Chapter 1266: 20,000 Infantry and Cavalry, the Military Strength of the Kingdom of Portugal

"The king has ordered! Summon the Castilian noble, Don Christopher Columbus!..."

"Columbus! The respected King Joao summons you. Be honest in front of the king!..."

The jailer opened the dark stone prison and walked out of the gloomy Lisbon prison with the important "noble prisoner". The dazzling sunlight was in front of him, which made people unable to open their eyes. When the guards with long guns, under the order of officer Reuben, stuffed the "prisoner" into the carriage, the light dimmed again.

"Da Da!"

The sound of horse hooves knocking lightly, trotting on the cobblestone street. The unobstructed journey, the slightly unpleasant smell of urine, and the only slightly bumpy road all proved that the Lisbon municipal government was running well, far better than the filthy Paris at this time. And when the bright sunlight appeared again, the Portuguese Sintra Palace had already appeared in front of them.

"This is the prisoner summoned by the king, a Castilian noble, Columbus."

"Routine body search."

"Please!"

"Damn... I am a Castilian noble! I want to be treated as a noble in accordance with my status!..."

Before Columbus could react, he was pinned to the ground by two strong Portuguese guards and carefully searched. After a moment, he got up with a gloomy face and looked at the guards guarding the palace. He wanted to say something harsh, but seeing the other party's silent and fierce expression, he closed his mouth in fear.

"This is... the Portuguese King's Guard, the elite legion composed of mountain people?"

Columbus pursed his lips and looked at it carefully for a while. The guards guarding the Sintra Palace, about hundreds of people, were clearly divided into two types of attire: one was medium-armored infantry wearing breastplates, holding long axes, and occasionally holding flag guns, and the other was elite crossbowmen wearing chain mail, short swords on their waists, and carrying large shields and crossbows. Many of the two types of guards wore unique mountain folk ornaments, and their expressions were fierce and indifferent. They were veterans who had been through many battles.

"Haha! Yes! God is my witness. This is the King's Guard that defeated your Castilian Legion head-on in the Royal War a hundred years ago! These armored King's crossbowmen shot and killed hundreds of French and Castilian knights. They are the nemesis of you Castilians!..."

The Portuguese officer Reuben, who led the way, raised his mouth and allowed Columbus to be searched roughly. His face did not hide his hostility towards the Kingdom of Castile. In fact, Portugal and Castilians have been fighting for a hundred years. The middle and lower-level soldiers and people only have hostility towards each other, and no good feelings. The "Royal War" he mentioned was the Battle of Aljubarrota, a battle that determined the fate of the kingdom when Castile invaded the Kingdom of Portugal a hundred years ago.

In that battle led by John I himself, 8,000 Portuguese troops plus hundreds of English longbowmen fought against 30,000 Castilian troops and hundreds of French knights in the field. The Portuguese seized the high ground on the hillside, and the infantry dug trenches and set up horse-blocking stakes, relying on the mountain terrain to resist the charge of Castilian and French knights.

Then, the Portuguese mountain hunters on the hillside, together with the English longbowmen, shot and killed thousands of cavalrymen who charged, and made them fall off their horses, and suppressed the Castilian infantry. After that, it was the classic "hammer and iron felt tactics". The frontal conscripted militia and the king's guards fought, and the Alvi cavalry on the flanks raided from behind, and finally defeated the 30,000 Castilian troops, with heavy casualties...

After this battle, the Portuguese mountain hunters were also valued by the royal family because of their good shooting and courage to fight, and were recruited in large numbers into the king's guards. Among them, hunters who were good at shooting were armed with chain mail and trained to become elite "King's Crossbowmen". The bravest and strongest mountain people joined the legion and were trained to become "King's Infantry" who were flexible in assault and dared to charge against cavalry.

In the 15th century, the standing legion of the entire Kingdom of Portugal can be roughly divided into three parts. The southern knights from the Alvi Knights, the medium-armored infantry who imitated the Roman legion and were good at building fortifications, and the elite crossbowmen trained by the mountain hunters in the northeast. The legions of the entire kingdom are very balanced, and they are adapted to fighting in mountains and plains at the same time, without any obvious shortcomings.

In battles with a scale of less than 10,000 people, especially those with about 1,000 people, the Portuguese legions performed very well, often fighting against more enemies with fewer people, and won with amazing casualties. When later generations opened up colonies in the East, the Portuguese legions of 1,000 people even defended the city and defeated tens of thousands of Arab troops and Indian princely states... But once the scale of operations rose to more than 10,000 people on the European continent, the Portuguese legions were often unable to cope with it and had to expose their biggest shortcoming: too few people!

The entire Kingdom of Portugal had a population of two million. Apart from the garrisoned militias and the private soldiers of the vassals, the royal family had only 7,000 to 8,000 standing troops, including 2,000 to 3,000 royal cavalry. In the battle for the throne of Castile 20 years ago, King Alfonso did his best to recruit 5,000 light and heavy cavalry, 5,000 legion infantry, and less than 10,000 conscripted militias, to form an army of 20,000 infantry and cavalry to participate in the war. The number of "20,000" was about the maximum field force that the Portuguese could muster.

Later, King Alfonso and Prince João faced off against the combined forces of Isabella and Fernando, twenty thousand against twenty thousand, and the result was a draw. Then, the originally neutral Castilian nobles gradually turned to Isabella's side, and the two kings' forces increased. With 20,000 Portuguese legions facing off against the 30,000 to 40,000 Castilian and Aragonese coalition forces, King Alfonso could no longer support them. In the end, he had to negotiate a peace and withdraw his troops, gave up his claim to the throne of Castile, and missed the best and only opportunity to unite Castile...

As for now, the Kingdom of Castile, which has just finished the Holy War, is at its lowest point financially and at its peak military power! A total of 50,000 to 60,000 jihadists who have been fighting for ten years are enough for the Kingdom of Portugal to extinguish any idea of ​​​​a head-on confrontation, and even try to avoid land friction between the two sides...

"Haha! Twenty years ago, the Portuguese legions invaded Castile and were defeated by the heroic queen? And now the queen's holy war legions are majestic and invincible. They have just conquered the Moorish Kingdom. I saw it with my own eyes. I've seen it outside Granada... How can you Portuguese compare? ... What you Portuguese are best at is huddled in mountains or castles, like cowardly hedgehogs, defending desperately and getting beaten..."

Columbus scratched his neck and couldn't help but sneered a few words. Even if he was caught and imprisoned for two days, he could not change his talkative and stubborn temper. He just did not dare to curse in front of the Portuguese officers.

It's just that as a prisoner, he still dared to ridicule and couldn't see clearly his situation. It was obvious that he had not suffered enough. If he is brought before King Joao like this, if he offends the king, won't it be considered his fault? Ruben, the officer leading the way, suddenly became furious. He immediately pointed his finger at Columbus and turned to the guards guarding him and shouted.

"For the safety of the king...search this cunning and vicious Castilian prisoner again! Search all places, open and check carefully! Prevent him from carrying hidden weapons for assassination!..."

"…Merda! Minchia! Diamine!!…"

Two stout Portuguese guards rushed forward, but after a moment, Columbus broke out with screams and curses, and felt the greetings and teachings of the Portuguese...

"His Majesty the King, the prisoner Columbus has been brought."

"Greetings to you! The perfect King Joao... you are the wisest monarch... the man who is most respected by the queen..."

In the hall full of scholars, Columbus looked pale, bowed his head obediently, and saluted the majestic king. Although there were no scars on his body, the wounds hurt slightly, reminding him to be careful all the time. However, his cautious and well-behaved attitude after being taught a lesson is totally not his nature. How long can he really maintain it? …