The Rise of the European Emperor

In fact, for the current North Sea country, the conflict with the Habsburg family is secondary. The most important thing is actually the conflict with Portugal.

After all, the conflict with the Habsburg family does not necessarily require a military confrontation, but if the conflict with Portugal is not handled well, it really requires a military confrontation.

Therefore, Marin was actively preparing for a secret contest with Grape Wants while playing double reeds with the Habsburg family.

Just when people were generally paying attention to the rumors of the feud between Marin and the Habsburg family, 5,000 soldiers and horses of the North Sea Kingdom had quietly boarded the ship and landed in the port of A Coruña.

In order to prevent the Portuguese from blocking, Marin dispatched most of the ships this time and quietly transported 5,000 people to the port of A Coruña at one time. By the time the Portuguese got the news, 5,000 people had already set up camp outside the city of A Coruña.

Upon hearing this news, the atmosphere in the Royal Palace of Lisbon, Portugal was solemn. Obviously, what they feared the most happened - Marin knew to attack the Portuguese mainland through Spain.

This is not to mention, the most unacceptable thing for them is that Spain has so readily agreed to let the North Sea Army land. Manuel I angrily questioned Juan III in the name of Queen Maria, but Juan III said calmly that Lao Tzu owed Marin a life, and letting the North Sea Army land in Spain once or twice was just to repay the debt of favor. Besides, Spain has the confidence to stop the North Sea country's army from harming Spain...

Yes, Spain has this confidence. After all, they are a powerful country that dares to be tough on France, and they have the confidence to say this. What's more, the number of people sent by Beihai Kingdom was only 5,000, so they were not taken seriously by the Spaniards.

However, the Portuguese were uncomfortable. Even with only 5,000 soldiers and horses, it was enough to make the Portuguese tremble. Because Portugal, like England later, has a really bad army. Moreover, the later English lobster soldiers are actually not bad, but they can't be compared with the first-class armies of Germany and France, and they can also be regarded as second-class. But the Portuguese army is not even second-rate. You must know that in the "Battle of the Three Kings" in 1578, Portugal dispatched a force of 25,000 troops, but was defeated by Morocco, which was still technically nomadic, and the king was killed... Then, it was annexed by Spain. Opportunities for Portugal...

Moreover, the 5,000 people sent by Beihai Kingdom were all elite soldiers selected by the First Army Corps, which was famous in Beihai Kingdom and had never been defeated. With such a force, even if Portugal dispatches 20,000 people, it has no confidence to fight against it. It can only guarantee that it can defend a few strong cities with its superior force...

Yes, defend the city with superior forces! This is the tragedy of a weak army country. In the face of the threat of invasion from Spain, all Portugal can do is to concentrate its superior forces to guard several big cities such as Lisbon, and dare not confront Spain.

in history,

In the war of Spain's annexation of Portugal, only 20,000 troops were dispatched on land, and they annexed Portugal like a blow, and ruled Portugal for 60 years. If Spain had not participated in the "Thirty Years War" and suffered repeated defeats, which gave Portugal a chance to regain its independence, Portugal would have been ruled by Spain.

And now, the reason why Spain has not annexed Portugal, in addition to the more laborious siege of several Portuguese fortresses, is also an important reason why the French will not sit idly by.

In 1580, France had just been rubbed on the ground by Charles V for a few decades, and the country was in decline. Moreover, there is a religious war in the country - the Hugonot War. At that time, France was unable to attack Spain from behind to force Spain to return to defense. Therefore, the then King Philip II of Spain was assured of sending an army to annex Portugal.

But now is different, now France is not at a disadvantage against Spain. Although Spain has a lot of money, France has a solid foundation and many elite soldiers. In a fight between the two sides, as long as they don't use short shots and take advantage of their own strengths, they can still have a 55-50 fight with Spain.

At this time, if Spain wanted to send 20,000 to 30,000 troops to besiege Portugal, its domestic strength would definitely be inferior to that of France. As long as France took the opportunity to dispatch a large army to attack Spain, Spain would have to withdraw its army.

Therefore, Portugal is still not very worried about Spain annexing itself at the moment, but will still remain cautious.

But the North Sea country is different. This country does not have a border with France, and France is restrained by Spain, England and the Habsburgs. If the North Sea country dispatched a large army to attack the Portuguese mainland through Spain, France would not be very good at doing it. After all, if the North Sea Kingdom is irritated, and the North Sea Kingdom is determined to join forces with Spain, England and the Habsburg family to besiege France, France will not be able to bear it.

Moreover, the North Sea state's army does not need to capture Portugal. They only need to burn, kill, loot and destroy all over Portugal, and they can make Portugal go without food.

And Portugal did not have the ability to invade the mainland of the North Sea, and at most attacked the maritime power of the North Sea. But the North Sea Army, with the 5,000 elites in Deportivo, can make waves in Portugal and bring great losses to Portugal.

No matter what, Portugal suffers. Therefore, the previous idea of ​​attacking the port of Emden and burning the ships of the North Sea country was difficult to implement.

Besides, this time, in the final analysis, it was caused by that idiot Rui Silva. Afterwards, Beihai Kingdom didn't take any drastic action, just robbed the spices to make up for their losses, and sent troops to rescue their people. There was no drastic action. The only additional damage was probably the deliberate destruction on the islands of São Miguel and São Jorge while attracting the ships of the Port of Heroes to leave the port.

Originally, the Portuguese government wanted to breathe a sigh of relief and take Beihai National as a prestige. However, I did not expect that Beihai Kingdom was still a difficult opponent to deal with. If you really take the opponent's power, you will also be subject to the opponent's power. In particular, the damned Spain actually agreed to the North Sea Army landing by way of...

After all the calculations, the Portuguese court and opposition felt that this was a big disadvantage. So, I can only give up bitterly.

...

At the same time, in England, Marin used this conflict with the Portuguese to openly recruit sailors in England, saying that he wanted to form a "North Sea Fleet" to protect the safety of the mainland coast of the North Sea...

Since the development of the wool textile industry in England, the enclosure movement has arisen, and there are 200,000 to 300,000 refugees who have nowhere to settle all year round. Marin recruited sailors among these refugees this time, and it was considered a way of life for them.

Before, considering that there was no excuse, Marin also specifically withdrew from the loan to buy fishing boats, and encouraged these refugees to go fishing at sea, and then join their own navy team after training.

But the conflict with the Portuguese this time gave Marin an excuse to fight for the position. Marin simply did not beat around the bush, and told Edward about his grievances with Portugal and asked to recruit 5,000 sailors in England.

Edward was very unhappy, because the stronger Marin's military strength, the greater the threat to him. Originally, England still had a maritime advantage. Even if the North Sea Kingdom had a strong army, if it could not cross the sea, it would not be a threat to the mainland of England.

However, if the North Sea country had 5,000 sailors and a strong fleet, England would lose its maritime superiority. If the North Sea Kingdom was allowed to land its troops without hesitation, England would be powerless to resist.

However, he also heard about the conflict between the North Sea Kingdom and Portugal this time. Moreover, Marin's attitude is sincere and his words are well-founded, and Edward can't find an excuse to refuse. Therefore, he could only accept it reluctantly, but only required that the 5,000 sailors must be stationed in the North Sea country, not in England.

Marin naturally agreed, and he didn't have to make trouble with Edward on this matter. After the 5,000 sailors have finished training, will they go wherever they want?

You must know that on a 500-ton warship, there are only 180 crew members and 5,000 people. It can control 28 warships, and it is completely possible to form a powerful fleet.

After learning of Marin's recruitment of 5,000 sailors in England, Frederick III, Elector of Saxony, proudly said to his friends and princes:

"Look, am I right? The Marlin guy really intends to start in England. The new fleet created by these 5,000 sailors is clearly to cover the army of ten thousand people to land in England and participate in the war!"

"Master Frederick is wise..." The princes were flattering...