"Your Highness, something serious has happened!" the guard reported in panic, "We are reporting back in detail in Spain. The Spanish army is gathering at the border. I am afraid that they are going to attack Portugal!"
After Spain transferred its troops from the north to the south, it could no longer hide Portugal's details.
"What?" Joao IV was shocked when he heard this. The piece of silk he was touching in his hand immediately slipped off without knowing it. He just stared at the urgent report that the guard quickly handed over, and asked at the same time, "What's going on? Aren’t they at war with France? Do they want to start a war on two fronts?”
As he spoke, the urgent report was handed to him, and he immediately opened it and started reading.
He read ten lines at a glance, and immediately became even more panicked. He looked up at the guard and asked, "Where did Spain get so many troops?"
As soon as he discovered that Spanish troops were gathering at the Portuguese border, he sent out the news as soon as possible. Therefore, in addition to estimating the approximate troop strength, further information will need to be obtained later.
Of course the guard couldn't answer, so João IV immediately took action and issued continuous orders.
"Immediately send an envoy to France to inform the Cardinal of the situation, so that they can take advantage of this opportunity to increase their efforts to attack Spain. Spain will definitely not be able to bear such a response from the north to the south."
"Recruit troops immediately and march to the border to resist the Spanish invasion and defend our Portuguese freedom!"
"..."
As the order was issued, Lisbon became nervous.
But generally speaking, whether it was John IV or other Portuguese people, apart from being panicked when they heard the news at first, they generally calmed down afterwards.
Because in their opinion, judging from the previous news, Spain had been defeated by France in succession. Now King Philip IV of Spain was even more crazy. He actually wanted to fight on two fronts under such circumstances. How much strength Spain can have depends on how long they can last!
Even Odoley and others from the British Royalists, apart from being a little gloating at the beginning, did not take it seriously.
However, the development of things suddenly took a turn for the worse as time went by.
Portugal's important border town quickly fell, and the Spanish army's front quickly penetrated deep into Portugal and headed straight for Lisbon.
Until this time, further news came, which shocked John IV and other Portuguese.
The commander-in-chief of the Spanish army turned out to be Condé the Great. Wasn't he fighting in the north with France? And those Spanish troops, weren’t they said that many of them were also in the north?
At this time, more and more evidence showed that the Spanish troops who attacked them were the same troops who were fighting France!
At this time, Joao IV almost guessed: Portugal was betrayed by France again and became a victim of some kind of agreement between France and Spain.
As a result, John IV panicked. He had no confidence that Portugal could resist the Spanish invasion on its own. Many previous efforts were made in the hope that France could help Portugal.
In panic, he couldn't help but look up to the sky and ask: "Why, why is the Ming army still so far away from Portugal?"
At this moment, Joao IV felt that only the Ming Dynasty in the Far East was an ally worth relying on. As for other countries in Europe, they are all a bunch of white-eyed wolves.
In fact, at this time, the war in Bitlis was over, and Emperor Chongzhen had already embarked on his return journey. At this level, the continuous defeat of the Ottoman and Persian armies, the destruction of Persia, and the capture of many Ottoman territories are already jaw-dropping.
After João IV complained, he immediately ordered a ship to be sent out to sea to the American continent to ask for help from the Ming army there. Then he ordered a nationwide mobilization and called on the people to resist the Spanish invasion. And told them that as long as they persist, the Ming army will come to the rescue. At that time, Portugal will win!
With the hope of foreign aid, and the Portuguese no longer wanting to be ruled by the Spanish, they naturally had the motivation to resist the Spanish invasion.
However, this time the Spanish army was led by Condai the Great. This is a man of great military talent, although he has been very unlucky in the past few years and has been defeated continuously by his lifelong enemies. But now it's easy to come over and bully Portugal.
In less than half a month, Grand Conde led the Spanish army to Lisbon, the capital of Portugal. Along the way, the Spaniards hated the Portuguese for their rebellion and were jealous of their wealth from selling oriental specialties. Burning, killing, and looting were inevitable.
Perhaps this is also the case. The Portuguese finally fled to Lisbon and gathered all their strength to resist the Spanish. The final decisive battle between Portugal and Spain kicked off in Lisbon.
After King Philip IV of Spain learned of the situation, he immediately came to Lisbon in person. Looking at the mountains of loot, looking at Lisbon, and thinking that this city is definitely richer than other places in Portugal, I can't help but feel good. He promised Da Kongdai: "As long as Lisbon is captured, no matter what your wishes are, I will be able to satisfy you!"
After hearing this, Da Kongdai really had some ideas. At this time, he had already thought clearly. The reason why he was defeated by his old enemy in succession during the war with France was not because his commanding ability was worse than that of his old enemy, but because he, as a French prince, attacked France. This behavior was unpopular, so he Suffer defeat.
This time, he used his military commanding skills to suppress the rebellion for Spain, winning consecutive battles and victories. Therefore, when he was tired, he thought about going back to France and not bothering anymore.
After hearing this, Philip IV was silent for a while, then agreed to his request, and immediately sent an envoy to Paris to negotiate for the Grand Condé.
For Philip IV, although he lost a military genius, Spain would also lose a powerful enemy. Over the years, he has realized that Spain is not as powerful as France. Now that it has no colonies on the American continent, it is even more difficult to fight France. It is better to improve relations.
Seeing that Philip IV was so open-minded, Condai couldn't help but shed tears of gratitude, and he became even more concerned about the war against Lisbon.
However, no matter what, Lisbon is the capital of Portugal. Not only is the city strong, but it is also far more abundant than other towns in terms of materials and manpower. Even if the Grand Conde tried his best to attack, it is impossible to capture Lisbon at once.
Later, Philip IV also learned from the prisoners that John IV had asked for help from the Ming army in America. If Lisbon could not be defeated, once Ming reinforcements arrived, the situation might really change drastically, which made him very worried.
No matter how we fight France, he has heard more or less the news from outside. Not to mention the American continent, over in Eastern Europe, Tsarist Russia was crippled by the Ming army, Persia was destroyed, and the Ming army is still attacking the Ottoman Empire. All these rumors prove that the Ming army is extremely powerful today. At this time, Spain had no confidence and felt that it could defeat the Ming army.
Therefore, Philip IV began to urge Condé to conquer Lisbon before Ming reinforcements arrived.
But Kondai has indeed tried his best, and it is no longer up to him to decide whether he can beat Lisbon or not. João IV in the city was risking his life to resist.
As a result, the war in Lisbon continues to be stalemate, and there is no hope of winning Lisbon in the short term. This made Philip IV very dissatisfied, but he had no choice.
On this day, the attack on Lisbon failed again. The soldiers who dug tunnels and blasted them suffered heavy casualties and returned in disgrace, which made Philip IV who was watching the battle very angry. After returning to the Chinese army's tent, he vented his anger.
After venting, he sat there a little frustrated, wondering whether to give it up. If it continues like this, Spain will only suffer more losses. Anyway, a lot of things have been robbed, and the Portuguese have been taught a big lesson...
While he was thinking about it, suddenly Da Kongdai walked in hurriedly, with a look of surprise on his face, and told him: "Your Highness, there is good news!"
"What's the good news?" Upon hearing this, Philip IV immediately stared at him and asked with expectation.
Dakondai answered him excitedly: "I just captured a prisoner, who is said to be British. They were bullied by the Portuguese and are willing to become our internal agents."
"Ah, okay, okay, where is the person?" When Philip IV heard this, he was immediately overjoyed and asked quickly.
Just as he was speaking, his guards came in escorting someone.
Needless to say, this man was a British royalist in Lisbon. After seeing the ceremony, he said to Philip IV: "We have more than a thousand people in the city. As long as His Majesty the King agrees to give us a sum of money to resist that damn Cromwell, we are willing to fight for the King." At your service, Your Highness!”
Of course Philip IV was dissatisfied with Cromwell who executed his own king. This is treason. If more people follow suit, the king's position will be too dangerous.
It's just that Cromwell's ability is indeed very powerful, and he is also the kind who can win consecutive battles. At least he still has the final say in Britain today. But of course he was happy to hear that these British royalists were going to cause him trouble.
If these British people can really serve as Spain's internal agents and capture Lisbon, they will not only destroy these rebellions, but also seize Lisbon's wealth and give part of it to the British. This kind of deal is very cost-effective.
With this in mind, Philip IV agreed without hesitation. As a result, the two parties began to discuss the specific details and agreed on internal and external cooperation matters before sending the British man back to Lisbon by sea.
John IV was completely unaware of all this. I was very happy to see that I had thwarted the Spanish attack again. If the stalemate continues like this, once the Ming reinforcements from the American continent arrive, they will definitely turn defeat into victory.
As long as you persist, you will achieve final victory!
