Vol 7 Chapter 179: The advent of the ocean age

Alexander stepped on the hard land under his feet and walked forward slowly. Galicia's winter was much warmer than other places. Just looking at the sparse fields of wheat in the ground, Alexander's mood was a bit different.
On the way back to Italy from the Balkans, he once wrote a letter to Zuosha, in which he described a grand plan for the future.
The most crucial point in this plan is that the town will gradually flourish.
In the future, there will be many scholars who study the history of this era known as the Renaissance, and one of them is not completely accepted by the public, but it seems to Alexander today. Quite reliable.
The prosperity of cities and towns is not just because of the expansion of cities and the development of handicraft industry, more and more workers are needed, and there is a more realistic and serious problem in front of people, that is, as the weather environment changes, large blocks Of land has been harvested because of cold weather.
Many farmers left their homes because of poor harvests, and even some well-off families who had originally lived well were ruined. In this environment, more and more farmers who lost their land were forced to flock to their neighboring towns to find a way out. People are in trouble, but they have indeed stimulated business development.
Galicia now looks something like this. The original warm climate has become worse and worse in recent years. Even if it has not been greatly affected, the crisis that has gradually gathered in the first two years due to climate change is now gradually emerging. come out.
The failure to store enough seeds in the past has gradually revealed the call for food shortages, or even if some places have enough winter grains, but the land has dried up and became harder due to climate evolution, resulting in the failure of the planted grains. Breaking the ground into buds, these have caused the whole of Europe to fall into a large-scale food shortage at this time.
This symptom actually appeared a few years ago, but it will become more and more obvious in the future, so in the original letter, Alexandria had already discussed with Rusha how to deal with this gradually formed situation. His future plans have a decisive weight.
If Alexander wants to realize his huge plan, Ruosha is undoubtedly the best helper candidate. Although she does not have a vision far beyond others like him, she has the wisdom and wisdom of her contemporaries, under the influence of Alexander. , Ruo Sha exerted her wisdom to a level that others could not reach, which allowed her to always follow Alexander, and would go further and further.
A soldier ran to him with a big breath, and in such a cold and dry winter day, any military operation obviously took more effort than other seasons, and these Castilian troops were obviously almost on the verge of collapse. .
The French were clearly preparing to make a big fuss in Galicia. They plundered along the roughly arc-shaped march route to the northwest and attacked everywhere. This army obviously did not have the idea of ​​returning from the original path. The signs are that they want to meet the Portuguese directly.
The soldier approached Alexander and hurriedly took out a report sent by the scout who was sent to investigate. Because many ordinary soldiers had not read many books, they had invented all kinds of concise and convenient news dissemination in the army very early. method.
Now Alexander looked at a marker made on a rough sketched map in his hand, and he knew it was a trace of the French march discovered by the Galicians.
As he guessed, the French were moving rapidly north of Portugal, and at the same time the scouts also discovered the movements from the Portuguese. Among them, a Portuguese army from Bellin City caught the attention of the Castilian scouts. .
"So we are going to fight a coalition army?"
Silently walking along with Alexandria, several Castilian officers looked at each other. They were always curious about the foreign duke who suddenly became his commander, although the small number he brought was quite good. The small troops of the Castilians opened their eyes, but he was always doubtful whether he could command a big battle.
It's just that Gonzalo seems to trust this person very well, and these officers are also well aware of the purpose of Gonzalo's rush to return to Bariaridot at this time.
These officers are the nobles of Castile. They also hope that Castile ’s throne will not be taken by an Aragonese, so Gonzalo has become their hope and spokesperson. This is also their decision to believe this foreign country. The reason for the Duke.
"Always coalition?" Alexander asked back with a smile, and he knew what the officers were worried about. They were worried that the engagement with the Portuguese would lead to the gradual escalation of the war. At least now, the Pastilla army in the north has not done well The Portuguese prepared for large-scale land battles.
They are more prepared to guard against the Portuguese threat, as for the French, because the number of troops invading Castile is not very large, this is more like just to stand up for the Portuguese to cheer or take advantage of the fire.
It is also justifiable that these officers would have such scruples. It is said that the new army of Gonzalo is now not far from the city of Barriado, but they do not seem to have plans to continue to march north. Obviously, even if Gonzalo himself was showing strength to Ferdinand, those Castile nobles hoped to put pressure on Ferdinand in this way.
This can be seen as long as Ferdinand so happily announced support for Juana's succession to the throne.
"The Portuguese from Bellin are about less than 2000, which is probably the maximum strength they can use in the north," said a general who had already shrugged his hair and was so thin that he could not cover his scalp even if he hung around his head. When he came to see him in Alexandria, the officer shrugged. "I used to serve in the Portuguese army. At that time, I was a quartermaster in Bellin."
Alexander nodded. He knew that many soldiers of this era had more or less experienced working for foreign troops. This is nothing today, even for the officers under his command.
Therefore, Alexandria has always been committed to building an army of officers who fully recognizes the former Montina and the Principality of Rome Thesia, because only such an army will gradually form a will that combines the interests of the individual and the country with honor. .
It ’s just that it takes a long time, and maybe he wo n’t get any results until he is old. Fortunately, Rome Thesia has established a military academy based on the University of Bologna, although it may seem long. This change will gradually have a huge effect in the army.
And now he can only use the soldiers in front of him to do things for himself, at least for the Castilians, he does not care that he is a foreigner, and now it seems that it is not a bad thing.
"Dear Don Aslamanda, what do you think we should do?" Alexander never thought it would be terrible to let others know that he was not almighty, especially now that an all-rounder is really awful If a person is well-known for this, it is likely that awaiting him is a religious trial.
Only the Almighty is God, and even Jesus, who is regarded as the Lord, must rely on the great righteousness of the Son to be able to proclaim his claims.
Officer Xie Ding thought about it and tried to recall it as much as possible, then shook his head a little helplessly to Alexander: "Although there should not be many Portuguese in Bellin, but if they and French people together, there will be a lot of people. What ’s more, they have the support of Belin City behind them, although it ’s not very big, but because it is a fortress in the north of Portugal, they store a lot of food all the year round. If they must stay in Belin City, we ca n’t be like Burgos Occupy there smoothly, if you are delayed under Bellin City ... "
"We might be made possible by the Portuguese from the north and the west." Alexander took over what the officer named Don Aslamanda did not say, and continued to see Don Aslamanda speechless. Nodded and Alexander looked at him again.
Don Aslamanda, now an obscure and even unsavory Castile Real officer, but in the future this person is notorious, and later in the battle with the Portuguese in the colony of North Africa, Don As Ramanda drove away the Portuguese who controlled the coastal port of Aranísh in Africa, and put a biting nail on Portugal's new route to the east.
It was Ferdinand, who was the regent of Castile, who discovered his talent.
However, Alexander did not plan to give this opportunity to Ferdinand. Although Don Aslamanda was not necessarily the kind of officer he needed in his eyes, this person is just right now.
Gonzalo ’s previous battle with the Coa Valley in the two church villages taught the Portuguese hard. The result was that the Portuguese were afraid to cross the valley. This seemed a big victory at the time, but now this victory is right. The threat of the Castilian army.
If they want to chase the French, then they must continue to go west. This will soon encounter the Portuguese who came out of the city of Bellin and will also be threatened by the Portuguese army from the Coa Valley.
It is for this reason that Castile officers are hesitant to continue their pursuit.
They turned their attention to Alexandria, hoping that he would make the decision, not because of how much they trusted him, but simply because of Gonzalo's instructions.
"Wait a minute, let us look at the situation first."
Alexander ’s answer did not actually surprise those officers. When they wanted to come, even Gonzalo should be cautious when facing the choices that might determine the fate of the whole army, but only then thought that the young duke would be surprised The thoughtful officers were somewhat disappointing.
In fact, Alexander is considering another thing now.
He secretly calculated the time and guessed when the battle at sea started.
It will be a maritime battle that is vital for both Portugal and Spain.
The outcome of that maritime war will not only determine the future situation on the Iberian Peninsula, but may even affect the future historical direction.
Beginning in 1501, the Portuguese Navy and the Castilians had a series of large and small conflicts on the Atlantic Ocean.
These conflicts are different from the previous uninterrupted frictions between the two countries at sea. Obviously, the Portuguese navy was inspired by Manuel. They kept provoking the Castilians, near the Azores, They even sank two expedition ships that were going to the new colony.
As the most remote island from the European continent, Azores became the most outpost for Europeans to penetrate the Atlantic Ocean. Although people do not yet know the significance of the Azores, this does not hinder Two countries that are eager to open up the maritime territory fight for the islands.
In response to Manuel ’s provocation, Isabella, who was already ill at the time, responded strongly. She ordered the existing Castilian Navy to do all she could to protect the expedition and merchant ships from the threat of the Portuguese. At the same time, he ordered the construction of more and larger armed merchant ships as soon as possible. For this reason, the wealthy merchants she had personally summoned to her, promised them huge profits in exchange for their support.
And Manuel was not idle. Once the king of Portugal with a nearly stubborn character firmly believed that he was a generation of the Ming Dynasty, he immediately set off a "new continent movement" in China.
Like Isabella, Manoel borrowed the financial resources of the merchants to rapidly expand his maritime power. He hoped to form an overwhelming advantage over Spain in the shortest possible time to compensate for the development of the new colony Backward situation.
As a result, the Azores became the main point of contention, even if you still do n’t know that if you go all the way from the Azores to the west instead of going southwest to the new colony as before, you will find a wider World, but this island ’s position on the Atlantic Ocean is enough to cause a fierce competition.
Manuel put almost all his belongings on this "New Continent Movement", including even his public decision to change his wife.
At Manuel ’s instruction, the Bishop of Lisbon has declared his marriage to Maria in Aragon invalid, on the grounds that Maria committed an unforgivable murder of a loved one.
The messenger carrying the certificate of divorce request is also rushing to the Vatican, and Manuel has announced the marriage of Juana of Castile as his wife.
This decision is undoubtedly like an announcement of a break with Spain. Although Juana then proactively announced his abandonment of the complaint against the Castile throne, it was enough to make the relationship between the two countries very bad.
The dispute, whether it is on land or at sea, shows that the two sides have reached the point where they will spare no effort.
In January 1502, news of the death of Isabela, Queen of Castilla, reached Lisbon. After hearing the news, Juana, who had already lived publicly in the Castle of Saint John, locked herself in her room for a whole day. Go out.
No one knew what she was doing, but on the second day, Juana went to see Maria, who is now under house arrest in the convent.
Juana was in a good mood when she returned to the Castle of Saint John. She and Manuel had dinner together. Although she was not too young, she might even throw a thump to the king because she was in a good mood. Charming eyes.
Manuel was still very emotional. The death of his only son, Miguel, made him desperate. Although he had no affection for his ex-wife Aragon ’s Isabella, he was abnormal for their two children, Miguel. favorite.
But Miguel's death made him lose hope, especially after knowing that this was done by Maria, he was even more desperate.
Now he just hopes to have an heir as soon as possible, otherwise he may be like his predecessor after death, making the throne cheaper than anyone else.
So before waiting for dinner to finish, Manuel hurriedly took Juana to their bedroom, thinking that after all, Juana ’s age is not too small, if you ca n’t have an heir as soon as possible, it ’s too bad Too.
It was only the sudden arrival of Elliot Don Antonio that disturbed the king ’s interest, but it was clear that the news brought by the chief of the nautical firm and the newly appointed minister of maritime affairs made the king more concerned.
In mid-December 1501, the Castilian navy launched an attack on the Portuguese navy that occupied the Azores and named one of the big islands after the dead Prince Miguel.
The 12 large and small warships of the Castilian Navy first attacked the seaside settlement established by the Portuguese on the southern part of Miguel Island, and then entered the archipelago to search for the Portuguese merchant ships.
The battle was fought intermittently for nearly half a month, and the Portuguese Navy, which had been waiting for it near the Azores, also received news.
Finally, on the first day of the beginning of 1502, the two sides launched a fierce battle in the sea near the island of Santa Maria, which was named by the Portuguese in the southern part of the Azores.
Twelve Castilian warships fought against the Portuguese navy composed of seven armed ships.
Since the beginning of this battle, the wind has been very unfavorable to the Portuguese, and the number of disadvantages has made the situation precarious.
The battle began with the active attack of the Castilian navy from the beginning. With their skilled skills and rich experience, the two sides used different ways of killing and mixing hot and cold weapons unique to this era near Santa Maria Island. The brutal killing began.
It was just that the situation was clearly unfavorable to the Portuguese. When it was almost afternoon, the Portuguese had already sunk two ships, and at the same time one ship had to withdraw due to serious losses.
Although the Castilians also suffered a lot, they faced a steadily more powerful situation, but they were getting more and more courageous. Throw out the hook, and then try to kill the other side of the deck for a traditional port battle.
In this situation, the Portuguese had to fight and retreat, hoping to get rid of the enemy as soon as possible and escape from the battlefield.
But the accident happened at this time.
A fleet of unknown origin suddenly appeared on the battlefield.
These armed ships without any flags were fierce and cruel. They madly killed the Castilians. When the other party did not understand what happened, an armed Castilian merchant ship was hit hard.
The enemies that popped up obviously disregarded the rules of the sea. They ignored the declaration that the merchant ship had dropped its flag and withdrew from the battle. The fire burned and gradually fell apart into a pile of wreckage on the sea.
The Portuguese, who had taken a breather, quickly attacked, and they and the suddenly emerged armed fleet launched a blow to the Castilians.
I do n’t know who it was. First of all, it was the famous pirate
Black Beard
who was the only enemy who came out suddenly. When he heard the name of this cruel sea devil, he was stunned by a sudden attack The Castile navy is even more in a panic.
After no longer taking advantage in direction and quantity ~ EbookFREE.me ~ Castillas finally chose to retreat after paying a heavy price for the sunken 5 warships.
"You mean we won?" Manuel asked Elliot Don Antonio with some excitement. Although he had made up his mind, he still had a lot of fear for Castile. Much weaker than Portugal, not to mention Aragon.
"Your Majesty, we have won. Although I don't want to say that, the fact is to thank those pirates who happened to be there, and that the Aragonese fleet happened to be transferred to the Mediterranean. All these coincidences gave us victory. "Eriodo Don Antonio couldn't restrain his excitement, he waited too long for this day.
"Coincidence?" Looking at the Minister of Maritime Affairs, Manuel gave a deep smile. "Trust my dear Elliot, even if there are, there will not be so many coincidences together, if it is true When this happens, we have to think about whether there are any special reasons behind all this. "
"Your Majesty, none of this is really a coincidence," Don Antonio nodded. "Because we have just received another message, the Queen of Sicily has announced that she is officially crowned."
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