Chapter 429: Faro Encounter

As the Iberian Party and the Spanish army continued south from Beja, intending to occupy a large swath of Portuguese territory to the south in one stroke, a force of over 5, 00 British volunteers leading, followed by tens of thousands of Portuguese Republican troops, set out in a grand procession from the outskirts of Lisbon, preparing to head south to block the retreat of the Iberian Party and the Spanish army.

The Spanish side had long anticipated the possibility of such actions by the British.

Because the Diana River blocked the Spanish army's path of retreat back to their own country, the Spanish army had no choice but to continue either north or south.

Heading west would bring them too close to the Lisbon region, and since Portugal's territory is rectangular, with its longest north-south stretch being less than 600 kilometers and its widest east-west stretch less than 200 kilometers, there was simply no strategic depth.

The reason for the Spanish side's vigilance was also simple: this terrain was like a large pocket, and once the pocket was sealed, the Spanish army would be like a turtle in a jar.

The line from Beja to Évora was not only the retreat route for the Iberian Party's army and the Spanish army, but also an important logistical supply line for both forces.

Once the supply line was cut by the Republican and British armies, even if they were not trapped within an encirclement, it would be a heavy blow to the morale of the troops.

To prevent this vital supply line from being cut, Spain left varying numbers of garrison troops to defend the line at Alvito, Cuba, and Portel, ensuring the pocket would not be tightened by the Republican and British armies.

In order to avoid being discovered by the Spanish, the Portuguese Republican and British armies took the route from Setúbal to Salir, completely bypassing the Évora to Beja line.

Taking this road, besides preventing detection by the Spanish and Iberian Party armies, had the added benefit of allowing the British and Republican armies to easily receive supplies via the highway; even if an emergency occurred on the front line, the Portuguese side could mobilize more troops to provide support.

While the Portuguese Republican and British armies were heading south, the Spanish army advanced like a hot knife through butter, having quickly arrived at Ourique in the south of Beja.

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

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

There were only about a hundred city police officers there, and they could not possibly resist an attack by the Iberian Party's army.

More importantly, because the Republican Party had already lost the hearts of the people, the moment the Iberian Party's army arrived in Ourique, the locals immediately abandoned resistance and even organized a ceremony to welcome the arrival of the Iberian Party's army.

This allowed the soldiers to breathe a sigh of relief, and after a brief rest in Ourique, they immediately headed south again, preparing to occupy the cities of Almodôvar and Castro Verde in succession.

Because the Portuguese capital, Lisbon, is quite far from the southern region, by the time the Spanish army had advanced to the vicinity of the Caldeirão Mountains, the Republican and British armies had only just arrived near Grândola, with the central-southern city of Beja being dozens of kilometers to the east.

It was clear that the Portuguese Republican Party had underestimated the advance speed of the Iberian Party's army; the Iberian Party's army and the Spanish army had hardly experienced any delays, and occupying those small cities along the way had not taken much time.

This led to an awkward problem: the strategy originally planned by the British to use the pocket formed by the Caldeirão Mountains and the Diana River to encircle the Iberian Party and the Spanish army had basically failed, as it was impossible for the British army to reach 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 a new encirclement south of the Caldeirão Mountains, determined to eliminate the more than 5, 00 volunteers sent by Spain at any cost.

South of the Caldeirão Mountains lies the southern coastal region of Portugal, which meant that the Iberian Party and the Spanish army could no longer continue south.

Coupled with the barrier of the Caldeirão Mountains, the actual retreat routes were only to the west or east. As long as the British and Republican armies deployed in advance to the southeast and southwest of the Caldeirão Mountains to block the retreat routes of the Iberian Party and the Spanish army, this area would still be a relatively perfect encirclement.

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

Because many cities in the south were of considerable size, the Republican Party had also deployed a significant number of garrison troops there.

No matter how strong the combat effectiveness of the Spanish army was, occupying these cities would take a long time. This period was the best deployment phase for the Republican and British armies; as long as they could deploy a large number of troops along the line from Odeleite to Marim, they could drive the enemy toward the northwest.

The northwest was getting further and further away from Spain, and if they could force the Iberian Party and the Spanish army to retreat toward the northwest, it would not be so easy for these troops to break through the encirclement jointly forged by the Republican and British armies.

The Republican and British armies hurried along and finally arrived at Portimão a few days later, just as the Iberian Party's army had broken through Faro.

At the same time, the Portuguese navy transported several thousand ground troops to the line from Marim to Odeleite, attempting to block the eastern route of the Iberian Party and the Spanish army.

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

Meanwhile, the Portuguese Republican troops on the eastern line from Marim to Odeleite also began to build defensive fortifications on the spot, perfecting their defensive formation.

The two armies officially met on the morning of August 28; on the road to Boliqueime, the Spanish army encountered the battle-ready British army.

Enemies meeting face to face, their eyes burning with hatred, the soldiers on both sides naturally had nothing to say and immediately launched a fierce engagement.

Because the British army had long since built simple defensive fortifications, the British side held the advantage in the initial encounter.

The Spanish volunteers suffered hundreds of casualties in just a few hours of fighting, and the casualties on the Iberian Party's side exceeded a thousand.

Although the casualties on the Republican and British side were not small, overall, it was the Iberian Party and the Spanish army that suffered the loss.

It was mainly because the British army occupied favorable terrain, and coupled with the fact that the Republican Party, supported by the British, was not at a disadvantage in terms of weapons and equipment, that they barely managed to win this encounter.

However, a small setback could not discourage the Spanish army.

After the initial failure in the encounter, 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 volunteers numbered only 5, 00 at most, and the remaining Portuguese Republican troops were all green recruits—relying on them to defeat the Spanish army was clearly a pipe dream.

Since they had already detected the British plan, they could not allow the British to gradually shrink the encirclement.