Life of Being a Crown Prince in France

Chapter 1211: Chapter 1116

Everyone immediately started rubbing their hands eagerly.

Gibraltar is as important to England as its homeland; attacking here would be tantamount to waging full-scale war with England.

Previously, although Spain was fiercely engaged with the British Army in Portugal, it still did not reach the level of a national war.

Joseph pondered, “To instill confidence in the Spaniards, we must send troops first. At least more than 5,000 men and a large number of heavy cannons over 32 pounds.”

Indeed, the difficulty of capturing Gibraltar is immense, and Spain is likely unwilling to tackle it alone.

Gibraltar itself is a seaside rock mountain, very steep on the side facing the land, with only a winding mountain road a few hundred meters wide connecting it. Just placing some cannons at the top makes it impossible for any soldiers to attack.

The British have been managing this place for over a hundred years, placing heavy cannons at every possible shooting position, with a total of more than 500 cannons in the entire fortress.

Historically, Napoleon dispatched 15,000 soldiers to besiege the small area of Gibraltar Fortress, only to find it inaccessible, and ultimately had to give up reluctantly.

It can be said that unless Britain’s maritime supply to Gibraltar is cut off, rendering the fortress out of supplies, it is almost impossible to conquer.

However, Britain has never announced the end of the Anti-French Alliance, nor has there been a ceasefire agreement between England and France; theoretically, the two countries are still in a state of war.

Thus, France has no psychological barrier to sending troops to attack Gibraltar.

And now, the ability of Portugal to supply Gibraltar has significantly weakened, forcing Britain to transport supplies from its homeland. This can also become a bleeding point for England.

Joseph thought for a moment and said, “We can tell the Spaniards that our fleet will also station at Granada Port to cooperate in the attack on Gibraltar.”

Granada is just over 200 kilometers east of Gibraltar, and the France and Spain fleets can set off from here at any time to harass British supply ships.

While everyone was discussing, Eman knocked and entered, handing two newly arrived “telegrams” to Joseph: “Your Highness, this one came from Lisbon this morning, and this one was brought back by a warship returning from Santo Domingo.”

Joseph first opened the report from Portugal and just skimmed it, already looking grim.

The report first confirmed that the Portuguese Royal Family had fled to Brazil with Lisbon’s grand nobles, and then mentioned: The Talavera Legion, upon entering Lisbon, forcibly “sponsored” military funds from the Portuguese, amounting to over 500,000 Escudo Gold Coins, which is 5.5 million francs, causing public resentment in Lisbon.

At the same time, Talavera dissolved all local parliaments in Portugal’s southern provinces, declaring “awaiting the dispatch of a governor by His Majesty the King.”

Joseph handed the report to Bertier, shaking his head, “Spain’s continuous decline is really not accidental.”

He had previously made numerous examples in northern Portugal, which stabilized social order, but the Spaniards couldn’t even copy properly.

In fact, if not for the enormous revenue from Californian gold mines, given the slack Spanish army’s situation, they would have likely been the first to not withstand the retreat.

Talavera collected over 5 million, directly prolonging Spain’s absorption of Portugal by at least 5 years.

However, viewed from a different angle, having a not-so-small neighboring country being so slack isn’t necessarily a bad thing for France.

Joseph then opened the letter sent from the Caribbean Sea.

It was from Brisso, and according to the intelligence from Santo Domingo, internal chaos in Jamaica, Dominique, Saint Vincent, and other countries is beginning to be controlled, reportedly due to Britain’s cessation of funding for the rebels.

————————

Still couldn’t finish typing, really sorry. Please refresh and check again after half an hour.

On July 31, 1781, he was promoted to Grenadier Lieutenant. Shortly thereafter, on March 1, 1782, Blake was promoted to Flintlock Gun Lieutenant. After the war, he returned to Spain and went to the Cadiz Officer Academy for further study. When the Anglo-French war broke out in 1793, he returned to his original regiment. He fought against the French Army in Rosellon, and was wounded in the Battle of San Lorenzo in 1794. After recovering from his injuries, Blake once again devoted himself to the Anti-French struggle. With numerous achievements, he was promoted to Quasi-General in 1802, in charge of commanding the Ferrol Fortress troops. Peninsula Campaign In 1808, when the Peninsular War broke out, Blake was already a Vice Admiral. When the French Army invaded, he was appointed as the commander of the Galicia Corps (nominally 43,001 troops, responsible for defending the left flank of the Spanish Army along the Yan Kantabrian Mountains line), and performed outstandingly even when faced with various dangers in battles against Napoleon’s Grand Army. On July 14, Cuesta and Blake were defeated in the Battle of Medina del Rio Seco. The two withdrew to Benevente and Astorga respectively. Shortly afterward, the disaster of Bailen pushed the majority of the French Army to retreat towards the Ebro River. Blake was ordered to pursue the enemy, recapturing Santander, Bilbao, and other places along the way. On October 31, Marshal Lefebvre’s Fourth Corps launched an attack against Blake’s 19,000 troops in Pancorvo, repelling the hesitant advance of the Spaniards. Thanks to Blake’s quick and orderly retreat, the left flank of the Spanish Army evaded Napoleon’s encirclement plan. Enraged, the Emperor dispatched Lefebvre and Victor to pursue the enemy, ordering the latter to beat Blake with mobility and sweep his retreat path. A lapse by the French caused the troops to disperse too much during the pursuit. On November 5, Blake once again surprised his opponent with a bold move in Balmaseda, dispatching elite forces to repel the French vanguard, giving General Vilatte’s division a harsh blow. However, another French army joined the pursuit, and Blake quickly marched west to avoid being surrounded. On November 10, Blake chose to engage the enemy again at Espinoza. Victor, eager for revenge, recklessly committed all divisions to battle all day without success. The next day, the French learned from their lessons, launching a well-coordinated attack that shattered Blake’s central line, driving him from the battlefield. Although Blake lost only 3,001 men, thousands of soldiers fled in despair when the central defense line collapsed. Knowing well that Galicia Corps was no longer as powerful as before, Blake fled westward into the mountains, leaving behind the pursuing Surt, and on November 23 reached Lyon with 10,000 men (it’s said elsewhere that he had fewer than 5,000 upon reaching Reynosa on November 12). The command of the remnants of the Galicia Corps was handed over to General Sureda. Subsequently, Blake was ordered to command the troops in Valencia and Murcia. Before the war, both places were exempted from organizing militias, so he found the defense of these areas in utter chaos. Blake had to organize and train troops himself. After the fall of Zaragoza, he was appointed as the military governor of the three provinces of Catalonia, Aragon, and Valencia.