Rise of Empires: Spain.

Chapter 440 Attacking Chrisburn

After thorough pre-battle mobilization, Lieutenant General Kaman, the commander-in-chief of the landing operation, led three infantry divisions and one artillery division onto a train heading south to Andalusia. These troops would then board transport ships at the southern Andalusian port of Cádiz and launch an attack on Lisbon before the British could react.

Knowing that these troops were about to suffer heavy casualties, Spain provided them with extremely lavish supplies. Not only were the soldiers provided with ample weapons, equipment, and ammunition, but all their food rations before boarding the transport ships were also supplied according to the highest standards for the Spanish army.

All the ordinary soldiers of the three infantry divisions and one artillery division were provided with unlimited white bread and beef and mutton every day. They had a glass of milk in the morning, seafood rice at noon, and a stew made of Iberian ham and seafood in the evening. It could be said that they had meat at every meal and their meals were plentiful.

Officers and ordinary soldiers received the same treatment, after all, this was the highest level of food supplies that Spain could provide.

After all, the combined number of soldiers in several divisions is tens of thousands. While there are more exquisite and luxurious dishes available, it is impossible to supply tens of thousands of people at the same time.

As the overall commander of the operation, Lieutenant General Kaman did not plan to differentiate food supplies between officers and ordinary soldiers. At least for the duration of this campaign, the food rations for officers of all ranks and ordinary soldiers were exactly the same.

The port of Cádiz is quite far from Lisbon, and in order to avoid attracting the attention of the Portuguese Republic and British forces, the Spanish Navy escorting the transport ship chose to stay away from the Portuguese coast, sail around into the depths of the Atlantic Ocean, and quietly approach Lisbon.

While this increased the secrecy of the mission, it also significantly increased the distance between Cádiz and Lisbon.

What should have been a one-day journey took the fleet nearly two days to reach Cape Espícher, south of Lisbon, after this detour.

Although Lisbon is located in western Portugal, it is not on the coast but is connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Tagus River. Lisbon is situated on the northern shore of the inner bay of the Tagus River.

This also means that if a direct attack on Lisbon is desired, it would have to be launched from the Tagus River into the bay where Lisbon is located, which would increase the risk for the Spanish army in attacking Lisbon.

Therefore, when the Spanish General Staff formulated the plan to attack Lisbon, it decided to prioritize the attack on Cabo da Roca, west of Lisbon, to occupy a beach in an area where the defenses of the Portuguese Republic were relatively weak. After the army landed on a large scale, they would then advance eastward to attack Lisbon.

Because of the Tagus River and the bay, Lisbon is located on a peninsula, and Lisbon is situated in the southeast of the peninsula.

Once the Spanish army occupied the western part of the peninsula and cut off Lisbon's connection to the north, this capital city, which is very important to Portugal, became an isolated city.

When the time comes, the Lisbon garrison will have no choice but to transport supplies to Lisbon via the Gulf by sea if they want to obtain supplies.

However, in terms of the navy, Spain already held the advantage. Even the Royal Fleet of the British Empire dared not engage the Spanish navy, let alone the small Portuguese navy.

In this situation, once the Spanish army gained a foothold west of Lisbon, capturing the city would become a matter of course.

When the Spanish fleet was close enough to the Portuguese coast, it no longer needed to camouflage itself. After confirming that there were no Portuguese or British fleets in the surrounding waters, several small troop transports were the first to approach the coast. The soldiers on these transports were to clear a large area of ​​coastline for the subsequent troops to land.

This also means that these advance troops will face dual pressure from the Portuguese army and coastal defense batteries on the shore. Without being familiar with the terrain, they will have to seize a large area, and casualties will be inevitable.

Although they knew the mission was extremely risky, the Spanish soldiers on the troop transport ship showed no fear. Their eyes were fixed firmly on the coast ahead, and they gripped their rifles tightly in their hands.

"Soldiers, the moment of truth has come for our country and His Majesty the King to test us. Cabo da Roca lies ahead, and I demand that you spare no effort, even if it means risking your lives, to secure a shoreline for the following troops to land on."

"Leave the enemy's coastal defenses and heavy firepower to the navy. The remaining Portuguese troops are your biggest enemy. I don't care if these Portuguese have discovered our landing plan or not; we must take over a section of the coastline, even under their fire. Do you all understand?"

On several small troop transport ships, officers from various units were conducting their final pre-battle mobilizations.

In reality, there was no need for any pre-battle mobilization. When officers at all levels shouted, "The moment has come for our country and His Majesty the King to test us," the Spanish soldiers were filled with patriotic fervor. They couldn't wait to immediately reach the shore before them and risk their lives to secure a large tract of coastline for the following troops to land on.

Seeing that morale was high, Lieutenant General Kaman did not hesitate any longer and immediately issued the order to begin the operation.

With Lieutenant General Kaman's order, several troop transport ships began to rapidly approach the coast, and the soldiers on board were making final preparations, checking their guns, ammunition, and supplies.

After the lead troop transport ship docked, a large number of soldiers began to pour out of the ship at the command of the officer in charge, and then immediately advanced towards the shore.

Although most of the Portuguese Republic's main forces were on the front lines, a small number of troops were still deployed along the coast to prevent a sudden landing by Spanish forces.

However, due to the limited military strength of the Portuguese Republic and the relatively long coastline of Portugal, only a small section of the coastline has a relatively solid defense.

Because of the importance of Cape Espícher and Cape Roca to Lisbon, these two locations were indeed defended by a considerable number of Portuguese troops.

As the Spanish fleet approached the coast and launched its amphibious assault, the Portuguese forces belatedly discovered the Spanish operation.

"Damn it, those are Spanish troops!" The Portuguese troops stationed in Sintra finally spotted the Spanish army on the distant coast, and the leading Portuguese soldier shouted in terror.

Although these troops are stationed far behind Lisbon, protecting the city's rear coast, this does not mean that they are elite regular troops.

On the contrary, in order to fight alongside the British army, the vast majority of the Portuguese Republic's elite forces were on the front lines, as were those troops that had been mobilized for a period of time and had undergone brief training to initially acquire combat capability.

These troops deployed in the rear were either newly mobilized and untrained recruits or militias organized by the Portuguese government in various regions.

Although these militia members were part of the Portuguese army, they did not need to train too frequently or go to the front lines to fight. They only needed to defend the rear of Portugal and some important cities.

It is precisely for this reason that, against the backdrop of the Portuguese Republican government's forced conscription, many Portuguese men chose to join the militia rather than be forcibly conscripted into the military.

The army stationed in Sintra was not a militia, but rather composed entirely of new recruits. The triangle formed by Sintra, Amadora, and Mafra covers most of the peninsula where Lisbon is located, and the Portuguese army stationed in this area numbers in the thousands, with the Lisbon garrison able to provide support at any time.

From the Portuguese perspective, this defensive force was already quite solid. A beach landing was never an easy task, and although the Portuguese army only had a few thousand troops, Lisbon was not far away. The army could reach it on foot in just a few hours, and by road, by horse-drawn carriage or car, the time could be reduced to about an hour.

Under such circumstances, even if a portion of the Spanish army were to force a landing, or even if Spain were to launch a large-scale landing on the coast, the Portuguese army would be able to resist for some time.

Although the Portuguese government's illusions were beautiful, when the landing operation actually began, the Portuguese quickly understood what a truly combat-ready army looked like.

Initially, a small number of Spanish troops successfully landed on the beach, but when the main force landed, the Portuguese army, having reacted quickly, launched a counterattack.

This is when the advance force came into play. Although only about a thousand Spanish soldiers initially landed on the coast, these soldiers did not flinch and immediately engaged the arriving Portuguese soldiers, repelling several Portuguese attacks.

During this period, several Portuguese coastal defense guns deployed along the coast attempted to cause some trouble for the Spanish army's landing, but they were quickly destroyed by the Spanish navy.

This is the confidence that naval superiority gave to the Spanish army. Although the army's artillery could not play a significant role in amphibious operations, the artillery on the navy's warships could still play a very important role.

More importantly, the range of the navy's artillery was several kilometers or even more than ten kilometers, which meant that some Portuguese troops had already entered the range of the Spanish navy.

The Spanish navy, of course, wouldn't be lenient with these Portuguese troops. However, because the advance forces had already engaged the Portuguese army, the navy had to be careful when bombing them, aiming to bomb as far as possible to avoid friendly fire.

With naval support, the Spanish troops at the front lines could seize the coast with impunity. They didn't need to worry about the Portuguese heavy firepower; they could simply focus on capturing more territory for the main force in the rear.

On the Portuguese side, these Portuguese soldiers, who could only be considered green recruits, faced with the devastating bombardment of the Spanish navy, had several questions arising in their minds: Who am I? Where am I? What am I supposed to do?
The Spanish flagship, the Dreadnought, was the most enthusiastic bombardment target. Ten 305mm 35-caliber guns relentlessly unleashed their firepower on the Portuguese coastal defenses and garrison, destroying one coastal battery after another under the bombardment.

Even the well-defended coastal forts could not withstand the attack of such large-caliber artillery, let alone the Portuguese army, which consisted of just a bunch of greenhorns.

If an entire company of soldiers is hit by just one of these shells, the entire company will be rendered incapable of fighting. Even being caught in the sonic boom of the explosion will cause instant dizziness and complete loss of mental agility.

Despite the intense bombardment, the soldiers closest to the Spanish army were largely unaffected. However, watching shell after shell fly overhead, even though they weren't being targeted, was enough to terrify these Portuguese soldiers.

The explosions of these large-caliber shells were deafening; even if they exploded several kilometers away, the sound and vibrations were enough to affect the Portuguese troops several kilometers away.

This bombing was a fatal blow to Portugal's defenses and an even more devastating blow to the morale of Portuguese soldiers.

If you are hit by a bullet on the battlefield, unless you are hit in a vital area, your chances of survival are relatively high. At most, you will suffer some painful aftereffects.

However, if you were hit by a large-caliber warship's gun, even if you were only on the outermost edge of the blast radius, it would be enough to completely obliterate you.

The Portuguese soldiers at the forefront were alright; they could only hear how loud the explosions were, but couldn't see the effects. At most, they were just terrified.

Those Portuguese soldiers further back completely understood what happened. The unlucky ones were within the blast radius of the shells and were wiped out with a deafening roar.

Those who were lucky enough to be far from the blast radius still witnessed the commotion caused by the explosion in the distance, and saw so many soldiers instantly wiped out. The effect was no less than that of a direct hit from an artillery shell.

These Portuguese soldiers were just ordinary people not long ago, and they had never experienced anything like this before. As a result, when the Spanish navy began its massive bombing campaign, the Portuguese soldiers were at a loss as to what to do, and only dared to cower behind the obstacles around them, occasionally firing a couple of shots at the advancing Spanish troops.

Such aimless firing naturally missed the enemy. With only sporadic resistance from the Portuguese soldiers, the Spanish army easily occupied a large stretch of coastline, giving the subsequent troops ample landing sites and time.

Although he hadn't expected the amphibious landing to go so smoothly, it was a golden opportunity for Lieutenant General Kaman.

"The advance force has secured a suitable coastline for our landing. Now it's your time to shine! Soldiers, for Spain, advance!" Lieutenant General Kaman waved his hand and immediately issued the order for a full-scale attack.

Several large transport ships began to approach the coast, and troop transport ships shuttled back and forth between the coast and the transport ships, transporting a steady stream of troops to the shore.

With the support of these reinforcements, the vanguard's attacks on the Portuguese army became increasingly fierce. The Portuguese army, having lost the initiative, failed to prevent the Spanish vanguard from occupying the coast, and thus could not stop the subsequent Spanish advance.

More than three hours after the start of the amphibious landing operation, an infantry division had successfully landed and was continuously expanding the occupied area, pushing the line of fire forward by several kilometers.

Subsequent troop landings will be much easier, as there are no Portuguese troops to hinder them near the coast, allowing the Spanish army to land there with impunity.

It is expected that in a few more hours, the remaining two infantry divisions and one artillery division will be able to fully land, and after a short rest, they will immediately launch an attack on Lisbon.

As the Spanish army launched its massive landing, the Portuguese garrison in Sintra began requesting reinforcements from the neighboring cities of Mafra and Amadora.

The soldiers who requested reinforcements even traveled as far as Lisbon, because given the size of the Spanish landing force, the thousands of defenders at the Cabo da Roca triangle were no match for the Spanish troops.

This proved to be true; once the complete Spanish infantry divisions successfully landed, the outnumbered Portuguese soldiers posed no threat to the Spanish army.

Because Sintra is more than 20 kilometers away from Lisbon, by the time the soldiers from Sintra arrived in Lisbon, nearly 5 hours had passed since the Spanish launched their landing operation.

Although Portugal has some cars, most of them have been requisitioned to transport supplies to the front lines.

This resulted in a very small number of vehicles in the rear. The few remaining vehicles were mainly used by high-ranking government officials of the Portuguese Republic and senior officers of the British army, making it impossible to spare even a few vehicles for the troops in the rear.

This explains why the Portuguese soldiers took more than five hours to cover a distance of only 20 kilometers. By the time the Portuguese Republican government in Lisbon learned of the Spanish landing at Cabo da Roca, the Spanish landing was already nearly complete.

The Portuguese Republican government's first reaction was not to send troops to support the defenders at Cabo da Roca, but to discuss where the Republican government should evacuate.

Lisbon's importance to Portugal is undeniable, but its location is quite precarious. Because it lies in the southeastern part of the peninsula, if its retreat is blocked by Spanish troops, these high-ranking Republicans would all fall into Spanish hands.

The Republican Party itself was supported by Spain and gained British support by betraying Spain, which means that the Republican Party has almost no chance of easing relations with Spain.

Once these Republican leaders fall into Spanish hands, what will the Spanish government do to them? They will certainly purge them and then put the Iberian Party, which is closer to Spain, in power.

These Republican high-ranking officials who were purged will likely find it difficult to even save their lives, let alone their wealth and status.

This is why, upon learning that Spanish troops had landed at Cabo da Roca, the first reaction of the Republican leadership was to run, to get as far away from the Spanish army as possible.

With British support, they could make a comeback anywhere. But if they were captured by the Spanish army, all hope of a comeback would vanish.

At this moment, preserving one's own life is the most important thing; as for the safety of Lisbon, the capital of Portugal, that is not something the Republicans can consider.

The Portuguese Republican government's outrageous reaction was something Spain had never expected. After capturing Sintra, the Spanish army's advance eastward towards Amadora became very smooth.

Apart from a small local garrison, the Spanish army encountered almost no resistance. The local Portuguese population also surrendered without resistance, clearly overwhelmed by the Portuguese Republican government's forced conscription policy and desperately wanting a powerful force to overthrow the Republican government.

Lieutenant General Kaman originally thought that the Portuguese would consolidate their defensive forces and focus on defending Amadora, a major city west of Lisbon.

But when the Spanish army arrived at Amadora, they found only a small number of defenders who had clearly lost their will to fight and surrendered to the Spanish army with almost no resistance.

Lieutenant General Kaman was still frustrated. How come the Portuguese hadn't put up any decent resistance even though they were already at the Portuguese's doorstep?

Good heavens, upon asking, I learned that the top leaders of the Portuguese Republican government and the military had fled north, abandoning Lisbon, the most important city for Portugal.

Have the top officials of the Portuguese Republican government simply fled?

This was something Lieutenant General Kaman had never expected. Although doing so would allow him to easily take control of Lisbon, the capital of Portugal, it also meant that Lieutenant General Kaman's original plan to capture high-ranking officials of the Portuguese Republican government had completely failed.

The Spanish army landed by force, and there were no vehicles to transport soldiers. Running on foot was certainly not enough to catch up with the fleeing Portuguese Republican government, meaning the Spanish army could only prioritize taking over the abandoned Lisbon; the fleeing Portuguese Republican government would have to be dealt with later.

As the Spanish army continued its eastward advance from Amadora and marched into Lisbon, the Portuguese Republican government leaders, who were frantically fleeing Lisbon, were also contacting the British army in Portugal.

Although the escape seemed somewhat sudden, there had been several discussions within the Portuguese Republican Party about fleeing to Britain to form a government-in-exile.

Unfortunately, after the outbreak of this war, the Portuguese clearly realized the gap between themselves and Spain.

What the Portuguese didn't expect was that the seemingly invincible British Empire was completely helpless against the Spanish army on the battlefield.

Although the Portuguese army successfully resisted the Spanish army's offensive on the main battlefield, it was at the cost of heavy casualties for both the British and Portuguese forces.

Britain could replenish its army with a continuous supply of manpower from its homeland and colonies, but what about Portugal?

Despite the fact that the Portuguese army still numbered nearly 10, its elite forces had been almost entirely wiped out. Most of the 10 troops were newly mobilized and had virtually no combat effectiveness.

Instead of relying on these troops to resist the Spanish army's attack, they might as well hope that after fleeing to Britain and establishing a government-in-exile, they could live a good life with the support of the British.

In any case, the Portuguese Republican government and Britain have a cooperative relationship, so they are not afraid that Britain will not accept them. At present, the Portuguese Republican government's top brass is not worried about the future of the Portuguese Republic, but rather where they should take a ship to Britain and how to avoid being discovered by the Spanish navy and reach London safely.

(End of this chapter)