March 1654.
"Guys... I feel upset by the Dutch.... they are still resisting in Recife since so long already"
"The latest news has not yet arrived... and the royal fleet is not incapable"
"Still, I feel upset..."
"Can anyone remind me of what happened the last time he felt upset?"
"ha ... It was funny that night, we had made a great booty"
Luis lends a very attentive ear to this little discussion of this evening, somewhat drunk...
"Aren't the Spaniards annoying you?" said Luis a little fussy...
" Luis: You remember: how many of us were there when I brought back the brigantine that year . Uh.... ? "
"39," replies Luis, a little emotional.
"And how many survivors have there been since this brigantine?"
" 2.... "
"Until this storm we were all still there... and then presto, no more than you and me... "
Diogo, even more drunk than the others, threw a flask of wine: not 2, 11. ! " he said, obviously also affected
"Excuse me" Joao continues, "I'm not in the mood today, I'm going to go to elvas and back, I should leave tomorrow and in a month I should be back, anyway there's not much to do at the moment"
He got up from the table and went to his room. When he arrived, he collapsed on his bed and fell into a deep sleep."
______
After three days of travel, Joao arrives in Vendas Novas.
This small village seems anecdotal, but Joao thinks about all the logistics of the Portuguese armies defending against the incursions of spaniards, who pass through here.
In the centre, if it can be called the center of the village, a small square, with its simple church, in carved stone, but without overly ostentatious sights like the cathedral in Lisboa.
The village was surrounded by farmland and cork oak forests, typical of the region. The dirt roads connecting the different possible destinations.
No paved roads here. Roads are more maintained by traffic than anyone else.
The community is hierarchical, as in lisboa, with one difference: here, the parish priest, and not the king or the local lord, plays the central role of these "work for", not only religious but also administrative, the parish priest being responsible for the census, the collection of his tithe, or decim.
Craftsmen, such as the blacksmith and miller, the carpenter, are essential to daily life, while peasants make up the majority of the population, working in the surrounding fields.
Given its importance for supplies, many inns sprang up on the outskirts, as well as warehouses financed by the local lord.
Joao decides to stop for the night. Sitting with a few guards at his table, remaining silent, Joao listened to the conversations of merchants and gossips at the other tables
Merchant 1: "I'm telling you, that damned drought last year almost ruined me. The olive harvest was an unmitigated disaster. Even the trees seemed to want to dry up to the bark."
Marchand 2: "And you think it's better for the vines? The grapes were so small that they looked like pebbles. The barrels of wine that I managed to sell in Lisbon barely brought me enough to pay the passage fees."
Merchant 3: "At least you had something to sell. My cattle died by the dozens. Dry rivers, useless wells... And those who survived? They were so thin that no buyer wanted them at the Évora market."
Merchant 1: "And in the meantime, our good lords and prelates continued to demand their taxes as if the fields were overflowing with abundance. I had to sell part of my land so as not to end up in prison."
Marchand 2: "Don't talk about the prelates. In Lisbon, I saw convoys of grain requisitioned for the Church, while our villages were dying of hunger."
Marchand 3: "And even then it was nothing last year's compared to (16)39's. The Dutch, on the other hand, built dikes and canals. The Guadiana could save us from that if we knew how to tame it."
Merchant 1: "Easy to say. Who would pay for that? And who would build? We are not the United Provinces, António."
Macrhand 2: "Maybe not. But if we continue like this, the next drought will leave us without villages. Even our children will leave, and this land will be abandoned."
António: "So at least let's talk about it at the next village council. Maybe if there are many of us.... We could convince the local lords to invest in a common project."
Merchant 1: "If our harvests this year give us a little respite. Otherwise, we won't even have enough to eat, let alone build dreams like that"
Then Joao said to the guards, as if a little depressed: "And these are the ones least affected by these droughts..."
"Come on sehnor, another mug?"
"Yes, go pour!!"
____
Joao's little trip did not really cheer him up.
Once he arrived in his room, he thought again of his grenades, his ... special bombs, and was surprised that no orders from the army were made this year. "Maybe they prefer the old model?" , it doesn't matter, a little sleep.
At daybreak, Joao woke up a little suddenly, he got dressed and went straight to the dining room for breakfast: Fresh bread, fresh oven, some fresh fruit.
The guards arrived, and Joao invited them to his hearty breakfast. Not being used to it, they hesitated before accepting.
In the middle of the morning, they took the road again heading further south, towards a small village whose name intrigued Joao so much that he couldn't resist the temptation to visit: Santa Catarina.
The same name as the island where he intends to set up his colony in Brazil, far from any existing captaincy, but claimed according to the agreements of the Treaty of Tordesillas.
After 5 days of travel and getting a little lost on the dirt roads, the small group arrived safely in Santa Catarina.
There, discussions similar to those of the previous hostels could be listened to....
As a recurring problem for the whole region.
Joao, who was thinking about spending a lot after having a trade network to support the development of his colony, thought of an outrageous idea: Build a water reserve for the whole region...
The undertaking would probably be too expensive, unless a convoy of gold and silver from the Spaniards was diverted.... and even then he would have to be lucky for such a prize of war...
Maybe a million cruzados? Maybe more? And then we would have to bring engineers from Holland for such a project. In any case, the crown does not have the means for such a project, just the cost of the army to face the spaniards on land and at sea, the Dutch more at sea... but also on land in the colonies.
While the Portuguese colonies built their armaments most often directly with the means of the colonies, the Dutch had equipment directly from the continent, which was of better quality.
That's why Recife has held on for so long. Cannons built directly in brazil homemade powder in brazil, it's not quite the same quality as that of the continent.
He kept his project on condition: "Yes! We have extremely interesting catches with dutch's Indianman or Spaniard galleons..." so I'll have to do this project.... well if the guys agree to do charity that is....
______
The journey continued, and after some discussions, Joao began to understand that the peasants of the Alentejo part have a different way of taking the rains from carrasqueira: here it considerations towards the rains having moistened the area enough for the year, and so the harvests will be.... of quality, although according to the criteria of the Indies we could qualify the harvests they mention as: mediocre at best....
As he returned back to the orad to Elvas, Joao began to find answers to his questions about the almost total absence of brigands on the way: there are gatherings of troops almost all along the road. Ready to be mobilized to retaliate against any attack by the Spaniards.
Joao, who already dreamed of using his new tactics against the brigands, could only postpone this "new tactic".
______
Fortress of Elvas, April 1654.
As Joao's carriage arrived at the front of the city, Joao couldn't help but take deep breaths of air as he looked at the fortress.
Solid walls, almost like a lined hull, with promontories, outward projections, cannons everywhere.
But a lack of staff to operate so much equipment.
Joao had heard that John 4 had commanded the fortification of Elvas, but the scale of the fortifications surprised him all the same. The gates were heavily guarded by troops who checked every person entering, and even leaving the city.
"Sehnor Joao, here we are in a war zone, you know," one of the guards told him
"Oh yes I forgot..." Joao replied.
"If we could... Another guard left his sentence hanging
"Ha yes it's okay I know I'm not paying you to lead the war against the spaniards, we'll leave if there is even ... Wait: you don't even want to go in, do you?"
"Her..., Sehnor Joao, if the spaniards arrive, and we are in the fortress we will have no choice but to participate..."
"Undeniably, well, we'd know if they had set up an army to invade, it's not the kind of thing that can be prepared in a day"
"And so, sehnor?"
" We go in, we buy some local trinkets and then we leave before tonight, is that okay with you? "
At the entrance a guard asked the place of the visit and the purpose of the visit.
"Sehnor," said João, "I've just come from Lisboa, it's simply to visit," He redressed his bourgeois costume in front of the guards, to direct their attention to his dressing : as if to say: I am rich enough, not to get involved with too much problems you know ?.
After some deliberation, the guards let them in
After being authorization to enter, Joao listened to the guards talking behind
"Do you think he's a nobleman?"
"No, I think he's a rich merchant, i mean an heir, who must have been bored in Lisbon and wants to experience the thrill of war, he's not even in his thirties."
"yes enough, okay, not a spy, that 's all that count for me"
Joao continued his tour of the fortress, he kept comparing the walls, towers and other fortifications and cannon installations with the ships he was more used to.
Fortresses on the water, he imagined the Indiamans of the Dutch and the galleons of the Spaniards and compared them with these fortifications.
As much as these fortresses do not move, nor can they do so, they are often aligned, or arranged, like these sea fortresses.
Attacking armies are like boarding ships.
The only difference is that forts can get reinforcements, just like attacking ships.
Joao cogitates how to approach them, prevent them from sinking, and from sinking the boarding ships, here it is the topography, at sea, it is the winds and currents that act as topography.
The drift of boats, the indiamans or the galleons are not approached in the same way as conchs, or even as the proper attack on a port even with its defenses.
The drift, the agility of the ships are essential, as well as the calculations of the ships's drift to the currents.
Most often the big ships in convoy will line up to make a fortress on both sides, the currents drift the walls lined with cannons....
"Sehnor Joao?" A guard asked a little worried
Coming out of his reverie: "What's the matter?"
"You're a little pale"
The memory of the tempest took shape in front of him, as if the winds had formed a line to pull on his fleet, a line that whirled, as if... There was a.... thing that watched the boats crash, and sink one after the other....
"Nothing serious, come on, let's go back to Lisboa, we'll follow the army garrison areas for the return"
In all, they spent a few hours in Elvas and took a few local oddities, including something that a child had built out of wood that was supposed to represent the impregnable fortress of Elvas. Joao slammed him 10 cruzados for, surprising the guards and the child.
On the way back, Joao moved the "impregnable fortress" and other wooden elements, with daggerboards, there the shaking of the cariole acted as drifts of the currents. Admiral Drake. Admiral Drake. Ha there was so much more to explore at the time.
That legendary take of the "cacafueca", which followed beating the invincible armada of the Spaniards.
"Hey, you know Admiral Drake?"
"Ha the Amrial who beat the invincible armada?"
"yes that one... This guy had a kind of gift: to surprise very fixed lines, like fortresses"
"It was at sea, not like Elvas"
"Ha it's what is common to these land fortresses with those "sea fortresses"
"What do you mean?" replied the guard, not very accustomed to sea battles
"Ship fortresses are like walls of fortresses that move, but they are also dependent on currents and wind for their movements, a drop in wind or a gust of winds and it is the whole fortress that disbands, as if cannons were collapsing the walls of fortresses on land."
"... continue sehnor Carrasca please "
"Well, imagine faster ships easier to maneuver, the lines of these ships would change faster than those of less maneuverable ships."
"Yes, and ?"
"By harassing them in certain places, it forces them to make a maneuver that puts them against the winds and currents"
"But it could take days"
"You know at sea, the best artillery can fire effectively up to 1 kilometer, a kilometer and a half, beyond that, the cannonballs bounce off the hulls of their enemies.... and days of chasing harassment is quite common in piracy and as a .. privateer"
"Hum hum"
"Ha, I'm starting to have a better option than the first one I was thinking of."
"Leave the business?" asked one of the guards, surprised
"No, not at all, but I made a request for letters of marque which was accepted. The ships are already under construction... They should be ready next year"
"Ha to attack Spanish galleons?"
"I was thinking of Dutch Indianmans, the new models recently coming out of their shipyards are more armed than those of ten years ago, it's an opportunity, so these new fortresses, better armed, but new generation will probably get more protections and escorts at the beginning because of their new size and armameents compared to the old models, at least for their captains to better navigates with them"
"Are you going to attack the old models? I don't really understand actually, sorry sehnor, but I don't know much about the navy"
"And I don't have much in terms of land warfare either, but I have an idea: to storm several of these ships, with real infanteries, like a real line army to board those large ships, putting in arrest those people after storming the ship, cutting short any resistance. The might of these troops will allow to flank ships like Indiamans much easier, most other ships would not be deeply affected."
"In any case sehnor Joao: I'm ready to sign for something like this, if there is a part of the loot distributed to the whole crewthat is" to the wave of joke
"Hahahaha, obviously the loot would be split... but if the plug is too big, it won't be 20% for the crown, but probably more... But the division of the shares will remain fixed on contract, ha! stop the carriage! I must show you something."
The guard hastened to stop the coachman.
Joao told the guards to follow him, he took out one of his grenades, lit the fuse and threw it away before telling everyone to back off.
BOOOmmmm !!
The guards don't feel too surprised by the noises so Joao approaches the impact area, and shows them the damage
"Imagine a group of 200 soldiers coming up on an Indiaman and throwing this in front of them, armed with their muskets: what do you think of the resistance after such devastation?"
"None," stammered a guard,
"Is it an army hand grenade?"
"Not even, it's a grenade that is much easier to make, to handle and above all waterproof"
"Do you estimate how much risk there is in your maritime operations, I mean, how much ships would be lost for such operations ?"
"For the moment high, but I have boats built quite .. say.. They are inspired in their construction by an ancient naval tactic of Rome"
"From Rome? The pope has naval tactics?"
"Not that Rome, the Rome of the Roman Empire approximately..."
"Ha ... The guards remained a little silent, in front of the explanations and especially the demonstration of the grenade.
_____
End of April 1654
Back in Lisboa, Joao asked the guards if they knew of one or more retired or not captains , who could teach the art of line infantry to neophytes, for these maritime capture operations. After exchanging a few names of captains possible, the small group separated.
Leaving the coachman to bring the carriage back to the mansion, Joao went to an inn to take a drink, and to take the "temperature" of lisboa.
The first news he learned was that in January, the Dutch had signed their surrender at Recife, and that they began to evacuate the place.
"Brazil in Portugal !!!"
In these difficult times, both in everyday life and in the rest, an opportunity to party is always welcomed with great pleasure, at least in lisboa.
______
Batista Shipyard.
"Sehnor Batista, why are you giving this company the advantage, we are going to fall behind on some other orders"
"We won't be behind the other orders to begin with, and then: which model is the most ordered for us to build currently ?
"These new ships .... these "transatlantic frigates"."
"Exactly, and this model of ships is the idea of the president of this company, he did not hesitate to pay more for it because of the possible additional costs, in short it is an excellent customer and he is not annoying ... "
"But all the same, this metal thing at the front that has to be deploy and to put again on board after use, it's still ... And then these reinforcements on the structure to support what? Collisions with galleons? "
"Indiamans of the VOC"
"yes it doesn't matter: it's borderline suicidal"
"Maybe, or it may be revolutionary for the privateers.... "
"For the corsairs...? "
"Yes, the corsairs: imagine: the indiamans of the VOC, stormed back to the port of lisboa, and then after a lot of orders with this crazy design.... And where do they order? "
"Admitting that it works..."
"Yes, certainly, but I think .... "
"Sehnor Batista, I think too, and these reinforcements, certainly their weight would be compensated with the new configuration of the differents mats but we're still not going to do that do we ?"
"No, we're going to order them from a blacksmith of course."
_____
Back at the mansion: Joao found a few other gifts:
"So how is it?"
"I want to make a dam, we're missing 1 or 2 million cruzados ...."
"A dam?"
" Yes just to leave a mark in Portugal before going to Brazil .."
"Hhahahaha one or 2 million cruzados? The Royal council is going to ask us to finance the war with the spaniards and nothing more! "
"Hehehe, do you know Francis Drake?"
"Do I know francis .dra....."
"What are you thinking about here?"
"Beat his record in a single take"
Bursts of laughter !!!