[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-rise-of-the-empire-spain":3,"chapter-rise-of-the-empire-spain-rise-of-the-empire-spain-chapter-432":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Rise of the Empire: Spain",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2365360,4632,"Chapter 432: The Portuguese in Steady Retreat","rise-of-the-empire-spain-chapter-432",432,"\u003Cp>Facts proved that the United States, far across the Atlantic Ocean, was also quite concerned about this war that had broken out on the European continent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When the Spanish diplomatic ambassador contacted the U.S. government, the United States was actually quite clear about the Spaniards' intentions. However, at this time, Britain was still that powerful world hegemon, and the Americans did not have full confidence that they could successfully seize the Cuba colony from the hands of the British.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the final analysis, the military strength of the United States at this time was still too poor. Although the United States had already surpassed Britain in terms of industry and economy, in terms of military strength, the United States was not even as good as Italy, let alone actively attacking Britain, the world's number one power.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even though the Spanish diplomatic ambassador offered their own conditions, supporting the United States in obtaining equity in the Banamayunhe controlled by Britain, the U.S. government remained unmoved.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After determining that it was impossible to win over the U.S. government, Spain could only abandon its plan. Since it could not rely on external forces to force the British government to concede, Spain could only defeat the British on the front lines and force the British to surrender.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On September 8, 1904, multiple Spanish armies marched majestically from the border region and officially entered Portuguese territory, formally declaring their intervention in this Portuguese civil war.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because the British army was still on the way, the Spanish side held an advantage. The Spanish army required less time to commit to the battlefield, and thus possessed more sufficient time to carry out full mobilization on the battlefield.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Time came to September 9, and the Spanish army had completely entered Portuguese territory from the border of the Extremadura region and was deployed in the areas where the Portuguese civil war was most intense, namely the line from Evora to Moura.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The reason why this place was said to be the most intense area of the Portuguese civil war was that the geographical location of this region was extremely important; whoever could control this region could threaten the opponent's capital.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The capital of the Portuguese Republic, Lisbon, was to the west of Moura, and the capital of the Portuguese Democratic Republic, Elvas, was to the east of Evora.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In order to protect their own capital, and also to occupy the enemy's capital as soon as possible, the Gonghe Party and the Iberia Party had both deployed a large number of troops on the front lines. Currently, the total number of troops on this battlefield had already approached 200,000, and it was still increasing continuously.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although 200,000 people did not count as much to the major powers of Europe, for Portugal, which had a population of only over 5 million, a battle involving over 200,000 people already counted as a large-scale battle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For the Iberia Party, there was a piece of good news: there was a railway between Lisbon and Elvas, and this railway happened to pass through Evora.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>More importantly, this railway ran through the border and connected eastward to Badajoz, the capital of the Spanish region of Extremadura.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This also meant that troops and supplies from Spain could be continuously transported via this railway to Elvas and Evora, and then head west toward Lisbon, the capital of the Portuguese Republic.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although the Portuguese Republic could also transport supplies to the front line via this railway, the Portuguese Gonghe Party had to rely on support from Britain for a series of strategic materials, including weapons, ammunition, and medical supplies.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Britain had to first transport supplies from its homeland to Portugal, and only then could they be transported to the front line by rail.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With this back and forth, the time it took for both sides to transport supplies to the front line had a world of difference.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Relying on the advantage of the railway, Spain only needed a few hours at the shortest, and about one day at the longest, to complete the transport of supplies.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for Britain, the time required just to transport supplies from the British homeland to Portugal took at least three to four days to complete. Adding the loading and unloading of supplies at the port and the subsequent rail transport, the time would be extended to at least five to six days.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Besides the large gap in the time required to transport supplies, there was also risk in Britain transporting supplies to Portugal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With Spain formally intervening in the Portuguese civil war, the Spanish navy could also openly blockade the Portuguese coast, preventing Britain from transporting various strategic materials to Portugal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With this back and forth, the supply capabilities of the Portuguese Republic and the Portuguese Democratic Republic were actually vastly different.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As a large number of Spanish troops were committed to the Portuguese civil war, it could be considered as letting the Portuguese realize what a true elite army was.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On September 9, the Spanish army quickly controlled the situation around Evora and forced the Portuguese Republic's army to retreat by nearly ten kilometers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Do not look at the ten-kilometer distance as not being far, but one must know that the straight-line distance from Evora to Lisbon was only 113 kilometers. Judging by this progress, the Spanish army even had hope of striking directly to the outskirts of Lisbon in ten days. Such progress was fatal for the Portuguese Republic, because Portugal's strategic depth was only this much; west of Lisbon was the ocean, and the Portuguese Republic government had nowhere left to retreat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Time came to September 10, and in order to salvage the situation, the Portuguese Gonghe Party organized a force of nearly 50,000 troops and constructed a defensive line about 15 kilometers west of Evora, attempting to delay the Spanish army's speed of advance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Facts proved that they did indeed succeed. Throughout the day of September 10, the Spanish army only pushed the front line forward by less than 5 kilometers, with the speed of advance reduced by more than half compared to the previous day.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But this was not bad news for Spain. In order to block the Spanish army, the 50,000-man army sent by the Portuguese Gonghe Party suffered at least 20,000 casualties, and their combat-ready troops had plummeted to about 30,000.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If one calculated based on this casualty ratio, the Gonghe Party would face the awkward situation of having no troops to use before even reaching Lisbon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If having the front line pushed too quickly was a fatal problem, then the excessive number of deaths and injuries in the army was an even more fatal problem for the Gonghe Party.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before Britain and Spain each sent volunteer armies, the Gonghe Party possessed a force of nearly 100,000, which was also an important reason why they maintained the situation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And after the battle on September 10 was finished, the Gonghe Party only had a little over 70,000 troops with combat capability left, and it was still constantly plummeting.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>According to this trend, before the British army even arrived on Portuguese soil, the Portuguese civil war might already be over.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Regarding the two battles after the Spanish army entered Portugal, the British side was also highly concerned. The British had long anticipated that the Spanish army would immediately change the situation of the Portuguese civil war after entering Portugal, but they did not expect the Portuguese Gonghe Party's army to be so vulnerable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Logically speaking, the number of troops on both sides of the front line was about the same. Even if the combat effectiveness of the Portuguese army was far inferior to the Spanish army, fighting a defensive battle to drag things out for a few days should not have been a problem.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was also the British plan: let the Portuguese Gonghe Party's army drag things out for a few days, and after the British army arrived in Portugal, carry out a more powerful defense and counterattack, and fight a war of attrition between Portugal and Spain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the current situation had already far exceeded Britain's expectations. According to the development of the current situation, this Portuguese civil war could not evolve into a war of attrition at all, because the small Portuguese Republic had no power to resist the Spanish offensive.\u003C\u002Fp>",1386,"2026-06-25T09:27:15.200Z",1,"Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite","97bc11568c367d6ca3824c5a0fccdaf744288859589681ea2a290e207e4af298","rise-of-the-empire-spain-chapter-433","rise-of-the-empire-spain-chapter-431",493,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Frise-of-the-empire-spain-cover.jpg"]