Chapter 423 - The Cowardly King Of Aragon

Berengar sat upon horseback as he gazed into the distance towards the city of Zaragoza through his binoculars. He would never have guessed that the main Portuguese army would be defeated at the Southwestern Border.

It was because of this event, as well as the ruthless attack on Toledo, that the two remaining monarchs had grown cautious and withdrew half of their forces to defend their home territory. The result of which would have massive consequences for the Reconquista as a whole.

Upon seeing an army of a hundred thousand men gathered within the vicinity of the city of Zaragoza, Berengar knew that he had no chance of rooting out and destroying the Aragonese King with the 10,000 men under his command. Having come to this realization he stored his binoculars away before issuing the orders that would change the course of history.

"Fall back to the main defensive line. We do not have the manpower necessary to take this city."

The men of Berengar's advanced force sighed in relief as they heard their King's orders. If he had insisted on taking the city with so few men, they truly believed they would be entering the gates of heaven. As such, the small force of roughly 10,000 men began to depart back to the main defensive line established on the borders of Andalusia. 

King Felipe de Trastámara gazed upon the retreat of the Austrian forces and sighed heavily; he felt as if a great weight had been lifted from his heart. Though it was only 10,000 men, he could not deny that his heart was filled with dread.

After personally witnessing the destruction of one of his armies at the hands of the Austro-Granadan alliance not long ago. The devastation he saw that day had forever imprinted itself upon his soul. In doing so he had resorted to hiding within the illusionary safety that his castle's walls provided. 

With the King of Castile and his family now deceased at the hands of King Berengar the Accursed, Felipe truly believed that he was next in line to embrace the angel of death; in fact, he no longer had the will to fight against his enemies.

Castile was in a state of chaos as its Noblemen fought among each other for the right to rule, and Portugal had just suffered a humiliating defeat. Out of the roughly 500,000 men gathered to fight in Iberia, 200,000 or so now lie dead at the hands of their enemies.

The fact that one of the five armies of the Iberian Union was held off by a single regiment numbering no more than 2,500 Austrian soldiers was a shocking truth. Though all but one had perished in the attack, the brave warriors of Austria had managed to hold their ground long enough for reinforcements to arrive and annihilate the remaining crusaders. 

Even the Crown Prince of Portugal was killed in battle, as for King Luiz de Avis of Portugal, he swore to avenge the loss of his son and heir. By now he had called upon Felipe to combine their forces and assault the weakest point in the Austrian defensive line. 

However, King Felipe of Aragon dreaded the idea of leaving his castle and entering the fray once more. By now, reinforcements from Austria and its allies were bound to have arrived in the strait of Gibraltar, and the defensive line would no longer be spread so thin. Despite having 300,000 remaining soldiers, most of which were peasant levies from foreign lands, Felipe was not confident in Iberia's chances of winning this war. 

His wife approached him as he watched the Austrians return to their defensive line. He would not rest easy until he could no longer gaze upon their backs. Seeing her husband frightened out of his wits and biting his nails like a child, the Queen of Aragon grasped ahold of his hands and asked the question on her mind.

"Will you not fight? These Heretics and Infidels have already caused so much destruction to our lands! You have lost so many men; how can you sit here like a frightened child and do nothing!"

Felipe immediately became enraged upon hearing his wife's remarks. She had not seen the horrors of this war; it was unlike any other fought in history. So few men could easily defend Granada from the massive army the Catholics had raised; the longer they waited, the more troops would arrive, and the more powerful the Austro-Granadan alliance would become. As such, Felipe freed himself from his wife's grasp and began to berate her for her ignorance.

"You do not understand! We cannot win this war! The enemy is more powerful than the Iberian Union; no matter how much support we receive from our allies, they will overcome it. I have seen the weapons they use and the destructive power they are capable of! There is no hope for victory, no matter how much Luiz thirsts for the blood of the men who killed his child. 

With Francisco dead, we now can usurp the Kingdom of Castile and increase our power if we can only buy some time from our enemies. Thus, I have no choice but to sue for peace! Even if the Portuguese wish to fight on their own, I will not send my men to their deaths against the Austrian Armies!"

The wife of the King of Aragon looked at him with utter disgust as she made her thoughts known.

"You are a coward, Felipe! The enemy is at our doorstep, and yet you do not ride out to meet them; you merely hide away in your castle praying that they will leave you alone!"

Upon hearing this insult, Felipe became enraged resulting in him backhanding his wife across the face with a vicious slap before raising his voice to her.

"And my prayers have been answered! Reconquista is a failure! With the backing of Austria, Granada will never fall into the hands of Catholics! We must sue for peace, or we will all be destroyed!"

Upon hearing this, the Queen of Aragon looked at her husband with complete contempt as she left the cowardly King of Aragon to wallow in his misery. As for Felipe, he truly believed his actions were more out of wisdom than Cowardice, for what man could face such horrifying weapons and expect victory? 

King Luiz had reported that the enemy had a mere six cannons at the battle of the Andalusian Border, and yet, they were capable of killing tens of thousands of the Crusading forces before they even reached the trench line. Estimates from Iberian Scouts had put the number of these new weapons that were deployed to the Iberian Peninsula in the hundreds. 

Against such overwhelming might, only a mad man would dream of victory. With this in mind, the King of Aragon began to draft a letter towards King Berengar and Sultan Hasan in an attempt to establish fair terms of surrender. It was better to sue for peace now than suffer the same fate of Francisco and his family.

King Luiz of Portugal was determined to continue the fight against Austria and Granada however for the remainder of this war he was destined to fight by his lonesome. Of course, he would not be fighting empty-handed; Felipe would ensure that the foreign volunteers that made up the bulk of his remaining forces would be dispatched to Portugal before his terms of surrender could be agreed upon, giving the Kingdom of Portugal a fighting chance. 

Though it was unlikely for them to achieve any significant victory, it was the least Felipe could do to aid his former ally. As for his troops? They would be used to unite the Kingdoms of Aragon and Castile under his banner. From the ashes of this failed Reconquista, a new Kingdom would rise in Iberia, a Spanish Kingdom.

How long would it endure throughout the test of time? That was uncertain; after all, the Granadans would not simply sit by and allow their enemies to grow stronger. It was only a matter of time before they struck back against their Catholic Neighbors, for the centuries of bloodshed between the two people could not be overcome peacefully so long as they both inhabited this land. 

As for Berengar, he and his army would return to the front lines in time for Felipe's messenger to have arrived. While the Kingdom of Portugal planned its next attack, Berengar and Hasan would meet in Granada to establish appropriate conditions for Aragon's surrender. Berengar would take advantage of this situation to buy Granada enough time with its neighbors to grow and prosper to the point where it could become self-sufficient. 

The Austrian intervention in Reconquista was far from over. Still, with Aragon's surrender, tens of thousands of Austrian and Granadan soldiers could be moved from its borders and focus their sight on Portugal. After all, King Luiz was far from finished with his conflict; he would not rest until he had made Berengar pay the price for his son's untimely demise or he would die trying. 

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