"My people, there are people who are jealous of our good life, covet our wealth, and want to rob Portugal and rob each of us! Will you agree?"
"My people, do you want to go back to the hard days of the past, where you were not looked down upon by others? Or do you want to live a decent life and enjoy being respected and envied by others like today?"
"My people, those hypocritical countries will always find reasons for their banditry, with only one purpose, which is to rob the wealth in our hands! Will you be blinded by them and willingly give up your wealth? "
"My people, if you want not to lose your wealth, not let your wife and children go hungry, and not be bullied by others, then pick up your weapons and fight the bandits! Aren't you cowards?"
"My people, we have the powerful Ming Empire behind us. As long as we hold on until the arrival of the Ming Dynasty's soldiers, that is when we have to settle the accounts with the bandits, do you have confidence?"
"My people, who are men, will fight with your king to defend their homeland!"
The mobilization order of King Theodosio of Portugal did not contain a long speech, but only six sentences to inform the people. It quickly spread out of the palace, spread throughout Little Nanjing, and then spread to various places in Portugal.
It had only been a few years since the Thirty Years of Religious War ended, and various countries were dragged down by the war and were financially bankrupt, such as France.
Basically, life for people in European countries is extremely difficult!
Portugal could not stand Spanish rule and eventually became independent from Spain. Moreover, when the Spaniards tried to suppress it in the early stage, the Portuguese people on the border, including all men, women, old and children in the village, refused to surrender. In the end, the entire village was killed.
The Spanish thief general reported to the higher authorities: "These rebels are so stubborn that, except for an old woman, no one asked for mercy or agreed to shout the slogan 'Long live King Felipe'."
In another report on the suppression of the Portuguese, Spain made a similar report: "The Portuguese soldiers are weak and not alert, but their resistance spirit is very tenacious."
It was the Portuguese who embodied this tenacious and unyielding spirit that allowed Spain to postpone the suppression of Portugal. Because Spain felt that the cost of suppressing the Portuguese rebellion would be too high and would harm Spanish interests elsewhere.
However, the life of the Portuguese is actually not as good as imagined.
In order to cope with Spanish repression, John IV naturally had to increase taxation so that he could have money to train the army.
At the beginning, the Portuguese people were very conscious and cooperative because they no longer wanted to be ruled and exploited by the Spanish.
However, if tax collection continued, this cooperation would not last long, and even later, several riots occurred.
It was against this background that John IV unprecedentedly agreed to the proposal brought by Johnson and others and became a vassal state of the Ming Dynasty.
It was this decision that brought about a turnaround for Portugal's economy.
Life for the Portuguese is getting better day by day. Even when Theodosio was crowned King of Portugal, he was able to exempt the entire country from taxes for one year, which shows his financial strength.
Of course the Portuguese don't want to lose such a good day. Not to mention being killed or not, just wanting to go back to the old days is something they can't bear.
After hearing the mobilization order issued by their young king, the Portuguese put down their worries one by one.
They don't care about the rumors that they want to be the dogs of the Orientals and a disgrace to the Europeans.
They don't care what condemnation they say, saying that they have turned their backs on God and that their souls have been corrupted by money.
They don't care what the charges are, they say they are heretics, traitors, etc.
…
They only care about one thing, that is, they want to live a good life!
Thousands of words, thousands of emotions, finally turned into one sentence: Fight to defend our homeland!
Not only men, but also women, children, and especially the elderly are angry about the injustice that Portugal is about to suffer. Everyone took action and fought to defend their homeland!
It can be said that the entire Portugal, under the leadership of their young king, was twisted into a rope, ready to face any invading enemy.
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Theodosio became very busy since he knew that European countries were coming to attack.
Defense in various places must be strengthened, fortifications must be repaired, the army must be expanded, and even the civilian population must be armed.
In addition, there is another very important thing that he also has to do. That is to protect the Ming merchants within the territory as soon as possible.
These businessmen were the first to go as far as Portugal to do business. Of course, they were not ordinary businessmen with no means.
Therefore, except for some Ming merchants and their families who returned to Suez with the Portuguese messengers asking for help, the remaining Ming people did not leave. Instead, they chose to stay in this small Nanjing, where everything looked like the Ming, and fight side by side with the Portuguese. .
Theodosio was very moved by this situation and immediately told the whole country that the Ming people were willing to stay in Portugal and fight alongside them to defend against foreign enemies. This was enough to prove that the Ming Dynasty was worthy of Portugal's reliance.
This news indeed boosted the morale of the Portuguese. Let them feel that their king's choice of Ming Dynasty was correct. It also made them more confident and waited for the Ming Empire's army to arrive for reinforcements.
Against this background, on this day, when Theodosio was busy, suddenly, Johnson came in a hurry, and reported to him with an angry and then a little excited expression: "Your Highness, someone has reported the Spanish Human traitor!”
Upon hearing this, Theodosio was stunned for a moment and then quickly asked about the situation.
Johnson, who was already Theodosio's most capable minister, immediately reported what he had learned.
It turned out that under the background of the unity of Portugal and the influence of Ming merchants who wanted to fight side by side with the Portuguese, some people finally changed their minds and reported their master's collaboration with Spain.
It is not surprising that the Spanish traitor who was reported was actually related to the count who was killed by Theodosio.
Therefore, when Theodosio heard the name, he had no doubt at all, publicly dealt with the traitor, and spread the news throughout the country.
At the same time, a notice was also issued, allowing anyone who was found to have communicated with foreign countries and betrayed Portugal to surrender on the day the notice was posted to be exempted from crime. Otherwise, once caught, severe punishment will be imposed. Anyone who reports the crime will receive half of the traitor's wealth.
After this notice came out, many traitors were discovered one after another in various places. Then these traitors were basically executed without any trial. In fact, there was no time for trial.
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Naturally, it didn’t take long for Spain and other countries to learn about the news in Portugal.
Unmentioned, this would immediately disrupt the plans of European countries. Just like in the north, the war against Portugal was also hastily started.
The difference from the north was that in the north, Tsarist Russia took the initiative to attack and kicked off the war. To the south, Portugal was passively defensive, and Spain's invasion kicked off the war.
In the twenty-ninth year of Chongzhen, that is, in the late autumn of 1656, European countries once again fell into the European War. If the Ming Empire joins the war later, then this can be regarded as World War I.
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Felipe IV coveted Portugal's wealth and quickly mobilized all the troops in the country, totaling about 100,000. They first divided into three groups at the border and invaded Portugal almost at the same time.
At the same time, he also gathered his navy, including steam paddle-wheel warships, with hundreds of warships in total, and headed for Lisbon, trying to destroy Portugal with more flowers.
When Felipe IV came, Portugal had limited access to white gunpowder, and it was impossible to use it throughout the country. In this case, Portugal's military power does not have an ordnance advantage. The huge Spanish army, even if it did not finally destroy Portugal, would certainly be able to capture most of the Portuguese territory.
However, the war broke Felipe IV's expectations from the very beginning.
After the three Spanish armies invaded Portugal, they struggled to advance slowly and suffered heavy casualties.
Felipe IV couldn't figure out this situation and immediately roared and asked the reason.
"Your Highness, the Portuguese are all lunatics!" the messenger told him. "No matter men, women, old or young, they all have muskets and hide in unimaginable places. They will attack our army no matter what day or night."
The era of firearms also gave the old, weak, women and children the power to resist. As long as you can move your fingers and pull the trigger, you can kill a strong man.
The Portuguese were rich and began to prepare in advance. Almost every Portuguese had a musket. And the Portuguese still hold the belief that they will defend their homeland to the death.
In this way, in the eyes of the Spaniards, the Portuguese are naturally crazy. Many attacks are completely suicidal, and they can be used to support anyone.
This madness of the Portuguese made it difficult for the invading Spaniards. Unless all Portuguese in sight were eliminated, they would not be safe.
Felipe IV, who was furious, originally wanted to take advantage of the fact that other countries did not react. He used the pretext that Portugal already knew about it and went to war first, so that he could plunder more of Portugal's wealth. However, he hit a wall. This was really embarrassing.
Therefore, he ordered the army to speed up the attack. At the same time, we also hope that the navy can make gains.
