Portugal's offensive strategy mainly consists of two.
Macroscopically: fire suppression, interspersed with detours. Microscopically: after the artillery bombards the infantry, charge forward; after the infantry rushes, the artillery bombards them.
As the side with superior firepower, after Portugal took two days to gain a foothold on the other side, the next offensive will be unstoppable.
Due to the hasty outbreak of the war, Zedillo, which was not fortified, was captured by Portugal around noon on November 19. Spain was defeated and more than 14,000 people were captured.
For Spain, the fall of Zedillo was undoubtedly a major bad news.
Spain deployed more than 20,000 elite troops and a large number of coastal defense artillery here to prevent it from being breached, but in the end it was captured in just 5 days.
After Portugal captured Cedirón, it was equivalent to opening a big gap, which was very convenient for shipping on the Tejo River and for entering Spain's New Castile Basin from overland.
Portugal committed three divisions, 17, 18, and 21, to attack the Castile region of Spain.
The day after the 17th Division captured Cedirón, the expanded 21st Division, which started from Marvão in the Portalegri district, also captured San Pedro on the Spanish border and moved towards Valencia with the goal of Refers to Casenes, the capital of the province of Casenes.
As for the 18th Division, it crossed the river on the second day of the war and easily captured Pietras Alvas, but since then it has been blocked by Estoninos, making it difficult to advance.
Spain established a three-point triangle defense line at the strategic point at the junction of the Tejo River and the Y where the two tributaries converged near Seclavin to block Portugal.
Spain invested about 100,000 troops in the triangular defense points formed by Estoninos in the north of the river, Alcanberra in the south of the river, and Secraven in the middle of the river.
Spain has invested 2/5 of its available troops at this defensive point. If Portugal defeats this point, Portugal will not encounter much resistance at least when entering Toledo, an important town near Madrid.
The 18th Division is well-equipped and has excellent soldiers, but there are too few people. Even if Portugal uses domestic militia to supplement it, it will be too difficult to break the triangle defense line.
The militia is the militia. Although Portugal attaches great importance to them, yes, their training is absolutely impossible to be like that of the regular army. The requirement for them is to protect logistics and play the role of logistics transportation.
The 18th Division was unable to make any progress in Estoninos, but the 17th and 21st Divisions had complete strategic goals and broke into Spanish territory. The situation soon opened up.
In addition to detaching a brigade to attack inland, the 17th Division marched up the Tejo River toward Alcantara and arrived on the afternoon of November 20.
On the 21st, at 9:21 a.m., the 21st Division met up with the 1st Brigade of the 17th Division in Aliceda, arrived at Casenes, the capital of Casenes Province, around 16:30 in the afternoon, and met the first of the Spanish 9th Division stationed here. The regiment engaged in a firefight.
Casenes is on a tributary, not on the main road of the Tejo River, and is not a strategic point. Therefore, Spain does not have many defenses here. There is only one regiment. They put the main force of the 9th Division at the junction of the tributary and the main road. Garovillas, and the main responsibility of the 9th Division is also the reserve force to support the front line in case of emergency.
Facing the attacks of the 21st Division and the 17th Division's First Brigade, this regiment chose to surrender after less than half an hour of resistance.
After taking Cacenes, the Portuguese army did not relax. After leaving one regiment behind, they quickly marched towards Garovillas.
The Spanish 9th Division in Garrovillas is not actually an elite Spanish force, just an ordinary division.
Spain, like many countries, has a small number of elite divisions equipped with a large number of ordinary divisions. Spain, which has declined, only has seven elite divisions.
The main force of the Portuguese Southern Route Army that fought against the Spanish 9th Division was the 21st Division, which was an ordinary division. Due to the war, it was expanded from the Shelf Division by absorbing outstanding militia groups.
However, although the 21st Division is an ordinary division and cannot keep up with the level of the 17th Division, in addition to the quality and tactical literacy of its soldiers and fewer heavy artillery, its firepower is still quite fierce.
The Portuguese 21st Division and the elite 17th Division Brigade fought with the Spanish 9th Division at 6 o'clock in the evening. The two sides fought all day and night.
Although the Spanish 9th Division resisted tenaciously and fought admirably, they were defeated directly after facing the overwhelming firepower of the Portuguese Southern Route Army after fighting for a day and night.
On the 22nd, at 9:16 in the morning, the Spanish 9th Division surrendered to the Portuguese Southern Route Army after suffering more than 8,000 casualties.
The Portuguese Army of the South, after a long and fierce war, is already exhausted and in urgent need of rest. However, there is no room for any omissions and relaxation on the battlefield. Time and fighter planes are the lifeline, and they will lose if they miss it.
Kemba Walker, commander of the 21st Division as the commander of the Southern Route Army, deployed the 1st Brigade, 2nd Regiment, 3rd Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 2nd Regiment, 3rd Battalion, 1st Brigade, 2nd Regiment, 3rd Battalion, and the 17th Division, 1st Brigade, 2nd Regiment, 3rd Battalion, which were rarely deployed in the war and were more energetic, to form an independent Regiment, head to Alcampera to cooperate with the 17th Division in attacking this strategic defense point.
The independent group took the collected boats and sailed down the river, arriving at Alcanberra at about two o'clock in the afternoon.
The Spanish 4th Division stationed in Alcampera was being attacked by heavy artillery from the 17th Division. Lowry, commander of the 1st Brigade, 2nd Regiment, 3rd Battalion of the 17th Division, and commander of the Provisional Independent Regiment, seized the opportunity and attacked from the rear after the heavy artillery stopped. .
However, although the Independent Regiment cleverly cooperated with the 17th Division to launch the attack, it was still stubbornly repelled by the Spanish defenders. The Independent Regiment was helpless and quickly turned to build defensive positions to form a front and rear pincer attack with the 17th Division. .
When the 17th Division attacked Cedillo, the fight was not difficult, but when it attacked the Spanish triangle defense line, it was extremely difficult.
The reason why the 17th Division fought so easily before was because Spain knew the severity of the environment.
Although Cedillo is important, he is too prominent, and his defensive power is not as good as the triangle defense line. Therefore, elite troops are deployed there, but their firepower is far inferior, and they are suppressed by Portugal.
Spain has worked hard on the triangular defense line. Although it was urgent due to the outbreak of the war, Spain has initially fortified this place after so many days. In view of the importance of this place, Spain has mobilized half of the heavy artillery and a large number of guns and bullets in the country. Stacked here.
The triangular defense line now gathers half of Spain's arms, 2/5 of its troops, 100,000 troops, and a large number of elites.
The elite troops here in Spain include the 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th divisions. If you include the elite 3rd division that Zedillo was annihilated by Portugal, the number of elite frontline divisions reaches 5.
Although the Spanish military industry is not a big one in Europe, they can still produce most of the military equipment. Although they do not produce many heavy artillery pieces above 105 mm, they are still produced.
Portuguese spy infiltration war, although most of Spain's military industry, Spain is a country with some wealth after all. After losing 3/5 of its military output, Spain increased its counter-espionage efforts, and the remaining military factories still began to operate.
In this Spanish-Portuguese War, independent forces in Spain rose up. Spain was in a weak position, but the Spanish government knew its priorities.
Spain understands that as long as this war is not lost to Portugal, those independent forces that can jump high will find it difficult to become independent under today's European order.
As long as Portugal is defeated, Spain still has hope.
