118 Portugal
Although Eaststellar’s fleet flew past the Bay of Biscay, there was no word from Spain.
Unfortunately, he was just worried about what would happen if his country was attacked by Baron Easterfield’s shells by mistake.
Even Lee Hwan casually replenished supplies in Ponte Vedra, the bordered area of Spain and Portugal.
Spain welcomed Yi Hwan’s fleet and even supplied them with supplies at low prices.
In a word, Spain was in a state of being unable to even speak to the Eaststellar fleet.
Nevertheless, Spain bowed their heads again and again to Eaststellar.
A messenger from the Spanish court treasurer came directly to Yi Hwan and asked if there was anything else he needed.
“The court treasurer has commanded you to give whatever you want.”
“Thank you. Your hospitality will be remembered for generations to come.”
“thank you! In the royal palace, if the Eaststellar mercenaries want to move by land, they say they are willing to make a way.”
“I am so happy that you would be so kind to me.”
“However, if you continue to maintain friendly relations with Spain in the future, I will not ask for anything more.”
In the end, Spain wanted to maintain a friendly relationship with the East Stella mercenaries until the end, so they did this.
Lee Hwan also thought that power was good.
‘Europe is the king who has it.’
Having won the favor of Spain, he decided to boost the morale of the soldiers.
All of the East Stellar mercenaries filled the squadron with silver coins, and Lee Hwan told them to eat and drink for one night and two days.
“As a commander, this is a bonus I give. Everyone, wipe out Spain.”
“Oh oh… … … ! Thank you, Commander!”
“Don’t forget. We are the Black Hammer Pirates. Be gentle when playing, but the atmosphere is hot! Do you understand?”
“Yep!”
“Okay, play!”
If you enjoy this kind of pleasure during the expedition, the morale of the soldiers will increase.
Lee Hwan naturally found out this fact from the knowledge of a scholar who had mastered the tactics of Sun Tzu and several Western tactics books.
Up to now, he always sprinkled silver coins whenever he found a place to rest, even during an expedition, to boost the morale of the soldiers.
Thanks to this, even without looting, the soldiers were always able to achieve victory in luxury without starving.
The day the soldiers went out for a night out.
Lee Hwan was able to face the soldiers who were equal in their eyes.
“It ravages Lisbon. Are you ready?”
“yes… … !”
“Keep the citizens alive and kill all the soldiers. We have no prisoners.”
“all right!”
“No looting, no arson, no rape. There are no murders and no civilian assaults other than military battles. As always, when we are playing, we are gentle, and the atmosphere is hot. Did you know?”
“Neep!”
“Come on, get on board!”
The East Stellar mercenary corps was more aggressive than before, and their actions were swift and theft.
The sense of belonging that the club of power they can wield only comes from the East Stellar mercenary corps, which raised the standard.
As Lee Hwan left Pontevedra, he smashed shells at random in front of him.
bang bang… … !
In fact, it was a blank bullet for a warning shot, but the magnificence of its sound was comparable to that of a live bullet.
A young Polish composer, impressed by the majesty of the Eaststellar mercenaries sweeping and descending the coastline as if in a parade with cannons, wrote a piano concerto called ‘Cannon Fantasy’.
He would later be called the Prince of Piano, but now he was just an 18-year-old dreamy and talented pianist.
Lee Hwan, who continued his majestic and noisy south to create the inspiration for the Cannon Fantasy, reached the coast of Porto, a port in the North Atlantic Ocean.
But the coastline was quiet.
Lee Hwan, who scanned the coastline with a telescope, tilted his head.
“At this point, it would not be enough to light up a battlefield, but where did everyone go?”
“Maybe he ran away inland?”
“Hmm… … . Inland?”
If they were to be pulled inland, there would be a hassle of anchoring the fleet, unloading equipment, and realigning the ranks.
Anyway, it was just a matter of time.
Lee Hwan launched a high-speed boat and dispatched a search team to a nearby village.
It was to get information from the village and find out where the army was currently headed.
But unexpectedly, the search team returned empty-handed.
“Commander, the surrounding villages are all empty.”
“Is the town empty?”
“It seems that all the citizens are evacuated because rumors are likely to leak out.”
“… … Oh, it looks like you made some preparations for something else, didn’t you?”
In this world, there are often cases in which the gaps that cannot be covered by the level of weapons are overcome with resourcefulness and tactics.
If the superiority of weapons is considered, it is normal that Indians should not be able to compete with the military of the old continent, but there are many precedents in which the Indian army plundered and slaughtered the army of the old continent.
In that sense, the current situation was a situation that could never relax the tension.
However, no matter how long and long they flew, they could not withstand the disease.
Not only did he master the geography of the area, but he was also a perfect man for strategic tactics.
“If you take the Douro River from here, you can march east for a long time. It is also not incomprehensible that so many people were evacuated if they used the river. However, in my opinion, given that we did not declare war and the time we had to get down here was not very long, it is highly likely that we evacuated people to places such as Guimaraes and Brygne.”
“Then what about the soldiers?”
“If it were me, I would have gathered the soldiers in the capital, Lisbon.”
“Are you talking about the capital?”
“No matter how well the surrounding cities are, if the capital falls, even Miguel I will have no choice but to do it.”
“Then you’re saying you’re going to stick with the slaughter in Lisbon?”
“I will.”
“Hmm… … .”
To advance to the Ribeira Palace, the heart of Portugal, you must defeat the fortresses of Lisbon one after another along the narrow mouth of the Tagus River.
If Yi Hwan was even Miguel I, he would have thought that it would be best to stay in the Ribeira Palace.
Lee Hwan decided to show them what shock and fear were.
“We divide the fleet in two. The 1st Squadron advances to the Royal Palace of Ribeira, Lisbon as it is, the 2nd Squad anchors at Sintra Cape, and divides into small squads up to Amadora to strike the enemy’s rear.”
Eaststellar was commissioned by Portugal to design the road and was in charge of the construction, so he knew the details very well.
They even knew the road network better than most Portuguese soldiers, as they even ran through the main roads as well as the very small branches of the provinces.
Lee Hwan organized a commando force to advance to the rear.
“Zephiroth, you’re in charge of 1,200 commandos.”
“Yes, I understand.”
“Simply move troops made up of only vehicles and mortars, but cut off all visible wires to completely cut off enemy communications.”
Telegrams were not the exclusive domain of Eaststellar, but now became a very popular means of communication spread throughout Europe.
However, the construction cost was quite astronomical, and there were not many areas where the conditions for a telegram machine could be placed.
For this reason, in the case of Portugal, only limited installations were made in areas with large roads.
Of course, the people who installed it were also Eaststellar’s engineers.
“In a week, the white flag should be hung at the Ribeira Palace. Can you do it?”
“Just leave it to me!”
“And the fleet anchored in Cape Sintra blocks the enemy’s entry, divides its squad and takes over major cities such as Guimaraes and Brygne in turn along the tributary of the Douro River.”
“Yes, I understand!”
After all, victory was a foregone conclusion.
From now on, how quickly the war could end and behead Miguel I was the key.
***
After the completion of the operation to clear the Portuguese army in East Stella, the question of how to deal with the people living in areas formerly occupied by Portugal was raised.
At present, there were so many hostile views toward Portugal that there were many opinions that virtually all Portugal should be expelled from North America.
Emile Rose couldn’t help but ponder what to do about the matter.
He asked his staff what the views of indigenous peoples and migrants were respectively.
“What do the Indians and settlers think of this situation?”
“Indians are Indians and settlers are settlers. Now that we are living and adapted to the climate of the Easterfield Baron, there is no such thing as a different political orientation based on race or origin.”
“Hmm, the baron’s policy of harmony has really melted in.”
Lee Hwan’s policy of embracing Indians and the prohibition of racial discrimination between blacks and whites shed light on the Baron of Easterfield, becoming the only free land in the world.
Just by looking at the current situation, it was enough to know how effective the policy was.
“The progressives argue that it is right to embrace Portuguese citizens, and the conservatives argue that it is right to kill all Portuguese ancestry.”
“Hmm… … .”
“At the end of the day, we have no choice but to find the answer at this midpoint.”
After all, sending Portuguese residents to neutral places like Utah or Montana would not guarantee their lives.
It was because the area was infested with the US military, the enemy of Portugal.
Then, all that was left was Emile Rose’s resourcefulness.
“Okay, then do this. Perhaps by now the baron had advanced to Portugal. If he beheaded the Portuguese king or cleaned up the nobles, he would give the Portuguese people an opportunity to escape North America.”
“Aha! If you hit the king’s head, the repulsion might subside!”
“Hopefully we can absorb the people from Portugal into Eaststellar’s workforce. Among me, there must be people who admire our East Stellar.”
“you’re right. There are quite a few people who want to join East Stellar Company.”
“Besides, I’ve heard that there are quite a few Indians in the Portuguese-occupied territories. If we unite those Indians and converts to build a free city, I think the turnover of goods will improve.”
“It’s a very wise choice. It is better to properly accommodate civilian forces than to see any more blood.”
The Baron of Easterfield is truly a land of immigrants, so it can be free from discrimination and persecution.
If the Portuguese army’s sole action resulted in the annihilation of its citizens, who would follow the Baron Easterfield in the future?
Emil Rose’s policy was ultimately a part of the neutral policy implemented based on Lee Hwan’s policy of inclusion.