[Archive] Mi Reino, Mi Familia [Portugal]

[Spain]

1761–1763
Guerra Fantástica/War of the Pacte de Famille
Portugal & The New World

August 1762
Portugal

The sweat on the brow rolled down the smooth skin, darkened by days spent riding and drilling the troops in preparation for what was to come. Olive green eyes remained narrowed, as he looked up into the sky, the unforgiving heat soaked into the heavy fabric of his uniform, which added to the heavy weight of his sword that hung at his waist. In his heart, he could feel a sense of anticipation and eagerness, mixed with hesitation and a touch of bitterness. How long had he travelled through the land, when the flag of the Spanish Empire flew over it proudly? And though the Iberian Union had ended over a century ago, there was something about it that made it a very bitter pill to swallow.

And here they were, Antonio rode with his men for several days and though he had participated in the planning meetings and discussed the possible strategies that they would use once they had captured the vital strongholds, he could not help but recall memories of the past. It was not to say that they were ghosts that haunted him and left him with great feelings of regret, but rather it was the remembrance of times of peace that came after the union of Castilla and Aragon and the gradual creation of the enterprise that came after. The Spaniard could almost recall when times were peaceful enough that it would be acceptable for him to go on a voyage with the explorers without having to worry about constant threats of invasion, be it by sea or over the mountains.

But those days have passed, passed as soon as the kingdom of Spain had fallen into the hands of the Hapsburgs and continued on when the Bourbons took over.

And as England and France continued to fight, he had the full intention of remaining neutral – there was nothing to stand to benefit from joining in a war that he had no reason to be a part of – France had long been an adversary that he would have loved to do without and England, well, things were as complicated as they had ever been. That is, until the appearance of a weakened England and the rise of an ambitious king threw him into warfare once again. But despite the fact that the decision to jump in was a less than ideal position to be put into, Antonio could not completely deny the fact that incorporating parts of what belonged to Portugal would not be bad. After all, under personal union, what was Alfonso’s had been his, had it not? If that is the case, just like brothers had shared such humbled beginnings, then why not share trade routes and colonies?

But when the Iberian Union came to an end, much to his reluctance, he had grown to accept the fact that though of the same flesh and blood, there was not enough room in the house for two egos. The Spaniard had started to learn to respect his brother’s wishes, but still found it hard to accept the fact that with the departure of the Kingdom of Portugal came the void left when all his colonies left as well. And despite the fact that this would put more bad feelings between them, Antonio could not refuse the demands of his superiors. With that, the bonds that were created with the Treaty of Madrid fell to pieces.


Cannon fire ripped through the air, a loud boom proving to be deafening as it found is target, while Spanish and French soldiers poured over the border into Trás-os-Montes. It was an invasion, one that was unprovoked on the Portuguese side, Antonio knew that, but during times like these, if the agreement were to be fulfilled, would prove to be more beneficial. As the still air trapped the stench of war in the air, he ran, charging forward as olive green eyes swearched for a certain invidivual. He had been hoping hat he could find his brother. His sword crossed loudly, metal against metal as he fended off his assailants.

"We won't rest 'til we have taken over this city! Vamos!" he cried, his sash billowing behind him as he ran forward with his sword. It would take a few moments before the inhabitants of the city to take up arms against them and try to resist, but he could sense that the momentum they had built was working to their advantage. And the mere thought of that caused Antonio to smile, albeit warily a how smoothly things had gone so far. However, given tha he had sesrved faithfully and devotely, would it be a surprise when things sart to look up?


But only if it would have just ended there. Though they had captured a few towns and cities here and there in Portugal, there was still much that they would need to do in order to subdue it. They had picked out a series of additional places that would need to be claimed in order to choke supply lines -- and so they would attack Porto first. But though Antonio had his own personal sentiments, the reality of the operations was to cause the rulers of Portugal an excuse to stay out of the conflict. Plus, given the close familial relations that they have, and so there was no reason to have any disagreement with the kingdom.

They had not been prepared for the terrain when they crossed over into the kingdom. Given their circumstances, where was the main army that was coming from Zamora? Should they have not been here by now? Frowning for a moment, Antonio quickly dismissed the thought -- it was not really a big enough detail to worry about. They needed to figure out how to deal with what they had. For at the moment, it looked like they wanted to take on Almeida and Porto at the same time.

Stopping for a moment, Antonio turned to his general and then at the troops. They had stopped marching with the city in their line of site, but still quite a ways away. By now, the English must have sent reinforcements, in which case, time was of the essense. They would march the rest of the way, though the heat of the day made it hard for the men to wan to continue. Staring at the outline of the city, Antonio felt his chest tighened as he looked on, muttering a short prayer before they marched on.

---

Notes:
- The Queen Consort of Portugal at the time, Mariana Victoria, is a Spanish infanta, thus the Queen Consort of Spain, her mother, did her best to not place her daughter in a tough position.
- There was a slight description of what had happened, but I'm sure we can always do flashbacks in our posts to follow, but I figured that I could at least set up the Spanish motivation for this war and whatnot.
- I know we said we could play out some of the flashbacks, so I'm guessing it would be like a two rps in one type of thing?
- I solemnly swear that I am sorry that it took so long to get this up.
- I don't know if this is what you are looking for, but hey, let me know if there's issues with this. I'll admi to not really knowing much about this war.