like a tide.
Thousands of cannons roared, the earth was hesitant, and the beacon smoke shot straight into the sky, changing the color of the land.
After three hours of strong attack, the National Defense Forces began to break into the city.
The defenders and residents in the city were very fanatical and put up a desperate resistance.
Faced with this situation, Zuo Xuanyan did not be pedantic and soft-hearted, but used all the weapons at his disposal.
Samarkand began to burn, blood began to fill the air, and wailing became the main theme.
Just like the fate of the Kingdom of Bukhara, it was irreversible with the fall of the city.
When the red flag was planted on the top of the city, everyone understood that the Kingdom of Bukhara was about to become history.
