As time went by, the scale of riots in towns and cities originally within the Kingdom of Portugal became larger and larger. On the Lisbon side, calls for Her Royal Highness Princess Catherine to send troops to rescue her compatriots are getting louder and louder.
In the end, the result of the discussion between Catherine and Zheng Zhilong was that the Ming army allocated part of the military supplies shipped with the fleet to arm the Portuguese, and then, under the leadership of Anders, went to recover other towns.
The Spanish defenders everywhere did not know the true situation. They were already panic-stricken. When they heard that the enemy was coming, they didn't want to defend at all. They just loaded the property collected in the city into the car and ran away.
If they don't run away, unless they kill all the Portuguese in the city, there will definitely be echoes from inside and outside. They could only evacuate before the war broke out. The local Portuguese were powerless to stop them.
In this way, all the towns that originally belonged to the Kingdom of Portugal were restored with little effort. Suddenly, the Queen's voice was very loud. Anders' reputation has reached its peak. Even many Portuguese people clamored to counterattack to Spain to take revenge.
The Spaniards were immediately frightened. Under the turmoil, they felt that they would be attacked by the combined armies of the Ming Dynasty and Portugal at any time. Suddenly, soldiers and horses from all over the country gathered in border towns. Philip IV, however, borrowed troops from France without waiting for the Paris Conference to convene.
This movement is not small! In addition, there had been joint discussions to deal with the Ming Dynasty together before, and the British were lobbying everywhere. The news of the Ming army's attack spread like never before.
This time, European countries were finally frightened. The huge fleet of the Ming Dynasty finally made them realize that it was really not possible for a single European country to deal with the Ming army.
Therefore, the British lobbying was very successful. European countries along the coast responded one by one and agreed to assemble their fleets to face the invasion of the Ming Dynasty's huge fleet.
………………
Oran is a seaport city on the southern coast of the Mediterranean. It was originally discovered by the Arabs. However, it was captured by Spain in the 16th century. If the original historical development were to follow, it would have been taken away by the Ottoman Empire in the early 18th century.
However, on this plane, the Ottoman Empire could not protect itself, let alone expand.
At this time, there were seven or eight Spanish sailing warships parked here in the port. Many sailors are taking their vacation in bars on the shore.
Men, when they drink, they always talk about big things, not trivial matters. No, the hottest topic in the entire bar is the situation in Portugal.
"Have you heard? It is said that the Governor has received an order from His Highness the King, asking him to prepare to abandon this place and lead his troops back home!"
"I've also heard that the Ming Dynasty's fleet is too huge. The whole of Europe needs to unite to compete with the Ming Kingdom's fleet!"
"So, even our Oran side, which has less than ten battleships, will not let go?"
"That's for sure! But I heard that the Governor is a little reluctant. After all, it would be a pity to give up Oran!"
"Yeah, that's why we can drink here leisurely!"
"Actually, it's not that the Governor is unwilling to leave. I heard that all the nobles in Oran will not let the Governor leave. Without our protection, the people of the Ming Dynasty are very barbaric and will eat people without spitting out their bones!"
"Do you think we can protect you? Just us?"
"..."
While they were discussing, suddenly, a loud voice shouted: "You are all unfounded. Will the Ming Dynasty fleet come to us? Let me tell you, it will definitely go north along the Atlantic coast and sweep our Spanish coast. Either go north and fight the French, or fight the British. We are the safest here in Oran. So, the Governor..."
The words were not finished, but the meaning was already obvious. After all, I actually thought it was too dangerous to go back to Spain, so there was no movement from Oran.
After understanding this, the people in the bar looked at each other and understood. It's impossible to say. Otherwise, if it reaches the ears of the governor, big trouble will happen.
As a result, all the sailors were laughing and joking. Of course they were willing to stay here and not face the powerful enemy. At most, they can wait until European countries begin to gather and their forces are strong enough before they can go back.
Just like that, they put aside their worries and drank and speculated about Catherine's situation in the East.
Suddenly, the sound of "boom, boom, boom" was heard.
They are all very sensitive to this sound. Immediately, he put down his wine glass and ran outside. This caused the bartender to shout loudly from behind: "Checkout, checkout..."
However, no one paid any attention to him.
After these sailors ran out of the bar, they saw the situation in the port at a glance. I saw densely packed masts parked outside the port. Several of the warships were closer to the port and fired a round of cannon there.
Obviously, this time the artillery was not bombarding the target, but giving a warning to Oran. Does that mean you surrender or not?
Although these Spanish sailors have never seen the flag of the Ming Dynasty, such a large fleet cannot have other forces except the legendary Ming fleet!
How could such a huge fleet be defeated?
None of the sailors had the will to run to the battleship. After being in a daze for a while, they all fled to the city. The sailors who were still on the battleship did not fire their guns to meet the attack. They also jumped out of the battleship and almost rolled and crawled to the shore. Even a few unlucky ones who were pushed into the sea immediately swam ashore and then fled to the city.
Not long after, the city was also in chaos. There were well-dressed headless people everywhere, running around. Eventually, the crowd all ran to the south of the city, out of the city, and retreated into the interior.
The Ming army general on the flagship on the sea was Zheng Zhilong's brother Zheng Hongkui. He grinned when he saw this, not surprised at all. This seaport town was scheduled to serve as a supply point for the Ming Dynasty fleet.
The fleet began to dock, and a total of 2,000 Ming troops and 100 Portuguese troops disembarked from the Fuzhou ship behind them, coming ashore to receive Oran.
As the Ming army soldiers walked along, they found discarded things everywhere on the ground. Apart from that, not a single soul was seen. The houses on both sides of the street have their doors closed. It was obvious that if he had not escaped, then he was hiding in the house.
As we walked all the way to the Governor's Palace, we could occasionally hear children crying from the houses on the street. But then someone covered her up, and her crying stopped immediately.
In this regard, the Ming army officers and soldiers did not care and began to gradually take over various warehouses and other facilities. Speaking of which, it really scared the Spaniards. They didn't have time to take away many supplies, which gave the Ming army an advantage.
As for why it was not burned, the Portuguese soldiers speculated that they were afraid of angering the Ming army, so they deliberately did not burn it.
"Haha, it seems that the Spaniards are very knowledgeable!" The soldiers of the Ming army came to such a conclusion.
Subsequently, the flags of the Ming Dynasty were raised everywhere in Oran City.
Oran will belong to the Ming Dynasty from now on!
Obviously, the officers and men of the Ming Dynasty navy are fulfilling the ambition of planting the Ming flag at the end of the ocean.
The expected breaking and entering, smashing and looting, and even the so-called eating people without spitting out the bones did not happen in the end. Three days later, the people of Oran finally understood what kind of army the Ming army was, and Oran finally became alive again.
Only then did Zheng Hongkui lead the fleet to continue eastward along the southern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. His goal was to reach the easternmost edge of the Mediterranean Sea and join forces with the Ming army there.
Naturally, it was impossible to conceal the news during this slow march eastward. After some time, news of this finally reached the northern shores of the Mediterranean.
As for the Ming fleet in Lisbon, which chose to go eastward in the Mediterranean, European countries immediately guessed that it was going to join the Ming army on the Ottoman side. Thinking that if the Ming army there continued to march along the southern coast of the Mediterranean to Portugal, the strength of the Ming army would also increase significantly. This is obviously not what European countries want to see.
As a result, the landlocked European countries that originally wanted to take a look at the situation have also become active in jointly resisting Ming Dynasty. The Second Paris Conference was held with unprecedented speed.
Moreover, the level of personnel representing various countries participating in the conference this time was far higher than that of the first time. Louis XIV once again presided over the meeting in person, and there was no situation where he walked away.
The most important topics of the meeting are the following two:
First, where will the fleets of various countries assemble, how will the logistics materials be handled, and who will command them, or should we say joint command?
Second, the armies of various countries must also be assembled. Where will the supplies be provided? Who will be the commanding generals? How many troops will be sent by each country? What is the target of the army's attack?
On these two issues, even if representatives from all participating countries want to reach an agreement as soon as possible, it does not mean that they can be reached at once. After all, the relationship is too great.
At this time, the representative of the Spanish king was still the same one as before, the king's illegitimate son Don Juan Jose of Austria. After being warned by Philip IV, he strongly advocated that armies from various countries could gather in Spain. However, as long as the elite troops are available, a country cannot exceed five thousand, and the logistics can be borne by Spain for a period of one month.
As for the navy, he didn't say much. More calls were made for the fleets on this side of the Atlantic to assemble in France. Supplies are brought by each country, but France also has to provide supplies. In return, the commander is appointed by France.
In addition, the fleets in the Mediterranean went to Austria to assemble. After the preparations are completed, you can attack Portugal at the same time.
After some haggling, it was probably settled.
Subsequently, orders from various countries were sent to various places one after another, and both fleets and armies began to assemble.
However, the accident happened again!
