Aztec Civilization: Destiny to Conquer America!-Chapter 1771 - 1267: Twenty Thousand Infantry and Cavalry, the Military Force of the Kingdom of Portugal

"The King has issued an order! Summon the Castilian noble, Don Christopher Columbus!..."

"Columbus! The honorable King João summons you. Behave yourself in the presence of the King!..."

The guard opened the dim stone prison, escorting the important "noble prisoner" out of the eerie Lisbon Prison. The blinding sunlight made it hard to keep eyes open. When the guards, holding spears, pushed the "prisoner" into a horse carriage under Officer Ruben's orders, the light dimmed once more.

"Clip-clop!"

The light tapping of hooves trotted along the cobblestone streets. The unobstructed route, the slightly noticeable smell of urine, and the minimal bumpiness of the road all testified to the good governance of Lisbon City, far better than the filth-ridden Paris of the time. And as the bright sunlight appeared again, the Sintra Palace of the Portuguese stood prominently before them.

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

"Routine body search."

"Please!"

"Damn it... I am a noble of Castile! I should be treated according to my status as a noble!..."

Before Columbus could react, he was pressed to the ground by two strong Portuguese guards and thoroughly searched. Moments later, he got up with a grim expression and looked at the palace guards, wanting to utter some harsh words, but upon seeing their silent, fierce demeanor, he closed his mouth in fear.

"Is this... the Royal Guard of the Portuguese, that elite corps composed of highlanders?"

Columbus pursed his lips, observing closely for a while. The guards defending Sintra Palace numbered about several hundred, clearly divided into two types of attire: some wore breastplates, wielding long axes, occasionally holding banner lances as medium-armored infantry, while others wore chain armor, carried short swords, and bore great shields with crossbows as elite crossbowmen. Many in these two guard types wore distinctive highlander decorations, with fierce and cold expressions, clearly veteran soldiers seasoned by battle. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

"Haha! Indeed! Witnessed by the Almighty, this is the Royal Guard that defeated your Castilian army head-on a hundred years ago in the royal battle! These armored royal crossbowmen shot down hundreds of French and Castilian knights; they are the nemesis of you Castilians!..."

Leading the way, Portuguese officer Ruben smirked as Columbus was searched, his face undisguised in hostility towards the Kingdom of Castile. In truth, the Portuguese and Castilians had fought for a century, and middle-and-lower-class soldiers and citizens harbored only animosity towards each other, without any goodwill. The so-called "royal battle" he referred to was the decisive Battle of Aljubarrota during the Castilian invasion of the Kingdom of Portugal a hundred years ago.

In that battle, led personally by King João I, eight thousand Portuguese troops plus several hundred English longbowmen clashed in open battle with thirty thousand Castilian troops and hundreds of French knights. The Portuguese seized the high ground; their infantry dug trenches and set up horse-stopping stakes to rely on the terrain to withstand the charges of Castilian and French knights.

Then, the Portuguese highlander hunters and English longbowmen rained arrows down from the mountain's mid-slope, killing or wounding the charging cavalry, causing them to fall from their horses, and suppressing the Castilian infantry. What followed was the classic "hammer-and-anvil tactic." The conscripted militia on the front line tangled with the royal guard, while Alvey's cavalry attacked the flanks, eventually routing the thirty thousand Castilian troops, causing them heavy casualties...

After this battle, Portuguese highlander hunters, known for their archery skills and combat bravery, were valued by the Royal Family, massively recruited into the King's direct guard. The skilled archers among them were armed with chain armor and trained as the elite "royal crossbowmen." The bravest and strongest highlanders joined the corps, trained for agile assaults, daring to charge against cavalry as "royal infantry."

By the Fifteenth Century today, the entire standing army of the Kingdom of Portugal was roughly divided into three parts: the southern knights of the Alvey Knight Order, medium-armored infantry skilled in fortification similar to the Roman legions, and the elite crossbowmen trained from the northeastern highlander hunters. The entire kingdom's army was very balanced, simultaneously adapted to mountain and plain battles, without any obvious shortcomings.

In battles under ten thousand people, especially close combats around a thousand, the Portuguese army performed exceptionally, often defeating many with few, achieving remarkable victory ratios. In later colonial expansions in the East, a thousand-strong Portuguese army even defended cities against tens of thousands of Arab and Indian troops... However, when it came to continent-wide operations over ten thousand, the Portuguese army often ran out of steam, revealing their greatest shortcoming: too few in number!

The entire population of the Kingdom of Portugal was two million. Excluding the regional militia and the private soldiers of various vassals, the standing army controlled by the Royal Family was only seven to eight thousand, including two to three thousand royal cavalry. And in the Castilian throne war twenty years ago, King Alfonso, exerting all his effort, managed to summon five thousand light and heavy cavalry, five thousand infantry, and less than ten thousand conscripted militia, assembling a 20,000-strong large army for the campaign. Around twenty thousand was about the maximum field force the Portuguese could muster.

Subsequently, King Alfonso and Prince João faced off against the allied forces of Isabella and Fernando in even numbers of twenty thousand on each side, resulting in a stalemate. Then, the originally neutral Castilian nobility gradually swung to Isabella's side, and the Dual Kings' forces grew more numerous. Facing three to four times the allied forces of Castile and Aragon, King Alfonso couldn't hold. Ultimately, he had to negotiate peace and retreat, relinquishing his claim to Castile's throne, missing the best and only chance to unite under Castilian rule...

As for now, the recently concluded Holy War had left the Kingdom of Castile at its fiscal lowest and military peak! A formidable force of fifty to sixty thousand Crusaders, seasoned by a decade of warfare, was enough to extinguish any thought of confrontation from the Kingdom of Portugal, forcing them to avoid land conflicts as much as possible...

"Hehe! Twenty years ago, when the Portuguese army invaded Castile, didn't the brave Queen defeat them? And now, the Holy War army of the Queen, known for their fearsome reputation and invincibility, has just conquered the Moorish Kingdom, which I personally witnessed outside Granada... how could you Portuguese compare?... Your specialty, after all, is to hunker down in mountains or castles, like a cowardly hedgehog, holding on grimly defensively while taking a beating..."

Columbus, stiff-necked, couldn't help but taunt. Even after being imprisoned for two days, he couldn't change his long-winded and stubborn nature, though he didn't dare to curse in front of Portuguese officers.

It was audacious for a prisoner to mock, apparent he hadn't suffered enough to learn his lesson. If he were to present himself like this before King João, wouldn't it be considered his failure? The leading officer Ruben was immediately incensed. He pointed at Columbus, turning to yell at the guarding soldiers.

"For the safety of the King... search this cunning, vicious Castilian prisoner again! Check everywhere carefully, in case he's hiding secret weapons for assassination!..."

"...Merda! Minchia! Diamine!!..."

The two burly Portuguese guards pounced forward, and soon after, Columbus erupted in shrill curses and cries, thoroughly feeling the greeting and guidance of the Portuguese...

"Your esteemed Majesty, the prisoner Columbus has been brought."

"Greetings to you! Glorious King João... You are the wisest of sovereigns... the one most respected by the Queen as 'that man'..."

In the grand hall full of scholars, Columbus, pale-faced, obediently lowered his head and saluted the majestic ruler at the forefront. Though unscathed, the lingering pain of wounds subtly reminded him to be cautious. However, having been taught a lesson and now behaving cautiously was certainly not his true nature, yet how long could he genuinely maintain this demeanor?...