Chapter 423 - The Cowardly King Of Aragon (2/2)

With Francisco dead, we now can usurp the Kingdom of Castile and increase our power if we can only buy some time from our enemies. Thus, I have no choice but to sue for peace! Even if the Portuguese wish to fight on their own, I will not send my men to their deaths against the Austrian Armies!”

The wife of the King of Aragon looked at him with utter disgust as she made her thoughts known.

”You are a coward, Felipe! The enemy is at our doorstep, and yet you do not ride out to meet them; you merely hide away in your castle praying that they will leave you alone!”

Upon hearing this insult, Felipe became enraged resulting in him backhanding his wife across the face with a vicious slap before raising his voice to her.

”And my prayers have been answered! Reconquista is a failure! With the backing of Austria, Granada will never fall into the hands of Catholics! We must sue for peace, or we will all be destroyed!”

Upon hearing this, the Queen of Aragon looked at her husband with complete contempt as she left the cowardly King of Aragon to wallow in his misery. As for Felipe, he truly believed his actions were more out of wisdom than Cowardice, for what man could face such horrifying weapons and expect victory?

King Luiz had reported that the enemy had a mere six cannons at the battle of the Andalusian Border, and yet, they were capable of killing tens of thousands of the Crusading forces before they even reached the trench line. Estimates from Iberian Scouts had put the number of these new weapons that were deployed to the Iberian Peninsula in the hundreds.

Against such overwhelming might, only a mad man would dream of victory. With this in mind, the King of Aragon began to draft a letter towards King Berengar and Sultan Hasan in an attempt to establish fair terms of surrender. It was better to sue for peace now than suffer the same fate of Francisco and his family.

King Luiz of Portugal was determined to continue the fight against Austria and Granada however for the remainder of this war he was destined to fight by his lonesome. Of course, he would not be fighting empty-handed; Felipe would ensure that the foreign volunteers that made up the bulk of his remaining forces would be dispatched to Portugal before his terms of surrender could be agreed upon, giving the Kingdom of Portugal a fighting chance.

Though it was unlikely for them to achieve any significant victory, it was the least Felipe could do to aid his former ally. As for his troops? They would be used to unite the Kingdoms of Aragon and Castile under his banner. From the ashes of this failed Reconquista, a new Kingdom would rise in Iberia, a Spanish Kingdom.

How long would it endure throughout the test of time? That was uncertain; after all, the Granadans would not simply sit by and allow their enemies to grow stronger. It was only a matter of time before they struck back against their Catholic Neighbors, for the centuries of bloodshed between the two people could not be overcome peacefully so long as they both inhabited this land.

As for Berengar, he and his army would return to the front lines in time for Felipe's messenger to have arrived. While the Kingdom of Portugal planned its next attack, Berengar and Hasan would meet in Granada to establish appropriate conditions for Aragon's surrender. Berengar would take advantage of this situation to buy Granada enough time with its neighbors to grow and prosper to the point where it could become self-sufficient.

The Austrian intervention in Reconquista was far from over. Still, with Aragon's surrender, tens of thousands of Austrian and Granadan soldiers could be moved from its borders and focus their sight on Portugal. After all, King Luiz was far from finished with his conflict; he would not rest until he had made Berengar pay the price for his son's untimely demise or he would die trying.

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