Chapter 429: Encounter Battle at Faro

When the Iberian Party and the Spanish army continued to head south from Beja, intending to occupy a large area of Portuguese territory in the south at once, a team led by more than 5,000 British volunteer soldiers, followed by more than 10,000 Portuguese Republican Party soldiers, also marched out from around Lisbon in a mighty manner, preparing to head south to block the retreat of the Iberian Party and the Spanish army.

Regarding the possible actions of the British, Spain was also well-prepared.

Because the Diana River blocked the road for the Spanish army to retreat to the country, this also led to the Spanish army only being able to choose to continue north or south.

Heading west was too close to the Lisbon area, and Portugal's territory was rectangular, with the longest north-south distance being less than 600 kilometers and the widest east-west distance being less than 200 kilometers, with no strategic depth at all.

The reason for Spain's precautions was also very simple: this terrain was like a large pocket; once the pocket was sealed, the Spanish army would be like a "turtle in a jar" (a Chinese idiom meaning trapped).

The Beja to Évora line was not only the retreat route for the Iberian Party army and the Spanish army but also an important logistical supply line for the two armies.

Once the supply line was cut off by the Republican Party and the British army, even if they were not blocked in the encirclement, it would be a heavy blow to the military heart.

In order to prevent this important supply line from being cut off, Spain left behind varying numbers of garrison troops in Alvito, Cuba, and Portel to defend, ensuring that the pocket would not be tightened by the Republican Party and the British army.

In order not to be discovered by Spain and the Iberian Party, the Portuguese Republican Party and the British army took the route from Setúbal to Sines, completely bypassing the Évora to Beja line.

Besides preventing being discovered by Spain and the Iberian Party, taking this road also had the benefit that the British and Republican Party armies could easily obtain supplies through the highway; even if the front line encountered a relatively urgent situation, the Portuguese side could also mobilize more troops to support.

While the Portuguese Republican Party army and the British army were marching south, the Spanish army was unstoppable and had quickly arrived at Ourique, south of Beja.

Not far south of this city was the Caldeirão Mountains; after crossing the Caldeirão Mountains, further south was Faro, an important city in southern Portugal.

Unlike Beja, which had a larger scale, Ourique was only a small city and had no garrison stationed there.

There were only hundreds of city police here, and they could not resist the attack of the Iberian Party's army.

More importantly, because the Republican Party had already lost the hearts of the people, the Iberian Party's army had just arrived in Ourique, and the local area immediately gave up resistance, and even organized a ceremony to welcome the arrival of the Iberian Party's army.

This also made a crowd of soldiers breathe a sigh of relief. After simple rest in Ourique, they immediately headed south again, preparing to capture the two cities of Almodôvar and Cachopo one after another.

Because the Portuguese capital Lisbon was relatively far from the southern region, when the Spanish army had already advanced to near the Caldeirão Mountains, the Republican Party and the British army had only arrived near Grândola, and dozens of kilometers to the east was the central-southern city of Beja.

It was very clear that the Portuguese Republican Party underestimated the advance speed of the Iberian Party's army; the Iberian Party's army and the Spanish army did not have any delay, and occupying those small cities along the way did not take too long.

This led to a relatively awkward problem, which was that the strategy of the British originally planning to use the Caldeirão Mountains and the Diana River to form a pocket to surround the Iberian Party and the Spanish army had basically failed; the British army could not arrive at the Almodôvar line before the Spanish army passed through the Caldeirão Mountains.

Since they could not form an encirclement at the intersection of the Caldeirão Mountains and the Diana River, the British army quickly changed its strategy, deciding to form an encirclement again south of the Caldeirão Mountains, and at all costs, they had to eliminate these 5,000-plus volunteer soldiers sent by Spain.

South of the Caldeirão Mountains was Portugal's southern coastal city, which also represented that the Iberian Party and Spain's army could no longer continue south.

Plus the barrier of the Caldeirão Mountains, the actual retreat route was only heading west or east. As long as the British and Republican Party armies deployed in the southeast and southwest of the Caldeirão Mountains in advance and blocked the retreat route of the Iberian Party and the Spanish army, this area was still a relatively perfect encirclement.

Compared to the encirclement formed by the intersection before, this new encirclement was also easier to execute.

Because many cities in the south were quite large, the Republican Party also deployed a not-small number of garrison troops here.

No matter how powerful the Spanish army's combat effectiveness was, occupying these cities also required a long time. And this period of time was the best deployment stage for the Republican Party and the British army; as long as they could deploy a large number of troops on the Odleite to Marim line in advance, they could drive the enemy toward the northwest direction.

The northwest direction was getting farther and farther from Spain; as long as they could force the Iberian Party and Spain's army to retreat toward the northwest, it would not be so easy for these armies to break through the encirclement jointly cast by the Republican Party and the British army.

The Republican Party and the British army hurried and finally arrived at Portimão a few days later.

At the same time, the Portuguese Navy also transported thousands of land troops to the Marim to Odleite line, attempting to block the eastern route of the Iberian Party and the Spanish army.

On August 27, 1904, the British army began to shrink the encirclement and soon arrived at Boliqueime, not far west of Faro.

And the Portuguese Republican Party army on the Marim to Odleite line in the east also began to build defensive works in place, perfecting their defensive formation.

The two armies officially met on the morning of August 28; on the way of the Spanish army to Boliqueime, they encountered the British army that was "fully prepared".

"Enemies meet, eyes are red" (a Chinese idiom meaning extremely hateful); the soldiers of both sides naturally had nothing to say and immediately engaged in a fierce battle.

Because the British army had long built simple defensive works, the encounter battle at the beginning was the British side taking advantage.

The Spanish volunteer army suffered casualties of hundreds of people in a few hours of engagement, and the casualties of the Iberian Party's army were already over a thousand.

Although the casualties of the Republican Party and the British army were not small, overall, it was still the Iberian Party and the Spanish army that suffered losses.

It was mainly because the British army occupied favorable terrain, plus the Republican Party, relying on Britain's support, did not suffer in terms of weapons and equipment, which was why they barely counted as winning this encounter battle.

It was just that a small setback could not make the Spanish army lose heart.

After the setback in the encounter battle at the very beginning, the Spanish army immediately realized the British army's plan. However, such a situation was not fatal for the Spanish army; after all, the British volunteer army totaled only 5,000-plus people, and the remaining Portuguese Republican Party army were all "new recruits" (a Chinese idiom meaning inexperienced soldiers); wanting to rely on them to defeat the Spanish army was obviously "daydreaming" (a Chinese idiom meaning wishful thinking).

Since they had already sensed the British plan, they couldn't let the British gradually shrink the encirclement. ===== CHAPTER 430 =====