Chapter 427 - Portugals Last Ditch Effort (2/2)

More importantly, even if they managed to manufacture such a staggering amount of firearms, where would they get the gunpowder needed to utilize them? The Austrian Royal Navy had cut off their trade routes overseas, and Europe severely lacked natural saltpeter mines.

Unfortunately for the Portuguese crown, they were unaware of a large concentration of the precious material within the area of Catalonia known as Collbató. Thus when the Marshal brought up this point of contention, King Luiz nearly had a stroke.

”Your Majesty, even if we were to be able to manufacture such a large supply of the weapons, how will we use them without gunpowder!?!”

In truth, the King was in such a state of fury that he had failed to think about this critical component. All of his plans to arm a massive army of hundreds of thousands of soldiers with arkebuses had come crashing down. Thus, he was left with few options to successfully defend his borders.

It took the King some time to cope with the fact that he was completely and utterly doomed, yet despite this reality, he still refused to submit. After all, he would never yield to the man responsible for the death of his firstborn son! With great determination, he clawed his way out of depression and spoke forth his decree.

”We will make do with what we have! If we can't smuggle gunpowder and firearms into our Kingdom, then we will throw wave after wave of men at the enemy forces until we have secured victory!”

The moment the King said these words, the Marshal beneath his command had lost all hope of victory. He knew that such a tactic would not work against their enemies. Whether or not he believed this mad strategy would succeed, his duty was to fulfill his orders. Thus he kneeled before his King before vocalizing his acceptance of the task set upon him.

”Your Majesty, I will fulfill your orders, but know this, even if we manage to survive the onslaught of our enemies, the loss of life will be so severe that our Kingdom may never fully recover!”

Despite the Marshal's words of warning, the King of Portugal was determined to get revenge for his son's death. As such, he simply glared at his Marshal once more before uttering words that were filled with contempt.

”Your opinion is duly noted, Marshal; now go and fulfill your orders!”

After saying this, the Marshal left the Throne Room of the Castle within Lisbon. As the man in charge of the Kingdom's armies, he knew that the King's plan was suicide. Thus he had no intent to go through with it. Instead, he planned to immediately defect with his family and cross over to Morrocco to live the rest of their lives in exile.

As for King Luiz, the moment his Marshal had left his Throne Room, he collapsed onto his throne, mentally exhausted from the ordeal. He gazed upon a crude portrait of his son that hanged on his wall while lamenting his loss.

”My son, if I had known that you would have perished in that battle, then I never would have allowed you to lead the charge. I swear to God in Heaven that I will avenge your death. Berengar von Kufstein will die by my hands!”

After making such a bold claim, the King of Portugal passed out on his seat of power. He had gotten too little sleep since the death of his son, and now it had finally caught up to him. While Luiz slept upon his throne, various government officials raided the Kingdom's treasury, with the intent to flee to North Africa with as much wealth as they and their families could carry.

While the leading officials of the Portuguese Kingdom fled to Morroco, the Triple Alliance would fortify their position on the border, waiting for the peace accords between Austria, Granada, and Aragon to be finalized. It was only after the peace treaty had been signed between the three nations that the Triple Alliance would march its forces into Portugal with the intent of total conquest.

What meager defense could the Portuguese manage without their Marshal and the Kingdom's treasury? That remained to be seen. One thing was sure, Berengar did not intend to leave Iberia until after the entire Kingdom of Portugal had fallen to Granadan rule. Thus the war in Iberia continued in a direction that heavily favored Granada and her allies.

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