"Gong Xingguo once said, when the enemy advances, we retreat; when the enemy is stationed, we harass; when the enemy is tired, we attack; when the enemy retreats, we pursue!" Theodosio, King of Portugal, instructed his generals in this way, "He also said that when the enemy is stationed, we will lose it. People, people and land are lost; save people and lose land, people and land are saved. When facing a powerful enemy, you must keep these words in mind. Only in this way can you have the possibility of defeating the enemy!"
While he was studying in Ming Dynasty, he naturally heard about the rise of Duke Xingguo. Even among the people, there are books and commentaries on "Xingguo Gongzhuan", which are widely circulated.
As a young man, Theodosio naturally admired Duke Xingguo very much, and of course he knew the experience of Duke Xingguo very well.
The combat rules that Zhang Mingwei used to guide the Dongjiang Army to fight against the Jianlu forces behind enemy lines were now used by him to guide the Portuguese army against powerful enemies.
In fact, the Spanish army only has an absolute advantage in terms of numbers. In terms of individual combat power, it is no longer the invincible Spanish army back then. Not to mention, in terms of ordnance, the Portuguese are actually more powerful.
Portuguese armies everywhere used very famous guerrilla tactics. All Portuguese people would rather die than surrender to defend their homeland. Even if King Felipe IV of Spain issued a strict decree, the progress of his Spanish army could not be achieved. meet deadline.
Even under the strict orders of the King of Spain, his center army advanced rashly, but Theodosio concentrated the Portuguese army and formed a local advantage. He also used white gunpowder and took advantage of the favorable terrain to almost defeat the Spanish center. The entire army was wiped out.
The victory in this battle greatly inspired the Portuguese's fighting spirit and also raised Theodosio's prestige to a higher level. Let his people believe that their king did learn skills in the Ming Empire in the Far East, not just Eastern dress and etiquette.
After the other two Spanish armies received the news, they were all shocked and immediately entrenched themselves, not daring to advance any further.
After the news spread back to Spain, Felipe IV was speechless for a long time.
In the original history, Spain was ultimately unable to suppress Portugal's independence. And in this dimension, even if Spain concentrated all its forces, it would actually be unable to deal with Portugal alone!
The disastrous defeat of the central army made Spain feel a little bit like becoming great again, but when it was skinned again, it was no longer great at all!
Felipe IV did not dare to force the other two armies, and he no longer wanted to monopolize Portugal's wealth. He immediately urged other European countries to quickly follow the agreement and attack Portugal together.
However, other countries are not stupid either!
The British and French forces that were rushing to Portugal, as well as the Dutch army behind them, etc., slowed down after hearing the battle situation in Portugal.
Their intention was very obvious. Since they did not expect Portugal to be stronger than they expected, they would let Spain consume a little more of Portugal's energy, so that they would be able to attack Portugal much more easily.
There are still gaps between countries, especially between original countries, and it is easier for those who hate each other to do so.
Of course Theodosio knew that the enemies he said he would face were far more than just Spain. Defeating the Spanish army was just a good start, and the hard battle was still to come.
To achieve final victory, we must look at the rescue situation of the Ming Dynasty.
However, the last time he went to Suez City, he saw the progress of the excavation of the Suez Canal. According to his estimate, it will take at least half a year to complete. If he wants to wait for Ming reinforcements, he will have to hold on for at least half a year.
For this reason, he decided to concentrate his forces, cripple the Spanish army, and frighten the armies of other countries. If you really want to come to Portugal to take advantage, you will have to pay the price with blood!
Based on this idea, Theodosio once again concentrated his forces and raided the Spanish right army, which was mainly defensive.
This battle was much more difficult than the first battle. Half of the white gunpowder was consumed, and there were many more casualties. But in the end, the goal was achieved and the Spanish army was once again defeated.
As soon as the news spread, all the Portuguese were even more excited and felt that victory was in sight.
Spain, which was originally thought to be powerful, turned out to be just a paper tiger that could show its teeth and claws. It turns out that Portugal today can win against Spain alone.
To a certain extent, Portugal is already a powerful country today!
This understanding gave the Portuguese great confidence in fighting the invaders.
Correspondingly, the Spaniards all wanted to retreat, and even Felipe IV was a little afraid to think about fighting.
But at this time, religion played an important role. Under the guidance of the missionaries, those countries that were trying to gain profits, such as the British, French, Dutch and other armies, no longer stood idly by. Otherwise, Spain would be beaten back and they would lose a powerful accomplice.
The low morale of the Spanish soldiers was also inspired by religion to revive the Portuguese heresy.
The commanders of other armies, such as Cromwell, Grand Condé, Turenne, etc., also attached great importance to the Portuguese army, and began to regard Portugal as a real opponent, not an object that they could bully at will.
As a result, when the British army, the French army, the Dutch army, etc., under the leadership of their famous generals, learned the lessons of the Spanish and invaded Portugal, the situation took a turn for the worse, and Portugal's resistance became difficult.
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Prior to this, naval battles also broke out in Lisbon.
The Spanish naval fleet had no news from the land route, so it lacked vigilance and fear. As soon as it arrived in Lisbon, it immediately launched an attack on the Portuguese capital.
As for the Spanish Navy, in addition to the steam paddle-wheel warships they purchased from Portugal, they also had imitations of their own. Although they were not as good as the original warships, they still had them. Their fleet of steam paddle-wheel warships reached thirty, and their sailing warships numbered seventy-five.
A fleet of this size was already considered a very large fleet in the original European naval battle. This was also the reason why Felipe IV dared to let his fleet attack Lisbon directly, and it was also the reason why he felt that the navy could restore his face.
After all, the road conditions on the sea are not as complicated as on land, and it depends entirely on strength.
As a result, the result of the naval battle once again caused Spain to lose face.
Portugal's warships are all steam paddle-wheel warships. Because they are rich, they have eliminated the warships that originally relied on sails. There are as many as fifty sailing warships in total.
In this naval battle, they first fought a battle with Portuguese warships in the open sea. After consuming part of the Spanish warships, they pretended that they had no supplies and returned to Lisbon port.
When the Spanish fleet saw it, they couldn't help but be overjoyed. They felt that the Portuguese fleet was seeking death. It had lost the open sea area where the steam paddle-wheel warships could best exert their combat power, and it was just blocking the Portuguese fleet.
However, who knew that Portugal relied on its own financial resources to deploy a large number of coastal defense guns on the shore. Its firepower advantage far exceeded the Spanish fleet's expectations, causing the Spanish fleet to suffer a big loss.
At the same time, the Portuguese fleet turned back and swooped out again to attack the Spanish fleet in chaos.
In the end, only about half of the Spanish warships saw that the situation was not good and escaped quickly to avoid being fed to fish and shrimps.
The victory in this naval battle definitely boosted the morale of the Portuguese, especially the people of Nanjing.
But, as in the war on land, Portugal's enemies soon returned and became more powerful.
The Dutch fleet, which had been bullying Portugal at sea and seizing Portugal's overseas colonies, and the British fleet, which had previously gained the upper hand in the Anglo-Dutch naval battle and showed a ferocious appearance, and the French fleet, although not during this historical period, No matter what, there are still dozens of battleships anyway.
The total fleets of these countries include more than 130 steam paddle-wheel warships, including those purchased from Portugal and imitated by each country. Not to mention, there are as many as 400 huge sail warships. There are so many ships.
Such a huge fleet gathered in the sea off Lisbon and quickly blocked Lisbon.
However, the fleets of various countries were afraid of Lisbon's powerful coastal defense guns and did not attack immediately. For them, they are not in a hurry, they just need to blockade Lisbon and wait until the land army comes.
The seriousness of this situation, for all countries to attack it with all their strength, was beyond Theodosio's expectations.
He was only in his early twenties and faced such severe challenges when he succeeded to the throne of Portugal.
Originally, Theodosio was optimistic about the battle situation. Even if he ultimately fails to defeat the multinational coalition on land, he can still withdraw from the sea, or go to the South American colonies, or simply go to the Arabian Peninsula, with the protection of the Ming army.
However, with the blockade of the huge multinational fleet, this plan has no possibility.
What worries him even more is that facing such strong external pressure and being attacked by sea and land, it is doubtful whether Portugal can persist until the arrival of Ming reinforcements.
Taking a step back, even if the Ming reinforcements arrive, according to his understanding, the Ming fleet on the Red Sea is actually only more than fifty steam paddle-wheel warships. If you want to defeat the multinational coalition fleet off Lisbon, it will basically be It's also impossible.
It can be said that with regard to Portugal's current situation, although Theodosio has tried his best and the people of Portugal have also tried their best, the gap in strength is still larger after all.
Portugal, what is the final outcome?
Theodosio didn't say anything, but he had this deep doubt and uneasiness in his heart!
